1st down and 10 - Shotgun Forte up the middle

[redgrange19]

How many fucking times does this happen, and has it ever gained more than 3 yards? That play needs to be burned out of the playbook.

 

[3rd N Long]

Forte looked awful today but I don't blame it on him. He had to be like the rest of us wondering wtf was with the play calling on the running plays. Detroit is a team the Bears should have run all over against and yet they didn't.

Gase/Fox really blew it today in multiple ways and the Forte up the middle shotgun play got old real fast. You wanna do that shit, how about trying to surprise them and do it on 3rd and 5 when they are thinking pass.

Edit: Needless to say the O-line gets an honorable mention for the running game problems today. No surprise here but I figured I should add it in to help pile onto just how awful they were today.

 

[Monsieur Tirets]

a shotgun run on first down isnt a bad call.

on the other hand, a run on 3rd and 4 with the lead late in the fourth and opportunity to seal it with a first down...

 

[MrOuija]

How many fucking times does this happen, and has it ever gained more than 3 yards? That play needs to be burned out of the playbook.

And Forte always seems to get most of the blame for these inside runs that we haven't been able to block properly since we had Thomas Jones. The OL is better than last year but they don't run or pass block very well.

 

[3rd N Long]

And Forte always seems to get most of the blame for these inside runs that we haven't been able to block properly since we had Thomas Jones. The OL is better than last year but they don't run or pass block very well.

This is some truth right here. Better than last year is correct and still not being good at run blocking or pass blocking is a very fair assessment. Cutler/Forte and the WR/TE tend to help mask the O-line deficiencies.

 

[3rd N Long]

a shotgun run on first down isnt a bad call.

on the other hand, a run on 3rd and 4 with the lead late in the fourth and opportunity to seal it with a first down...

Repeatedly calling the exact same shotgun run play on 1st down is bad. You're correct that calling it on 3rd of 4th down multiple times with a chance to put the game away with a short pass is a failure in coaching. Being able to assess what was working and what wasn't working was a complete failure today. They would have been better off putting Cutler in his Solo Shotgun formation and having a designed scramble somewhere between the tackles. Which I know isn't a great idea but better than the garbage Gase was dialing up. Apparently he's stubborn enough to keep calling the same failed play over and over again in the clutch.

 

[redgrange19]

Yeah, on first down it's not awful. But we run this play far too much, and it's never executed properly. Sometimes you have to call a spade a spade, and throw out a play. It's not like Detroit has a great run stopping defense, so no excuse.

 

[3rd N Long]

Yeah, on first down it's not awful. But we run this play far too much, and it's never executed properly. Sometimes you have to call a spade a spade, and throw out a play. It's not like Detroit has a great run stopping defense, so no excuse.

Well said

It should also be mentioned that their already bottom feeding run defense was missing a couple of its best defensive players. Just to add insult to injury.

 

[Larsonite]

How many fucking times does this happen, and has it ever gained more than 3 yards? That play needs to be burned out of the playbook.

I have been waiting for that play to be kept by Cutler. We did it in the first game but not since. Cutler has a wide open field every time we run that play but haven't taken advantage of that lately. Granted Cutler has been injured or playing at less than 100% but this game could have really used a 1st down or good yardage when we got nothing.

 

[discplayer]

And Forte always seems to get most of the blame for these inside runs that we haven't been able to block properly since we had Thomas Jones. The OL is better than last year but they don't run or pass block very well.

except that Matt is NOT a very good hard yards/short yardage guy. he dances, hesitates and gets stood up oh so many times when the team just need him to get what he possibly can... and he just doesn't. he could have hit a crease, gotten lower and gotten at least 2 or even 4 hard yards out of those plays... but alas, he just doesn't.

the result was 3rd and 4 instead of 3rd and 1 or 2...

as much as i love Matt Forte, if he's not re-signed by the club, i will NOT miss this about his game.

 

[MrOuija]

except that Matt is NOT a very good hard yards/short yardage guy. he dances, hesitates and gets stood up oh so many times when the team just need him to get what he possibly can... and he just doesn't. he could have hit a crease, gotten lower and gotten at least 2 or even 4 hard yards out of those plays... but alas, he just doesn't.

the result was 3rd and 4 instead of 3rd and 1 or 2...

as much as i love Matt Forte, if he's not re-signed by the club, i will NOT miss this about his game.

Forte is not a good short yardage runner not because he dances or hesitates, but because he's a long-legged guy who runs very upright. When the hole is there, he hits it, but the hole is rarely there between the tackles. Langford had the same issues, and so has every other back thats ran here for the last 6-7 years. Our OL don't drive anyone off the LOS, they get in their way and hope Forte can cut back off their blocks.

 

[Jester]

I am sick of the Forte up the middle bullshit every 1st down. I am also sick of the horizontal passing plays and screens to the sidelines. We are always throwing the ball down the line of scrimmage which is simply begging to turn into a pick 6.

 

[Jester]

Forte is not a good short yardage runner not because he dances or hesitates, but because he's a long-legged guy who runs very upright. When the hole is there, he hits it, but the hole is rarely there between the tackles. Langford had the same issues, and so has every other back thats ran here for the last 6-7 years. Our OL don't drive anyone off the LOS, they get in their way and hope Forte can cut back off their blocks.

The difference between Langford and forte is that Langford hits the gaps hard and fast. Forte, in short yardage situations, will come to a complete stop before he hit the LoS. He did this on the 3rd down at the end of the game, forte came to a complete stop running the ball and let the defenders come to him rather than moving the ball forward. I love Forte but that is fucking aggravating.

 

[TreedBear]

The difference between Langford and forte is that Langford hits the gaps hard and fast. Forte, in short yardage situations, will come to a complete stop before he hit the LoS. He did this on the 3rd down at the end of the game, forte came to a complete stop running the ball and let the defenders come to him rather than moving the ball forward. I love Forte but that is fucking aggravating.

Forte score a touchdown doing the exact opposite of what you just explained. He's not Jerome Bettis.

 

[Ares]

I disagree that the play needs to go, but Gase needs to stop telegraphing his playcalls.... we kept running the same runs on the same downs/distances and once they figured it out they were stuffing those runs every time.

And if you are going to call that many inside runs, and you are going to telegraph them, at least put Langford in rather than Forte.... Forte is great at alot of things, running hard inside is not one of those things.

Despite all the other factors, we had multiple chances to win this one and Gase got scurred and turtled up....