Just sitting and watching the game at home, most Bears fans could notice a difference between Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles in the Bears’ comeback win against the Falcons. But unless you played football, it could be hard to appreciate the details of Foles’ performance. To help fans understand the nuances in Foles’ relief appearance, the Football Aftershow crew broke down a few specific plays to illustrate how Foles read the Falcons’ defense better on Sunday.
Olin Kreutz and David Kaplan started by breaking down what Trubisky failed to see on his interception throw.
“(The defender) is watching this entire play and Mitch never looked anywhere else,” Kaplan said. “He got a guy running (down the middle of the field) but never even looks like him.”
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“These are the mistakes that Mitch does make when he’s processing information,” Kreutz said “This is the last guy you want to throw to.”
Alex Brown and Kreutz took it one step further by suggesting Foles would recognize the Falcons were playing zone coverage, totally bail on the play and use it as an educational moment for the Bears receivers the next time they faced a zone defense.
“These are crossing routes,” Brown said. “They don’t work against zone. These guys are playing zone and they’re watching the quarterback. They’re watching what he’s doing.
“He broke on this play-- Mitch still has the ball… Either one of these guys, they’re either going to decleat the receiver, or they’re going to pick it off.”
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“What a guy like Foles does, is he may take the sack,” Kreutz said. “Then he goes in the huddle and says, ‘Look, if you see that look again you get out (pointing to the running back and saying he needs to move into the flat).’
“He’s a coach on the field. He gives everybody pointers. He makes everybody better before the snap, and after the snap. These are the kind of things that Foles has, and Mitch is missing.”
Kreutz elaborates that at this point in their careers, Foles is the true field general between the two.
“He walks to the line and he’s talking to everybody. ‘You guys are here, you’re there, you got this.’ Then he walks back and looks at all the receivers. When’s the last time you saw Mitch do all of that?
“He controls everything, he sees everything, he’s telling everybody exactly what to do. Then you see the receivers, they’re excited. They start playing fast, then they go to the sideline and say, ‘This guy’s putting the ball on us, we better make some plays.’”
Lance Briggs things will only improve as Foles gets more reps, as well.
“The on-field chemistry with him and his wide receivers and running backs is going to keep getting better. They’re going to know exactly what he’s thinking, as he’s thinking… they might get more dangerous.”