Chicago Bears Sackwatch 2018: Week 7 vs New England Patriots

Mitchell Trubiksy may have only been sacked twice on Sunday against the New England Patriots, but I thought the Chicago Bears pass protection was sketchy all afternoon. This was partly due to how frequently the Patriots blitzed. According to Pro Football Focus, they blitzed Trubisky on 21 of his 58 total dropbacks, and the blitz harassed him into completing just 5 of 20 passes for 36 yards (and a TD) in those situations. Part of this was some good coverage by New England’s secondary, but moving forward this is an area that Trubisky and head coach Matt Nagy needs to improve on.

Part of slowing down a pass rush and beating the blitz is to run the ball better. Getting Jordan Howard more involved is a must in my opinion. Right now, defenses assume when he’s in on passing situations that he’s blocking. A screen or two a game will force defenses to respect him as a threat.

Sackwatch after 6 games

2010 - 27 Martz
2011 - 19 Martz
2012 - 19 Tice
2013 - 9 Trestman
2014 - 14 Trestman
2015 - 12 Gase
2016 - 12 Loggains
2017 - 13 Loggains
2018 - 14 Nagy

Sack 13 - Second Quarter 14:14 - Deatrich Wise Jr.
When an offensive tackle is stopping a defensive end from getting around him, he’s bracing himself for the defender’s forward push. He has to be ready to move laterally enough to cut off the edge and to stop an inside move. It’s his job to keep his body between his quarterback and the defensive player.

When a quarterback steps up in the pocket, offensive tackles often lose what ever leverage they had, making it impossible to sustain a block.

Keep an eye on left tackle Charles Leno Jr. on this play.

Leno does get walked back a bit too deep, but he stayed between his quarterback and defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. He held him off long enough, but when Trubisky stepped up, Wise reached out for the easy sack. I can’t blame Leno on this one.

Trubisky stepped up, like he’s taught to do, when he felt some pressure to his left. I thought there was a small chance to hit tight end Trey Burton over the middle, but he had to wait for Burton to clear the linebacker, and if he didn’t decide to step up, it would have been a bang-bang throw.

I’ll give this one to Sacks Happen.

Sack 14 - Fourth Quarter 8:25 - Adrian Clayborn
This one is going to be on Leno, however. Adrian Clayborn was left on an island against Leno, and he simply beat him with speed and a nice quick swipe of Leno’s hands.

Clayborn’s timing was perfect. As soon as Leno tried to deliver his punch, Clayborn chopped his hands down, then scooted around the edge. Missing a punch can can throw off a tackle’s balance, and that’s what appeared to happen to Leno.

Individual Sackwatch through 6 games:

Mitchell Trubisky - 4.5
Sacks Happen - 3
Kyle Long - 2
Bobby Massie - 2
Charles Leno Jr. - 1.5
Dion Sims - .5
Eric Kush - .5