Money Down Week 11: New Energy. New Results?

Chicago Bears new OC Thomas Brown takes his first shot with the Bears. Breaking down how the Bears attacked 3rd Downs vs. rival Packers.

In season personnel changes are among the most challenging obstacles a franchise can face. Without an opportunity to completely overhaul the scheme, the hope is a fresh voice and new philosophical approach can inspire the unit to perform. New Bears OC Thomas Brown embodies that hope.

“It’s a lot of new energy,” receiver DJ Moore said. “He’s excited to be out there. He’s demanding.” (The Athletic).

While it can take some time for on field changes to manifest, the Bears have quickly adjusted to Brown’s philosophy, putting together one of their cleanest, and most efficient efforts Sunday vs. the Packers. Highlighted by Caleb Williams’ performance, the rookie showed why there was so much optimism for the Bears coming into the season. 

Prior to Week 11, Chicago had the league's second worst 3rd-down offense in the NFL, converting just 28% of those plays into a new set of downs. On Sunday, Chicago converted 9 of 16 (56%) of their opportunities, including a couple on the game's final drive to put them in position to attempt a game winning field goal. 

1Q - 3:39 - 3rd & 2 @ CHI 13

The Sean McVay influence appears here on an early, important 3rd & short. Coach Brown, a disciple of the Rams Head Coach, often tapped into concepts familiar to the McVay-Shanahan system. Simply, the Bears call two hi-lows, first to the boundary side, a smash concept, and to the other side, drive. This concept coincides with a McVay call from the 2016 Washington playbook, Obama Drive. “Obama” is a smash variant with a corner route as the “hi” and as the low element, a “C.O”  (choice route predetermined to cut out only or sit). I think more recent iterations of the offense call this concept “COCO” for choice-corner. To both provide Williams more coverage information and to get to a 2x2 set, Keenan Allen (bunch #1) is motioned, the defense shows man coverage. To the other side, the drive concept is executed by 85, Cole Kmet as the “hi-route” dig, and 15, Rome Odunze, on the shallow. 

Seeing man coverage, there isn’t a traditional read for Williams, no defender’s zone is being vertically stretched forcing him to choose. However, he has a couple winners designed to run away from man defense, the shallow, the dig, as well as the corner route broken at a flat angle given the coverage. He opts to throw what amounts to be the most open, but also the easiest of the man beaters. Odunze’s route is a great example of having success doing the “simple” things. Out of his stance, he quickly comes to balance and jabs outside of his defender's frame, causing him to fall off balance, creating a free release inside to run away from the defense. 

The defense presents an even front, and at the snap slant and blitz a linebacker off the edge to get into what amounts to bear-front spacing, creating five 1-on-1’s in pass protection. The line holds up long enough for Williams to deliver a ball that promotes yards after the catch (we’ll come back to this idea later). One thing I really like about this play call is it provides two natural rubs for the route runners. Without explicitly running a rub/pick concept, Carrington Valentine (24) assigned to Kennan Allen must adjust to not run into the corner route, and the outside release of Cole Kmet’s dig slows Keisan Nixon (25) covering Odunze. 

3Q - 5:23 - 3rd & 4 @ CHI 28

Play the hits! This is a near repackaging of the play above, smash to one side, and a 2nd-level hi-low on the other. This time, Odunze and Allen create the smash vertically stretching the cloud corner. Allen runs a circus route (inside release corner route from #1), while Odunze runs a return, selling the out, sticking his foot in the ground and settling back inside vs. zone coverage. The corner sinks to vice the corner route with the safety over the top, and the hook player loses feeling and vision of Odunze due to his outside release. This allows Odunze to settle near the sticks in space for a first down. 

Kmet and Moore, alone to the single side, create a hi-low I know as shallow. Kmet runs a drag near the line of scrimmage, while Moore runs a dig at 12 yards.  Had the smash side been muddy, Williams would have reset his eyes to the Will backer, Quay Walker (7) and thrown opposite his depth to Moore. Playing cover 2 to that side, the depth of the ½ safety over the top and the running back’s horizontal stretch on the corner leave Moore in space. Once again the Bears line is able to stonewall the Packers rush, defeating an interior stunt, providing Williams plenty of time to drop and double-hitch. 

4Q - 8:36 - 3rd & 9 @ CHI 13

For the final pass play, I chose a concept I don’t know that I have ever seen, but I really like. From a 3x1 condensed set, the Bears move the originally #3 receiver, Cole Kmet, to the #1 spot, getting a man-tell from the defense. I wrote in a previous post how these motions are being used to force the defense to “recount” the receivers and provide the offense a window into coverage. Allen and Kmet run what looks to be a “COCO” or Obama concept. Tempo choice routes are my favorite to watch. They are a display of timing, footwork and accordance between quarterback and receiver, and this is no different. Allen has his way here against man coverage, climbing to the defenders toes, setting him up with slow tempo to then burst out, controlling the defender with eye contact and a slight shake at the apex with his top half. 

My favorite part of this play, however, is Caleb Williams. This play was a challenge put forth by the Packers defense to the Bears. The front and coverage both dictate 1on1s for every player on the field. While there is trash at his feet, Williams takes a good quick-game drop and delivers a ball on Allen’s upfield shoulder. If the ball had been “accurate” and towards the sideline Allen may have ended up out of bounds and short of the sticks or had the ball been “on” him, he may have been tackled causing a 4th down. To the other side, I am unsure if we get another variation of shallow, or if it’s a hi-cross (think Y-Cross) by Odunze along with a diamond-release shallow by Moore. 

WILLIAMS LEGS

One last thing I wanted to include was how the Bears approached using Williams’ legs. I don’t study the Bears but I will usually watch through the week’s condensed games and I do not recall Williams being provided many opportunities to run. It seemed as if previous OC Shane Waldron was concerned with Williams staying clean and trying to find answers through check downs and progressions rather than using his legs to scramble. While I understand why this process would be useful for his development, I felt Williams was hamstrung by this philosophy, after-all his playmaking ability is what made him special in college. Below is a cutup of Williams producing with his legs, first on a called zone read, and second on scrambles both to run and to create opportunities to throw.