Chicago Bears: Roquan Smith starts slow vs. Patriots
Chicago Bears linebacker Roquan Smith had a poor first drive against the New England Patriots, which may explain why we saw so little of him
Vic Fangio has been criticized all week for dropping Leonard Floyd and Khalil Mack into coverage. When the Patriots went heavy, Fangio responded with a 3-3-5 that featured Danny Trevathan and the two edge rushers. The Patriots threw out of this set and had some success.
It begs the question as to whether or not this was the gameplan for Fangio entering the game. To start, it did not help him that Khalil Mack looked like a non-factor as a pass rusher. So, the question becomes, was it worth starting Mack, if only for a decoy. The next question is, wouldn’t Roquan Smith have been better off dropping into coverage?
Roquan Smith did start the game though. He was on the field for the first three plays of the game, all first downs and gains of 18, 13, and 14.
Even more concerning is that all three saw a poor effort from Roquan Smith. On the first play, he shed a block from Dwayne Allen, but then took a poor angle and let Sony Michel get outside of him into the open field.
On the second play, they went to Smiths side in the screen game. Smith once again missed an open field tackle, and the play sprung into the open field.
The last play is linked here. The Patriots put James White in motion and tossed to him as he came across the line. It caught Smith off guard, who is late off of the snap. From there, he runs right into Julian Edelman. Edelman gets a hold of him and grinds him until the play breaks outside of him.
I know, Edelman is gritty and everything like that. Roquan Smith needs to blow one of these three plays up.
The next play Smith was taken out of the game, and the Bears held the Patriots to six yards for the first time.
Next. Should Bears rest Mack in Week 8. dark
This is not the sole reason we saw the alignment the way it was. It may add some context though. Early into the game, it looked as if Smith was not prepared to bring his best. Even if he played over Floyd or Mack, it might not have gone well.