Third-Quarter Follies Hurt Bears as Much as Injuries
The avalanche of injuries and COVID-19 to hit the Chicago Bears offensive line hasn't shaken Nick Foles' confidence, even if he's the one who has to stand behind a group of reserves Sunday at Nashville against the Tennessee Titans.
"It doesn't affect my preparation at all," Foles said. "The thing with this sport is you trust your teammates, you trust your coaches and adversity happens. That's a guarantee.
"So right now, there's some injuries as you all know. And guys have an opportunity to go and step up and play. You hate to see injuries but a lot of times, too, these are where guys get an opportunity and they start, and they do well, and then they play the rest of your career, that’s how you play a lot of times. It stinks that's how it is. But we had a really good practice today."
Foles practiced behind a line with only one starter on the field, left tackle Charles Leno Jr. Backup center Sam Mustipher wasn't available due to a knee injury.
"I felt like we played with great speed, great tempo," Foles said. "Obviously, for a few of those guys, it's their first time in that specific role. But I felt that they did a great job today at practice."
If they can keep Foles upright, the bigger problem for the offense is finding ways to score in the third quarter, where they were outscored 49-7 in the season's first half.
"The third quarter has been a lull for us throughout the season," Foles said. "It has been unique but we have an opportunity to fix it and we're going to work towards that."
No one seems to know for certain why they go into offensive hibernation each week after halftime. It has taken on different forms, like penalties last week including Javon Wims' unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
"I can't pinpoint it or put my finger on it," wide receiver Allen Robinson said. 'I think everybody's just trying to work towards solutions for that. But it's tough to say. I know that this past week, we started out behind the sticks on a couple of our first drives in the third quarter. That's never beneficial to yourself.
"Things like that, we got to get away from—penalties. I feel like for us personally, that has really derailed many of our drives. We're getting close to the 50-yard line, something like that, third-and-4, third-and-5, we get a delay of game or a false start or whatever penalty, and now it's third-and-11. Things like that really take the momentum out of your drive."
Nagy discounts the thought they fail to make halftime adjustments or don't do something else.
"There's no secrets to it," he said. "What goes on in the locker room is so fast. By the time you get in there, you get with your guys and talk to the players real quick, and before you know it you have to run back out."
Nagy said players basically get a few words with position coaches and the coordinators talk about adjustments based on opponents for about five minutes, then halftime ends.
"Really, what I think you start to see is negative plays and penalties are drive-stallers," Nagy said. "And when you have those, it hurts because not only does it hurt your field position but it just hurts your rhythm.
If we can just stay away from penalties and stay ahead of the chains, it will really do us wonders. It's just unfortunate that we haven't scored hardly any points in the third quarter. We just gotta continue to keep fighting and doing whatever we can but also focus on it. You can't just throw it to the side. You gotta realize that we're not good in the third quarter, so how do we get better?"
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
