Thread: Bears' new looks could give defenses fits

Originally Posted by short faced bear

Bears' new looks could give defenses fits
By Matt Bowen

1:47 a.m. CDT, June 13, 2012

Focusing on offense at Bears minicamp Tuesday provided a glimpse of how new offensive coordinator Mike Tice will tailor his playbook involving alignments, personnel and scheme displayed on the field at Halas Hall.

Here are some notes from practice:

•"Ace" (two wide receivers, two tight ends, one back) and "Posse" (three wide receivers, one tight end, one back) were the top two positional groupings. The Bears evidently will use 2-by-2 alignments, wear out the Inside Vertical Seam (vs. Cover 2, Cover 3) and align players in multiple positions. (Good to hear. For what ever reason Martz seldom used either a TE or the Slot Receiver to challenge on seam routes yet Cutler has a great touch on them and Davis runs them well. I would imagine Marshall would be another great target for those since he's the size of a small TE)

•Tice wants to move the pocket. There were various bootleg concepts shown with Ace and "Regular" (two wide receivers, one tight end, one back) personnel. There was also play action that gives quarterback Jay Cutler opportunities outside the pocket to create, look up the underneath crossing routes or target the deep 9 (fade) down the field. (Another good sign. Cutler ran boots very effectively when he played in Denver yet Martz took them away. It wasn't until Cutler started doing it his way last year that they got back into the offense again. This is one way Aaron Rodgers has been very effective behind a Packers Oline that's not a whole lot better than our has been)

•Brandon Marshall can run the entire route tree. No questions there. Even though a long strider, he has controlled footwork in his cuts, speed throughout the route and legit size. Marshall is the split end in the Bears system, however Tice did use him in the slot Tuesday with three wide receivers on the field. That's an ideal position from which to run the seam, skinny post, 7 (corner) and dig route. (If he an Cutler don't hook up for 1000-1200 yards this year I'll be shocked)

•The Bears ran the ball from the shotgun alignment and used the "stretch" (one back run) in Ace personnel. Zone blocking up front in the "stretch" gives the running back the opportunity to press the edge of the defense or cut back. Without Matt Forte at camp, Michael Bush ran with the first team. The former Raider doesn't have the same first step as Forte (or the speed through the hole), but I'm eager to see his power when he gets downhill with pads on during training camp. (This is the perfect setup and blocking scheme for Forte. It opens running lanes rather than specific holes so that he can use his vision and cutback ability to his advantage. This will give him some room to operate in and put him one on one with LB's and DB's where he can usually make the first man miss. He can also use his power effectively this way where he can't as well when he has to fight of Dlinemen. The Broncos made 1000 yard rushers out of nobodies doing the same thing)

•There was a much different look from Mike Martz's scheme last season at tight end. With Ace on the field, Tice used both Kyle Adams (first unit) and rookie Evan Rodriguez (second unit) as the "move guy." This allows the Bears to give a three-wide receiver look at the line of scrimmage, create inside matchups and work the ball between the numbers. (TE's back in the game again only with a different look)

•Tight end Kellen Davis has to be what I call a "leverage player" at the top of the route stem. I didn't see the burst you look for coming out of cuts to create separation and he does have some stiffness to his game, but with his size (and length) the inside dig and seam can lead to production. He should be a red zone option from my perspective. (Hell yes. The guy is a perfect target on those seam routes and he's a scorer. He's also a very good blocker when they're not using him in the passing game)

•Either aligned or with pre-snap motion, the Bears created multiple stack looks (two wide receivers close together) with Marshall and Earl Bennett. This allows a free release at the line of scrimmage with Bennett on the underneath option route and Marshall working the top end of the route tree. It's a high to low read for Cutler and tough to defend. (Finally we begin to hear about Bennett. For a while it looked like he didn't even figure into their plans. Two very good route guys with tremendous hands and you can't double both)

•I'm curious with Devin Hester. He spent a lot of time today at flanker, but how will the Bears work him inside of the numbers? Bennett is the slot man in this offense, however, I still see Hester's skill set as a route runner best used in the middle of the field. Occasional deep ball aside, Hester has the ability to win consistently inside. (This is what I've been saying all along so I'm glad Bowen confirms it. Putting Hester in the slot means he's either gonna be covered by a NB or the Safeties who don't have the speed to contend with him. In that interview with Silvy and Waddle Jay indicated he prefers him at Flanker but I think they'll work him at both. Tice uses the Flanker to run inside slants and there was one last year or maybe the year before where he busted past the entire Viking backfield for a long TD on that play)

•One route to keep an eye on when the games count is the outside vertical stretch. It's a three-level concept that works the clear out 9 (fade) along with the 7 cut and the flat concept. I saw it a couple of times Tuesday and it is a nightmare to stop in Cover 3. (This is a deep route Hester can run from the Flanker spot and draw a Safety to cover deep and if not he's one on one with the CB and he's nabbed some long passes off that setup. It's probably one of his best routes)


http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...,5756588.story

So far they haven't been able to do much with a running game except to show that they intend to do more zone blocking and run a lot out of one back set which favors Forte's running style. Good new for Forte but bad news for Clutts since they won't be using a FB in a typical 2 back set. He's a good ST guy so maybe he sticks because of that.

The way he describes the passing game it seems Cutler will have a lot of guys running those intermediate routes he favors. That where his velocity and accuracy is most effective. Jeez, and offense built around the skills of the players we have. No square pegs in round holes. What a novel concept.

Originally Posted by motownbear

how long do you guys think it will take for this offense to gel?

I think it will start out gelled. The major offensive weapons have all worked together before and I think the blocking will improve if they can name the starters early and let them get accustomed to working with one another. There's some talent there but very little cohesion and teamwork.

They're keeping the effective parts of Martz's offense and Bates is adding stuff that was successful when he had Marshall and Cutler in Denver. The comments out of Cutler and others are they're impressed with how quickly guys are picking it up. I guess the acid test is to see how productive we are in preseason. With an experienced backup like Campbell I expect less of a drop off than we've seen in the past.

I agree. It's just too much of a coincidence that reports got leaked the past two seasons that Tice and Lovie had to shorten his leash on dumbass playcalling...Not to mention Cutler's advice to the guy...

Originally Posted by motownbear

how long do you guys think it will take for this offense to gel?

Like Soul I think it will gel early but for fits and starts I want that to happen early to get it out of the way and to peak late in the season when it matters.

I am just thankful there is going to be audibles, SG, and rollouts.

I tell ya what, it just sounds like everyone that talks is just happier. When that happens, you enjoy your work more, you get into it more (and thus learn it faster) and you do it better. I think Martz was toxic and by contrast, the guys appear to like Tice (I could be reading far too much into that). But I have a really good feeling about this offense this year, and frankly, it feels a little weird to even say that.

Me likey.

The one thing I got from this article: Tice knows what he's doing.