3 observations from rewatching the Chicago Bears’ Week 8 loss, including a defensive vulnerability in the red zone and slight improvement in the running game
Coaches come out of every game wanting a call or two back, and the bet here is Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano would go with a different strategy at the end of the second quarter when the New Orleans Saints struck with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Jared Cook with 3 seconds remaining.
The Bears defense has been excellent in the red zone all season and ranks No. 1 in the league, allowing touchdowns on only 40% of their opponents’ possessions inside the 20. The Saints were 1 of 4, but Cook’s touchdown drew them within 13-10 at halftime.
It was the fifth straight game in which the Saints closed the first half with a score, and it came quickly after the Bears got a 29-yard field goal from Cairo Santos with 1:39 remaining.
“That’s huge,” Saints quarterback Drew Brees said. “You almost view it as stealing a possession. Especially when you don’t give the other team an opportunity to come on the field and try to answer.
“It does a lot for momentum, certainly in a situation where we had a good first drive, go down and get a field goal, but then they score 13 unanswered points. We really needed some points, something good to happen there prior to the half. So just great all-around execution by everyone to get that done.”
Here are three observations from rewatching the Fox telecast via the NFL GamePass subscription service, beginning with the Saints’ lone red-zone score, plus some interesting numbers in terms of playing time.
1. The Bears were in Cover-3 on Jared Cook’s touchdown, and the veteran tight end had a ton of room to work the middle of the field.
Wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith was running a deep over route, and when he crossed the face of free safety Eddie Jackson, Jackson had to vacate his spot. Cook ran a post route behind it, and cornerback Jaylon Johnson needed to squeeze down on the route. But Johnson didn’t have any safety help, and the linebacker on the play side, Danny Trevathan, didn’t get the necessary depth to partially close the window. That allowed Drew Brees to deliver the ball on a line to Cook.
Cover-3 is a tough defense to execute in the red zone because there are too many windows to attack and influence underneath defenders and the post safety in order to throw deep seam balls. Especially in this instance, when anything that stopped short of the goal line was a win for the Bears as it would have forced the Saints to use their final timeout and kick a field goal. The Bears were begging them to throw it underneath.
There is not a lot of room down there, so quarters coverage or some version of split safety play in the secondary works to take away the seams on the inside while using the sidelines and the boundary at the back of the end zone as extra defenders.
2. The running game woes were not solved with one 38-yard dash by David Montgomery, but it’s fair to say there was progress.
The Saints defense entered the game ranked No. 4 in the league versus the run. Let’s look at three third-down runs, including the big one that is Montgomery’s longest this season.
3rd-and-1 at Bears 48: A team with a sturdy running game could line up in 13 or 21 personnel and hammer the ball to move the chains. What the Bears do is shift. They start in an I-formation, so it’s 21 personnel with Cordarrelle Patterson as a running back. Tight end Cole Kmet shifts to the opposite side, and then Patterson shifts out of the backfield to become a slot wide receiver. Pre-snap, Patterson goes into orbit motion and heads into the backfield, and that makes Montgomery the offset fullback in the formation. Patterson’s motion works as it influences Davis’ downhill path, and Montgomery sneaks by him for a 38-yard gain as the Saints are in Cover-1 and the middle of the field is wide open. Right tackle Jason Spriggs washes down defensive end Marcus Davenport. It’s a really nice play, a creative element in the running game for Matt Nagy.","type":"text
3rd-and-3 at Bears 18: Montgomery gains only 1 yard on an outside zone run. He bends the ball back immediately, and it could be because Jordan pushes tight end Jimmy Graham into the backfield off the snap. Montgomery has nowhere to go on the inside and maybe could have found daylight to the front side of the play had he kept going. But seeing Jordan shove Graham and Hendrickson get vertical penetration against right guard Germain Ifedi probably influences him to bend it back side. He gets stuck and has to shift gears and work laterally, and that’s how we’ve seen too many runs end.","type":"text
The Bears finished with 96 yards on 23 carries, a 4.2 average — but a 2.6 average if you remove the long run from Montgomery. But considering where the offense was coming from in the previous weeks, it was a step in the right direction.
The Bears finished with 96 yards on 23 carries, a 4.2 average — but a 2.6 average if you remove the long run from Montgomery. But considering where the offense was coming from in the previous weeks, it was a step in the right direction.
3. For the second time in the Matt Nagy era — and only the second time since the start of the 2015 season — the Bears have allowed nine sacks in two games.
The Saints dropped Nick Foles five times, two coming in overtime. It was a combination of issues. The Saints had air-tight coverage on some of the pressures. There were breakdowns by the offensive line. Foles failed to pull the ball down and run or get rid of it.
The last time the Bears had nine sacks in two weeks was when Chase Daniel replaced Mitch Trubisky for Weeks 12 and 13 of the 2018 season in road games against the Lions and Giants. The Rams sacked Foles four times last week.
Here’s a look at the five Saints sacks Sunday.
3rd-and-9 at Bears 27: There’s really nowhere to go with the ball, but right tackle Jason Spriggs doesn’t block anyone. The Saints are playing Cover-1 robber with safety Malcolm Jenkins in man coverage versus tight end Cole Kmet and linebacker Demario Davis in coverage versus Montgomery. When Montgomery stays in to block, Davis can add to the pass rush. Jenkins can go when he sees Kmet block Cam Jordan, giving the Saints six pass rushers. Davis waits for Spriggs to turn and then goes untouched. The delayed pressures combined with the coverage worked for the Saints. ","type":"text
2nd-and-10 at Saints 40: It’s only a four-man rush, but Jordan uses speed up the field, which forces Spriggs to open his hips, and then Jordan beats him back inside. It looked like Spriggs was in concrete.","type":"text
2nd-and-6 at Bears 23: Nagy dials up the same play call that resulted in the 50-yard pass to Darnell Mooney in the second quarter. It’s play action with split flow zone and a double post with Anthony Miller on the inside, Mooney outside of him and Allen Robinson running a deep crosser. Safety Marcus Williams works to the top and he isn’t going to get beat deep again. Foles pulls it down and has nowhere to go. It’s a coverage sack.","type":"text
3rd-and-10 at Bears 31: The Saints have excellent coverage again and Foles can probably gain yardage if he pulls it down right away and runs, though maybe not enough to move the sticks. He’s in a tough spot because he doesn’t want to turn it over, but trying for a first down would have been better than taking the sack by Trey Hendrickson.","type":"text
Examining the playing time numbers
Examining the playing time numbers
30: Fellow rookie Cole Kmet also got a season high with four more snaps than he had in the Week 3 win in Atlanta.","type":"text
57: Snaps for inside linebacker Danny Trevathan, who had maybe his best game of the season even though he was on the field for only 73% of the snaps, a season low. He was subbed out for nickel cornerback Buster Skrine and occasionally dime cornerback DeAndre Houston-Carson.","type":"text
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