Vikings' defense knew exactly where to attack Chicago in Week 15 and the Bears' offense had zero answers for it
Stop me if you heard this before but the Chicago Bears' offense looked to be stuck in the mud in Week 15 against the Minnesota Vikings, leading to an early deficit quarterback Caleb Williams was forced to claw his way back out of.This is a frustrating situation to continue putting your rookie quarterback in week […]
Stop me if you heard this before but the Chicago Bears' offense looked to be stuck in the mud in Week 15 against the Minnesota Vikings, leading to an early deficit quarterback Caleb Williams was forced to claw his way back out of.
This is a frustrating situation to continue putting your rookie quarterback in week in and week out, especially with a struggling offensive line protecting in front of him.
Speaking of that unit, the Vikings had a clear plan in place on the defensive line with where they were going to attack and the Bears had zero answers for it.
The main part of that plan involved attacking third-round rookie Kiran Amegadjie who made his first career NFL start on Monday after left tackle Braxton Jones was ruled out the day before the game with a concussion. Forcing Amegadjie to start this game clearly put the rookie, who was drafted to be a developmental player, in a tough spot.
It was evident early in this game that Amegadjie wasn't ready for this moment and the Bears didn't do him any favors to aid in his first start. In the middle of the third quarter, Amegadjie got beat one-on-one on the outside against Jonathan Greenard without any assistance via a chip or double-team on 3rd-and-long.
As a result, Greenard got clean around Amegadjie and absolutely ear-holed Williams, forcing a fumble on the sack and ending the team's first promising drive.
It wasn't just pass protection on the outside that gave Amegadjie struggles on Monday night. The rookie was also called for two holding penalties, one false start, one illegal man downfield, and had some mishaps run blocking as well.
On this play for example, Amegadjie was pushed straight back by Jerry Tillery, straight into running back D'Andre Swift on 4th-and-one resulting in a turnover on downs.
It was an awful starting debut by the team's third-round pick back in April's draft, but Amegadjie wasn't the only offensive lineman Brian Flores looked to go after in this game. Starting center Coleman Shelton also struggled on Monday against the Vikings' pass rush.
There were multiple plays on Monday in which Shelton was driven into the ground on his back and absolutely blown up in the middle by blitzes. With how this game went, the Bears had no choice but to continue throwing the ball without much help to offer Amegadjie, Shelton, or the rest of the starting five up-front.
Credit Brian Flores for knowing who to attack in this matchup with his pass rush packages but this is something the Bears should have seen coming and prepared for. Couple that with boneheaded mistakes like forgetting to report into the game and bad connections in the passing game leads to yet another similar outcome for Chicago.
3 top offensive candidates for the Bears’ head coaching position put together impressive outings on Sunday while the Bears were off
No better time to do some early evaluations.
