Chicago Bears: Week 14 Gameplan

[Relapse]

Forget trying to stop Tom Brady and the New England passing game, it is not going to happen, we need to focus on keeping the play in front of us and contain the yards after the catch. Our secondary has made a living most of the season by not allowing the big play down the field and we need to make sure Brandon Tate does not get behind our safeties. Stick to the "bend but not break" mentality and just focus limiting the Patriots to field goals and keep them out of the end zone. Also we cannot allow the Patriots to establish the run, we need to shut down Green-Ellis and keep the attack one-dimensional against us. We cannot rely on creating turnovers this week either because Tom Brady has only thrown 4 picks on the year.

I do not see our offense being able to run the ball against the Patriots defensive front. Wilfork, Warren, Spikes, and Mayo are stout against the run and there is no reason to keep wasting downs for no gain trying to run on them, instead look at screens and swing passes to Matt Forte to keep the Patriots defense off balance. The Patriots pass rush is very pedestrian and Mayo and Spikes have trouble covering the middle of the field, I think we need to exploit this by getting Greg Olsen and Earl Bennett involved in some quick shallow slant routes as much as possible to take advantage of the speed they have over Mayo and Spikes. Jay Cutler is going to have to have an efficient game while throwing the ball 35-45 times this week.

Field position was an issue last game for us, we cannot allow Tate and Edelman to be as successful as Stefan Logan was last week because Tom Brady will make you pay a lot more than Drew Stanton did if you give the Patriots good field position. I think the Patriots might be the best team in the NFL right now but they have enough weaknesses that I defiantly could see the Bears taking advantage and coming away with a victory. I think the most important factor for this week is if Mike Martz can put together an effective and efficient game plan that will be able to keep pace with the Patriots offense.

 

[TopekaRoy]

I agree with you almost completely. The only place I disagree, a little bit, is here:

I do not see our offense being able to run the ball against the Patriots defensive front.

The Patriots defense is actually ranked 19th against the rush, giving up 114.1 yds per game. Of course the Bears are only ranked 22nd averaging 107.5 yds per game, so running the ball against them will by no means be easy, but I think the Bears still have to try, even if they don't have much success with it. It has been a more balanced offense that has led to the Bears winning 5 games in a row and I think it would be foolish to abandon the run at this point.

Running the ball (at lest trying to) forces the defense to work harder and prevents them from just dropping 7 back and taking away our passing attack. The Eagles are ranked 13th at 103.0 yds per game and the Bears did well with a balanced attack against them. The Vikings (4th at 92ypg), Cowboys (15th at 107.8 ypg) and Packers (18th at 111.3 ypg) as well as the Eagles, are all, statistically at least, better than the Pats at defending the run and the Bears are 4-0 against those teams.

Of course, in order to run the ball the Bears will have to be leading or at least close to tied with the Patriots, and that's where the defense has to come through.

It's going to take great play from all three phases of the game with no momentary lapses, like the 2 play 91 yard drive the Bears gave up to the Lions last week, in order for the Bears to win, but at home, with the division lead and possibly making the playoffs on the line, I think the Bears have a good chance of pulling it off.

Good post, Relapse, and I mostly agree with your analysis.

 

[Anytime23]

I dont agree with not even trying to run the ball. Every week we have a few no gainers but when we continue to try and establish the run, it slowly starts to come around and it sets up the play action which has been ultra effective.

But the best way at stopping the Pats offense is to keep them on the sidelines, point blank period.

 

[Relapse]

I dont agree with not even trying to run the ball. Every week we have a few no gainers but when we continue to try and establish the run, it slowly starts to come around and it sets up the play action which has been ultra effective.

But the best way at stopping the Pats offense is to keep them on the sidelines, point blank period.

Very true statement, but I don't think we can afford the usual amount of three and out drives we normally see out of our team this week. We are going to need to keep pace with the Patriots. Maybe more creativity in the run game that Martz has showed of late is the answer, like the Flip 50 play that has been effective for us.

 

[Nick34]

I hope we can contain Randy Moss

 

[Relapse]

I hope we can contain Randy Moss

Should not be a problem considering Randy Moss plays for the Tennessee Titans. Where have you been? The Patriots traded Randy Moss to the Vikings months ago, the Vikings then waived Moss and the Titans picked him up.

 

[thedude33]

The Pats don't have much of a pass rush, or at least that's what people say. But they do have a pretty good rookie corner so I don't think the Bears should go deep. They should try to beat the Pats at their game - short throws + YAC + solid run game = win.

 

[thedude33]

Should not be a problem considering Randy Moss plays for the Tennessee Titans. Where have you been? The Patriots traded Randy Moss to the Vikings months ago, the Vikings then waived Moss and the Titans picked him up.

Nick is a rehtard.

 

[Nick34]

Should not be a problem considering Randy Moss plays for the Tennessee Titans. Where have you been? The Patriots traded Randy Moss to the Vikings months ago, the Vikings then waived Moss and the Titans picked him up.

well that's a relief...well in that case The Pats base defense is a 2-gap 3-4. They're not particularly aggressive on defense, it's more of a bend don't break style that tries to limit big plays, force the opponent to make a long dive and eventually a mistake. The corners and safeties stay on one side of the field as opposed to playing against a specific receiver. CB Devin McCourty has been playing very well. Biggest concern heading into the season was the pass rush, and that is still true now.

Statistically the Pats defense is awful but the numbers are a bit deceiving. Much of that yardage has come late in the 4th quarter when New England had a safe lead. An example would be the win at Pittsburgh; nearly half the Steelers' yardage came in the last 8 minutes after the game was basically over. Third down defense hasn't been great either but they seem to be coming up with stops when needed more and more as the season progresses. Not really surprising as the Patriots have six players starting on defense for the first time in their NFL this year.

On offense the team has become much more efficient since trading Randy Moss. It's kind of a return to the first half of last decade with Brady spreading the ball around to many players, rather than relying only only two as was the case the last three years. Patriots most commonly line up in a 2WR, 2TE, 1RB set, but you'll see lots of different formations and personnel out there. TE Alge Crumpler has really helped a lot in both the running game and pass protection. Same is very true with the return of LG Logan Mankins.

One of the biggest factors in the team's success this year has been turnovers. Patriots have 23 takeaways - 8th best in the NFL and just three fewer than the Bears. But on offense they have turned the ball over an NFL lowest nine times. Overall the Patriots have a +14 turnover differential, just one behind league leader Philadelphia. The Pats have not turned the ball over in four straight games and have not thrown a pick in seven straight games. Brady's only thrown four picks all year, and one was on a hail mary to end the half. The ability to force turnovers while limiting them on offense has been a huge factor in the winning record this season.

 

[thedude33]

Yeah they don't have a "star" WR like Moss but the guys they have run really precise routes.

 

[AtomicTommy]

We need to stick with the run and stay in Brady's face. That's about the only way we are going to win this game. Fortunately we haven't been abandoning the run since the bye week and Forte is starting to look like the Forte of old when given enough attempts. But we need not be afraid to send the blitz and keep Brady on his toes. We need to force Brady to make those rare mistakes. Keep sending DJ in if we have to. The second you let Brady get comfortable back there, it's over.

Also, it'd be nice if the D plays in the first half.

 

[Nick34]

turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. the number of giveaways and takeaways needs to be equal...even if it's zero for both, it must be equal

 

[unpreDITKAble]

We need to stick with the run and stay in Brady's face. That's about the only way we are going to win this game. Fortunately we haven't been abandoning the run since the bye week and Forte is starting to look like the Forte of old when given enough attempts. But we need not be afraid to send the blitz and keep Brady on his toes. We need to force Brady to make those rare mistakes. Keep sending DJ in if we have to. The second you let Brady get comfortable back there, it's over.

Also, it'd be nice if the D plays in the first half.

We dont need to necessarily stick to the run, but i would say keep it balanced. I don't like how ESPN claims if we run the ball we can win.. well yeah no shit, but thats if our o-line can produce holes/blocks and forte can actually produce some positive yardage. Right now Jay Cutler has been making clutch 3rd down conversions and keeping defenses on their feet with quick passes to the flats; and i'll tell ya the least, new england fans are def scared of it just like how we are.

As for the blitzes, Brady's an elite quarterback - they dwell on picking up blitzes and can find the open receiver in less than 2 seconds.. (we're talking about Tom Brady and Belichick here) If we continue to blitz a safety (usually moore over manning) then we give Brady too many options. Brady's biggest weakness is being suseptible to a 4 man rush (which we are VERY capable of doing) and leave everyone else into coverage. Our defense dwells on speed and to force the Quarterback to throw into very tight windows. If we can get pressure with just the front 4 I think we have a very good chance.