Bears film review: Mitch Trubisky to Javon Wims, Darnell Mooney’s first catch

The Bears' cut Detroit's lead to 23-20 when Mitch Trubisky found Javon Wims for a one-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Adam Hoge breaks down how the play happened, why it worked and why it mattered in the first half of this week's film breakdown.

Hoge: Down 23-13 with 3:03 left in the game, the Bears had a first and goal at the 1-yard-line. Everything about this play was perfect – the call, the design and the execution. Tight end Jimmy Graham goes in motion from right to left and defensive back Tracy Walker, playing safety here, goes with him, signaling that the Lions are in man-coverage. The route combination on the left side is deadly. Allen Robinson (in the slot) and Javon Wims are going to cross the corners, forcing them to switch. That’s really hard to defend in a split second. But the key here is actually Walker, circled in red.

Hoge: Robinson is the first read on this play, but Bears quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo revealed Monday that when they ran this play in practice, the safety fell off of Graham and tried to jump the throw to Robinson. Graham’s responsibility is to block the end, so the safety can kind of hide behind those big bodies before trying to break on the ball. Having seen this in practice (and also recognizing Robinson is covered after the corners switched), Trubisky knows what to do with the ball.

Hoge: Poor Tony McRae (No. 34) got picked on in the fourth quarter after the Lions lost their two starting corners, and he was slow to react on the switch here. Wims already has him beat. Meanwhile, Trubisky makes a hell of throw behind and over Walker, putting it on the money to Wims.

Hoge: Touchdown.

JJ: I love this play, because it illustrates how complex a seemingly-simple touchdown can be – and also the value of practice. This play, when run properly, is almost impossible to defend but still has a certain degree of difficulty for the quarterback. Trubisky had to put this throw not only on the money to Wims, but over the top of Walker so it’s not batted down – this after, on the previous play, Trubisky’s pass to David Montgomery was swatted out of the air.

Hoge: Nagy's play designs near the goal line have always been very good. They just didn't get in those situations enough in 2019. Another thing I like about this play is that it called for Trubisky to sprint out to his left. That cut the field in half and made this a simple read for him. He's proven he can throw on the run. And maybe this will put the whole "can't throw left" thing to rest.

JJ: Trubisky certainly deserves a lot of praise for this throw, but how about the route Wims ran? Wide receivers coach Mike Furrey tweeted a video of the play with the caption "teach tape" after the game. Wanna know why Wims was active and Riley Ridley wasn't? This play might go a long way toward answering that question. Also, here's what Furrey said about Wims on Monday:

"He’s a guy now that can go to any position that we need him to. He can go in and serve as A-Rob. He can go in and serve as (Anthony Miller), like when 17 went out yesterday for a little bit. He can play the Z position. And the cool thing right now is that he can play at all three of those positions at a high level. And I trust him. I think he’s just finally scratching that surface of where he could possibly go in this league."

Hoge: A few weeks ago Furrey talked to us about how Wims had been relying on his big 6-4 frame too much, thinking he could just beat NFL defensive backs with his size. This year, the goal has been to stay lower and more compact in his routes and do less at the line of scrimmage against man coverage. This was a great route and Wims' progress is definitely something to monitor.

Also worth monitoring is the exciting rookie wideout the Bears love...

JJ: This is one of the 10 plays the Bears ran using 13 personnel (one back, three tight ends, one receiver) on Sunday. In the blue circles, Cole Kmet and Demetrius Harris are lined up next to each other, and Jimmy Graham is on the far side. Darnell Mooney is the lone receiver and follows the orange arrow on his route, with Tarik Cohen in the backfield. With everyone bunched up, 10 of the Lions' 11 defenders are in the frame within five yards on the line of scrimmage.

JJ: Heavy personnel packages like this lend themselves to running plays, which helps sell Trubisky's play-action to Cohen. Safety Will Harris (red circle) freezes at the play fake, opening up the middle of the field for Mooney (orange arrow), who's defended by cornerback Amani Oruwariye. Meanwhile, Kmet and Harris (blue circle) combine to block linebacker Christian Jones, who's rushing off the edge.

JJ: So an interesting wrinkle to this play is defensive tackle Danny Shelton (purple circle) beating center Cody Whitehair, who didn't get help from left guard Germain Ifedi, allowing Shelton to crash toward the QB. Trubisky is unbothered by the 335-pound lineman bearing down on him, stepping into and ripping a throw to Mooney. Mooney is out of frame, but is being chased by cornerback Desmond Trufant and then Harris (orange arrows).

JJ: Mooney is wide open, and even has room to get back up and shed Oruwariye's tackle before being brought down by Harris for a gain of 19. But check this out...

JJ: This is what Mooney's speed does. Oruwariye had to respect it, even with deep safety help over the top, and isn't prepared for Mooney slamming on the brakes at the 37-yard line. A play-action, max protect play seems like a good opportunity to take a deep shot; instead, it results in an easy 19-yard gain. Great play design, great usage of the tight ends, great execution all around.

Hoge: It was killing me in training camp that we couldn't go into detail about what we were seeing from a formation standpoint (due to team reporting rules). Trubisky was under center more. There was more play-action. And there were heavy sets with the tight ends. This play hit all three boxes. The play-action kept the safety from dropping back, which opened up the window for the throw. Pro Football Focus noted that the Bears used play-action 30 percent of the game Sunday and that Trubisky's completion percentage was 11.6 points higher on play-action. Nagy would be wise to keep that up.

JJ: I’ve been telling whoever will listen to me – which, amid the pandemic, is basically my wife, nine-month-old twins and dog – that using multiple tight end sets is an untapped part of Nagy’s offense. So, like you, Adam, it was killing me to not be able to tell anyone about how much we saw of Jimmy Graham, Cole Kmet and Demetrius Harris during training camp.

And there’s a misconception about heavier sets – like 13 personnel, in the case of this play – that you have to run the ball out of them. Warren Sharp’s research shows it’s more efficient to throw from 12 personnel (one back, two tight ends, two receivers) than it is 11 personnel (one back, one tight end, three receivers). And it’s more effective to pass using play-action than not. This was not the most impactful play of the day, but it was my favorite.

Hoge: Of course, passing out of heavy sets and using play-action is only effective if you can run the football. It was still early in the game at this point, but the Bears had already piled up 36 rushing yards on just six carries. They had established the run. The first half of this game was really weird because I liked what the Bears were doing scheme-wise and there seemed to be signs of life, but they still went to the locker room at halftime with only six points. Despite some struggles Sunday, I think the Bears' offense is headed in the right direction and it can be a pretty good unit... if the quarterback makes the throws when they're there.

JJ: Exactly. I think there’s upside in the scheme for Trubisky, especially with easy throws like these that can be built off running plays. And having three (or two) tight ends on the field should make it easier for him to make checks at the line, right? If you get Graham, Kmet and/or Harris on the field and the defense is in a sub package, check to a run. If they’re in base, you should be able to pass it. As Nagy said: “It’s nice because I gives you the ability to run and pass. We feel like we have an advantage in the pass game. Yet you can still run when they go small. It’s really just a matchup thing.”

How often last year did the Bears not have anything close to an advantageous “matchup thing?”

Hoge: The tight ends, man. They change everything in Nagy's offense.