Chicago Bears on the rise and fall after beating Minnesota
By Todd Welter
Luke Getsy
May someone love you as much as the offensive coordinator loved to call screen passes.
It made sense to run some screens to counter Minnesota’s hyper-blitzing defense. This was a little too much.
Dear Luke Getsy,
— dan durkin (@djdurkin) November 28, 2023
Just a friendly reminder that the sidelines are not the endzone. I hope this is helpful.
Fields reached his career high for passes completed behind the line of scrimmage by halftime. At one point, his air yards were at 0.3.
It was not until Minnesota stopped blitzing on the final drive that the ball was driven down the field.
In the end, Fields threw a lot of passes at the line of scrimmage.
Per @ESPNStatsInfo, Justin Fields was blitzed on 52% of his dropbacks. The Bears tried to combat that with a horizontal passing game (13 screen passes) that led to Fields lowest air yards per attempt (2.4) and air yards per completion (1.9) of his career.
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) November 28, 2023
Fields threw 21 passes…
The offensive line’s run-blocking
Minnesota’s front four pushed around the Chicago Bears line. The running game had trouble getting going as the team only had 118 yards rushing. Remember, Fields accounted for 59 of them.
It was strange to see the group struggle in the one area they had excelled at the past two seasons.
Khalil Herbert
The running back still looks hurt out there. He did not run with a great burst. He had just 24 yards on six carries. He caught another two passes for 14 yards.
The inability to run the ball also required a crazy amount of screen passes to counter the Vikings’ blitzing.
The Chicago Bears needed more out of Herbert, especially with D’Onta Foreman out. Maybe the bye week will allow Herbert to heal up.
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