There has been significant fallout following the Chicago Bears' 38-20 season-opening loss to the Green Bay Packers this past Sunday at Soldier Field. Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy has been under heavy scrutiny from fans and analysts for constantly calling screen and short passes against the Packers' defense, as the Bears' offense only attempted one throw longer than ten yards. Despite questions about his abilities as an offensive coordinator, Getsy's offensive scheme is sound, but his most troubling weakness is his ability to remain consistent.
Getsy Has Proven Capable Of Devising A Creative Offensive Gameplan
Getsy was hired as Chicago's offensive coordinator when general manager Ryan Poles hired head coach Matt Eberflus at the beginning of 2022. The Bears' offensive play-caller had previously spent time in the Packers' organization as he served as their quarterbacks coach for the 2019 season and then was promoted to passing game coordinator. When Getsy was hired, many analysts praised the choice as they saw the coach as one of the next up-and-coming offensive minds due to working with Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and serving under head coach Matt LaFleur.
Many Bears fans and analysts were concerned about whether Getsy was the best choice to assist with quarterback Justin Fields' development. Those fears intensified when Fields and Chicago's offense struggled to begin the 2022 season. Despite featuring one of the league's best rushing offenses, the Bears featured the league's worst passing offense.
Through the first six weeks of the 2022 season, Fields averaged only 144 passing yards per game and had only thrown four touchdowns. Although there was a heated debate at the time as to whether Getsy's play-calling was at fault or if the young quarterback was at fault, there were glimpses of how effective the offensive scheme could be. Despite struggling early in the season, Fields had throws in which wide receivers were open, but the pass would be dropped by the receiver.
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Getsy was scheming his pass-targets open early in the season, but they were not holding on to the ball. In back-to-back games against the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings, wide receiver Dante Pettis dropped what would have been a +20-yard completion for Fields. The lack of talent at the Bears' pass-catching positions early on limited both Getsy's and his quarterback's ability to be effective in the passing offense.
Following a Week 6 loss to Washington and having 11 days off until their next opponent, Getsy reworked the offensive scheme to better highlight Fields' mobility and use the strength to create easier passing targets. The rework succeeded as Chicago's offense was one of the more effective scoring units from Week 7 to Week 11, as the group averaged nearly 30 points per game. Fields had a five-game streak in which he both threw for a touchdown and ran for one.
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Getsy's success as a coordinator last season was also aided by production with other aspects of Chicago's offense. The Bears' rushing attack was the best in the NFL in 2022 as three players, including running backs David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert, each rushed for over 700 yards despite missing games due to injuries. Chicago's offensive play-caller also did a terrific job getting backup quarterbacks Trevor Siemian and Nathan Peterman ready for action when they started games due to Fields being injured.
Getsy's Most Significant Issue Is Not Stay Consistent With His Creativity
Despite the success seen by Chicago's offense last season, an issue that remained current and was seen again in the loss to the Packers this past Sunday was Getsy's lack of consistent creativity. There were several games last season in which Chicago's offensive game plan seemed to be off and too reliant on a specific theme. This issue was apparent in games against Buffalo, Washington, and the second contest against Detroit Lions last season.
In those games, it appeared that Getsy had an unimaginative game plan, either too reliant on running the ball at the wrong times or relying on Fields' athleticism to create something on passing plays. In those three games last season, the Bears' offense never scored more than 13 points and lost each contest. The gameplan design was bizarre because in two of those contests, Chicago trailed by more than 17 points but never featured consistent downfield throws or a hurry-up offense.
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The consistency issue was seen again on Sunday when the Bears offense never took any legitimate deep shot downfield despite being down multiple scores late against the Packers. Even more troubling was not attempting more downfield throws, despite having success when utilized. Fields' two longest passes of the day both went to Darnell Mooney for 24 and 20-yard gains, the last being a touchdown.
It appears that Fields is most successful executing passing plays that feature a switch route, as Mooney's touchdown catch came on that route, while several other touchdowns last season were on the same design. Despite this success, we haven't seen more of these types of plays from Getsy, which could also be more effective with the presence of D.J. Moore. Additionally, Chicago's offensive coordinator needs to be more successful in utilizing wide receivers to highlight their strengths, including using Equanimeous St. Brown in pass-blocking or deploying Chase Claypool on go routes or 50/50 target throws.
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Getsy knows how to design effective running and passing plays but needs to be more consistent in avoiding heavy reliance on specific types of calls. Chicago's offense was most successful last year when the offensive coordinator mixed all different passing concepts, utilizing short and deep throws to create unpredictability for opposing defenses. Against Tampa Bay, Fields and Getsy have a chance to do just that and return to what made them successful last season.
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