Quick takeaways from the game...

[madlithuanian]

1. Play calling on our side was poor. So many times in the red zone with nothing by FG's. Why run it in OT when you were moving the ball effectively through the air. Playaction...

 

2. Pass rush was non-existent.

 

3. Jay can't throw the pick in the red zone.

 

Basically, this was the Lions' game. They were due for an uptick, and we were due for a downtick. It played out that way thanks to the refs as well. We still have a long way to go. But, we were competitive til the end. I just hate how conservative we went in OT. You just know the Lions were going to get something...you can't keep giving them a chance to win it.

 

Coaching C

QB B -/ C+ (the red zone pick was horrid)

RB B

WR B

TE C (too many drops and not enough hussle from Bennett)

OL B

DL D

LB C

DB C

 

We get a week off to re-group. Let's get the Lions back when they come to our house.

 

 

 

 

 

[scs787]

Yeah, I really don't understand the lack of urgency in the play calling in overtime. Almost felt like neither team wanted to win in OT. Passing game looked good sans the INT, running game was pretty bad, and that's how you wanna play in OT?

 

Gotta give it to this staff for making this team look competent but man, they are ultra conservative at times.

[adam]

1. Play calling on our side was poor. So many times in the red zone with nothing by FG's. Why run it in OT when you were moving the ball effectively through the air. Playaction...

 

2. Pass rush was non-existent.

 

3. Jay can't throw the pick in the red zone.

 

Basically, this was the Lions' game. They were due for an uptick, and we were due for a downtick. It played out that way thanks to the refs as well. We still have a long way to go. But, we were competitive til the end. I just hate how conservative we went in OT. You just know the Lions were going to get something...you can't keep giving them a chance to win it.

 

Coaching C

QB B -/ C+ (the red zone pick was horrid)

RB B

WR B

TE C (too many drops and not enough hussle from Bennett)

OL B

DL D

LB C

DB C

 

We get a week off to re-group. Let's get the Lions back when they come to our house.

 

Coaching D (too conservative with lead, Red Zone, missed fake punt, and clock management)

QB B (the red zone pick was bad, but not 100% on Jay, Alshon ran a horrible route and didn't really attempt to make a play on the ball)

RB C (Forte didn't do much with the touches)

WR B (Alshon, outside of the INT, had a great game and should've saw a few more targets)

TE D (Bennett had too many drops)

OL B (Played decent, but not many running lanes, and Long's penalties hurt)

DL D (Non existent pass rush and McPhee penalty extended drive)

LB C- (Didn't hear too much either way, but too much open space in middle of field (where ILB's should've been)

DB F (Got torched by Stafford, old-man Megatron, and Lance freaking Moore)

 

[scs787]

Yeah I wouldn't give Forte better than a C. Less than 3 ypc is pretty bad. He even had a 10 yard rush mixed in there and still managed under 3ypc.

 

I know he was leading the leauge in rushing, but that, IMO is a very misleading stat. He's been pretty meh for the most part running the ball. His versatility as a pass catcher does help a lot though.

[Mongo3451]

Alshon was rusty. Bennett was plain bad. Royal was a stud. Forte drives me nuts in short yardage situations. No pass rush = horrible secondary coverage. Play calling was overly conservative. Officiating was atrocious.

 

All negatives aside. The team fought hard and was in it till the end.

[Mongo3451]

One more thing. Megatron's 50 yard catch was pass interference. He had his hands on our DB for ten yards. He clearly kept him from having the ability to make a play. I don't get bent out of shape very often, but that game got me....

['TD']

One more thing. Megatron's 50 yard catch was pass interference. He had his hands on our DB for ten yards. He clearly kept him from having the ability to make a play. I don't get bent out of shape very often, but that game got me....

 

Don't let a bears game get you down this year. If anything, we learned that Fangio is the real deal so far. For the Bears to be ranked so high on D with little talent there, speaks loads for just how good he is. I hope the bears make it clear to him that he is Fox's heir apparent, so that he never leaves the team.

 

There is only so much you can do with the talent the Bears have and they are over achieving on D so far.

[Chitownhustla]

1. Play calling on our side was poor. So many times in the red zone with nothing by FG's. Why run it in OT when you were moving the ball effectively through the air. Playaction...

 

2. Pass rush was non-existent.

 

3. Jay can't throw the pick in the red zone.

 

Basically, this was the Lions' game. They were due for an uptick, and we were due for a downtick. It played out that way thanks to the refs as well. We still have a long way to go. But, we were competitive til the end. I just hate how conservative we went in OT. You just know the Lions were going to get something...you can't keep giving them a chance to win it.

 

Coaching C

QB B -/ C+ (the red zone pick was horrid)

RB B

WR B

TE C (too many drops and not enough hussle from Bennett)

OL B

DL D

LB C

DB C

 

We get a week off to re-group. Let's get the Lions back when they come to our house.

 

 

 

My view on the INT in the End zone, it could have been thrown better, a little more outside. I read that Alshon lost the ball in the lights one of the reason he did not make a good play on the ball.

 

Its a jump ball, I like the play call. IF Alshon cant catch it one of his jobs is to make it very difficult for the DB to catch it. Losing it in the lights prevented him from batting it down or making a play on it.

 

 

Cutler played a great game and this INT was not the type of "WTF was Cutler thinking or doing". These types of INT happen to all QB. He could have thrown it a little more outside but either way I was very impressed with Cutler yesterday.

 

 

 

 

[BearFan2000]

Don't let a bears game get you down this year. If anything, we learned that Fangio is the real deal so far. For the Bears to be ranked so high on D with little talent there, speaks loads for just how good he is. I hope the bears make it clear to him that he is Fox's heir apparent, so that he never leaves the team.

 

There is only so much you can do with the talent the Bears have and they are over achieving on D so far.

 

I agree, at the moment I was livid about that play because not only should it have been offensive pass interference it should have been holding too. It was the preverbal salt in the wound. We got screwed early and often by the refs but play calling (going ultra conservative when we needed to be aggressive) was as much to blame. I let the frustration work through my system and then remembered we are rebuilding, this is a new offense, new defense, we've been plagued by injury, and we aren't stacked on talent as it is. This is going to be a growing process and in that what I want to see is a team that is competitive, fights hard till the final whistle and shows improvement. There will be ups and downs. progress and regression at times. Gotta take the good with the bad and give this staff a chance to build this team their way. In my mind that game should have been a W. We looked like a team that's still developing an identity and the staff is trying to get the most out of what they have to work with. My hopes is we become a team that wins these close games more often than not. The improvement overall where we are now to what we put on the field last year is vast. It's going to take time to build a consistent winner.

[AZ54]

Things I liked:

 

Amos put some big hits on players. His closing speed and play recognition are coming together. We might finally have a keeper at S.

 

Our offense scored 34pts. Everyone here is correct in the opportunities to score more. Alshon Jeffrey made a big difference in what we could do in the passing game.

 

DBs....I've seen some critiques but I thought for the most part these guys had good coverage throughout the game. Stafford killed us several times by pulling the ball down and running and that is not something he likes to do. Despite all that the Dline couldn't get pressure. Fuller has improved but he's still about a half step from where he needs to be in coverage. He made some excellent tackles including the open field play on Johnson that prevented what I thought was a certain TD. The arrow for the DBs continues to point up.

 

Online pass protection. Solid effort against a team with some good edge rushers. Cutler often had plenty of time to make plays including the game tying drive.

 

 

Things I didn't like:

 

Online run blocking. We hit some plays here and there but there was little consistency to the inside running game.

 

ILBs. Anderson over-ran so many plays. On one play he ran right in front of Jones leaving the cut back lane wide open which was quickly the exploited. Everyone remembers him running behind the official and giving up another big play. Reynolds split time with him so this might have been both guys out of position. At other times things just looked out of sorts in terms of gap responsibility. I saw no signs of Jones being the leader on the defense actively working to make sure guys were lined up correctly. I look forward to getting SMC back on the field.

 

DLine little pass rush. Drafting a DE for this scheme, or signing one in FA, is going to be a top priority. We need some inside pressure and that will help the edge rushers a bit. We need some real speed off the edge too.

 

Coaching: First, once Detroit got inside the 10 keep some time on the clock. They had to get a TD so it's clear what they will do. Give Cutler more time to work the magic as he's done the last two weeks. When we had the ball with just under 3 min left we can't go so conservative with 3 running plays. It might be reasonable IF we had a good defense that had stifled them all game but we don't have that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jason]

Alshon was rusty. Bennett was plain bad. Royal was a stud. Forte drives me nuts in short yardage situations. No pass rush = horrible secondary coverage. Play calling was overly conservative. Officiating was atrocious.

 

All negatives aside. The team fought hard and was in it till the end.

 

I was thinking the same thing, except I think it's reciprocal.

 

This Bears' secondary could only survive with with a great pass rush. Put Dent, Reggie White, et. al. on the team, and the secondary looks decent.

 

This Bears' pass rush could only survive with a great secondary. Put Revis, Deion, et. al. on the team, and there would be a bunch of coverage sacks.

 

Right now there is neither. It's a lot like the OL in that regard. There is only success when they all do well on the same play. But when they take turns sucking...BIG problems.

[CrackerDog]

Things I liked:

 

Good post.

 

My thoughts are fairly similar. Not taking time outs to preserve some clock was ridiculous. And then the play calling for the offense in OT was even worse. That said, I still believe in this coaching staff but those two examples were Wanny-esq and I expect better. The failure to save time didn't hurt them much as Jay was able to make some great plays to get it into OT anyway. But damn....

 

The missed holding call in OT on Detroit was stunning. All day long these officials are calling anything and everything and then they miss the most obvious call the entire game.

 

Officials aside, there's no excuse for losing this game. The Bears could've and should've won it DESPITE the horrible calls that went against them. A team further along the learning curve would've won this game.

[madlithuanian]

Well said!

 

Things I liked:

 

Amos put some big hits on players. His closing speed and play recognition are coming together. We might finally have a keeper at S.

 

Our offense scored 34pts. Everyone here is correct in the opportunities to score more. Alshon Jeffrey made a big difference in what we could do in the passing game.

 

DBs....I've seen some critiques but I thought for the most part these guys had good coverage throughout the game. Stafford killed us several times by pulling the ball down and running and that is not something he likes to do. Despite all that the Dline couldn't get pressure. Fuller has improved but he's still about a half step from where he needs to be in coverage. He made some excellent tackles including the open field play on Johnson that prevented what I thought was a certain TD. The arrow for the DBs continues to point up.

 

Online pass protection. Solid effort against a team with some good edge rushers. Cutler often had plenty of time to make plays including the game tying drive.

 

 

Things I didn't like:

 

Online run blocking. We hit some plays here and there but there was little consistency to the inside running game.

 

ILBs. Anderson over-ran so many plays. On one play he ran right in front of Jones leaving the cut back lane wide open which was quickly the exploited. Everyone remembers him running behind the official and giving up another big play. Reynolds split time with him so this might have been both guys out of position. At other times things just looked out of sorts in terms of gap responsibility. I saw no signs of Jones being the leader on the defense actively working to make sure guys were lined up correctly. I look forward to getting SMC back on the field.

 

DLine little pass rush. Drafting a DE for this scheme, or signing one in FA, is going to be a top priority. We need some inside pressure and that will help the edge rushers a bit. We need some real speed off the edge too.

 

Coaching: First, once Detroit got inside the 10 keep some time on the clock. They had to get a TD so it's clear what they will do. Give Cutler more time to work the magic as he's done the last two weeks. When we had the ball with just under 3 min left we can't go so conservative with 3 running plays. It might be reasonable IF we had a good defense that had stifled them all game but we don't have that.

 

[ParkerBear7]

Yeah, I really don't understand the lack of urgency in the play calling in overtime. Almost felt like neither team wanted to win in OT. Passing game looked good sans the INT, running game was pretty bad, and that's how you wanna play in OT?

 

Gotta give it to this staff for making this team look competent but man, they are ultra conservative at times.

I got concerned when Gase called three straight running plays then punt which gave the Lions excellent field position with 2:32 left in the 4th quarter. One first down and the Bears could have possible ran out the clock without going to OT. Reminded me of Lovie Ball there.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

I got concerned when Gase called three straight running plays then punt which gave the Lions excellent field position with 2:32 left in the 4th quarter. One first down and the Bears could have possible ran out the clock without going to OT. Reminded me of Lovie Ball there.

 

Whether this was when it happened or later in the game it appears Fox is taking the blame.

 

http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/7/71/10...arter-runs-call

 

Saw that he was sorta second guessing his own clock management as well. And from what I read this isn't new for him. Allegedly he did this last year with the Broncos when they were playing the Rams. They ended up losing and Peyton was said to be pretty pissed about it.

 

 

[CrackerDog]

Whether this was when it happened or later in the game it appears Fox is taking the blame.

 

http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/7/71/10...arter-runs-call

 

Saw that he was sorta second guessing his own clock management as well. And from what I read this isn't new for him. Allegedly he did this last year with the Broncos when they were playing the Rams. They ended up losing and Peyton was said to be pretty pissed about it.

 

Well if he didn't learn from his mistakes in Denver I'm even more disappointed. And Gase was with him.

 

On the road, in OT, you have to have some balls and be more aggressive with the play calling. This year is honestly a year for growth anyway so I'm not going to get too down on him. But there has to be improvement in all aspects of this team, including coaching.

[madlithuanian]

Spot on!

 

This year is honestly a year for growth anyway so I'm going to get too down on him. But there has to be improvement in all aspects of this team, including coaching.