The Chicago Bears offense is struggling right now. That isn’t exactly news. They’ve failed to score 30 points yet this season and one touchdown combined in both of their losses to Green Bay and New York. A big reason for this is they can’t throw the ball. Justin Fields doesn’t look comfortable in the pocket. His offensive line isn’t helping with their spotty protection, and the wide receivers continue to suffer from drop and route-running issues. Kyle Long has seen this before. He lived it at times during his career.
However, the former Pro Bowler believes there are ways to make things easier for the young quarterback. He explained this on the Green Light podcast to his brother Chris Long. It involves getting Fields under center more often. He wants to see the offensive line going forward. Use the quarterback’s athleticism as a decoy on bootlegs and rollouts. Most importantly, he wants to see fullback Khari Blasingame more often. Long seems to think he is having an impact.
Kyle talks about the Bears' struggles and what they need to do to help Justin Fields.@JOEL9ONE | @Ky1eLong | @WynnBET | @MillerLite pic.twitter.com/v5OLIm3X3f
— Green Light with Chris Long (@greenlight) October 4, 2022
He has a fair argument. Blasingame is the 6th-highest-rated run blocker in zone situations and the 3rd-highest in gap situations. It isn’t a coincidence that several of the Bears’ best runs this season have come with him on the field.
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Khari Blasingame had a very nice game. I’d love to see him get more snaps this week. Great block on Preston Smith hereto spring Montgomery. His job is to kick out Smith but he sees how he’s playing and seals the edge. Excellent. #DaBears #Bears pic.twitter.com/hXWaL8xQ89
— Clay Harbor (@clayharbs82) September 21, 2022
"The Bears have an unbelievable run game" ~@aqshipley #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/gl5CbdSXIf
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 27, 2022
Nice block by Bears FB @KhariBlasingame on the toss: pic.twitter.com/pO3rpoEgqZ
— Fullback Watch (@FullbackWatch) October 2, 2022
Kyle Long knows how the running game can help a young QB.
He saw it work to perfection back in 2018 with Mitch Trubisky. Once the team embraced feeding the ball to Jordan Howard down the stretch, the former Bears QB played much more efficiently. It also helps the offensive line to build confidence by playing smashmouth football. Blasingame can be a big part of that. This also isn’t including his considerable pass-catching prowess. One of the reasons he was signed was his threat as a receiver out of the backfield.
For whatever reason, the Bears haven’t tried to exploit that yet. One can only hope they do soon. Their schedule isn’t getting any easier. Kyle Long no doubt wishes he could still play. He’d be a welcome addition to that front if he were healthy. As it stands, the Bears are stuck with Lucas Patrick, Sam Mustipher, and Teven Jenkins on the interior.
The Bears ran for 280 yards on Houston. It didn’t appear to help the pass game.
Fields can’t trust his center and probably shouldn’t trust his left tackle. Hard to have a passing game when you have .7 seconds to throw the ball…
Why do i have the distinct feeling that neither Getsy or Eberflus understand a word of what Kyle Long is talking about. These coaches remind me of youth sports coaches who know everything.
Totally agree with Kyle here. We run too much shotgun. We have lineman that can create a decent push if firing off the ball. And it will make Fields play action options that much better. I have to admit, so far this years offense seems pretty darn similar to Nagy’s offense. Other than more run plays this year overall.
I lobbied for a FB to be added. Like that they did it. It seem maybe there has to be a limit on how much can be added to the scheme at one time to prevent mental overload. Maybe that is part of the reason the FB is not being utilized 100%.
Sorry but 2018 Mitch got worse after about game 12 and the offense was terrible to finish the year.