Thoughts and Observations: Week 4 Bucs

[WindyCity]

Thoughts and Observations: Week 4 Bucs

Offense

-Where to start this breakdown? This was what the Bears needed, Nagy needed, Trubisky needed, and fans needed. They needed a sign that this thing could work and what they got was a explosion and beat down of the Bucs and an offensive explosion that most of us have never seen. This won't be what it always looks like all the time, but if they can consistently be 75% of that the Bears are a playoff team.

-Mitch needed this game. Mitch needed some affirmation and reward for his hard work and something he could build off of. It is like he exercised most of his demons in one day. Struggling with staying in the pocket, he looked confident and had nice footwork. Struggling with deeper passes, he completed 8 over 20 yards and 6 over 30 yards and was dropping them in. This was Mitch beating up on a bad defense, but he needed it. Everyone wanted to see the flash game and they got it.

-I thought the play calling was exceptional and the best part about it was that Mitch was not missing them. The wheel routes abusing the Bucs Pro Bowl LBs, the perfectly timed screens, the always getting Gabriel deep from the slot, the misdirection, it was all what modern offense looked like. I have begged for years to have a play calling advantage in our coach and that is what it looks like when you play caller depantses the opposing coach.

-Jordan Howard was not highly involved, which killed my fantasy team, but was more of a creation of Nagy finding a mismatch with Cohen and the passing game and mercilessly pounding the Bucs with it.


-For the first 3 weeks I think that people wondered if Cohen was being used in the right ways, this game seemed to be the perfect usage. I think 13 carries is a bit more than we want long term, but he was having success on the ground and a bunch of those came killing the clock before the field goal at the end of the half.

-One of the staples of the Chiefs offense is that they go vertical from the slot. Albert Wilson, Travis Kelce, and Tyreek Hill, all did this under Matt Nagy. This forces teams to cover vertical routes with a S, LB or NB, unless they want to disrupt their defense and move a top CB inside. Gabriel again was causing issues for teams with the vertical routes from the slot. We have seen Mitch miss him against Seattle and Arizona, but he hit him today. This is such a difficult concept to cover.

-Trey Burton on the vertical was a really nice play and showed the physicality mismatch and then Mitch did a nice job of finding him uncovered and with a ton of room to run. It is such a critical position to the offense and seeing the big plays was a nice start.

-The throw to Allen Robinson was a dime.

-I have been one that has written off and given up on Kevin White and he is never going to be a top 3 WR for this team, but his blocking was exceptional yesterday, his effort was exceptional and he had key blocks on a number of big passing plays. Good for Kevin contributing even if he is not catching passes.

-Dion Sims is still useless.

-Charles Leno continues his strong play at LT. The sack was really Bobbie Massie's quick pressure forcing Mitch into JPP. The rest of the game we did not hear from JPP unless he was making tackles down field. Leno has been another shrewd early re-signing from Pace because he is playing better than a 9 million dollar OT.

-Seeing James Daniels was nice. I thought he had some really nice blocks and the fact that they are starting the transition from Kush to Daniels should only make the offense better. There was one play where Daniels pulled right and sealed the edge with a beautiful athletic pull and you saw what could happen in the outside run game and screen game with him in the game.

-Bobbie Massie gets beat, but he usually does to the outside and it usually is not quick pressure, which QBs can work around.

 

[WindyCity]

-Khalil Mack has changed not only how fans and media think about this team, but it has changed how they think about themselves. I said when the trade was made that it would show the locker room a massive amount of faith from the front office in terms of what they could be and it seems to have had that trickle down effect. Mack is incredible and it is creating sacks, TFLs, and interceptions for other players. All of a sudden those players are walking a couple inches taller, playing a little more aggressive, and making big plays.

-Akiem Hicks 1 on 1 vs a RG is probably one of the most unfair matchups in the NFL right now. His ejection was stupid, but what can you do we know he runs a little hot.

-Bilal Nichols appears to be another day 3 draft steal for Pace who is doing it every year right now. He comes off a huge 3rd down-game saving run stop against the Cardinals and then comes in and goes sack, huge TFL against the Bucs. is power and explosion are perfect for this system and the contributions he is giving are awesome.

-RRH continues to show up and prove that he is more than most OGs can handle in 1 on 1 pass blocking situations. Huge UDFA find for Pace.


-Bullard and Goldman were solid against the run.


-Aaron Lynch is like finding a 20 in the couch cushions. I had written him off in camp when he could not get on the field. I didn't think he would bring much to the team and against GB he seemed to confirm that with a pretty lame effort. In the last 3 weeks he has 2 sacks and an interception and seems to ahve cemented himself as the 3rd OLB. The Bears went from having 0 OLBs you can rely on, to having 3 play at a high level.

-Leonard Floyd is not getting on the sack sheet, but he is doing a lot of things well. He has played the run exceptionally well. He has been good in pass coverage and at times has had nice rushes. I think with health he will start to produce the sack numbers we are expecting. It is also difficult to sack the QB when Mack and Hicks are already there.

-People will talk about the quiet start for Roquan or a lack of splash plays, but he is doing exactly what he is suppose to do. He tracks down run plays and he is elite in coverage. A huge reason that the Bears have been so dynamic on defense is that their ILBs can take away underneath throws and force the QB to hold the ball and take more risks.

-Trevathan with another strong game and continues to be in place to make plays.

-Eddie Jackson might be a star. He should have 3 interceptions this season and he continues to lurk at FS and just attack the ball in the air. Another huge day 3 pick for Pace.

-Amos is solid and unspectacular. My guess is his next contract will not reflect that and I do not think it will be with the Bears. Good player, but I think the guy next to him will be great.

-Bryce Callahan should be approached about a contract extension. His play in the slot is very under rated.

-Kyle Fuller with another strong game.

-Kevin Tolliver to me was a pleasant surprise. We knew the Bucs would target him and I thought he held up really well. The deep Jackson pass was a really nice play and he peaked in the backfield a little, but other than that I thought he was there to contest throws and was physical in tackling and punishing dudes for catching the ball. Good start for him.

-I think one of the truly under rated things about Pace is his ability to find contributing players as UDFAs, and not just guys who play a year or 2 [Timu, Anderson, HJQ], I mean guys who are legit players and 2nd contract guys.

Year 1: Meredith, Callahan
Year 2: RRH
Year 3: Coward
Year 4: Tolliver?

 

[mikeyk]

Thoughts and Observations: Week 4 Bucs

Offense

-Where to start this breakdown? This was what the Bears needed, Nagy needed, Trubisky needed, and fans needed. They needed a sign that this thing could work and what they got was a explosion and beat down of the Bucs and an offensive explosion that most of us have never seen. This won't be what it always looks like all the time, but if they can consistently be 75% of that the Bears are a playoff team.

-Mitch needed this game. Mitch needed some affirmation and reward for his hard work and something he could build off of. It is like he exercised most of his demons in one day. Struggling with staying in the pocket, he looked confident and had nice footwork. Struggling with deeper passes, he completed 8 over 20 yards and 6 over 30 yards and was dropping them in. This was Mitch beating up on a bad defense, but he needed it. Everyone wanted to see the flash game and they got it.

-I thought the play calling was exceptional and the best part about it was that Mitch was not missing them. The wheel routes abusing the Bucs Pro Bowl LBs, the perfectly timed screens, the always getting Gabriel deep from the slot, the misdirection, it was all what modern offense looked like. I have begged for years to have a play calling advantage in our coach and that is what it looks like when you play caller depantses the opposing coach.

-Jordan Howard was not highly involved, which killed my fantasy team, but was more of a creation of Nagy finding a mismatch with Cohen and the passing game and mercilessly pounding the Bucs with it.


-For the first 3 weeks I think that people wondered if Cohen was being used in the right ways, this game seemed to be the perfect usage. I think 13 carries is a bit more than we want long term, but he was having success on the ground and a bunch of those came killing the clock before the field goal at the end of the half.

-One of the staples of the Chiefs offense is that they go vertical from the slot. Albert Wilson, Travis Kelce, and Tyreek Hill, all did this under Matt Nagy. This forces teams to cover vertical routes with a S, LB or NB, unless they want to disrupt their defense and move a top CB inside. Gabriel again was causing issues for teams with the vertical routes from the slot. We have seen Mitch miss him against Seattle and Arizona, but he hit him today. This is such a difficult concept to cover.

-Trey Burton on the vertical was a really nice play and showed the physicality mismatch and then Mitch did a nice job of finding him uncovered and with a ton of room to run. It is such a critical position to the offense and seeing the big plays was a nice start.

-The throw to Allen Robinson was a dime.

-I have been one that has written off and given up on Kevin White and he is never going to be a top 3 WR for this team, but his blocking was exceptional yesterday, his effort was exceptional and he had key blocks on a number of big passing plays. Good for Kevin contributing even if he is not catching passes.

-Dion Sims is still useless.

-Charles Leno continues his strong play at LT. The sack was really Bobbie Massie's quick pressure forcing Mitch into JPP. The rest of the game we did not hear from JPP unless he was making tackles down field. Leno has been another shrewd early re-signing from Pace because he is playing better than a 9 million dollar OT.

-Seeing James Daniels was nice. I thought he had some really nice blocks and the fact that they are starting the transition from Kush to Daniels should only make the offense better. There was one play where Daniels pulled right and sealed the edge with a beautiful athletic pull and you saw what could happen in the outside run game and screen game with him in the game.

-Bobbie Massie gets beat, but he usually does to the outside and it usually is not quick pressure, which QBs can work around.

You should update your sig to show what the first 16 starts look like for each QB now, lol. Great thread though bro, excellent write-up.

 

[DC]

Waiting all night for this, Windy! Break it down, playa!

 

[Briggs is GOAT]

I hope that this game will give Trubisky more confidence in the deep ball. He made all the throws yesterday and maybe he just needed to prove to himself that he could. He did everything right yesterday. I hope this could make him more consistent and a little more consistency from him would give the bears the scores they need to win games without the defense carrying them. He played about as well as any QB has this season, and maybe this will be a bit of a turning point. I don't expect him to be elite or anything now, but I think the added confidence will make him a bit better.

 

[dennehy]

I noticed that Daniels play on the pull as well. Perfect pull and a great block.

 

[Hawkeye OG]

I noticed that Daniels play on the pull as well. Perfect pull and a great block.

If you want to win, put Daniels in.

 

[FirstTimer]

My favorite replay of a small moment from the game was on the Eddie Jackson pick; they showed a field level view and Adrian Amos was starting the play damn near in the end zone at the start of the play. It's almost like they want him to stay the hell away from the action and not mess anything up.

 

[dafridge72]

Bryce Callahan was another UDFA find as well for Pace

 

[Kazu2324]

Good stuff Windy, always appreciate your work! Very happy about the Bears win! That was an absolute thing of beauty to watch yesterday!

 

[modo]

My favorite replay of a small moment from the game was on the Eddie Jackson pick; they showed a field level view and Adrian Amos was starting the play damn near in the end zone at the start of the play. It's almost like they want him to stay the hell away from the action and not mess anything up.

you are angering the PFF gods....

 

[Navy Orange Ninja]

Great write up! Agree with all. Favorite part was your in-depth analysis of Dion Simms... spot on!

 

[Chicago4Life]

great write up and i agree that amos is likely the odd man out, bush likely becomes the guy next season

 

[Les Grossman]

Something very interesting on TB's part:

"In the first half, when Trubisky did most of his damage with five touchdowns, Tampa Bay dialed zero blitzes and pressured him only three times."

I don't know why they didn't try to blitz the hell out of #10...?

 

[Bearsgonewild]

Good post. Great game for Mitch going forward. He has to know, see and believe he can and has done it. He now, after game 4, has. I cannot wait for some of his "wondering deer eyes" looks he has going into plays, to become, "I will carve you up now" eyes.

Also, I personally blame our killer defense - looking at you Mr Mack (seriously, a gift from the NFL gods)! for not allowing a shootout, so Mitch could have had 7 or 8 touchdowns on the day. JK of course, haha.

 

[HearshotKDS]

Good breakdown, a couple of things I saw:

* Nichols - Another big game in limited snaps from the rookie. Right now he has a ferocious bull rush when he gets inside leverage on his man. That's his only move right now, but he's good at it. One thing he needs to learn (over the next 3 seasons) is either/or an inside "shed+rip" counter move; and a "disengage+spin". Hicks has a beautiful disengage+spin that he uses to shed linemen once he gets quick penetration early on in a play. If Nichols can just study that he will have the tools needed to be in the league for a few contracts.

* Abusing mismatches - The Offense's game plan against TB was: TB has no answer to Cohen, move him around the formation and take advantage of the matchup. TB had an injured secondary, at the start of the game they covered Cohen with LBers. 2 wheel routes and 50 yards later, they stopped putting LBers on Cohen. When they put a CB on Cohen, the Bears pounded the ball on the ground. When they moved a S on Cohen, the Bears targeted other receivers like Burton/Gabriel who no longer had S help over the top. The Bears have 2 guys who present positional mismatches on Offense - Burton and Cohen. Some teams will have an absolute stud at NB, S, or LB who can actually handle the 1v1 with these guys. Bust most won't, and if the Bears can take advantage of the mismatches these players create then it will go a long way to a successful year.

* Floyd is never going to be a primary pass rusher, it's not his strongest skill set and his body type may be too thin to be an everydown pass rushing type. But whether by design or blind luck, Floyd may be the best possible type of LB to pair with Mack. Floyd is active in coverage, his speed is felt in pursuit in the run game, and his versatility means you can have him do anything on any down. In a defense where 99% of the time 3 DL and Mack are rushing the passer, you don't need Von Miller as the other OLB who drops in coverage on 60% of snaps.

 

[Chicago4Life]

Something very interesting on TB's part:

"In the first half, when Trubisky did most of his damage with five touchdowns, Tampa Bay dialed zero blitzes and pressured him only three times."

I don't know why they didn't try to blitz the hell of of #10...?

its likely the same reason why the steelers didnt blitz the ravens last night...blitzing tends to work when you have a strong secondary to support in case the blitz doesnt get home. the bucs did it against the steelers and got burned most notably conte getting pummeled by mcdonald for a TD.

 

[Outlaw Josey Cutler]

Something very interesting on TB's part:

"In the first half, when Trubisky did most of his damage with five touchdowns, Tampa Bay dialed zero blitzes and pressured him only three times."

I don't know why they didn't try to blitz the hell of of #10...?

His play against the blitz in ARIZ was particularly awful. (no hot reads either as I saw receivers go past the sticks without looking back/ unaware of the edge rushers bobbing before the snap)

I said that the word is out you blitz this guy and he eats sacks, fumbles trying to scramble, etc.

If TB didn't, others will. Bank on it. It's coming. I have faith that Nagy will give him more hot reads and he will have confidence in calling out the audibles. If this offense continues to click in the face of tougher D, playoffs for sure.

 

[casinnova]

His play against the blitz in ARIZ was particularly awful. (no hot reads either as I saw receivers go past the sticks without looking back/ unaware of the edge rushers bobbing before the snap)

I said that the word is out you blitz this guy and he eats sacks, fumbles trying to scramble, etc.

If TB didn't, others will. Bank on it. It's coming. I have faith that Nagy will give him more hot reads and he will have confidence in calling out the audibles. If this offense continues to click in the face of tougher D, playoffs for sure.

Nagy also seemed to have called more higher protection plays. How do you blitz against an 8 man protection? Just sayin, the OLine and the play caller all kept Trubs clean.

 

[modo]

Nagy also seemed to have called more higher protection plays. How do you blitz against an 8 man protection? Just sayin, the OLine and the play caller all kept Trubs clean.

a couple plays here and there were highlighted but for the most part it was 5 protecting with a RB staying in on occasion....TB didn't blitz much