Greater Comfort in the Bears Offense

Analysis: In Year 2, things should seem much more familiar to Justin Fields, his receivers, backs and linemen, and coaches report it's happening.

The second time through anything should always be easier, especially in the NFL.

If it isn't, something's wrong.

Evidence: The 2019 Chicago Bears offense under Matt Nagy when they went from ninth in scoring to 29th. They never really recovered from that drop, hung around two more years and everyone got fired. Further evidence? The Dowell Loggains Bears offense in 2017 during his second year, when they went from 15th in total offense to 30th—and everyone got fired. Not enough? Then how about the 2014 Marc Trestman offense, when the Bears went from second in the league in scoring and eighth in yards his first year to 23rd in scoring and 21st in yards his second year—and everyone got fired.

The single greatest intangible affecting this Bears season is the second time through in this offense and also in this defensive scheme, but particularly for quarterback Justin Fields within Luke Getsy's attack.

Their Tampa 2-style defensive scheme is easy enough to understand during one season. The offense is not so simple, but the second-year boost should theoretically be enough to help start the Bears moving toward success with the football. 

The Philadelphia Eagles were a perfect example of how much more effective an offense can be in the second year of the system.

Bears coaches and players all see evidence the second time through should make everything flow more easily, although such vision is easy to find at this time of the offseason everywhere no matter what year in the offense.

"Oh there's a ton," said Getsy, who pointed first to the offensive line.

"I mean, geez, you can just take the (pass) protection game in the beginning part of it," he said. "How quickly the guys are adjusting because the defense has given us looks that we're not preparing for. So, usually you go into a game and you're preparing for particular fronts, particular pressures, particular whatever.

"So we're just trying to play by our rules and to learn the reason whys and then react the way that we need to accordingly. So, those guys, seeing how quickly they're responding from where they were last year has been really good."

Getsy says he sees evidence in meetings with players.

JUSTIN FIELDS PUTS BASKETBALL SKILLS ON DISPLAY FROM HALF-COURT

Justin Fields from the logo. pic.twitter.com/MYO2XhUVk8

— BFR Podcast (@bfr_pod) June 8, 2023

"If you talk about the conversations that we have in the meetings, as opposed to why this concept's named the way that it is, we're talking the details and diving deeper into what it is," Getsy said. "So those two things are probably the two things that stand out."

Quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko noticed the impact immediately on Fields. And if it's affecting Fields, it's making a difference with receivers and backs.

"Mentally, obviously, we see that, just a deeper understanding of the nuances of the offense," Janocko said. "The timing, the rhythms, the protections, all that stuff. And then that translates on the field.

"His feet mirror those little nuances. You just see that development and that growth every day."

Fields' footwork was always a study last year. When the attack broke down, so did his footwork and then he legged it out of the pocket.

"Yeah, I think we've hit a different level of understanding of where we want to go," Janocko said. "I think we've hit a level where he wants challenged more, where we can challenge him, where the relationship has developed.

"Like any relationship you get into, as trust builds, you can form a different deeper level of relationship and understanding, whether it's football, whether it's people. So, yeah, I think it's been developing great."

The better relationship manifests itself in better communication on all levels from all parties involved.

"We understand what's expected out of the relationship now, where I know from my perspective, there would be time where I wouldn't say something last year and I'd wait for Luke to speak because we're still learning each other," Janocko said. "So those type of things, and then now you start to say something and Justin has an opinion on it.

"And so we can talk about it. We can go back and forth and come up with the best solution. It's been a lot of fun talking like that."

With all of this taken into account in Year 2, the Bears have been able to expand their offense a bit. It's not Nagy trying to take things beyond Fields' capability like Nagy did with Mitchell Trubisky in 2019.

Receivers coach Tyke Tolbert is the Bears passing game coordinator and notices what the second time around has done to enable their approach.

"I think this part of the year looks different because we've added some things to the offense, because they're so comfortable with the system, being in it for a year, the way we add certain things based on research of other players, other places and other teams. We research the offensive staff, research some other things, put some more neat packages together," he said. "So I think this time of year enables you to do more because we're—I wouldn’t say comfortable—but we're more advanced in the system than we were a year ago. So I think all that works together."

The goal is a more conventional-looking, sharper attack and they think Year 2 makes it possible.

It needs to mean more production than ranking 23rd in scoring and 28th in yardage, statistics inflated by Fields' running last year.

Something like what the Eagles did in Year 2 of their offense with Jalen Hurts, when they were third in scoring and yards would be a gigantic leap forward. Just getting the offense to the level Philadelphia had in Year 1 might be a more realistic goal. They had a much higher starting point for last season after finishing 12th in scoring and 14th on offense in their first season.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven