Four plays that defined the Bears’ admittedly ugly win at the Panthers on Sunday:
Foles’ pick
Quarterback Nick Foles called his third-quarter interception “dumb” on Sunday. But he wasn’t the only one to blame for the play.
Safety Eddie Jackson had just forced a Mike Davis fumble about five minutes into the second half when Foles lined up with three tight ends right and receiver Allen Robinson split left. Foles took the snap from under center, began backpedaling and never stopped.
Rookie defensive tackle Derrick Brown clubbed left guard Rashaad Coward with his right arm and ripped through him with a left uppercut.
Another defensive tackle, Zach Kerr, lined up over right guard Germain Ifedi, took two steps toward the tackle then rushed between Ifedi and center Cody Whitehair — and right toward Foles. Running back David Montgomery, who was responsible for pass-blocking only if there was a blitz, released between the left guard and the tackle.
By the time Foles threw the ball off his back foot at the 35-yard line, the four closest players to the quarterback were all Panthers.
Foles lofted an easy interception to SIU alum Jeremy Chinn at the 9 — an absolutely inexcusable turnover considering the circumstances. Foles’ offensive line, though, gave him little chance for a positive play.
“We had a little breakthrough,” Nagy said. “That’s football. That happens in the NFL. It’s one of those deals I think Nick would tell you, ‘Hey, don’t make a bad play worse.”
Rough start
Unlike last week, Nagy was hesitant to delve into specifics when asked about his offensive frustration. He did offer one play that drove him nuts, though: about six minutes into the second quarter, the Bears ran on second-and-6 from the Panthers’ 10. Foles, who audibled at the line of scrimmage, took the snap under center and handed to Montgomery, who ran to the right side, behind two tight ends.
Brown lined up over Coward, who started Sunday in place of James Daniels. Coward pulled right, but Brown caught him by his left shoulder, threw him to the ground and made the tackle.
“That was a play that jumped out to me,” Nagy said “that we wish we would have been a little better there.”
Second-year player Alex Bars replaced Daniels when he was hurt last week. But the Bears turned to Coward, who started 10 times at right guard last year, on Sunday. Nagy said that experience was a factor in the decision.
“There’s a couple of plays here and there that Rashaad had that he probably wants back,” Nagy said. “But he also, I thought there’s a lot of other plays where, all things considered, he did a pretty good job. We just got to keep plugging away.”
Fuller’s hit
On second-and-10 with 4:35 to play in the second quarter, cornerback Kyle Fuller lowered his shoulder to hit receiver Keith Kirkwood just as Teddy Bridgewater delivered him the ball at the Bears’ 14-yard line. The pass fell incomplete. Fuller was flagged for a personal foul, though, even as replay showed he hit Kirkwood’s shoulder with his own.
Nagy said he joked with Fuller — who sits behind him on the team plane — about the hit.
“There is literally nothing you can do in his position,” Nagy said. “He’s just playing football. It’s unfortunate. It’s a bang-bang play. The referees have a tough job there when it is that fast.
“Just one of those games [Sunday] where it felt like we had a few things that went against us — not intentionally or anything like that.”
Five plays later, though, Fuller made a tackle that saved the Bears four points. On second-and-goal from the 3, Bridgewater faked a zone-read handoff left, kept the ball and ran right. With the Bears defense collapsing toward Davis, there was only one person between the quarterback and the end zone — Fuller, who was in zone coverage.
Fuller took two steps forward and toppled Bridgewater to the ground at the 2. Bridgewater threw an incompletion on third down and the Panthers kicked a field goal.
‘That open-field tackle, that’s not easy,” Nagy said. “He did a good job of getting him down.”
Details, details
When Nagy railed against the Bears’ lack of offensive details last week, this is what he had in mind: on third-and-3 with about 2:30 left in the first quarter, receiver Anthony Miller lined up in the left slot and ran a crossing route along the Panthers’ 45-yard line, which was the line to gain.
Three linebackers dropped into zone coverage behind him, and two defensive backs waited on the right side of the field. Safety Trey Boston ran to cover David Montgomery in the right flat. Once Boston committed, Foles threw to an open Miller. Boston broke for him as he caught the ball.
Rather than falling forward for a first down, Miller took a step back to try to gain even more, was tackled short of the sticks and forced the Bears to punt.
