Day: August 23, 2014

Some Teams Are Just Better and Other Points of View

Bears

  • Dan Wiederer at the Chicago Tribune nails perhaps the biggest problem with the defense Friday night right on the head:

    “On the Seahawks’ final touchdown of the first half Friday night, quarterback Russell Wilson might as well have been playing against a Pop Warner team in walk-through mode.

    “After faking a handoff to running back Christine Michael, Wilson pivoted to his right and came right back to Michael with a dump pass on the right side of the field that went for an effortless 7-yard touchdown on third-and-1.

    “Michael was never covered out of the backfield and never touched on his way to the end zone. And for the Bears, that was the defense’s night in a nutshell.

    “Another third down, another blown play.”

    This sort of thing happened far too frequently. Fortunately its almost certainly all stuff that’s easily fixed. Let’s just hope that the situation isn’t too much like last year where you’d fix one problem only to have another one pop up in its place. This can’t be the first of an endless string of leaks in the dam or the team isn’t going to be making much progress this year.

  • It’s understandable that over 80% of you thought the defense looked the worst of the three phases in the Seattle game. But I think you’re giving the special teams a pass. At least the defense came close to making some plays. From the Tribune.
  • Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune quotes Bears safety Chris Conte:

    “‘I have to get back to playing at a high level,’ he said. ‘There are a lot of people that don’t believe in me and probably are not sure whether I can do it.

    “‘I want people to look at me and respect me and when they see me on the field, they say, ‘That guy is a good player.’ And when my peers play against me, I want them to think about me and respect me.'”

  • Many people have been wondering why wide receiver Chris Williams has been given a better shot at being the kick returner. The word has apparently been given to the reporters that ball security problems early in camp may be the issue. Darius Reynaud has also had his share of problems with this. From Biggs.

    “‘Every returner has them,’ Reynaud said. ‘Even the great ones. That is the past. My reason for that was not judging the ball right and trying to watch those gunners out there. By the time I got my hands up, it was falling right in my hands and dropping it. It wasn’t me running and fumbling, it was me keeping my eye on the ball. That is something fixable. That’s the past. We’re here now.'”

  • Steve Rosenbloom at the Chicago Tribune doesn’t think Bears head coach Marc Trestman was too thrilled with the signing of Santonio Holmes
  • Dan Wiederer at the Chicago Tribune quotes defensive coordinator Mel Tucker on learning to tackle without actually being allowed to tackle in practice:

    “…oftentimes in practice when you’re allowed to go and form up and fit up a runner without leaving your feet, sometimes that’s even more difficult than making a live tackle. Because you have to gather yourself. You have to have great contact balance. You have to be in excellent body-in-football position to be able to deliver the blow and keep the runner on his feet and you stay on your feet and stay off the ground. We’ve done a lot of that.”

  • Adam L. Jahns at the chicagofootball.com quotes Stephen Paea on the way defensive linemen are expected to play this year compared to last year:

    “‘We still have our gaps and responsibilities,’ Paea said. ‘But we help the other guys with the other gaps. Everybody has their own gap, but the way we design our defense now, if the running back doesn’t challenge your gap and goes to the other gap, you go to the other one.’

    “The goal is to make the linebackers Pro Bowl players by providing them with the freedom to move.

    “‘I put my hands on the center, and with the guard trying to block me, the linebacker is going to make the play versus last year where we would just go [penetrate] and the center would have a clean shot at the linebackers,’ Paea said.”

One Final Thought

Rich Campbell at the Chicago Tribune at the end of his Seahawks game story:

“In their last action before the games do count, the Bears’ first-stringers found out they didn’t measure up to the champions, and any talk of them possibly making a Super Bowl run of their own this season can stop until further notice.”

Look, I’m sorry to be a downer but anyone who thought this team was going to the Super Bowl before this game needs to get a grip. I’m a little disappointed that the Bears didn’t do better but I’m not surprised that they were out performed. Bears fans better get used to the idea that this group is going to be beaten this season by at least a few teams that are just plain better than they are.

Quick Comments: Bears at Seahawks 8/22/14

  1. I thought I saw some good penetration from the defensive line. They just weren’t getting the results they needed from it.
  2. Russell Wilson had a lot to do with that. The key is a disciplined pass rush that traps him in the pocket. The Seahawks know that so the first think they have him do a lot of the time is drift left or right to get him outside. Its not exactly a roll out but he’s not sitting in the pocket either. It makes it tough to get a handle on him.
  3. Also on a related note, the Bears are going to be have to be able to penetrate against teams like Seattle. They aren’t physical enough up front otherwise. The Seahawk’s success in the running game pretty much demonstrated that. There were stretches where it looked like they could have run it all day.
  4. The Bears lined up Willie Young in what looked like a “wide 9” position once or twice. That’s a formation commonly played by the Lions when Jim Schwartz was the head coach there where he was way outside of the offensive tackle. So Young’s played it quite a bit in the past. Interesting.
  5. You can pretty much chalk up the first Seahawk touchdown to Shea McClellin. He got sucked inside and Marshawn Lynch went right through the spot McClellin was occupying. Color man Jim Miller attributed the mistake to defensive end Lamarr Houston but Houston was occupying the lineman and McClellin was left free to make the play. I thought he was the one out of position. I won’t say he played badly McClellin didn’t do much with the starters in this game.
  6. Chris Conte showed up. Hopefully he’s not concussed.
  7. There were definitely some problems with defensive assignments, tonight. I don’t know enough to be able to say exactly what was wrong but way too often guys were making catches with no defensive player within 3 or 4 yards of them. That really shouldn’t ever happen.
  8. The offense was pretty much all Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffrey. I sure would have liked to have seen Josh Morgan and the tight ends more involved. The running game looked better and they were making some positive yards but they didn’t do it much. I think keeping Matt Forte healthy is a major priority right now.
  9. Having said that, its worth noting that Cutler was trying to get the ball to Morgan on the interception at the end of the half. He obviously thought Morgan was going to come back to get the ball on the back shoulder. I suppose those sorts of miscues are the reason he might be hesitant to keep going away from Marshall, Jeffery and Bennett.
  10. Special teams continues to be a concern. The coverage units were especially bad. I’m looking at you, Joe DeCamillis.
  11. I thought I saw some good, aggressive play from Lance Briggs tonight. He was around the ball a lot. Good to see.
  12. I thought Cutler wasn’t maybe as accurate as I’d typically like to see him. The receivers were working mighty hard to make those catches.
  13. Jordan Palmer’s accuracy and ball placement was pretty awful. Jimmy Clausen’s was better but that’s not saying much. Neither was anything to write home about.
  14. I’m starting to like what I see from Ka’Deem Carey. I noted that he came in before Shaun Draughn and played with the starters some in the first half, perhaps indicating that he’s moved ahead of him on the depth chart. He can block, he can catch and he always falls forward for a couple extra yards. Not much elusiveness there but otherwise he might be a really good one.
  15. Demontre Hurst keeps showing up in these games and making tackles. Its worth noting.
  16. Terrell Pryor has a long way to go. Tossing that ball up for grabs under pressure for an interception in the fourth quarter wasn’t a good look.
  17. Preseason game or not the Seattle crowd was still loud enough to make it a challenge.
  18. The Bears were close to making plays all over the field this game. They were missing by inches. They’re close but I guess that’s the difference right now.