Bears must learn how to go off script
Bear Essentials
Everything is going as scripted for the Bears offense.
Scratch that. Everything scripted is going as scripted for the Bears offense.
If they ever figure out how to finish like they start, this will be one dangerous team. But for now, fast starts are a big story for a franchise that has been on slow footing for far too long.
The Bears have scored openingdrive touchdowns in the first two games, and while that might not sound like a major feat, it’s something they accomplished only five times during the three previous seasons. It’s the first time they’ve scored touchdowns out of the gate in consecutive games since Weeks 9 and 10 in 2013. According to Pro Football Reference, which tracks opening-drive statistics back to 1999, it’s the first time in that 20-year stretch the Bears have scored opening-drive touchdowns in the first two games.
“Really?” right tackle Bobby Massie said. “I never knew that.”
Offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich was similarly surprised, and the challenge now is running the streak to three games Sunday in Arizona. The Bears have never accomplished that feat in the last two decades.
The Bears script the first 15 plays, like nearly every other team and no different from what they did the past two seasons under Dowell Loggains. Coach Matt Nagy’s call sheet has clicked from the start. The Bears went 96 yards in 10 plays to open Monday’s 24-17 victory over the Seahawks. In the opener in Green Bay, the offense went 86 yards in 10 plays.
Taking it a step further, in the first 15 snaps against the Packers, the offense produced 140 yards. In the first 15 against the Seahawks, the Bears moved the ball 82 yards (and benefited from an additional 23 yards in penalties). Those 30 plays totaled 222 yards (7.4 per snap), while the Bears gained 343 yards in the other 99 snaps (3.5).
“It’s where we’re at in this offense right now,” Nagy said. “When you have a first 15, these guys have these plays the night before and so they’re able to really hammer through and study them and see where we’re at, and to me that’s exciting. Because the fact that they’re able to study this stuff and really understand what they’re supposed to do when it’s given to them, it’s kind of the answers before the test and then they’re producing.
“The next step is they’ve got to be able to do it without (being) given. They need to understand the whole process, and we’re going to slowly get there. We want this to happen as fast as we can, but this is not something that happens day by day or week by week.”
Scripting plays is a strategy credited to Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh, who would design 15 to 25 plays for the start of each game. Information for this report was obtained from NFL scouts.
Deone Bucannon (6-foot-1, 211 pounds) is in his fifth season out of Washington State. A converted college safety, Bucannon is in an interesting situation as he adapts to the shift under Steve Wilks from a 3-4 front to a 4-3 like Wilks oversaw with the Panthers. The idea is for Bucannon to become the Thomas Davis of the defense. Davis was a safety in college as well.
Bucannon led the Cardinals in tackles in 2015 and 2016 and had 90 in 2017 despite missing four games with an ankle injury. It will be interesting to see how they continue to deploy not only Bucannon, but also Haason Reddick, last year’s first-round pick who was moved from defensive end in college to linebacker.
“At the Senior Bowl, (Bucannon) was playing strong safety and he would straight thump you. He had thunder in his pads,” one scout said. “He is a violent hitter and a violent striker but a completely downhill player. I think that is why Arizona drafted him and targeted him as more of that hybrid safety/linebacker type because he doesn’t have the top-tier range and movement skills to play in the deep half or the post in the NFL.
“So Arizona made a smart call targeting him as that monster back, if that’s what you want to call it. He can play in the box on all three downs but also helps you tremendously in nickel because he can stay on the field and he can play as a curl defender. He can bump inside and play as a hook defender and he can match up to some tight ends because he is very physical at the point of attack. I’m not saying he is slow. He can run. He’s just not that ultra-athlete and rangy guy.
“He’s a very good blitzer and he’s developed better instincts for finding the football in the run game. So he’s really the classic example of where the NFL is going, taking an athlete who has some size and striking ability and moving him closer to the line of scrimmage. It covers up his weaknesses, but more importantly it highlights his strengths. He’s had a really good couple years of his career, but how he’s going to fit there now with the new scheme, that’s what we have to find out.” Mike Shanahan, who coached the Broncos to two Super Bowl titles, told the New York Times in a 1996 article that he learned of the preparation listening to Walsh speak at a coaches clinic in Chicago in the late 1970s.
A script ensures the game plan developed during the week is put to the test immediately. An offense can see how the defense responds to personnel groupings or motions. A perceived weak defensive player can be challenged immediately. It can be used to get a key skill-position player involved right away. Some early calls can be used to set up a play from an identical formation later in the game.
“People look at it for all those reasons,” Helfrich said. “Whether it is the quarterback, tailback or a particular skill guy, you can say, ‘Hey, we need to get so-and-so going early, and here’s how we can have a 90 percent chance to get him the ball.’ So it’s really all those things.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid has long scripted plays to begin the game. The Eagles’ Doug Pederson does it too. In the 30 plays combined to open the two games, the Bears have had only two negative plays. Quarterback Mitch Trubisky was sacked for no loss in Green Bay, and running back Jordan Howard had no gain on a third-and-1 carry versus the Seahawks.
Howard has either carried or been targeted with a pass on eight of the 30 plays. Allen Robinson has been the target for six passes, and running back Tarik Cohen has carried or been targeted five times as the Bears spread the ball around. The only number that jumps out is tight end Trey Burton has only two targets — a 15-yard catch on third down in the red zone in Green Bay and the 3-yard touchdown on a shovel pass against the Seahawks.
Helfrich said the Bears try to go in order from one to 15 but go off script when down-and-distance dictates.
The process begins early in the week with a group of 45 to 50 plays, and the script is whittled, with calls left on the cutting board inserted elsewhere in the game plan. Quarterbacks have an idea of what will be used during the week, and the plan is presented to the offense the day before the game.
From there, play calling is an art and a feel, like playing chess with moving pieces — something the Bears are working to master with Trubisky.
According to Football Outsiders, the Bears rank 22nd in yards per drive at 29.35. The Rams are first at 46.37. The Bears are 20th in points per drive at 1.65 — half of what the top-ranked Chiefs are producing at 3.32. It’s a process.
“What we need to do … is after that (first 15), do a heck of a lot better,” Helfrich said.
You can’t argue with the start, though.