With a strong pre-season debut, the Chicago Bears overcame the Denver Broncos 27-7 at Solier Field. The Bears defense was surely the highlight of the game, shutting down the Broncos ground game to just 23 yards in 4 quarters, and their passers to just over 100 yards and one touchdown in total.
Today, however, we're going to try and break down some of the new offensive scheme Marc Trestman has developed around his Bears team.
On face value, it looks to be an update of Trestman's west-coast scheme from last year, however we're told in house they're calling it the Chicago Westside Offense. We can tell you that it looked fast, simple, and more than superficially effective, bringing the Bears scoreline to 27 and keeping the chains moving.
We'll try and analyze what they did formation-wise here, and why:
Some kind of unbalanced Shotgun: We saw the Bears come out in at least one type of offset shotgun set, with three receivers on a side and a tight end on the other, and their halfback lined up in the backfield behind the quarterback. What we didn't see out of these formations, was a predictable playcall. What one down ago was a smash concept to Aaron Dobson (who had a very nice game, and appeared to be doing his best to earn a roster spot) just as easily turned into a run up the middle with designed zone blocking taking advantage of TJ Yeldon's brutally quick first step.
Shotgun Snugs/Tight: The only other distinctive shotgun set we saw was a tight symmetrical shotgun, with the receivers flipped throwing the inside men a yard or two back from the line of scrimmage. Creating lots of pass opportunities for the boys in blue and orange, we didn't see many running plays out of this set, but the receiver routes were varied, the traffic was tight, and the ball hit the open man often.
Various Pistol sets: Trestman likes his pistol, too. Running symmetrical sets almost exclusively, the pistol was versatile for the Bears this week, and we saw plenty of run and pass out of it, mirroring their use of the shotgun snugs, with just enough difference to throw off a defensive gameplan.
I-Form Holy Crap is that a DT lined up as a blocker?: It is. It is a defensive tackle blocking for the run. More than once we saw Yeldon and Forte lined up for the run behind defensive linemen as an additional blocker (replacing a second tight end in a hulk-line I-form set). While it's probably just a trick play (for obvious personnel reasons, we didn't see any passes out of this set) it's hard to discount the effectiveness of that kind of strength and size in an extra, mobile, blocker.
We'd also like to briefly analyze a couple of the new weapons we saw at work on the offense for the Bears. Not all of their new players got to see play time, but we do want to talk about a couple of them that did.
Aaron Dobson and Damian Williams: Alright, so they're both a known quantity, and not exactly rookies, but as we all know, that doesn't mean a new receiver will be a good fit when he moves to a new squad. That said, Dobson and Williams were both clearly trying to earn their spots on the roster, and they both definitely looked comfortable. Catching the ball for 38 and 36 yards respectively, and a touchdown for Dobson, we'd suspect they both have a fair shot at making the starting Bears roster if they keep this level of performance up.
TJ Yeldon: The big story. The first round pick. What more can we say, other than Yeldon looked great? He saw 20 carries in the game, and made 98 yards out of them, producing just a hair under 5 yards per carry. Reminiscent of a young Matt Forte (Matt himself ran for 30 yards in support of Yeldon), the 6'2 tall HB fell forward, and had a crazy quick first few steps through the hole. We look forward to his season, and it's looking like the Bears picked well for their system and strengths.
Taylor McNamara: The new TE picked in the 3rd round to back up Martellus Bennett had a nice showing as well, making his presence known with two grabs for 22 yards. We'd say he's a shoe-in at #2 backing up Bennett; and though he could use some help with his blocking assignments, his size and strength are exceptional.
What a free agency! So many great players available, and so many teams making big moves.
Moreover, what a coup for the Chicago Bears organization! After a weak season, the biggest thing this team needed was some new blood, and hopefully some new leadership. Under new ownership, we come into a new season rejuvenated, and ready to fight for our place in the playoffs.
Of the ten bids Chicago placed on free agents over the off-season, we managed to agree to terms with nine of the players we targeted!
C Braxton Cave
C Josh Samuda
SS Christian Thompson
CB Dre Kirkpatrick
WR Damian Williams
WR Aaron Dobson
OLB Ray Ray Armstrong
OG Chris Burnette
CB Taiwan Jones
Jones and Kirkpatrick are likely to see starting jobs at cornerback, though the other players positions on the depth chart will remain hotly contested with the current squad and some of the players that come to us in the NFL Draft. We have a brief Q&A with the new owner about his plans for the NFL Draft, and the direction of the team in general:
Can you tell us anything about Chicago's plans for the draft?
"If I may be blunt, Matt Forte has been out there on the gridiron for a long time, and as much as we'd like to, we can't have him forever. We have an early pick, and we're going to draft a running back. Two of the strongest backs in the SEC are coming out of this draft, and one of them will come to us in the first round. We've had our eyes on Todd Gurley and TJ Yeldon for months now, and it would only be to everybody's benefit to bring in a young talent as powerful as either of these two young men while we still have Matt Forte with us, and the decade of invaluable experience he brings to the table. If we have any choice in the matter, Matt will retire a Chicago Bear, hopefully many good years from now, and he'll be the steady hand that guides our next great running back to a successful future in this league."
With the production (or lack thereof) of the defensive platoon last year, the internet's been talking, and many critics seem to think adding productive young weapons on defense is the way to go for the draft.
"It's no secret, we had a terrible season last year. It is my opinion, however, that it had less to do with the men on the field, and more to do with the system in place here in Chicago. This team hasn't seen true glory in nearly a decade, and even then, we had to drag ourselves out of the mud just to get near it. Yet, you'd be hard pressed to claim this is an organization lacking in talented players. As a former coach, I'm working on developing a new offense with my friend, and Chicago Bears head coach, Marc Trestman, from the ground up, and expanding upon our current 4-3 defensive scheme to better fit the talent the organization does have. That said, we are adding a few new men to the defense, but we decided to shop for experience in the free agency first and foremost, and fill the small holes that we feel are too big to fix with an improvement coaching. Two cornerbacks that will probably get starting positions, where we feel their experience and on-field knowledge will have a bigger effect on the team than a talented young athlete just learning a pro-style system in the NFL."
We have heard some talks that with the two new wide receivers signed during the off-season, there might be some designs to trade, or even release one of our current receivers on the team, perhaps even Brandon Marshall or Alshon Jeffery.
"Nobody is guaranteed a job on this team. Period, end of story. Every one of our receivers will get a chance to shine during the pre-season. They're all fantastic pass-catchers, and, they will probably all make our final 53, however the starters will have to earn their spot on my depth chart the hard way: catching the ball. Still, you can never have enough depth in a sport this hard on the athletes' bodies."
What else can you tell us about your draft plans?
"Nothing. I already gave up our first pick, and I think that's enough for now. We've had our scouts around the country looking at lots of players at lots of different positions. You never can tell which way the draft is going to go, but we're going into it with a solid plan, and a stacked draft board."
Final question: what are your goals for the upcoming season?
"Everybody wants to hear about our grandiose playoff plans, or a run at the Superbowl, but I would be remiss if I didn't promise one service to our fans here in Chicago. We're going into this season with one goal at the forefront of our minds before the playoffs, and before the Superbowl, and even before topping our division: My goal is to beat Green Bay this year. The Packers are my playoffs, and the team that can win in those playoffs will keep the hearts of Chicago, and stands a chance in the NFL playoffs just the same."