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After a defeat of the season against the Denver Broncos, the Seattle Seahawks will make their primetime debut in 2018, heading to Chicago to face the Bears on Monday night. Chicago, meanwhile, suffered a crushing defeat against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. Both teams are facing a formidable start of 0-2 and this should lead to a very hot match.
Offensive and defensive primers
The Bears head coach, Matt Nagy, had been with Andy Reid all his coaching career before getting his own coaching role and, unsurprisingly, his attack was deeply rooted in an offense on the west coast. Like Reid and Doug Pederson, Nagy mixes the concepts of propagation and uses his back and tight ends to create favorable disparities.
Nagy hired Mark Helfrich, former head coach of Oregon, to be his offensive coordinator, which means the Ducks have been successful for years, first under Chip Kelly then Helfrich.
The Seahawks will be extremely familiar with the defense they face. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, wisely retained by Nagy during the off season, was the 49ers DC of San Francisco for four seasons from 2011 to 2014.
Fangio's defense begins at the front, while Akiem Hicks and Eddie Goldman, two massively underrated defensemen, are responsible for maintaining the line of scrimmage and keeping the linebackers clean to flock to football and finish. The strength of Goldman and Hicks at the line of scrimmage not only frees the linebackers against the race, but also forces the offensive hand on the passes. either be overmoulded on the inside and let the pocket fold, or give 1-on-1 to Khalil Mack and Leonard Floyd on the outside.
In high school, Fangio manages one of the league's most balanced defenses in terms of area defense versus male coverage, around a 60-40 split.
Numbers that matter
26: The partnership between Mitchell Trubisky and Nagy had a blistering start in the first week, with Chicago leading 17-0. Nagy's creative project was booming, and the talent of Trubisky's arm seemed perfectly suited to the former playmaker of the chefs.
In his first nine passes, Trubisky was 8-in-9 on 99 yards as the Bears managed to push back the Packers defense while working on their stage plays. The fall that followed the first two campaigns, however, was as discouraging as Trubisky's departure was encouraging.
For the remainder of the match, Trubisky was 15 out of 26 for 72 yards, 2.8 yards per attempt, as the Chicago offense dried up. In addition, the Bears were 3-for-4 on the third declines in the first quarter and 4-in-13 on the next three.
While Nagy and Trubisky have both figured out how to lead an NFL attack together – this is Nagy's first full season as a playmaker and Trubisky's first full season as a starter – they will continue to shine on scripted plays. For Seattle, it will be crucial to keep the game tight in the last three quarters.
28: During the last season of John Fox in Chicago, the Bears attack was painfully dull, and even worse, predictable. In the first tests in 2017, Chicago led the ball 46% of the time. At the opposite end was Kansas City, Nagy, which was the fastest in 32% of cases.
Making his coaching debut during the first week, Nagy continued to play his attack unpredictably, passing the ball 28% of the time. Avoiding first descents is more effective and prevents an offense from becoming predictable.
Pete Carroll's defensive system, controlled and proven, will face one of the league's most creative offenses on Monday night.
12.5: While Cliff Avril was forced to retire and Michael Bennett traded during the off season, the Seahawks had to regress by pushing back the passer. Against the Broncos of the first week, they not only showed signs of regression, they were downright awful.
Although Frank Clark and Dion Jordan are both slowed down by injuries, none of Seattle's rotators could take over as the Seahawks lobbied Case Keenum 12.5% of its fallout. Trubisky may have had three quarters of poor football in the first week, but in an offensive system that places players in space, he will choose the Seattle defense if he is given time.
38: In his debut with the Bears, Allen Robinson saw a good amount of shots in the slot machine, playing 38% of his snaps there. On the roads of the square, Robinson was targeted four times, catching four balls for 61 yards.
Although he has played mostly on the perimeter throughout his career, Robinson excels when he is placed in the slot. In his final full season in 2016, Robinson's DYAR (95, 32nd in the NFL) and DVOA (10.9%, 31st in the NFL) out of 51 targets were significantly better than his number outside the 94th overall. the NFL. (-104) and 80th in DVOA (24.8%) out of 108 targets.
For the second week in a row, Justin Coleman will see the best receiver of the opposing team come in front of him at great moments.
11.3: Despite playing behind a poor-quality offensive line for most of his career, Wilson has attacked in depth as well as virtually every quarterback in the NFL. Over the past five seasons (including 2018), Wilson's average goal depth has increased each year. In the first loss to Denver, Wilson's average depth was nearly one meter higher than 2017, from 10.4 yards to 11.3 yards.
Faced with a formidable defensive front, the Seahawks' offensive line must hold on to allow Wilson to continue to hit more passes. Admittedly, Wilson's average depth bump per target can be attributed to a small sample, but vertical passage is a big part of Brian Schottenheimer's offense, and that number should rise in 2018.
If the offensive line fails to protect Wilson, Seattle could be forced to rely on quick hitters in a short passing game. This goes against Schottenheimer's background and Wilson's skills; As it was too often in recent seasons, it's on the offensive line to just be good enough.
Matches to watch
Russell Wilson against Khalil Mack: The defensive star was limited to his debut in Chicago last week, playing only 32 snaps for the Bears. Limited, of course, just in play. Mack took advantage of his time on the field to become the first player to record an interception, a bag, a forced fumble, a breakaway and a touchdown in the same game. from Khalil Mack.
Mack's unique defensive games have, quite rightly, stolen the show, but what went unnoticed is particularly interesting. Mack's 32 snapshots came on the right tackleand, as Dan Durkin of athletics pointed out, it was not just a question of going to Aaron Rodgers on every pitch:
"Mack rushed out to contain the lane, boxing at Rodgers to eliminate his escape route before. In doing so, he was constantly in Rodgers' position, speeding up his decisions and scrambling his readings.
Rodgers, like Wilson, manages to create outside the offense. When Rodgers is registered in Canton, half of his career highlights will imply that he will escape to his right and launch a perfect pass in a jiffy. Mack's mastery at Rodgers' right kept him from doing one of the things he does best.
Again facing a mobile quarterback at Wilson this week, Chicago will likely have Mack do something similar. With Mack containing on one side and Leonard Floyd spying, Wilson will have to pirouble to his left when the pocket breaks down, which has led him to have problems with the Broncos.
Will Dissly against Nick Kwiatkoski: Forced to start with a thigh injury, Roquan Smith was a victim of cover again and again until the Bears were forced to insert Smith. By the time he was shot, Kwiatkoski had allowed five catches for 56 yards and four first tries. Rodgers and Green Bay have repeatedly discovered and exploited the linebacker until pity takes the form of a top 10 pick.
Nagy said Thursday that Smith will likely see more than the eight shots he saw during the first week, but we will not know in advance if the rookie is in the starting lineup. Regardless of his involvement, Smith's playing time will continue to be managed after an extremely short pre-season.
As long as Kwiatkoski is on the field, the Seahawks should follow the Packers' lead and exploit it without mercy. The main benefactor of this would be Dissly, who makes his dream debut: Three catches, 105 yards (52 of them came after contact) and a touchdown.
Dissly's move after Kwiatkoski's capture and fondness for the players' defeat could mean that the rookie will have big consecutive games to start his career. Just as everyone expected.
Shaquem Griffin against Jordan Howard: This potential clash was set in motion on Thursday night, as Adam Schefter said. Seattle has signed a contract with Mychal Kendricks to help his linebacker's body. Kendricks is ready to play in time for Monday night, Griffin and Austin Calitro should continue to be involved at least at week 2.
Griffin's work will take place in subassemblies, where his reach and speed can be used against the back and tight ends. During the first week, Griffin had two difficult moments. The worst, however, came in a 29-yard touchdown at UDFA Phillip Lindsay, which was not touched after Griffin jumped inside.
Of course, Chicago's biggest weapon on the outside is Tarik Cohen's satellite back. But during the first week, Howard was used more than ever before. His 23 courses were more numerous than he had played in a game of the 2017 season, as the Bears finished fifth largest number of passes to their semi-finals among all the teams of week 1.
Like the Seahawks and Kwiatkoski, the Bears will be well aware of Griffin's Week 1 difficulties. While they continue to rely on their half, Griffin will be responsible for bouncing in a difficult match.
Opposing to know
Roy Robertson-Harris, DE: After Mack's arrival, Chicago's only weak point in a loaded front of seven was defensive end against Akiem Hicks. Jonathan Bullard kept his starting point by ensuring a regular presence against the race. The emergence of Robertson-Harris has not only reinforced a weakness, but it also allows the Bears to introduce yet another deterrent on the third setbacks.
Mack was the star of the first week, but Robertson-Harris was disruptive inside as he showed up in the assists. If it closed on DeShone Kizer for ruin a screen attempt, or curl and disengage Robertson-Harris managed to stand out in Mack's incredible debut.
Germain Ifedi will have the most difficult task, but Ethan Pocic and the interior will see a constant disruption on the part of Hicks, Goldman and Robertson-Harris.
With a new staff of exciting offensive coaches, Chicago is one of the most intriguing teams in the league. Trubisky has not yet established himself as the future of the Bears, but he has several qualities and is already one of the best smugglers in the league. On Monday night, Seattle will provide another solid test for a new group as they try to avoid starting the 0-2 season.
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