Game Observations

[adam]

I re-watched the condensed version of the game this morning and came up with these observations:

 

1. Cutler: Made crisp decisions with the ball, threw them away when he had nothing (did not force), was making good animated fakes, moved well in the pocket and away from pressure, and overall had one of his best games as a Bear. He was also pretty pumped up after a few of the TDs. The only drawback was the telecast never showed him looking at a tablet or talking with coaches.

 

2. Young LBs: Sharpton and Greene both played a helluva game. They were in the frame on almost every single defensive play, regardless if they were making the tackle or not. Jones was probably the worst of out the three, as he accounted for a few of the Falcons bigger plays. I would love to see more Sharpton and Greene.

 

3. Defensive Line: Was very active, getting movement and pressure. They also had some batted balls. Willie Young is a beast, and I have to imagine teams will have to start accounting for him.

 

4. Best WR Duo: I am going out on limb here and saying Marshall/Jeffery are arguably the best WR pair in the league, ever, when considering all-around play. Maybe not over a career because they haven't played together that long, but when it is all said and done, these two have at least made a case. Not only can they make huge catches, but they block better than any pair of WR's I can recall. Then you add Bennett into the mix, and it is hard to beat this trio.

 

5. Forte: He has really stepped up his game the last few after some sub-par outings. He is running harder, and is still as smooth as silk. We have to figure out how to make the screens a little less predictable as one was stopped for a loss and another was a near loss. Other than that, another great outing from one of the best in the league. Finally got some rushing TDs.

 

6. DB's: Fuller is already a Superstar. What a ridiculous pick by Emery. Julio Jones was targeted 12 times and only caught 4 balls. Fuller also stripped him once which he ended up recovering. Hurst with an INT, and both Hurst and Mundy with some hard hits, which seemed to make the Falcons receivers less willing to go over the middle? It seemed that way, and there were a lot of drops.

 

7. Special Teams: Should be the unspecial teams. Our coverage team played a lot better this game, but the return game is horrible. Our starting field position was: 20/17/39/21/7/14/20/13/35. All three that were past the 20 were fair catches. Not a single KO return went past the 20. Our average was the 20.6 (that includes the punts). That is horrible, most teams start at their 35. This has to change.

 

8. Coaching: Great to see no 2nd half setback, we went into half with the lead and won the game. That is about all you can ask. I feel like we got a little conservative a little early with 9 mins left in the game. I understand the risk vs reward was probably high so they figured to play it safe. Defensive scheme against a really good offense shows promise. We just need to crack the code on our return game.

['TD']

I re-watched the condensed version of the game this morning and came up with these observations:

6. DB's: Fuller is already a Superstar. What a ridiculous pick by Emery. Julio Jones was targeted 12 times and only caught 4 balls. Fuller also stripped him once which he ended up recovering. Hurst with an INT, and both Hurst and Mundy with some hard hits, which seemed to make the Falcons receivers less willing to go over the middle? It seemed that way, and there were a lot of drops.

 

I think Jennings needs a mention so far this season. He's been invisible, in a good way. His name hasn't been mentioned much, so he must be excellent in coverage this year.

[CrackerDog]

I think Jennings needs a mention so far this season. He's been invisible, in a good way. His name hasn't been mentioned much, so he must be excellent in coverage this year.

 

It was shocking, SHOCKING I TELL YOU, to see Conte injured in the game. That NEVER happens.

 

Good game summary Adam!

[madlithuanian]

Great read.

 

You have taken the baton from Noots!

 

I re-watched the condensed version of the game this morning and came up with these observations:

 

1. Cutler: Made crisp decisions with the ball, threw them away when he had nothing (did not force), was making good animated fakes, moved well in the pocket and away from pressure, and overall had one of his best games as a Bear. He was also pretty pumped up after a few of the TDs. The only drawback was the telecast never showed him looking at a tablet or talking with coaches.

 

2. Young LBs: Sharpton and Greene both played a helluva game. They were in the frame on almost every single defensive play, regardless if they were making the tackle or not. Jones was probably the worst of out the three, as he accounted for a few of the Falcons bigger plays. I would love to see more Sharpton and Greene.

 

3. Defensive Line: Was very active, getting movement and pressure. They also had some batted balls. Willie Young is a beast, and I have to imagine teams will have to start accounting for him.

 

4. Best WR Duo: I am going out on limb here and saying Marshall/Jeffery are arguably the best WR pair in the league, ever, when considering all-around play. Maybe not over a career because they haven't played together that long, but when it is all said and done, these two have at least made a case. Not only can they make huge catches, but they block better than any pair of WR's I can recall. Then you add Bennett into the mix, and it is hard to beat this trio.

 

5. Forte: He has really stepped up his game the last few after some sub-par outings. He is running harder, and is still as smooth as silk. We have to figure out how to make the screens a little less predictable as one was stopped for a loss and another was a near loss. Other than that, another great outing from one of the best in the league. Finally got some rushing TDs.

 

6. DB's: Fuller is already a Superstar. What a ridiculous pick by Emery. Julio Jones was targeted 12 times and only caught 4 balls. Fuller also stripped him once which he ended up recovering. Hurst with an INT, and both Hurst and Mundy with some hard hits, which seemed to make the Falcons receivers less willing to go over the middle? It seemed that way, and there were a lot of drops.

 

7. Special Teams: Should be the unspecial teams. Our coverage team played a lot better this game, but the return game is horrible. Our starting field position was: 20/17/39/21/7/14/20/13/35. All three that were past the 20 were fair catches. Not a single KO return went past the 20. Our average was the 20.6 (that includes the punts). That is horrible, most teams start at their 35. This has to change.

 

8. Coaching: Great to see no 2nd half setback, we went into half with the lead and won the game. That is about all you can ask. I feel like we got a little conservative a little early with 9 mins left in the game. I understand the risk vs reward was probably high so they figured to play it safe. Defensive scheme against a really good offense shows promise. We just need to crack the code on our return game.

 

[AZ54]

I re-watched the condensed version of the game this morning and came up with these observations:

 

1. Cutler: Made crisp decisions with the ball, threw them away when he had nothing (did not force), was making good animated fakes, moved well in the pocket and away from pressure, and overall had one of his best games as a Bear. He was also pretty pumped up after a few of the TDs. The only drawback was the telecast never showed him looking at a tablet or talking with coaches.

 

2. Young LBs: Sharpton and Greene both played a helluva game. They were in the frame on almost every single defensive play, regardless if they were making the tackle or not. Jones was probably the worst of out the three, as he accounted for a few of the Falcons bigger plays. I would love to see more Sharpton and Greene.

 

3. Defensive Line: Was very active, getting movement and pressure. They also had some batted balls. Willie Young is a beast, and I have to imagine teams will have to start accounting for him.

 

4. Best WR Duo: I am going out on limb here and saying Marshall/Jeffery are arguably the best WR pair in the league, ever, when considering all-around play. Maybe not over a career because they haven't played together that long, but when it is all said and done, these two have at least made a case. Not only can they make huge catches, but they block better than any pair of WR's I can recall. Then you add Bennett into the mix, and it is hard to beat this trio.

 

5. Forte: He has really stepped up his game the last few after some sub-par outings. He is running harder, and is still as smooth as silk. We have to figure out how to make the screens a little less predictable as one was stopped for a loss and another was a near loss. Other than that, another great outing from one of the best in the league. Finally got some rushing TDs.

 

6. DB's: Fuller is already a Superstar. What a ridiculous pick by Emery. Julio Jones was targeted 12 times and only caught 4 balls. Fuller also stripped him once which he ended up recovering. Hurst with an INT, and both Hurst and Mundy with some hard hits, which seemed to make the Falcons receivers less willing to go over the middle? It seemed that way, and there were a lot of drops.

 

7. Special Teams: Should be the unspecial teams. Our coverage team played a lot better this game, but the return game is horrible. Our starting field position was: 20/17/39/21/7/14/20/13/35. All three that were past the 20 were fair catches. Not a single KO return went past the 20. Our average was the 20.6 (that includes the punts). That is horrible, most teams start at their 35. This has to change.

 

8. Coaching: Great to see no 2nd half setback, we went into half with the lead and won the game. That is about all you can ask. I feel like we got a little conservative a little early with 9 mins left in the game. I understand the risk vs reward was probably high so they figured to play it safe. Defensive scheme against a really good offense shows promise. We just need to crack the code on our return game.

 

I agree on Fuller, maybe not a superstar yet, but he's going to be a very good player for a long time. When we played the Packers we had the CBs sit back in a soft zone and it killed us. Fast forward to Atlanta and we allow Jennings and Fuller to man up on the corners while bringing pressure up the middle. It worked because Fuller is capable of staying with the 2nd best WR in the game. I suspect he's capable of staying with Calvin Johnson too. This great result went quietly un-noticed by almost everyone in the media. It won't stay that way for long.

[Mongo3451]

I agree with most here that special teams is in desparate need of improvement. They know this, but are having a hard time because the bodies they were counting on to progress are now thrust into starting roles due to injuries, thus giving them more pressing things to learn and practice. This sort of thing happens with the turnover we have experienced the last couple of years. My expectation is that they continue to get better as the seasons goes on and make a huge jump next year, as we continue to purge older vets and add youth and speed to both sides of the ball.

[CrackerDog]

I agree with most here that special teams is in desparate need of improvement. They know this, but are having a hard time because the bodies they were counting on to progress are now thrust into starting roles due to injuries, thus giving them more pressing things to learn and practice. This sort of thing happens with the turnover we have experienced the last couple of years. My expectation is that they continue to get better as the seasons goes on and make a huge jump next year, as we continue to purge older vets and add youth and speed to both sides of the ball.

 

Interesting angle I hadn't considered. I'd still fire Joey D immediately but you have a point.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

Interesting angle I hadn't considered. I'd still fire Joey D immediately but you have a point.

No. That is just another potential excuse to give Joey D time. The penalties we have made are just absurd and Emery has focused on bringing in special teams players during his tenure here. While injuries play some factor in the deal, multiple people have indicated we run one of the most difficult and complex special teams schemes that anyone has ever seen. This is for a unit that typically will see a lot of turnover due to injuries (in the NFL every team suffers from injuries and their ST units have to deal with it). In no world should a special teams unit's schemes being excessively complex given the types of turnover that is TO BE expected in special teams.

 

What we have seen over the past year and a half under Joey D is down right embarrassing. I am not one to throw out a lot of extremes or at least I don't believe I am, however, and to be fair I've been saying this since about week 5 of last year, but I have never seen a stupider worse ran special teams unit in my life and for a full season that was while having Devin Hester and Robbie Gould, who should make almost any special teams coach look decent. It is inexcusable how bad we are from our 3rd phase of the game and how much it kills us. We get destroyed in the field position battle week in and week out and it not only hurts our defense but it hurts our offense as well and I think it plays a large part into why we have had so many yards offensively but not as many points (as we have consistently had to work with long fields).

 

I need both hands and probably feet to count how many times this season (through 6 weeks) that we have backed ourselves between the 0-19 yard line, often times due to us making a penalty and further negating our field position. We honestly would be a better unit if we just stood there and let the other team punt and just had one guy fair catch every time with no one trying to block. I would presume, when you add in penalty yards, we would have a net negative return yards which is just absurdly pathetic.

 

Note: According to footballoutsiders, we are ranked 30th in average starting field position per drive (through Week 5). It will likely be worse through week 6 as our average starting field position was very poor against the Falcons. This is largely driven by our poor special teams and is kind of interesting given the fact that in the Panther game we had a couple turnovers that gave us very short fields yet we still rank this poorly. Also, from the defensive perspective, we rank 31st in average starting field position per drive. Again, much to do with our special teams unit, especially since, contrary to popular belief, we rank right around the league average in turnovers / game.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

No. That is just another potential excuse to give Joey D time. The penalties we have made are just absurd and Emery has focused on bringing in special teams players during his tenure here. While injuries play some factor in the deal, multiple people have indicated we run one of the most difficult and complex special teams schemes that anyone has ever seen. This is for a unit that typically will see a lot of turnover due to injuries (in the NFL every team suffers from injuries and their ST units have to deal with it). In no world should a special teams unit's schemes being excessively complex given the types of turnover that is TO BE expected in special teams.

 

What we have seen over the past year and a half under Joey D is down right embarrassing. I am not one to throw out a lot of extremes or at least I don't believe I am, however, and to be fair I've been saying this since about week 5 of last year, but I have never seen a stupider worse ran special teams unit in my life and for a full season that was while having Devin Hester and Robbie Gould, who should make almost any special teams coach look decent. It is inexcusable how bad we are from our 3rd phase of the game and how much it kills us. We get destroyed in the field position battle week in and week out and it not only hurts our defense but it hurts our offense as well and I think it plays a large part into why we have had so many yards offensively but not as many points (as we have consistently had to work with long fields).

 

I need both hands and probably feet to count how many times this season (through 6 weeks) that we have backed ourselves between the 0-19 yard line, often times due to us making a penalty and further negating our field position. We honestly would be a better unit if we just stood there and let the other team punt and just had one guy fair catch every time with no one trying to block. I would presume, when you add in penalty yards, we would have a net negative return yards which is just absurdly pathetic.

 

Note: According to footballoutsiders, we are ranked 30th in average starting field position per drive (through Week 5). It will likely be worse through week 6 as our average starting field position was very poor against the Falcons. This is largely driven by our poor special teams and is kind of interesting given the fact that in the Panther game we had a couple turnovers that gave us very short fields yet we still rank this poorly. Also, from the defensive perspective, we rank 31st in average starting field position per drive. Again, much to do with our special teams unit, especially since, contrary to popular belief, we rank right around the league average in turnovers / game.

Just think about that. That is so detrimental the impact our 3rd phase is having on our team. We are giving our offense a long field to work with while giving our defense a very short field to defend. It is downright pathetic and to rank that low in both areas is just absolutely putting us in a horrendous position. You think about the slim margin of error in a few of our games and it no doubt could have been significantly different if our special teams unit was even league average.

[CrackerDog]

Just think about that. That is so detrimental the impact our 3rd phase is having on our team. We are giving our offense a long field to work with while giving our defense a very short field to defend. It is downright pathetic and to rank that low in both areas is just absolutely putting us in a horrendous position. You think about the slim margin of error in a few of our games and it no doubt could have been significantly different if our special teams unit was even league average.

 

It's glaring. And if it isn't coaching, we best figure it out. I root for us to take a knee on every kickoff! And I think we still ended up starting from the 10 on one of those last weekend! Maybe that was two weeks ago...

 

Hell, you didn't even mention the blocked extra point! The Bears ST blows across the board. BLOWS.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

It's glaring. And if it isn't coaching, we best figure it out. I root for us to take a knee on every kickoff! And I think we still ended up starting from the 10 on one of those last weekend! Maybe that was two weeks ago...

 

Hell, you didn't even mention the blocked extra point! The Bears ST blows across the board. BLOWS.

On an unrelated sidenote, how bad are the various reporters covering the Bears that they aren't spending more time talking about how dismal the unit is. Instead of wasting all this time complaining about Jay, we should be talking about an entire unit of the football field that has consistently performed horrifically for the past 22 games going back to the start of last season.

[adam]

I agree with the ST coverage, it is crazy. I guess it is not flashy enough.

 

The only team with a winning record with a worse ST than us is the Lions, but they also have the #1 defense, so there is some balance there. We have the 14th ranked offense, the 8th ranked defense, and the 28th ranked ST.

[ParkerBear7]

It's glaring. And if it isn't coaching, we best figure it out. I root for us to take a knee on every kickoff! And I think we still ended up starting from the 10 on one of those last weekend! Maybe that was two weeks ago...

 

Hell, you didn't even mention the blocked extra point! The Bears ST blows across the board. BLOWS.

 

 

Yeah, this unit is so bad that even if the returner takes a knee someone will get flagged for holding pushing us back to the 10 yd line. I don't understand why Joe de Camillis has a job, Dallas ST. sucked and he comes here and now the Bears go from first to worst.

[Mongo3451]

No. That is just another potential excuse to give Joey D time.

Just so we're clear, that is not my opinion at all. I'm not saying we will be good will Joe D, just will get better.(poor would be a great inprovement) I also don't think bringing in ST talent has been a huge priority.(not like JA) Agree with the rest of your post. And Joe D would have been fired last year were it up to me.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

I agree with the ST coverage, it is crazy. I guess it is not flashy enough.

 

The only team with a winning record with a worse ST than us is the Lions, but they also have the #1 defense, so there is some balance there. We have the 14th ranked offense, the 8th ranked defense, and the 28th ranked ST.

And their ST is more related to having horrific kicking (which I put less blame on the coach) and in theory they solved that with Matt Prater. Albeit, Prater did have two misses in his first game but he's proven to be one of the elite kickers in the game. In all other phases, they actually have a solid ST.