Game Comments: Packers at Bears 9/28/14

Offense

1. The Bears came out ready to establish the run. The Packers knew it and keyed on Forte but stayed with a standard seven in the box. So the Bears were able to get it going.

2. They also came out as in previous weeks, emphasizing the short passing game, probably because Brandon Marshall and maybe Alshon Jeffery still aren’t healthy. Fortunately they came out executing well so it worked, too. The passes got longer as the game went on.

3. The way the first touchdown went I would have sworn Marshall pushed off on the cornerback. Replays showed he didn’t touch him. The drive took over half of the first quarter.

4. Both Forte and Ka’Deem Carey ran really well today. Both played to their strength, slipping through cracks in the line. Carey didn’t seem to see the field as much in the second half.

5. Despite their early success on the ground its hard not to notice that the Bears are still occasionally struggling to run in short yardage situations. In fairness they did convert a third and short midway through the second quarter that led to a touchdown.

6. I don’t know what the deal was with Jay Cutler and his inability to hold on to the ball today. Put some stick’em on it or something.

7. Kudos to Martellus Bennett for once again stepping up to have a real good game.

8. Kudos to the offensive line as well. The Packers brought the house on occasion on the blitz and the line generally picked it up pretty well.

9. Its been said before but every once in a while I think its worth while to point out how good the Bears blocking downfield by the receivers is. That’s a sign of a well coached unit.

10. The Packers are tackling noticeably better than they were lat year.

Defense

1. It was extremely disappointing not to have Jared Allen in this game. After three weeks of mobile quarterbacks I thought he might break out against a Aaron Rogers, who can still run but is decidedly less mobile than what the Bears have seen.

2. The Packers came out ready to play and the Bears didn’t. On the first drive there was one pass to Jordy Nelson where he was matched up with Jonathan Bostic. Bostic looked like he was in slow motion. The Packers first score took less than two and a half minutes. It didn’t seem to take even that long.

3. Nelson did pretty much whatever he wanted today. Hell, they all did pretty much what they wanted today.

4. Part of the problem was that the Bears were playing a lot of zone defense. They struggled in the preseason with it and it didn’t look any different today as Rogers quickly picked it apart. I really don’t know what the Bears were thinking. Apparently they thought they could play defense like the Lions did. They can’t.

5. The much maligned Packers offensive line did a good job in pass protection today. Aaron Rogers frequently had way too much time (which is why the Bears aren’t the Lions).

6. That line didn’t do as well blocking the run, however, as the Bears did a decent job there.

7. I see what the critics mean about Eddie Lacy. He’s not running well. He hesitates and doesn’t hit the hole like he should.

Miscellaneous

1. Kevin Burkhardt and Pam Oliver were fine but I was underwhelmed by John Lynch as a color man. It was a bad sign early in the game when Lynch insisted that a hands to the face call on the Packers should have been called on Jordan Mills. I’m not sure which Packer it was on but I can tell you that Mills didn’t do too much wrong.

   Lynch’s analysis didn’t extend much beyond “That was good” and “That was bad”. He didn’t teach me much today.

2. An onside kick? Really? Like the defense didn’t have enough trouble on its hands? Come on, man, that wasn’t necessary.

   Willie Young blocked a field goal in the fourth quarter. It was the first really good thing I can remember the special teams doing all year.

3. There weren’t a lot of obvious drops in this game. But I thought there were a lot of difficult but arguably catchable balls that hit the turf. Randall Cobb dropped a touchdown that hurt the Packers temporarily until Nelson caught one on the next play. It was that kind of day.

4. In fairness to Lynch in my comment above, there were a number of questionable calls out there. The illegal hands to the face early in the game (which I didn’t see) set the Bears up for a field goal. D.J. Williams got a very damaging (and very stupid) unnecessary roughness call early in the second quarter that kept the Packers on the field after they were stopped them on third down. The drive ended in a touchdown. The veterans continue to let the team down by making boneheaded mistakes in this area.

   The Packers also had a holding call bring back a touchdown and turn it into a field goal in the third quarter.

   A holding call on Bostic on a field goal attempt gave the Packers a first down. That turned into a touchdown.

5. Boy did that pick by Clay Matthews in the third quarter hurt. The way the Bears were moving the ball that was arguably a 14 point play as the Packers turned it into a touchdown.

   Jeffery did his best to give away a fumble near the end of the third quarter. It went out of bounds. That was right before Sam Shields’ interception that turned this into a route.

6. I was extremely disappointed that the Bears didn’t score at the end of the first half. The one thing you don’t do in that situation is let the clock run out.

7. This was an extremely frustrating game to watch as the Packers marched over the Bears defense every time they got the ball. It says something when they give up a field goal and you consider it to be a major victory, not just once but all day. The game looked poorly planned, they didn’t execute and nothing was working out there. There was no pass pressure. They were a step slow all over the field either because they are slow or they were unprepared to play. Either way, it was pretty embarrassing.

   I thought the offense played reasonably well but the one thing you simply cannot do when your defense is flailing helplessly on its back like a turtle in the sun is turn the ball over. Not only does it take badly needed points off the board on a day when you were executing very well but it gives the other team points on top of it.

   The Bears have to play better. I think they have the talent. Even on defense. But they can’t overcome turnovers and penalties against good team.

   There’s nothing profound or insightful about it. It’s just the truth. They have to play better.