2. The Chicago Bears need to use more play action
One of the more confusing thoughts from the loss was how little the Chicago Bears used play-action. Justin Fields was 4-4 on play-action passes for 46 yards. It was his best split of play of the game. However, with four attempts, that is just a 16.3% rate. That is not nearly enough.
Last year, they ran play-action 32.7% of the time, and that was arguably not enough. Fields had seven touchdowns and three picks on play action last year. On non-play action, he had ten touchdowns to eight interceptions. His yards per attempt jumped from 6.6 to 7.9.
This year, his yards per attempt went from 5.2 to 11.5. That is a major jump, but of course, it was just four passes. The Bears probably did not run play action because the run game was so poor, and the offensive line was not holding up. However, the fake of the run can also freeze the defenders and can buy Fields time to make plays, even if the line and running game are not working. The Chicago Bears need to run the ball better, but even if they do not, they are such a run-heavy team that play action can be sprinkled in more than 16.3%. The hope is that this number will double by next week.