Chicago Bears Sackwatch 2024: Week 11 vs Green Bay Packers

Only three Chicago sacks to look at this week.

For most of Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers, I felt pretty good about the Chicago Bears‘ pass protection. The ball was coming out quickly, there were some nice easy throws schemed up, and Caleb Williams was handling the blitz well.

They ended up allowing three sacks, but all things considered, it was a positive step forward for the offense under new offensive coordinator Thomas Brown.

Getting Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright back at tackle was a plus, and yes, Jones wasn’t perfect, and his anchor issue popped up, but for most of the game, he was good. I’d love for the Bears to have an elite pass blocker at a spot or two up front, but most teams don’t have that.

A defensive lineman can get stymied for 95% of his reps, but he breaks through for a couple of splash plays, and fans immediately cry out that the offensive lineman sucks. The guy who did his job adequately most of the afternoon does not suck if he’s beaten on a few reps.

Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty!

Sack 39 – 2nd Quarter 14:57 – Brenton Cox Jr.
How often have we seen a Bears QB get rocked from a free rusher off the backside after a play-action boot concept? Usually, when a team calls these types of plays, they see something in the film that leads them to believe the backside rusher would crash down the line at the running back. Other times, an offensive player comes back across to tie up the free rusher before slipping out into the flat. Sometimes, the back is responsible for peeling off his fake to go backside to get the edge rusher.

D’Andre Swift does immediately cut backside, so it was either his responsibility, or he saw the defender and tried to make a play.

Regardless, there’s no way for Swift to get to the Packer. Had Brenton Cox Jr. (#57) bit on the fake in the slightest, then Swift may have made it to him, but based on how this whole play is designed, my guess is that the Bears thought that Cox would crash hard. He didn’t, so this is a sacks happen.

It’s possible that Caleb could have audibled out of this bootleg, but if he was comfortable in their gameplay that Cox would come down the line of scrimmage, then why change the play?

My only nitpick here is that Caleb opened to the right. I’m not sure it would have mattered much, but I always coached my quarterbacks to open toward the play action to give the defense a longer look at the action to that side.

Sack 40 – 4th Quarter 2:59 – T.J. Slaton
This sack started the final sequence of plays on the Bears’ last drive. Caleb gets to the top of his drop and looks toward the left, but Green Bay’s corner has good initial leverage to take away tight end Cole Kmet. Their safety and linebacker each have eyes on receiver Rome Odunze, and Rome doesn’t pop open until Caleb is already on the move. Had there been a slit second more time, he could have fired a pass leading Odunze to the sideline after he curled up.

But Williams feels the pressure off the left and steps up to avoid it. He ends up in the arms of #93 (T.J. Slaton), who slipped the block from right guard Matt Pryor. I can’t fault Pryor because he loses leverage once the quarterback moves up. Slaton was in the right place at the right time when Williams tried to sneak through the line.

I feel I need to ding Jones for allowing Rashan Gary (#52) to drive him back. Left guard Jake Curhan helped Jones late to keep Gary off the QB, but that pressure moved him off his spot.

Let’s go half to Jones (more for him coming), and a half to sacks happen.

Sack 41 – 4th Quarter 2:34 – Rashan Gary
This was the very next play, and there’s no question on this one. Gary used the same bullrush that was effective on the last play, and this time, he got home for the sack. Caleb didn’t have time to throw or a lane to escape, so this is all on Braxton.

We all know what Caleb Williams did after these back-to-back sacks…

Here’s the individual Sackwatch tally after ten games:

Sacks Happen – 8
Caleb Williams – 5.5
Larry Borom – 5
Matt Pryor – 5
Darnell Wright – 3
Braxton Jones – 3
Nate Davis – 2.5
Doug Kramer Jr. – 2
Coleman Shelton – 2
Kiran Amegadjie – 1
Teven Jenkins – 1
Cole Kmet – 1
Marcedes Lewis – 1
Ryan Bates – 1

As I’ve often said, the breakdowns are based on my best guesses about each play. Only the Bears know the specifics and where the blame truly lies for each sack allowed.

Historical Sackwatch after eleven weeks:

2010 – 41 Martz
2011 – 27 Martz
2012 – 35 Tice
2013 – 17 Trestman
2014 – 27 Trestman
2015 – 19 Gase
2016 – 22 Loggains
2017 – 27 Loggains
2018 – 23 Nagy
2019 – 32 Nagy
2020 – 28 Nagy
2021 – 37 Nagy
2022 – 40 Getsy
2023 – 32 Getsy
2024 – 41 Total (Waldron 38 – Brown 3)

Thanks to all of you guys who check out Sackwatch each week!