Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune has 10 thoughts after the Bears preseason game against the Browns.
10b. It was interesting to hear Ben Johnson go into fine details of the screen game, something that has been a major focus for the offense in training camp practices. Salvon Ahmed scored a touchdown on one, but as Johnson noted, there’s so much that goes into a productive or explosive screen.
“We’ve been harping on those details,” he said. “We’ve got specific landmarks. We drill them every single day. I think our defense has done a really good job throughout the week of practice to make those hard for us. So, we’ve had a lot of very difficult looks. Some of our worst plays in practice over the last couple weeks have been our screens.
“I just think it’s a really good job up front, executing the timing, the rhythm, and then we always talk about those screen runners when they get the ball in the hands. We’re trying to get vertical for a few steps and then it turns into a punt return after that. That’s certainly what that one looked like as he was taking it across the field. So, good to see those guys blocking down the field. A guy like (receiver) Kaden Davis, who really is trying to run coverage away from the screen, ends up making a key block, and it’s good to see things like that.”
I addressed Ahmed and his uphill battle to win the third running back position battle in a previous post.
I was glad to read that the Bears have been working on their screen game.
As I emphasized in a previous post, the Bears won only 2 games within the division last year. And one of those was a miracle, once-in-a-generation comeback against the Packers. A big reason for tha tis the Bears scored an average of 20.5 points per game against division opponents Vs. 28.9 overall against the league. They need to work on the offense to add dimensions to their game to make it harder for teams that know them well to stop them.
The screen play can be a devastating weapon for a team that can execute it well. While the league average for screen plays generally hovers just under 5 yards per play, teams like the Lions, Buccaneers, and Cardinals have all averaged at least 6.5 yards per play and 0.2 Expected Points Added (EPA) per play on screen passes. I can remember some seasons where the Packers repeatedly absolutely killed opponents with well timed screens.
Furthermore, screens have a high floor compared to traditional dropbacks. Offenses can generally mitigate negative plays while still maintaining a higher explosive play rate than standard designed runs. It also, obviously effectively neutralizes the pass rush.
If the Bears can get this play right, it can be a very effective antidote for a lot of things that aggressive defenses like the Vikings try to do. In addition, as Johnson tries to push the ball downfield, the screen can add a short field counter punch if defenses are leaving an excessive amount of space underneath in response. It adds an extra dimension to the offense and will be one more thing that teams have to worry about.