The Chicago Bears are averaging 21.3 points per game but struggling to keep up with the times.
On their current pace, they would score more points than they have in 18 of the last 24 years, but that doesn’t explain the depth of issues on the offense as scoring is way up around the NFL. They rank 25th in the league, and the problems are exacerbated by their struggles coming out of the locker room after halftime.
The Bears are the only team in the league that has not scored in the third quarter. It should be noted they lost the coin flip before each game and their opponent deferred each time, meaning the Bears have kicked off to begin the third quarter every week.
But the offense has been stagnant coming out of halftime, and that has to be an issue coach Matt Nagy wants to clean up before Thursday’s meeting with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Soldier Field. The offense has run 49 third-quarter plays, generating 185 yards and nine first downs with five punts and three interceptions — including the one that cost Mitch Trubisky his starting job in Week 3.
The Bears did score a touchdown early in the fourth quarter of their Week 1 victory in Detroit on a drive that began late in the third quarter. But the third quarter has been a pitfall for the offense after it was the team’s most productive 15 minutes a year ago, when the Bears scored 108 third-quarter points (roughly a touchdown per game).
Here are three observations from rewatching the CBS telecast, via the NFL GamePass subscription service, of Sunday’s 19-11 loss to the Indianapolis Colts at Soldier Field, plus some interesting numbers in terms of playing time.
1. The third-quarter struggles were across the board and reflected what went wrong throughout the game.
Namely, the offensive line struggled and quarterback Nick Foles made some questionable decisions.
The first possession started on the Bears 24-yard line, and they were thrown for an immediate loss as Justin Houston sacked Foles for an 8-yard loss. It was power play action with center Cody Whitehair pulling, and it looked like rookie tight end Cole Kmet running down the seam might have been the first read against the Colts’ Cover-2 shell. But Houston badly beat left tackle Charles Leno, and Whitehair missed his block on Denico Autry, who was able to pin Foles in the pocket so he couldn’t escape. The play was doomed before Foles could make a throw.
On second-and-18, there was a chance to make it third-and-short as Anthony Miller ran a deep cross and there was a window to deliver the ball against Cover-3. Foles came off Miller too quickly and tried a deep shot to Darnell Mooney that was outside the receiver. Maybe that’s a timing issue between the new quarterback and the rookie because if the ball was thrown inside, Mooney had nothing but green grass in front of him. But the play was schemed to go to Miller, and he was open for what could have been about a 15-yard gain. After one more play, the Bears punted.
The next series started with the Bears in the shadow of their goal line on the 5-yard line. This drive was hurt by poor run blocking on first down. Right tackle Bobby Massie whiffed when he tried to cut block Autry, blowing up the play and limiting David Montgomery to a 1-yard gain. The Bears got two first downs, the second when Foles came back to Miller in the middle of zone coverage for a 12-yard net on third-and-7, but shoddy run blocking put them behind the sticks again.
Tight end Jimmy Graham came in motion on a split flow zone and whiffed on a cut block of Houston, and Montgomery was limited to two yards. On third-and-4, Foles sprinted out right but never saw tight end Demetrius Harris dragging across the field for what would have been an easy 10-yard completion. Instead he tried a shot to Mooney along the sideline but was unable to keep the ball in play for the receiver. Foles went for the bigger gain but the lower-percentage throw, and the Bears punted again.
The story of the third quarter was really the tale of the entire game. The Bears have to be better at creating momentum after halftime, even if they continue to lose the coin toss.
2. Opponents continue to take shots at rookie cornerback Jaylon Johnson, and while he hasn’t been perfect, he continues to make plays.
Johnson made a mistake on the first Colts possession when he let wide receiver Zach Pascal get behind him on third-and-9 for a 36-yard gain. The Bears were in Cover-1 robber with free safety Eddie Jackson looking for an in-breaking route. Johnson didn’t get the depth he needed, and when Pascal kept going vertical, he sprung wide open for the long gain. That will be a teaching point for Johnson, but all in all, it was another good game for him.
He had two pass breakups, the first coming in the red zone during the second quarter with the Colts on the 16-yard line. Pascal tried to shake Johnson at the line of scrimmage, but the cornerback kept his shoulders square and maintained excellent position throughout the route, easily knocking away Philip Rivers’ throw just before the goal line.
The next came late in the third quarter with the Colts facing third-and-14 on the Bears 26-yard line. They ran vertical routes in an effort to clear out the middle of the field and brought Pascal on a slant. Again, Johnson kept his shoulders square, was physical with the wide receiver at the line of scrimmage and easily batted the throw away.
Johnson has seven pass deflections through four games; only the New York Giants’ James Bradberry (nine) has more. His development has been a major positive for a team that projected he would be able to step in immediately and succeed. His big plays have far outweighed the mistakes.
3. The run defense has been an area of concern as the Bears allowed 4.96 yards per carry through the first three games.
The improvement against the Colts might have been the brightest spot in the loss. The Colts rushed for 103 yards on 38 carries — 107 on 35 attempts when you erase the three kneel-downs by Philip Rivers at the end of the game. The defense had nine plays in which it stopped a Colts run for a loss or no gain. Five came on first down to put the Colts behind the chains, and that was significant as the Bears entered the game allowing an average of 7.34 yards on first down, which ranked 29th.
These were the five first-down plays:
Defensive linemen Mario Edwards and Bilal Nichols each occupied two offensive linemen, preventing the Colts from getting bodies on Roquan Smith and Danny Trevathan. Both linebackers flowed to the ball and stopped Jonathan Taylor for a 1-yard loss.
The Colts were on the Bears 16-yard line in the second quarter and right guard Mark Glowinski pulled, but Khalil Mack overpowered tight end Jack Doyle, penetrating the backfield. Jordan Wilkins couldn’t spin out of the play to the back side as James Vaughters got off the block of right tackle Braden Smith to combine for the stop for no gain.
Later in the quarter, the Colts had first-and-goal at the 10 and Akiem Hicks swam center Ryan Kelly immediately, almost a jump and swim move, and was in the backfield in a heartbeat to drop Nyheim Hines for a 1-yard loss.
The Colts reached the Bears 22 in the third quarter, and the Bears ran a twist up front with their five-man line (three defensive linemen and two outside linebackers). It’s similar to how they created pressure with Hicks the previous week in Atlanta, and in this instance he occupied Glowinski and Kelly, allowing the nose tackle Nichols to peel around and come free in the backfield, where he stopped Wilkins for a 3-yard loss.
The Colts were at the Bears 27-yard line midway through the fourth quarter when the Bears had a six-man line. Brent Urban drove Doyle into the backfield, where he stopped Taylor for no gain.
There is still room for improvement and the Bears want to eliminate the 10-plus-yard runs, but it was a marked improvement over the first three weeks. Winning on first down should put the defense in a position where it can have more success rushing the passer on third down.
Examining the playing time numbers
53: Snaps for running back David Montgomery, who was on the field for a career-high 85% of the offensive plays. He picked up a greater workload with Tarik Cohen sidelined. His previous high was 74% last season against the Chargers, when he carried 27 times for 135 yards.
11: Snaps for Cordarrelle Patterson, who primarily lined up in the backfield. He carried three times and was targeted twice in the passing game. Patterson has 46 snaps through four games and has carried the ball or been targeted with a pass on 23 of them. So if he’s in the game, there’s a good chance the ball is going in his direction.
46: Snaps for rookie wide receiver Darnell Mooney, who continues to be a slightly bigger part of the attack than Anthony Miller. Miller was on the field for 43 plays.
