Bears quarterback Nick Foles has been so traumatized by the team’s offensive line failures that he’s been ducking and dodging out of habit even when the line holds up.
While there were collapses by the line in the Bears’ 19-13 loss to the Vikings on Monday, there were several plays in which that unit did well and Foles didn’t realize he had time.
“For the most part, I would say that our offensive line played better than I thought they did at the end of the game,” coach Matt Nagy said Tuesday morning. “Once I watched the tape, I thought they played better.”
Foles was hit 11 times, including two sacks, and was knocked out in the final minute when Vikings defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo got through left tackle Charles Leno to throw Foles to the ground. He injured his right hip and/or glute muscle, Nagy said, and the team is unsure whether it’ll have him for the Packers game coming out of the bye week.
The line started decently, helped by offensive coordinator Bill Lazor calling screen passes and quick throws, but fell apart in the red zone on the Bears’ second possession.
Foles had plenty of space and a clear view on his second pass of the game, a deep ball over the middle to Anthony Miller. His throw was late, forcing Miller to reach back for it, and hit both of his hands before deflecting to Vikings safety Harrison Smith for an interception.
Foles messed up. Miller messed up. But the o-line did fine.
But there were plenty of examples of the opposite. With about two minutes left at the Vikings’ 35-yard line, the pocket fell apart, but Foles stepped up and threw on the move for Miller. He put the ball on target, but Miller couldn’t get more than a fingertip on it as it fell inside the 5.
Sometimes the line is fine and sometimes Foles is fine, but rarely simultaneously.
“What I think has happened to our offense this year is it’s either the run game’s on and the protection is a little off, or vice versa,” Nagy said. “Or the protection’s on and there’s a little bit of an issue there because it hasn’t been, [so there are errors in] our decision making.”
Big returns
The Bears had two enormous plays on special teams.
The obvious one was Cordarrelle Patterson’s 104-yard kick return at the start of the second half to give them a 13-7 lead. He tied the NFL record with eighth career touchdown on a kickoff.
Patterson got critical blocks from seven teammates, and the key was a hole opened near the Bears’ 25-yard line. James Vaughters and J.P. Holtz combined to hold off the left side, and Demetrius Harris blocked to Patterson’s right.
With that opening, Patterson had the touchdown in hand by the time he reached his own 40 and coasted the final 15 yards. Zebra Technologies clocked Patterson at a top speed of 19.31 miles per hour as he covered an efficient 117.3 yards.
With five minutes left in the game, Miller came through with a 32-yard punt return to the Vikings’ 46-yard line thanks in large part to a wall formed by four players — Kindle Vildor, Joel Iyiegbuniwe, Duke Shelley and Josh Woods — to his right and lead blocking by running back Ryan Nall up the left sideline.
The Bears wasted that return, though. They got 10 yards on their first play, then fell flat and turned it over on a failed fourth-down try.
What were they thinking?
A big part of that fruitless possession after Miller’s punt return was a brutal play on third-and-five. If there’s one play worth asking Lazor about after Monday, it’s that one.
The Bears were in a manageable situation at the Vikings’ 31-yard line, and it appeared Lazor called a screen pass when he needed five yards. Foles threw five yards behind the line of scrimmage to Allen Robinson, who was hit quickly for a loss of four.
From there, it was fourth-and-nine and the Bears had very little chance of converting.
Red alert
The Bears don’t get to the red zone often, and when they do, it usually goes poorly.
They average 2.7 red-zone trips per game and score touchdowns just 48% of the time — both are second-worst in the NFL, trailing only the winless Jets.
They made it there once against the Vikings: a first-and-goal at the 7-yard line late in the first quarter. While Nagy is correct that the offensive line played well at times, this was not one of those times.
The Vikings blitzed linebacker Troy Dye on first down, and no one picked him up as he hit Foles in the arm. Foles kept shaking his hand as though he couldn’t feel it.
After a two-yard run by Patterson, the right side of the pocket (guard Germain Ifedi and tackle Rashaad Coward) got destroyed and left Foles no shot. In a scenario in which many teams could just run up the middle three or four times and score, the Bears settled for a 23-yard field goal.
