Do we as a fan base know 100% for sure no one in the entire Bears organization has never sat down with JF to go over film, work on reads, work on progressions, work on footwork, work on release? Justin said publicly that Getsy and him went over the playbook to remove plays he did not like, he wanted the playbook smaller so he didn’t have to think and he could just play free.
I read this all the time and hear the talking heads say the org failed him… what am I missing that the coaches are not doing? I cannot imagine they’re not working with him. Is the thought he just hangs out by himself every practice and no one helps him or coaches him. Or is it simply that Getsy should call designed Qb run, roll out, move the pocket, and no more than 2 read throws? He is a professional qb and should be able to run a competent offense. Which team said they knew exactly what the bears would run… is that on Getsy or is that on Fields not being able to run a full offense. It was Fields that asked for less…
Genuinely curious for those that blame coaches for JF1 lack of success.
I think your understanding of “coaching” is rather limited. It’s not just watching film and going thru the playbook. In a QB case, it’s tailoring the offense to the QB strengths. For one example, the stats came out for the “quick game” (an offensive play that is run before the defense is completely set). Justin is statistically one of the best at it. It makes sense, the reason you run that is so the defense doesn’t have time to make adjustments to what the offense does and change the defense. So the Bears should be doing this a lot, right? 12%.
The first play against the Vikings. Getsy calls for empty backfield, 5 receivers send out against 0 coverage (no deep safety). Vikes rush 6, leaving a free rusher. Fields only option is a 5 yard pass that’s more than likely batted down or tipped. Fields is sacked. The week before, they kept the TE and RB to pass block and did extremely well. If they’d done that on the first play against the Vikes, it’s a likely TD.
Multiple times this year, the Bears have allowed a free rusher BY DESIGN and then blamed Fields on not being able to avoid it. Fields throws very well on the run, so why don’t they roll him out more? As far as running him, they almost seem to have to be guilted into doing it.
The single worst thing they do is to run nothing but option routes. Justin gets blamed a lot for not being able to read defenses. I don’t think that’s the real problem. The way the Bears offense is set up, each receiver has two routes called on each play. He “reads” his defender and decides which of the two routes he should run. Justin not only has to figure out what coverages he’s seeing but also figure out if the receiver sees it the same way. This creates too much doubt. Rodgers(who Getsy is trying to get Justin to emulate) had the same problem last year because he had a bunch of young receivers he hadn’t worked with. If a veteran like that can struggle with these concepts, is it really fair to expect Justin to be great at it?
The Vikings game was also a master class on how not to block. There were blown assignments constantly. Players not hearing the center making adjustments, so only half the half line would change. Guys not dealing with simple stunts by the defense. There was one defense that took 7 times before the OL blocked it correctly. Justin has a QB rating of over 100 with a clean pocket. Yet it’s rarely coached for him to get a clean pocket.
Now let’s compare this to other coaching. Russell Wilson only had to read half the field the first 2-1/2 years of his career. He wasn’t great at it, so instead of throwing him into the deep end, they eased him into reading defenses.
Ben Johnson, the OC of the Lions, uses a progressive read, similar to the old WCO. All but one of the receivers run a non-option route, the QB reads the coverage in a predetermined order, usually either left to right or vice versa. The QB knows exactly what his receivers are going to run and only needs to know what the defense will do. Johnson also employs his own way of doing the quick game. As soon as everyone is set, the ball is snapped, usually with no sound or motion needed. The defense is rarely completely ready.
In short, the offense isn’t catered to Justin. I’m sure that some will say “well if he’s really good it doesn’t have to be.” My answer is, do you want to develop an certain offense or a QB. Trying to find a QB that fits a certain offense, leads to the carousel of QB the Bears have employed. By the time you find one the offense and coaching staff has changed.