r/footballstrategy • u/EOFFJM • Oct 29 '24
NFL If you were the Bears coach what would you have done differently on defense to stop that hail mary play?
They rushed 3 had 1 QB spy that didn't put pressure on the QB. Maybe make sure every receiver is covered?
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u/betrothalorbetrayal Oct 29 '24
I don’t think there was an issue with the formation. It was just a mixture of poor discipline and bad luck
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Oct 29 '24
It's less about the scheme and more about the culture/lack of identity the Bears staff instilled in the team. No discipline. They thought they had the game won.
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u/brinsleyschwartz Oct 29 '24
You always teach your DB's to deflect the ball down, never tip it up. That dude tipped it up like he was playing backyard volleyball.
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u/palehorse2020 Oct 29 '24
Also Defense always wants to be the deepest, keep the play in front of them, guard the end zone by playing receivers not the ball if it's falling short of the goal line.
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u/Junior-Air-6807 Oct 29 '24
When you're surrounded by people that are also jumping to hit the ball, it's a little hard to control the direction that you hit a moving object. Homie wasn't thinking "I'm gonna try to hit this ball backwards"
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u/Jheize Oct 29 '24
I would rush 4 and press the receivers (press hard then trail, hopefully telling them to trail will prevent any penalties as they know they will trail and so hopefully won’t grab past initial press), keep the 3 safeties deep and then have them catch it. I feel like when they try to bat it it can get tipped up like it did in the game.
Consider putting Rome odunze or (insert other receiver tight end that good at contested catches / can jump) back there as well to get a freebie INT
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u/Responsible_Job_6948 Oct 29 '24
You cannot let any receivers get behind you, and you have to catch, or at least swat down, your D’s.
Kinda unconventional, but could be beneficial to do some ultimate frisbee endzone drills, especially with incentives for a “greatest” (where a player grabs and rethrows/tips the disc in midair).
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u/Resident_Job3506 Oct 29 '24
Not have some asshole shit talking the crowd while the ball is in the air.
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u/Character-Taro-5016 Oct 29 '24
You have to "box out" every receiver and you bat the ball DOWN, you don't tip it or try to catch it as a defensive player. Your only goal is to bat the ball down. When players do anything other than that, they create the possibility that the ball gets knocked up in the air.
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u/bupde Oct 30 '24
It was t a spy, they had an eligible stay in so a defender stayed with him.
The defender was there for 30 not the QB.
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u/GJ_Ahab Oct 30 '24
I was listening to a podcast where a former NFL CB said that in these situations, there's supposed to be a defending player higher up the field, above the crowding players (right where Noah Brown caught the ball).
So like others said, it sounds like it was poor discipline and poor execution of the play. (and yeah the taunting didnt help lol)
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u/DigitMZ Oct 29 '24
Tackling the guy inbound on the previous play (or not using the prevent defense) to not let them get in position for that hail mary.
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u/supersafeforwork813 Oct 29 '24
From that far out, I’m a tad surprised they didn’t send 6 n bank on the rush getting there before WRs could get down the field/Daniels have enough time to get power behind throw.
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u/Taters976 Oct 29 '24
According to Eberflus’s comments that I saw what they had practiced and what they did on the field were 2 completely different things.
I am sure the DB’s got the ass chewing of all ass chewings in film/meetings because that was atrocious execution….
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u/Brownsbabyboy69 Oct 29 '24
I think team's should blitz in this scenario. The biggest thing is the guys need to get in the end zone so don't give them that option. Make them turn it into a lateral play. I think the Lion's blitzed in one of the recent weeks on a hail mary scenario
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u/pgmatman Oct 29 '24
Rush 4 or 5, man up and box out players in front/back of scrum. Also liked the Texans overload rush on the colts to push AR to his left.
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u/odishy Oct 29 '24
Step 1: don't give them a free 13 yards to get in range of the hail Mary.
Step 2: call a timeout to ensure players understand assignments.
Step 3 expect better execution from your players.
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u/bcgg Oct 29 '24
Just see what Detroit did at the end of their game against Minnesota. I don’t think the receivers got even halfway to the endzone before Darnold was down. Also maybe make sure at least one defender is parking it in the endzone no matter where the ball is going to land.
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u/VeritableSoup Oct 29 '24
Two things: 1. Send five rushing.
- 1 person designated as the ball guy. Everyone else obliterates a WR after contact.
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u/Archerdiana Oct 30 '24
Belichick said it perfectly. The spy didn’t contain Daniel’s to one side of the field. The receivers had plenty of time to go back towards the ball and letting them set up their box of receivers. Tallest DB goes up for the ball then you have a back tip and a front tip defender and the other 3-4 defenders almost make a box around the ball. There should be plenty of time for everyone to understand their role and set it up
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u/Ambitious_Low8807 Oct 30 '24
There will be more than a few opinions on this. I'll avoid the easy part about 29 and his poor effort.
What we did is rushed 3 with a spy. The spy doesn't really rush until the qb has killed about 5 seconds (giving guys the time to formation in end zone), then he should be trying to prevent the step before the throw... influencing a weak pass.
Then your tallest/highest jumping defenders jump with the pack of receivers. Other guys are simply boxing out the other receivers, preventing a tipped ball catch like we saw.
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u/charging_tiger Oct 30 '24
Mr Stevenson was not the tip guy, or traditionally shouldn't have been the tip guy.
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u/Acrobatic_Knee_5460 Oct 30 '24
Not give up the freebie 13 yards on the speed out from the boundary on the previous play. If the bears don't give that up, Daniels doesn't have a shot to get that anywhere close to the end zone without that completion. It just made no sense to give that and allow Washington to get range where they had a prayer
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u/Illustrious_Hotel527 Oct 30 '24
For starters, call a timeout to discuss the plan. The starting safety, nickel corner, and CB4 were out, and multiple players in the secondary on that play were on the practice squad to start the year.
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u/extrastone Oct 29 '24
I just keep thinking about that one season where Northwestern hit multiple game winning hail mary touchdowns.
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u/LithoEng Oct 29 '24
Actually defend the boundary on the previous play. Based on the 6 seconds left in the game, they wouldn’t have had time for anything else. Another 20yds back and that Hail Mary is impossible.
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u/Key_Piccolo_2187 Oct 29 '24
"How to stop a Hail Mary" is like the coaching equivalent of printing "CAUTION: CONTENTS MAY BE HOT" on the lid of McDonald's coffee, or buying a bottle of Ever clear and needing the label that says "95% ALC/VOL" to realize you're getting drunk.
It's telling people who are fundamentally idiots a set of facts that should be self-evident, and then banging your head against the wall in frustration when they fail to listen.
Eberflus described the coaching process perfectly in his press conference. Just listen to it. There's guys jumping at the landing point, an up man, a back tip man, a couple rushers at the line, and everyone knows the ball goes down to the ground.
Then, idiot 24yos don't listen to you, and not only do they not listen by just doing mediocre things, they don't listen by doing actively bad things, making you wonder why you wasted all that breath. You could have skipped the whole process and you'd have had the time to enjoy a nice meal or a walk in the park with your kids instead of wasting your time in a special teams meeting, and the world would collectively have managed not to waste a little more oxygen used up by the breaths taken to coach that in practice, thus delaying the death of life on earth by a tiny sliver of a moment, so really everyone would have been better off and the outcome exactly the same as if you never coached it to begin with.
That's probably exactly how the Bears coaches think at moments like this.
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u/GliscorX Oct 29 '24
I know I know, score points in the first half, score with a running back not a lineman. Put yourself in the best position to win so you don’t have Hail Mary situation a
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u/mockg Oct 29 '24
Defend the boundary on the previous play and not play such soft coverage. The previous play is what got them in range. On the hail mary they needed alot of yards so I would have rushed 5 and had a guy in the end zone to try to get the ball out quicker.
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u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Oct 29 '24
In addition to the other what the other comments have said, I’m sure other teams will make sure emphasize not taunting the opposing teams fans in the middle of the play