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Week Five: What We Learned About The Chicago Bears
Published: October 21, 2009
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The Chicago Bears game against the Atlanta Falcons was frustrating to say the least for Bears fans. On both sides of the ball the Bears seemed to do the same thing; just give it away.
All three phases of the Bears, however, decided to chip in on this loss.
Red Means Stop?
In four redzone trips, the Bears came away with zero points three times thanks to an interception by Jay Cutler, a fumble by Matt Forte, and a turnover on downs to end the game.
Turnovers shouldn’t happen at all, but certainly not in the redzone. If Cutler and Forte don’t turn the ball over then you’re looking at six points, in which case the Bears would have only needed a field goal to win in their final drive.
Aside From the Name, You Need Hands to Hold a Football
I’m not sure what pointy things were sticking out of the ball on Sunday night, but something must have been stabbing the Bears defenders in the hands. Twice the Bears failed to scoop up a fumble and the next play after one occurrence, Danieal Manning dropped an interception. Even the Bears two interceptions were fumbled.
However, even with the miscues and trouble handling the no-huddle offense of the Falcons, the defense played pretty well as a whole. The defensive line, however, was nowhere to be found for the second time in a row against the Falcons.
Matt Ryan was barely touched in the game and with the weak secondary of the Bears, any quarterback, let alone a very good one, is going to find an open receiver eventually. In two games against the Bears, Ryan has not been sacked.
The Bears defense, however, stopped Michael Turner for the second year in a row.
There is No Clever Way to Say, “The Bears offensive line sucks”
The Bears offensive line sucks.
Two huge false starts in the final drive, including one right before a fourth-and-one at the Falcons five. This, along with a holding call, along with absolutely no run blocking up the middle, along with the revolving door known as Frank Omiyale, leads to the declaration of defectiveness of the Bears offensive line.
Start Beekman over Omiyale any time soon?
Matt Forte had 23 yards on 15 carries. A running back can only go as far as his offensive line will allow him. However, the terrible run blocking of the offensive line is no excuse for two fumbles by Forte in the redzone, which are not going to help his already damaged psyche.
Cutler led the team in rushing with 34 yards and is now closing in on Forte.
Special as in Timmy from South Park Teams
The special teams was saved by a lucky interception off a tipped ball after giving the Falcons a first down for having twelve men on the field for a punt. The Falcons would most likely have gotten at least a field goal without the interception and essentially ended the game.
The special teams, however, were not saved after yielding a 62-yard return directly after the Bears had tied the game with a touchdown. The return led to the Michael Turner game-winning touchdown.
Brad Maynard should get some Pro Bowl recognition one of these years for being really, really good.
I Like My Ends Tight
Greg Olson and Desmond Clark were extremely effective against Atlanta. They combined for eight catches for 89 yards and a touchdown. It would be nice if this combination of tight ends took off after starting extremely slow and in Clark’s case, extremely injured.
The Bears out-gained the Falcons 373 yards to 253 yards, converted nine out of 16 third-down chances, held Turner to 30 yards on 13 carries and intercepted Ryan twice and lost.
If that isn’t giving the game away then I don’t know what is.
News and Notes
Pisa Tinoisamoa underwent an MRI exam Monday after re-injuring his right knee in Sunday night. He injured the same knee that held him out for three games. This could mean a return of Hunter Hillenmeyer or just going back to a linebacking crew of Jamar Williams, Nick Roach, Lance Briggs. Lets hope for the later.
When you have the chance, read the hilarity that is Chad Ochocinco on Twitter.
When did the world become so narcissistic that we believe people care about our random thoughts or what we are doing every hour? If you are going to tweet then tweet like Chad and make it hilarious.
Twitter is almost as bad as blogging…
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Week Three: What We Learned About the Chicago Bears
Published: September 30, 2009
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Bears fans really shouldn’t be too excited over this win. Yes, it was another nice showing by Jay Cutler to bring the Bears back from a deficit, but who did they beat?
They beat a bad Seahawks team wearing bad jerseys missing their best offensive player, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, and their best defensive player, linebacker Lofa Tatupu…barely, I may add.
Cutler Was Fantastic
Cutler completed 21 of 27 passes for 247 yards with three TDs, one interception, and a 126.4 passer rating. Besides the one interception inside the Seahawks’ 20 and one fumble, which really wasn’t his fault, Cutler was perfect.
Cutler also spread the ball out. Earl Bennett had four receptions for 80 yards, Devin Hester had five for 76 including a TD, Greg Olsen had five for 44 including a TD, Matt Forte had six for 40, and Johnny Knox had one for a seven-yard touchdown. The receivers, including Olsen and Forte, had a great game, giving Cutler different weapons to throw to.
Going to the Strip Club Usually Creates Regret
Charles Tillman is a great cornerback. He is a great cornerback because of his coverage, not because of his ability to strip the ball. Causing lots of fumbles means you allow a lot of receptions. As a cornerback, you’re not supposed to allow receptions, hence my hatred of this dependence on stripping the ball.
We saw that in what went from being a punt situation to giving the Seahawks a field goal try to handing the Seahawks a touchdown on Tillman’s missed tackle on Julius Jones, which turned into a 39-yard touchdown screen pass.
Nothing is more annoying than missed tackles. Wrap up, Bears.
Forte Was Better, but Not Great
Forte finished with 66 yards on the ground—unfortunately on 21 carries, so the average is still not there—and 40 yards receiving. This was his best game of the year, but still not that great. If that fumble in the red zone was not overturned, there is a good chance Forte’s confidence would be completely shot. It was an extremely close call that went the Bears’ way.
The offensive line continues to look bad, and adding three false starts to their résumé doesn’t help.
The Defense Stepped Up in the Second Half
The Bears had only caused one turnover in their first two-and-a-half games but forced two in the second half in Seahawks territory and, more importantly, only allowed six second-half points.
Danieal Manning stripped the ball from T.J. Houshmandzadeh, recovered by Adewale Ogunleye, which led to a Bears touchdown. Lance Briggs also had a diving interception, which led to a Bears field goal.
The defense proved they could make adjustments just as they did against the Steelers. Seneca Wallace and the Seahawks offense seemed to do whatever they wanted in the first half, but the Bears clearly made some changes and got to them in the second half.
Hunter Hillenmeyer looked awful. He was all over the place, and the Seahawks had the middle open all game. Nick Roach stepped up big after Hillenmeyer went down with a rib injury, forcing a Wallace interception from his own end zone and making the final defensive stop of the game on a pass to Jones on 4th-and-2.
The Bears Are Not Scoring Early
The Bears once again failed to score in the first quarter, which is leading to many heart attacks for Bears fans, seeing as they are usually in an early hole. The Bears can’t rely on late scoring forever.
I Jinxed Robbie Gould
After claiming I never think Robbie Gould is going to miss a field goal, Gould missed a field goal. I failed to mention the stipulation that I never think he is going to miss inside 50 yards. Outside 50 yards is not good as Gould territory, so I don’t hold missing a 53-yarder against him. I’ll take the blame for that one.
Saved By the Foot…Again
Olindo Mare missed two makeable field goals, a 43-yarder and a 34-yarder. These points proved to be huge seeing as the Bears won by six.
Overall, yes, it’s a win for the Bears, which is nice, but being the pessimistic Chicago fan (who knew there was such a thing?) I am, I have to bring up a couple notes about the Bears so far this year.
Can the Bears continually expect kickers on opposing teams to miss huge field goals? No.
Can the Bears routinely expect late-game comebacks? No.
Can the Bears keep winning with no run game? No.
Can the Bears hope to face better-looking jerseys? Hopefully yes.
Sitting at 2-1 is better than 0-3, but the Bears still have a lot of proving to do if we are to take them seriously as Super Bowl contenders.
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