Week 10 film review roundup: An improvement, but still more to go

So that's what winning feels like.

It has been a little while, but the Bears finally snapped their 4 game losing streak with a 20-13 victory over the Lions Sunday. Not only that, but the offense also showed some signs of life, including three TD passes from Mitch Trubisky.

I took a look at the film again this week (both offense and defense this time) and wanted to share some of my thoughts on the game and the team moving forward.

Mitch Trubisky: Plenty of good, and a little bit of bad

I'm going to start off by saying this: I thought Mitch played very well in this game. I don't believe the early game struggles were on him (he made a couple of good throws and did not get help from his WRs) and he had a nice little stretch from the end of the second quarter throughout the third quarter.

That being said, his performance was not without its flaws. Here are just a couple things I noticed on the film:

• On the first TD drive, Trubisky actually misses A. Robinson breaking wide open down the field for an easy TD (see the two images below). Now he eventually hit B. Braunecker on a beautiful TD pass two plays later, but this is the kind of opportunity you'd like to see Mitch not miss
  
  
• On one of the 4th quarter drives that stalled, Trubisky took a sack on 3rd and 11. The Lions brought pressure and no one was open down the field, however, Mitch missed B. Braunecker who was wide open on a crossing route that could have went for a first down (see image below).
  
• Some shaky pocket presence on a few occasions leading to off-balance throws or missed chances to step up
• A couple of other missed throws that really should be made

Now these are issues that will certainly need correcting, but I didn't see anything too egregious in his performance. Especially considering a couple of really impressive plays/throws he was able to make (including an absolute dime down the field to a covered A. Robinson while he was getting hit and turning in a respectable gain after averting disaster on a bad snap by Whitehair).

Nagy still being Nagy/stubborn

I'm going to keep saying this until he learns his lesson, but Nagy needs to table some of his offensive dreams until this offense gets humming. He also needs to stop trying to get so cute in certain situations. This means sticking with the power run game when it was working instead of switching into the shotgun; and for the love of God, please don't call an empty set on third and 1. That's inexcusable.

Nagy also needs to learn how to balance out his aggressiveness more. I loved that he grew a pair in the second quarter and went for a gutsy 4th and 1 from the Bears own 29. But there was a situation later in the game where the Bears had 3rd and 1 in the 4th quarter and he called a play action shot play (one in which A. Robinson actually stayed in to block). Now I actually like that kind of aggressive play call if it was earlier in the game. But in a situation where you have a lead you're trying to protect and you want the clock to keep running, you want to make sure you get the first down in that situation.

On the flip side, on 3rd and 7 with 1:55 to go in the game and the Lions having two timeouts, I absolutely think he should have thrown the ball in that situation. It was the perfect opportunity to run another rollout pass play (which the Bears had successfully executed twice to that point in the game) to try and pick up a game winning first down. With the Lions having two timeouts remaining at that point, running the ball to force them to burn a timeout doesn't do that much. I'd rather be aggressive and take the shot to win the game.

I will give Nagy credit though, he finally seems to be using T. Cohen properly. The TD pass from Trubisky was on an exceptionally well designed play and is exactly the type of play that Cohen is perfect for.

Offensive line issues persisting

The Bears finally made the decision this week to swap C. Whitehair back to center and J. Daniels back to guard in order to try and improve their offensive line play. The result?

Meh

While it did seem like there was a little better communication up front, there were still issues. J. Daniels did not have his best game at LG, but hopefully he'll improve as he gets more comfortable. R. Coward continues to be very bad and I seriously think he needs to be benched (blocking TE/OL C. Lucas actually looks pretty good whenever he comes in, so either him or A. Bars needs to get a look ASAP). B. Massie also continues to have his issues, but I will stipulate that he seemingly improved as the game went on. Both C. Leno and C. Whitehair played decently, but both need to improve and be more consistent (especially Whitehair with his snaps).

Defensive issues persisting

Lets be clear on one thing first: the words "issues" is a relative one here. The Bears defense is still doing pretty well this season, but the unit is nowhere near its scary self from last season (or even early this year).

Injuries have taken their toll, especially on the D-line. The D-line has really struggled to create consistent pressure on passing plays and consistently stop the run (aside from Nick Williams who has looked very impressive).

These struggles have seemingly extended to the back end on defense as well. More than a few times I noticed the Bears not having the best of coverage in the secondary on passing plays. Both K. Fuller (DPI and holding penalties, blown coverage on Golladay TD) and E. Jackson (missed a couple of guys in coverage) aren't playing up to the level we've come to expect of them. Improvement in this area would go a long way in helping the defense overall.

It also looks like the Bears D is having a lot of communication issues. More than a few times I saw them having trouble getting into proper pre-snap alignments and also not making the proper pre-snap adjustments (a couple times they faced overloaded fronts and didn't adjust the D-line accordingly).

Additional comments

• Replacing D. Trevathan's talent and intensity will be a tough task, but N. Kwiatkowski  is one tough SOB
• D. Montgomery's blend of power and patience is special and fun to watch
• It may just be me, but K. Mack looks a bit off. He's still being very involved in games and a high end player, but there were a few plays I noticed that he usually makes that he couldn't quite get. Have to wonder if he's getting worn down by offenses without Hicks in the lineup
• A. Robinson is a true number 1 WR and needs more plays drawn up for him
• The Bears defense is beyond poor at diagnosing and stopping screen plays
• JP Holtz needs some love. He is an excellent lead blocker
• Poor execution stalled a promising early 4th quarter drive that could have put the game away (Trubisky forced a shot play instead of taking the open crossers underneath on first down, R. Coward missed a key block on a Cohen run on second down that could have been big, bad play design out of an empty set had WRs running into each other on third down coupled with poor protection). The Bears will need to execute better in these situations in the future in order to put games away.

What is ahead?

The Bears will travel to Los Angeles this week to face the Rams on Sunday Night Football. The Rams are reeling right now and are also one of the teams ahead of the Bears in the NFC playoff hunt. This is another critical game for the Bears, and a victory this week could be huge in reigniting their playoff hopes.