Jimmy Clausen was a highly touted QB prospect when he began his college career at Notre Dame, but fell short of expectations and also fell in the draft, going 48th overall to Carolina in 2010. In his first season as a QB, when went 1-9 as a starter, and the Panthers then took Cam Newton with the #1 overall pick, relegating Clausen to the bench. During the 2014 offseason, he signed with the Bears and beat out Jordan Palmer to back up Jay Cutler. With the Bears reeling and Marc Trestman benching Cutler for week 16, Clausen got the nod to start for the first time in almost four years. This article will break down every dropback Clausen had in his start for the Bears.
I personally was very critical of the move to bench Cutler and start Clausen, and while I still think Cutler is a better player, Clausen actually performed reasonably well against the Lions. He dropped back to pass 44 times, and went 23/39 for 181 yards with 2 TDs and an INT. He was sacked twice and scrambled 3 times for 9 yards.
While Clausen’s raw numbers are not impressive, that a function of two main things. First, the Bears were extremely conservative, throwing a multitude of screens and other short passes. Clausen only threw three passes on deep routes (7, 8, or 9 routes), and while he went just 1/3 on those passes, that completion was a 20 yard TD, one was just a hair too far (and had great coverage) and the third was a desperation pass at the end of the game. Outside of that, the second reason Clausen’s numbers don’t look impressive is that I counted seven drops from Bears receivers. One was on a play where a defensive penalty was called so it didn’t matter, but a few of them were hurtful, especially toward the end of the game. The throws on these plays were accurate, and Clausen should have really been 29/39 on the day.
The Bears also allowed consistent pressure to get to Clausen from the Lions’ excellent defensive line. This caused him to have to get the ball out more quickly on throws than he might have wanted to and also forced a few incompletions. In general, Clausen did a relatively good job of handling the pressure, choosing to get the ball out quickly.
Something I think Clausen should be commended for in the game is his work on slant, dig, and curl routes. He made strong, decisive throws that went where only the receiver could catch the ball, and it’s the primary way he got his yardage. Matt Forte also did damage, as he always does, after the catch on screen plays. However, Clausen’s main targets on the day were receivers Marquess Wilson and Alshon Jeffery. He seemed to have a rapport with Wilson, completing 7 of 10 passes to him for 66 yards. Jeffery he targeted 15 times, but only connected with 6 times.
Without further ado, I’m going to get into breaking down every play of Clausen’s game:
1-10-CHI 25 (Q1, 14:55) J.Clausen pass incomplete short right to M.Bennett.
The Bears try to start Clausen off quick by rolling him out to the right and having him target Martellus Bennett in the flat. However, Bennett drops the pass. It’s difficult to tell, but it looks like the pass came in hotter than Bennett expected so he juggled it. If this is the case, I’d just attribute it to nerves on Clausen’s first pass play. This is a ball that should be caught by Bennett.
2-10-CHI 25 (Q1, 14:50) E.Britton reported in as eligible. J.Clausen pass short left to M.Wilson to CHI 26 for 1 yard (R.Mathis).
The Bears try to give Clausen confidence again by giving him a quick screen to Marquess Wilson. This time Clausen completes the pass. However, Rashean Mathis is right there to tackle Wilson before he can pick up any yardage. The Bears would run the ball on third and long, and Clausen’s first drive as a Bear would end as a 3-and-out.
3-6-CHI 21 (Q1, 8:30) (Shotgun) J.Clausen pass incomplete short left to A.Jeffery.
When the Bears got the ball back they ran twice and set up Clausen in a third and 6. Clausen once again looks to get the ball out quickly, and he targets his best receiver, Alshon Jeffery on an out route. I don’t agree with this decision for a couple of reasons. First, Jeffery isn’t past the first down marker and Mathis is in great position to bring Jeffery down short of the first down. Second, Jeffery does not have separation from Slay, while Josh Morgan, who is running a dig route over the middle at about the 30 got more separation from his defender. I’d like to see Clausen target Morgan in this scenario. Either way, the throw is not good, as he leads Jeffery too far for an incompletion and a second 3-and-out.
1-10-CHI 20 (Q1, 5:15) E.Britton reported in as eligible. J.Clausen pass short left to M.Wilson pushed ob at CHI 37 for 17 yards (R.Mathis).
Overall this is a very nice play from Clausen. His first read is Alshon running a post route but he wisely decides to not attempt to thread the ball into a very tight window and comes over to Wilson, his second read, who is running a comeback route. The corner, Mathis, has deep responsibility on the route so Clausen puts the ball in a very good place: away from the safety that’s moving over to cover the route. This allows Wilson to make a clean catch and turn upfield for a handful of extra yards.
While this is a pretty basic throw for a NFL QB to make, it’s still a good sign that Clausen is putting the ball in a good position and not trying to force it to his big target in Jeffery.
1-10-CHI 37 (Q1, 4:48) (Shotgun) J.Clausen pass short left to M.Forte pushed ob at CHI 47 for 10 yards (D.Levy).
This play is a double screen. Clausen’s first option is Jeffery at the top of the screen, but that part of the play is snuffed out by Josh Bynes. Therefore, he comes back to the other side and dumps it to Matt Forte, who has a couple of blockers in front of him and takes the ball 10 yards for a first down.
2-9-DET 37 (Q1, 2:49) (Shotgun) J.Clausen pass short left to M.Wilson to DET 31 for 6 yards (R.Mathis).
As in his second throw of the game, Clausen’s first option is a quick screen to a WR. However, this time Clausen decides to wait for other options. At the same time, the pocket is disrupted by interior pressure. Clausen moves to his right to avoid a sack, and finds Wilson open after he was vacated by the DB, who is off on a late blitz. It’s a good, safe decision that brings up third and short.
4-2-DET 30 (Q1, 1:31) (Shotgun) J.Clausen pass short right to A.Jeffery to DET 26 for 4 yards (D.Tapp; D.Levy).
The Bears ran the ball on third down ad didn’t get much, but since they were in fourth and short and had what would have been a long field goal attempt, they decided to go for it on 4th down. To convert, they drew up a WR screen to Jeffery. With trips bunched to the right, Jeffery has space to work with and he takes the pass for a first down. Not an especially difficult throw, but it’s a good thing Clausen didn’t let Suh, who got instant penetration, bat the pass down.
1-10-DET 26 (Q1, :45) (Shotgun) J.Clausen pass incomplete short left to M.Wilson (R.Mathis).
With a fresh set of downs, the Bears come out with three WRs split wide to the left. Clausen goes through his progressions and targets Wilson, who is a good choice. Remember earlier, the two connected for 16 yards on a similar comeback route. This time, Mathis is in man coverage and closer to Wilson, but Clausen makes a very good throw, putting it where Wilson can make a clean catch. However, Wilson straight up drops the pass. This was a good decision and throw by Clausen, and bad execution by Wilson.
2-10-DET 26 (Q1, :40) (Shotgun) J.Clausen scrambles right end to DET 22 for 4 yards.
The Lions do a good job of covering all of Clausen’s options on this play, and even though he buys himself some time by drifting backwards nobody is open. He decides to run it himself and shows a little athleticism. Then he intelligently slides after picking up a gain of four.
3-6-DET 22 (Q2, 15:00) (Shotgun) J.Clausen pass short right to A.Jeffery to DET 10 for 12 yards (D.Slay; D.Levy).
This play is a simple decision for Clausen. His first read, Jeffery, does a nice job of setting Darius Slay up on the outside and then breaking inside, coming open past the sticks. Clausen makes a nice throw, hitting Jeffery in stride and allowing him to pick up a few more yards after the catch.
2-1-DET 1 (Q2, 13:30) J.Clausen pass incomplete short left to A.Jeffery (N.Suh).
On this play Clausen means to throw a fade to Jeffery, but he never gets the chance. Ndamukong Suh gets an excellent jump off the snap, and then he gets a hand on Clausen’s throwing arm. This causes the ball to just kind of flutter in the air and drop to the ground. The throw ended up being very dangerous, but it’s not Clausen’s fault; it’s just Suh being the nightmare that he is and a poor job of stopping him by the offensive line.
4-1-DET 1 (Q2, 12:47) E.Britton reported in as eligible. J.Clausen pass incomplete short right to E.Britton (D.Slay).
It’s now fourth and goal at the one, and the Bears want to roll Clausen out to his right and get a TD to one of the receivers there, but there’s a problem. Three unblocked Lions are in Clausen’s face immediately. This play had no chance. Clausen makes a last ditch throw off of his back foot and it is knocked down, but this play is not Jimmy’s fault. Well, it actually might be if he’s responsible for the protections. Matt Forte tries to cut one defender and fails, but even then there should never be two unblocked defenders getting a free run at the QB. Whoever was telling the OL what to do on this play (which was probably Clausen) made a big mistake when calling the protections at the line.
2-13-CHI 17 (Q2, 7:23) (Shotgun) J.Clausen pass incomplete short left to A.Jeffery.
On this play, Clausen tries to fit the ball into a tight window to Jeffery on a slant. He actually does a very good job with the throw: it’s a tad low but on target and where only Jeffery can get to it. However, Jeffery just flat out drops the pass. That’s the third drop so far for a Bears player.
3-13-CHI 17 (Q2, 7:19) (Shotgun) E.Britton reported in as eligible. J.Clausen pass incomplete short left to A.Jeffery.
On this play, it’s third and long, and Clausen does a very nice job of stepping up in the pocket to avoid Ansah coming around the edge. However, he does not make a very good decision, choosing to force a throw to a double covered Jeffery. He has two much safer options underneath in Bennett and Forte, and I really don’t like the decision to throw to Jeffery here. That’s asking for an interception, and it would have given the ball to the Lions in scoring position. At this point in the game I would rather see him dump the ball off and give the defense slightly better field position than risk a throw that is not very likely to be successful.
