The Bears’ offense is bad. That is obvious after the first seven weeks.
After Matt Nagy and his players did some “self-scouting” over the Bye Week, the unit produced 236 yards of total offense in their 36-25 loss to the Saints, which was their second-lowest yardage total of the season.
This could have easily been the Bears’ worst performance if it wasn’t for the last two drives that accumulated 132 yards and two touchdowns in garbage time.
Through six games, the offense is 30th in total yards, 29th in rushing, 30th in passing and 28th in total points. Oh, and the Bears have yet to eclipse 300 total yards of offense this season.
To put into perspective how bad that is, the Bears’ offense exceeded 300 total yards of offense in each of the four games Mike Glennon started at quarterback in 2017.
The worst part about Nagy’s unit, though, other than gradually wasting away an elite group of defensive talent, is that there isn’t just one issue. It has become evident that every time the offense takes the field, another problem arises.
From the offensive line’s inability to generate running lanes to Nagy’s questionable decision making to flat out bad quarterback play, the Bears have shown it all in six games this season.
After Nagy watched the tape of Sunday’s game, he acknowledged in Monday’s press conference that the offense needs to improve.
“We gotta fix and understand and be aware that offensively we have had some bad performances now,” Nagy said. He also went on to say that there are going to be times in the season where it is “tough sledding.”
With how bad the Bears have been offensively, this definitely qualifies as “tough sledding.” What makes matters worse is that Nagy hasn’t shown he can fix one problem on this offense let alone the 99 that are currently plaguing his team.
To start, Mitch Trubisky, who has apparently shown “progress” in offense “202” according to his coach and general manager Ryan Pace, has regressed. The former No. 2 overall pick looks inadequate. This season, he has displayed terrible footwork, bad decision making and no confidence each time he has taken the field.
The offensive line hasn’t been much better, either. Although the starting five didn’t commit a penalty in the loss against the Saints and did show some improvement in pass protection, the unit is still struggling to open running lanes for David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen.
Before the Bye, Nagy mentioned that guys need to start winning their one-on-one matchups, but that still, at times, hasn’t happened. NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger also pointed out that the running schemes are an issue.
.@saints v @bears and this is the 1st of 7 rushing attempts. The #Bears can run block, but they are in love with their “schemes” and it backfired on this inside zone. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/EoljHehUbS
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) October 22, 2019
As for Nagy, he determined that the best route to beat the Saints was to have Trubisky throw the football. Despite the QB coming off a left shoulder injury that he sustained in Week 5, Trubisky threw 54 times, and the offense finished with only seven rushes, which was the fewest rushing attempts in the Bears 100-year history, according to The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain.
Remember, the Bears moved up to get Montgomery in the draft. He had two carries. For whatever reason, Nagy is just reluctant to commit to the run.
Outside of Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel’s three-touchdown performance in the second quarter against the Redskins, not a single receiver or tight end has stepped up. So far, second-year receiver Anthony Miller has 13 receptions, 144 yards and a lost fumble. The starting tight ends, Trey Burton and Adam Shaheen, have combined for 142 yards on 22 receptions.
Nagy had two weeks to prepare for the Saints, but he failed to solve anything.
For the remaining 10 games, he doesn’t have that luxury of having an additional week to prepare for an opponent. So, why should anyone feel confident that anything will improve moving forward?
Unlike last season, the Bears did not go through much adversity. Well, they have plenty of it now. Nagy said he wasn’t an idiot, but if he can’t find solutions to fix this offense and lets this talented roster go to waste, he may just prove himself wrong.
Curious on your thoughts here about some things I have noticed and ways to fix it.
– Turbisky reminds me of Rosen at Arizona, he is being coached in a way that makes him worse. Rosen developed an extra hitch in the pocket during the preseason in Arizona, if you watch his film from college he never had that extra hitch. Turbisky is a monkey qb who is being trained to stay on the pocket and he’s not ever trying to really extend the play anymore. If the bears go under center and establish the run they can use designed roll outs and give him the option to throw on the run, set and throw or take off and extend the play with his legs. Last year Turbisky was the 2nd leading rusher at the QB position we need that threat back. Also it makes a hand off when he rolls out a decision for the defense if he establishes that he’s a threat on the ground you have to respect that he could still have the ball and you can’t over commit to the rb.
-The Linebackers need to rotate more. Smith needs to go back to playing on instinct. Lately when he seems to look like he’s thinking too much and it results in bad hand offs on defense and him getting pancaked trying to shoot a gap. If he goes with speed and just plays on his gut he could develop into an Urlacher like linebacker. At the same time Floyd struggles to produce so throw Lynch in more often and bring him on the blitz over Mack now and again. Make the line have to respect more than just Mack and he may actually be able to do more for us.
-Kwiatkowski needs more reps in the middle. When Smith was out he stepped in and the middle didn’t lose a step. He’s a good instinctual player and again by moving him in and having him as a blitz threat in the middle now and again Mack might get free with offenses having to cue on more activity from the middle two.
Curious on your thoughts here about some things I have noticed and ways to fix it.
– Turbisky reminds me of Rosen at Arizona, he is being coached in a way that makes him worse. Rosen developed an extra hitch in the pocket during the preseason in Arizona, if you watch his film from college he never had that extra hitch. Turbisky is a mobile qb who is being trained to stay on the pocket and he’s not ever trying to really extend the play anymore. If the bears go under center and establish the run they can use designed roll outs and give him the option to throw on the run, set and throw or take off and extend the play with his legs. Last year Turbisky was the 2nd leading rusher at the QB position we need that threat back. Also it makes a hand off when he rolls out a decision for the defense if he establishes that he’s a threat on the ground you have to respect that he could still have the ball and you can’t over commit to the rb.
-The Linebackers need to rotate more. Smith needs to go back to playing on instinct. Lately when he seems to look like he’s thinking too much and it results in bad hand offs on defense and him getting pancaked trying to shoot a gap. If he goes with speed and just plays on his gut he could develop into an Urlacher like linebacker. At the same time Floyd struggles to produce so throw Lynch in more often and bring him on the blitz over Mack now and again. Make the line have to respect more than just Mack and he may actually be able to do more for us. Kwiatkowski needs more reps in the middle. When Smith was out he stepped in and the middle didn’t lose a step. He’s a good instinctual player and again by moving him in and having him as a blitz threat in the middle now and again Mack might get free with offenses having to cue on more activity from the middle two.