Bears coverage inside
‘D’ has been a force in the red zone, but not in ground game
■ 3 observations from Thursday night’s Bears victory against the Bucs. ■ Bears place practice squad offensive lineman on COVID-19/reserve list.
The Bears defense is playing so well in the red zone it could be on a pace that will prove challenging to sustain.
The Buccaneers scored one touchdown on three red-zone trips during the Bears’ 20-19 victory Thursday night at Soldier Field, improving the standing of coordinator Chuck Pagano’s defense, which has allowed touchdowns in the red zone on only 36.8% of opponent opportunities (7-for-19). That is solidly ahead of the second- ranked Vikings (41.2%).
Since the 2009 season, only the 2015Jets (35%) and2017Chargers (36.1%) have fared better in redzone defense. The Bears are far ahead of their 2018 pace when they tied for fifth at 50% but finished tops in theNFLinscoring defense, allowing only 17.7 points per game.
The unit slipped to 54.7% last season — ranking 13th — but has been stingy in the shadow of its goal line, a theme through the 4-1 start as theBears have rallied from double-digit deficits in threewins in large part because the defense has turned back opponents in key moments. It’s what kept the 19-11 Week 4 loss to the Colts from being a blowout.
Here are three observations from rewatching the Fox telecast via the NFL GamePass subscription service and some interesting playing time statistics, beginning with the defense’s red-zone performance against Tom Brady and Co. on Thursday:
1. The Bears limited the Buccaneers’ shots in the red zone.
TheBuccaneers ranseven plays in the red zone, the first being an aborted snap for Brady. The second was the Bears’ only true poor play in the red zone, a 9-yard completion to running back Ronald Jones on an angle route. Officials ruled him down at the 2-yardline, but there didn’t appear to be any contact. The Bucs lined up in a 3x1 formation in order to clear out space on the back side, and inside linebacker Roquan Smith overplayed Jones. Smith wanted to get over the top of tight end Rob Gronkowski releasing from the line of scrimmage. By doing so, Smith moved too far outside too fast, opening up too much space in the middle of the field. If Jones had bent his route sooner, he would have had a walk-in touchdown. Smith didn’t want to be picked by Gronkowski and prepared for a flat route, but he was too aggressive and played too fast to be under control, allowing Jones to reach the 2-yard line.
On third-and-goal from the 2, Brady connectedwithMikeEvans for a touchdown pass. It wasn’t poor coverage fromrookie cornerback Jaylon Johnson, but Evans lined up about 2½ yards outside the numbers, meaning the Bears probably have ruled out a fade route from that alignment. Once again, it was a 3x1 formation with Evans on the back side, and the wide split created a ton of room to the inside. Johnson was called for hooking Evans, so if the pass had fallen incomplete it would have been first-and-goal from the 1, but it wasn’t egregious interference. Johnson had pretty good position but needed to shade to the inside understanding that Evans is a big-body wide receiver who can shield defensive backs. Brady put the ball low to the side shoulder, leaving Johnson helpless. A cornerback has to prepare for the slant and the fade in the low red zone, but he has to take away the slant first because the fade is a lower-percentage throw. Johnson will learn fromthis situation.
Inside linebacker Danny Trevathanmadeplays onthe nexttwo red- zone snaps, matching Gronkowski in quarters coverage to break up a pass and then scraping over the top to stop Jones for a 3-yard gain and set up a third-and-7. On that play, the Buccaneers had two tight ends and three wide receivers on the field. The Bears were in zone coverage, matching underneath, and Johnson had Evans. Johnson squatted as Evans throttled down and stopped his feet, creating an opening to the inside for the wide receiver. But free safety Eddie Jackson read the play, and Brady was fortunate he saw the defensive back, forcing him to try a high throw from the 17-yard line that sailed out of the end zone. Jackson was playing the deep middle and got a really good break on the ball.
If Brady had put the ball onEvans, it probably would have been picked off, and Jackson probably would have gone the length of the field for a touchdown. It’s a playmaker break. Jackson believes what he sees and goes, which is why the Bears are paying him.
The final time theBucs reached the red zonewas midway through the fourth quarter at the 16-yard line with the Bears ahead 17-16. Khalil Mack exploited left tackle Donovan Smith, and the play was blown up instantly. Smith had to account for Mack’s speed and oversets, opening an alley straight to the backfield. Mack isn’t going to get an easier sack. And Brady was fired up on the sideline after the loss of yardage knocked the Bucs out of the red zone, and they eventually settled for Ryan Succop’s fourth field goal.
On the one red-zone series in which the Bears gave up a touchdown, Roquan Smith overplayed Jones, andJohnsonallowedinside positioning for Evans. The rest of the time they were stout. With Jackson in the middle or in quarters coverage, the field shrinks so much for the offense, and the quarterback has to put the ball on a line. That gives Jackson a big advantage because he can be aggressive without fear of a play being made over his head. While the Bears have had issues against the run, they are better in the red zone. The safeties can be more aggressive playing downhill.
2. Left guard James Daniels’ development was easy to see before he was lost for the season.
The loss of left guard James Daniels to a season-ending pectoral injury is going to have ramifications. Hewas emerging as the team’s best offensive lineman. Soon after Daniels went down, replacement Alex Bars allowed a sack to defensive tackle Vita Vea on Bars’ third snap. Center Cody Whitehair slid the protection to the opposite side to account for middle linebacker Devin White. That helped the Bears contain
defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh but left Bars alone with Vea, and Bars quickly lost a battle of leverage asVea got underneath his pads and bulled his way into the backfield. Later, Bars tried to cut Vea on a running play and missed. Preseason experience could have been a big benefit to Bars.
Daniels’ development was easy to see. Go back to the Giants game in Week 2 when the Bears had a first-and-25 in the fourth quarter and David Montgomery broke off a 23-yard run. Daniels got his left hand on nose tackle Dalvin Tomlinson on the snap, which allowed left tackle Charles Leno to climb and cut Tomlinson off. Daniels, whomoves reallywell, got upfield and dumped linebacker Blake Martinez. The gatewas open, and Montgomerywas gone.
Daniels improved in pass protection this season as well. The 23-year-old’s footworkwas better, and his play strength increased as he matured. With an immobile Nick Foles, losing Daniels is a greater concern because teams want to pressure quarterbacks who can’t move right up the middle. This hurts Daniels’ development and certainly damages his chances for receiving a contract extension in the offseason.
3. Bucs running back Ronald Jones tested the Bears’ attention to detail.
As stingy as the Bears have been in the red zone, they’re still having some issues stopping the run. Jones finished with 106 yards on 17 carries for the Bucs. The Bears have improved against the run, but it can’t be where Pagano desires. The Bears are ranked 16th in opponent rushing yards at 113.2 yards per game and 15th in yards per carry at 4.35.
Jones had three gains of 10 yards ormore, and theBuccaneers were winning on combo blocks, getting double-team blocks at the point and getting off quickly to fit up on linebackers. The Bucs were in 11 personnel — one running back, one tight end and three receivers — in the first quarter on
a first-and-10 snap when Roquan Smith came in on a perfectly timed blitz. He missed Jones in the backfield, and the Bucs back spun away andwent for 11 yards. It was a perfect call from Pagano, and just like on the pass play during which Smith was out of control, he played too fast. He needed to run through the outside hip so if he did miss, the running would turn back inside to a swam of defenders. Instead, Smith whiffed.
“It sucks like crazy, but he’s a good running back,” Smith said. “I didn’t see much spinning on film, but I missed two tackles, regardless. One of them, Iwas pushed in the back (legal for a lineman in the box), but I still should make those tackles to my standards. So those two, that’s unacceptable for me. That’s unacceptable on the defense. I’m just going to have to correct those. When you’re going up against a spin runner… you just have to wrap up and keep driving your feet because they’re going to spin on contact, so I’ll definitely have to correct that. That’ll be something Iwork on.”
Jones went for 37 yards later in the game, again from11 personnel, on a split- flow- zone play. Gronkoswki went in motion and kicked out outside linebacker Robert Quinn. Trevathan was guilty of following Gronkowski instead of the guards, whom he should have been reading. That took him out of the play, and he
couldn’t recover in time. Jackson came up and misses the tackle because he stopped his feet. Credit Trevathan with a hustle play to tackle Jones downfield, but if he had read it properly fromthe start, it wouldn’t have gone for a first down— and more.
Playing-time numbers
■ 51: A week after David Montgomery got 85% of the snaps against the Colts, he was on the field for 81% on Thursday. While more action hasn’t meant a lot against two of the league’s better run defenses, it has created more opportunities for him in the passing game. Montgomery had a career-high six targets against the Colts and topped that figure against the Bucs with eight, catching seven, including the 17-yarder to set up the winning field goal.
14: With defensive backs Deon Bush and Sherrick McManis out with hamstring injuries, defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano turned to DeAndre Houston-Carson in the sub package. He was on the field for 14 of 71 snaps — 20% — and as outside linebacker Khalil Mack said, did an excellent job of mirroring the route tight end Cameron Brate ran for a pass breakup on the decisive fourth down.
■ 21: Rookie tight end Cole Kmet got six more snaps Thursday than he did against the Colts. He trailed Jimmy Graham ( 48) and DemetriusHarris (28).