The Bears rolled out an unusual formation in the second quarter of their game against the Chiefs this week. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio left three down linemen up front on the line of scrimmage and moved everyone else back, back, back. Check it out:
The Bears had the perfect defensive formation for Alex Smith
The Bears didn’t want to get beat deep by Alex Smith (?!?!), so they made the Chiefs’ field goal attempt that much easier.
The purpose of it is to keep from giving up a touchdown. The offense is forced to dump it off underneath and everyone just swarms the guy with the ball.
It came on third-and-9 from the Bears’ 22-yard line with 17 seconds left on the clock. Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith dumped it off to Jeremy Maclin for a 6-yard gain.
The Bears didn’t want to take the risk of Smith throwing a 20-yard touchdown pass, something that we’re not even sure he’s capable of doing. However, this is the Bears’ defense.
You’ll see a defense line up like this occasionally on the last play of the half or a game. What’s unusual in this case is that the Chiefs were in field goal range, giving them the chance to get a few more yards and make the field goal just a little easier. That’s exactly what the Chiefs did on the next play, booting a 35-yarder to go up 17-3 on the Bears.
The Bears did the same thing two weeks ago against the Seahawks, letting Seattle get inside the 5-yard line before kicking a field goal.
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