Bears Offense and Realistic Timeline

Washington

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-bears-matt-nagy-mitch-trubisky-offense-20180531-story.html#nt=oft02a-1gp4

Matt Nagy couldn’t just cover the Chiefs offense in navy and orange bubble wrap and load it into his moving van to Halas Hall. Their innovative, potent attack is too complex with too many talented players to travel easily. The first-time head coach must re-assemble a new version with the Bears.

Nagy could bring only the thick instructions manual with him from Kansas City. So he has spent the last nine weeks of the offseason program with all the new pieces spread out in front of him, screwing and hammering, beginning with Step 1.

“They understand that in Kansas City it took us five years to get (where) we got to,” he said after a recent practice. “We’re kind of at a pace right now where we have to, at times, pull back and say to yourself: we’re months into this thing, not years. The more reps we can get in practice — whether it’s ... splits, alignments, shifts, motions — the more they can see themselves doing it. That’s what we want.”

That wasn’t the first or even second time Nagy has balanced his excitement about the offense publicly with realism about an extended timeline for building it.

It would be wise, then, to defer to his perspective when thinking ahead to the season and formulating expectations. Anticipating a finished product when the Bears open Sept. 9 against the Packers is wishful thinking.

It’s tempting, of course, to envision Mitch Trubisky slinging perfectly-timed throws to receivers who deftly adjust to coverages while the second-year quarterback operates an option attack that makes the Packers’ restructured defense look slow and confused.

More likely, though, Nagy’s offense will debut in a basic form. By midseason there will be more punch, and even more by season’s end.

Of more importance at this stage, seven weeks before training camp and three months before the season opener, is how enthusiastically Trubisky and his teammates have embraced the methodical growth process.

“Wrong footwork, the wrong read, just not detailing the play out enough — it’s all about learning and getting better each play and every day,” said Trubisky, who described the spring routine as “fun.”

He has progressed enough that the Bears are functional in practice, which is no faint praise. Nagy’s system requires the quarterback to get the offense into a favorable play at the line of scrimmage depending on the defense and then make quick decisions after the snap.

“He’s doing great,” new tight end Trey Burton said. “There might have been one or two times in the huddle we had to reset it because he forgot the terminology, but you would be impressed (considering) how long some of the plays are, all the things he has to say (and) all the things he has to check to and read.”

Backup quarterback Chase Daniel played for the Chiefs in 2013 when coach Andy Reid arrived there and installed the offense from which Nagy’s is derived. Nagy was the quarterbacks coach at the time.

Daniel estimates the Bears have installed 10 times as many plays as the Chiefs had in the spring five years ago. Nagy’s purpose at this stage, which he has referred to as Football 101, is to give Trubisky a lot to digest in order to gauge what he does well.

“The fact that we’re able to get lined up and compete with a defense that has 10 of 11 guys coming back, it’s pretty cool,” Daniel said.

Because Daniel and third-stringer Tyler Bray have years of experience in the scheme, they know during a play to make certain decisions that Trubisky hasn’t been exposed to yet. Those instances have prompted Trubisky to talk through those situations with the veterans.

“He might have the same play two or three times (from) different formations … because you’re going to see it against five different coverages,” Daniel explained. “These are our bread-and-butter plays. So he’s starting to understand, learn it and get to the Football 202, 303. And not only does he have to know what he’s doing, he also has to know what 10 other guys are doing. We’re just growing into it as we go.”

What’s clear through these process-driven spring practices is that excitement about the new offense and realism about the years required for it to mature are not mutually exclusive.

The balance is achieved with a combination of trust in Nagy’s acumen and track record and a collective work ethic that doesn’t shy from the mistake-filled practice sessions that provide the lessons necessary for growth.

Nagy has set the tone for that with how he communicates with players and how he continues to tweak the offense based on what works in practice.

“What Matt has told the team is: Let’s take baby steps,” Daniel said. “We’re not going to try to run before we walk. We need the details of every little thing we do, and then we can add from there.

“We have to set a foundation. We have to set something all guys are comfortable with, and we’re going to rep the crap out of all these plays, all the protections, everything like that. Because if we don’t, we’ll never have a solid foundation to build off. When we get into preseason and Week 1, then we can start adding some more flavor.”

One pillar of that foundation is the partnership between Nagy and Trubisky, which still is forming.

“What’s he’s trying to do is understand how we as coaches want him to think,” Nagy said. “Right now, it’s: let’s test it downfield a little bit. If you’re going to make a mistake and make a poor throw, let’s do it with an aggressive mentality. It’s OK now to make mistakes. We learn from them, we get them on tape and pull back from them during the season and figure out why we made that mistake. Either we stay away from it, or we improve it.”

By now, with three practices remaining this spring, the Bears have done enough that their classroom sessions no longer require video examples of the Chiefs running plays. The Bears watch themselves.

That step in the instructions manual is worth mentioning, but it’s far from the final page showing the finished product. Nagy won’t skip ahead to that end point. In this case, the builder knows best.

rcampbell@chicagotribune.com
 

bearmick

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Five years in and they still can't win in the playoffs. I don't want to be KC mkII. I want them to do their own thing, working to their own players' strengths and keeping the defense strong. I'm excited to see what Mark Helfrich will bring to the playbook. Hopefully a lot.
 

Washington

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Five years in and they still can't win in the playoffs. I don't want to be KC mkII. I want them to do their own thing, working to their own players' strengths and keeping the defense strong. I'm excited to see what Mark Helfrich will bring to the playbook. Hopefully a lot.

I like how quickly Pederson got his team up to speed with the new offense which should be from the same Reid mold.
 

Aquineas

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Here's to the Bears to the playoffs! Good talk.
 

shoopster

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Cue the Bear apologists asking for five years for Nagy at around, oh, Week Four or so . . .
 

bears51/40

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I like how quickly Pederson got his team up to speed with the new offense which should be from the same Reid mold.
Yeah year two in this offense and Philly wins a SB while still in the learning stage.


An advantage we have is Vic's D. Lean on that while the O jells this season.
 

Raskolnikov

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Five years in and they still can't win in the playoffs. I don't want to be KC mkII. I want them to do their own thing, working to their own players' strengths and keeping the defense strong. I'm excited to see what Mark Helfrich will bring to the playbook. Hopefully a lot.


Hmmm...I hear that Bearmick.

You know what? I don't think its a coincedence Nagy targeted somebody from that tree given he talks to Peterson who took over guys from Kelly and would have inherited insights and nomenclature left behind in the culture at the Eagles. Some intelligences of Kelly would have remained behind in a few execs and players. Apparently Nagy valued that tree for a reason and made sure he had it. Then he gets Heistand...or the Bears promised to get him for him as part of the sweeteners in getting nagy to choose us.

I think Nagy probably knows he will get to draft a QB if Paces QB fails whether Pace survives that or not. He basically inherits a guy whose downside I compared to Alex Smith. Trubs is much like a young Alex Smith in that their speed is a weapon, their down field accuracy is a problem, but they are both good athletic processors of real time action, and cerebral leaders who work hard enough to be the master of the offense everyone looks to.

So Nagy starts out with a young spry Alex Smith, with the quickness and agility to run option/orgeon/rpo/stuff or be a pocket passer when needed.

Worst case scenario Nagy gets Trubs and his own QB selection in the bank. Win win for him.
 

Treehorn

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Good post. Fans need to realize this will be a long process. The likelihood is we go 3 and out on our first possession.
 

Bearly

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I like how quickly Pederson got his team up to speed with the new offense which should be from the same Reid mold.

He was lucky to have Wentz who made a lot of positive plays running... sometimes when he shouldn't have. They also had to scale back for Foles to get him comfortable which was some really good coaching all the way around. I think now that this O is more common place and fully developed as a scheme, it should be running on all cylinders by year 3 and with judicious coaching, be quite functional year 1.
 

dabears70

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Click the link to see the projections compared to the other teams that are expected to be as good or as bad as the Bears and their chances of landing the #1 pick in next years draft and the projections of the Bears making the playoffs next year.


https://t.co/RGw8tUU00y


Chicago Bears Odds for Playoffs and 2019 First Overall Pick Revealed

The Chicago Bears odds are wacky going into 2018. That’s to say they don’t seem to have any definitive direction. Are they going to win? Will they suck again? Apparently neither. Or least that’s the way the oddsmakers have made it seem. ESPN conducted a recent collaboration with data-driven website Football Outsiders to reveal their odds for various key NFL events this season.

The two most prominent were who was most likely to make the playoffs and who was most likely to contend for the #1 overall pick in the 2019 draft. There weren’t a ton of surprises in either category. New England, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Green Bay, and Minnesota headlined the postseason contenders. The Browns, Jets, and Cardinals stand as favorite to be the first team picking next year.

So where does this leave the Bears? To paraphrase that Stealers Wheel classic song: stuck in the middle.

Chicago Bears odds unfavorable for both playoffs and #1 pick
If there is an NFL version of purgatory, this would be it. Not good enough to make the playoffs. Not bad enough to get the best possible player in the draft. Just sort of lingering right there in the middle. This is where the numbers seem to stack the Bears up in 2018. Projections have them winning somewhere in the vicinity fo seven games



Their chances of making the playoffs stand at just 12% and winning the division is a mere 6%. Forget the Super Bowl. The Buffalo Bills have more favorable odds than Chicago at this point. That just doesn’t seem right. Still, one can take solace in if this is true then the Bears will certainly be favored in the push for the top pick in the draft yes?

Sorry. Even there they seem to get screwed to a slight degree.



A 5% chance for the top pick and 27% for a top five position. While that ranks 10th among teams in the league it still feels rather weak and a testament to the position they find themselves. Experts no longer believe they’re a bottom dweller thanks to the work done this offseason. At the same time, after years of losing they can’t be trusted with the faith of making a run.

This begs the question. Will the Bears follow the prediction or blow it to smithereens? Fans will have to discuss which they’d prefer. Of course making the playoffs is preferred, but would they rather go 7-9 as an average team or have a shot at the #1 pick? Discuss.



Anthony Miller
@AnthonyMiller_3
Turbo ran 24 mph in practice. ��
 

bearsfootball516

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Continuity helps too. I imagine most offenses don't peak their first year under a new coordinator. The offense gets even better the second year, then the third year is better than the second, etc.
 

Black Rainbow

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Continuity helps too. I imagine most offenses don't peak their first year under a new coordinator. The offense gets even better the second year, then the third year is better than the second, etc.

New OCs was the Cutler excuse by apologists for years.
 

xer0h0ur

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Well thank you resident CCS wet diaper.
 

Black Rainbow

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If this team can get to .500 this coming season you won't hear much complaining from me. I'll probably do a 180 and defend the organization. All I need is a competitive team. Sadly, I think other posters are in for another disappointing 6 or so win season.
 

Mdbearz

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Lots of new toys to play with, including coaching. Hard not to be optimistic, but I fully believe that we will se a lot of running game/dump passes early in the season, with a little more unpredictability.

The defense might have to be the reason we win early on.
 

Bearly

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This begs the question. Will the Bears follow the prediction or blow it to smithereens? Fans will have to discuss which they’d prefer. Of course making the playoffs is preferred, but would they rather go 7-9 as an average team or have a shot at the #1 pick? Discuss.

Stupidest question ever for a team in our situation. After stealing research from ESPN, this is the best he can come up with? Only insight he's got is how he incites this board.
 

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