Chicago Bears: Creating the Blueprint for Optimal Offense in 2015
Published by Matt Eurich on May 27, 2015
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Today’s NFL is all about the offensive side of the football, and when the Chicago Bears hired Marc Trestman to be the team’s head coach in 2013, he was expected to turn a defensive-minded Bears team into an offensive juggernaut.
“It’s a great hire,” quarterback Jay Cutler said at the time, according to Larry Mayer of ChicagoBears.com. “I couldn’t be more excited. I’ve talked to guys around the league and did my own research on him. He’s an offensive mind, a great person and a guy that’s going to come in and hopefully lead us to many victories in the future.”
In Trestman‘s first year at the helm of the team’s offense, the Bears were one of the league’s best, but the team’s production dropped off significantly in 2014.
Trestman and his staff were fired following the 2014 season, and new general manager Ryan Pace hired John Fox as the team’s new head coach and Adam Gase as the team’s new offensive coordinator.
Gase spent time with the Detroit Lions from 2003 to 2006 working various assistant jobs before he was named the team’s quarterbacks coach in 2007. He was an offensive assistant in San Francisco in 2008 before joining the Denver Broncos in 2009.
After spending two seasons as Denver’s wide receivers coach and another two seasons as the team’s quarterbacks coach, Gase was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2013. In Gase‘s two seasons as Denver’s offensive coordinator, the Broncos offense was one of the NFL’s best.
Gase benefited from having Peyton Manning as his quarterback, but he is considered to be one of the league’s brightest young offensive coordinators and was a candidate for many head coaching jobs this offseason.
Earlier this offseason, Gase received praise from San Diego Chargers head coach and former Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy.
“In regards to Adam specifically, he has an impressive attention to detail,” McCoy said, according to Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune. “He has an extensive knowledge of the game. And I can’t say enough about his work ethic and the way he goes about his business.”
Gase is not locked into one specific type of scheme, and his offense is a combination of various concepts and principles. He likes to spread defenses out to create mismatches for his receivers and tight ends, but he also likes to run the football with a combination of zone-blocking and power-running schemes.
So how can Gase‘s offense be successful in Chicago? Here is our blueprint for the optimal Bears offense in 2015.
Lean on the Running Game
Even though Gase‘s scheme is viewed by many as a high-powered passing offense, the Broncos were a fairly balanced offense in 2013 and 2014.
Having Manning under center made life easier for Gase, but he still leaned on the running game during his time in Denver.
The Broncos used a rotation of C.J. Anderson, Montee Ball and Ronnie Hillman at running back last season, and even though the Bears have a Pro Bowl running back in Matt Forte on the roster, they plan on using a rotation at the position in 2015.
“It’s a positive that Forte’s had a number of carries and the production he’s had, both catching the ball and running the ball,” Fox said, according to ESPN.com’s Jeff Dickerson. “We’ve always been believers in kind of a one-two punch and rolling guys through there, whether it’s the D-line; a wave of those guys to stay fresh. I’ve always had the approach the same thing with running backs.”
Forte has been one of the league’s most consistent running backs over the course of the last seven seasons, but he is nearing the age of 30. Chicago’s offense will be more effective if he is given an opportunity to stay fresh during games.
The team added veteran Jacquizz Rodgers in free agency, drafted Jeremy Langford out of Michigan State in the fourth round of this year’s draft and already has 2014 fourth-round pick Ka’Deem Carey on the roster, and all three backs could be fighting for playing time behind Forte this season.
Rodgers is a good receiver out of the backfield and appears to be the front-runner for the team’s third-down running back role, while the combination of Carey and Langford gives the Bears a “thunder and lightning” option.
Carey was given limited opportunities last season, but he is a good north-south runner who excels between the tackles, while Langford has the speed and agility to get to the outside and make defenders miss.
Forte will continue to carry to the brunt of the load in 2015, but in order for the offense to run at an optimal level next season, the Bears will need to lean on the running game and utilize the options they have behind Forte.
Create Mismatches with Alshon Jeffery and Kevin White
As important as the running game will be in 2015, the Bears will still need to throw the football in order to have success. The team traded away veteran receiver Brandon Marshall to the New York Jets earlier this offseason, but Pace drafted West Virginia’s Kevin White in the first round to take over Marshall’s spot on offense.
One reason why Gase‘s offense was so effective in Denver was because he knew how to create mismatches for his best receivers.
Demaryius Thomas led the Broncos in catches (111) and receiving yards (1,619) last season, and Jeffery will play a similar role to Thomas’ this season. Gase liked to use the wide receiver bubble screen, and Thomas gained many of his yards off those short passes—647 of his 1,619 yards came after the catch last year. Jeffery could put up similar numbers this season because he possesses a comparable skill set.
Like Thomas (6’3″, 229 lbs), Jeffery (6’3″, 216 lbs) is a big, strong wide receiver who knows how to pick up yards after the catch. Of Jeffery’s 1,133 receiving yards last season, 473 came after the catch, and Gase could create mismatches with Jeffery in the short-passing game by matching him up against smaller cornerbacks.
While Jeffery will spend much of the season lined up on the outside, he could move inside to the slot to create a mismatch against a nickelback or even a safety. Teams will try to limit Jeffery by giving the cornerback help over the top with a safety, and that should open up opportunities for White on the other side of the field.
Jeffery has the ability to work down the sideline and make impressive catches in traffic, but White has the ability to take the top off the defense with his speed.
At the NFL Scouting Combine in February, White’s 4.35-second 40-yard dash was tied for third-fastest among all wide receivers, and that speed translates to the field.
Last season against Texas Tech, White lined up to the right of the formation and ran a go route down the sideline toward the end zone. Off the snap of the ball, he was able to use his speed to create separation from the cornerback:
White beat his man on the outside and was able to haul in the football for a touchdown:
If teams decide they want to add help over the top on Jeffery’s side, White can be a mismatch on the outside because of his speed.
If Gase opts to spread out his offense and use Jeffery, White, wide receiver Eddie Royal, Forte and tight end Martellus Bennett in a five-receiver set, opposing defenses are going to have to decide who they want to limit with double-coverage and who to leave matched up in a one-on-one situation.
Jeffery and White have the potential to develop into a solid one-two punch in Chicago, but in order for them to be a consistent threat, Gase is going to need to create mismatches for them in the passing game.
Limit Cutler’s Control
Gase is now Cutler’s fifth offensive coordinator since he arrived in Chicago back in 2009, and the new OC thinks the much-maligned quarterback has matured on the field.
“I think most of us would say when he first came into the league he was that gunslinger-type mentality and I see a more patient guy,” Gase said, according to Mayer.
Cutler may appear to be more patient, but his turnovers over the last few seasons would suggest otherwise.
He was given the freedom to audible at the line of scrimmage under Trestman, but he struggled with his decision-making and often checked out of run plays to throw the football.
Earlier this offseason, Cutler referred to one of Gase‘s ideas as “Martz’ist”—a reference to former offensive coordinator Mike Martz—and Gase could learn a thing or two from Martz‘s time in Chicago.
Martz was the team’s offensive coordinator from 2010-2011, and while Cutler struggled with Martz‘s desire to use seven-step drops, he played under control in the former Super Bowl-winning coordinator’s offense.
Cutler still threw 23 interceptions between 2010 and 2011, but that was a big improvement over the 26 interceptions he threw in 2009 under offensive coordinator Ron Turner. Martz did not allow Cutler to check out of plays, and the former Vanderbilt quarterback played some of his best football under Martz.
Gase gave Manning the freedom in Denver to check out of plays and make audibles on the fly, but he would be wise to limit Cutler’s ability to audible in 2015.
Adding Gase this offseason does not instantly make the Bears the best offense in the league, but the young coordinator has proved to be one of the best offensive minds in football over the course of the last few seasons.
If the Bears lean on their running game, create mismatches for their top receivers and limit Cutler’s control of the offense, the team has a chance to be one of the league’s most productive offenses in 2015.
All screen shots were made using videos from Draft Breakdown. Statistical information courtesy of NFL.com.
Matt Eurich is a Chicago Bears Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.
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