Chicago Bears game coaches film analysis

Originally posted by jonnydel:
Here's CK's first INT: It wasn't necessarily a bad read, he had a couple checkdown options that would've been available, the other guy does make a tremendous play though.


This is a decent design by Roman, we come out with a 2 TE set, which causes Chicago to call a cover 3 zone defense - it's what we're looking for. We flex VD out wide to the bottom and then bring McDonald in motion across the formation. We're going to run play action to try and open up the Skinny post in the Seam. It almost works.


note the play action to try and bring the LB's up close to open up the seam route passing lane. The safety though, on his drop opens up to the 3 receiver side. What CK has to do is then look to the other side of the field towards Davis to move the safety - at least make him square his hips so he's not in position to drive on the ball.


You see the LB is dropping into the passing lane and as soon as CK starts his windup the safety is already closing on the ball.

It would've been a tight throw if completed.

INT

He would've had Hyde for at least a checkdown on the play as the defenders were all dropping back in coverage. Not saying he should've thrown it to the checkdown, but it was there.


You see the presence of the LB in the throwing lane causes Ck to throw the ball with a little more arc on it. This helps the safety have time to close on the ball(this is also why I keep saying Wilhoite isn't taking enough depth on his pass coverage drops).

It was that close. This is why looking the safety off is so important. It's one of those "little things" that has to happen. It's the right call against the defense(the play action didn't affect the LB's as much as I'd like to see though) but a minor mistake in execution makes a huge difference. If he causes that safety to square his hips it makes him 1 or 2 steps slow on the pass - which is the difference between a big gain and an INT. Gotta give it to Chicago's D though, they played that VERY well.

I know many have called this a fantastic play by the safety. I agree it was a nice catch for the INT, but I am putting more fault on Kap than credit to the safety. Like you said, Kap never looks off the safety, which I have seen him do many times in the past. From the time he received the shotgun/pistol snap, as he maneuvers the ball to get a firm grasp, to the time he winds up and fires the ball, he was looking to Boldin the entire time. This throw was too easy for the safety to jump.

QB 101. When there is a single high safety and the throw is going to the middle of the field, the QB must hold that safety with his eyes. I know you said this jonnydel, but I just wanted to drive that point. This is bad QBing, and I'm not sure why Kap forgot to execute on basic fundamentals here.

I normally agree with what you have to say but you are off on a few items. We were much better under center that shotgun. The INT that was missed was because the WR ran into the DB. The dline was great against the run but created VERY little pressure, Cutler was able to stand in the pocket in the 4th quarter without worry. Kaeps int on 3rd and 12, gore was the only person that ran a route at a different level and he leaked out of the backfield late. My 2 cents.

Originally posted by Canadian9erfan:

Originally posted by Marvin49:

Originally posted by Canadian9erfan:
I think its safe to say Vance McDonald in the 2nd round was a terrible pick. He has stone hands and should have been a 5th-6th round pick. Carrier ( I think thats how its spelt) did more in one half of that game than McDonald has done in over a year.

The game came down to
1. Penalties
2. Kaepernick turning the ball over

We limit either of those 2 things and we win the game.

Time management and use of TO's is clearly something the staff have no clue how to utilize and I am no longer expecting us to get better in this category.

SMDH.

Seriously?

He dropped one pass. ONE. It was even behind him. LOL.

Cracks me up how all of the sudden after 2 catches Carrier is the answer to all our prayers. LOL.

I am not saying Carrier is the answer at all. Just saying he made some big catches down the field and i dont remember McDonald ever doing that. Yes he dropped 1 pass, one pass that hit both of his hands! When you are known for dropping balls and you get your name called to make a play, MAKE IT. He was a 2nd round pick and we are not getting 2nd round pick production.

Delanie Walker was known for dropping balls, but he also made some good plays here and there and i think everyone would much rather still have him here (he is killing it in Tenn). If we want to use McDonald as a 2nd TE and a blocker then fine, but i do not trust him running any route down the field and actually catching the ball. We need to limit TE drafting to later rounds and focusing on 6'6 or 6'7 guys who we can throw jump balls to in the endzone. We lack that type of WR/TE and it hurts us in red zone.

What's making me laugh is the "safe to say he was a terrible pick" part. Jeez. Nice rush to judgment. He's the #2 TE who most often is used to block.

He was raw when he was drafted. He didn't play TE in college. Neither did Delanie. How were Delanies numbers several years into his carrier? Let me help you. He had 204 combined yards over the first full TWO years of his career. Vance had 128 LAST YEAR. Relax.

Can we not make blanket statements less than 2 years in? LOL.

Originally posted by sdaddy101269:
I normally agree with what you have to say but you are off on a few items. We were much better under center that shotgun. The INT that was missed was because the WR ran into the DB. The dline was great against the run but created VERY little pressure, Cutler was able to stand in the pocket in the 4th quarter without worry. Kaeps int on 3rd and 12, gore was the only person that ran a route at a different level and he leaked out of the backfield late. My 2 cents.

I'm referring to the run game. We had a couple decent runs from under center, but had 5 or 6 that went for little to no gain. Gore's huge run was out of shotgun, his TD was out of shotgun, the first run of the game where he ran for 7 yards was from shotgun, he had another run for 9 or so out of shotgun. I'm not saying we shouldn't run from under center, I just saw that overall, those runs weren't that effective.

Also, from OP when I refer to the D-line, I'm talking about D-tackles and D-ends, not the OLB's who are responsible for the edge rush. The DT's got good push up the middle on passes(I could show a dozen or so screen grabs showing Cutler throwing from a terrible platform because he couldn't step up into the pocket) we weren't getting any rush off the edge - which I did call out.

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by jonnydel:
Here's CK's first INT: It wasn't necessarily a bad read, he had a couple checkdown options that would've been available, the other guy does make a tremendous play though.


This is a decent design by Roman, we come out with a 2 TE set, which causes Chicago to call a cover 3 zone defense - it's what we're looking for. We flex VD out wide to the bottom and then bring McDonald in motion across the formation. We're going to run play action to try and open up the Skinny post in the Seam. It almost works.


note the play action to try and bring the LB's up close to open up the seam route passing lane. The safety though, on his drop opens up to the 3 receiver side. What CK has to do is then look to the other side of the field towards Davis to move the safety - at least make him square his hips so he's not in position to drive on the ball.


You see the LB is dropping into the passing lane and as soon as CK starts his windup the safety is already closing on the ball.

It would've been a tight throw if completed.

INT

He would've had Hyde for at least a checkdown on the play as the defenders were all dropping back in coverage. Not saying he should've thrown it to the checkdown, but it was there.


You see the presence of the LB in the throwing lane causes Ck to throw the ball with a little more arc on it. This helps the safety have time to close on the ball(this is also why I keep saying Wilhoite isn't taking enough depth on his pass coverage drops).

It was that close. This is why looking the safety off is so important. It's one of those "little things" that has to happen. It's the right call against the defense(the play action didn't affect the LB's as much as I'd like to see though) but a minor mistake in execution makes a huge difference. If he causes that safety to square his hips it makes him 1 or 2 steps slow on the pass - which is the difference between a big gain and an INT. Gotta give it to Chicago's D though, they played that VERY well.

I know many have called this a fantastic play by the safety. I agree it was a nice catch for the INT, but I am putting more fault on Kap than credit to the safety. Like you said, Kap never looks off the safety, which I have seen him do many times in the past. From the time he received the shotgun/pistol snap, as he maneuvers the ball to get a firm grasp, to the time he winds up and fires the ball, he was looking to Boldin the entire time. This throw was too easy for the safety to jump.

QB 101. When there is a single high safety and the throw is going to the middle of the field, the QB must hold that safety with his eyes. I know you said this jonnydel, but I just wanted to drive that point. This is bad QBing, and I'm not sure why Kap forgot to execute on basic fundamentals here.

Dunno...but I don't think anyone is saying otherwise. As Ralph Barbieri used to say, two things can be equally true.

My guess is Kap didn't think the guy could get there and trusted his arm too much AND they guy broke on the ball and made a great play.

Thanks for the write up look forward to reading it every week! Man I would love for Roman to sit back and watch some Charger and Bronco games. I would love to see some pick plays like they run in Denver with Boldin/Crabs. I love how both teams look for the high % throws and gain 4 and 5 yards and allow the play makers to make plays....I don't know a ton about offensive play calling, but you'd think that running plays like this would force the DB's to play up which would allow us to take a shot down the field. Do you think Kap can pull off this shorter passes like Rivers and Manning do??

Originally posted by jonnydel:

It is a fine line and one that he seems to go back and forth on. Working the concept side is what is going to separate him from being a great athlete playing quarterback to being a quarterback who's a great athlete. It's what will separate him from a Cam Newton, RGIII, Manziel, Geno Smith, Michael Vick to an Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees

Totally agree....unfortunately it's a learning process and it just takes time to develop. I'm confident though he is gonna get to that level. As you said, he shows glimpses. I have a feeling that time and score played into his decision on this particular play.

Originally posted by Marvin49:

Originally posted by Canadian9erfan:

Originally posted by Marvin49:

Originally posted by Canadian9erfan:
I think its safe to say Vance McDonald in the 2nd round was a terrible pick. He has stone hands and should have been a 5th-6th round pick. Carrier ( I think thats how its spelt) did more in one half of that game than McDonald has done in over a year.

The game came down to
1. Penalties
2. Kaepernick turning the ball over

We limit either of those 2 things and we win the game.

Time management and use of TO's is clearly something the staff have no clue how to utilize and I am no longer expecting us to get better in this category.

SMDH.

Seriously?

He dropped one pass. ONE. It was even behind him. LOL.

Cracks me up how all of the sudden after 2 catches Carrier is the answer to all our prayers. LOL.

I am not saying Carrier is the answer at all. Just saying he made some big catches down the field and i dont remember McDonald ever doing that. Yes he dropped 1 pass, one pass that hit both of his hands! When you are known for dropping balls and you get your name called to make a play, MAKE IT. He was a 2nd round pick and we are not getting 2nd round pick production.

Delanie Walker was known for dropping balls, but he also made some good plays here and there and i think everyone would much rather still have him here (he is killing it in Tenn). If we want to use McDonald as a 2nd TE and a blocker then fine, but i do not trust him running any route down the field and actually catching the ball. We need to limit TE drafting to later rounds and focusing on 6'6 or 6'7 guys who we can throw jump balls to in the endzone. We lack that type of WR/TE and it hurts us in red zone.

What's making me laugh is the "safe to say he was a terrible pick" part. Jeez. Nice rush to judgment. He's the #2 TE who most often is used to block.

He was raw when he was drafted. He didn't play TE in college. Neither did Delanie. How were Delanies numbers several years into his carrier? Let me help you. He had 204 combined yards over the first full TWO years of his career. Vance had 128 LAST YEAR. Relax.

Can we not make blanket statements less than 2 years in? LOL.

Canadian9erfan, I think it's too early to say Vance is a terrible pick. He was raw in terms of what the 49ers ask out of their TEs, which is block DEs and LBs. Was he over-drafted? If you said 'yes', I wouldn't be able to argue that. He was targeted twice in this game and dropped the pass that was thrown behind him, as he had to reach across his body. It did hit him in the hands, and he showed why his hands aren't a strength of his on that play.

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by jonnydel:
Here's CK's first INT: It wasn't necessarily a bad read, he had a couple checkdown options that would've been available, the other guy does make a tremendous play though.


This is a decent design by Roman, we come out with a 2 TE set, which causes Chicago to call a cover 3 zone defense - it's what we're looking for. We flex VD out wide to the bottom and then bring McDonald in motion across the formation. We're going to run play action to try and open up the Skinny post in the Seam. It almost works.


note the play action to try and bring the LB's up close to open up the seam route passing lane. The safety though, on his drop opens up to the 3 receiver side. What CK has to do is then look to the other side of the field towards Davis to move the safety - at least make him square his hips so he's not in position to drive on the ball.


You see the LB is dropping into the passing lane and as soon as CK starts his windup the safety is already closing on the ball.

It would've been a tight throw if completed.

INT

He would've had Hyde for at least a checkdown on the play as the defenders were all dropping back in coverage. Not saying he should've thrown it to the checkdown, but it was there.


You see the presence of the LB in the throwing lane causes Ck to throw the ball with a little more arc on it. This helps the safety have time to close on the ball(this is also why I keep saying Wilhoite isn't taking enough depth on his pass coverage drops).

It was that close. This is why looking the safety off is so important. It's one of those "little things" that has to happen. It's the right call against the defense(the play action didn't affect the LB's as much as I'd like to see though) but a minor mistake in execution makes a huge difference. If he causes that safety to square his hips it makes him 1 or 2 steps slow on the pass - which is the difference between a big gain and an INT. Gotta give it to Chicago's D though, they played that VERY well.

I know many have called this a fantastic play by the safety. I agree it was a nice catch for the INT, but I am putting more fault on Kap than credit to the safety. Like you said, Kap never looks off the safety, which I have seen him do many times in the past. From the time he received the shotgun/pistol snap, as he maneuvers the ball to get a firm grasp, to the time he winds up and fires the ball, he was looking to Boldin the entire time. This throw was too easy for the safety to jump.

QB 101. When there is a single high safety and the throw is going to the middle of the field, the QB must hold that safety with his eyes. I know you said this jonnydel, but I just wanted to drive that point. This is bad QBing, and I'm not sure why Kap forgot to execute on basic fundamentals here.

I'll go ahead and mention Kaps lack of an arch. This constantly gets him in trouble, with batted balls at the line and some of his ints, like this one. Put a lob on that pass in front of Boldin and it's a TD.

Originally posted by NYniner85:
Thanks for the write up look forward to reading it every week! Man I would love for Roman to sit back and watch some Charger and Bronco games. I would love to see some pick plays like they run in Denver with Boldin/Crabs. I love how both teams look for the high % throws and gain 4 and 5 yards and allow the play makers to make plays....I don't know a ton about offensive play calling, but you'd think that running plays like this would force the DB's to play up which would allow us to take a shot down the field. Do you think Kap can pull off this shorter passes like Rivers and Manning do??

The 49ers do run pick plays when appropriate, which it was not in this game as CHI played zone, exclusively. Pick plays are used to bust man coverage.

He just HAS to gun everything in. He needs to work on mechanics with Whitfield. That's why we brought him in.

Originally posted by NYniner85:
Thanks for the write up look forward to reading it every week! Man I would love for Roman to sit back and watch some Charger and Bronco games. I would love to see some pick plays like they run in Denver with Boldin/Crabs. I love how both teams look for the high % throws and gain 4 and 5 yards and allow the play makers to make plays....I don't know a ton about offensive play calling, but you'd think that running plays like this would force the DB's to play up which would allow us to take a shot down the field. Do you think Kap can pull off this shorter passes like Rivers and Manning do??

The problem with that is that we don't see straight man coverage all that often. Teams will mix a lot of man coverage in with zones against guys like Peyton and Brees because they HAVE to. You have to keep them on their toes, and it's easier to try and play "cat" defense against Manning and Brees than to try and outscheme those QB's(Cat defense is, "I got this cat, you got that cat"). If you try and play constant zone against a Peyton Manning or Rodgers or Brees, they're gonna carve you up all day. They'll move guys around with their eyes and know where all the soft spots are and can identify most zones pre-snap. Also, teams aren't that worried about a Manning or Brees running with the ball so they don't fear turning their back to the QB.

Defenses refuse to turn their backs on CK because of what he did to GB. They tried to run man coverage with just a "spy" on CK and he ran for more yards than any QB in history. No one is going to allow that. So, we rarely see man coverage which is what those pick plays are so good at defeating.

Originally posted by Marvin49:
Dunno...but I don't think anyone is saying otherwise. As Ralph Barbieri used to say, two things can be equally true.

My guess is Kap didn't think the guy could get there and trusted his arm too much AND they guy broke on the ball and made a great play.

The only problem I have with what you posted there is that you quoted Ralph Barbieri.

Here's a play that did work for us several times on Sunday, but, they did catch on after a few times it worked.


Here we're going to try and utilize CK's ability out of the pocket by moving the launch point. We're going to motion Crabtree in close to give a run formation look which brings on a cover 3 look from the defense. Then, we're going to just run a basic "flood" concept to the wide side of the field off play action.

here's Crabs in run formation, see how there's only going to be 2 defenders in a zone against 3 receivers. That's the "flood" concept, you "flood" a zone with receivers.


You see the play action hold most of the defenders up close to the line

We're going to bring Boldin and Crabtree through the zones with Johnson running a clearing route.

The LB jams Crabtree coming across(it's legal because it's still within 5 yards) but the defender is stuck between a rock and a hard place; he has CK in the open field or drop in coverage.


CK hits Boldin for a big gain. We hit this play several times out of different formations. We hit it once with Davis for a big gain as well. Then Chicago adjusted and started bringing a DE on a controlled rush hard upfield and blew this play up a couple times. So, we stopped running it.

Originally posted by thl408:

I know many have called this a fantastic play by the safety. I agree it was a nice catch for the INT, but I am putting more fault on Kap than credit to the safety. Like you said, Kap never looks off the safety, which I have seen him do many times in the past. From the time he received the shotgun/pistol snap, as he maneuvers the ball to get a firm grasp, to the time he winds up and fires the ball, he was looking to Boldin the entire time. This throw was too easy for the safety to jump.

QB 101. When there is a single high safety and the throw is going to the middle of the field, the QB must hold that safety with his eyes. I know you said this jonnydel, but I just wanted to drive that point. This is bad QBing, and I'm not sure why Kap forgot to execute on basic fundamentals here.

Seeing it from this angle, it appears that even the slightest look off could/should have held Conte and then that play is essentially wide open. This is just one of those gun slinger Favre circa 1993 type of throws. Hopefully Harbs/roman are in his ear about the importance of holding the saftey in single high.