We're Back!!

Alright, boys and girls, we are back in action! Had a lot going on and got sick of tracking the same predictable nonsense from Tice last year (pass out of 11 personnel, run out of 12...), but we're happy to be back! It's great to have Bears football again and it's hard to remember a more exciting time as a Bears fan. The Marc Trestman era is here and with it comes exciting potential. Let's start with this before we get into breaking down this week's game.

By now, we all know a bit about Marc Trestman's offense. West Coast ideals, get the ball out fast, RB involved in the passing game, spread the defense out horizontally, etc. What nobody has discussed, however, is the effect that Trestman will have on the defense. I mean indirectly, of course, as he has effectively left the defense in place. Our defense is still predicated on the Tampa 2. It's basically the same thing that it has been. So what the hell am I talking about? Well, think about it for a minute. What is the primary function of the Tampa 2? It is to take away the big play. Keep everything in front of you. Force the opposing offense to sustain long drives if they are to score. Now let's take it a step further. In what situation will this defense be most effective? Well, with a lead of course. After all, forcing the opposition to dink and dunk their way down the field while chewing up the clock doesn't do too much good when behind in the game. With a lead, however, this defense becomes suffocating. This leads directly to my point. For as good as Lovie Smith's defenses always were, the offenses were never able to sustain periods of potency. There were about 7 weeks of offensive production in '06. Remember? That offensive production coupled with this defense had the entire nation talking about a possible 16-0 season. The media was ready to crown our ass. As we soon found out, though, that offensive production was not sustainable. Marc Trestman in the past has proven that his offenses can sustain production throughout an entire season(s). So we should be excited about not only the extra points which this offense should deliver, but also what those extra points will mean for this defense.

So, now onto the win over the Bengals. Lots to like about this game. During the game, I jotted down the following; "why is the offense so conservative?" After the game, we found out why. Marc Trestman said that his biggest priority through the first half was to keep Jay Cutler clean. He did that. The quarterback whisperer apparently realizes the importance of Jay's confidence in the pocket. We've all seen how his footwork deteriorates when he starts taking hits and apparently Coach Trestman has seen this as well. So, between getting the ball out quickly and great play by the O-Line, Cutler displayed good footwork the whole game and his comfort in the pocket was clear. Let's hope that this keeps up all season.

Before we move on, how about a quick word about the line play? When was the last time anyone can remember our O-Line playing better than our D-Line? Kyle Long is a beast. Plain and simple. I don't think I could name 10 offensive guards in the NFL I'd rather have. He did make a couple mental mistakes (once picking Forte on a dig route), but these should quickly be cleaned up. It's also hard not to be impressed by fellow rookie Jordan Mills at RT. I'm not sure if he's really as good as he looks, but he played well at Louisiana Tech and at the Senior Bowl, so he definitely has the potential.

As for our D-Line, what was that? Peppers looked genuinely dis-interested during the first half. He even appeared to be avoiding contact. It was very strange. His intensity did pick up in the second half, though his production did not. Stephen Paea, however, was quite disruptive. He was consistently getting pressure up the middle and his tremendous strength seemed to finally be evident in his play on the field. It is just one week, so let's not get too excited just yet, but if his play this week was representative at all of what we can expect moving forward, then this D-Line could be truly elite.

The rest of the defense (other than the flu-ridden Charles Tillman) seemed to struggle a bit as well. There was sloppy tackling (including a couple missed tackles by Lance Briggs, which was very surprising) and a consistent failure to get off the field on 3rd down. When it mattered the most though, we stepped it up in the second half and allowed the offense the opportunity to complete the comeback and get the W.

Finally, here's how we did it:

Now, a couple notes about the chart. First, I left off the last 6 plays when we were trying to run out the clock. These were all runs. Second, this doesn't distinguish whether or not we were in the shotgun formation, but Coach Trestman clearly loves the shotgun. We were in the shotgun 27 of the 55 plays listed here. We ran the ball on 6 of those 27 plays. Anyway, we clearly threw the ball more than we ran it. This is to be expected. I was pleased that we remained unpredictable out of 21 personnel and the run/pass ratio was about the same whether we were in 11 or 12 personnel. This will help keep defenses off balance.

When it's all said and done, it was just one week. But it was a great win and this could be a sign of great things to come. Let's get this winner against the Vikings to get to 2-0. We'll be back next week with more detail. Bear Down!!

First Sack Review

Here is the first play of the game from the Packers debacle on Thursday.  Let's analyze why the breakdown happened.  Here is the pre-snap look:

Now, watch the gaping hole created by Spencer's down block followed by Webb's kick-out:

Now, look back at where Forte started.  Look at his feet.  He's on the hashmark.  Notice here that after "taking" the play fake, he's practically in the middle of the field.  The point here is that his weight is moving to his left in order to take the play fake.  At the same time, the blitzer is able to immediately cut across Forte's body because of all the space created by Spencer's movement to his right.  Also notice in the next picture that Forte is unable to cut immediately to his right to square up the defender because Jay is still in the way.

The next three pics show the block itself.  We can see here why Forte led with his shoulder instead of remaining squared up at contact.

Lastly, this is where Forte needs to do a better job.  Even though he was put in a bad position, he needs to stick with the blitzer and drive him away from the pocket instead of getting cradled up as he does here:

So, though Forte does need to do a better job than this, I definitely expect Tice to put his guys in a better position to succeed than this.  Not helping the situation is that Chicago had 8 guys in to block while the 2 receivers both basically ran go routes.  Adding to the madness was that neither of the tight ends or the running back released as an outlet for Jay when (not if) he got pressured.

More analysis of the game (specifically on all of the sacks) to follow.

Bears - Colts Personnel Review

Here's my review of the Colts game from a personnel standpoint.  First, though, to new readers of Bears Playbook and anyone unfamiliar with the terminology, let's go over a quick description of the different personnel packages.

Personnel packages are identified with a two-digit number.  Obviously, there are 11 players on offense.  One is the QB and 5 are the offensive linemen.  This leaves 5 skill players on the offensive side of the ball.  This group is composed of RB's, WR's and TE's.  In naming the personnel group on the field, we list the number of RB's followed by the number of TE's.  Adding these numbers together and then subtracting from 5 tells us the number of WR's on the field as well.  It sounds like a lot, but it's very easy in practice.  For example, if there is 1 RB in the game and 2 TE's, that is called 12 personnel (1 for the # of RB's, then 2 for the # of TE's).  Since there are 5 skill players on the field, this leaves 2 WR's on the field in this situation.  Got it?  What if there was 1 RB, 1 TE and 3 WR?  That's 11 personnel.  1 RB and 0 TE?  That's 10 personnel.  Lastly, a 5 WR set is called 00 personnel (0 WR, 0 TE).

Every NFL team tracks the personnel that the offense sends on the field.  They also track tendencies that a team may show about how often they will run or pass out of each personnel group.  In preparing for an upcoming game, they will track the other team's last 4 games personnel tendencies.  So, finally, here is the chart for this week's game.

The totals for the game were 40 passes and 29 runs.  This doesn't seem like too bad a balance.  Look, however, at what the Bears did out of 11 personnel.  With this personnel group on the field, the Bears passed 20 times and ran only 5.  This is a whopping disparity.  So, when the Packers see the Bears trot out this personnel group onto the field this week, you can bet they'll be anticipating pass plays.  I am very curious to see if Mike Tice tries to use this to his advantage by running more often out of this personnel.  This fact also helps explain some things that I saw during the game.

For example, at 6:15 in the 2^nd quarter, Bears faced a 3^rd an 11 at the Indy 24.  They ran a draw play to Michael Bush.  I hated the play call at the time but now, after charting the personnel packages, I like it.  At that point in time, the Bears had run 11 plays out of 11 personnel and EVERY ONE was a pass play.  On 3^rd and 11, Indy would be expecting a pass of course.  In addition, the Bears had shown that they love throwing the ball out of 11 personnel.  So, although it didn’t work in the end, that play had a great chance to catch Indy off guard and succeed (it almost did.  We gained 8 yards on the play despite poor execution by Bush who ran straight into Garza).  

So, while you watch the game this Thursday, pay attention to what the Bears do when you see 1 RB and 3 WR's on the field.  This may provide significant insight into Tice's ability to maintain (or exploit) balance in his playcalling.

Random Thoughts/Quick Hits

I've been away for a bit, so I thought I'd post some random thoughts before tonight's game at New York.  First, let me copy and paste some notes I had taken while watching the last preseason game against the Redskins:

This Cutler to Marshall could be a serious hook-up for us for 10 years.
WOW Jay has a cannon.
That first drive was unlike any I can recall from recent memory.
I have NOT been impressed with Gabe Carimi.
Henry Melton could soon be thought of as one of Chicago's great defensive players.
Chris Spencer sucks.
I still sometimes root for the Bears to give Forte chances near the goal line.  Michael Bush might be changing that.
I'm not happy with our special teams coverage units.
I love McClellin's motor, but he REALLY needs to get stronger.
This looks like a top 5 offense in the NFL.
Alshon Jeffery looks better and better and better.  REALLY impressed.
Did I just see Lovie Smith smiling?
I repeat, I'm not happy with our special teams coverage units.
I hope Podlesh is ok.  I like him.
Scary injury to Brandon Hardin.  Thank God he's ok.
I wish we'd see more of Evan Rodriguez with the 1's, but he just showed why we don't.
Good job by our LT's today.
Most years we'd be SCREAMING to make Chris Summers our starting split end.  Now he's a practice squad guy.  What a difference a year makes.
As I typed that, Summers dropped what should've been a TD.
Jay Cutler was just asked who called the pass to Marshall on the first play, him or Tice.  Jay smiled and said "well, Mike (Tice) gives us some flexibility.  When we get single coverage out there, we're going to attack it."  LOVE that!!
Evan Rodriguez again flashing his potential.  I hope we see continued development from him.
Robbie Gould is great.

Some of this is what I'll be looking for tonight.  I'll be looking for more good play from our LT's (isn't that the first thing we all think of before each preseason game?).  I'm also hoping to see better play from our special teams.  We can't be giving up that kind of field position constantly (while I'm sure that Robbie has intentionally not kicked some balls through the end zone during the preseason, that's not the point).  I continue to enjoy watching the rookies McClellin, Jeffery and Rodriguez and hope to continue to see development from them.

Being the third preseason game, I will also be tracking our personnel groupings and what plays we run out of each one.  I'll be doing that all year and reporting on it right here every week, but I'll do that tonight also since the Bears will have gameplanned (to some extent) for this game.  I'm very interested to see how well Tice can maintain a healthy run/pass split out of each personnel grouping.  Ironically, our O-line issues might help in that regard.  Because of the need to help our line protect, we'll often have two tight-ends in the game (12 and 22 personnel).  That type of personnel on the field would usually key the defense to a running play, but we will be passing out of that grouping almost more out of necessity than design.  This will help keep a defense guessing and should help Tice as he gets accustomed to his new role of offensive playcaller.

FINALLY!!! Bears open preseason tonight.

The preseason is finally upon us as the Bears will take on the Denver Broncos tonight at Soldier Field.  In a game filled with side stories, Bears fans will get their first look at the Jay Cutler to Brandon Marshall connection since they were teammates with these very same Broncos in 2008.  While this is the biggest story for Bears fans, the biggest story for most NFL fans will be their first look at Payton Manning with the Broncos.  When it’s all said and done, however, the fact remains that this is still week 1 of the preseason and the starters on both teams will be expected to play less than one quarter of action.  What else should Bears fans watch for?

Other than watching Brandon Marshall in a Bears uniform, I’m most eager to get a look at the performances of the Bears left tackles; J’Marcus Webb and Chris Williams.  While Webb appeared to win the “competition” for the starting job, Offensive Coordinator Mike Tice has acknowledged that Webb hasn’t played great and he is not a lock to start week 1 of the regular season.  If Webb struggles (especially with mental mistakes, which Tice hates), it is entirely possible that Williams will be starting the next preseason game and this could turn into a legitimate competition.

I’m also looking forward to seeing our rookie draft picks in action.  Specifically, I’ll be watching out for Shea McClellin (#99), Alshon Jeffery (#17), Evan Rodriguez (#88) and undrafted free agent O-lineman James Brown (#78).  For McClellin, watch to see if he can effectively use counter moves when engaged with an O-lineman.  Look to see if Jeffery can beat press coverage.  With Rodriguez, I’m most interested in where he lines up and how the Bears utilize him.  While the gameplan will be very vanilla, it will still be interesting to see if he lines up as an H-back, an inline blocker or at the Y in 21 (or 12) personnel.  As for James Brown, I’m also interested in where he lines up the most.  Judging by what I’ve heard from training camp, the coaching staff is taking a pretty good look at him at the LT spot.  I can’t help but wonder if he’s in consideration for the swing tackle spot.

So, it should be a very entertaining game from many angles.  I didn’t even mention Tice’s offense,  Brandon Hardin, Matt Forte or Jason Campbell.  I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited for a Bears season and likewise I’ve never been this excited for a Bears preseason game.  It’s finally here.

Bears Report to Training Camp

Bears players arrive at the dorms of Olivet Nazarene
University for the start of training camp

The Bears have arrived at training camp at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, IL.  The players will undergo physicals today and also take part in strength and conditioning drills.  Their first practice will begin tomorrow at 2:30 and that is open to the public.

What To Watch For

Everyone is excited to watch Jay Cutler throw the ball to Brandon Marshall.  It will also be great to see Matt Forte participating with the team for the first time this offseason (he reportedly looks to be in great shape).  However, the most important thing to watch now that the pads are on will be the performance of the offensive linemen, particularly the battle for the left tackle position.  According to Offensive Coordinator Mike Tice, Chris Williams and J’Marcus Webb will split the reps 50/50 with the winner becoming the starter at left tackle and the loser assuming the swing tackle role.

Williams and Webb have both had their struggles at LT and that is the reason this competition ever came about in the first place.  Williams’ struggles presumably can be (at least partially) attributed to injury, he was never fully healthy until the start of last season, while Webb’s troubles are attributed to inexperience.  With limited practices in pads, the most important component of this battle will be their performances in the preseason games.  The trouble with evaluating performances in the preseason, though, is that starters typically don’t play much.  With that in mind, it will be very interesting to see who gets the start in the Bears’ first preseason game on August 9^th against the Broncos and RDE Elvis Dumervil (if he’s not in jail by then).

This is quite possibly the most anticipated Bears season since the mid-late 1980’s.  With training camp finally upon us, we’ll begin to get a good idea of whether or not that excitement is legitimate.  Phil Emery said, “We want to win now.  We want to win championships now.”  That is clearly a sentiment that is shared by all fans.  The journey to accomplish that goal begins now and, may I say, it’s about time.

Bears set to win now

Two things stood out from the playoff games this weekend.  First was the amazing impact of the tight ends in the passing game (for more detail, see previous post).  The second thing that I took away from the games was that the Bears are built to win now.  Not only are they built for success, they’re moving in a direction that should bring this success.

Let’s review the games.  The Giants beat the Packers.  The 49ers beat the Saints.  The Ravens beat the Texans.  The Patriots beat the Broncos.  The common thread among these games is that the better defensive team won (except for the Pats thrashing of the Teblow Experiment, but a Denver loss is relevant to nothing).  It’s also worth noting that the team who won the turnover battle also won each game.  This is the type of team we have in Chicago.  We have a team who plays good defense and prides itself on taking the ball away.  We’re actually very similar to this Giants team that just knocked off the Packers.  We play a lot of Cover 2, get pressure from the front 4, run the ball well and have a very good if not elite QB.  They don’t have a Devin Hester to return kicks and we don’t have a Hakeem Nicks to catch passes, but the similarities far outweigh the differences. 

The point of all this is that, in a year where passing records are being shattered, defense still wins championships.  Even Mike Martz’ Super Bowl ring was acquired because of defense (when Wikipedia is back up and functioning, see “The Tackle”).  The Bears have a defense that is still among the best in the league and our turnover differential should only improve under the playcalling of Mike Tice.  It’s true that points come out of the passing game, but we have a quarterback who can get us those points as well.  So for those who have called for Lovie’s dismissal and want us to start over, I’m telling you to not hit the panic button.  As bad as this year ended, we’re a lot closer to the promised land than you think and we’re headed in the right direction toward it.