Defense
- To my eye the Bears started out bringing more pressure than usual in an effort to get to Kyler Murray. I’d say it’s likely that they identified something on tape that made them think that this would work.
- Of course, once the Cardinals started running the ball well, the blitz became irrelevant. And they did a great job of it. They ran the ball 31 times for 208 yards and 6.7 yards per carry and it was actually worse than that because Arizona eased up in the second half.
- It does appear that Murray often picks out his target before the snap. If the target doesn’t come open then it looks like it’s pretty much a scramble drill or a dump off.
- Jaylon Johnson, I know you think you should be an All-Pro coverage man. But we need you to tackle, too, buddy. You’re missing too many.
- It’s not just that the Bears were being dominated up front. They looked faster, too. I saw a number of runs where backs just plain beat everyone to the corner.
Offense
- I was surprised at how often the Bears went empty backfield. Most analysts thought the Cardinals would be blitzing heavily. It showed a lot of faith in Caleb Williams being able to hit a hot receiver.
- Not that the Cardinals blitzed a lot. They mostly picked their spots. It looked like they saw what I did last week. Williams had the most trouble when he expected blitz and they dropped eight into coverage.
- Once again, Williams looked unsettled by the entire situation this week. His accuracy and timing was just a tick off.
- Once again, Williams kind of threw up a rainbow pass into Rome Odunze early in the second quarter on a broken coverage. It’s like he’s almost afraid to throw the ball. Again, he’s not comfortable. He’s got to get back to hitting his back foot and letting go of the ball.
- I thought TV analyst Charles Davis did a good job of pointing out something that I’ve been thinking about Williams for a long time. The Bears had the ball right within field goal range and Williams dropped back and instead of taking the dump off pass to the running back, he held the ball in an effort to get a big play. And he was sacked and taken out of field goal range. Williams has got to learn to take the easy pass in that situation. He has to stop big play hunting and make sure that he keeps the ball and field goal range.
- D’Andre Swift has been a wonderful find for Ryan Poles and his staff. He’s quick in space, he’s sure handed and he breaks tackles. He’s been worth every penny.
Miscellaneous
- I don’t know why Even Washburn was so surprised that it was raining during the game. The NFL website said that there was a 30% chance it would happen in their weekly Sunday game weather report.
- Once again, congratulations to Bears fans in Arizona. We could hear you.
- The Bears were far, far too undisciplined. They are not, nor have they ever been, the type of team that can overcome penalties and they committed a load of them today. The stats said 6 penalties for 33 yards but it seemed a lot worse.
- Well, I think a lot of Bears fans knew that the run defense might eventually be exposed once they started playing better teams. Despite the fact that they really aren’t that good, its looked like the Cardinals on the road were the breaking point. They were dominated up front and never challenged Kyler Murray in any kind of a serious way to have to throw the ball. It will be interesting to see where the team goes from here.
I continue to believe that Caleb Williams’ problem is not the blitz. It’s when teams drop eight into coverage and rush four. It seems to leave him completely discombobulated. He’s going to have to get some coaching that’s going to give him answers and then he’s going to have to adjust or we’re going to see this the rest of the year.