adam

There are also reports that Briggs was out partying into Saturday morning, the day before opening day. I am sure he had some cobwebs in his head on Sunday from that all-nighter. He really needs to redeem himself this week.

Bostic has looked better and I didn't see any missed assignments from him. He is still more reactive than anticipating the plays, but hopefully that will come over time.

I am actually waiting for the Iron Mike call, it seems like the logical choice, especially mid-year.

By position: Cutler - 9th Forte - 7th Bennett - 2nd Jeffery - 12th Marshall - 62nd Overall: Offense - 6th Defense - 21st Special Teams - 15th http://www.footballoutsiders.com/ Projections: Playoffs - 31.5% Wins - 7.9

Fixed and maybe.

I am in the middle on Cutler, I don't have elite QB expectations of him. He is not Brady, Manning, Rodgers, Brees, Luck, Wilson, etc. He is in the 2nd to 3rd tier of QBs. The first INT, Bennett admitted to fault saying he ran the wrong route and was supposed to cut it off. Cutler is throwing to a spot and not to a stationary target. No excuse on the 2nd one, and he took the blame and knew it was all on him. What else does he need to see? Cutler is such a polarizing figure it is crazy. I am not in love with him nor do I think he sucks. I am sure you were not saying any of this after the first drive. What 4-5 plays, 80 yards, and a TD? That is what this offense is capable of. Like I said in the other thread, Cutler has to shoulder most of the blame for this loss, though Briggs needs to take some responsibility on the defensive side for his abortion of a game. Special Teams did absolutely nothing, our average starting line of scrimmage was 19.33 (worse than taking all touchbacks). Another cool one, guess how many 3 and outs we had? Zero, only Seattle matched that number. Red Zone stats, 2/3 TDs and 1 FG. So for Cutler, it comes down specifically to the 4th Quarter INT. He doesn't throw that one, we win, and no one is talking about how he sucks.

You are correct, and Cutler did have a better QBR than either of them. However, Cutler's mistakes seem to be at the most critical juncture of the game: http://regressing.deadspin.com/jay-cutler-...-wee-1632009572

Followed by Smith, Rodgers, and Newton. By Week 5 we should have a pretty good handle on mobile QBs, to follow with less mobile QB's Ryan, Tannehill, and Brady before the bye. What really scares me is that we have a realistic chance to go 0-8 as much as we do 6-2 into the bye. Odds say we will end somewhere in the middle, but with a loss already in a game we were favored in, 3-5 is probably the most realistic projection.

Olé

So going into this game, it is nice to see Trestman getting the team there on Friday instead of Saturday. I like the extra day to acclimate and fine tune the game plan. Garza going down may be a blessing in disguise because De La Puente played great. Mills still seems to be the biggest issue on the line based on what I saw last week. This game is very concerning as SF has more weapons than Buffalo and a better Defense. Kaepernick is much better passing and running than Manuel; Crabtree, Johnson, Boldin, and Davis are a tough set of receivers to defend. There defense is weaker without Smith, Bowman, and Whitner, but still very good. We have too many weapons to not keep this game interesting. We have to constantly pressure Kaepernick, contain his runs, and take care of the ball. Winning the turnover battle will help.

lol, Conte definitely is the punching bag this week. It would've been nice for him to make one of those stops though (Dixon or Jackson).

Talk about a bad week, I hope he pulls his head out of his arse. He was almost singlehandedly responsible for 3 huge plays for Buffalo. The 2 long runs and the Spiller TD, Briggs was out of position more than McClellin ever was. Now that is bad. On the Spiller TD, he was biting on the fake and could not recover in time which ended as a super easy TD for the Bills. I really hope he turns it around. Maybe he did miss some preparation for the game when he was opening his restaurant.

I believe Holmes got called for the penalty, which is obvious. The play seemed to be a quick hitter (based on Holmes immediate actions to block), but did not materialize. Looking thru these frames again. It looks like Mills doesn't lock his guy up and is actually reaching out to block him in the 3rd pic. Also, Bennett was also blocking at first, which then says this was exclusively for Marshall or Morgan.

Also: http://regressing.deadspin.com/jay-cutler-...-wee-1632009572

For Cutler, he did play decent for the most part. Buffalo has a pretty good front 4. However, just like Stafford, Romo, Rivers, Eli, Flacco, etc. All these QB's can put up big numbers like Cutler, but they make 1-2 boneheaded plays that the elite QBs rarely do. We just have to understand that is who we have. A top 15 QB, who is arguably the best QB this franchise has ever had (physically gifted). At least he took the blame for the INT and said he should've thrown it away or ran with it.

Dix was posterized as much as Conte.

This frame tells a lot. We know the outcome, but in this split second Morgan comes back into the frame placing all 4 receivers within 7 yards of each other. That means all of their defenders plus the 2 that were defending the Cutler run were very close to the play. Morgan should've went deep down the middle to pull the safety out of the play, and that would've left Marshall open over the top on the sideline or Bennett wide open up the middle. Morgan's route seems to compress everything. Also, how long was Holmes going to hold his block? I would've like to have seen him leave his block and make himself available to Cutler. In the end, 95% on Cutler, 5% on play call as clumping up the receivers makes for very small windows to pass in. Spread them out. The initial play fake was actually decent and with 10 in the box, this had big play potential written all over it. My question is, why have all the routes end up so close.

Bennett still calling for the ball (frantically), but Williams is closing fast. Cutler looks locked into Bennett, and it is hard to see how he can't see the 300 lbs man in white 35 feet away, but it is possible that the OLineman is blocking his LOS. Looking at his shoulders and hips, he is aiming behind Bennett at this time. Cutler lets it rip and zips a pass that is actually behind Bennett (the last place you want it). He does have to throw it over a defender and with 5 defenders in the frame, he would've been better off to throw it away or run (hindsight is 20/20).

In the top frame, one DB peels off and drops back into secondary, Williams also starts back towards the action while the rest of the players literally stand there. You can still see Holmes wrestling the defender. In the 2nd frame, Bennett and Marshall both calling for the ball. The best place for this ball is out of bounds are at the 29 between Bennett and Marshall.

Interesting to see Holmes already blocking/holding CB at the bottom of the frames. To me this means it was supposed to be a quick hitting play. Also, Cutler is looking to throw almost immediately, but it looks like the receivers are not getting enough separation or are not deep enough. You can also see Morgan running out of the first frame and is guarded by the deep safety.

Here ya go, sorry delay. Buffalo has 10 defenders in the box, Bears have 2 receivers to the left, and Bennett and Holmes on the right. A fake toss to the left with OLine shifting that way. 10 defenders within 4 yards of LOS.

I just watched the game a few times on NFL Rewind and these 3 plays stood out, even more so than Cutler's other INT which was pretty blatant right to the DLineman.

This is where the confusions sets in. In #5 you can see the huge gap over the LB's and that Marshall and Bennett are guarded by one defender (Graham). There are a couple of scenarios, Bennett was supposed to cut the route off, Marshall was supposed to do an Deep In after Bennett cleared the DB or Cutler underthrew Bennett. With it being 1st and 10, a 10-12 yard throw makes the most sense, and any further of a throw would put Bennett in on the Safety who is breaking in. To me, Cutler saw the gap but armed the throw and either didn't get enough on it or someone missed the call. This could've been a huge play if Marshall or Bennett caught it and only had one defender. Very hard to tell who was at fault, but it seems correctable.

#1 Trips right, Jeffery stops and actually drifts back. Forte goes up the gut and into the flats. Marshall and Bennett stay in routes. Interesting to see the defenders bite on Jeffery and Forte and leave Marshall and Bennett. Great pocket throughout. I would've like to have seen Forte turn the other way and spread the defenders out more. In all 4 pics, Cutler is zeroed in on Bennett/Marshall. In #4 you can see he is almost "all arming" the ball.

Two things to note on these pics. First Briggs looks like a dead cock roach and was just as effective as one lying on his back in the fetal. He shot the wrong gap and there was no one at the 2nd level until Conte who was playing 20 yards deep. The 2nd part in the box is how bad Allen was held a the point of attack with no call. He attempted to get back into the hole and had no shot as he was mugged by the LT. Both of these big runs had some pretty blatant holds (around shoulders) and huge Briggs mistakes.