With some of the heat coming from inside his own locker room, the flames have never burned any hotter beneath the feet of Bears offensive coordinator John Shoop than in the last week. Offensive scheme as much as skill was blamed for the Bears’ loss to the Lions last week.
It will come as no consolation to Shoop’s critics that the Bears didn’t think themselves out of Sunday’s 23-21 defeat to the Rams as much as they played themselves out of it.
The Bears still gained only 241 total yards–95 rushing and 146 passing. But they attacked the Rams’ defense downfield and offered enough of a run-pass balance to keep St. Louis guessing. In other words, there wasn’t a prevailing opinion in either locker room that play-calling lost this game. That should make it more difficult to second-guess Shoop this week, not that it will stop a Bears fan’s favorite autumnal pastime.
Here’s a look at five plays that provided plenty of postgame fodder, in chronological order.
Situation 1
First-and-10 from the Bears’ 49 with 7 minutes 57 seconds left in the first quarter. The Bears had just regained possession after cornerback Charles Tillman’s interception.
Call: As if reading the minds of every Bears fan in Soldier Field, Shoop called a deep pass to wide receiver David Terrell. This was the opportunity for which Terrell spent the week lobbying publicly. He ran a streak down the right sideline against single coverage as the Bears gave him a chance to make the kind of play for which he has been pining.
Result: Chris Chandler threw a floater that Rams cornerback Jerametrius Butler intercepted at the Rams’ 18. Shoop must have felt like announcing over the loudspeaker, “This is why we don’t throw deep!” But regardless of the interception, the call in favorable field position made the necessary statement that a team trying to loosen up a defense early in a game needed to make.
Situation 2
Third-and-2 from the Rams’ 39 with 7:17 left in the second quarter. The Bears took over on a short field after a Sean Landeta punt at the Rams’ 47.
Call: In recent weeks, third-and-2 qualified as a passing down, especially last week against the Lions, when a depleted secondary helped the Bears outsmart themselves. Having learned that lesson, this time on third-and-short, Shoop called a handoff to Anthony Thomas up the middle behind the lead block of fullback Stanley Pritchett.
Result: Thomas’ escort couldn’t have cleared the way much better with flashing lights. Pritchett threw a block that created enough space for Thomas to plow for 4 yards and a first down. Confidence in the running game allowed the Bears to keep alive a drive that ended with a 1-yard Thomas TD plunge on fourth down that gave the Bears a 14-3 lead.
Situation 3
Third-and-3 from the Bears’ 29 with 7:26 left in the third quarter. The Bears had just lost a measure of momentum after Marty Booker’s unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty for taunting three plays earlier, and they couldn’t risk punting the ball back to the Rams so soon after that shift.
Call: Two plays earlier on first down, Thomas had picked up 5 yards, but third-and-3 obviously put the Bears into passing mode. Forgetting what worked in the first half on third-and-short, Shoop called a pass play with Terrell the intended receiver. The Rams’ coverage draped Terrell, who wasn’t open. Nobody was.
Result: Chandler forced the ball into coverage and it was almost intercepted. The play took a long time to develop for one that needed to gain only 3 yards. The incompletion forced the Bears to punt, and the Rams scored their first touchdown six plays later. The Bears’ offense wouldn’t take another snap for nearly 10 minutes.
Situation 4
First-and-10 at the Bears’ 38 with 7:21 left in the fourth quarter with the Rams leading 20-14.
Call: Showing aggressiveness not always evident in the Bears’ offense, Shoop called for a play-action pass to Booker on a deep curl. Chandler’s play-fake to Thomas froze the Rams’ linebackers just long enough for Booker to clear and create ample cushion. The call also staved off a chorus of boos that would have come had Chandler handed the ball off instead of dropping back to throw.
Result: Chandler delivered one of his crispest passes of the day and hit Booker in stride for a 24-yard gain. It knocked the Rams back on their heels and brought the fans to the edge of their seats. Two plays later, the Bears’ rejuvenated passing game struck again with an 11-yard TD pass to Dez White.
Situation 5
Second-and-9 at the Rams’ 42 with 3:05 left in the game and the Bears leading 21-20.
Call: Trying to eat up the clock, Shoop called an off-tackle play for Thomas behind Mike Gandy. A first-down run to the right produced only a yard, and a second-down run may seem conservative to Shoop critics. But imagine the catcalls if he had called a pass and it had gone incomplete to stop the clock.
Result: Thomas gained 1 yard and the Rams called a timeout at the 2:58 mark. A third-down pass went incomplete, and the Bears were forced to punt the ball back to the Rams for the game-winning drive. The call prompted a question to Jauron afterward, but trying to run out the last three minutes by giving the ball to Thomas seemed like a wise choice with a lead.
