Category: Game Comments

Game Comments: Cowboys at Bears 12/4/14

Defense

  1. The Bears came out in their standard 4-3 in a zone. They were bringing a fifth man up on the line of scrimmage. There might have been a little more single coverage but the game plan looked like a carbon copy of last week.
  2. The Cowboys started to look more typical in their second series. They converted two fourth downs, one for a touchdown and ran the ball very well. The Bears, of course, brought more guys into the box but the defensive line couldn’t penetrate to stop them and DeMarco Murray got plenty of yards running the ball. The Bears were getting beat at the line of scrimmage and, as so often happens, as that battle goes, so the game goes.
  3. The Cowboys found a lot of yards throwing to DeMarco Murray underneath over the middle.
  4. As in previous weeks there was plenty of room for Cowboys receivers to work in the zones in the Bears backfield. They took advantage.
  5. The Cowboys didn’t run as much play action as I expected but when they did it was devastating. The Bears totally sold out to the run in two wide receiver sets.
  6. I thought the Bears generally had a tough time getting pressure on Tony Romo unless they blitzed.
  7. The Bears did a really terrible job filling their gaps in the second half. It looked to me like most of it was on a young linebacking corp. They were probably wearing down by then, too.
  8. The Bears miss Jeremiah Ratliff a lot when he’s not out there.

Offense

  1. The Bears came out with a run to Fort right off the bat. And ran on first down in the second set of downs. There were all kinds of Cowboys in the backfield and Forte didn’t get anything. The did get some yards on a sweep right after that. The drive stalled when another run got blown up in the backfield on a blitz. I won’t say that the running game was that bad but there’s more to running the ball than just calling the plays. Generally speaking I thought the Cowboys were getting good penetration.
  2. The Bears had took their shots down field with some success. They do real well when they get single coverage and the Cowboys mixed their defenses up.
  3. Jay Cutler wasn’t very sharp again. There were some bad throws out there. At least most of them were low.
  4. A lot of the plays were the same as the ones we always see. Lots of short stuff. Lots of dump offs to mMatt Forte and Martellus Bennett.
  5. I thought Bennett had a good game against his former team.
  6. I give the Bears credit for having the right plays called against the Cowboys blitz. They handled it pretty well.
  7. Cutler just hasn’t had time to develop a connection with Marquess Wilson. They don’t really look in sync.

Miscellaneous

  1. The kicking game was a disaster. The opening kickoff by Jay Feely short. A poor punt by Pat O’Donnell gave the Cowboys great field position near the end of the first quarter. That led to seven points. I really don’t know why the Bears decided to squib kick a kick off in the second quarter. All it did was give the Cowboys good field position. There was a blocked extra point, too.

    The Bears apparently just don’t believe in downing the ball in the end zone and taking it at the 20. I guess the idea is that you’d rather take it at the 15 occasionally and take your shots at a big play. I’m not sure I agree.

  2. I thought the out right drops in this game were minimal and had no impact.
  3. There were really too many penalties on both sides, especially on special teams. There was an illegal touch by the Bears on a punt in the first quarter that was notable. They were offsides on an onside kick in the fourth quarter. The Cowboys had a block in the back on a run back that took seven points off the board. They also had a couple pass interference calls that hurt them.
  4. A fumble by Matt Forte on the first possession of the second quarter was devastating.
  5. The Cowboys broke this game open with some big runs. Really the Bears just got beat at the line of scrimmage and their inexperienced linebacking corp was exposed. The offense looked better to me and they didn’t kick themselves in the backside nearly as often as they have in previous weeks. But the fumble in the third quarter really hurt and they struggled in general to make big plays.

    The Cowboys won this game in typical Cowboy fashion. They just over powered the Bears on offense and prevented the big play on defense. Perhaps the Bears saw what their own future should be on the other side of the ball. If they did, they need to do a better job of getting the right players to do it.

Game Comments: Bears at Lions 11/27/14

Defense

  1. The Bears started well with plenty of penetration into the backfield and good pressure on Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. Will Sutton looked good in particular.
  2. Matthew Stafford looked very uncomfortable in the pocket when ever the Bears managed to get a crowd around him. He eventually got over it but it wasn’t a good look. The occasional blitz from the Bears helped get pressure on Stafford quite a bit. Eventually they adjusted and Stafford had more time.
  3. The Lions adjusted by getting the ball out quickly and they never looked back. It was pitch and catch from the second quarter on.
  4. The Bears started in a zone defense, mostly cover two, and they stayed with that most of the game. you knew when you saw them in it that it might be a long game. They’re miserable playing zone and have been since the pre-season. Color man Phil Simms attributed much of the problem to the fact that the Bears were giving the receivers a free release off of the line of scrimmage. I don’t think they’re fast enough nor do they react quickly enough in it. Whatever it is they’re really bad at it.
  5. The Bears linebackers once again had their problems in coverage. Lions tight end Eric Ebron gave them a hard time.
  6. Calvin Johnson has been struggling on a bad ankle since September. All he needed was the Bears to get healthy.

Offense

  1. The Bears came out with a game plan that very evidently did not include running the ball under any circumstances. They threw screens which substituted for run plays as they tried to attack the edges of the Lions defense. They didn’t run the ball until the 9th play of the game.
  2. Since the Bears didn’t bother to run the Lions defensive linemen considered it to be open season on Jay Cutler and sold out to the pass rush. Cutler was under siege most of the game, specially when he didn’t get the ball out quickly enough (which was frequently).
  3. That game plan required execution with minimal mistakes. That was the case for the first couple possessions. Then the old Bears offense showed up and it was a comedy of penalties and dropped passes that killed drive after drive.

Miscellaneous

  1. Jim Nantz and Phil Simms were excellent this game. Simms was right on spot with commentary, especially regarding the deficiencies in the Bears defense. The half time show was comical. “James Brown: So now that we’ve talked about the Bears what about the Lions?” Panel: “The Lions are OK but lets get back to the fact that the Bears suck.”
  2. Special teams were actually pretty good on both sides today. The Lions opened the game by pulling a DeCamillis and running the ball out of the end zone to the fifteen. Must be a disease. Pat O’Donnell had a good punt in the first quarter that landed inside the 10.
  3. The Bears dropped passes all over the field. Brandon Marshall had at least two and Martellus Bennett dropped one that stopped a critical drive in the third quarter.
  4. Way too many penalties, too, especially on offense. A second quarter holding call on Roberto Garza killed a drive. A holding call on the Lions took a touchdown off of the board but they scored anyway.
  5. Once again, turnovers played a role in the game. Jared Allen caused and recovered what was a big fumble at the time in the first quarter. It set up the kind of short field that keeps the offense from looking as totally helpless as they actually are statistically. The Jay Cutler interception midway through the fourth quarter led to a field goal that put the game away for the Lions.
  6. Watching game on Thanksgiving was an exercise in frustration at the Shannon homestead in Missouri where I’m from. I’m pretty much left alone most of the time but the minute I sit down to watch the Bears all hell breaks loose. Suddenly I have to look here or there, everyone wants my opinion on something and jobs that could have been done at any time over the last two days need to be done right now with the Bears in red zone. There has to be a bar open somewhere in this god-forsaken state on Thanksgiving and by heaven, next time I’m going to find it.
  7. Well, I figured the Bears were out of the playoff chase anyway but this pretty much puts the final nail in the coffin. Not that they deserve to be there anyway. At some point I’d like to see the Bears get to where they can play a zone defense. I don’t know if that requires a new coordinator or new players or (my suspicion) both. I can only repeat that the defense, especially the linebackers, is too slow. The special teams were better but, once again, it took very little to stop the Bears on offense – mostly things the did themselves. I don’t think they’re going anywhere with Cutler at quarterback anyway but they could win at least some of these games with a little more discipline. But the head coach isn’t a disciplinarian and the Bears evidently don’t have the kind of players that can impose it upon themselves – if such a group of players exists anywhere.

Game Comments: Buccaneers at Bears 11/23/14

Offense

  1. The Bears started in their usual fashion failing to give the ball to Matt Forte on a run play. A false start by Brandon Marshall and a drop from Marquess Wilson helped force a three and out. It was the way the half was going to go.

  2. In fairness the Bears gave the ball to Matt Forte the first play in the second possession. Ka’Deem Carey got it on the second. Coming out in the second half it seemed that they were determined to run the ball more.

  3. The Buccaneers did a good job of getting pressure on Jay Cutler. Some of it was good coverage and some of it was poor protection and some of it was Cutler just not being able to let go of the ball. But most of it was simply the Bucs dominating the line of scrimmage. They’ve got a very good defensive line and they showed up today.

  4. The Bears love that screen play to Matt Forte on third and long. It’s almost too predictable. OK, there’s no “almost” about it.

  5. Like everyone else, Jay Cutler wasn’t very sharp. His accuracy was farther off than usual.

  6. There was a lot of talk about moving Jay Cutler’s launch point more and getting him out of the pocket. If they did much of it, I missed it.

Defense

  1. It looked like the Bears came out playing mostly man-to-man defense with Kyle Fuller on Mike Evans and Tim Jennings on Vincent Jackson.

  2. Vincent Jackson is huge. He’s not just tall but he’s built like a tight end.

  3. The Bucs were picking on Lance Briggs in the underneath passing game, taking advantage of his lack of speed.

  4. The Bears gave up first downs on an awful lot of third downs. I’m a little surprised that they didn’t clamp down harder at the sticks on those plays.

  5. You could see exactly what was going to happen on the first touchdown. They sent Evans all the way to the sideline away from everyone else and it was going to be him and Fuller in press coverage all the way. Fuller even called out as if to tell everyone that they were over there but they were way too far away for him to get the help he was probably supposed to get. It was a good play by the Bucs.

  6. Though they got to McCown on occasion, to my eye the Bears weren’t applying pressure with anywhere near the consistency they needed to. They did a lot of blitzing to compensate. To their credit, they did get enough to visibly affect McCown’s game. And, of course, once they were up by 11 in the fourth quarter, they loaded up and went after him.

  7. Huge game by Stephen Paea. Jared Allen also applied more than his share of pressure.

  8. I was happy to see the defensive players pick up a ball that hit the ground and run after a Josh McCown dump off screen. It was an incomplete pass but you don’t treat it that way until you hear a whistle. That was a lesson learned, I hope.

  9. Some awful, awful tackling on the last Buccaneer drive of the first half. After some bumbling on the part of the Bucs offense it resulted in only three points.

Miscellaneous

  1. Thom Brennaman, David Diehl and Laura Okmin did the game. Brennaman was the odd ball out as both Diehl and Okmin are from Chicago. He’s from North Carolina.

    Brennaman repeatedly asked the question that typified not only the game but also the Bears season – “What’s wrong with that expensive Bears offense?” Diehl made a good point that the Bears defense was spending too much time on the field, implying that they were going to wear down latter in the game if it continued.

  2. Robbie Gould missed another field goal. He’s now officially in a slump as far as I’m concerned. He had an interesting kickoff, dropping the ball at about the twenty late in the third quarter. It could have resulted in another Bucs turnover. It was nice to see a returner on another team constantly bring the ball out of the end zone on kickoffs only to be tackled short of the twenty. A short Bears punt put the Bears defense in a difficult position 8 points down with about 3 minutes left in the game.

  3. Marquess Wilson at least two drops, one on the very first drive. Martellus Bennet had a drop on the second. There were some dropped Bears interceptions that hurt them as well.

  4. Time after time the Bears shot themselves in the foot during this game with penalties. They did it all from false starts to a blocks in the back. Lovie Smith’s team showed an uncharacteristic lack of discipline with penalties like roughing the kicker and a taunting. If possible, they were even worse than the Bears. You can certainly see why they’ve had a hard time winning games this year.

  5. Turnovers were huge in this game, especially for the Bears.

    1. Chris Conte had a very nice interception on the Bucs’ first possession. Stephen Paea deserved a lot of credit for that one as he hit Josh McCown as he threw it.

    2. Jay Cutler gave it back with a fumble of his own. Brian de la Puente at left guard got beat like a drum by Gerald McCoy on that one.

    3. Huge fumble forced by David Bass in the third quarter gave the Bears a touchdown.

    4. That was followed by and interception by Ryan Mundy deep in Buccaneer territory. That led to seven more points.

    5. Another fumble by Vincent Jackson stopped a Buccaneers drive that could have easily led to points. The officials apparently felt that it was close enough to where they couldn’t over turn the call on the field but Jackson’s elbow may have been down.

  6. I’ve been thinking about it. I think I’d take David Diehl more seriously if he lost the mustache. Well, that and if he started pronouncing the names of the Bears players correctly.

  7. Well, you could copy what I said about the Bears offense last week and paste it here. The special teams only hurt them a moderately badly with the short punt near the end of the game so you can mark that down as an improvement.

    8. As embarrassing as it is to have the Packers put up 50 on you, there’s little doubt that the defense has been saving the season for this team. That, and the tendency of teams like the Buccaneers to hand them the game. The Bears are bad but they aren’t so bad that they’re going to ordinarily refuse gifts. That’s what this game was. A present of dumb penalties, turnovers and undisciplined play. Merry Christmas.

Game Comments: Vikings at Bears 11/16/14

Defense

  1. Surprisingly the Bears came out playing the pass with seven in the box, allowing the Vikings running game to get going.
  2. It looked to me like the Bears came out well prepared scheme-wise this week. They looked like they had done a good job of studying the Vikings tendencies and that they were on top of what they were doing. Nice work.
  3. It was hard to tell much about Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater because they were being careful not to ask too much of him. But he was plenty accurate and considerably more composed than veteran Jay Cutler was for the Bears. Despite all we’ve heard and read about the Vikings success in the draft, it looks to me like he needs more talent around him. He’s been struggling with throws outside the numbers and he did so again today. I also expected his arm to be stronger. Nevertheless he shows promise.
  4. Kudos to Jared Allen who was matched up against Matt Kalil, who has been struggling all year. Allen looked great coming off of the end, beating Kalil regularly.
  5. Really, the entire defensive line played well. On the other side, the Vikings offensive line looks like a serious weakness. They were losing one-on-ones and blowing assignments, allowing blitzers to get to Bridgewater. That’s a bad combination if you are a Vikings fan.
  6. Nice work from the defensive back today a well. Bridgewater had a really hard time finding receivers beyond 7 yards or so. The linebackers were where they needed to be as well. Everyone was aggressive. Lance Briggs looked particularly good.

Offense

  1. I’m surprised that the Bears came out throwing. With all of the (justified) criticism about not getting the ball to Matt Forte, I expected to see more running plays in the initial set of downs. It looked like Cutler might have been simply counting the men in the box and running when he thought it was favorable. That’s fine but it can make you one dimensional.
  2. Some poor tackling out there by the Vikings.
  3. A lot of screens this week as the Bears apparently were trying to attack the edges and neutralize the Minnesota pass rush. As opposed to attacking the middle of the field. More evidence that we’re looking at a finesse offense that can’t attack with a physical front (in contrast to what GM Phil Emery believes they can do). In fairness, they executed them well.
  4. The Vikings started to blitz quite a bit late in the first quarter and early in the second. The Bears did a good job of picking it up and it didn’t hurt that they were doing a lot of short quick passing. It was pretty ineffective and they eventually stopped doing it.
  5. The Vikings did a much better job against the run in the second half.
  6. Heck of a pass from Jay Cutler to Alshon Jeffery for the Bears first score in the second quarter. Jermon Bushrod let Cutler feel the pressure and Cutler had to escape to extend the play.
  7. Speaking of Bushrod, he struggled mightily this game. The Bears left him one-on-one with Everson Griffin quite a bit early. He was over-matched.
  8. The Vikings did a good job of moving Cutler off of the mark but Cutler was able to step up in the pocket and often escaped to make a play.
  9. Anthony Barr is a good looking player. He’s quick, he’s in the right spots and on top of plays. I was impressed.
  10. I really didn’t think the Vikings did enough to stop Alshon Jeffery. He needed to be double covered more often. Or at least the Safety needed to provide more help.
  11. Really a nice drive by the offense at the beginning of the fourth quarter with a very nice catch for a touchdown to cap it. They ate almost half of the quarter away.

Miscellaneous

  1. Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon and Stacey Dales were surprisingly good. Well, Harlan’s always good. But Dales actually added a bit to the telecast giving a candid report about the mood from the Bears sideline early. I thought perhaps that she got a bit more than the usual amount of face time for a side line reporter. Gannon impressed me after diagraming out the Bears second quarter touchdown. He frequently ready my mind as he broke down the team play, particularly the quarterback play. He also endeared himself to Bears fans with criticism of the non-aggressive way that the Bears approached the end of the first half, essentially running the clock out.
  2. What was going on with the initial chip shot on the opening kickoff? Is Cordarrelle Patterson that dangerous? Robbie Gould missed a field goal in the first quarter. They gave up forty-nine yards on a fake punt as no one did their job by staying at home and sealing the end. That resulted in seven points. Return teams were subpar. Gould kicked off the ball out of bounds midway through the fourth quarter to give the Vikings some life at the 40 yard line.Honestly, all I want is for the special teams not to totally kill this team. Is that so much to ask?
  3. Let’s see… In the first set of possessions:
    1. Willie Young had an offsides on the first set of downs and eliminated a stop. It cost the Bears three points.
    2. An illegal formation call eliminated a first down in the Bears initial possession.
    3. That was compounded by a Kyle Long false start.
    4. Then Jay Cutler got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty right after that.

    All of that added up to a missed field goal. Another great start.

    Its unbelievable how undisciplined this team is this late in the season. Far, far too many penalties. A young Vikings team did a much better job.

  4. Two interceptions from Cutler and the second could have been a killer as the Bears defense had just stopped the Vikings backed up near their goal line. Fortunately the Vikings somehow found a way to waste the break and miss the field goal. A better team would have scored a potentially demoralizing touchdown.Bridgewater threw one under pressure trying to make a play with about a minute left. I understand the tendency but that’s won you keep in your pocket. There was still plenty of time to get the needed touchdown.
  5. I’m usually not much of a second guesser and maybe its just me but don’t you take the field goal to go up by seven in the third quarter rather than going for it on fourth and one? I guess when you’ve got three wins you’ve got nothing to lose.
  6. The NFL needs more Kate Upton commercials. Way more.
  7. You take a win when you can get it but, really, the Vikings had no business being in this game. The talent gap between these teams was pretty big. The Bears dominated both sides of the ball but their undisciplined play on offense and on special teams continues to be disturbing. I might add that there wasn’t much fancy in a vanilla game plan on either side of the ball. That works when you are going up against a definitively inferior opponent but it isn’t very encouraging for the future. Frankly, I’m not sure they’re capable of executing anything more complicated right now.

    Having said that, kudos to a much maligned defense that played aggressively and dominated the line of scrimmage. The linebackers and defensive backs were aggressive, tackled well and were fast to the ball. It was as good as they’ve looked since Lovie Smith was fired.

Game Comments: Bears at Patriots 10/26/14

Offense

  1. The Bears came out running right away. The Patriots didn’t even disguise the fact that they knew it was coming, putting an extra guy in the box from the get go.
  2. Quarterback Jay Cutler was not accurate again this game, making his targets work for their catches when they could reach them.
  3. The Patriots did a very good job of covering the Bears underneath and limiting yards after the catch. So the Bears were having a tough time even getting their usual yards between the 20s.
  4. Having said that, the Bears did get some room for Matt Forte to catch some balls out of the backfield in the second quarter. It resulted in a touchdown.
  5. Half time adjustments included throwing the ball more to Brandon Marshall. Again. When we we be at a point where they’ll do that from the beginning and that won’t have to be an adjustment anymore?  By the way it didn’t work.  What else is new?
  6. The Bears also came out aggressive after the half. The Patriots weren’t exactly in a prevent defense but it was obvious that they were playing softer to prevent big plays that might let the bears back into the game.
  7. Nice catch from Martellus Bennett for a touchdown near the end of the third quarter.
  8. The offensive line was particularly bad in protection today. Stunts, blitzes, it didn’t matter. They weren’t picking anything up. It didn’t help that Cutler was missing some reads.
  9. Having said that, the run blocking wasn’t below average and Matt Forte had his usual good game.

Defense

  1. The Bears came out in nickel and were apparently not prepared to get run over. Which is what happened. Again. In fairness they did eventually stop the bleeding later in the first half through the end of the game though it was at the expense of their pass defense.
  2. Having established the run early, Tom Brady did pretty much whatever he wanted in the passing game with play action.
  3. What’s interesting is that the nickel didn’t even work. It was undoubtedly meant to stop the Patriots from passing to secondary receivers but the match up of Rob Gronkowski on Ryan Mundy wasn’t even close.
  4. Brady was extremely accurate hitting even well covered receivers in areas where they could catch it.
  5. It doesn’t seem fair that the Bears make a great goal line stand at the beginning of the fourth quarter, stopping the Patriots on fourth down, only to have to give up a field goal due to a field goal because of a Patriots penalty. Give the Bears defense credit for being ready for the no huddle and to run back on the field on a last second switch by the Patriots to go for it on fourth down.
  6. Chris Conte had some good open field tackles.
  7. I like Al Louis-Jean’s potential allot. But Brandon LaFell ate him alive.
  8. Not that it matters but it certainly did seem to me like the Bears got screwed on the Gronkowski touchdown near the end of the first half. Gronkowski dropped that ball.
  9. The injury to Lamarr Houston. [head shake]

Miscellaneous

  1. I had no unusual problems with Sam Rosen, John Lynch and Pam Oliver. They are what they are and they were what they usually are. Lynch was, perhaps, sharper than he was last time we saw him making, some good observations that fans might have missed. For example, he pointed out that Forte’s touchdown in the second quarter resulted from a route adjustment by the running back. He also pointed out that Cutler was staring down receivers like a rookie again this week.Then, of course, there was that wonderful moment in the broadcast when Joel Nobody sent the audience back after an update from the Houston-Tennessee game to “the Patriots versus Southwest Missouri State”. Hilarious.
  2. Some poor punting in the first quarter didn’t help the Bears offense out much. The coverage teams struggled, too. The Patriots first punt was near the end of the third quarter so not much that can be said there.
  3. The Bears didn’t have many obvious drops. Alshon Jeffery had a very bad one on fourth and 10 to stop a drive at the beginning of the first half. The Patriots got away with dropping too many this week but they’ll eventually want to clean that up.
  4. A holding call on Martellus Bennet effectively stopped the first drive forcing the Bears to pass when they were trying to establish the run. Matt Slauson got the Bears offense off to an awesome start on the second series with an immediate false start. It was all a part of a great beginning to a great game. And all part of yet another game where the Bears committed too many of them. I’m sure that the Patriots will hear about it from head coach Bill Belichick as well and they had more than their share, too.The officiating was bad. Which is the new normal. Maybe its just all part and parcel of a bad day but an awful lot of those bad calls seemed to go the Patriots’ way. They really didn’t need the help.
  5. You guys think Jay Cutler turns the ball over too much? Try Geno Smith with three INTs against the Bills. In the first quarter.Of course, that doesn’t excuse Cutler. It isn’t the reason they lost but how Cutler could have dropped the ball at the end of the first half, resulting in a Patriots recovery for a touchdown, I simply can’t understand. I know he was trying to throw the football but come on, man. Can’t you just limit the damage and get the hell out of there?
  6. As a NFL fan the phases you go through as you watch a definitive loss to a better opponent from beginning to end are very similar to the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. I went through them all. In the first quarter and a half.After that it was all total embarrassment.

Game Comments: Dolphins at Bears 10/19/14

Defense

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Offense

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

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

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

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

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

Miscellaneous

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

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

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

  4. The Soldier Field grass looked good.

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

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

Game Comments: Bears at Falcons 10/12/14

Offense

  1. The Bears have had a lot of trouble with zone defenses, especially the cover two. But to my great surprise the Falcons came out in man defense. They were only playing zone on third down. Personally I thought it was idiotic but it didn’t burn them through the first quarter. Eventually it did as Brandon Marshall caught one deep midway through the second quarter to set up a touchdown. The Falcons eventually ran more zone later but failed to completely stop the Bears from throwing deep as previous opponents have done.
  2. It’s interesting that at a time when most offenses are picking up the pace, the Bears have been consistently running the play clock down to the last 5 seconds.
  3. Atlanta was well prepared for that end around to Alshon Jeffery that the Bears like to run.
  4. Having said that I thought the Bears ran the ball better today than they have in some time. Probably an effect of the presence of both Roberto Garza and Matt Slaughson along with a weaker than usual Atlanta defense.
  5. I also liked the way that the Bears attacked the edges of the Atlanta defense. They took the underneath stuff as they have been doing and hoped to execute better than they have been.
  6. Jordan Mills had a miserable day committing penalties and missing blocks.
  7. Good to see Josh Morgan get involved in the offense with a touchdown.
  8. Was I the only one remembering the Bears last time threatening to score at the end of a half with no timeouts left? Good teams need to turn that into a touchdown but at least they came away with the three points this time.
  9. I thought that Jay Cutler showed good mobility today. It’s a shame he had to show it so often. The pass protection left something to be desired as the Falcons generated plenty of pressure.
  10. The Bears have got to work on the screen plays. Atlanta had them read all the way all day.

Defense

  1. The Falcons came out obviously thinking they could run the ball down the Bears injured linebacking corp’s throats. They didn’t have a great deal of success early but it did set up the play action pass.
  2. The Bears obviously decided that pressuring the Atlanta offensive line was the thing to do. They brought an extra man frequently relative to previous games. It worked as the Bears got plenty of pressure.
  3. Once again the Bears had a tough time when the opponent went no huddle as the Falcons started picking up yardage in huge chunks in the second quarter. Fortunately they weren’t finishing at the time.
  4. Having said that I do think the defense played reasonably fast. There was obvious high effort out there.
  5. Like Carolina last week, I thought the Falcons had a miserable time on third down, constantly shooting themselves in the foot throughout the first half. They had an egregious number of dropped balls. Like last week the Bears defense broke down in the third quarter letting the Falcons convert on third down almost at will.
  6. Perfect call on the third quarter Atlanta touchdown as the Falcons caught the Bears in a blitz with a great screen play.
  7. The pass rush really showed up once the Bears got 14 points ahead as they could tee off and simply go after Matt Ryan.
  8. Stephen Paea had a big game. Chris Conte just can’t stay healthy.

Miscellaneous

  1. Justin Kutcher was fine. So was David Diehl who performed much like last week. Diehl missed the fact that Paul Worrilow was called for a personal foul for hitting Jay Cutler helmet-to-helmet and failed to recognize that Kutcher had the right of it but I won’t beat him up over that. Diehl is OK, just nothing special. He hit all of the major points and did a solid job.
  2. The coverage teams limited Devin Hester but I bet I’m not the only one wishing that the kick return team would just take a knee in the end zone and take the ball at the twenty. The missed extra point was uncharacteristic but any more of these kicking failures will become disturbing.
  3. The Falcons dropped so many balls they should be ashamed of themselves. The Bears had some balls you could argue could have been caught but generally they would have been tough. Martellus Bennett had a bad drop to stop a drive in the first quarter.
  4. Far, far too many penalties in this game and the Bears continued to try to shoot themselves in the foot over and over. There was a false start Mills on very first play. That wasn’t a good sign for him or the team.
  5. I was happy to see Jay Cutler throwing the ball away more. He took better care of the ball today. Turnovers were limited on both sides until Demontre Hurst’s interception in the fourth quarter.
  6. I had to smile as the Bears defense cranked up the Bears fans in Atlanta to make more noise. Hopefully Lamarr Houston will remember the experience before he takes to Twitter again.
  7. I’m happy with what I saw in terms of improvement from the Bears compared to last week in this win. Not as much as I’d like but definite progress. Although they are still killing themselves with penalties they did a better job of overcoming the deficits that they caused today with big third down plays. And, most important, they took better care of the ball.

Game Comments: Bears at Panthers 10/5/14

Defense

  1. The Bears came out looking to stop the run early, keeping an extra player near the line of scrimmage with three wide receivers and a back on the field.

  2. I thought the Bears got more pressure on the quarterback than last week in the first half. Not so much in the second half as the Panthers went to quick passes that tore up the Bears zone and when they started to see more success on the ground. They occasionally blitzed but it wasn’t getting there in time.

  3. I don’t know what happened to the defense at the end of the first half. They loosened up to not give up the big play – a good idea – but then gave up the touchdown anyway to let the Panthers back into the game. It was the start of good things for Carolina as they went through the Bears defense like a hot knife through butter in the third quarter.

  4. Kelvin Benjamin and Kyle Fuller both looked like rookies today. The Panthers obviously liked the matchup because they kept going to it but there were lots of mistakes between them.

  5. Former Bear Greg Olson looked good.

Offense

  1. Like the Bears, the Panthers came out playing the run. It certainly looked like they planned well. The Bears came out looking to feed Matt Forte the ball.

  2. It certainly looked like the Panthers defense came out ready to play. They were initially ready to stop Forte however he got the ball. The Bears came out running and with short passing and the Panthers were all over it. It was fairly obvious that they were going to have to go down field to find any points, at least initially.

  3. Loved the one-handed grab by Jeffery in the first quarter. The one thing about Brandon Marshall that can be irritating is his habit of dropping the ball. Jeffery has great hands.

  4. Interesting that right as I concluded that the Bears would have to go long (above), the Panthers began to blitz. The pressure generated led directly to the first turnover in the first quarter. Looks like the Panthers came out with a good defensive game plan. It became a chess game after that. The Bears countered with well-timed screens designed to slow the rush and were able to read the defense to continue to feed Forte at the appropriate times.

  5. The Panthers needed a more disciplined pass rush. Jay Cutler was escaping the pocket far too often. He’s mobile but he’s not Robert Griffin.

  6. Panthers head coach Ron Rivera called out Luke Kuechly last week in an effort to get him to play better. I thought it worked. Kuechly looked great, even early at a time when nothing else on the Carolina defense looked good.

  7. The Bears did a particularly good job moving the ball on third down. The Panthers frequently forced third and longs in the first half and the Bears frequently escaped. The Panthers were much better with this in the second half when the game became a battle of offenses. The Bears lost that battle decisively.

  8. I didn’t like the way that the Panthers stopped the Bears running game in the second half, making them effectively one dimensional. At some point this team is going to have to be able to run and get the tough yards if its going to win consistently.

Miscellaneous

  1. Thom Brennaman is a consummate pro and its always a pleasure when he does Bears games. Like John Lynch last week, I was less impressed by David Diehl. Diehl is observant and he does manage to point things out that the average fan might miss. That’s nice, especially coming from the natural point of view of someone who is used to playing at the line of scrimmage, something many of us don’t pay enough attention to. But he still didn’t teach me anything about the game in the same way that the best color men in the business do. I can learn more listening for ten minutes to Cris Collinsworth than I can listening to the average color man like Diehl for an entire game.

  2. Only the Bears special teams could actually commit a penalty, then give up a touchdown on the same play. What a great way to start a game. If you’re a Panther.

    I understand and have accepted that the special teams on this team isn’t going to help very often. But can’t they at least find a way to not kill them? Is that really too high of a bar to set?

    It’s hard to believe that Joe DeCamillis was actually made an assistant head coach to allow him to come to Chicago.

    I like Santonio Holmes’s attitude. He looks like a winner at punt returner.

  3. Kelvin Benjamin had a rough game and he was the only receiver on the field that I thought had an egregious number of drops.

  4. There were a lot of penalties out there on both sides. The Bears can’t afford this if they are going to try to work their way down the field by feeding Matt Forte.

  5. The interception in first quarter could have been a killer already 7 points down. I really wish Cutler would think more about throwing those away. Fortunately the Panthers gave the ball right back.

    Hard to believe that the Panthers came in with a reputation for not turning over the ball. This was undoubtedly a big part of the reason why they were favored and it was a big part of the reason I was wary of this game. But with three fumbles in the first half, they didn’t do much to live up to that reputation. They led to two touchdowns for the Bears (which would have been 17 points except for a Robbie Gould miss on an easy field goal).

    Jay Cutler giveth and Jay Cutler taketh away with the fourth quarter interception that led to the game tying field goal. But it was the Matt Forte fumble that was the killer.

  6. The Bears had this game in hand in the first half as Carolina did everything they could to give them the game. But they handed it back in the fourth quarter with devastating turnovers and that was the difference.

    It’s disappointing that the last comment about this game matches the last comment I had after the first game of the year so closely. This team shoots itself in the foot too often. They’ve decided to be a ball control offense that works its way gradually down the field and that’s not a bad thing – if you can execute. But they continue to shoot themselves in the foot with penalties and turnovers. This is what bad teams look like. It’s not a good sign that we’re still seeing it after game five.

Game Comments: Packers at Bears 9/28/14

Offense

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Defense

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Miscellaneous

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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