Week 14 Official Game Thread - CHI at GB on SNF (Prime Time)

[adam]

The Bears were trailing the Packers 17-14 a few weeks ago with refs aiding the Packers throughout the game. The Packers are 9-3 but are 2-2 in their last 4 games. In their last two their defense has been terrible, allowing 34 pts to the Vikings (who beat the Packers and lost to the Lions lol), and 28 to the Rams.

The Packers are favored by 12.5, but I feel like this one will be decided by 10 or less. 

Rodgers has some sort of toe issue and it is going to be 33 degrees on Sunday Night. If you have ever had a toe issue, a cold cleat is probably the worst thing for it. 

To me if Fields plays, the Bears have a chance at an upset. If Dalton or Foles play, they lose by double digits. 

[adam]

Bears by 20!

 

[adam]

Looks like ARob and Hicks might be back as well. This would be a good time for ARob to have a game. He is long overdue and can't be this bad. Hicks in the middle will help against Dillon.

[adam]

Hicks out for SNF, no way the Bears resign him next year. Too many missed games. 

[McGowan]

That 3rd and 18 fail was just ridiculous. Nice recovery on the next set of downs though. 

[adam]

Bears with 2 scoring drives to GB's 1. Bears need pts going into the half.

[McGowan]

Wow, I guess everyone has checked out already. 

[adam]

Quick slants are killing the defense, need to figure out how to take those away. As well as the pick plays. Need to know when to swap players.

[adam]

The Grant TD was a great play call and execution. 

Jenkins in for Peters, holding his own so far. 

Offense needs to stay efficient and not turn the ball over.

 

[adam]

God Mooney is so weak, come back to the QB, what a lazy route. Pick 6, Mooney lets the DB jump in front of him, come on man. 

 

[McGowan]

1 minute ago, adam said:

God Mooney is so weak, come back to the QB, what a lazy route. Pick 6, Mooney lets the DB jump in front of him, come on man. 

 

That's 100% on Fields. HS quality throw. That was bait and Fields fell for it hook, line and sinker. 

[adam]

The Bears had a 10-0 lead, it's now 14-10 Packers and their offense only scored 7. The Bears are the poster child on the different ways to lose games.

[adam]

One of the wildest 2nd quarters I can remember, 45 pts total, Bears scored 24, Packers 21. The Bears go into the half with a 27-21 lead and the Packers offense has only scored 14 points. The quarter saw a Pick-6, a Punt Return TD, 2 Bears TD catches over 46 yards, a Packers TD catch of 38 yards, and a Packers 4th Down conversion for a TD. 

I didn't expect a shootout but it looks like it is going to take 35+ to win this one. I feel like the Bears need to put up 17 more (41 pts) to win this.

27 pts matches the season-high in a game (against PIT).  The Bears have allowed 33 or more points 4 times, and lost all 4 games. If you count the PIT and CLE games, they are 0-6 when they allow 26 or more. 

[adam]

The Bears have receptions of 54, 46, and 19 with 2x 20 yard runs. The Packers have receptions of 38, 32, 25, and 20. The Bears secondary is terrible. Jackson had his first PBU of the season, then whiffed on Adams TD catch and hit Crawford instead, who is now out of the game. Talk about a double negative. Can we just shoot Jackson to the moon. He is the leader of the worst secondary in the league. Outside of Johnson, everyone else is terrible. 

Lazard has 4 receptions on 4 targets, the TEs have 5 receptions on 5 targets. They all have been wide open uncontested catches. That has to be fixed. 

[adam]

Offensive Balance? The Bears have rushed 17 times (counting Fields scrambles) and attempted 16 passes. 

Mooney is looking terrible and weak, I would stop throwing to him.  Kmet still can't get separation, they need to look to James or Graham more. No WR or TE has more than 2 receptions for the Bears. Adams has been targeted 6 times for the Packers. 

[adam]

The 2nd half showed Nagy's ineptitude as a HC. Zero adjustments on offense. Outside of the Pick-6, the Bears were outplaying the Packers in every phase in the first half.  Once Smith went out, you could tell the defense just didn't have the horses, which sucks because up until that point, they were hanging in there.

What also sucks is the officials impacted the game again. They called Vildor on a bogus penalty when the Packers muffed the punt. That ended up being a 14 point swing. What should seal Nagy's fate is that was the punt where he punted on 4th and 1 down 11. Two weeks in a row, he put his tail between his legs and basically gave the game away. Then the officials took over. 

On the punt where Grant stumbled backwards, there was a Packers play running 5 yards in the Bears sideline making no attempt to get back onto the field. That was not called, but Vildor's was, who immediately came back onto the field. The Packers covered. The Bears could've been going for a 44 yard FG to win it on the last drive after the onside kick. 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

2 hours ago, adam said:

On the punt where Grant stumbled backwards, there was a Packers play running 5 yards in the Bears sideline making no attempt to get back onto the field. That was not called, but Vildor's was, who immediately came back onto the field.

This one?  And Vildor literally stepped out then back in…

 

[adam]

2 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

This one?  And Vildor literally stepped out then back in…

 

That's it. It doesn't excuse Nagy or anything else, but when officiating is like this, it is impossible to win. 

The GB player is not getting pushed out any more than Vildor was. They were both trying to get outside leverage and the other player was pushing them outside. After Vildor is out, he immediately gets back into the field of play. What sucks is neither of these guys impact the play. Why even throw the flag? The Bears got the flag thrown on them because GB muffed the punt. That literally flipped the field and the game by 14 pts. It should've been no worse than 38-36 (if Bears attempted and missed a 2pt conversion) when the Bears got the onside kick and had the ball at the GB 27. It should've been a 44 yard GW FG for Santos. 

Instead it looks like a blowout. If you didn't watch the game, it looks worse. All you will hear about is the 2nd half collapse. Once Roquan went out, the floodgates opened. Not much they could do with 6 2nd stringers in.

It sucks that they lost, but worse when the officials are involved. Feels very similar to the Steelers game. 

 

[Bill]

"I think for us to be able to come out that first two quarters and and do what we did that's, that was fun," Nagy said. "That's good football. The guys played energized. They they came out and played really good football all three phases complementary and I think they got to see what they can be."   So say Nagy.

That first half was fun to watch.  And I would love to root for and see every game played that way.  But that is not what the Bears are, nor can be.  It was a one off fluke.  The last 13 and a half games are what the Bears are and will be as long as the four clowns in charge, both in the front office and on the field, are allowed to remain.  8-9 is the best this mang. group will ever achieve together going forward.

 

[Mongo3451]

5 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

This one?  And Vildor literally stepped out then back in…

 

The main difference between Vildor and the Packer guy was that Vildor ran out of bounds on his own.  The Packer player was forced out.  By letter of rule, it's an instant penalty on Vildor, cut and dry.  The Packer player should have made an attempt to enter the field sooner, which is not as easy to detect due to the speed of the game and the referee being on the move too.

[adam]

4 hours ago, Mongo3451 said:

The main difference between Vildor and the Packer guy was that Vildor ran out of bounds on his own.  The Packer player was forced out.  By letter of rule, it's an instant penalty on Vildor, cut and dry.  The Packer player should have made an attempt to enter the field sooner, which is not as easy to detect due to the speed of the game and the referee being on the move too.

There definitely was a difference, same rule, different penalty. Also, Vildor had to run out voluntarily, which by the rulebook states "without being contacted by a receiving team player". I thought the guy had an arm on Vildor as he was going out of bounds. If not, then it's on Vildor, but if there was contact, then Vildor can go out and back in.

For the Packers player, even if forced out, he has to attempt to return inbounds in a reasonable amount of time, otherwise, it is an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. He ran 25 yards, 5 yards deep out of bounds, that seems excessive. It was more clear of a penalty than Vildor's. When the All-22 is up, I will take a look, but if Vildor is in contact with a defender in any way, it's not an instant penalty. If he runs out to avoid contact it is.

 

Here is the rule:

Quote

ARTICLE 5. KICKING TEAM PLAYER VOLUNTARILY OUT OF BOUNDS. During a scrimmage kick that crosses the line of scrimmage, and prior to the end of the kick, it is a foul if a kicking team player goes out of bounds voluntarily (without being contacted by a receiving team player) to avoid a block by a receiving team player.
Penalty: Loss of five yards.

If a member of the kicking team is forced out of bounds, or goes out of bounds voluntarily, and does not attempt to return inbounds in a reasonable amount of time, it is a foul for Unsportsmanlike Conduct.

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

On the Vildor penalty, here’s what they have from the broadcast (below).  Looks like he’s touched althoughbeit brief. And he tries to get in almost immediately.  Oh well, this was the controversial play that Nagy shouldn’t have been punting anyhow, so there’s that.

 

[adam]

7 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

On the Vildor penalty, here’s what they have from the broadcast (below).  Looks like he’s touched althoughbeit brief. And he tries to get in almost immediately.  Oh well, this was the controversial play that Nagy shouldn’t have been punting anyhow, so there’s that.

 

There is contact, it doesn't say how much. Also, #24 held (bear hugged) Vildor right after coming back in, but that wasn't called. How does the official see Vildor take 4 steps 1 foot out of bounds, but miss that?

[Alaskan Grizzly]

5 hours ago, adam said:

There is contact, it doesn't say how much. Also, #24 held (bear hugged) Vildor right after coming back in, but that wasn't called. How does the official see Vildor take 4 steps 1 foot out of bounds, but miss that?

Great question and one that will baffle us for quite some time.  Just like the mystery taunting call a few weeks ago.  

In all the years I've watched/played football I hate to admit I did not know you could not advance a "muffed punt" or "muffed onside kick".  The more you know...  

[Mongo3451]

7 hours ago, adam said:

There is contact, it doesn't say how much. Also, #24 held (bear hugged) Vildor right after coming back in, but that wasn't called. How does the official see Vildor take 4 steps 1 foot out of bounds, but miss that?

Once Vildor is flagged, he becomes an illegal participant in the play.  They could have sodomized him without a penalty. That's not true, but the ref really doesn't care after that point...