Chicago Bears: Wide receivers not the main problem vs Falcons

While the lack of Chicago Bears playmaking wide receivers got the attention in their Week 1 loss, that wasn’t the main trouble.

The Chicago Bears did pretty well in their Week 1 matchup against the defending NFC Champion Atlanta Falcons. They took them to the end, but ultimately fell short by one play. Many blame the lack of playmaking wide receivers. They say the receivers couldn’t get open downfield.

Yes, the Bears have a huge problem at wide receiver. There are no players on the unit who have the size and/or speed to get the separation to make big plays. Add to that the fact that Kevin White is probably done for the season (again) and possibly forever in Chicago, and the troubles continue.

That, however, doesn’t absolve the other players from their own failings.

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The receivers did get open on several occasions but quarterback Mike Glennon‘s inability to go through his progressions and a couple of bad plays by the offensive line prevented the right play to occur. The play-calling also left something to be desired.

I don’t know if Glennon doesn’t trust his line completely or what, but he checked down to the short passes a ton of times. Since he can’t move around in the pocket, he apparently feels the need to get rid of the ball quickly. That happened too much in quarters one, two, and three. In the fourth, when the Bears got down, the offense opened up a bit and they made some big plays.

Lorin Cox of Bearswire (part of USAToday Sports) wrote about how Glennon didn’t find the open receiver downfield. Here is what he wrote on this particular play:

"This play in the fourth quarter is a prime example. The Falcons were in Cover 1, and Glennon had a pocket around him with time to throw, and yet the pass went to the receiver underneath for a short gain.Meanwhile, he had tight end Zach Miller running an out route at the top of the screen, with Bellamy running a crossing route to the middle of the field and Thompson running deep on the bottom left side."

As he correctly points out, Glennon had a clean pocket. If he waits just a moment longer, he has three options to choose from. Instead, he chose the safe play and took a short gain. There were other times in which the pocket was collapsing and Glennon had to go with the underneath throws.

Offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains also called a lot of the short passes. Does he lack the confidence in Glennon’s downfield ability? If so, maybe he shouldn’t.

Pro Football Focus Elite noted that when the Bears did go deep in the fourth quarter, Glennon did well. He completed 4-of-5 passes for 58 yards and a touchdown. Perhaps if the coaches felt more comfortable with him they call those downfield throws earlier in the game.

Along those lines, Trubisky might make his debut sooner than later. ESPN Chicago’s Jeff Dickerson appeared on Waddle and Silvy on AM 1000 and spoke about just that:

"If he keeps playing the way he did earlier in that Atlanta game, you know, against Tampa, against Pittsburgh, if he makes it to Green Bay, they’re gonna make the switch… That redshirt plan, it was never feasible. Trubisky’s gonna be the guy…They’re gonna make the move to Trubisky because a lot of people in this building think Trubisky gives them the best chance to win."

When asked who in the building felt that way about Trubisky, Dickerson said it was a combination of front office and coaching staff.

I wrote an article guessing the game-by-game wins and losses for the Bears this season and I had Trubisky taking over after Week 8. He’d go through the bye getting ready. Perhaps that timetable is too conservative?

Next: NFL picks, predictions for Week 2

I’m not putting the loss completely on Glennon. I believe the offensive struggles could be blamed on a combination of factors — play-calling, missed opportunities by the quarterback, dropped passes, and offensive line play (again with Charles Leno Jr. and Bobbie Massie?). Looking beyond the good play in half of a quarter, we see that the Chicago Bears’ Mike Glennon era won’t last long.