adam

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.

This is the run that seals the game. Again, Conte is posterized but even if he tackles Jackson at first contact it is still a 30 yarder to win. In this one, we are in the Nickel with only Briggs and Bostic at LB. Mundy is on the TE and shadowing him in motion. Bostic has the QB and contain on the left. Briggs has the other gap. As Allen rushes and seals the right edge, Briggs shoots the gap on the other side of the Center leaving a massive hole for Jackson to run through. Briggs flops in the backfield unblocked (#2).

Conte went almost sideways, you can see the hashmarks.

The pursuit. In #7 Fuller and Bostic both seem hesitant to tackle Dixon and run along side him for 15 yards and out of the blue from the other side of the field comes Peanut. Mundy and Houston still running to the ball. Peanut actually initiates contact and takes Dixon down. Who is not in frame? Briggs, who blew his assignment and didn't care to run down the field.

#4 Briggs now not even in frame, Mundy, Bostic, DL in pursuit. Houston and Paea being held on their shoulders clearly in #5. Conte our last hope..... Briggs makes one last cameo as Conte gets steamrolled.

As the play develops Briggs is undecided on #3 and is completely unaware of the ball carrier. On #4 it looks like Briggs is moving with Manuel, but Mundy realizes he doesn't have the ball. Too late.

I took a look as some important plays, went back and took screenshots to dissect and discuss the plays. This first one is easy, almost entirely on Briggs. Hard to fault and player, even Conte when a RB has 20 yards head start to run straight at you. Here are some pics showing the play: On #1 you can see the LBs in their correct gaps, and what looks like Briggs watching the handoff. However, on #2 he moves with Manuel leaving his gap wide open and there is Safety help creeping in for the contain on Manuel.

1. Coaching - abandoning the run, going to gimmicks on the 2nd drive when we destroyed them on the first one. Not calling more runs/draws/screens on 3rd and short. Defensive breakdowns or gap assignments main issues. Besides for the 2 long runs and 2 long catches, Buffalo didn't do much. 2. Execution - this is more like decision making. Also, running out a kick to the 15 does not help. Also, only punting 40 yards when you can kick 60 doesn't make sense either. 3. Bad luck - I don't know about Marshall's play having luck involved, the throw was high so he had to go up to snag it and just as he came down on both feet the ball was hit. 4. Poor Management - I agree, Safety should've been top offseason priority. Now we have other teams subs starting for us. Conte needs to be cut, we can't have our Safeties getting steamrolled by RBs and stiffarmed like that. Takeaways - 1. 8-8? When is our next win, which 8 games are those? Buffalo was the worst team we face all year and we lost. Our only wins look to be TB and DAL right now. We can potentially lose the other 13. 2. Learn from this? That doesn't make players younger. Briggs was arguably the worst player on the field yesterday. 3. At what record or how many losses in a row before Tucker is fired? I say 4, if we lose 4 straight and are 0-4 after losing to GB at home, Tucker will be gone. 4. How many more years do we have with Forte and Marshall in their primes, 1 or 2 at the most? This is not a rebuild year, playoffs or bust.

Brees and Cutler were only QBs with a QBR over 50.0 that lost. Rodgers, Luck, Foles, Brady were all below 50 in Week 1.

Seeing McCown look absolutely brutal yesterday, I would not compare Cutler to McCown. Cutler has Forte, Jeffery, Marshall and Bennett; McCown has Martin, Jackson, Evans, and Myers. So Cutler has slightly better weapons, but it is not a huge drop off. Looking at the INTs, the first one was is on Cutler, Bennett, or Marshall, but it should've been a huge gain as the 2x receivers had only Graham within 10 yards (and he intercepted it). The 2nd INT was the inexcusable one. He has to just throw it away, especially with that down and distance once he is out of the pocket. The Bills defense is much better than they are given credit for and we still had the 4th highest yards total in Week 1 (and 2 of the top 4 were ATL and NO in that shootout). 3rd Down conversions and turnovers were the difference in the game. Interesting note that the defense held Buffalo to 31-108 (3.5 YPC) excluding those two long runs. Also, on those two plays, it looks like Briggs was out of position on both. On the first one, he left his gap and followed Manuel who didn't have the ball, then on the Jackson run, he shot the wrong gap and was laying on his back in the backfield as Jackson ran untouched thru the line. Also, Allen was mugged on that play, I am surprised Buffalo was not called for holding on that play.

Just bottom of the roster fodder to replace Hayden? Maybe he won't get steamrolled or stiffarmed down the field.

Seemed like a desperation move with Peppers and Allen. Safety was always a bigger concern than DL or LB, and now the entire defense is a question mark. To me it has to be Tucker. They are almost always out of position.

They are not even close: Playoff Wins - Favre 13 - Cutler 1 Pro Bowls - Favre 11 - Cutler 1 Consecutive Games played - Favre 297 - Cutler - Not 297 30 TD Seasons - Favre 8 - Cutler 0 4,000 Yard Passing Season - Favre 6 - Cutler 1 QB Rec - Favre 186-112, Cutler - 56-49 Years with winning record - Favre 15, Cutler 2 Win% - Favre against Bears 64% (23-13), Cutler with the Bears 57% (39-29) > the worst part about this stat > Grossman 19-12 61% as Bears starter, Orton 21-12 65% as Bears starter. The Bears were 40-24 with Grossman/Orton, 1 more win and 5 less losses than Cutler alone. Cutler is more comparable to Jake Plummer or Ken O'Brien. He gets his stats (+300 yards today) but loses with turnovers.

3rd Downs tell the story, we were 5/12 but only 1 of those conversions was longer than 4 yards. Remarkably, 3 conversions were 3rd and 1, and one was 3rd and 4. The only one longer than that was a 3rd and 10 to Marshall for 15 yards. The other 7 we missed: 3rd and 10 - sacked, 3rd and 5 - incomplete, 3rd and 11 - incomplete, 3rd and 12 - 8 yd reception by Spurlock, 3rd and 1 - Interception, 3rd and 1 - incomplete, 3rd and 7 incomplete. That is sickening to me. We could not convert a damn thing on 3rd Down, and 2x were 3rd and 1's, that is inexcusable for a team with this many weapons. The offense is supposed to be the strength of this team and we can only muster 20 pts but also make 3x turnovers that turn into 13 pts for the Bills. Interesting, the Bills only scored twice after a punt or kickoff. Their second drive and the one in OT. All other points came off turnovers.

I agree on Hester, but McCown is not better than Cutler.