Oct. 15--Quarterback Jay Cutler's 7-yard game-winning touchdown pass to running back Matt Forte in the Chicago Bears' win over the Kansas City Chiefs will stand as one of the club's most exciting offensive plays of the season.
In addition to the schoolyard-type throw Cutler completed with defensive lineman Jaye Howard wrapped around his legs, the play design worked to perfection. Let's take a closer look at how the Bears exploited man-to-man coverage to finish their comeback.
Coordinator Adam Gase likes to use route combinations, specifically 'rub' routes, to free receiving targets in the red zone and short yardage. That's exactly what happened in the final minute with the outcome in the balance.
Forte lined up as a receiver to the left, inside receiver Marquess Wilson. The play called for him to run a wheel route behind Wilson, who ran a short crossing route to serve as a pick for Forte.
As Cutler said after the game, he recognized man-to-man coverage before the snap. And with single-high safety Eric Berry positioned too far toward the middle of the field to be able to range to sideline, Cutler knew he'd have a one-on-one chance at a touchdown if Forte could use Wilson's pick to get in front of his defender, safety Husain Abdullah.
In the first picture, Forte is circled and the route combination drawn. Wilson, the outside receiver, was positioned to run a shallow cross and impede Abdullah's coverage trailing Forte.
In the second picture, notice how Wilson was stationary looking back at Cutler, while Forte rubbed his right shoulder against Wilson's right shoulder like a basketball pick. It's a legal play because Wilson didn't initiate the contact.
"I'm just running a shallow," Wilson said afterwards.
The important development in the second picture is Abdullah's attempt to go underneath Wilson. That put him in a trail position covering Forte.
"I knew we had a shot," Cutler said. "I was just waiting to see if (Forte) could get open, and he did."
In the last picture, the ball is in the air and Forte is ahead of Abdullah. Cutler loves to trust his receivers to catch jump balls against man-to-man coverage, and that's what he did on this play. But it wasn't much of a gamble, given how the route combination achieved its desired result.
But Cutler threw the ball with Howard around his legs -- after he picked up the shotgun snap that he dropped. The whole sequence was remarkable.
"I knew where I was going with the ball," Cutler said. "It's just that I had to get it up to him. I made a decent throw, and he did the rest."
rcampbell@tribpub.com
