The Chicago Bears run a system that is well-known around the NFL. A scheme that has had lots of success in places like Kansa City and Philadelphia. Head coach Matt Nagy has taken a lot of the latest concepts and incorporated them into a playbook he feels can work. The problem is his quarterback Mitch Trubisky hasn’t been able to execute them. ComeOn, that is why the team traded for Nick Foles.
So what exactly can Foles do better? Snarky fans will say either everything or nothing depending on their feelings of Trubisky. Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson gave a more thoughtful answer to Dan Pompei of The Athletic. While coaching Foles back in 2017, he started to realize the veteran had a particular knack for one type of offensive approach. One the Bears have tried to employ extensively with Trubisky the past two years.
During the Eagles’ Super Bowl run, Pederson found Foles was proficient running RPOs. Foles also was in an RPO offense in college at Arizona.
“Nick is good with the RPOs because it’s more of reading the defense and being the type of guy who is going to process the information,” Pederson says. “That’s why it made it comfortable for me as a play caller to dial up the same play more than once in a game. I knew Nick was going to process the information and make it right. That benefits in an RPO situation. You aren’t going to ask him to run the ball like you would maybe with Mitch Trubisky, who is very gifted in that regard.”
Nick Foles may finally unlock the Bears RPO game
People like to assume that the run-pass option is required to function with a mobile quarterback. This isn’t true. The reality is it needs a quarterback with good vision and decision-making skills. It normally must be one of two things. Either the quarterback hands it off or he pulls it back to throw. Much of that is determined by what they see at the line of scrimmage. Something Trubisky struggled with constantly.
In 2019, the Bears quarterback threw 26 passes out of the RPO, he completed 16 for 132 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. So it’s not hard to see why Nagy chose not to run it often. By contrast, MVP Lamar Jackson completed 64% of his passes for 588 yards, five touchdowns, and no interceptions. When a team has the right guy to run it, the formation can be highly effective.
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Foles, with his good vision and ability to get the ball out fast, might be the answer they were looking for.
