Bears Had Good Plan vs. Rams/PD

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Selassie I

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Bears had good plan vs. Rams
• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_2c606b5e-7ffe-5361-8f53-b014df444a75.html

Forget about the Rams’ offensive woes and quarterback change for a moment. Did Chicago offensive coordinator Adam Gase uncover the key to containing the Rams’ highly-ranked defense last Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome?

The Bears changed character against the Rams and went almost exclusively to two-tight end sets. They threw underneath stuff all day; their wide receivers could’ve stayed home. Seventeen of quarterback Jay Cutler’s 24 throws, and 15 of his 19 completions went either to running back Jeremy Langford or tight ends Zach Miller and Martellus Bennett.

The Bears ran the ball 37 times, a season-high against the Rams’ defense. Even in the first half, before the Bears had breathing room on the scoreboard, they never threw passes on more than two consecutive plays.

“They had a good plan,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. “Their plan was to come out with the two-tight end stuff just to kind of reduce our defensive plan. You come out with three wides, you’re gonna get a lot more exotic stuff (from the Rams’ defense).

“We anticipated that. The ‘two tight’ package made sense for them.”

It made sense with slot receiver Eddie Royal out with a knee injury and star wide receiver Alshon Jeffery limited during the practice week because of a groin injury. So the Bears kept it basic and used lots of two-tight end sets, also known as “12 personnel.”

The Bears used two-tight end formations on their first 16 plays against the Rams, and on 50 of 63 plays total — not including two kneel-downs by Cutler at the end of the first half.

“Well, they weren’t going to get Jay hit,” Fisher said. “That was their deal. They were getting rid of the ball. Run the football, get rid of it quick. It was a good plan.”

And less simplistic than it looked. Gase, a protege of former Rams head coach Mike Martz, didn’t give the Rams the same look from down to down even though he used the same personnel basically 80 percent of the time.

He deployed tight ends Miller and Bennett just about every way imaginable:

• One on each side of the tackle box, on the line of scrimmage.

• Two on the left side of the offensive line.

• Two on the right side of the offensive line.

• Both deployed wide right like wideouts.

• One split out wide right and one split out wide left, with wide receivers in the slot on both sides.

• At various times, Miller also lined up as a wingback or in the backfield.

As Fisher mentioned, by staying out of three- and four-wide receiver sets, it eliminated some of Rams defensive coordinator Greg Williams’ most effective packages in terms of blitzes.

And in theory, it’s more difficult for a blitzer to get around a bigger-bodied tight end than a wide receiver anyway.

Even so, the Rams tried to do some blitzing against the Bears’ two-tight end sets, and on this day, it backfired in a big way.

On Miller’s 87-yard TD catch and run, the Rams sent six pass rushers, including safety/linebacker Mark Barron from Miller’s side. We all know what happened next.

What should have been a short gain turned into a bigger gain when linebacker Akeem Ayers — who had coverage on Miller — took a bad angle and missed the tackle.

What should have been a “bigger gain” turned into an 87-yard TD when cornerback Janoris Jenkins couldn’t shed a downfield block by Jeffery, and free safety Rodney McLeod came in out of control, slipped, and missed the tackle.

“Since the start of the season, we’ve been tackling good,” Fisher said. “I referenced Rodney’s (strong) tackles on AP (Adrian Peterson) last week up in Minnesota. We’ve done a really good job minimizing gains.

“Here, we give up two giant plays on what is in essence a two-yard flat route by a tight end and a screen pass to a back. That’s not good defensively.”

On the screen pass, an 83-yard catch and run by Langford, the Bears also had two tight ends in the game. Including tight ends, three receivers were deployed to the right, and one to the left. All four ran deep routes, taking four defenders with them.

The Rams blitzed on this play, sending six pass-rushers at Cutler. Do the math: six defenders rushing, four covering deep routes. That left plenty of wide-open space in between for Langford once he caught the screen pass with three blockers in front of him.

What could’ve been called an illegal crack-back block by Miller on Barron helped keep Langford going before he got to midfield.

There were other less dramatic plays where the Bears either caught the Rams in a blitz, or made the most of two tight end formations. For example, at the start of the fourth quarter when the Rams were still within striking distance trailing 24-13, the Bears faced a third-and-10 from the St. Louis 47.

Cutler checked out of a pass play, with the Rams blitzing from his right and pitched left to Langford for an 11-yard run and a first down on what ended up being a field goal drive.

But it’s those 80 yards-plus TDs that remain singed in the Rams’ brains long after the “24-hour rule” has come and gone.

“Those two explosive plays, I’m still thinking about those,” Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson said Wednesday after practice.

Of even more lasting impact, however, will be if other teams imitate the Bears’ game plan, using extra tight ends to help neutralize both the Rams’ pass rush and Williams’ blitz packages.

The Rams’ next opponent, Baltimore, certainly has the talent at tight end to do so in youngsters Crockett Gillmore, Maxx Williams, and Nick Boyle. But the Ravens aren’t as strong of a running team as Chicago.

In addition, Ravens offensive coordinator Marc Trestman has pass-happy tendencies. Does he have the patience to stick with the running game?

“Quite frankly, I expect Baltimore to do the same,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “It’s a copy-and-paste league.”
 

Ram Quixote

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Yeah, they had a good plan. Bitching about the Rams' being "dirty" got them the benefit of the doubt from the refs.
 

blue4

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Yeah, they had a good plan. Bitching about the Rams' being "dirty" got them the benefit of the doubt from the refs.

They whipped us on both sides of the ball. The refs could have been in the Rams pocket, it wouldn't have mattered.
 

CGI_Ram

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Its all about approach to game planning.

The Bears said; "we know who you are, so this is what we are going to do".

Conversely, it feel like the Rams take a more defensive approach to game planning; "this is who we are, try to stop it".

We talk about Fisher being stubborn or defensive minded? That's the difference.
 

blue4

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Its all about approach to game planning.

The Bears said; "we know who you are, so this is what we are going to do".

Conversely, it feel like the Rams take a more defensive approach to game planning; "this is who we are, try to stop it".

We talk about Fisher being stubborn or defensive minded? That's the difference.


Martz had the same mentality, try and stop it. But where I think Fisher's coaching staff is lacking is the in-game strategy, the play selection during drives. We never seem to build momentum, it always seems like a struggle to decide what to do. Martz's drives seemed like he didn't need the playbook, like the DC was flying by the seat of his pants trying to keep up. I get a mental picture of Cigs thumbing through the playbook trying to decide what to do with Fisher barely paying attention. That's just my impression. Could be the lack of playmakers on offense outside of two guys as well.

I'm just referring to offense of course. Defense, I think the Bears caught us with a lot of people dinged up, and full of our own press clippings about how dominant we were.
 

Ram Quixote

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They whipped us on both sides of the ball. The refs could have been in the Rams pocket, it wouldn't have mattered.
I beg to differ. How could the zebras miss Langford's false start? How could they miss the crack back block on Langford's 83-yard screen?

Then there's the litany of bogus calls on the Rams. Brown's crack back block that wasn't? That was a big play that put the Rams @ first and 20, when they had gotten a first down on the play.
 

…..

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I'm just referring to offense of course. Defense, I think the Bears caught us with a lot of people dinged up, and full of our own press clippings about how dominant we were.

Agree/I think we've played a bit over our heads on defense since Long and Tree went down. The loss of Tree masked a little bit by Barrons increased role, but all in all our defense was due for a let down and I'm not too disappointed in them because they kept it together longer than I expected.
 

lordbannon

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I beg to differ. How could the zebras miss Langford's false start? How could they miss the crack back block on Langford's 83-yard screen?

Then there's the litany of bogus calls on the Rams. Brown's crack back block that wasn't? That was a big play that put the Rams @ first and 20, when they had gotten a first down on the play.

The refs not sucking would have made a difference. But you can't control that. What you can control is actually tackling people. If Ayers and Mcleod make tackles on those 80+ yard TDs (and yes Jenkins, I saw you try to "fight" through that block so don't give me any #clampseason crap), it's an entirely different game.
 

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I beg to differ. How could the zebras miss Langford's false start? How could they miss the crack back block on Langford's 83-yard screen?

Then there's the litany of bogus calls on the Rams. Brown's crack back block that wasn't? That was a big play that put the Rams @ first and 20, when they had gotten a first down on the play.

It was 37-13 and would have been worse if the Bears were any kind of decent team. There were some bad calls sure, but we couldn't convert a third down even when they didn't call a penalty. We marched right down the field on the first drive and then phoned in the rest if the day. Our QB couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat. There's a whole article dedicated to how GRob has played poorly. The man got called out by name from Fisher at a press conference, those calls weren't total BS. Nitpicky sure, but that's how you get watched when you lead all offensive players in penalties. JMO.
 

Ram Quixote

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The refs not sucking would have made a difference. But you can't control that. What you can control is actually tackling people. If Ayers and Mcleod make tackles on those 80+ yard TDs (and yes Jenkins, I saw you try to "fight" through that block so don't give me any #clampseason crap), it's an entirely different game.
Look. It's real simple; the lack of a penalty in both situations gave Chicago life (the false start miss gave Chicago a first down on second down). The bogus penalties cost the Rams points.
 

Ram Quixote

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It was 37-13 and would have been worse if the Bears were any kind of decent team. There were some bad calls sure, but we couldn't convert a third down even when they didn't call a penalty. We marched right down the field on the first drive and then phoned in the rest if the day. Our QB couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat. There's a whole article dedicated to how GRob has played poorly. The man got called out by name from Fisher at a press conference, those calls weren't total BS. Nitpicky sure, but that's how you get watched when you lead all offensive players in penalties. JMO.
Brown's crack back block came on our second possession. We had a first down, but it was called back. 1 and 20.

I could go on, but you know what happened with Austin's 17-yard TD. That was a game changer, too and the holding call was bogus.

The Rams had the game in hand, but the refs made the game about penalties.
 

DaveFan'51

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Martz had the same mentality, try and stop it. But where I think Fisher's coaching staff is lacking is the in-game strategy, the play selection during drives. We never seem to build momentum, it always seems like a struggle to decide what to do. Martz's drives seemed like he didn't need the playbook, like the DC was flying by the seat of his pants trying to keep up. I get a mental picture of Cigs thumbing through the playbook trying to decide what to do with Fisher barely paying attention. That's just my impression. Could be the lack of playmakers on offense outside of two guys as well.

I'm just referring to offense of course. Defense, I think the Bears caught us with a lot of people dinged up, and full of our own press clippings about how dominant we were.
And I think the Ravens will try to do the same thing to us!! So we better be prepared for it this time!!
 

Elmgrovegnome

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Every team from here on out will play the same offense against the Rams until Williams beats it. One thing that I never liked with Gregg Williams is that he is predictable and when teams scheme against him he still continues to blitz. Sometimes you have to change it up and play more containment. If the Rams rushed 4 and they blocked with 7 that would leave 7 Rams defenders to cover 4 Bears players. Where they going to go with the ball? I am shocked that a DC with Williams reputation for detail and execution is not more flexible in game planning on the fly.
 

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Winning recipe:
Yeah, play harder with more discipline and make fewer mistakes.
 

Rmfnlt

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Then there's the litany of bogus calls on the Rams.
The bogus penalties cost the Rams points.
Boy, I get worn down by the "refs lost us the game" mantra...

but you can't control that. What you can control is actually tackling people.
... and converting more 3rd downs (in non-penalty situations)
There were some bad calls sure, but we couldn't convert a third down even when they didn't call a penalty.

The Rams had the game in hand, but the refs made the game about penalties.
The Rams had that game in hand? Not sure I was watching the same game...
At no point did I ever feel like the Rams "had the game in hand".

You're Jeff Fisher... what do you do about this onslaught of bogus penalties?
 

Ram Quixote

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Boy, I get worn down by the "refs lost us the game" mantra...

... and converting more 3rd downs (in non-penalty situations)



The Rams had that game in hand? Not sure I was watching the same game...
At no point did I ever feel like the Rams "had the game in hand".

You're Jeff Fisher... what do you do about this onslaught of bogus penalties?
I reiterate, on our second possession, the refs called Brown on a bogus crack back block. The offense had gotten a first down on the play, but the penalty took that away. That gave us 1st and 20. Had to punt. Then, on the first play after the fumble recovery, they called Grob on a bogus holding call.

You tell me what was going on.
 

Rmfnlt

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I reiterate, on our second possession, the refs called Brown on a bogus crack back block. The offense had gotten a first down on the play, but the penalty took that away. That gave us 1st and 20. Had to punt. Then, on the first play after the fumble recovery, they called Grob on a bogus holding call.

You tell me what was going on.
You're Jeff Fisher... what do you do about all these bogus penalties?
 

Ram Quixote

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You're Jeff Fisher... what do you do about all these bogus penalties?
I'm not Jeff Fisher; I'm just a fan who's trying to control my outrage at the officials targeting the Rams Oline, and turning a blind eye to penalties on the Bears.
 

Rmfnlt

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I'm not Jeff Fisher; I'm just a fan who's trying to control my outrage at the officials targeting the Rams Oline, and turning a blind eye to penalties on the Bears.
You seem to want something done about it...

If you were Jeff Fisher, what would you do?
 

Ram Quixote

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You seem to want something done about it...

If you were Jeff Fisher, what would you do?
I suspect he's already doing something about it. Considering the first he heard about it was during the post game presser, I'd say, yeah, he's already done something about it.