Chicago Bears Sackwatch 2019: Week 8 vs. the Los Angeles Chargers

When facing a premier pass rusher you better have a plan in place to chip, help, hit, double team, or whatever it takes to make that pass rusher uncomfortable. Preferably you do several different things to keep him guessing so he can’t tee off on your quarterback. The Chargers’ Joey Bosa has 35.5 sacks in 43 career games for the Chargers, so that qualifies him as a premier pass rusher, and on Sunday I don’t think the Chicago Bears did enough to make him uncomfortable.

The Bears committed to the run, something that can slow down an edge rusher, and they helped on him every now and again, but Bosa still made an impact. When your pass protection leaves your tackle on an island, you better have a quick strike option for the quarterback. A slant, a quick curl, a back in the flat, all just in case Bosa beats quickly your guy. And on Sunday Bosa directly had a hand in three of the sacks the Bears allowed.

Sackwatch after 7 games

2010 - 31 Martz
2011 - 21 Martz
2012 - 25 Tice
2013 -11 Trestman
2014 - 17 Trestman
2015 - 13 Gase
2016 - 13 Loggains
2017 - 17 Loggains
2018 - 16 Nagy
2019 - 19 Nagy

Sack 16 - First Quarter 11:34 - Joey Bosa
Right tackle Bobby Massie isn’t going to win many pass rush reps against Bosa who has a combination of speed and power that can defeat any tackle. On this play he extends his arm to keep Massie at bay, then just works around him with his speed.

Mitchell Trubisky tried to dart up through the pocket, but he had his left tackle directly in front of him when he did. He also faced pressure from the left edge, and take a look at the slow rush from #54 (Melvin Ingram III). He’s not really rushing as he’s keeping an eye on Trubisky in case of a scramble. This was a bang-bang play and Trubisky had nowhere to run.

Since it was a third and 10, Trubisky had to wait for his receivers to get to the sticks and the pressure just got there in less that 3 seconds. This one is on Massie.

Sack 17 - Second Quarter 11:09 - Roderic Teamer
The dreaded 0 yard sack. I hate them. I also hate the quarterback taking an unnecessary hit on the sideline when a simple chuck out of bounds is allowed.

Oh well...

Trubisky does a nice job in evading the initial pressure, but look at how the Chargers are defending him. Teams are cognizant of his running ability and they have been all year long. He’s not seeing as much man to man, so defenders aren’t turning their backs to the line of scrimmage, and teams are spying him like the above sack and also on this play. Look at the defensive back (Roderic Teamer) just hovering 5 yards off the line of scrimmage. He’s ready for a QB scramble and when Trubisky breaks contain he pounces.

Also keep an eye on the top receiver, Cordarrelle Patterson, who come wide open across the middle. Sure it may have only been a minimal gain, but with Patterson’s speed who knows what could have happened.

This one is on Trubisky.

Sack 18 - Fourth Quarter 9:32 - Team Sack
Even though it was Bosa’s bull rush on left tackle Charles Leno Jr. that spooked Trubisky, him dropping the ball was all on him, and once a fumble happens it goes in the books as a sack and since no one stripped it, it goes down in the books as a team sack.

I don’t like Leno getting bullied back, but Mitch escaped the rush and dropped the football on his own. This one is on Trubisky too.

And then there’s this too...

Sack 19 - Fourth Quarter 2:44 - Joey Bosa
Bosa beat Massie even faster on this play than on the first sack. This time it was all Bosa’s speed after a quick swipe of Massie’s hands.

Uchenna Nwosu (#42), their right defensive end, made a nice inside move after being initially thwarted, and Leno got picked off by some bodies and couldn't stay with him. If Bosa wasn’t so quick to the sack, Nwosu would have got home, but Bosa did it again and this one is on Massie.

2019 Individual Sackwatch after 7 games:

Mitchell Trubisky - 6
Sacks Happen - 3
Bobby Massie - 2
Kyle Long - 2
Chase Daniel - 1.5
Charles Leno Jr. - 1.5
Cody Whitehair - 1
Ted Larsen - 1
James Daniels - 1