Chicago Bears: 5 Observations heading into Week 16 matchup vs Jaguars
Footwork is not just crucial for QBs but also the other skill position players
The Bears offense has three weapons on offense who combine great footwork with great hands. These are Allen Robinson, David Montgomery and Darnell Mooney. This is one of the reasons why they could become a dangerous offense in the playoffs.
In his post-game interview after the Chicago Bears’ latest win, Allen Robinson, adroitly, pointed out how great footwork by his teammates added lots of yards to the Bears’ offense against the Vikings. He said this about David Montgomery, “We know when he gets the ball, he’s going to make the first dude miss. He’s never going to be taken down by the first person. … I’m really happy for him, just to be able to show exactly what he can do.”
Not only is the Bears offensive line doing a great job of blocking but the footwork of these skill position players is also contributing to their recent success. Darnell Mooney caught a ball in the flat at the line of scrimmage, quickly, followed by a cut near the sideline that dodged a defender. He then stayed in bounds enough for a first down.
Allen Robinson the last two games has made sharp cuts after catching the ball in midfield that added big yardage. Against the Vikings, David Montgomery, as is his way, put juke move on top of juke move that led to the best game of his career. With 32 carries he gained 146 yards that included 2 Touchdowns. This fancy footwork also showed up big as a reason the Bears converted on 6-of-12 third downs.
It is important to note that one of the strengths of this Vikings defense is shutting down third down. In this game, the Chicago Bears were consistently very good on first and second down. Unusually, good footwork played a big role in this. This is a list of the yardage the Bears needed on third down this game: 1, 3, 3, 1, 2, 1, 4, 4, 11, 4, 6 and 6.
Anthony Miller can also be an integral part of this if he like Trubisky adds some discipline and self-awareness to his game. Then there is the burgeoning talent of Cole Kmet. From an interview with J.J. Stankewitz, Oline Kreutz said Cole Kmet is becoming a better blocker in good part because he has improved his footwork which has enabled him to get better angles on the guys he is blocking.
However, it must be noted that when he runs with the ball, his footwork is a little different than the other guys. He, typically, uses his strong feet along with other body parts to bulldoze over defenders.
For those that say the Bears lack talent on offense, I say it only has appeared that way because Nagy misused what talent he has had to work with. The newfound success of David Montgomery and Mitch Trubisky are exhibits A and B to prove this point.
If the Chicago Bears re-sign Allen Robinson as they should, he along with David Montgomery and Darnell Mooney give the Bears the potential to be an offense that picks up more than their share of yardage by breaking some ankles and or dodging defenders out of their shoelaces.