Offense
- The Bulls evidently didn’t have much respect for the Bears running game going in. They were playing 6 in the box including a second and one in the first series. That was probably fine with the Bears as their game plan evidently was to run and they did that reasonably effectively with 4.6 yards per carry in the first half.
- Trubisky got careless with the ball and fumbled on 3rd and 5 from the 32 yard line. The Bears got it back but it turned a potential 50 yard field goal into a punt. That’s pretty frustrating to watch.
- I thought Trubisky started pretty well this game. His first wild throw came with only roughly 6 minutes left in the second quarter. That was really the only one in the half.
- Probably related to this, this was probably the least we’ve seen Trubisky have to take off and run. Which is definitely what you want to see.
- New offensive guard Bryan Witzmann, evidently rotating with Eric Kush at left guard, got pushed back into the backfield on third and less than 1 stalling a drive in the first quarter. It wasn’t a good first impression.
Defense
- The Bills went no huddle to start the game. That’s the first time that’s happened to the Bears.
- The Bears came out evidently intending to confuse Peterman with an immediate blitz. It didn’t make much difference as the Bills were going with the quick passing game to keep QB Nathan Peterman comfortable. The Bills eventually started to stretch the field in the second quarter with some longer routes. Peterman wasn’t terribly accurate on those throws.
- Whatever else you think of LeSean McCoy, he’s elusive and tough to tackle.
- The Bears came out in the second half playing soft coverage, evidently in the hope of playing bend but don’t break defense. The plan was, I guess, to prevent big plays and to give up field goals.
- Roquan Smith showed up a lot today pretty much all over the field. He’s finally doing what he was drafted to do.
Miscellaneous
- Chris Myers, Daryl Johnston and Laura Okmin were your announcers. We were lucky to get this team. This game couldn’t be that far up the list of games in terms of quality. They aren’t among the best but they aren’t bad. Not much gets by Johnston.At one point Myers broke out yet another “Trevanthian” pronunciation that I’m sure will thrill the linebacker. I also noticed that “Kirk” Fuller had a clean pick during a replay at one point.
Yes. I’m being petty. 🙂
To his credit Myers acknowledged the Kirk Fuller brain cramp a few minutes later.
- Special Teams
- Tarik Cohen is really feeling it, running backwards and reversing the field. He had a 30 yard punt return with less than two minutes left in the first half to the Bills 21 yard line. The Bears eventually punched it in with an 18 yard run by Jordan Howard.
- Cody Parkey punched a 45 yard field goal right down the middle from the left hash. Let’s hope his troubles are behind him.
- The Bears had 12 men on the field for a extra point conversion attempt. One of their many penalties this game.
- Drops weren’t much of an issue for the Bears but Buffalo had too many passes where, though it would have been a good catch, it should have been one. Those are the kinds of catches a borderline QB needs to help him out.
- The Bears did exactly what they couldn’t afford to do when playing an inferior opponent. They came out and shot themselves in the foot too many times with penalties. They already had 4, in some cases crucial, infractions for 30 yards in the first quarter. They were lucky it wasn’t five as Akiem Hicks looked like he hit Nathan Peterman on the helmet with this hand early in the game. they had 14 for 129 yards for the game. That’s pretty unacceptable and against a better team it could have cost them dearly.
- Charles Leno was a prime culprit with three false start penalties.
- Aaron Lynch was another serious problem here. He had a particularly stupid face mask penalty to extend the first half and give the Bills one more chance to score (they didn’t). Lynch also had a dumb unsportsman like conduct penalty in the fourth quarter while the Bears were trying to get the Bills off the field to maintain the lead and put them away.Lynch had his best game of the year otherwise but these stupid penalties really marred what should have been a good day.
- Turnovers
- Speaking of doing what you couldn’t do in this game, turning the ball over was definitely not something the Bills could afford. Eddie Jackson stripped Jason Croom, scooped up the ball and ran it in for a touchdown with a huge play in the second quarter of what was a 7-0 game at the time. That was followed by a fluke interception on a pass which was popped up out of Terrelle Pryor’s hands and into Adrian Amos’s arms (the Bears punted). That was followed by another fluke pick six by Leonard Floyd.
- Trubisky had an interception midway through the third quarter. The ball was over thrown by a long way. It was hard to tell if it was a miscommunication or another one of those wild Trubisky throws.
- The Bills just could not catch a break this game. It was fluke turnover followed by fluke turnover there in the second quarter. When it rains, it pours. Sometimes it just ain’t your day and it looks like the Bills had one of those.From the Bears point of view, the good news was Trubisky’s performance. He had one, maybe two, really wild throws but for the most part, this was a solid game against a good defense that actually put pressure on the offense rather than just sitting back in a zone. Trubisky was consistent and accurate not just for a half but for an entire game.
The Bears will only go as far as Trubisky takes them. I wouldn’t call it a great offensive performance and Trubisky’s statistics weren’t great. But I would still contend that it was exactly what they needed to see from their quarterback going into the divisional play in the second half of the season.