Matt Nagy made a fairly surprising decision this week. Despite his team still being 5-4, the struggles of his Chicago Bears offense necessitated a change. Lacking any option, he chose to give up the play call sheet. Offensive coordinator Bill Lazor would assume those duties moving forward. No doubt a difficult choice for Nagy.

This leads to the obvious question. What should Bears fans expect from Lazor? He actually has more experience than Nagy himself calling plays. Between 2014 and 2018, he did it across four seasons with the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals. There were some high points but due to various circumstances, his units never achieved much.

Still, this isn’t an unfamiliar situation for him. Back in 2017, he was promoted to offensive coordinator in the third game of the season. Cincinnati had scored just nine points total the previous two games. He was called on to rescue them from the nightmare. His first test? The Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. How appropriate.

So let’s break down his first drive of that game. It might offer a good indication of what to expect from the Bears the rest of this year.

Bill Lazor has seen this exact scenario before

Play #1

Andy Dalton is under center. The Bengals are in ’11’ personnel with three wide receivers, a tight end and a running back. A simple running play. Green Bay has it stacked up so Jeremy Hill tries to bounce back left but is tackled for a 1-yard gain.

Play #2

Cincinnati stays with three receivers. This time Dalton is in shotgun. Tight end Tyler Kroft starts out wide then comes in motion. He sells like he’s going to chip block but then runs a crossing route. At the same time, the RB slips through the line and runs a crosser in the opposite direction, mixing up the coverage. Good enough protection allows Dalton to find Kroft for 13 yards.

Play #3

Dalton is back under center. This time the Bengals are in ’12’ personnel with two tight ends, two receivers, and a running back. Not much misdirection. It’s an outside zone run to the left. Hill doesn’t have much room and gets two yards.

Play #4

Nifty play right here. Bengals are stacked to the left, making it look like that’s the way they’re running. Dalton is in shotgun. At the snap, everybody blocks in that direction. Dalton fakes the handoff to Hill though and throws a quick slant to A.J. Green for 13 yards.

Play #5

Cincinnati is back in ’12’ personnel. Remember they ran the ball out of it last time. Dalton is under center, making it look like they’ll go that way again. Instead, with Green Bay showing single-high safety, they launch a deep shot to Green. He has a step but the ball is overthrown.

Play #6

While the connection didn’t work, it served its purpose. The Packers defense backed off the line of scrimmage a bit on this play. Dalton is in shotgun again. Hill shifts from left to right and then runs a swing route. The QB gets it to him right away and Green Bay has just one guy around to cover it. Hill makes him miss and gets six yards.

Play #7

Back to ’11’ personnel. Green is lined up wide left and comes in motion to stack behind Tyler Boyd. Joe Mixon is in the game at running back. Both receivers run the same route going right. This pulls the Packers’ coverage that way. Simultaneously, Mixon swings out to the left. Dalton gets him the ball and the left guard does just enough to get the block on the lone defensive back in position to make a play. Mixon goes for 20 yards and draws a facemask penalty too.

Play #8

This call is a curious one. Green Bay is again crowding the line of scrimmage and playing man coverage across the board with a single safety high. Instead of throwing, they decide to hand the ball to Mixon who goes for three yards. It isn’t clear if Dalton could’ve audibled out of that or not.

Play #9

This time Cincinnati is playing straight power football. They’re in the I-formation with a fullback in from of Mixon. Green Bay sees it coming and are stacking the box. The run to the right is covered up but the running back makes a slight mistake. He had a lane if he bounces it outside. Instead, he hesitates and is dropped for a 1-yard loss.

Play #10

No messing around here. The Bengals go with five wide receivers, spreading the Packers out. The key here is their best option, Green, is lined up in the slot. This gets him matched up on a linebacker. He wins the route immediately and even with safety help it’s not enough. Dalton makes a good throw to the end zone. Touchdown.

Final analysis?

Bill Lazor was anything but predictable on that drive. He had Dalton under center five times and in shotgun five times. He threw deep from under center and called a run from the shotgun. There were some nifty misdirection plays that got his players in favorable matchups, allowing them to do what they do best. Personnel packages weren’t convoluted and he looked to get the ball out of the QB’s hands quickly. A strong first impression given how little time the man had to adjust.