Game Comments: Bears at Rams 11/14/13

Posted on November 24, 2013 by Tom Shannon

Defense

  1. The Bears came out playing 8 in the box on first down but still could stop the Rams from running the ball. The Rams scorred 14 points and never commpleted a pass.
  2. So much for the improved gap discipline from the Bears. They gave up a number of long runs as the Rams rans through huge openings. I think the tackling was still OK (which is not to say that they still weren't missing some).
  3. The Rams seemed to have particular success attacking the edges on the Bears. I thought Shea McClellin had a tough time his first time back. It looked to me like he was having a tough time with contain.
  4. Nice play in the first quarter on the long run by Tavon Austin. A fake end around that got the Bears leaning the other way.
  5. The Bears had an awfully hard time getting off of blocks today.
  6. The Rams evidently identified Zack Bowman as someone they could pick on. He had a rough game.
  7. There was some poor linebacker play out there as tight end Jared Cook burned the Bears all day. The defensive line is the major problem I'm going to say that the linebackers share the blame for the problems in the run as well.

Offense

  1. Another poor start for the Bears as they came out discombobulated. Matt Forte fumbed the first offensive play from scrimmage.
  2. The Rams came out blitzing Josh McCown frequently. They got pressure with it but I don't think it had a lot of effect. He was very poised in the pocket today.
  3. The Rams tackling left a lot to be desired today.
  4. I'm darned impressed with the speed on the Rams defensive line. They were very aggressive with the pass rush and I like the Bears response. They went to the inside handoff designed to work something like a draw play.
  5. The Rams look like they have a good set of linebackers, too. Very active and very mobile. James Laurinaitis is a monster.
  6. I like the second effort I saw frequently from Alshon Jeffery. Brandon Marshall had a nice game. It was nice to see Earl Bennett come alive today. Really it was a pretty good effort by all three, today.
  7. I also liked the effort I saw from Matt Forte despite the fumble in the first quarter. It wasn't good seeing him lying on the turf in the fourth quarter.
  8. Horrible series of downs to end the first half as the Bears had Matt Forte slip in the backfield, poorly blocked another run as Robert Quinn beat Jermon Bushrod like a drum, and then Josh McCown got careless with a little screen pass that gets batted down. It gave the Rams yet another set of downs to try to score.
  9. I'm not sure what's going on with the Bears offensive line but time after time we saw Rams defensive players with deep penetration, sometimes coming untouched through the line. The fourth and goal at the one yard line in the third quarter was a good example as Jo-Lonn Dunbar waltzed through the line to stuff Michael Bush. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of a flaw in the blocking scheme. Certainly something was wrong.

Miscellaneous

  1. The Bears once again draw a top announcing team in Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, and Tony Siragusa. I thought they hit the relevant points with, for instance, Kenny Albert pointing out that Josh McCown was constantly going to the sideline to get the calls. Presumably his helmet was malfunctioning. Johnston pointed out Roberto Garza's role in preventing a peel back pursuer from catching Tony Fiammetta on a nice run in the third quarter.
  2. Special teams were nothing special on either side. There were a couple penalties on the Bears receiving team.
  3. Turnover-wise, Matt Forte lost a fumble which resulted in 7 points for the Rams. McCown fumbled to give the Rams another touchdown. McCown was intercepted at the end of the game.
  4. Somehow I don't think anyone is going to try to tell me that I am being overly negative about the Bears penalties again. Chris Conte had a pass interference. Kyle Long had a personal foul. Tony Fiammetta had a holding call that brought back a long Alshon Jeffery run. Earl Bennett had an illegal contact penalty that took away a Matt Forte touchdown. They had twelve men in the huddle and a delay of game in the third quarter. A holding call on Craig Steltz erased a Devin Hester touchdown. Jermon Bushrod had a holding call that eliminated a touchdown. On the Rams side, they had a big illegal contact penalty that eliminated a Jenoris Jenkins interception. Scott Wells had an illegal hands to the face. Brandon McGee had two damaging fourth quarter pass interference calls in the endzone. Like Johnston, I'm not sure where the roughing the passer penalty in the fourth quarter near the goal line came from. In any case it cost the Rams seven points as the Bears (finally) scored a touchdown off of it.
  5. Neither side had many dropped passes that I saw. Marshall had a drop at the end of the third quarter. Nevertheless I'm going to credit the Bears with cleaning this up over last week.
  6. Two minutes before kickoff and I was already tired of the brother against brother thing.
  7. Chris Long may have charged out in the second quarter to hold back and protect his brother Kyle during a scrum but he spent the next ten minutes screaming at him and presumably telling him to stop being a moron. I can only agree.
  8. I thought the Rams came out with a lot more energy coming off of their bye week than the Bears did.
  9. I loved hearing the crowd chanting “Let's go Bears” in the second quarter.
  10. Tough day for the Bears. They got no turnovers and gave away three. The continued tendency to commit penalties and the re-appearance of poor gap discipline on defense was disturbing. Fortunately, those two are things that can be corrected. What cannot be corrected any time soon was the distinct talent gap, particularly when the Rams offense was on the field with the Bears defense. The Rams dominated the line of scrimmage all afternoon on both sides of the ball. I'm going to say the Bears just got beat by a better team today.

 

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Do the Bears Miss Cutler in the Red Zone?

Posted on November 21, 2013 by Tom Shannon

I thought Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune made an interesting point at the end of his answer to this question:

“What do you think about Marc Trestman’s recent goalline play selection?” — @KtrainExpress from Twitter

“The Bears failed with two tries at a two-point conversion against the Lions and then failed to put the ball in the end zone after reaching the 6-yard line against the Ravens. They even got extra cracks at it following a holding penalty against Baltimore cornerback Jimmy Smith in the end zone. One thing is clear: Against those defenses the Bears didn’t feel like they were in a position to line up and power the ball between the tackles for a touchdown. This could be an area the team missed quarterback Jay Cutler too.”

Did the Bears miss Cutler here? I'm going to say, “Yes.” The windows through which a pass must fit in a throw into the end zone from a short field are necessarily tighter. Cutler frequently uses his arm strength to force the ball through such windows even when the Bears aren't in the red zone. Current starter Josh McCown has nowhere near that kind of arm talent.

Though its easy to blame lack of power on the offensive line (and not without reason), I'm wondering if it's McCown's deficiencies that are keeping the Bears out of the end zone inside the 10 yard line recently. It's going to be interesting to see what plan the Bears come up with to deal with this issue as McCown continues to start.

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A Non-denial Denial

Posted on November 21, 2013 by Tom Shannon

I loved this non-answer from Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune:

“Can't people aim higher when thinking Josh McCown is better or as good as Jay Cutler? Cutler at top of his game is by far better option, right? —@RexyFan8 from Twitter

“Quarterback play, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.”

 

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Fisher Thinks the Bears Pass Rush Is Disciplined

Posted on November 21, 2013 by Tom Shannon

Adam Rams coach Jeff Fisher comments upon the Bears pass rush. Via Adam L. Jahns at the Chicago Sun-Times:

“Rams coach Jeff Fisher said it was difficult to judge the Bears’ pass rush against the Ravens because of the field conditions.

“But '[the Bears are] well-coached, they use real good rush integrity, [are] rarely out of their lanes [and] collapse the pocket very, very quick,' he said.”

Fisher's comment surprises me becasue what I saw against the Ravens was exactly the opposite. The defensive line, desparate to get pressure on Joe Flacco (and rightfully so) got a little undisiplined in their efforts. It looked to me like they frequently left gaps for Flacco to escape through to run for yardage.

Admittedly Flacco isn't the most mobile of quarterbacks and perhaps they thought they could get away with leaving him room to manuever if it meant they could be more active in the pass rush. Regardless, it will be interesting to see if anything changes this Sunday.

 

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Bears Try to Beat History With McCown

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Tom Shannon

Mark Potash at the Chicago Sun-Times suggests that past history may reflect future earnings:

“The biggest test remaining for [quarterback Josh] McCown is staying power. Even in [Marc] Trestman’s offense, the line between success and failure is as fine as ever in the NFL. With the Oakland Raiders in 2003, injuries to Rich Gannon and Marques Tuiasosopo forced Trestman to turn to retread veteran Rick Mirer in Week 9. Through three starts, Mirer was rejuvenated — passer ratings of 106.4, 111.9 and 93.3 with no interceptions in 69 pass attempts. He even had to remind everyone that Gannon still was the starter.

“And then he hit the wall. After completing 67 percent of his passes in his first three starts, Mirer completed 44 percent over his next five starts and lost four of them. Three days after the season, Trestman was looking for work again.

“It remains to be seen if McCown is riding a wave or has reached a new plateau in his career. But make no mistake about it, he’s in the right place, with the right coach, at the right time.”

 

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Cautionary Tale?

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Tom Shannon

It's not hard to figure out what Brad Bigg at the Chicago Tribune is getting at here:

“Is Joe Flacco’s performance this season a cautionary tale about signing quarterbacks to mega contracts or is he just going through a difficult year without a secondary wide receiver as Anquan Boldin was traded and tight end Dennis Pitta suffered a broken hip?”

The Ravens cause a lot of trouble in the league as they overpay players like Flacco, Ray Lewis and Ray Rice while everyone else tries to hold the line on salaries. They raise the expectations of players like Brian Urlacher and Matt Forte who are bitter when they find out that most everyone else isn't willing to shell out the same kind of money. Now the Ravens will affect the negotiations for Jay Cutler, who will undoubtedly be looking at the Flacco contract if and when he begins negotiations with the Bears in the offseason. Unfortunately for Cutler, the Bears will be looking closely at that contract as well.

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What Will the Rams Do? Run, Run, Run.

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Tom Shannon

Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune accurately makes this prediction:

“The Bears cannot stop the run effectively in their base Cover-2 defense. With seven defenders in the box, they are getting overpowered. Injuries certainly play a big part in it and you have to imagine the St. Louis Rams are fixing to get rookie Zac Stacy going this Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome. [Baltimore running back Ray] Rice was the fourth back in the last five games to top 100 yards vs. the Bears and in the other game Alfred Morris had 95 yards on 19 carries in a game in which the Redskins amassed 209 yards rushing.”

What's worrisome is that the Bears have largely cleaned up their fundamentals. They're tackling better and as far as I can tell their run fits are reasonably good most of the time. I don't think there's a lot more they can do about this other than live with it and try to work around it. Not good.

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McCown Deals with Weather at Soldier Field -With Difficulty.

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Tom Shannon

Quarterback Josh McCown comments on dealing with the windy conditions at Soldier Field. Via Rich Campbell at the Chicago Tribune:

“'It messes with your mind,' McCown said. '[head coach] Marc [Trestman] made a comment, ‘When it’s breezy, swing easy,’ before the game. But it was funny because it’s so true. If you just relax, and if you grip the ball harder and grit your teeth, it’s gonna move. If you can just throw spirals and stay relaxed, you should be alright. You should be able to cut the wind, to a degree. That was something that was in my mind.'”

It was pretty evident early in the game that the wind was on McCown's mind and he was having a much tougher time dealing with it than Raven's quarterback Joe Flacco. Those looking for the reason why the Bears are sticking so closely to the injured Jay Cutler as the starter probably need look no farther than his superior arm strength. His ability to deal with the adverse weather conditions at Soldier Field was one of the primary reasons they chose to acquire him in the first place.

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Josh McCown Has His Flaws. But These Aren’t Them.

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Tom Shannon

Rick Morrissey at the Chicago Sun-Times points to what he sees as quarterback Josh McCown's deficiencies:

“But that doesn’t mean McCown is the better fit. It means he hasn’t tried to go beyond the limits of his abilities, which is smart. Someday, an opponent is going to realize he doesn’t have the strongest arm, that he works the middle often and that they might want to get up on Bears receivers a little more. I’m not sure that day is coming in St. Louis on Sunday or in Minneapolis the following week. But it will come, eventually.”

I'm not entirely satisfied with this. The arm strength is a given but McCown doesn't work the middle too often. He spreads the field. Furthermore realizing that a quarterback throws over the middle and stopping it are two different things.

And as for “getting up on the receivers” that's not going to happen. Unlike Injured starter Jay Cutler, McCown hits receivers coming out of their breaks. Furthermore, he has big receivers to throw to who can get off the line and burn a defensive back who covers too closely.

I'm not saying Morrissey's overall point that McCown isn't starter material is necessarily off base. But his reasoning is flawed.

 

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Game Comments: Ravens at Bears 11/17/13

Posted on November 17, 2013 by Tom Shannon

Offense

  1. The Bears were really dominated at the line of scrimmage as it looked to me like the Ravens generally played to stop Matt Forte on the run, especially early. Their tight man-to-man coverage in the defensive backfield stifled Bears receivers for good portions of the day.
  2. In fairness, I thought the Bears did run better in the second half as they pounded Baltimore repeatedly with the assistance of tackle Ebon Britton playing tight end and helping out the tackles.
  3. The Bears spent the day shooting themselves in the foot with penalties and drops (see Miscellaneous below). There were periods of time here and there, especially late, when they executed but much of the game was more typified by the events in the first series of the game – two broken plays in a row leading to a punt.
  4. Another typical series – the Bears got six shots at the end zone in the second quarter from the red zone, five from inside the five, and settled for a field goal. The failure in the run game was very evident here as the Bears resorted to going to the air for most of the plays since they couldn’t run.
  5. McCown had a real rough start. My feeling was that his lack of arm strength allowed the wind to affect him a great deal more than it affected the Ravens Joe Flacco.
  6. I was unimpressed with some of the Ravens tackling. They missed quite a few and it hurt them today.
  7. I do love watching Forte run. Just a wonderful run in the fourth quarter for a touchdown. He’s got really nice vision and good lateral movement. He makes a lot of guys miss. He’s got to be one of the most under rated players in the league.
  8. It was nice to see the end arounds with Alshon Jeffery finally work for some yardage.
  9. I was disappointed that the Bears didn’t do a better job of running the clock out in the fourth quarter. Very unfortunate. Nice to see them redeem themselves with the score in over time for the win.µ

Defense

  1. The situation for the Bears defense was similar to the offense. Domination at the line of scrimmage as Ray Rice ran over them all game. Even with eight in the box for much of the game, Rice got good yardage.
  2. The Bears did get pressure on Joe Flacco on occasion as the pass rush was very active. Julius Peppers came alive with two sacks. Cheta Ozougwu had a nice play to knock the ball out of Flacco’s hand in the third quarter on a fourth down.
  3. Unfortunately the pass rush was also undisciplined, especially by the defensive tackles, leaving large gaps for Flacco to run through.
  4. Despite the poor performance against the run, the Bears did do a better job in their discipline as the did stay in their gaps. There was one long run by Rice in the first quarter where Bostic over ran the play.
  5. To my eye the Bears are also tackling much better than they were two or three weeks ago.
  6. Chris Conte had another rough day, especially early.
  7. The Bears failure to stop the Ravens on he final drive of the fourth quarter to keep them out of field goal range was disappointing. Nice to see them redeem themselves with the stop in over time.

Miscellaneous

  1. The Bears drew Phil Simms and Jim Nantz for this game, continuing a long streak of top announcing teams. However, I have to say that Simms wasn’t on top of his game today. Most of his comments were average and there were few if any “Wow, goo point” moments. I didn’t learn too much about the game today.
  2. Bears special teams were unremarkable. Michael Ford had a real nice tackle on a punt in the first quarter.
  3. The Bears had far, far too many penalties this game. Zack Bowman had a pass interference and an illegal block in the back. He also had an extremely damaging horse collar tackle in the fourth quarter with 4:30 left to give the Ravens a first down. Corey Wooton was offsides. The Bears punt team had an Illegal hands to the face charged to it. Peppers had a stupid late hit on Joe Flacco in the second quarter. He also had an offsides in the third quarter. Brandon Marshall had a holding call. Martellus Bennett had two false starts, one of which turned a third and one into a third and six at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Jordan Mills had a holding call late in the first half in the final minute making for a much longer field goal try. Michael Ford was offsides on a kickoff in over time. For Baltimore James Ihedigbo had a horse collar tackle. They had a defensive holding near the end zone to give the Bears a new set of downs at about the 2 (the Bears settled for a field goal).
  4. Talk about letting them play, the referees let the wide receivers and the defensive backs really go at it today. It was very physical.
  5. The Bears also spent the day dropping balls all over the field. Alshon Jeffery had a drop in the first quarter. He also had a big drop in over time. Chris Conte dropped a pick. Tony Fiammetta had a drop near the goal line in the second quarter. Brandon Marshall also dropped a first down in the second quarter. He dropped another (admittedly poor) pass in the fourth quarter. For the Ravens, Ed Dickson had a drop in the first quarter. Tandon Doss dropped a big pass that would have been a first down in the fourth quarter. They had the Bears off the field after stifling them on a third down in the fourth quarter only to be charged with an idiotic roughing the passer penalty with 7:30 left, giving the Bears a fresh set of downs.
  6. David Bass had a nice pick six. Jon Bostic had a nice interception near the end of the half which set up and eventual field goal.
  7. Kudos to all of those people who stuck around through trying circumstances to make a lot of noise in the fourth quarter to urge the Bears on.
  8. I loved watching the field crew out there trying to stomp down all of the divots in the field before the over time period. It was like trying to keep dry by catching individual drops the pouring rain.
  9. Most of the story of this game for me is told in the Miscellaneous section. I was happy with the fundamentals on defense as the Bears were in their gaps and their tackling was reasonably good. I was happy to see them win the turnover battle with some good plays. But they don’t have the talent on either side of the ball to be dropping passes and, especially, committing penalties all game. Offense is about getting all 11 guys to do their jobs and its hard to do that when you are shooting yourself in the foot play after play. They aren’t going to win many games doing this.
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