It’s fairly common to see comments that suggest Getsy’s scheme is bad, but no one ever explains why it’s bad. People also mention we throw too many screens without explaining what we should run instead. What makes the scheme bad? We had the best running game in the league last year. Surely something is good?
Here’s some things I’ve noticed.
Option routes. For those who don’t know, option routes are this. For each play, the receiver is given two routes depending on how he sees the defender across from him. So both the QB and WR need to see things the same way. It tends to create indecision in QB. You aren’t going to throw before the break if you don’t know which way the break is. Detroit for instance, only has St. Brown run option routes. The others run a progressive route. This is a good thing when you have a veteran QB and receivers but even Rodgers struggled with it when he was given a group of young receivers he wasn’t familiar with.
Too reliant on the “system” vs the players. One play they keep running is called a sail. They never seem to connect on it but still run it every week. On the other hand, when they find a play that works, they don’t run it again. They do well throwing on first down and then go back to running on first down the rest of the game. At times, they have been very stubborn about letting Fields run. They rarely roll out with Fields and have him read half the field, I was stunned to see them do it often with Bagent.
In game coaching. Go back and watch the blocking for the Vikings game. The Vikings ran the same blitz 7 times before the OL figured out how to block it. Seemed like every stunt worked. The communication between linemen was dreadful. First play of the game, Vikings line up 6 rushers, Bears counter with an empty backfield. The first read is a 4 yard route the opposite side of the blitz (opposite of conventional wisdom) and Fields was expected to avoid the free rusher and hit the quick, short pass. This is despite the fact that the week before they had great success with having max protection.
No accountability. The play described according the coaching staff was Fields fault, not theirs. If you hear the press conference’s it’s never a coaching issue, it’s always a players issue.
Terrible job of developing the QB. Fields has flaws, there’s no denying that but instead of playing to his strengths, they seem to purposely play to his weaknesses. He doesn’t get the ball out quickly, so instead of giving him more protection, they ask him to account for a free rusher. He doesn’t read defenses quickly, so instead of making his read’s easier, they make them more difficult. Because they want him to play like Rodgers, they completely changed his footwork, which is the opposite of what most QB do. Compare this to how Wilson was eased into the league. Seattle rolled him out almost every pass. He was asked to only read half the field for his first 2-1/2 years. Fields and to a lesser extent Bagent are basically being asked to play like veterans, whether they are ready to or not.
Too conservative with a lead. They do it to “help” the defense but all it does is collect 3 and outs and give the ball back.