Category: Game Comments

Quick Game Comments: Bears at Giants 11-20-16

Offense

  1. The Bears came out running the ball on three of the first four plays.   In total, they ran the ball 17 times in the first half compared to 14 pass plays. The Bears made some yardage throwing to Jeremy Langford out of the backfield.   Then Jordan Howard went out with something in his eye and Cutler started throwing it to him in the backfield.  Langford is a pretty decent receiver after working all offseason on it and it was effective.  Indeed, Cutler used him on a blitz to get rid of the ball quickly on the very first series.
  2. Interestingly, despite Langford’s success, once Howard came back they went right back to the power running game, rarely throwing to Howard.  Nevertheless, Langford’s success makes you wonder if maybe they should be using him more as a change of pace.  Indeed, they did use him more in the second quarter and he scored the second Bears touchdown.
  3. The constant use of Howard, even when the running game wasn’t working, opened up the play action pass nicely and helped Cutler and his protection a great deal.
  4. Some credit has to go to the offensive line that came out and controlled the Giants offensive front in the first half.  The success of the entire offense, both the run game which served to set up everything, and the passing game where they gave Cutler pretty good protection, depended critically on them and early in the game they came through.
  5. Cutler made a beautiful throw to Zack Miller, who appeared to me to be well covered by a linebacker.  It was a nice play.  Indeed, Cutler had obviously decided that Miller was going to be his major target in the absence of Jeffery. Miller continued to make plays through out the first half until he had an apparent injury near the end of the period.
  6. While we’re at it, kudos to Cutler.  Coming off of his worst game of the year, he was dropping back in the first half and getting rid of the ball quickly, something he has to do to find success.  Its when Cutler drops back and holds the ball in an effort to make a big play (as he did in the second half) that he gets himself in trouble.  Like most quarterbacks, he’s at his best when he spreads the ball around, reads the defense at the line of scrimmage and gets rid of the ball quickly.
  7. It’s a shame that the Bears good offensive performance didn’t last into the second half when the Giants took over the line of scrimmage.  Cutler was under a great dal of pressure and it was evident that the loss of Josh Sitton may have broken the back of a pretty banged up offensive line.  Mike Adams and Charles Leno took turns giving up pressure.  Adams in particular looked totally overmatched against Jason Pierre-Paul.   And Cutler’s old problem identifying and avoiding back side pressure also started to rear its ugly head.  In fairness to Cutler, he did try to get rid of the ball quickly but the Giants were covering his receivers like a blanket and it was very difficult to find an uncontested throw.

Defense

  1. Giants came out on the first drive mixing it up and executing well.  One thing that you notice immediately is how under-rated Eli Manning’s movement in the pocket is as he avoids the rush with “phone booth quicks”.  Manning really is an under-rated quarterback.
  2. The Bears defense played pretty well in the first half.  They were fast to the ball and aggressive in the way that they need to be.  Generally speaking they tackled well, though when they did miss, especially on the outside as Cre’Von LeBlanc did on 4th and 2 in the second quarter, the Giants burned them.
  3. The LeBlanc play was the second 4th down conversion that they Bears yielded to extend a drive in the first half.  The first was far more damaging as it set the Giants up for their first touchdown.  The Bears need to do a better job of stiffening in those situations.
  4. The Bears didn’t generate much pass rush, that was as much a function of the play of the Giants offensive line as anything else.  Frankly, I’ve never seen a line hold so much and get away with it.  In any case, that lack of pressure burned them in the second half when Manning got things going.
  5. Despite that, I thought Leonard Floyd had a pretty good first half of football.  He was around Manning applying pressure for a good part of the time.  It was a shame to see him carted off on a back board and we can all hope, not just for his own future but for the future of the Bears, that he isn’t seriously injured.
  6. And Manning did eventually get things going.  The Giants snapped out of their funk after half time.  Taking advantage of all of the attention that the Bears were forced to give to Odell Beckham, Manning really started to spread the ball around and find the open man nicely.

 

Miscellaneous

  1. Kevin Burkhardt, John Lynch, and Pam Oliver did the announcing.  I’ve never been a big John Lynch fan but kudos to him for at least trying to teach me something as a fan on occasion.  We could have done far worse.
  2. Connor Barth missed the extra point on the first TD.  I’m sure that makes Robbie Gould feel better.  Temporarily.  Gould missed his first extra-point attempt as well, probably making Ryan Pace feel better in his turn in the process.  Overall, it wasn’t a good day for the kickers as Gould missed another extra point and Barth hit the post on a 54 yard field goal.  Deonte Thompson had a pretty good 40 yard return in the first half.  Pat O’Donnell had a good day punting.
  3. Adrian Amos did not do much to alleviate my concerns about his ability to make plays when he flat out dropped an interception that was right in his hands.  Such plays are often the difference between winning and losing.  Marquis Wilson dropped a big third down pass in the third quarter with the momentum having turned against the Bears.  Jordan Howard dropped a huge third down pass with 3:30 left in the game and the Bears down six points.
  4. Olivier Vernon roughing the passer in the first quarter – totally unnecessary.  The Bears stayed out of trouble with penalties (only 4 for 35 yards) but it was ruined by an awful holding penalty on Mike Adams on third and ten near the end of the first half took the Bears out of field goal range.  Ted Larsen had a big holding penalty with 2:39 left with the Bears driving to try to score at the end of the game.  Indeed, both teams played a relatively clean game.  The Giants only had 4 for 35 yards, themselves.
  5. Neither team turned the ball over until the final minute when Cutler threw an interception trying to make a play.  Cutler also gave up a sack and a forced fumble (which the Bears got back) at a critical time with 1:30 left in the game.
  6. Tony Romo repeated a common football mantra this week when he said that if you control the one inside of you, the one across from you really doesn’t matter.  In one respect, the Bears did that today in a season where wins and losses really don’t matter as much as showing progress as the season wears on.  Five penalties for 40 yards and no turnovers until the end of the game is a vast improvement over where they’ve been at for most of the year when they have continually shot themselves in the foot over and over.  The team isn’t good enough to overcome those kinds of mistakes and that was very evident today as they got totally out classed in the second half.

    They were beaten this game by a better team that also managed to play a clean game rather than handing them a win.  But I assure you that if they continue to play like that, this won’t be true every week.

Quick Comments: Vikings at Bears 10/20/16

Defense

  1. The Vikings came out running on first down, probably in an effort to slow the pass rush and keep the Bears from blitzing.  The Bears were doing a pretty good job of stopping it with seven in the box.  They held the line of scrimmage pretty well.
  2. That also didn’t keep the Bears from blitzing on occasion and getting pressure with it.  The Vikings have one of the worst offensive lines in football and Sam Bradford has a poor reputation for performing in the face of the blitz.  It was what the Eagles beat them with last week and it was obviously part of the game plan for the Bears.
  3. Minnesota also tried to run the no huddle to wear the Bears defense down but they couldn’t sustain a drive to do it.
  4. Some decent pass coverage by the young defensive backs had Bradford occasionally taking a long time to look for targets.  This gave the four man pass rush a lot of time to get to him on these occasions.
  5. The pass rush itself also was pretty good.  I note that Leonard Floyd had another good game with a sack.
  6. The Minnesota offense just looks terrible.  They’re bad up front, Bradford and the receivers aren’t on the same page, Bradford Is missing big throws.  It’s pretty bad right now.
  7. Big night for Akiem Hicks with 2 sacks.
  8. Stephon Diggs is a flat out star.  He had a good game on what was otherwise a miserable night for the Minnesota offense.

Offense

  1. After a really good start with a good 69 yard run by Jordan Howard the Bears started yet another gaff in the red zone with a poorly executed play where a defensive tackle went completely unblocks and there was a mix up between Jay Cutler and Howard in the backfield.  Cutler followed with a poor throw to Jeffery in the end zone.  Alshon Jeffery dropped touchdown on the next trip to the red zone.  This kind of incompetence has to stop.
  2. One good thing that the Bears did in the red zone was run the ball on occasion.  If you can do that, you’ll score.  And when they did it successfully, they did score.
  3. Cutler was getting the ball out quickly and on time in the short passing game and he was spreading the ball around better.
  4. Having said that, he was erratic tonight with his accuracy, especially early in the game.  There were some bad throws to Alshon Jeffery in particular.  At one point Cutler hit Jeffery in the back of the head when Jeffery didn’t turn for the ball and I could hear big top music in my head and it felt like I was watching clowns at the circus.  They did a better job of connecting in the third quarter when Jeffery scored his first touchdown of the year.
  5. Cutler got decent protection from the offensive line against a very good Minnesota defensive front.  The offense generally did a good job of picking up the blitz despite missing both starting guards.  Also kudos to Cutler for getting the ball out when the blitz came.  He did a nice job of that.
  6. Howard had a good night on the ground and with some of his catches on screens and a shuffle pass.  He’s a good one and he was just good enough to make the play action work pretty well tonight.
  7. Some good play calls tonight.  Some well-timed screens.  Nice job by Dowell Loggains there.
  8. Zach Miller had a good night as Cutler frequently looked to him short.  That’s good.
  9. Nice job of running the game out at the end.

Miscellaneous

  1. I really like Jon Gruden.  He’s pretty insightful and I enjow his commentary.  Sean McDonough is a pro.
  2. Special teams, especially the kick coverage, were fine on both sides. I was underwhelmed by Cre’Von LeBlanc as a returner.
  3. The Bears really cut down on the penalties with only 2 for 20 yards.  One of them, an unsportsmanlike conduct on Cornelius Washington, was pretty damaging in that it gave the Vikings a first down on their way to a field goal in the first half.  Nevertheless, this has been a problem and it was better this game.  The Vikings only had 1 penalty.  So a clean game.
  4. Jeffery dropped a touchdown in addition to the ball that hit him in the back of the head that he didn’t look for.
  5. No turnovers on either side.  Again, relatively clean.
  6. This was a nice win for the Bears against what might be the best team in  the division.  They played a clean game with no turnovers and few penalties, something that they have to do if they expect to win.  Some unknown players in the defensive backfield came up with good performances.  Some young players including Cody Whitehair and Leonard Floyd are looking good.  A nice effort going into the bye.

    The Minnesota Vikings, on the other hand, are a huge disappointment.  That offense is a huge problem.  The line stinks, just as it did last year, especially when they play anyone any good.  I had hoped that veteran offensive coordinator Norv Turner could eventually make ice cream out of garbage on this team.  But they simply don’t measure up and the defense can’t make up for it.  They’re the Achilles heel for this team which, once again, looks like it will go nowhere in the playoffs, at least at this point.

Quick Comments: Bears at Packers 10/20/16

Offense

  1. Brian Hoyer came out and looked at Alshon Jeffery three times in the first five plays.  It looked like the Packers plan was to get physical with him and the other receivers with tight man coverage.  It was effective early as it looked like the referees were going to let them play.  Hoyer eventually started spreading the ball around and things loosened up slightly.
  2. The Bears continued to try to pound the ball up the middle early on first down.  It wasn’t working and it was forcing them to throw on second and third.  It was pretty predictable.
  3. Hoyer overthrew Josh Bellamy who had a couple steps on the safety in the first quarter.  He overthrew him by a long way, reminiscent of a similar play against the Jaguars last week.  Missing big plays like that can’t keep happening.
  4. The offensive line struggled to block the run averaging 3.8 yards per carry.  Jordan Howard appeared to struggle more than Ka’Deem Carey once again.  Defensive lineman tackled Howard on 12 of his 14 carries in the last game not counting his touchdown.  The blocking for him hasn’t been good in particular.
  5. Eric Kush started in place of Josh Sitton.  He’s not very athletic and he struggled a bit, especially when called upon to block and the second level.  It’s a funny comment because Bears offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains chose to start him over Ted Larsen because of his athletic traits and mobility.  Sitton had started 81 consecutive games and 129-of-131 since becoming a starter for the Packers in 2009.  Long came out hurt in the second quarter and was replaced by Larsen, who got the last laugh as they had to play him anyway.
  6. Clay Matthews beat Charles Leno on the play that Hoyer got hurt in the second quarter.  In fairness, Leno had little chance as Matthews looped around to the inside.  Julius Peppers also beat Kyle Long on the play.  The pass protection had been decent to that point but it really started to slip late in the second quarter.  Things went south from there.
  7. Cody Whitehair had a rough game blocking the run last week.  He looked better tonight.
  8. Matt Barkley replaced Hoyer.  He saw some pressure and looked OK as he’s quite a bit more mobile than Hoyer.  He might look better in the future but he’s a third string quarterback and things are looking pretty bleak at the position right now.
  9. The Bears did not make it into the red zone all night.

Defense

  1. The Bears came out playing man coverage and rushing four with the occasional blitz.  Perhaps more than occasional.  It’s obvious that the Bears aren’t confident they can get pressure rushing four.  I suppose you pick your poison but it looked like coverage was working early in the first drive.
  2. Later in the second quarter they changed the plan and backed off the line of scrimmage and played a soft zone.  They also got a bit more pressure, especially when Aaron Rogers was holding the ball trying to make a play.  They let the Packers have the shallow throws underneath when they were in this defense, which Rogers gladly took, however.  After six games this season, Rodgers has an 88.4 passer rating — 10 touchdowns, four interceptions and 60.2-percent completions — with Jordy Nelson (who was hurt last year).

Rogers looked better this game when he was getting the ball out fast.  He generally looked reasonably accurate.

  1. Nevertheless, the strategy appeared to work.  The Bears successfully held the Packers out of the end zone for just 6 points in the first half.

    They mixed it up, back and forth man to zone from there.

  2. Nice play by Cre’Von LeBlanc to knock a touchdown pass away from Randall Cobb.  Looked like a pretty good throw.
  3. Ty Montgomery is a tough matchup.  He lines up either in the backfield or on the line of scrimmage and he’s a handful for even the safeties.  He looks like he’s particularly good catching the ball out of the backfield where he can get some space.  He also looks pretty big for 216 pounds and he runs with some power for a guy that size.
  4. Nevertheless the Bears did a good job of stopping the run in the first half, giving up only 2.7 yards per carry but the Packers ran the Bears over in the second half.  They finished with 4.5.
  5. The Bears looked well prepared to defend the misdirection play action pass where Rogers fakes a hand off and does a naked boot in the opposite direction.
  6. Pernell McPhee was added to the roster before the game.  He looked rusty.  It looked to me like they went with Leonard Floyd and Willie Young at linebacker most of the time.
  7. The Packers dominated the time of possession in the first quarter but finished the half with a field goal drive that made up some of the deficit.  Nevertheless, you got the distinct impression that the defense was going to wear down if the game continued in that vein.  It did and they did.  The time of possession finished at Bears: 20:24 Packers: 39:36.
  8. Leonard Floyd got some good pressure including a sack in the first half.  He combined with Willie Young to cause an Aaron Rogers fumble which was recovered by Floyd for a touchdown.
  9. Tracy Porter looked OK when he was out there but the other cornerbacks sometimes struggled as they committed a some damaging pass interference penalties in the first half.  It looked like they picked on LeBlanc quite a bit.  Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t.  I’d say De’Vante Bausby struggled the most, mostly with Devante Adams.

Miscellaneous

  1. Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, Tracy Wolfson were all their usual professional selves.  The only good thing about the networks putting the miserable Bears on in prime time over and over again is that they get the best of these guys.
  2. Bears special teams were pretty good.  Very good kick coverage.  Akeem Hicks blocked a meaningless field goal late in the game.  No complaints.
  3. Once again there were too many Bears penalties (10 penalties for 108 yards). Adrian Amos got called for a very obvious pass interference late in the second quarter for a huge penalty of 44 yards.  The Bears stopped the Packers at fourth and goal at the one but they started the next drive practically on their own goal line.
  4. Drops weren’t much of a factor which is unusual for the Packers.
  5. The Floyd fumble recovery was a big part of this game if only because it was the only way the Bears were ever going to score a touchdown.  Again, the Bears continue to protect the ball well.  Barkley threw two meaningless interceptions late in the fourth quarter.
  6. Thank you CBS for bringing back that John Madden Miller Light commercial right before half time.
  7. It was nice to see Leonard Floyd emerge tonight and Bears fans should hope that he continues to develop.  Whitehair also appeared to me to get back on track this week.

    I thought it was interesting that we may have seen a turning point in the Packers season tonight.  After the Bears recovered the fumble in the end zone, the Packer offense came alive.  Suddenly Rogers was dropping back and throwing the ball on time at the top of his drop like the quarterback we used to see in 2014.

    If it caries over into the rest of the season, they’ll look back at that moment as when they gritted their teeth, pulled it together and it all got better.

Quick Game Comments: Jaguars at Bears 10/16/16

Offense

  1. The offensive line once again did a good job protecting Brian Hoyer.  Even when the Jaguars brought the blitz on occasion they did a nice job of picking it up.
  2. Unfortunately once again I can’t say the same for the run blocking.  Except for one big run last week against the Colts, I thought the Bears struggled.  They did again today in the first half at 2.4 yards per carry.    They did however, begin to run the ball considerably better late in the third quarter and the final stat was 3.4.
  3. Once again, I thought Jordan Howard (15 carries for 34 yards) ran well today given the blocking and once again, I thought he did the best he could with the hand he was dealt.  He was joined by Ka’Deem Carey (9 carries for 50 yards) who made the most of his opportunities as well.
  4. The Bears once again struggled in the red zone this game as they were 1 of 4.  That kept the Jaguars in the game and ultimately allowed them to win it in the fourth quarter.
  5. The Bears went into this game knowing that they had to work on their run-pass balance.  The firing of former Bears head coach and now former Ravens offensive coordinator Marc Trestman graphically demonstrates why.  As he did with the Bears, Trestman frequently abandoned the run with the Ravens, sometimes even when it was working and this has generally been accepted as the major reason for his demise.So how have the Bears been doing?  Despite the fact that the Bears often have not been trailing by much for long periods late in the games they’ve played going into the Jaguars game, offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains and the offense for the year are running the football just 33.6 percent of its plays. For perspective: That falls below some of the lows in recent Bears history including the 33.7% mark that former offensive coordinator Mike Martz hit through his first six games in 2010 before head coach Lovie Smith ordered more running.Today the Bears did better, running the ball 27 times and passing 30, perhaps indicating that they are on the way back from the brink.
  6. It was generally accepted going into this game that the Bears needed to get Alshon Jeffery more involved in the passing game like he was in the late third quarter and on against the Colts (save for the final play).  Nevertheless, Loggains defended the decisions that Brian Hoyer is making to distribute the ball.”When it’s one-on-one, the ball’s going to [Jeffery]. When they double team him, the ball’s going to go somewhere else.”Loggains is right.  If you do enough damage with the other receivers, as the Bears did today in the first half, the defense will have to come off of Jeffery at least occasionally to sneak over and cover the other receivers.  This is exactly what happened on the final play against the Colts.  Hoyer simply missed it and the Bears played.  But if he hits that pass, it’s a different game.  And that pass is what they’re playing for.

    The first pass of the game was to Jeffery on a short pass to him with off coverage.  It was a sign of things to come.  Jeffery had a very good first half (6 catches for 90 yards) as the Jaguars often left him in loose single coverage rather than double teaming him every play.  He cut loose on a double move late in the first quarter that should have been a touchdown but the throw was too long.Its unfortunate that the Jaguars shut Jeffery down in the second half as he finished with just one more catch for three yards.  But Hoyer did a good job of distributing the ball again today and I’d say it still it paid off.

  7. That having been said, it must be acknowledged that Hoyer didn’t have a particularly good game.  There were a few big passes that weren’t nearly accurate enough that hurt the Bears.  Those can’t happen.

Defense

  1. The Bears, like the Jaguars, appeared to come out determined to stop the run, which they did do successfully  allowing only 2.7 yards per carry and 54 yards rushing.  Unfortunately this loosened up the play action pass and the Jaguars took advantage.
  2. In the passing game it appeared to me like once again the Bears were trying to prevent the deep throw while allowing the Jaguars to try to work their way down the field in the hopes that they’d eventually shoot themselves in the foot – which they frequently did.  There was some bad football out there today.
  3. Eventually the Jaguars found a way to get Allen Hurns open.  He was lining up in the slot late in the third quarter and consistently popping open with shallow play action routes over the middle for big chunks of yardage.
  4. The Bears knew going into this game that Allen Robinson was going to be the guy they had to stop today.  They seemed to recognize that as they put Tracy Porter on him, sometimes with loose safety help.  It didn’t work very well as Robinson beat them in the first half with three catches but for 49 yards and though they stopped him in the second half, Bortles spread the ball around to his other receivers as they did so and he did a great deal of damage with them.  Robinson also dropped a touchdown that Porter eventually intercepted or it would have been worse.
  5. I won’t say the pass rush was all that great but Willie Young once again did get a sack going one-on-one with a tight end late in the second quarter.  That’s the kind of matchup that you have to take advantage of and he did.  Young also caused a Blake Bortles fumble early in the fourth quarter.
  6. As far as the run defense goes, I thought the linebacker play was particularly stout today.  Danny Trevathon, Sam Acho, Christian Jones and Jerrell Freeman all had reasonably good games and didn’t do too badly in coverage to my eye.  (But see the comment about Allen Hurns poping open in the third quarter above.)
  7. The lack of a pass rush exposed the Bears defensive backs and most of the problems in the passing game came at their expense.  Eventually once again they had to resort to occasional blitzes in the second half – and that as much as anything is what cost them the Jaguars go ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter as Tracy Porter slipped while covering Arrelious Benn on just such a blitz and there was no one behind him. This will continue until the Bears find a way to get more pressure.
  8. Blake Bortles is frustrating to watch.  Sometimes he’ll make a great throw and he seems to be particularly effective when he’s on the move.  But he also isn’t consistent enough and he makes some very puzzling, inaccurate throws.  The loose fumble in the fourth quarter was also a baffling and very damaging mistake.There’s a lot of potential but in his third year in the league he’s not there yet.

Miscellaneous

  1. Andrew Catalon, Steve Tasker, Steve Beuerlein were your announcers.  You could tell these were guys that were used to doing AFC games because they clearly didn’t like much of what the Bears were doing.  The broadcast as far from completely bereft of positive Bears comments but most calls were assumed to be on the Bears.  For example, “That hit on Hurns was helmet to helmet!  In today’s NFL that’s gong to be called most of the time.  Trevathon will be fined.”  and “Only Sam Acho thinks he wasn’t offside on that play.” and the classic “The Bears appeared to do that to themselves” on a late Kelvin Beachum shove.    Most 50:50 plays were in the Jaguars favor until proven otherwise.Much more importantly, the quality of the broadcast was poor and all of the analysts were frequently washed out in the sound from the crowd and I really didn’t  think anyone provided much insight and I didn’t learn much from them.
  2. I thought the special teams were pretty good on both sides today.Pat O’Donnell had a pretty good game.  He started the game with a nice punt, trapping the Jaguars inside their own 10 yard line.  He did it again just before half time and pinned them inside the 15 yard line midway through the third quarter.  Connor Barth made a 36 yard field goal early in the second quarter (Alleluia!).  He also put through an important 32 yarder midway through the fourth quarter which made it a two score game.  On the other side, Brad Nortman pinned the Bears inside the 15 yard line with a nice punt in the second quarter.  As happened last week, Eddie Royal decided not to catch a punt which rolled 22 yards.  That has to stop.  Jason Myers also was content to kick the ball to the left through the endzone which is one good way to stop the return game.
  3. As noted last week, in the first half alone at Indianapolis, the Bears committed five penalties. For this reason, touchdown situations were turned into field goals.  This is how you gain over 500 yards of offense and score only 23 points.Overall, the Bears had been penalized 35 times for 270 yards this season — 31 times for 240 yards in the last four games. They had 16 pre-snap penalties.  Things didn’t get better today and they committed 10 sometimes critical penalties for 87 yards.Jerrell Freeman had a pass interference in the first quarter deep in Bears territory.  Jacoby Glenn got called for the same thing giving them first and goal.  There was a comical moment late in the first quarter when there were literally three flags on the field and it appeared to be littered in them.  A false start penalty on Cameron Meredith pushed the Bears into a third and 17 deep in Jaguars territory.  They settled for a field goal.  A holding penalty on Cody Whitehair pushed the Bears into a first and twenty late in the third quarter.  In fairness, Hoyer held the ball way too long on the play.

    A roughing the quarterback call on Willie Young  let the Jaguars off the hook and gave them a first down.  A defensive holding penalty later in the drive on the Glenn moved the Jaguars to first and goal from the two yard line.  They scored a touchdown on the next play.  A facemask penalty on Danny Trevathon also let the Jaguars off the hook again late in the fourth quarter to keep a drive alive.  It resulted in a field goal.

    Finally, a critical holding penalty on Howard pushed the Bears back to 3rd and 17 with 1:19 left in the game, pushing them a much longer way from field goal range.

    This can’t go on.

  4. I won’t say that drops had no effect on the game but they hurt the Jaguars more than the Bears.Jordan Howard dropped a pass deep in Jaguar territory in the second quarter.  For once it didn’t hurt the Bears too badly as they got the first down and then the touchdown  anyway.  KaDeem Carey dropped a first down early in the third quarter that could have gone a long way.On the other side, T.J. Yeldon dropped a first down late in the second quarter.  They eventually converted it anyway.  Allen Hurns dropped a first down early  in the third quarter as the Jaguars once again shot themselves in the foot.  They were being shut out at that point.
  5. Porter had a huge interception in the endzone in the first quarter that prevented at least three points if not a touchdown had Robinson caught it (which he should have).  Blake Bortles got loose with the football and Willie Young knocked it loose.  The Bears were clean once again and that kept them in the game for longer that perhaps it should have.
  6. <sarcasm>Hey, CBS, show us some more of that imaginative programing by pushing more cop shows, please!</sarcasm>
  7. I’m frantically trying to take notes on this game while monitoring @BradBiggs on Twitter and suddenly my phone starts going crazy with notifications from the family Slack group.  My sister was trying to get help with my nephew’s homework on a Sunday afternoon during football season.  These people have no respect.
  8. What did this game come down to?  Going into this game the Bears’ offense ranked eighth in yards (372 per game), but 30th in points (15.6).  The Jaguars’ defense ranked seventh in yards (304 allowed per game), but 30th in points (27.4) and, like the Bears have been extremely penalty prone.This game was going to come down to who managed to do better overcoming these deficiencies.  Today it was the Jaguars, as they committed half as many penalties and did a pretty good job of keeping the Bears out of the endzone.
  9. You just knew as the Bears kicked field goal after field goal in this game that they would find a way to lose it.  The frustrating thing about this season is it that it is tough to see how they’re any better than last season. That’s tough on a fan base that only has hope for the future to keep them going.  They’ll be looking for this team to get decidedly better as the weeks roll on.  It didn’t happen this week.

Quick Game Comments: Bears at Colts

Offense

  1. The Bears came out running no huddle.  The Colts came out playing 6 in the box and daring the Bears to run, something which they generally struggled to do, especially in the first half.
  2. The problem is that the Bears simply could not win the line of scrimmage for a lot of this game.  The Colts dominated it in the first half and therefore were able to stop the run.  The Bears had 7.8 yards per carry at that point but take away the Jordan Howard 58 yard run and it was less than 3.  They finished with 6.6 ypc, again that’s 3.5 without the big run.
  3. Cameron Meredith (9 catches for 130 yards) really emerged this game.  He’s a big guy who was very capable of taking advantage of some terrible coverage that wasn’t by Vontae Davis.  He might be a target that will help a great deal in making up for the loss of Kevin White long-term.
  4. Alshon Jeffery  (5 catches for 77 yards) wasn’t much of a factor but the minute they got a matchup with Patrick Robinson instead of Davis, they went right to him for good yardage late in the third quarter.
  5. What was really surprising about this game is that I’m convinced that the Colts defense got worn down in the fourth quarter.  That’s quite a change for a team who is usually watching its own defense get worn to a nub.  It was very interesting because the difference in time of possession really wasn’t that great.  It was 28:20 – 24:36 Bears at the time of their go ahead touchdown with 7:00 left in the game.  I don’t know what that says about the Colt defense but it’s not good.
  6. Also not good if you are a Colts fan is the number of missed tackles all over the field this game.  They’ll be wanting to clean that up.  Along with a lot of their things.  Lots of things contributed as the Bears had over 500 yards of offense on the day.
  7. The Bears failure in the red zone despite all of that yardage was another deciding factor in this game.  They need to get better there.
  8. Brian Hoyer was not sacked.  Many are noting the improvement in the protection that Hoyer is getting over Jay Cutler.  The improvement was notable against the Cowboys in Week 3 and was very evident last week against the Lions.  However, its worth noting that Brian Hoyer also deserves a great deal of credit for this.  He gets the ball out fast, throwing with anticipation to receivers, making it very hard for pass rushers to get to him.  So credit the change in quarterback for this as well.
  9. Hoyer (33 of 43 for 397 yards) didn’t have a bad day but there were times when I thought his accuracy wasn’t there.  Receivers like Eddie Royal were going to the ground to get balls when they really shouldn’t have had to.
  10. Zack Miller (7 catches for 73 yards) has come alive with Hoyer’s ability to spread the ball around the field to different receivers.  Cutler seemed to have a hard time finding Miller when he was playing the first two games, targeting him just 7 times.  Hoyer targeted Miller 11 times in his first two games.  Miller had another good game today.
  11. I really thought Jordan Howard (16 carries, 118 yards) also had a good game as he made the most out of his runs as far as I could tell. He continues to show what he can do to give Bears fans some hope for the future.  Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune a good note about Howard in his comments after the Lions game last week.  Rookie running backs, who are neither used to the NFL grind nor the frequency of the games, have a habit of wearing down after they take a pounding over a few games. So far so good for Howard.

Defense

  1. Indianapolis also came out running no huddle.    The Bears were also daring the Colts to run, often staying light in the box and dropping 7 or 8 into coverage.  The Colts ran the ball with great success in the first half, averaging 7 yards per carry.  The Bears did a better job in the second half as that average dropped to 4.7.
  2. The reason was that the Bears were getting dominated at the line of scrimmage.  Not only were the Colts running all over the Bears but Andrew Luck, who had been under siege the first quarter of the season, was getting plenty of time in the first half.  In fairness, the Bears defense again did better getting pressure on him in the second half in part because they started rushing more than four on occasion.  Willie Young in particular was pretty effective again with three sacks.
  3. Luck is unbelievable.  Some of the throws that he makes are amazingly accurate.
  4. Allowing Luck to have forever to throw exposed the Bears secondary which was getting beat all over the field.  I understand that T.Y. Hilton is good.  But knowing that, how can you let him get that open, even in what was mostly zone coverage?  It was very frustrating to watch him make catch after catch.
  5. Also frustrating was watching Luck extend plays time after time.  He’s very mobile inside and outside the picket and that, combined with his size makes him very tough to bring down.
  6. One thing the Bears did do a good job of was keeping the Colts out of the end zone.  They managed to force Adam Vinetieri to kick field goals for most of the afternoon and that’s really what kept the Bears in the game.
  7. Jerrell Freeman had a reasonably good game with 7 tackles (5 solo) which has to be nice for him.

    How important was this game to the former Colt?  Well, according to him, no hard feelings for allowing the Bears to outbid them in free agency.

    “It’s a business; can’t take things personally”

    Of course, then this feature came out on Freeman in the Chicago Tribune on Saturday where he said this:

    “Every team I play, it’s ‘You could have had me.’ There are a lot of things I think of right before the game when I turn into something else that people don’t see.”

    So, yeah, I think it was important to him.

Miscellaneous

  1. I was shocked when Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Erin Andrews drew this game.  As bad as the Bears have been, to see them draw one of the best announcing teams in the NFL is an insult to the league and its fans.  All did an excellent job as usual.
  2. Special teams weren’t good.  Punt and kick coverage was particularly patchy.  The Bears allowed a good 35 yard return in the second quarter and allowed another 20 yard punt return early in the second half as well.  Connor Barth missed another field goal but appeared to luck out as T.J. Green stupidly ran into him.  Then he missed it again.  Compare to Adam Vinatieri, who is amazing, it wasn’t a good look.  Again.
  3. Drops weren’t a huge part of this game for the Bears but the Colts had a few big ones as usual.
  4. Penalties, on the other hand, were a huge factor.  Drive after Bear drive was killed by penalties as they committed 6 for 55 yards in the first half alone and finished with 10 for 80 yards.  Jordan Howard had  a very damaging facemask penalty on the Bears first drive that probably cost them 4 points as they settled for a field goal rather than scoring a touchdown.  A holding penalty on Long killed a first down early in the second quarter.  The Bears settled for a field goal.  Logan Paulsen also got caught holding and that killed a Bears touchdown. An illegal contact penalty gave the Colts a first down early in the second half.
  5. Turnovers weren’t a big factor until the end of the game as both teams did a reasonable job of protecting the football.  This was bad news for the Bears, who are under-manned and who I think are always going to need some help from the other side in winning a game.  Instead, Meredith fumbled the ball deep in Bears territory and helped the Colts to carry away a victory.
  6. The Colts’ season reached a crisis point last Sunday in London with a loss to the Jaguars that dropped them to 1-3. Afterward, players spoke openly about a need for greater professionalism and the Colts then cut Sio Moore and Antonio Cromartie.  Colts are a desperate team. Did they play like it?  Well, kind of.  There wasn’t a great deal of intensity and they still aren’t very talented but they did a very good job of limiting the mistakes that they made against the Jaguars last week.  They also protected Luck much, much better in the first half with some help by the Bears who rushed four for most of time.
  7. You understand that the Bears are a young team and that they will take time to develop.  Mistakes due to misplays we all can certainly understand.  But this game was different in that the Bears not only lost the turnover battle but, even worse, continually shot themselves in the foot over and over again with penalties.  That I don’t think fans should accept.  I expect to see better next week.

Quick Comments: Lions at Bears

Offense

  1. Brian Hoyer picked up where he left off last week going to tight end Zach Miller on the first play. That connection continued all game.
  2. Bears were apparently determined to run the ball. Jordan Howard doesn’t look like much but he certainly moves the pile and finishes the run, something we heard all offseason Jeremy Langford was trying to work on but which yielded few results.  The team averaged 4.1 ypc in the first half and they rarely lost yardage.  They finished the game with 4.5.
  3. The run game opened up the play action pass, which appeared to work well as the Lions were obviously concentrating on stopping the run.
  4. Interestingly, the Bears ran Howard an awful lot to the left side. Supposedly the right side of the line was going to be the strongest in this respect with Bobbie Massie definitely having a reputation as a better run blocker than pass blocker.  But the Bears evidently believe that running behind Josh Sitton and Charles Leno is a better option.
  5. To my surprise, Darius Slay was not following Jeffery around. The Bears obviously consider Jeffery a mismatch on the other cornerbacks (and maybe on Slay as well).  So they started the game concentrating on getting the ball to him a little more than they have.
  6. The Lions were stunting a lot up front in an effort to get pressure on Hoyer. The offensive line generally did a very good job of exchanging men and handling it.  They generally picked up the blitz reasonably well, too.  They seem to be shaping up nicely as a unit.
  7. Cody Whitehair looks very solid up front now. He’s obviously settling in and showing his potential.   He’s got some power.
  8. Eddie Royal was on fire again. He seems to have a gift for popping open from the slot, which is absolutely his best position.  The Bears should never, ever put him outside again.
  9. Brian Hoyer was doing a good job of spreading the ball around. He’s also accurate and that quick release is something else.  He fits the ball very well into tight spaces.  Hoyer does two things that we never see from Jay Cutler.  He throws with anticipation and he often manages to get rid of the ball when the defense sends an unblocked man on the delayed blitz.  He was still sacked by Darius Slay on such a blitz in the first quarter, though.  So that problem isn’t completely solved.
  10. Somewhat surprised to see Joique Bell get significant snaps in this game only a week after he was signed. He got up to speed fast.
  11. There were a lot of positives about how the Bears moved the ball this game. But the bottom line is that they couldn’t turn it into points. That’s disappointing and they still have work to do finding ways to finish. 

Defense

  1. The Bears had a similar defensive game plan to the Lions. They sank back in coverage and tried to keep anyone from getting the ball deep.  The idea was evidently to let the other team make mistakes and stop themselves.  I’d say it worked for the most part for both teams.
  2. The Bears got sporadic pressure on Matthew Stafford in part because they were only rushing 3 or 4 for most of the game. Stafford did not have a good start to this game.  The Bears managed some good zone coverage, sometimes dropping as many as eight into coverage, and Stafford appeared to be a bit unhinged.
  3. The Lions spent a good deal of the game shooting themselves in the foot with mistakes and penalties. It looked to me like they were simply struggling to execute.
  4. The Bears did a pretty good job of stopping the run in the first half allowing only 2.7 ypc. The final stat was 3.7.
  5. Nick Kwiatkoski isn’t the most athletic linebacker and we aren’t going to see him roaming sideline to sideline like Brain Urlacher. He made his share of mistakes but he seems stout against the run.
  6. Despite Kwiatkoski’s play, the Bears did once again miss Danny Trevathan. The Lions took advantage of the Bears linebackers in coverage for a lot of yardage today.
  7. I thought Will Sutton held up better against the run this week. That’s encouraging with Eddie Goldman out.
  8. One thing that I’d like to see the Bears do more of is disguise their coverages. Whether it was man or zone – which they played an awful lot of today – there was never much doubt about what they were trying to do.
  9. Kudos to the Bears for stiffening and making a stand in the third quarter with the Lions having 1st and goal inside the 5 yard line. They forced a field goal, keeping the score 7-6 at the time.
  10. I think Stafford is channeling his inner Jay Cutler. His body language today every time something went wrong was deplorable.

Miscellaneous

  1. Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Laura Okmin. Always glad to have Johnston doing a Bear game.  He often points out things that the fans can’t see and I usually learn something from him.
  2. Allowing a punt return for a touchdown with 2 minutes left in a two score game is a terrible travesty. Just awful.  Deonte Thompson with a nice return to start the game.  Eddie Royal had a good put return in the first quarter as well.  Too bad it was called back after a block n the back penalty.  The boos rained down on Connor Barth as he missed a 50 yard field goal from the left hash.  Admittedly its not a chip shot but Ryan Pace and John Fox didn’t win any friends dropping Robbie Gould for him.
  3. Logan Paulsen dropped what was admittedly a tough catch in the first quarter.
  4. Both teams had more than their share of penalties in what was a sloppy game where is seemed that each team was shooting itself in the foot every time you turned around. Deonte Thompson with a stupid holding penalty early in the second quarter.  That killed the drive.
  5. The interception right before halftime by Jacoby Glenn was huge in that it saved at least three points for the Bears. It was evidently a miscommunication between Stafford and Golden Tate, who Stafford apparently though was going to cut his route short.  Glenn was facing Stafford and saw the whole thing develop very well and got a good jump on the ball.  At least as important was the second Stafford interception, this time in the fourth quarter with the Lions moving the ball well and threatening to cut the Bears lead to one score.  Deandre’ Hall was the one in the right place at the right time this time.  Hoyer, on the other hand, did a good job of protecting the ball.
  6. I’m seeing more of Peyton Manning now than I ever did when he was playing. We seemingly can’t have a single commercial break without seeing his face.  I like the guy but I’m already getting very sick of seeing him.
  7. Oh, and the point at which I was seeing Marshawn Lynch too many times was the first time. For a guy who never talked to the media he sure does seem to be on television a lot.
  8. There were times during this game when I didn’t think either side deserved to win. With 18 penalties for 131 yards, the game was terribly sloppy and both teams seemed to take turns killing themselves with mistakes.  If you are the Bears, you take a win any way you can get it.  But the message I took away was that both of these teams have a long way to go before they are going to truly compete for the division.

Quick Game Comments: Chicago Bears at Dallas Cowboys

Defense

  1. Cowboys came out in 11 personnel and that seemed to be their base most of the time.  They often stacked almost everyone inside at the line of scrimmage.  The Bears played 8 in the box to defend it but got hurt for big chunks of yardage in the passing game, especially on play action.
  2. Adrian Amos had a heck of a (clean) shot on Cole Beasley in the first quarter.  Harold Jones-Quartey also hit some people pretty hard.  Bears fans had to like the look of that.  The defense needs more of it.
  3. I’d like to say that the Bears once again had trouble getting off the field on 3rd and 4th down.  But the truth of the matter is that there were a lot of drives where they simply never got to third down.  That’s how badly they were getting beaten.
  4. I don’t think the Bears are going to get far putting guys like Leonard Floyd in single coverage on Jason Witten.  I’m like most people in that I don’t know what the answer to Witten is but that ain’t it.
  5. Ezekiel Elliot looks like the rookie of the year to me.  He’s eventually going to rack up a lot of yardage behind that offensive line.
  6. The Bears front seven really got dominated in the running game.  There was no penetration by anyone to stop Elliott and the linebackers were really getting sucked up in the play action passing game.  The Cowboys ran for 5.6 yards per carry in the first half when the game still mattered.
  7. I think the Bears missed nose tackle Eddie Goldman a great deal.  Will Sutton got pushed about quite a bit in his place.
  8. Anyone else getting tired of cornerbacks like Jacoby Glenn trailing wide receivers by two yards after getting beaten off the line of scrimmage?  Me, too.
  9. The Cowboys really picked on those younger cornerbacks.  They hardly threw at Tracy Porter, though he did give up a touchdown to Dez Bryant in the fourth quarter.
  10. Leonard Floyd continues to look active out there but he’s not having much of an impact.
  11. First Cowboy punt of the game?  It came with 5:00 left in the third quarter.

Offense

  1. The Bears also came out in 11 personnel.  The Cowboys played 6 in the box.  So they obviously didn’t respect the Bears running game much.  For the most part they were right not to.
  2. Brian Hoyer certainly does have a quick release.  But if he was throwing with anticipation, I didn’t see it.  His accuracy was OK.  He overthrew Cameron Meredith on a potential big play late in the game.
  3. I don’t know if Jordan Howard is just that much better or what but things seem to happen when he comes into the game.
  4. Also note that the Bears are rotating running backs within a series now instead of giving the running backs all of the downs in one possession, as they did last year.  Interesting that Dowell Loggains chose to change this.
  5. I swear it’s like the Cowboys knew the Bears plays at times.  Defensive players literally ran to where offensive players were going and beat them to the spot.  Is Loggains’ offense that predictable?  It appears to be so.
  6. Hoyer appeared to finally find Zach Miller late in the first half after the Cowboys defense loosened up the coverage with a big lead.  The needs to happen more.
  7. Cody Whitehair looked fine.  Kevin White looks like he might be getting better to my eye.  I liked that Hoyer kept going to him late in the game.
  8. The Cowboys did a pretty good job of limiting Eddie Royal after two good games to start the season.
  9. I thought the offensive line did a decent job of giving Hoyer time against a reputedly weak Cowboys defensive line.
  10. The time of possession at halftime:  Cowboys – 21:47, Bears – 8:13.  First downs:  Cowboys 19, Bears 4.  And I’m honestly surprised the Bears had that many.

Miscellaneous

  1. Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, and Michele Tafoya were your announcers.  Collinsworth is usually the best color man in the game but this game was so bad it even made him ordinary.
  2. Had to like the fact that John Fox apparently learned his lesson last game.  After not challenging a crucial spot then, he challenged one in the first quarter of this game and won it.  He did the same thing late in the game and won again.  Generally speaking I didn’t think that penalties hurt the Bears that badly as such things go.  A hands to the face penalty by Charles Leno spoiled a great catch and run by Kevin White in the first quarter.  It also stopped the first Bears possession cold.  Willie Young got called for a roughing the passer in the fourth quarter but there was no call on Jason Witten who literally pulled his helmet off and had it left in his hand as Young got by him.
  3. Special teams were fine.  Dan Bailey missed a kick for the Cowboys in the third quarter that kept the Bears within two touchdowns of the lead.  The Bears went with  a surprise onside kick in the second quarter.  It didn’t work.  The Bears were offside and had to re-kick.  It was typical of the night in general.
  4. The Bears didn’t drop the ball that much and the Cowboys didn’t drop it at all.  Jeremy Langford had a big drop on the first quarter on third down.  That killed a possession.  It hard to say if the events were connected but we started seeing a lot of Jordan Howard shortly after that.  White had a drop of a nearly perfect deep pass in the fourth quarter.
  5. There weren’t many turnovers in this game either way.  Glenn had a nice strip at the beginning of the second half that resulted in a turnover.  Cameron Meredith gave up a fumble in Bears territory late in the third quarter.  Brian Hoyer turned the ball over trying to make a play late.  That effectively ended the game.
  6. For those of you who were forced to watch this travesty, the Bears are also on in prime time for two consecutive weeks next month.  Enjoy.

Quick Game Comments: Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears

Offense

  • The Bears came out in 11 personnel.  The Eagles played them a straight up 4-3 with 7 in the box.
  • It didn’t take long for the Bears to give up a sack.  Logan Paulsen was left one-on-one with Malcom Jenkins on a blitz and Jenkins ran by him like a traffic cone.  Paulson didn’t even see him until he was five steps into the backfield.  The Bears had their share of trouble protecting Cutler even before this game got out of hand.  He saw a lot of pressure in his face and, at least early, unlike last week, it wasn’t usually because he was holding the ball too long.  The line struggled.
  • They also struggled to run the ball.  Eagles players were shedding blocks to get to Jeremy Langford before he could gain much yardage.  People will say that Langford needs to start gaining some yards on his own and he should.  But he generally didn’t have much chance tonight.
  • Bears have reportedly been working on screen pass.  My advice is that they work hard on it.  [head shake] Man.
  • Interesting to see a Paul Lasike sighting.  Logan Paulsen’s poor night at tight end may have had something to do with that.  If Lasike can do more than block the full back brings an interesting aspect to the offense.
  • I think the Bears may have simplified things for Kevin White this week.  He seems to have been playing faster and maybe thinking less.  Giving him the ball on a sweep around end was also a good way to use his athleticism without making things too complicated.
  • Eddie Royal is performing the way I think we all thought he would last year.  He seems healthy and when that’s the case, he’s the second best receiver on the team by far.
  • I’d like to say that Brian Hoyer actually put played Cutler in the fourth quarter after Cutler left the game.  But the Eagles had a big lead and he was working against soft coverage.  So I think we’ll all have to with hold judgment.

Defense

  • The Bears came out playing man coverage but they were playing extremely soft in coverage.  Quarterback Carson Wentz took advantage, throwing underneath of pretty good yardage. It seems evident that they wanted to take advantage of the Bears defensive backs.  They threw the ball only once in their first 7 plays by my count and ran only twice on their first drive.
  • It certainly looks dot me like the Eagles doubt about the ability of the Bears defensive backs to stay with their receiver was well founded.  Jacoby Glenn and Bryce Callahan both struggled to stay with receivers deep and were frequently beaten even on passes that weren’t complete.
  • The ball was coming out quick and pass rushers had very little chance to get to Wentz.  Nevertheless even when given the opportunity they struggled to get pressure on Wentz unless they were blitzing, especially in the first half.  Interestingly they threw some line stunts at the Eagles and these seemed to have some positive effect.
  • To Wentz’s credit, he seems to handle the blitz better than the veteran Jay Cutler, who has struggled to spot late blitzers all preseason and into the season.
  • Wentz looks like everything he’s cracked up to be.  He has good arm strength and reasonable accuracy.  But what sticks out to me is how smart he plays for a rookie.  Only four rookie quarterbacks since 1970 have won their first two starts to begin a season. Three of those four players helped their teams qualify for the playoffs, including Joe Flacco of Baltimore (2008) and Mark Sanchez of the New York Jets (2009), who led their respective clubs to the AFC Championship Game as rookies.  Philly fans must be walking on sunshine right now.
  • One problem I have with Wentz – he cries to the referees more than even Tom Brady does.  Give us all a break, young man.
  • Give the Bears defense credit.  They struggled to stop the pass but they did a decent job against the run allowing only 3.1 yards per carry.
  • Really like how fast those Bears inside linebackers play, especially Jerrell Freeman.  After a miserable year last year its nice to see some good linebacker play in Chicago again.  Generally speaking the defense does play hard.
  • The Eagles were 3 for 3 on fourth down.  You’d like to see the bears stiffen a little more on those plays.

Miscellaneous

  • Connor Barth missed a 31 yard field goal late in the first quarter.  This really hurt a young team who needed some points early after a decent drive.  John Fox and Ryan Pace staked a lot on their personal knowledge of Barth when releasing Robbie Gould despite a spotty history.  Kicks like that aren’t going to make people in Chicago anymore inclined to trust their words over his actions, past and present.  That Eddie Royal punt return for a touchdown may have been the best return I’ve ever seen from a Bear.  The little leap at the beginning to avoid the initial tackler was nifty.  It was a pleasure to watch.  On the other side, the Eagles can’t be happy  to allow such a return with a big lead.  Big plays like that are the one single thing you don’t want to allow to happen in that situation.
  • The Bears had 7 penalties for 60 yards.  that’s just too much.  They need to clean that up.
  • The Bears lost the turnover battle with three to the Eagles zero.
    • The first Jay Cutler fumble was inexcusable.  That kind of poor ball security by a veteran quarterback on the run is deplorable.  The lineman didn’t really even have to knock the ball out of his arms.
    • The interception in the third quarter deep in Bear territory was almost as bad and was far more costly.  The game was still winnable at this point.  But this was a back breaker.  Of course, if that didn’t put things out of hand, the Langford fumble in the fourth quarter did.
  • It’s mighty tough to win a football game when you are giving the ball away like the Bears did Monday night.  It also a lot tougher for a young team to lose, not because of rookie mistakes, but because the veterans let them down.  Watching Jay Cutler start the season like this, particularly the way he turned the ball over in this game, its hard not to wonder if the Bears haven’t been irreparably damaged by the loss of former offensive coordinator Adam Gase.  In any case, that ship has sailed.  There was some good play by some of the Bears tonight.  Enough to give me some hope.  But it’s apparent that the Bears have a lot to clean up before they can put it all together to win some football games.

Quick Game Comments: Bears at Texans 9/11/16

Offense

  1. Bears came out in three wide and tried to mix it up.  They had 20 runs Vs. 20 passes with six minutes left in the game they started playing from behind.  The Texans played it mostly straight up with seven in the box and did a decent job of holding them, particularly in the second half when they prevented the Bears from putting anything together at all.
  2. What a first half for Alshon Jeffery.  Four catches for 105 yards in the first half alone.  Unfortunately the Texans quickly figured out that he was the offense and stymied him in the second half.  Nevertheless, this could be the first step in a great, contract season.
  3. Jay Cutler (16/29 216 yds) also had  some really nice throws but my heavens, he holds the ball a long time.  I know he’s trying to make plays but when the Texans are bringing the house you can’t stand back there forever and not expect to get killed.  The receivers were probably having a tough time getting open but it doesn’t help that he’s also not throwing with anticipation like he did last year.  In fairness, he threw some bullets in some big spots just as he always does.  But he’s regressed since Adam Gase left, perhaps yet another sign that he’s losing confidence in the team and the coaching (*cough* Dowell Loggains *cough*).
  4. The Texans didn’t blitz or stunt much but it still worries me that when they did, it worked pretty well.  This is a carryover from the preseason where they also struggled with these things.  Cutler definitely saw some pressure, especially in the second half and specially late in the second half when the whole stadium knew they had to pass. As noted, it was a lot worse when Cutler held the ball trying to make a play.
  5. Jadaveon Clowney had a good game today.  The Bears left their offensive linemen without much help pass blocking for much of the game and both Clowney and Whitney Mercilus got good pressure.  Credit the Bears offensive line for doing a good job on J.J. Watt, though.
  6. I also thought the line did a decent job of run blocking at times.  Unlike in the passing game, it looked like the Bears were helping out Bobbie Massie by giving him help from tight end Logan Paulsen.   The Bears ran mostly to the right.
  7. Cody Whitehair’s inexperience showed on a snap where he didn’t get the ball up to Cutler on a quarterback sneak.  Cutler never had a chance to get the first down fourth and less than one.  This was a case where rookie play cost them.  You have to wonder if they wouldn’t have been better giving Whitehair a game or two to get adapted to the position as suggested here.
  8. But what stuck out the most to me about the running game was the way that running backs Jeremy Langford and Ka’Deem Carey did a good job of finding daylight and running to it.  Both showed some good vision today.
  9. Kevin White was up and down.  He apparently went the wrong way on a Cutler interception.  He also had a false start, something that should never happen to a wide receiver.

Defense

  1. From the first snap this was a contest between the Houston running game and the Bears trying to stop it with seven in the box.  Overall the defense didn’t play badly but generally speaking I thought the Texans got the best of them on the ground as they dominated the line of scrimmage.  In fairness, to my eye they did better stopping the run in the second half.
  2. The Texans did all that blocking with a shaky offensive line, making the Bears performance a bit more disappointing.  Right tackle Derek Newton has been fighting a hamstring problem and Left tackle Dwayne Brown has a torn quad and was replaced by Chris Clark.  Center Greg Mancz is a back up as well.   It helps that Lamarr Miller was running well.
  3. Mitch Unrein was sliding inside on passing downs.  Leonard Floyd was also seeing time in the defensive rotation along with Cornelius Washington.  Floyd held his own but didn’t get much pressure.
  4. Generally speaking I thought the defensive backs did a surprisingly good job.  They played the Texans mano-a-mano in man coverage most of the game.  Tracy Porter did about as well as you can do on an island with Deandre Hopkins.  Notably Adrian Amos was around the ball a lot.  That’s a change from last year where Amos rarely shows dup on camera when the ball was sin the air.
  5. Brock Osweiler was up and down (22/35 231yds).  He looks accurate enough but his decision making was questionable at times.  He also stares down receivers.
  6. There wasn’t much pressure on Osweiler in the first half but I thought the Bears did better after half time.
  7. One other thing that stuck out about the Texans.  They seem to be pretty decent at getting themselves into third and manageable.  That puts plenty of pressure on a defense.

Miscellaneous

  1. I thought Thom Brennaman, Charles Davis and Peter Schrager were adequate.  Davis didn’t add much insight to the broadcast but Brennaman is one of the best in the business.
  2. Both teams had more penalties than I’m sure they’d like with some sloppy first game play (Bears: 4 for 30 yards, Texans: 6 for 69 yards).  More than the usual number of calls were questionable but it wasn’t the cleanest game on either side.  The Texan’s offensive line was jumpy early with a false start by Derek Newton and a holding penalty by Chris Clark on the same series.  Hopkins had a very damaging pass interference call in the end zone that basically resulted in the Texans settling for a field goal in the first half. Zach Miller had a pass interference call that cost the Bears about 25 yards on a nice screen pass near the ned of the first half.  Fortunately they overcame it to score anyway.
  3. Drops weren’t a huge part of this game but I note that Houston’s Will Fuller had a terrible one that probably cost the Texans a touchdown near the end of the first half.  That was his MO coming out of college.  Alshon Jeffery had a big drop that killed a drive late in the third quarter.  DeAndre Hopkins dropped a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
  4. I thought special teams were OK on both sides.  The Bears are going to have to do a better job of blocking on punts and kickoffs.  Eddie Royal had a good return in the first half.  He won’t be the speediest guy but he’ll do, I’m betting.  Notably both teams ran a lot of balls out of the end zone despite a rule change bringing touchbacks out to the 25 yard line.
  5. Turnovers were, of course, huge.  The Bears took advantage of a Tracy Porter interception to get a touchdown in the first quarter.  Kevin White showed his inexperience as he apparently went the wrong way on a route resulting in an interception.
  6. As expected, the Bears offense hung the defense out to dry as the Texans dominated time of possession (23:41 Vs. 36:09).  The number of drives was identical (12 a piece not counting the final kneel down) and so were the yards per play (4.8 Vs. 4.9).  The difference?  The Bears flat out couldn’t execute and put together a drive, especially in the second half once the Texans took Jeffery away.
  7. I’d say this was a game where the Bears youth and inexperience showed on some big plays.  Cody Whitehair held his own generally but the bad snap on the quarterback sneak in the first half cost the Bears.  Kevin White cost them an interception on a poorly run route.  These may be things that we’re going to have to live with for a while.Other than that, things were pretty much went as expected.  I had hoped that the defense might have been a little better but that was nothing compared to the poor performance by an offense that couldn’t seem to put it together in the preseason and now can’t seem to put it together in the regular season.

Quick Comments: Preseason Game, Broncos at Bears

I probably won’t do this for every preseason game but I’m so glad to have football back that I couldn’t help myself.  So here’s an abbreviated version of the game comments for this exhibition.

Defense

  1. Bryce Callahan totally blew the coverage on the first touchdown, settling down short as if he thought there would be someone over the top to pick him up.  Reports are that his job is far from secure.
  2. On the other hand, good awareness by Callahan when he came off of his guy to tip the pass that Jerrell Freeman intercepted in the first quarter.
  3. Freeman looked like he was struggling to cover the Broncos as they came over the middle.  That’s not his reputation.
  4. The Bears starters on defense were getting pressure but, as feared, the pass coverage was letting them down.  The pass rushers are either going to have to be a step quicker or the coverage is going to have to be better.  The pass rushers are also going to have to do a better job of finishing when they do get there.
  5. Mark Sanchez looked rather sharp as he guided the Broncos to their first interception.  Mostly accurate to the open guy.
  6. To my eye Trevor Simian wasn’t as sharp its the second team though he did make a nice play to escape pressure and complete a pass to get the Broncos in field goal range at the end of the second half.
  7. Paxton Lynch wasn’t asked to do a lot bu the looked like he belonged.  That’s probably good enough at this point.
  8. You kind of see why the Bears like Leonard Floyd.  He certainly is quick and he’s got long arms.  High effort guy.  But damn he’s skinny.
  9. It was entertaining to see Deondre Hall go into press coverage alone on throws to the end zone and defend the ball in the second quarter.  The Bears are obviously trying to get a feel for what he can do.
  10. Lots of missed tackles in the second quarter after the back ups got in  Lots to clean up.
  11. Cornelius Washington showed up tonight.  He needed to.  He’s in a tough fight to make the roster.  It was a shame to see him leave on a cart.

Offense

  1. Jay Cutler actually had some room on the first sack.  It looked like he panicked a bit in the face of the blitz.  It’s likely he doesn’t trust the reshuffled offensive line to handle that, yet, with some justification.  Here’s hoping that sense of trust gets better.
  2. Bears starters ran the ball for a paltry 1.8 yards per carry.  That’s not doing anything to alleviate any anxiety amongst fans about either the offensive line or Jeremy Langford, who got all of the carries.
  3. Cody Whitehair might need a little work snapping in the shot gun.
  4. The back up offensive line was simply putrid.  Martin Wallace flat out stunk.  So did Keith Browner and Gary Williams.  Nothing happened tonight to alleviate my concerns about the depth on this unit.  Their ineptitude made it virtually impossible to evaluate the players at any other position.
  5. We got to see two backs in the backfield for the first time in the second half when Jordan Howard entered the game.  We didn’t see much of it but it will be interesting to see how much more of that we get once the games count for real.
  6. I’m not used to seeing teams blitz the safety in the first preseason game but I’m a bit disappointed that it continued to work.  The offense didn’t look like they were ready for it and they didn’t adjust.  Preseason or not, that’s not good.

Miscellaneous

  1. Sam Rosen, Jim Miller & Luo Canellis on the call.  They were OK for what they are.  Miller was soft in his criticism but I’ve certainly heard worse during the preseason and they don’t give you the job of announcing these exhibition games to be overly critical.
  2. I thought the starters were relatively clean but once the back ups got in, the penalty flags started to fly.  First pre-season game.  No need to worry yet.
  3. Special teams were up and down, both allowing a blocked punt and blocking one themselves.
  4. In summary:  lots to work on, folks.