Dan Orlovsky rips Bears OC for terrible late-game play call
After finishing last season on a 10-game losing streak, the Chicago Bears are off to a disappointing 0-2 start in 2023. Although there's plenty of blame to go around, OC Luke Getsy's play-calling at the end of Sunday's 27-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ought to be questioned.
With 2:18 left in the fourth quarter and Chicago near its own end zone, trailing 20-17, quarterback Justin Fields completed a screen pass to running back Khalil Herbert, but an offensive pass interference penalty nullified the play.
Rather than giving Tampa Bay a different look, Getsy called for an identical screen to Herbert on the next play, and linebacker Shaquil Barrett promptly intercepted Fields' pass for an easy four-yard pick-six.
The play call has drawn justified criticism, and since he couldn't be present on Monday's "Get Up," ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to take aim at the ill-advised move.
"I don't know if I've seen that done where they run the same exact traditional screen, like, [running] back insert screen to the same side," Orlovsky said in a video where he analyzed the play. "Shaq Barrett and Lavonte David have seen 10,000 snaps together, of course they're going to sniff stuff like this out. It's the same play ... that's not on the quarterback, man."
It wasn't necessarily difficult to figure out what play Chicago called for in that situation, but Getsy's decision is especially troubling since David admitted after the game that the Tampa Bay defense knew the screen pass was coming.
"Big play," David said via Fox Sports' Greg Auman. "I mean, they called a screen, same formation. Everybody knew what was coming ... Playmakers make plays. [Barrett's] number was called, and he made the play."
While the interception still falls on Fields, who hasn't taken the necessary steps as a passer for Chicago to feel confident that he's its franchise quarterback, the coaching staff isn't doing him any favors either.
Fields averaged roughly 10.7 carries a game in 2022, which resulted in him rushing for 1,143 yards, the second-most in a single season by a quarterback in NFL history. Yet, through two games this season, Fields has only rushed 13 times, totaling 62 yards on the ground.
The 24-year-old is clearly having trouble reading defenses, which has already resulted in him being sacked 10 times this season. HC Matt Eberflus' staff must stop trying to turn Fields into a traditional pocket passer and cater to his biggest strength by letting him run the ball before the Bears' season truly unravels.
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