When taking a look at the Bears and Colts All-22 yesterday, I had to take a little bit of a break when we got to the portion of the game in which the Bears had 1st & Goal from inside the five. We all know what went down. There was a wildcat formation, a receiver tasked with blocking a defensive end, and a speed option. It was all a problem. But I wanted to take a deep dive into all four plays and see where each went wrong.
Let’s get to the tape.
Bears Film Breakdown
1st & Goal at the 4-Yard Line
I still canโt believe how poorly executed the bears four plays were from inside the four yard line. First, Darnell Wright who I thought had a fine game gets totally swum with his head down pic.twitter.com/sUsKs4rqMg— Matthew Rooney (@mrooney23) September 25, 2024
We have DeAndre Carter responsible for blocking a defensive end for the first time in this four-play segment. Making that mistake once isn’t okay, but it will happen occasionally. Making that mistake twice in four plays is unacceptable. So, for starters, Carter gets blown up by the defensive end on the right side, as most smaller receivers would in that scenario.
But what really blows this play up is Darnell Wright getting swum by Raekwon Davis. In scenarios like that on or near the goal line, offensive linemen are taught to get run-heavy in their stance. That means a little more weight on their hand and a little more forward lean, allowing them to explode out low to help get leverage. Wright does just that here, but he does so out of control and more like he’s on the one-inch line instead of the four.
If he were on the inch line, Davis wouldn’t have time to swim him and get around to making a play, so firing out as low and as aggressively as you can is okay. Here, though, they still have a bit to the goal line, which means he needs to be under a little more control. Davis pulls off a veteran move, knowing he likely has a one-on-one assignment with Wright. He swims Wright, steps down, and makes the play.
I love that Wright is in a run-heavy stance and has that aggressive mentality, but when it’s not so close to the goal line or the line to gain, he has to be under a little more control and keep his head up to see what he’s hitting.
That’s really what blows up the play here. Coleman Shelton could have taken over his double team with Matt Pryor a little better, but that also would have been an arm tackle Herbert could have run through. Still, after 1st & Goal from the four, the Bears have three plays to pick up two yards, so it’s not the worst play.
2nd & Goal at the 2-Yard Line
2nd and goal, Herbert probably has a TD if he follows Matt Pryor instead of jump cutting back toward the read man pic.twitter.com/vYPjUqf4xp— Matthew Rooney (@mrooney23) September 25, 2024
2nd and goal from the two, inside handoff again to Herbert. The left side of the line does its job just fine. Teven Jenkins gets beat a bit late, but by the time he is, his DL isn’t making the play. On the right side, Darnell Wright wins his matchup. Caleb Williams freezes the read man on the end enough to create a lane for Herbert. Matt Pryor does a nice job chipping Coleman Shelton’s man on his way up to the LB. Once he gets to the backer, he doesn’t quite square him up or seal the inside shoulder, but he does get a piece of him.
While the LB was still hanging in the hole, I feel like Khalil Herbert, at full speed, could probably run through that arm tackle.
I’m sure Herbert also sees Coleman Shelton’s man kind of hanging in that hole, too, but again, Shelton has a piece, and the best that guy can probably do is get an arm on him. So, instead of trying to power through those arm tackles, granted that they are not the cleanest of holes, Herbert jumps back toward the read man just enough so he can make the play. No doubt, it’s a nice play by Kwity Paye, but Herbert not running straight up there allows Paye the chance to make it. Still, we need to get one yard in two plays now.
3rd & Goal: 1-Yard Line
3rd and goal, it was all a problem pic.twitter.com/WubkMganaG
— Matthew Rooney (@mrooney23) September 25, 2024
In my tweet, I said it was all a problem on 3rd & Goal. Honestly, I take that back. On the left side, Braxton Jones and Teven Jenkins get a really nice double team on their down lineman. They blow him off the ball and create a hole. Coleman Shelton holds his water in his one-on-one and does a good enough job. Matt Pryor and Darnell Wright do their job doubling up to the linebacker.
This play does not work because instead of using their blocking specialist TE, Marcedes Lewis, or trotting out an extra OL on the left side to help with that pressure, Shane Waldron entrusts the 5’8, 190 lb DeAndre Carter (who I like and has had a fine season thus far) to account for two blitzing linebackers.
That’s just an inexcusable decision. You’re on the goal line, you know that the backers at the end of the line of scrimmage likely aren’t respecting pass at all. Give yourself a chance to make that block. Even if Lewis or an extra OL is outnumbered on that side, they have a chance to hold their water long enough for Herbert to get behind the Jones and Jenkins double team.
Cole Kmet does get blown up a bit, but if the left side isn’t completely caved in, Herbert can potentially survive. It was just an absolutely boneheaded personnel decision that cost the Bears points.
4th & Goal: 1-Yard Line
And then there was speed option to an outnumbered side of the formation. pic.twitter.com/zAY1lIc6gW
— Matthew Rooney (@mrooney23) September 25, 2024
Let’s go from left to right on this one. First, the Bears are already outnumbered on the left side, so that’s nice.
First, Braxton Jones doesn’t get wide enough to seal that stand-up linebacker’s shoulder. But also, with him crashing down at full speed, that’s almost impossible to do. He at least is able to get a shoulder on him, but because he can’t get his head across, that LB helps force an early pitch.
Teven Jenkins initially does his job here by getting to the outside shoulder of his man, but as we mentioned with Darnell Wright earlier, he does so a little out of control and gets swum. That ends up with him on the ground, his man getting back into the play, and also helping to force an early pitch.
Coleman Shelton does his job and gets up to the linebacker before getting tripped over someone’s feet, so he ends up on the ground. I also would have liked to see him get a bigger piece of that DL lined up over him to help Matt Pryor get over there easier. Pryor can’t get to the outside shoulder because he’s not the quickest, and with Shelton only really getting a quick hand on the DL, he won’t be slowed much at all. Then Darnell Wright does his job on the backside and executes a cut block.
The linebacker is unaccounted for over the top, which makes the play. I’m not sure if Caleb has the power to check at the LOS, but they probably should have gotten out of that play or at least flipped it to the right side. The right side was a more crowded look, but it at least would have allowed the Bears to not be a numbers disadvantage and maybe enough space for the ball carrier to sneak through the line and into the endzone.
Anyway, that whole sequence was just terrible execution from the top down. We all knew it was in real-time, but now that I’ve seen it, I am even more upset.