Game Summary:
That was another epic failure across the board. We stay competitive for about a quarter, just like last week, then the wheels come off. It was 7-7 in the 2nd quarter with 1:14 left, and DAL has a 3rd and 15 from their 47. We somehow allow an 18 yard pass to Witten for a first down, and a few plays later, they score and go into the locker room 14-7.
Then we come out of halftime, we get the kickoff, after a decent return by Mariani, on the 3rd play Forte fumbles after a long gain. Drive killer. Game over. 3 plays later, another TD. So what do we do on the next drive? A 3 and out with a penalty that negated a first down. Then MegaDork O'Donnell gets off one of his massive 32 yard punts and if not for a Dallas penalty, they would've returned on for a TD. It didn't matter, 4 plays later DAL scores again to a wide open TE in the back of the end zone after giving up a 43 yard bomb to Bryant (why would we guard him). So in a matter of minutes we are down 28-7. On the next drive, we get the expected penalty on the kickoff pinning us back deep (thanks Special Teams). On this drive, we get a first down (woo hoo), by penalty, and then we go 3 and out. O'Crapnel gets off a 31 yard bomb of a punt pinning DAL back to their 32. The defense does better this time and makes DAL have 6 plays before scoring again. Now we are down 35-7 and it is officially over. So with the game over and no pressure to perform, the offense decides to start playing and actually scores in 2 minutes. However, not to be outdone, the Special Teams allows an Extra Point to get blocked. DAL overloaded our right side and we did nothing to stop them. They had 2 free runners. Pitiful. We then fail on an onside kick, give DAL a short field, and then allow another 40 yard play to Murray. We hold DAL to a FG (small victories) and are now down 38-13. With 12 minutes left, and us in a semi-hurry up, we take 5 minutes off the clock and eventually score making it 38-21 (making a 2pt conversion). On the next onside kick we actually recover (amazing). 4 plays later we score again, but because of the DAL FG, we are 3 scores behind anyway and kick the XP. Now down 38-28 and 6 minutes left, we have zero faith in our defense to get a stop. So we try another onside kick and give DAL another short field. We immediately give up a 20+ yard run to Murray (even though we knew they were running). They burn off some more clock, but we hold them to another FG, keeping it to within 2 scores with 3:41 remaining. So we get a decent return from Mariani again, march down to the DAL 10 yard line with 1:29 left. At this point Cutler had been pretty good with the ball all night, and then bad Jay appears, throwing a drive/game/season ending INT in the endzone into double coverage, underthrown, to Josh freaking Morgan. Not Alshon Jeffery, Matt Forte, or Marty Bennett. It was a bad pass. We still would've lost, but it is plays like that, that can change a season.
Marshall left with a broken back/rib injury after getting knee'd in the back (don't know how that is legal), and Bennett got his ankle rolled up on but kept limping out there. I really give him credit.
Cutler's entire night will be judged by that one stupid INT, is that not his entire career or what? Forte was not elusive at all, he broke like 1 or 2 tackles all night and I believe one of those was on his fumble. Marshall made an awesome one handed catch and then followed that up with a clutch 4th down catch when he got hurt. Bennett was targeted 15 times and was a machine. Jeffery got going after BMarsh went down and had a sweet TD catch.
The defense is the worst I have ever seen a Bears team. It is worse than last year. Our LB's were in the wrong gap every play. They looked horrible and uncoached. They had no clue what they were doing. Conte is not a starting Safety in this league. Whoever defended him before, watch this game. He is horrible. He was late to every play and got overpowered by Rudy to allow a TD, and then couldn't time his jump to defend a ball on a 2nd play. The defensive line for the most part had no pressure. Allen is a joke and over the hill. I don't think he got off his block once. The LT had him locked down every play. The Corners played ok, but they don't seem to know the situation and for the most part the receivers were open on every play. Whatever Zone Failure we are playing is embarrassing. It almost seems like a practice where all the defenders are just lined up in a spot and they don't move. The Special Teams was truly special. O'Donnell has to be off roids, because he can barely crack 40 yards and got one partially blocked. We also had a blocked XP, which is tough to allow, even if you were trying. Our return game had the token penalties that took away any positives, but I don't mind Mariani back there.
The coaching staff is horrible and there is zero emotion. I actually hate our coaches now. They all just stand on the sideline like they are not even part of the game. I see Peanut doing more coaching on the sidelines than Tucker. Emery, next time don't hire any coach from a bottom feeder, if you get another chance.
Another concerning thing about Cutler, the announcers mentioned how winning is contagious and how Cutler mentioned "so is losing". Almost like once they start losing, they expect to lose. That is the wrong answer. If that indeed is the case, he needs to go. No way can we have a leader on the team with that attitude. Everyone should be pissed as hell that they lost and holding others accountable.
