Month: September 2015

Welcome Back, Sam Acho

sam+acho+bearsAs suggested here as a possibility when he was released, Sam Acho has been resigned by the Bears. Apparently his release was only temporary to get an extra healthy body on to the roster. Lamin Barrow apparently will remain, however, as the Bears have chosen to put Cornelius Washington on injured reserve instead of putting Barrow back onto the practice squad.

Based upon what I saw in the preseason, Acho appears to be a potential playmaker. The Bears desperately need more of those on defense right now (Who doesn’t?).

Quick Comments on the Monday Night Games

Eagles  – Falcons:

  • Sam Bradford didn’t look sharp early. Too many missed passes and miscommunications. This was exacerbated by the job the Falcons did stopping the run. Eagles head coach Chip Kelley gave up on it and decided to lean on Bradford’s arm. It wasn’t a good decision. The Eagles had 8 yards rushing, 117 yards passing and an INT while only scoring three points at half time. Despite running the ball better, the Eagles stuck with the pass in the second half. They had more success in the second half but still lost this game in large part because they the refused to run the ball more.
  • The Eagles had a lot of trouble getting pressure on Matt Ryan and that exposed their biggest apparent weakness. That secondary’s not good.
  • Speaking of Ryan, he was very lucky that he didn’t give this game away.  Two interceptions that really should have been five.  He’ll want to clean that up.  He won’t get away with it often.
  • The Falcons were running the ball surprisingly well and they did a good job of setting up the play action pass.
  • I heard all off season about how the Falcons were quietly building that defense up.  I didn’t get it, myself, until tonight.  They’re far better than I thought.  They’re much faster and much better at the line of scrimmage.  I was damned impressed.

Vikings – 49ers

I was doing a podcast and could only occasionally glance at this game.  I went to bed not long after that.  But I do have some thoughts on what I saw.

The biggest knock on the Vikings going into the season was their offensive line. They did nothing that I saw during this game to ease anyone’s mind. The 49ers harassed QB Teddy Bridgewater and limited running back Adrian Peterson to 14 yards on 4 carries in the first half. The Vikings have been touted as a playoff team. They’re going to have to do better if that’s going to be the case.

Yet Another Reason Why Twitter Is a Bad Idea for NFL Personnel

Former Eagles and Browns executive Joe Banner really should know better.  And maybe the fact that he doesn’t tells you all you need to know about why he’s currently an ESPN analyst instead of a NFL front office man.

Banner tweeted to his more than 27,000 followers something that was almost certainly not intended for public consumption.  He was calling somebody “a moron,” apparently in response to a question about this particular moron’s advisors. The full tweet, was screens hotted before Banner deleted it:

“True, but he is a moron on his own. He has many advisors, but Alec is his top advisor by a lot. Don’t agree with the no advisors outside…”

Speculation, which Banner has denied, was that the “moron” was Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, who fired him in early 2014.    “Alec” is presumably Alec Scheiner, the Browns president.  Even funnier than that tweet are the responses below Banner’s denial like this one:

“Joe Banner is Cleveland’s Crazy Ex-Girlfreind.”

Regardless, this once again reflects the dangers behind using Twitter to say things, either publicly or privately, that shouldn’t be said.  What’s even worse is that Banner has exhibited stupidity via Twitter before.  Banner and those like him should be sending text messages and destroying phones per the normal protocol.

Bears Can’t Get No Satisfaction?

David Haugh at the Chicago Tribune is concerned that the Bears aren’t a tad more upset at losing their game against the packers Sunday:

“Too many others sounded like guys on a Bears team that hasn’t won a game since last Nov. 23, a core diminished enough by six consecutive losses to worry whether losing has become a bad habit.

“Martellus Bennett referred to the loss as ‘a confidence-builder” — a popular theme. Matt Forte celebrated the return of legitimacy to the huddle.

“‘Nobody had that stupid look on their face like before when something (bad) would happen,” [running back [Matt] Forte said.

“Added left tackle Jermon Bushrod: ‘I’ve been in this locker room and we’ve had losses and I just don’t want to talk to anyone, but we fought and competed and that’s all we can ask for.””

I get Haugh’s point. But I also understand the Bears attitude towards the loss.

We all understand now that the Bears had a toxic locker room last year. That atmosphere was created in part by high expectations that were unfulfilled. Head coach John Fox seems to be managing those expectations much better both outside and inside the locker room and what we’re hearing is a result of that.

The Bears played one of the best teams in football, one that tore them up last year. I can’t blame them for understanding that. My expectation is that there will be more dissatisfaction if they lose to Arizona next week. And there will be a whole lot more if they lose to the Oakland Raiders in week 4. If that doesn’t happen, then I think we can start worrying.

Bears Offensive Line Problems Aren’t Over Yet

Rich Campbell at the Chicago Tribune quotes Kyle Long on his struggles at right tackle:

“I had my struggles individually, and I did some things that I can keep my head up,’ he said. ‘I thought I played pretty hard. You’ve got to move on and make progress every week.”

He did, indeed.  For instance, on a fourth-and-goal safety Sean Richardson was unblocked on his blitz through the line. Long took responsibility for the protection bust.  He also gave up a sack to former Bear Julius Peppers.  But as most people can tell he’s probably going to be pretty good at tackle eventually.  Long wasn’t the problem yesterday.

Moving Long to tackle created a hole at right guard that was filled by veteran Vlad Ducasse. And Ducasse definitely ws the problem with a below average performance that was punctuated by two pre-snap penalties. Had Jordan Mills done that he would have been crucified this morning.

Putting Long at tackle didn’t solve the Bears offensive line problems. It traded one problem for another. The guess here is that we see Patrick Omameh at guard next week. We can hope he will be better. But not too much. Omameh was cut by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who have one of the worst offensive lines in football. If he didn’t fit in there, I’m having a hard time believing that he’s going to be an improvement here.

The Bears Need More from Jay Cutler

Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune criticizes quarterback Jay Cutler after yesterday’s loss:

“With a roster in full rebuilding mode and a defense short on playmakers, the Bears figure to employ a similar strategy much of the season. Pile up yardage with Forte to rest the defense and hope to be in a tight game in the fourth quarter. They’re going to be counting on Cutler to deliver in the clutch and that’s where this strategy might be flawed.

“‘I made the correction in my head,’ Cutler said. ‘The guys made the correction out there. We know what should have happened. That’s it. We’ve got to move on. We’ve got a lot of opportunities left to go out there and do it the right way and improve where we are.’

“That’s just it. Who is going to have confidence that Cutler is going to improve where he is and make it a lasting adjustment? Maybe the Packers were a tough draw for Fox in his debut, but it already gives you an idea of where the Bears stand against the team to beat in the division. They’re not good enough even when things go mostly according to plan.”

As much as I understand the complacency both inside and outside the locker room in terms of how thinks turned out yesterday, I can’t understand the general positive attitude towards Cutler. Comments by Troy Aikman and Joe Buck indicating that this looked like a new Jay Cutler reflected the comments of fans and, in many cases, the media after this game.

Cutler did not play well and it wasn’t just the back breaking interception. His passer rating was a whopping 29.6.  Cutler miss fired on three consecutive passes from the 2 yard line in the fourth quarter and he generally made far too many catches that should have been easy into tough ones yesterday with some scatter shot inaccuracy. Yes, they were completions. But few were placed in a position such that the receiver could run after the catch. The Bears need more.

Quick Comments from Selected Late Sunday NFL Games

Some quick observations on some of the games that I caught late in the day after the Bears game was over.

Broncos – Ravens:

There was a huge question about Peyton Manning‘s arm before their game against the Ravens this weak. Manning has been struggling with his arm strength all preseason and has put up some ugly game tape. Pre-game reports that he’d been putting more zip on the ball after starting to wear a glove on his throwing hand, something he didn’t do in the preseason. However, I’m inclined to attribute more of it to the huge windup he’s developed in an effort to get more behind his throws. He was also much more inaccurate than he has been in the past.

Manning actually didn’t do too badly. But that long release may haunt him all season, as it did on a Jimmy Smith pick six on Manning’s first throw of the second half.

On the other side Denver constantly harassed Joe Flacco with a ferocious pass rush. Both Denver and Baltimore struggled to protect their quarterbacks and I’m now officially concerned about both of these offensive lines.

Finally, Terrell Suggs‘s torn achilles will keep him out for the year. That’s bad news for my Ravens Super Bowl pick.

Titans – Buccaneers:

The Jameis Winston–Marcus Mariota match up looked very much like you’d expect it it.

Mariota looked far more pro-ready, being in command of the offense the entire game against that nice, standard cover-two defense. He threw four touchdowns in the first half alone.

Winston was far more up and down, mostly down, as he was in the preseason. Winston has quit a way to go before he’s going to be a competent NFL quarterback and its going to be a long season for the Bucs.

Another thing to keep an eye on is that Buccaneer running game, which looked very effective. If Winston develops at all, he’s going to get a lot of help from some wonderful running by Doug Martin.

The Bears play the Buccaneers on December 27.

Chargers – Lions:

Preseason reports had people wondering if Chargers first round running back Melvin Gordon was headed towards bust territory. I wouldn’t say that Gordon looked bad so much as he looked disappointingly nondescript. But as expected, the Lions Ameer Abdulla was the guy to watch in this game. His tendency to accelerate through his cuts and continue to gain momentum is rapidly putting him into an upper class of running backs.

There should be concern about that Lions defense without Ndamukong Suh. The Chargers dissected them in the second half both in the running game and with the pass. They made it look far too easy for any Lions fan comfort. Or for the comfort of the Bears, who are going to be visiting San Diego in November.

I’m not entirely sure what was wrong with Matthew Stafford but he looked awful in this game. You might generously say that he wasn’t on the same page with his receivers but his accuracy was very suspect. This is a situation to keep an eye on in the competitive NFC North.

Cardinals – Saints:

The Bears next opponent is the Arizona Cardinals. My initial impression watching them beat up on the New Orleans Saints is that this is a rough, tough team up front on both sides of the ball. If the Bears run on this team like they did on the Packers in the first half, more power to them. I have my doubts.

The Saints looked completely flat. I’m really surprised as offseason reports indicated that they were muscling up to become more physical. If they did, they didn’t show it. Sean Payton didn’t have this team prepared to play in this game. The Saints have to pick it up.

Cowboys – Giants

Tony Romo had ages to throw the ball in this game. That Dallas offensive line is a wall. No one got close. And they road graders blocking the run. Honestly, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a better offensive line.

The Cowboys are a tough team. Which why I was shocked that the Giants were actually ahead at half. They were badly out played and the statistics were sick – they only had the ball for about 8 minutes of the half. But the Cowboys kept shooting themselves in the foot with turnovers and but you have to give the Giants credit. They hung tough.

The Giants offensive line wasn’t nearly as impressive as the Cowboys but Erik Flowers looks like he’s going to turn out to be a pretty good pick at left tackle. And of course, they have Odell Beckham, who drew a safety rolled to his side all night. I was also impressed by their coverage teams on special teams. But they were out classed you figured that they were eventually going to lose – and they did.  But the Cowboys did everything they could to give it away.

Quick Comments: Green Bay at Chicago 9/13/15

Offense

  1. The Bears made no secret of their desire to run, starting the game with double tight ends for the first two plays. The Packers, of course, put eight (and sometimes nine) in the box. It was fairly obvious early on that the Packers were going try to force Jay Cutler to beat them. To the Bears credit, they kept running the ball and, for the most part, did it effectively. The game became a contest of wills at that point.
  2. Jacquizz Rogers got a carry in the first series, indicating that the Bears are going to be determined to get another running back into the game to relieve Matt Forte. Jeremy Langford got a carry in the second series. Forte was still in the vast majority of the time, though. As the last coaching staff found out, its hard to take him off the field.
  3. It fairly obvious that the Bears were determined to utilize Forte to the fullest. The Bears lined up him as a receiver as well as in the backfield. I guess that’s not a shock as when you have a defense that is playing the run, you can get him on a linebacker fairly easily. He made his share of mistakes, dropping one touchdown and stepping out of bounds on the other. But I think few people are complaining. He had a nice game.
  4. The Bears offensive line was fascinating to watch this game. They mixed blocking schemes, sometimes going with a zone scheme, sometimes firing off. Generally speaking they did a wonderful job of blocking this Packers defense – much better than any of us thought they would.
  5. Kyle Long started at tackle, with Vlad Ducasse at guard. Long had some growing pains as expected with a holding call in the first quarter. But generally he played well
  6. The Packer defense often did a poor job of tackling this game and it really hurt them trying to stop the Bears on the run.
  7. It was hilarious to watch Jay Cutler at the line of scrimmage. Offensive coordinator Adam Gase must have Cutler convinced that he’s Peyton Manning.
  8. Nevertheless, I can’t say that Cutler had a good day. He was inaccurate too often and he held the ball, too long. To his credit, he often chose to pull it down and run it rather than forcing an interception.
  9. Marquess Wilson showed up with a big 50 yard completion in the fourth quarter. As color man Troy Aikman pointed out early in the broadcast in relation to the Packers, your wide receiving corp is only as good as your third receiver. Its time for Wilson to defecate or get off the pot.
  10. I kept wondering why the Bears ran the ball so well, then went to the pass so often in the red zone. Why not try to keep it going?

Defense

  1. The Packers came out with the no huddle offense and forced a three and out. It was a good start.
  2. Randall Cobb didn’t look affected by a bad shoulder. He had a reasonably good game. Of course, James Jones was the star, making some wonderful catches against some good coverage.
  3. The Packers went with two fullbacks and two tight ends active. It was a sign of things to come as the Packers game plan was clearly to take control of the line of scrimmage and run right at the Bears, complemented by a nice ball control passing game with a liberal amount of play action sprinkled in. Generally speaking they ran the ball well. But the lack of discipline on offense killed them. You can’t commit that many penalties and depend upon the running game.
  4. It was interesting to watch Eddie Lacy run the ball. The Bears did a good job of clogging up the middle and Lacy frequently just ran into the pile. But then, after pausing, he just bounced outside. It was surprisingly effective given how slow the play was to develop.
  5. Will Sutton occasionally got penetration, just like he did in the preseason. He might be a factor this year.
  6. The Bears played mostly man coverage and to my great surprise they sometimes didn’t do too badly. They lack recovery speed and they still looked rough in their technique. But generally speaking, they made the Packers work for their completions until well into the second half. Unfortunately for the Bears, the Packers generally did a good job against some good coverage.
  7. Nice job by Packers offensive coordinator Tom Clements calling this game. There was a lot of emotional upheaval in Green Bay when Mike McCarthy gave up play calling duties. Looks like much ado about nothing to me.
  8. Aaron Rogers escaped the pocket to do damage too often. As I said above, the Bears were in man coverage instead of the zones that they’ve specialize in the past. That means the defensive backs have their backs to the quarterback. This may be something we see a lot this year.

Miscellaneous

  1. Apparently play-by-play man Joe Buck was so excited about this game that he forgot to shave. (Yes. I’m old.)
  2. Unshaven look aside, Buck did a marvelous job of calling this game and was clearly ready for the season to start. Troy Aikman reminded us of why he’s FOX’s number one color man with some astute observations. He pointed out early that the Bears were getting to the line of scrimmage early to allow Cutler more time to audible into the right play and, of course, he saw as well as I did that this was going to be a contest between the Packers run defense and the Bears run offense. This was a well-called game.
  3. There were too many penalties in this game on both sides, but especially by the Packers, who continually shot themselves in the foot and wasted opportunities. The Bears did the same thing but waited until the second half to really get going with it. We now know why the Bears have been hesitant to move Vlad Ducasse into the starting lineup. He had at least two false starts, one on the first series in the red zone. The Packers committing three penalties alone on the Bears second scoring drive. You can add holding on David Bakhtiari on apparent TD in second quarter and holding on another play on the same drive on Brian Bulaga.
  4. Bears special teams were a disappointment today. Robbie Gould made all of his field goals and Pat O’Donnell had a wonderful 55 yard punt just out of bounds in the first half. But after a pretty good preseason, the kickoff coverage was putrid. The Bears have some work to do.
  5. The good news: the Bears didn’t turn the ball over until the fourth quarter (a badly interception from Cutler – what else is new). The really bad news: the Bears didn’t get any turnovers. It’s great to limit mistakes but they’re going to have to make som plays if things are going to happen for them.
  6. I kind of felt sorry for the referee in the first half. He gives the Bears a timeout when they didn’t have time to get set and he has Rogers yelling at him in one ear for not letting them snap it and John Fox yelling in the other for letting them snap it too soon. What’s a guy to do?
  7. Poor challenge by John Fox on the third quarter pass to Devante Adams on Kyle Fuller. All of the replays showed that he was in bounds.
  8. Well, it was nice while it lasted but you kind of knew the way that the first half went and the way the Packers kept shooting themselves in the foot that the better team was eventually going to win this game.To the Bears credit, they did exactly what they had to do today. They hung in despite a lack of talent by playing a good, generally disciplined football game. There were some breakdowns and some penalties in the second half but generally they looked well-coached, something that we haven’t been able to say around here for quite some time. The future looks like it might be bright. The distant future, to be sure. But there’s a future, nevertheless.

 

Sam Acho Released, May Come Back

Dan Wiederer at the Chicago Tribune reports that outside linebacker Sam Acho has been released to make room on the roster for fellow linebacker Lamin Barrow.

Barrow drafted out of LSU in the fifth round by the Broncos last year and played in all 16 games, mostly on special teams.

After showing pretty well in the first two preseason games, Acho missed the last two with a mysterious illness and hasn’t practiced. Nevertheless, as Wiederer suggests, he might be back. Acho showed signs of being a playmaker, albeit against back ups, something that the Bears desperately need more of.