Can we speak for a second in regards to the remaining play of the primary half within the Chicago Bears’ 41-10 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday? Can we attempt to wrap our arms round that clumsy sequence, which grew to become one other missed alternative on a day stuffed with them? What precisely had been the Bears hoping to get accomplished? And what went haywire?
In the ultimate two minutes of the half with the Lions driving, Bears coach Matt Eberflus hoped first for his protection to get a cease, then aimed to get the ball again for a remaining possession. Eberflus used all three of his timeouts in an eight-second span, and the Lions confronted third-and-6 from the Bears 9-yard line with 1 minute, 5 seconds remaining.
The Bears protection stiffened, with Kyler Gordon tackling large receiver Josh Reynolds a yard in need of the road to realize. But Reynolds was taken down inbounds, which allowed the Lions to run the clock down to twenty seconds earlier than taking a timeout to arrange Michael Badgley’s 23-yard discipline aim.
With 17 seconds left, the Bears gave rookie kick returner Velus Jones a inexperienced mild and had been rewarded when Jones introduced the ball out of the top zone, hit a crease and went 63 yards into Lions territory.
Seven seconds remaining, ball on the Detroit 45. With no timeouts, the Bears dialed up a sideline play designed to get into field-goal vary for kicker Cairo Santos.
The Lions, understandably, selected to hurry no one, saved a high on their protection and defended the boundaries. “We would have done the same thing,” Eberflus stated.
Somehow, the Bears had been discombobulated. There was alignment confusion earlier than the snap with tight finish Cole Kmet motioning in from the left, then going again exterior to get set between David Montgomery and Byron Pringle. After the snap, all 5 potential go catchers appeared to maneuver in gradual movement. Nothing appeared in sync.
Eventually, quarterback Justin Fields noticed Pringle crossing from left to proper about 10 yards past the road of scrimmage and tried to hit him. But defensive finish Aidan Hutchinson, who was 8 yards downfield and proper in entrance of the Lions bench earlier than the snap, jumped in entrance of the go for a straightforward interception.
So what precisely was occurring? Here’s what 4 Bears gamers stated instantly after the sport.
Kmet: “We were looking to get a throw to the right. I think it would have been (Equanimeous St. Brown) and then it would have been a pitch to Byron and then a pitch back to Justin to try to get out of bounds. But it was just a muddied look because they dropped all 11.”
Fields: “That was a call-it-and-run-it play. We didn’t expect that look.”
Pringle: “We were doing whatever we could to put some points on the board. … They had some good defense called there. I thought (Hutchinson) came off the sideline to be honest. They were well-prepared.”
Center Sam Mustipher: “Their whole defense just dropped into coverage and it felt like they had one guy spying Justin. We were just trying to build a wall for Justin. I can’t give away the details of the scheme there. But once they dropped all 11 guys back, it’s hard to do anything.”
Confused but?
On Monday, Eberflus had a extra simple judgment of that play.
“We just didn’t execute the play and ended up throwing the ball into harm’s way,” he stated.
For a workforce that prides itself on being situationally sharp and devotes additional time to end-of-half and end-of-game situations, the collective malfunction on that play was disappointing and prevented the Bears from no less than attempting a discipline aim. To grow to be a profitable workforce, the Bears need to grow to be far more adept at seizing such alternatives.
“To be honest with you, I should have just thrown the ball away,” Fields stated. “I don’t know why I did that.”
Oh, effectively. Here’s your Week 17 QB rewind.
Defining second
Maybe probably the most telling play of a woeful offensive efficiency got here within the fourth quarter, when each Bears offensive tackles had been referred to as for holding and Fields nonetheless was sacked for a 10-yard loss. That was the seventh and remaining sack for a Lions protection that got here in averaging two sacks per sport and had posted greater than three in solely three of their first 15 video games.
Detroit’s fifth sack of the primary half proved most momentous, although: a James Houston strip-sack on Fields with 3:02 remaining.
The Bears had been in a personnel grouping with two tight ends and one working again in to guard and solely two receivers out in sample. It was a calculated deep-shot alternative in opposition to a nine-man field with receiver Dante Pettis breaking open lengthy. But for no matter purpose, after Fields carried out his play faux and hit the highest of his drop, he didn’t pull the set off.
In the second and once more after reviewing the video, Eberflus felt like Fields had Pettis open.
“We did think we had a chance to throw it down the field there,” Eberflus stated.
Even after Fields hesitated, he had a possibility to salvage the play. But as he escaped the pocket and started to scramble, he by no means noticed Houston detaching from a double workforce within the backfield and bearing down in pursuit.
Fields was too informal in attempting to arrange a juke on linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez and manner too careless as he held out the soccer in his proper hand. At the road of scrimmage, Houston hatcheted the ball from Fields’ hand.
“He only had one hand on the ball at that time and he got it stripped,” Eberflus stated. “We’ve got to do better there.”
Hutchinson recovered and the Lions transformed that turnover right into a discipline aim that gave them a 24-10 halftime lead.
After scoring on their first two drives, the Bears went scoreless on their remaining 10, managing simply 80 web yards and 5 first downs on these possessions.
Uh-oh
The Bears offensive line was shaky for a lot of the afternoon. Starting proper guard Teven Jenkins aggravated a neck harm on the opening drive and left after simply seven snaps. Michael Schofield changed Jenkins for 16 snaps however suffered a knee harm within the second quarter when Houston’s bull rush despatched left deal with Braxton Jones tumbling into Schofield on a play that resulted in an 8-yard sack of Fields. Schofield, too, was accomplished for the day.
Dieter Eiselen grew to become the third proper guard of the primary half and performed the ultimate 29 offensive snaps in a sport by which the Bears’ go safety left so much to be desired.
Still, of the seven instances Fields was sacked, an argument may very well be made that the offensive line was not primarily chargeable for 4 as Fields fell again into a foul behavior of holding the ball too lengthy.
“Sometimes on first downs, I’m getting pressure and trying to make something out of nothing and I’m taking a sack for 6 or 7 yards,” he stated. “Now it’s second-and-15. I can’t do that.”
Most notable was the Lions’ penultimate sack on a first-down play late within the third quarter. Fields had a clear pocket and all day to scan the sector. He by no means noticed something he appreciated, nevertheless, and saved ready for one thing to pop open.
Eight seconds handed from the time Fields took the snap to when he was hit by Houston. The Lions rookie began that play by dropping into protection however then observed Fields wasn’t eliminating the ball or working and got here rocketing in to place a giant hit on the quarterback for a 9-yard loss.
Once once more, the Bears had been behind the chains, going through second-and-19 deep of their territory. That ended up one in every of 5 three-and-out drives within the second half.
It was a type of days. On 12 possessions, the Bears averaged 1.4 yards on their first play.
Furthermore, throughout a sport by which all six of the Bears’ second-half possessions got here whereas trailing by no less than three scores, the offense managed solely 50 whole yards and three first downs.
In a situation by which stat-padding passing yards ought to have been accessible like fun-sized sweet bars on Halloween, the Bears completed with 30 web passing yards. Fields accomplished simply 7 of 21 passes for 75 yards. That marked the second time the Bears had been held under 100 gross passing yards this season. Fields threw for 70 yards within the Week 2 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Before this season, the Bears hadn’t been held under 100 gross passing yards since Week 3 of 2015, the notorious Jimmy Clausen sport by which the Bears punted on all 10 possessions in a 26-0 street loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Clausen went 9-for-17 for 63 yards that afternoon.
On the intense aspect
With apologies to Fields’ 60-yard scramble within the first half, the best play the offense ran was the third-and-1 gadget play from close to midfield on the opening drive.
In a short-yardage scenario, Kmet motioned from the fitting of the formation and lined up below Mustipher for an obvious sneak just like the Bears ran efficiently in Week 9 in opposition to the Miami Dolphins. But with a brand new wrinkle, Kmet took the snap and pitched to Fields within the backfield.
With left deal with Jones clearing out cornerback Jeff Okudah and Montgomery serving as a lead blocker to deal with security Ifeatu Melifonwu, Fields discovered a crease and rocketed for 31 yards and a key first down that saved the Bears’ solely landing drive rolling.
“We were happy we finally got our opportunity to call that,” Kmet stated. “Luke (Getsy) wanted to get that off the script and see how it looked. And when we got into that short-yardage situation, we knew it was coming. … Justin made it work out really well.”
Fields had his fourth profession 100-yard speeding day by the top of the primary quarter and completed with 132 yards on 10 makes an attempt. He’s as much as 1,143 speeding yards for the season and, if he performs Sunday in opposition to the Minnesota Vikings, in placing distance of Lamar Jackson’s single-season speeding document for quarterbacks, a mark of 1,206 set in 2019.
Fields wants 64 yards to interrupt the document and has averaged 94.9 over his final 10 begins.
“That would be amazing to be part of something like that,” Velus Jones stated Monday. “I’d be so happy for him.”
Fields heads into Week 18 ranked sixth within the NFL in speeding behind Josh Jacobs, Nick Chubb, Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley and Miles Sanders.
Odds and ends
- Eberflus left the door open Monday to the likelihood the Bears might put Fields on the shelf for the finale. While emphasizing that Fields would play if wholesome, Eberflus additionally indicated there can be inner discussions at Halas Hall involving normal supervisor Ryan Poles and the teaching workers to come back to a sensible determination on whether or not to provide Fields the inexperienced mild. “With the entire health of the team, to me where we were two weeks ago is different than where we are now,” Eberflus stated. “So I think it’s important we evaluate that. … (We’ll have) ongoing conversations about everybody. What we need to do is what’s in the best interest for our football team going forward. That’s a conversation we’re going to have all the way through Wednesday, all the way through Friday, and we’ll decide as we go.”
- The Bears failed of their try to get offensive deal with Riley Reiff a landing reception within the first quarter. Reiff, who was drafted within the first spherical (No. 23) by the Lions in 2012 and spent his first 5 seasons in Detroit, lined up as a decent finish exterior of deal with Larry Borom on a third-and-goal play from the two on the Bears’ second sequence. But on a play-action idea, Lions cornerback Will Harris by no means bit on the run faux and lined Reiff as he leaked into the left aspect of the top zone. Fields, recognizing he had no throw, tried to make one thing occur by scrambling however was chased out of bounds for a 3-yard loss.
- The Bears are averaging 129.9 passing yards per sport, thirty second within the league and the bottom common within the NFL for the reason that 2009 Cleveland Browns averaged 129.8. The Bears common is 175.2 yards per sport behind the league-leading Kansas City Chiefs and 77.2 exterior the highest 20. The Bears lead the league in speeding at 181 yards per sport, however there’s a agency inner understanding that offensive steadiness and passing productiveness is a prerequisite for fulfillment. Said Mustipher: “It’s critical for us (to find balance). Go look at past Super Bowl teams, past playoff teams. They are able to do both. When you get late into a playoff hunt, you definitely have to be able to run the football. But you also have to throw it successfully to be able to get some of the safeties and DBs out of the box. Anytime the defense can come up and load the box and walk a safety down, now you’re running into an eight- or nine-man box. We have to find a way to open it up down the field so we can open the run game a little more. It plays off each other. At the end of the day, as offensive linemen we have to protect better and give Justin more time.”
- After scoring 124 factors over a four-game stretch from Weeks 7-10, the Bears have scored solely 96 factors of their final six video games and haven’t topped 20 factors since their Nov. 20 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. For the season, they’re averaging 19.6 factors, ranked twenty third within the league.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com