The Chicago Bears began finalizing their 53-man roster on Tuesday for the regular season as they now look forward to their 2022 season-opening game against the San Francisco 49ers on September 11th. Anticipation is building amongst fans and the media following Chicago’s 21-20 preseason victory over the Cleveland Browns this past Saturday as quarterback Justin Fields fired three first-half touchdown passes. Fields’ success is attributed to offensive coordinator Luke Getsy tailoring Chicago’s offensive scheme to the second-year quarterback’s strengths, something prior Bears’ offensive coaches have failed to do in the past.
The Bears Have A Long History Of Offensive Play-Callers Set In Their Ways
Getsy takes over as the Bears’ offensive coordinator after former head coach Matt Nagy was fired following four seasons with the team, which included a role as Chicago’s prominent offensive signal-caller. Nagy was often seen as too attached to his specific offensive scheme and wasn’t open to changing or building an offense to highlight the strength of his players. When the Bears’ hired the former Chiefs’ offensive coordinator at the beginning of 2018, the team believed that they were getting one of the best up-and-coming offensive minds.
The #Bears may be in a rebuilding phase with development of Justin Fields first & foremost on the important list, but I’m really starting to think Luke Getsy was the biggest addition to this team in the offseason.
Cautious optimism…
— Ryan McGuffey (@RyanMcGuffey) August 29, 2022
Unfortunately, after a 12-win season in 2018, Chicago struggled to be successful due to Nagy’s issues as a play-caller. Several quarterbacks, including Mitchell Trubisky and Fields, struggled to execute the passing plays consistently as the head coach’s play designs were complex and took too long to develop. Instead of implementing offensive plays that highlighted the strengths of his quarterbacks, Nagy continued to call plays that were tied to his specific offensive scheme, resulting in coaching changes being made multiple times.
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In 2020 and 2021, Nagy was forced to give up his play-calling responsibilities due to an ineffective Bears offense. In 2020, the head coach gave up calling plays to offensive coordinator Bill Lazor after Chicago’s offense scored only four touchdowns in four games. Instantly, Lazor began designing passing plays to highlight Trubisky’s mobility and comfort level of throwing outside of the pocket. From Week 12 to Week 16 of the 2020 season, the Bears’ offense averaged 33 points per game.
In 2020 as soon as Bears OC Bill Lazor stepped in to call plays for Matt Nagy the offensive production increased by 8 points per game. (27)
— Max Markham (@MaxMarkhamNFL) September 30, 2021
Although Nagy resumed calling offensive plays at the beginning of the 2021 season, he again had to turn responsibilities back over to Lazor following an embarrassing loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 3. Fields was sacked nine times and finished the 26-6 loss with one net passing yard. Chicago’s head coach was criticized heavily by national and local media outlets. Nagy’s pass blocking scheme for protecting Fields was significantly scrutinized as it appeared no changes were made to adjust the offensive game plan to help the rookie quarterback.
Nagy wasn’t the first Bears’ offensive play caller to have issues of being too devoted to a specific scheme and not making adjustments for the betterment of his players. Former offensive coordinators Ron Turner and Mike Martz had similar issues that plagued Chicago’s former head coach. In 2009, Turner was the Bears’ offensive coordinator when the team acquired quarterback Jay Cutler from the Denver Broncos. Despite high expectations, Cutler struggled in 2009, throwing 27 interceptions as he clashed with his offensive coordinator and the scheme.
On Sept. 13, 2009, in his very first game as the Bears’ starting QB, Jay Cutler threw four interceptions in a Week 1 loss to the Packers.
— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) September 21, 2016
Turner deployed a West Coast offensive scheme that featured several short and mid-range passing plays from the I-formation. During his time with Denver, Cutler had been highly successful using his elite arm strength on deep passing patterns deployed from bootleg and shot-gun formations. The quarterback’s best game of the 2009 season came in the second-to-last game of the year against the Minnesota Vikings, in which Turner implemented bootleg and shot-gun formations.
Martz, during his two seasons with the Bears as offensive coordinator in 2010 and 2011, was highly devoted to his offensive scheme that involved an unbalanced amount of passing plays compared to running plays. In the first seven games of the season, Cutler was sacked 27 times. At the team’s bye week, head coach Lovie Smith forced his offensive coordinator to make adjustments to the offense to involve more running plays and to have shorter passing to help protect Chicago’s quarterback. The adjustments would lead to Chicago winning the NFC North Division and making it to the NFC Championship game.
If not for that 18-yard completion from Tyler Bray on the final drive, the Bears would've posted their lowest yardage total since a 17-3 loss to the Giants in 2010 (110 yards).
That was the game Jay Cutler was sacked nine times in the first half before leaving with a concussion.
— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) November 17, 2020
Getsy Is Building His Offense To The Strength of His Players
Heading into the 2022 season, Getsy is drawing significant praise as the offensive coordinator appears confident about how to run Chicago’s offense. The Bears’ offense will utilize talented running backs David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert to establish an effective running game for the passing offense to build on. Getsy will deploy play-action and boot-leg passing plays to get Fields outside and out of the pocket to allow the quarterback to either pass or scramble with the football.
I went to bed last night and had dreams about this throw. Luke Getsy seems like he's just what the doc ordered for Justin Fields. #Bears https://t.co/yCLHZHbYcx
— Jarrett Payton (@paytonsun) August 28, 2022
Through Chicago’s three preseason games, there have been glimpses of what Getsy will likely feature from a play-calling standpoint during the regular season as the Bears offense has been productive. Fields has looked more comfortable with this year’s offensive system compared to last season, as he has had one pass completion of 20 yards or more in each preseason game. Additionally, the offense has appeared balanced and simplified during the three preseason games with Getsy in charge.
Getsy’s offensive scheme is not only built to Fields’ strengths, including deep ball passing accuracy and mobility but also is designed to cover for Chicago’s subpar offensive line. The most significant concern for the Bears’ offense in 2022 will be their offensive line, as the group lacks talent and veteran experience. Many NFL analysts question whether the offensive line will be able to constantly protect Chicago’s quarterback, which is why Getsy wants to get his quarterback out of the pocket and utilize quick passing plays.
The Bears could be in a situation where their offensive coordinator finally looks to build an offense, not based on a predetermined scheme but on the abilities of his offensive players. Getsy’s number one goal when hired was to establish an offensive system tailored to Fields’ talents and maximize those talents to the highest level. If Chicago’s second-year quarterback is productive in 2022, it will be because of his offensive play-caller being selfless, something prior Bears’ offensive minds were not.
That is the failure of Ted Phillips and George McCaskey! Hiring the wrong people all the time and getting fixated on the wrong hires. If the Bears only had “Football People” not a “fan” and a freaking accountant running the team. My hope is Poles can be that guy and bring this historic franchise out of the gutter.
Agree that Getsy was a Great addition, a needed addition. With the addition of at least one more OL and one more WR, we should be good to go this year…..then wait for injured players to get ready.
I’ve been thinking. How many first round QB busts are attributable to narcissistic coaches who try to jam round pegs into square holes because they are inflexible in running their offensive systems? “Why do we do it that way?” “Because that’s the way we’ve always done it.”. Companies fail for the same reasons. No imagination. No ability to adapt. Wasted talent and demoralized employees. You guys are right that Getsy will be promoted right out of Chicago but that may be a good thing for the league. Lots of these young minds are taking over and lots of the old… Read more »
I sounds so simple, design a system based on the strengths of the players you have. The Bears past if full of coordinators who never tried to do it. To be fair, the rest of the league also has its share of idiots like that.