Bears Offense Focuses on Plus Side

There were positivesin the loss to Green Bay says offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, but corrections need to be made by Justin Fields, his targets and blockers.

A year ago Bears fans seemed upset on social media because they thought offensive coordinator Luke Getsy would have one year to work with Justin Fields and would be summoned from an NFL team with a coaching vacancy to be their head coach.

Times have changed, as losses have piled up and the Bears offense has struggled. To go on social media since Sunday, you'd think the Bears had John Shoop back as offensive coordinator, or Terry Shea.

Getsy has been roundly criticized for the offense last week, although much of it could be misguided.

"I mean, I don't know exactly what it is, but I know that it's there, for sure," Getsy said of the criticism from Bear Nation. "I mean, I'm in a huge market here, and we have an exciting young quarterback that everybody is excited to see how well he can do. For sure, I know it's out there, but what it is, I don't. Like, because I know that doesn't really affect me or what I'm going to do or how I'm going to do it.

"What we’re trying to do is whatever we can for all 11 guys that are on the field, give them an opportunity to go be successful. As a coach, that's all you can do, and when you're in the building each and every day, you're making sure that you're doing everything possible to give those guys a chance to have success. That's all you’re really focused on, and that takes up enough of your time that I don't really have a chance to listen to all that or read all that."

This doesn't mean Getsy doesn't care. He's trying to build an offense and can't let such things get in the way.

The problem is, the first showing this year looked worse than many of those last year. Aside from the loss to Detroit in Week 17 last year, the loss in the opener to Green Bay last week might have been the worst game Matt Eberflus' team has played. The offense contributed greatly with two turnovers, six penalties for 71 yards and a couple of failed quarterback sneaks.

Worse, they didn't seem able to get the ball to receiver DJ Moore, wide receiver Chase Claypool or run the ball with any real consistency.

Getsy had to explain some things Thursday about the offensive issues:

1. All The Blankety-Blank Wide Receiver Screens

They weren't trying to be ultra-conservative by having Fields throw 3.3 yards downfield on average, according to NFL NextGen Stats. They saw the way Green Bay defended them and anticipated it could work for big gains, Getsy said.

"I don't look at it as that way; I don’t think I ever have," Getsy said. "We look for advantageous looks. I know it sounds like screens have been a conversation, but a poor motion landmark, and a couple of poor blocks. But if you watch the film and actually watch the film, we have everybody accounted for and there's nobody else out there.

"If we can just capture that edge, those are 15-, 25-yard gains and you (media) guys are patting me on my back. And I get it. That's part of it. My point of it is we're gonna make decisions what we feel are advantageous to our guys having opportunities. Now, we have to do better. We have to coach it better. We have to make sure that guys execute it better. That’s where we have to get batter at it for sure."

2. Flying Flags

The penalties and other mistakes don't all fall on the players and coaches can help them get beyond doing this. They committed 80 penalties last year, third fewest in the league, and it's part of the basis for their HITS principle to avoid walkoffs.

"One, it's making sure that we do a better job of getting guys coached up on what they're gonna see and those guys have to go out and execute it," Getsy said. "So it's a team effort. It takes all 11, we say that about everything—run, pass and protection. It takes all 11 and we've got to make sure we stay true to that."

3. Chase Claypool Is Reportedly Motivated

The lack of a catch on two targets might have been a factor in the poor blocking coaches saw from fourth-year receiver Chase Claypool. It leads to frustration, according to receivers coach Tyke Tolbert. In turn, this leads to mistakes on offense like missed blocks, which, in turn, can result in a teammate being lit up.

"I think Chase is motivated," Getsy said. "I think he wants to do it. I think he had a couple of plays where he didn't execute it and that hurt us. He knows that. But Chase wants to do it. I don’t think it's a matter of him wanting."

Getsy agreed blocking, in general, greatly involves effort.

"Part of it, for sure," Getsy said. "It's a will. It's a knowing your assignment, execution. You (media) guys have seen our run game. It's not an easy thing on our receivers. That's why we value the people that can play multiple positions and do multiple things. So that's a part of it. But yeah, effort is part of it, but it's only a part of it."

No one is aware of Claypool being told he'll be inactive this week and everyone is operating on the assumption he'll be active again. Tolbert said he hasn't heard Claypool will be inactive.

If it seems strange the coaches aren't aware totally, it's because Matt Eberflus and GM Ryan Poles determine who's up and who isn't, according to special teams coordinator Richard Hightower. He called it a common personnel situation in the league.

"I think that's across the league that way," Hightower said. "The teams that I've been on, yeah, the head coach and the GM are always in lock step, hand in hand."

4. They Really Were Looking for DJ Moore

Moore is their highest-paid player and an explosive threat but had just two catches on one first-half possession, then didn't make another one.

"It was definitely a disappointment," Getsy said. "There's a lot of reasons why things happen. Protection could have broke down for a particular play for him. Justin just maybe didn't see something in a particular way. There's a lot of things that go into it.

"I think, you know, we definitely are calling plays for DJ and he knows that and he wasn't frustrated by any of that. And you know sometimes it's just the way the coverage dictates to where the quarterback has to go with the football too."

There is no Moore quota, just a desire to get him the ball.

"Whatever that percentage is, I don't have a set number each week that we make sure he hits 40 percent of the targets or something like that," Getsy said. "I don’t do that. I know that guys like him are an important part of our plan each and every week. We set up formations and plays and concepts that suit each guy's abilities, and we make sure that we're staying focused on getting them the ball as many different ways as possible so defenses can't settle in on one particular way or one particular alignment."

5. O-Line Won't Face Packers Every Week

Getsy wasn't overly upset with the offensive line's blocking. His insight into the Packers defense as the team's former quarterbacks coach might have something to do with this.

"That's as good of a front as there is in the league," he said of the Packers. "How many first rounders show up in the front seven (4)? That's what they do and they do a really good job of moving guys around.

"So no, we knew that was going to be a challenge, part of the game."

Nate Davis had come into the game as a player who had practiced very little with the line, but Getsy saw no deficiency in his blocking. Pro Football Focus graded him 47th out of 65 in Week "Yeah, I was happy," Getsy said. "I think what showed up probably the most was not specifically to him, but the group, was we played 70, whatever plays it was. The guys did a good job of hanging in there. Maybe the effort kind of tailed off as it went. But for Nate to not have as much practice experience as the other guys and for him to hang in there the whole game, I was really happy that he was able to do that."

6. Justin Fields' 78.5 Passer Rating

Getsy tried to build up his quarterback after a performance closer to the way he played at the beginning of last year than during a stretch of 10 games when he seemed to improve. 

The pass rush pressure didn't rattle him in Getsy's opinion.

Fields himself pointed out his own trepidation over throwing it up deep for a jump ball and called himself overly conservative.

"Yeah, that's part of that getting to know each other chemistry, trusting one another and all of that stuff," Getsy said. "We will. He will continue to get better.

"I thought he played under control composed and all that stuff. I thought there was a lot of really good things. The touchdown pass, he's changing the protection to make sure we pick up the pressure and then makes a great throw."

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