Chicago Bears vs. New England Patriots: Totally serious Week 7 awards

The Bears had a plan for the Patriots. It just wasn’t the right one.

I’m sure it’s a nightmare trying to scheme for the Pats. There’s nothing you’re going to throw at Tom Brady he hasn’t seen before. And even though he moves at the pace of legislation, teams can seemingly never get to him. By the time Friday rolls around, I’m sure you’ve convinced yourself that whatever tiny hole your defense might have is going to be torn open.

The Michael Bluth Memorial Outthinking Yourself Award: Vic Fangio

It also didn’t help that the reason the Bears defense was dominant for its first four games, Khalil Mack, is hurt. Whatever the Bears planned, it probably circled around mussing up Brady’s hair a bit (surely a federal crime by now). The Bears probably can’t do that with a gimpy Mack.

That doesn’t mean not trying was the answer.

Here are some sobering numbers:

Worse yet, both Mack and Leonard Floyd spent more snaps in coverage than they did rushing Brady. Worse than that, arguably, is that Roquan Smith was on the field for just about half the defensive snaps as the Bears opted for another defensive back.

Which you can sort of understand, until you see Mack or Floyd playing the trail technique for the sixth consecutive time on James White. White has made a career of being a nightmare for linebackers to handle, so what chance did two pass rushers have? Wouldn’t Smith have had a better chance?

Add to that Mack having ankle problems, and you to wonder if he wouldn’t have been better off running in a straight line at the line than cutting and planting in coverage where had no hope. Yes, Trent Brown basically had Mack in his pocket and covered in lint most of the game. But give Mack more chances and he’s more likely to make something happen.

Instead we got 73 simple seam and out patterns to White as the Patriots moved down the field like Sherman to the sea. This seemed too smart by half.