Nobody knows for sure what the hell happened with the Chicago Bears offense in 2017. It didn’t look anything like what former offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains ran the year before in 2016. That year he liked to spread the defenses out with multiple wide receivers and often put the quarterback in shotgun and pistol formations. Then all of a sudden last season he partied like its 1939. Mitch Trubisky was stuck under center and handing it off constantly. The Bears barely tried to run a style of offense they’d had success in before.
A style of offense that Trubisky probably would’ve excelled in. The results were predictable enough. Defenses had little trouble stopping the Bears on frequent occasions. Their predictable scheming must’ve felt like early Christmas presents for opposing coordinators. They finished dead last in passing while Jordan Howard faced more eight or nine-man boxes than ever before.
This couldn’t be allowed to continue. So GM Ryan Pace made an executive decision (pardon the terrible pun). He fired John Fox and the entire offensive staff. Matt Nagy was hired as his replacement and the younger and more forward-thinking Mark Helfrich became the new offensive coordinator. They would employ a significantly higher proportion of spread concepts mixed with West Coast thinking.
Trubisky? Yeah, he’s a fan.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
Mitch Trubisky sees new offense as far superior to Dowell Loggains system
The Bears’ young quarterback made an appearance on the NFL Network program “Good Morning Football” to talk about all that’s happened over the past couple months. He didn’t spare much time admitting that this new offense being installed is so much better for him and what the team wants to do.
“I really feel I was built for this offense,” Trubisky said. “And it’s just dynamic, it’s creative, and it’s also balanced. And that’s what you want. We’re going to get the ball out quick. We’re going to deceive the defenses, and we’re going to spread the field, and we’re going to get (the ball) all over to our playmakers. We’ll be balanced. We’re going to play fast. We’re going to be dynamic.
And we’re going to stretch the field every which way. I just feel like this offense is going to utilize my talents more and the players we have around me. And hopefully, we can just get it rolling from there. So I’m excited to keep diving in and keep working.”
"I really feel like I was built for this offense."@ChicagoBears QB @mtrubisky10 is ready for the new game plan in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/EvviJkBr8W
— GMFB (@gmfb) April 6, 2018
There’s no misinterpreting the comments.
Trubisky likes this new system better. That shouldn’t be a shock considering the problems he dealt with in the previous one. The Nagy offense turned Alex Smith into a four-time Pro Bowler. Smith is a QB much like Trubisky. He’s athletic, smart and accurate. Put him in shotgun, spread the defense out and let him create with his arm and legs. It shouldn’t be rocket science.
Nagy understands this but he’ll go far beyond just doing the obvious things that Trubisky does well. This offense will feature multiple dimensions in the air and on the ground. Layers of play design Chicago hasn’t seen in a long time. It should be fun to watch.
