I formation earns an A
How Bears got Montgomery going by running downhill against Chargers
As the Bears continue to search for an offensive identity at the midpoint of the season, it will be fascinating to see if the I formation, a seldomseen element of Matt Nagy’s playbook, becomes part of the weekly plan.
No, the Bears have not discovered the next Matt Suhey, who helped clear the way for thousands of Walter Payton’s yards during his career. Heck, they don’t even have the next Jason McKie, the fullback when Thomas Jones was the focal point of the ground game.
But converted tight end J.P. Holtz, claimed off waivers from the Redskins in Week 2, has adapted to the position. And when the Bears turned to the I formation and good ol’-fashioned power football to open Sunday’s loss to the Chargers, the dormant — or neglected — running game came to life.
On the first snap from scrimmage, left guard Cody Whitehair helped double-team Chargers defensive tackle Damion Square before climbing to the second level to ride linebacker Thomas Davis out of the play. Holtz followed through the hole, blocking linebacker Denzel Perryman, and off went running back David Montgomery, breaking two tackles to gain 10 yards.
Presto. The ground game, which has languished during a disappointing start to the season, was off and running.
Sort of. The Bears didn’t go back to the I formation until the first snap of their fifth possession, running 21 offensive plays before using Holtz in the I for a 14-yard gain around the left side of the Chargers defense.
“They started the game in I formation and they get 10 yards on the first play and then they go 21 plays, including a silly goal-line stand when they throw three straight times, but they go 21 plays without going back to the I formation and then the next time they go to it, they gain 14 yards,” said Brian Baldinger, an analyst for Fox and NFL Network. “I’m not here to criticize Matt Nagy, he knows more football than I do, but these guys, are they really paying attention to what is going on in the game or do they just have a script? The I formation worked on the first play. Why would you go 21 plays without running it again?”
In hindsight, after a first half with four red-zone failures, Nagy admitted he wished he had returned to the two-back attack sooner, something the Bears committed to on the first possession of the third quarter, when they used Holtz in the backfield on eight snaps of the 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive.
Now we wait to see if it was a one-week fad, a success created in part because the Chargers were depleted at defensive tackle or a partial shift in thinking by Nagy and the offensive staff. Can the Bears continue to generate a running attack with two-back sets, something that was far from their minds throughout the spring, summer and preseason when they operated without a fullback on the roster? There is room for ample improvement in the running game. The Bears are 27th in the league with 83.1 yards per game, tied for 26th with 3.6 yards per carry and 22nd with 23.3 carries per game.
The fullback has been a disappearing position around the league for years as teams trend toward three- and fourreceiver sets and packages with multiple tight ends. But it’s worth wondering if the fullback will make a comeback as teams look to attack defenses that are spending more than 70% of the game in sub packages and have gone to smaller, faster linebackers for help in coverage. Those guys don’t necessarily fill the hole in the run game like bigger inside linebackers of yesteryear.
Nagy has experience with a fullback in the offense. Anthony Sherman has been a mainstay for the Chiefs since 2013, but his playing time has dwindled, going from 36% in that first season to 18% in 2017 and 9% the last two seasons. Still, Nagy has had those plays on his call sheet, including last season when the Bears had fullback Michael Burton and barely used him. It was a matter of dusting off some of that stuff in recent weeks.
“We’ve always had the two-back stuff in,” Nagy said. “At times if we needed to use it, we would use it. The I formation has always been there. It’s kind of phased itself out in this offense. But in times like this, when you feel like you’re having success, maybe you bring it back and test it out. And that’s what we did last week. So it’s there.”
The success the Bears had with Montgomery, who ran for a season-high 135 yards, balanced the offense and created some play-action windows for Mitch Trubisky. They ran seven times out of the I formation for 44 yards, and it created three runs of 8 or more yards along with a 4-yard touchdown run by Montgomery at the start of the third quarter.
The I formation runs really gave Montgomery a road map of where to go. There is no dancing. There is no time to dance. You go straight downhill and hit the hole. Montgomery played very well. It was by far his best game and best in terms of running style and hitting the hole and showing some of the things that jumped out on his college tape — the ability to run through contact, to keep his balance and grind out extra yardage. It also was an impressive game for the interior of the offensive line.
Montgomery didn’t play in the I formation at Iowa State, but he has adapted quickly and said he likes it.
“Just because I am downhill faster,” he said.
Montgomery’s 55-yard run came out of the shotgun spread, but it was one-back power, another downhill run. Right tackle Bobby Massie and right guard Rashaad Coward double-teamed defensive end Joey Bosa to ride him out of the play, and the back-side guard, Whitehair pulled through the hole to block Davis. Center James Daniels had a strong block, and Montgomery was loose.
The downhill runs the Bears finally committed to help every aspect of their offense. It’s unfortunate for Montgomery, the offensive line and Trubisky that it took until Week 8 to get to this.
What can come next out of the I formation and under-center runs is more play action. The Bears haven’t done a lot of it. They’re not like the 49ers, Saints or Patriots, teams that routinely allow the quarterback to play with his back to the defense on play action. Do the Bears trust Trubisky to turn his back to the defense, set his feet and rip it? Can he get his eyes back upfield and identify the coverage and the reads where he is quick enough to get the ball out? It’s a bang-bang play, something they used his rookie year under John Fox when he played under center more. If the Bears are running the ball successfully, linebackers will cheat up, which will create generous passing windows.
Whether the fullback truly makes a comeback remains to be seen. Defenses are starting to do a better job of defending the spread. They are taking away run-pass options. Defensive coordinators are not dumb, and eventually they catch on to everything.
Holtz kidded that if he’s lining up in the backfield more, he needs a more proper number, something in the 30s or 40s as opposed to No. 81.
“I will wear whatever number they want me to wear,” he said. “I think there should be a fullback on every team. Fullbacks are a key position on the offense to run the ball.”
We’ll see if it remains that way for the Bears.
Scouting report
Malcolm Jenkins, Eagles S Information for this report was obtained from NFL scouts.
Malcolm Jenkins, 6 feet and 204 pounds, is in his sixth season with the Eagles after they signed him in free agency in 2014. He spent the first five years of his career with the Saints and has a Super Bowl ring with each team.
Jenkins, 31, leads the Eagles with 58 tackles and has not missed a snap this season. He was tops on the defense with a career-high 136 tackles last season and has been selected to three Pro Bowls.
“He’s an older guy and he doesn’t run like he used to,” the scout said. “At times, he can be beat in coverage because he doesn’t move like he used to, doesn’t have the same range he once did. He’s taken a lot of hits in his career. But he still plays like a leader on the field and he’s excellent versus the run. He’s a very good blitzer in terms of timing and knowing how to set up blocks. Great tackler. He has the ball skills to make plays down the field, but he’s not a guy you want right now in the post.
“One of the things that really hurt them last year is when Rodney McLeod was lost (to a knee injury). Maybe not a big-time name, but he was really dependable for that defense in the post and is good in quarters coverage. When he was out, that kind of exposed Jenkins a little bit. But when Malcolm has a post safety with him — and McLeod is back healthy this season — and he’s got a defensive front and linebackers that can spill the ball to him, he’s still a great downhill player.
“He still has some lateral movement but isn’t the player he used to be. If you don’t have him on that team, Philly would be hurting. He’s really the glue.”