Day: October 19, 2014

Game Comments: Dolphins at Bears 10/19/14

Defense

  1. The Bears defense game out playing mostly cover 1. They were trying to stop the run with the standard 6 or 7 in the box (depending on the personnel) and they were getting run over. They eventually had to start sneaking an extra guy up into the box before putting a stopper in it.

  2. The Bears were getting fooled by the read option all day and Ryan Tannehill in particular made allot of yards with it when he kept the ball.

  3. The Bears were back to their old habit of over pursuit and it cost them badly as the Dolphins took advantage of it with a number of misdirection plays.

  4. The defense adjusted at half time and stopped putting an extra man in the box, trying again to stop the run with base personnel with limited success.

  5. Give Ryan Tannehill credit. He looked great today. He’s under fire in Miami and has a reputation for being inconsistent. He had a good game today.

  6. Jeremiah Ratliff came out like a ball of fire and had a very good game, especially early.

  7. I don’t’ know what the stats were on time of possession but the Bears defense was just plain worn out in the fourth quarter. Miami just wore them down.

Offense

  1. The Bears offense was under siege this game. The Dolphins came out with a plan to blitz Jay Cutler and with tight coverage on Bears receivers in the defensive backfield and it worked to a tee. Cutler was under pressure all game and whenever he threw to anybody they were always covered. It was an awesome effort by the Dolphin defense.

  2. I’m not sure who the first Cutler interception was to. It looked like he was expecting Santonio Holmes to cut his route short but it was so far off it was really hard to tell.

  3. Tough day for the bears offensive tackles as Cameron Wake had his way with them.

  4. The Bears did a little better in the second half when they adjusted and came out running the ball, something they didn’t do enough of in the first half. I know that the Dolphins have a very good run defense but you have to do it at least some. The Bears also started feeding Brandon Marshall and, eventually, Martellus Bennett the ball more.

  5. The Bears continue to struggle with screen plays. They must be tipping them off because defensive linemen are reading them like a book.

Miscellaneous

  1. Alshon Jeffery had a tough game with the drops.

  2. Neither team had an excessive number of penalties until the Dolphins starting committing them in droves in garbage time.

  3. Turnovers: Do I really need to say more?

  4. The Soldier Field grass looked good.

  5. Well, let’s look at the bright side. Special teams didn’t kill the Bears today. They even blocked a field goal and had a decent return with some very good blocking.

  6. The Bears looked extremely slow on both sides of the ball, today, especially on the defense. It was much more apparent live and its a serious concern, especially at linebacker. They also got beat badly at the line of scrimmage, especially on offense. These two factors were a big part of this loss. Other than that, the only thing left is to give Miami credit for coming out and playing an outstanding game. The Bears got beat by a better team today.

Not a Good Sign and Other Points of View

Bears

  • I’ll be attending the game Sunday so whatever Game Comments there will be, if any will be brief. Sorry. Its tough to take notes under those circumstances. Maybe some day someone will give me credentials for the press box. 🙂

  • Hub Arkush at the Chicago Sun-Times notes that Lamarr Houston was missing in action again last Sunday. This is becoming something of a concern.

    I thought it was also notable that at a time when most media members were handing out kudos to Michael Ola for his work substituting in for various members of the offensive line due to injury, Arkush said that Ola “struggled at times” last week. Arkush tends to be more critical than most but if you buy into the evaluation, Ola may not ever be more than a back up.

  • Another point from Arkush that will rub some fans the wrong way:

    “The rush was great once the jail break started at the end of the game, but for 60 minutes, the Bears were a B-/C+.”

    I must agree. The sacks at the end of the game made the effort look better than it actually was and the performance of the defensive line has been generally exaggerated. But to give credit where credit is due, I thought I saw more consistent pressure through all four quarters than I’ve seen all season. Its just that not all of it resulted in sacks.

  • Rich Campbell at the Chicago Tribune asks safety Ryan Mundy about the fine associated with his helmet-to-helmet hit on Falcons wide receiver Roddy White last Sunday:

    “What could Mundy have done differently on the play?

    “‘Nothing,’ he said Wednesday.”

    Wrong answer. Mundy came in shoulder first, as he should. But he came in too high and clearly hit White’s helmet with his. A couple inches lower and the hit would have been clean.

    Mundy is like many other defensive backs around the league that apparently just can’t get the message into their brains no matter how often the league tells them. You have to lower your target. That’s what he should have done differently.

  • Former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb is slipping into bitter old man mode again.

  • Arkush thinks that the key to the game today may be the play of the Dolphins linebackers.

One Final Thought

Every single Chicago Sun-Times “expert” picked the Bears on Sunday over the Dolphins. Same for the Tribune and at ESPN. Kiss of death.