Ben Johnson stayed in his bag all game against the Eagles, but Caleb Williams delivered when it mattered most to land the final dagger
Caleb Williams saved his best for when it mattered most against the Eagles.
The Chicago Bears are starting to catch fire at the right time and it still seems like this Ben Johnson offense is still a little ways away from reaching its full potential – but it’s moving in the right direction and the vision for Caleb Williams and Co. is clear.
The Bears dominated the line of scrimmage against the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday in route to a 24-15 win with 281 yards on the ground alone, which included a 100-yard performance from both of the team’s running backs in D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai.
Led by a strong push from the offensive line against a usually stout defensive front, the Bears literally ran the ball up and down the field, the ideal game plan to go with offensively given the conditions on the field that clearly impacted the passing game.
Yet, when it mattered most to put the game away, Johnson dialed up the perfect play call to really make the Eagles’ defense hurt and Williams was able to deliver. A to Z NFL’s Kyle Crabbs broke down the play for us, to show how the final haymaker from the first-year head coach’s play sheet was able to put Vic Fangio’s defense down for the count.
Ben Johnson dialed up the perfect play call to drive a dagger into the Eagles defense
KC: The Bears played all the current hits of the NFL with this touchdown to break the game open. Leading 17-9 with possession of the ball on Philadelphia’s 28-yard line, Chicago loaded up into 13-personnel and went under center to present a major run threat to the Eagles. After all, they’d had success mashing the offensive line all day and were now playing with a lead to milk the clock.
Williams aligned under center and faked a stretch handoff to Swift upon the snap of the ball. Chicago’s offensive line fired off the ball as though they were running weak-side outside zone, allowing tight end Cole Kmet to attack the second level and the linebackers as though he was fitting on a run play.
But Williams kept the football and booted to his left, setting up a basic three level stretch concept that every team in the league runs off of boot action. Swift ran through his run track and into the flat, Kmet ran a vertical corner route through the middle of the field to lift the coverage, and wide receiver DJ Moore ran a crossing pattern from the back side to attack the intermediate area of the field.
The design of the play is to get the ball fast to the flat if you’re able to successfully fool his coverage player with the run action. If the flat is plastered down, usually you’ll have the crosser running late from all the way across the field to work into the space vacated by defenders fitting the flat and/or running with the vertical. More often than not, the vertical route is supposed to be a clear-out route. A “for the love of the game” route, if you will. It can be alerted against certain coverage looks, or in the case of this play in particular, a quarterback with wide field vision can feel if the coverage inexplicably drops the route and you can go over the top.
That’s what happened on this play, with safety Sydney Brown and defensive back Cooper DeJean both driving to chase Swift into the flat from depth. The backside safety, Reed Blankenship, stepped down for the run fake before seeing Kmet popping free on the front side of the play and tried to chase it down but he was missing leverage and an angle to have any impact as Williams pumped the flat before also realizing Kmet was streaking uncontested towards the end zone. Williams effortlessly flipped a touch throw out in front of Kmet and Chicago promptly iced the game.
KN: Williams was far from perfect in this game. He finished 17/36 passing with a 56.9 passer rating and had more than a few throws he’d like to have back when he watches the tape. But, for the second week in a row, Williams made his completions count and that throw to ice the game was one of the biggest plays he’s made this season.
Crabbs is correct with his analysis of the play. After the game, Johnson told reporters the play was designed to have Swift as the primary read in the flat but after seeing it wasn’t there, Williams went through his progressions on the move and delivered the perfect ball to Kmet after seeing the safeties bite down.
“That throw to Cole was enormous,” Johnson explained. “He’s rolling out to his left, to be able to throw a dime like that, at that point in the game, I thought that was really big for us.”
This is the kind of game plan Johnson has been looking to make his bread and butter again. A suffocating and demoralizing run game that can all of a sudden spring a massive explosive off the play-action in the passing game if you’re not careful as a defense. Once more of these type of plays become automatic for Williams to hit like that, this offense will be near impossible to defend.
Chicago Bears News
Ben Johnson proves he’s in fact a man of the people, giving the city of Chicago exactly what they wanted in his postgame celebration
The Chicago Bears head coach went shirtless after the win.
Chicago Bears News
Ben Johnson and the Bears’ offense sent a strong message to the rest of the NFC while still showing a far from finished product
It was old-school football at its finest against the Eagles.
