Film study of Bears (with screenshots)

I went and watched Bears and Lions game. I havent had time to go and watch any others but here is what I pick up:



I’ve learned from the film that the Lions’ offense is similar to the Saints’ in many ways and the Bears played a lot of cover two man under (as shown in the image). They spent most of their time trying to disguise blitzes with safeties, but when they did blitz it was almost always with a safety which is really weird. The LB’s were hesitant the whole game to stray away from Calvin Johnson and it led to the RB having to beat only one man to get into the second level. Needless to say Stafford checked out of his first play often and handed the ball of to Bush or Bell on delays, and it was very effective. The key to this being effective is having a strong running game especially when it comes to the interior line, which the Saints do not so it will be interesting to see what their remedy is. In the two images below, you see a play in which Stafford simply checked out of the first play and went to a draw play to Bush which gained 11 yards.


The Bears noticed what the Lions were doing every play by checking out to a draw, and started to creep up just a little. The bad thing for the Bears is they may have the slowest LB’s in the league and the Lions took advantage.

In this image the, it’s 3rd and 1 and the Lions are lined up in shotgun similar to what the Saints look like on most third and short play. The defense comes out in their infamous cover two man under and Stafford takes advantage of their slow LB’s with a screen to the slot WR. The play picked up twelve yards but was called back for a holding call on the spread right WR.




2nd and 10 and 11 minutes into the game is when the first zone defense is called by the Bears. Again, the need to not let Calvin Johnson spread the field and destroy you plays into the huge gap between him and the safety supposed to be covering him. This opens up a huge space to the right when again Stafford goes out to Bush for a 9 yard gain. Bush touches the ball and I recorded 5.3 seconds of film before anyone touched him (very slow LB’s).


Here on 3rd and 5 the Bears show blitz. As, I’ve stated they mainly blitzed with safeties seemingly trying to create a faster pass rush as to not let Stafford get the ball to Calvin Johnson. The Lions offensive line was ready for the safety blitz almost every time and Stafford did what you are supposed to do against safety blitz playing cover two, throw the seams and check out to draw runs.





Best way to defend Bears is to make Cutler beat you by shutting down Forte with 7-8 man boxes. The bears like throwing the ball on first down and have done so over 60% of the time this season. I expect to see Kenny Vaccaro up on the line in coverage and blitzing more than he has all year. Causing them into a lot of 3rd and longs will be key. If this offense gets into a rhythm it can get ugly for the opposing defense fast. Putting the offense into passing situations allows you to play more nickel. This will limit the amount of balls to Brandon Marshall and make Cutler check down more. The need for speedy LB’s and great defensive line pressure is critical. If we don't record a sack or hurry before the second half like they did against Miami, the defense could be on thew field much more than they have been.


The Bears love running this play with Brandon Marshall as they have thrown it 8 time already this season. This Deep fade route can kill you if you do not have great CB play and no blown safety coverage. The underneath WR is the check down so if you can pressure Cutler and cause him to throw this early, he will become very ineffective.


Any questions?