W17vsGB: Flawed execution

    Even by falling against the Packers for the second time this season, the Bears managed to squeeze into the playoffs as the brand new 7th seed established this year. This only means I get to see this team have at least one more game to see how they desperately try to find their long lost identity.

   Offensively this game was all about the gameplan which seemed to consist in burning the clock by moving the chains in small chunks to keep Aaron rodgers off the field, this was a good plan and was sort of working until the end of the third quarter and even before this the execution of the plan was not performed well enough especially in the running game. The Oline performed very poorly, they could have helped David Montgomery generate bigger gains by blocking better at the second level or just getting there at least but they did not disengage at the right time or not at all sticking with their first assignment too long, the receiver performed even worse especially the TEs making Montgomery and Darnell Mooney try to make people miss or push piles of defenders in bunches. Adding the short passing attack resulted in a lot of third and short opportunities which are not a bad thing but bad execution made these to too many 4th downs. To beat this Packers team the offense needed TDs to reduce the need of the Bears defense to shut the Packers offense down frequently which is not an easy task and was already difficult with Jaylon Johnson missing and then losing Roquan Smith early in the game. The offense failed to do so while trying to maintain this gameplan, they turned three redzone opportunities to FGs, the first one was a tough one because it came after a recovered fumble in Packers territory, it was a big opportunity for the Bears to take an important lead but failed to get the TD and finished taking the FG which was ok at the time because it was still early in the game. The second field goal was because Trubisky failed to punch it in the endzone with a bad throw to Allen Robinson that almost ended in an interception, luck gave them the chance to end up with three more points to end the half.  The third FG was the tough one to swallow, it was made from inside the 5 yard line after a great deep ball from Mitchell Trubisky to Mooney, this was before the defense forced a punt starting the third quarter which was a huge deal to start the second half stopping the Packers form scoring more points, but instead of going for it on 4th and 2 after a pair of really weak lateral passes that got nowhere, Matt Nagy ended deciding to kicking it for only three more point with the score going 21-16 advantage Packers, Nagy the man who wants more TDs less FGs goes for 3 when they were 2 yards away from getting 7 or potentially tying the game against a potent Packers offense led by a future hall of fame QB and down his best middle linebacker and starting corner, it made no sense and cost them the chance of winning the game. The Bears losing the turnover game made a big difference, Cole Kmet´s fumble was a punch in the gut because the Packers didn't mess up and turned it into seven point, almost the same field position the Bears had when they got their only turnover couldn't get the same result. The defense got three chances to pick off Rodgers and couldnt hold on to the ball. Trubisky similarly got picked once, which was the point the game got out of hand, and could have got picked two more times but got dropped by the defense so you could say both QBs had a rough time. So the outcome of the game again was determined by execution, the Bears had a legitimate chance of winning this game and the gameplan, as boring as it was designed, was working and ultimately didn't work because this team is badly coached and is lacking depth in some positions.

   Next against the Saint will probably won't be like the first time, lessons will be learned by either team and players will be lacking and others added to this match by both sides, the Bears will not benefit by these changes, they might have Johnson back but will be without Smith and Mooney, two big key players. Saints will get a better healed Drew Brees with also a recovered Michael Thomas, they will likely have Alvin Kamara back from his COVID designation, so offensively they will be in full force. The Bears need to focus on Kamara, they need to pressure Brees with only their four linemen, they need to play man coverage more often because if they want to get far this postseason they need to get more aggressive, this vanilla concept Chuck Pagano is playing only works when the offense is putting points on the board. They can play it like they did against the Packers and play it safe and simple, it might work this time around but this was something they should have started doing during the early part of the season when they understood what team this coaching staff had on their hands, now they are playing against powerhouse teams that know how to score, they need to go toe to toe with them and for that they will have to gamble on occasions and take risks, I would start early in the game defensively by blitzing often, offensively running the ball is not a bad idea, open the field for the receivers and for Trubisky to run the ball, then you go from there, adjust to the game and finish strong. It's too late (or should be to late) to protect your job at this stage of the season, it's time to go all out or go home.