Xs and Os
Chicago's Pass Protection
In the NightLink last night I looked at a Brad Biggs article that touched on, among other things, blitz pick ups. More often that not when you see a QB get sacked fans quickly jump to the conclusion that one of the offensive lineman blew an assignment.
While that may be true, it's not always the fault of the specific lineman that was beat on the sack. Seeing as how I'm not privy to the actual O-Line meeting for the Bears at Halas Hall, I'll just make my educated guess on some of the things going on with their pass protection.
28 comments | 5 recs |
Why The 3 Step Drop?
Last year Jay Cutler was sacked 11 times. So far this year Jay Cutler has been sacked... 11 times. I could easily end this post right there, as that's enough to warrant him getting rid of the ball a.s.a.p., but let's dive in a little bit with what goes on in the short passing game.
When you have your QB take a 3 step drop you are asking his receivers to get to their spots quickly and expect the ball right now. The routes the wide-outs run have to be quick. No posts, corners, or flys.
31 comments | 0 recs |
The Bears Blitz
The last couple years the Bears have been near the top in blitzing. Not necessarily in blitzing effectiveness, just near the top in number of times blitzed. They'll bring the linebackers, safeties, and nickleback at most any time. They'll "mug" their LB's up close to the line of scrimmage, they'll line their defensive backs up on the edge, and they'll occasionally run a delay blitz up the middle. They show a lot of different looks in their various blitz packages, but I know an appropriate saying that applies to this;
"Don't confuse activity with accomplishment." The Bears are very active in their blitzing, but is anything really getting done?
22 comments | 0 recs |
Goal Line Option Routes
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When the Bears were on the goal line Sunday in Atlanta, NBC color man Cris Collinsworth did a nice job of pointing out the Falcon safety and the options the Bears have depending on what the receiver and quarterback see. The perspective of each will vary slightly due to the angle each have in looking at their reads, and them being on the same wavelength is critical to running an option route. Many pass routes are called when the play is sent in, but many times the look of the defense determines what the receiver runs.
19 comments | 0 recs |
Don’t Sweat The Technique

Three Technique is a term thrown around be the football "experts" without much explanation. The three technique is one of the defensive tackles in a 4-3 defense. The word "technique" doesn't refer to what a defensive lineman does, but rather to where he lines up. I'm a big NFL Draft fan, and the last few years when ever a defensive lineman is picked and discussed, the "technique" talk starts flowing. I briefly touched on the various technique numbers and gaps across the defensive line in; Tampa 2, Cover 2; What do the Bears do?, but this post will be dedicated to the defensive line. Stuff like those D-Line gaps you hear color analysts talk so much about, and the technique numbers and what's expected from the types of linemen you have at each spot across the line.
In the diagram above the circles represent the offensive line and tight end. There could also be a double tight end formation, the tight end on the left side, or no tight ends at all, any way the offense lines up the technique numbers don't change, nor do the lettered gaps between the offensive line (circles).
22 comments | 5 recs |
Tampa 2, Cover 2; What do the Bears do?

There's been other blogs that looked at what the Bears do defensively, other breakdowns done, but coming from a coaching/teaching perspective, it's best to learn through repetition. I may touch on something that makes sense in a way that was misunderstood before, or I may hit on something that was overlooked in past posts. So what exactly are the Bears trying to do on Defense? Find out after the Jump...
66 comments | 9 recs |
Breaking Down the Play That Ended The Bears' Season
So I thought that I'd give you guys a looksie into the play that ended our season last year.
Week 17 vs Texans....
The play started with the base Tampa-2 with the responsibilities of the base defense shown.

The offense is running an easy I formation, a very common running formation, as evidenced by the fullback and strong side TE. This formation is a power running formation with the fullback typically leading through the 3 or the 5 hole and engageing the linebacker on the second level. Kyle Shanahan sees the Tampa base and employs what coordinators call a cover -2 beater.
Inside we can take a look at the Play....
78 comments | 5 recs |
The 46 Defense
The 46 is a defense that stands alone, it is a base system that has roots only in the old ways (leather helmets and no forward passes). It was developed by Buddy Ryan for use by the Chicago Bears; it is named after the great Doug Plank. It is the only defense that is named after a player not the actual lineup.
77 comments | 0 recs |
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