Bears vs Lions

[adam]

The Good:

1. Nice to see Alshon back, 8-147, 18.4 AVG, and a TD is a nice 1st game back.

 

The OK:

1. Cutler threw for 353, and looked good most of the game, but made a huge mistake in the Red Zone on that INT (at least the INT wasn't thrown to Bennett). With a FG on that drive, we win the game in regulation. He overthrew Forte on a guaranteed huge play, and didn't have the best accuracy at times, but more of his incompletions were due to drops than they were bad passes.

 

2. The offense scored 34, but left way too many points on the field. Gould kicked 3 FG's under 30 yards, so we potentially left 12 pts off the board there. Forte and the run game couldn't get anything going and his 89 yards on 27 touches is nothing to write home about. Langford had the one nice screen pass but otherwise only gained 10 yards on 5 rushes. Wilson only had 2 catches. Long had some uncharacteristic penalties after some solid play the last few weeks. I didn't hear much about Leno or Grasu, so I am assuming they had decent games.

 

2. The Special Teams - for how bad they have been lately, they did not allow any ridiculous returns, created 2 turnovers on punts, and Gould was 4-4 on FGs. I expect O'Donnell to kick better indoors, especially when he is known for huge punts. Now the worst play of the game on ST was the missed fake punt which undoes a lot of their good. How could you not be ready for that or at least play to defend against one? When special teams only accounts for 10-20 plays a game, you should be able to perform at a higher level than we are right now. Mariani didn't have a bad game, but he had a chance to advance the punt in OT when he caught it on the 22 with 10 yards of space, yet he literally gained 0 yards and didn't do the offense any favors there.

 

The Bad (this will be long):

1. The defense just looked bad overall all game. Our coverage was horrible, and I don't know why any of our guys don't turn to look for the ball, ever. That TD to Tim Wright was bad, and I didn't realize Lance Moore was actually an NFL WR anymore, but McManis changed that. The front got no pressure and McPhee's late hit on Stafford extended their drive. To me our defense comes down to scheme and talent. We are in a new scheme and the talent level is not high enough to play it and we don't have some guys in natural positions. Still clearly a work in progress. What is alarming to me is the number of big plays we gave up. Coming into this game, I think we had only given up 1 play over 30 yards. Today we gave up 4. When your top 7 in tackles has McManis, Reynolds, and Jones-Quartley in it, you know you have issues. Backwards Hat Stafford threw for 405 yards and 4 TDs on us. Grinder rests.....

 

2. Bennett had a terrible game and had multiple drops. He only had one or two nice plays, but with 11 targets, he has to be more productive.

 

3. Coaching - a lot of blame to go around here. Fox had horrible clock management near the end of the game, and Gase got ultra conservative with the lead and Alshon Jeffery without a target on that 3 and out in the 4th killed us. Also, his play calling in the red zone is Trestmanesque, I don't know what he is doing and I don't think he does either. He had multiple drives that were awesome where he had new plays and formations that kept Detroit on their toes, but the Red Zone can't be overlooked. The Special Teams coach should be fired on principal as that fake punt alone.

 

4. Officials - quite possibly the worst officiated game I have ever witnessed. We had every variety of blown calls you can ever imagine go against us. We had an INT overturned into a TD for Detroit, a phantom face mask penalty on Acho that extended a drive, an overturned catch on Royal (which would be a catch if Tate's was), then a review on a close measurement in OT on the Bears but not one on the Lions on the next drive. Then in plain view of the QB rolling out, Willie Young is clearly held as he tries to close on Stafford (which gave him extra time to make the long throw). McManis was picked in the middle of the field on a long pass to Moore. I could go on and on. We won the turnover battle 3-1 and the sack battle 2-1 and still lost. To me this points somewhat to other factors. With a score this close, the officials gave Detroit just enough to allow them to squeak out a win (payback for their blown call in Seattle?).

 

All in all a completely deflating game going into the bye. If we win, we go in 3-3 and a lighter schedule awaits in the last 10 games. A loss and we are 2-4 and essentially playing out the next 10. We would have to win 8 of our next 10 to have a shot at the playoffs. With this defense, that is hard to see.

[madlithuanian]

Well said. I agree.

 

The Good:

1. Nice to see Alshon back, 8-147, 18.4 AVG, and a TD is a nice 1st game back.

 

The OK:

1. Cutler threw for 353, and looked good most of the game, but made a huge mistake in the Red Zone on that INT (at least the INT wasn't thrown to Bennett). With a FG on that drive, we win the game in regulation. He overthrew Forte on a guaranteed huge play, and didn't have the best accuracy at times, but more of his incompletions were due to drops than they were bad passes.

 

2. The offense scored 34, but left way too many points on the field. Gould kicked 3 FG's under 30 yards, so we potentially left 12 pts off the board there. Forte and the run game couldn't get anything going and his 89 yards on 27 touches is nothing to write home about. Langford had the one nice screen pass but otherwise only gained 10 yards on 5 rushes. Wilson only had 2 catches. Long had some uncharacteristic penalties after some solid play the last few weeks. I didn't hear much about Leno or Grasu, so I am assuming they had decent games.

 

2. The Special Teams - for how bad they have been lately, they did not allow any ridiculous returns, created 2 turnovers on punts, and Gould was 4-4 on FGs. I expect O'Donnell to kick better indoors, especially when he is known for huge punts. Now the worst play of the game on ST was the missed fake punt which undoes a lot of their good. How could you not be ready for that or at least play to defend against one? When special teams only accounts for 10-20 plays a game, you should be able to perform at a higher level than we are right now. Mariani didn't have a bad game, but he had a chance to advance the punt in OT when he caught it on the 22 with 10 yards of space, yet he literally gained 0 yards and didn't do the offense any favors there.

 

The Bad (this will be long):

1. The defense just looked bad overall all game. Our coverage was horrible, and I don't know why any of our guys don't turn to look for the ball, ever. That TD to Tim Wright was bad, and I didn't realize Lance Moore was actually an NFL WR anymore, but McManis changed that. The front got no pressure and McPhee's late hit on Stafford extended their drive. To me our defense comes down to scheme and talent. We are in a new scheme and the talent level is not high enough to play it and we don't have some guys in natural positions. Still clearly a work in progress. What is alarming to me is the number of big plays we gave up. Coming into this game, I think we had only given up 1 play over 30 yards. Today we gave up 4. When your top 7 in tackles has McManis, Reynolds, and Jones-Quartley in it, you know you have issues. Backwards Hat Stafford threw for 405 yards and 4 TDs on us. Grinder rests.....

 

2. Bennett had a terrible game and had multiple drops. He only had one or two nice plays, but with 11 targets, he has to be more productive.

 

3. Coaching - a lot of blame to go around here. Fox had horrible clock management near the end of the game, and Gase got ultra conservative with the lead and Alshon Jeffery without a target on that 3 and out in the 4th killed us. Also, his play calling in the red zone is Trestmanesque, I don't know what he is doing and I don't think he does either. He had multiple drives that were awesome where he had new plays and formations that kept Detroit on their toes, but the Red Zone can't be overlooked. The Special Teams coach should be fired on principal as that fake punt alone.

 

4. Officials - quite possibly the worst officiated game I have ever witnessed. We had every variety of blown calls you can ever imagine go against us. We had an INT overturned into a TD for Detroit, a phantom face mask penalty on Acho that extended a drive, an overturned catch on Royal (which would be a catch if Tate's was), then a review on a close measurement in OT on the Bears but not one on the Lions on the next drive. Then in plain view of the QB rolling out, Willie Young is clearly held as he tries to close on Stafford (which gave him extra time to make the long throw). McManis was picked in the middle of the field on a long pass to Moore. I could go on and on. We won the turnover battle 3-1 and the sack battle 2-1 and still lost. To me this points somewhat to other factors. With a score this close, the officials gave Detroit just enough to allow them to squeak out a win (payback for their blown call in Seattle?).

 

All in all a completely deflating game going into the bye. If we win, we go in 3-3 and a lighter schedule awaits in the last 10 games. A loss and we are 2-4 and essentially playing out the next 10. We would have to win 8 of our next 10 to have a shot at the playoffs. With this defense, that is hard to see.

[Daventry]

No way that ball that Tate caught was a TD/reception.....what a ripoff! Terrible call.....