WCG Match-Up Post: Grades and Reviews for Week 12

He didn’t. He hasn’t. He never will.

What he’s done is change the focus of the offense. No longer is it a purely “Saddle Up, I’m Going Long” gunslinger type of offense, though those elements still exist at points.

He’s starting to get a feel for a West Coast style of offense.

Nobody is ever going to call the West Coast offense simple, will they?

But look at what’s happened since the Redskins game. Short passes. Quick timing routes. Using receivers’ speed and route and formation combinations to create YAC. Relying on his run game, which finally decided to break through. Using his players to the best of their strengths, not their weaknesses.

He’s finally discovered that Hester is not a pure #1 type WR. I see him mostly playing in the slot these days.

He’s finally discovered that Knox isn’t a precise route runner. His routes have been largely simplified and shortened.

He’s finally discovered that Bennett is a precise route runner with excellent hands, even though his size and speed aren’t ideal. He’s running the complex routes in this offense, and has been playing mostly on the outside.

He’s finally discovered that Greg Olsen is a FANTASTIC short yardage receiver. Though he only had 1 catch on 1 target, it was a doozy. I’m seeing Olsen running shorter routes over the middle and starting to block downfield.

He’s finally discovered that Matt Forte exists and is excellent in space. I’m seeing fewer and fewer pure gut runs, and more runs involving sweeps, pulls, and misdirection. One of those was the 61 yard run in the first that set the tone for the offense.

He’s finally discovered that our offensive line is junk for inline blocking. He’s switched the offense from pure homerun to a hybrid of Coryell and West Coast.

It only took him 8 weeks to discover all of this.

I’m waiting for him to actually put balance into the play calls. Because he only called 21 rushes to 28 passes (not including the kneeldowns). The reason the rushing total was higher was because Jay Cutler is an escape artist, and works very well in space, much like the rest of this team.

I’m also waiting for the designed rollout and bootleg to become a more prominent part of our offense. From what I saw, it looked like most of the passing plays happening outside the pocket were a result of a gaffe in the offensive line more than a design feature. Jay Cutler is at his best when he’s outside the pocket and improvising with his receivers. Let him play that way. Run him outside the pocket more often, and you’ll see those third-and-longs get converted more often.

Most importantly, DON’T REVERT!!! Keep on calling your offense like this. Continue on this trajectory towards the West Coast Coryell hybrid that’s been successful. Install the bootlegs and rollouts that Cutler loves running. Create unique running plays that confuse the defense. Most importantly, remove the seven-step-drop from your offensive playbook. It doesn’t work in today’s NFL.