Noots' Notes Game 5: 34-7 Win at Detroit

[Noots]

Noots’ Notes-Game 5: 34-7 Win at Detroit

By

Michael Nudo

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The Bears (3-2) were led by an unexpected aerial attack from Kyle Orton to defeat the Detroit Lions. The Bears got out to an early lead and never let up against Detroit, who swept the Bears a year ago. The Orton-led Bears held a huge time of possession advantage over the Lions (38:15-21:45).

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Motown Masterpiece (AP Photo/Paul Sancya).

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OFFENSE

QuarterbackKyle Orton (24-34-334, 2 TD) had his finest game as a professional. He only left a couple of plays on the field, but more than made up for it with the others he hit. He took one sack on a play he probably should have seen coming (see offensive line notes). Orton showed great awareness hitting Greg Olsen on a play action pass for 52 yards to take the Bears out of poor field position. He found Matt Forte for a 9-yard touchdown pass in the left seam. Orton also connected on 30-plus yard completions to Marty Booker, Rashied Davis and Devin Hester. Perhaps his best pass was a 34-yarder up the right sideline to Davis where he placed the ball perfectly between the coverage. He also connected with Hester for a 12-yard touchdown in the right seam. With leading receiver Brandon Lloyd out, Orton spread his completions well across wide receivers, tight ends and running backs. Rex Grossman handed off a few times at the very end. After a very slow start to the season, Kyle Orton is on fire. Don’t look now, but he just might be developing right before our eyes. On second thought, I guess you CAN look now. GRADE: A

Running BacksMatt Forte (15-36, TD, 4/25, TD) found the end zone by land and by air. He didn’t have his best game running the ball. Although the blocking could have been better, there were a few times when he could have followed his leads to the point of attack instead of cutting back to the pursuit. Kevin Jones (10-36, 2/5) wisely saw an unbalanced line to the planned point of attack on one play and cut it back away from the bodies, gaining 16 yards off left tackle. Jason McKie had a below average game blocking. He was a target on a medium range incompletion on third down. Garrett Wolfe (8-15) saw some action in the fourth quarter. GRADE: B-

ReceiversThis was step up day for the receiving corps. With Brandon Lloyd out, the receivers continually got open and made big plays. Marty Booker (2/37) made one the great catches of the season. With a defender draped on him (it was a called penalty), Booker reached around the coverage to grab the football with one hand and take control as he hit the ground. It was ruled an incompletion but later over turned after a replay challenge from Lovie Smith. Rashied Davis (6/97) had a consistently good performance. Orton continually found Davis open in the Lions’ secondary. Devin Hester (5/66, TD) made two big catches at the end of the first half. He picked up 32 yards on one play and then ran a little hook inside the 5-yard line and immediately cut back outside to race into the end zone for a score. Tight ends Greg Olsen (3/87) and Desmond Clark (2/17) had their fair share of contributions as well. GRADE: A

Offensive LineThe Bears only allowed one sack and gave Kyle Orton ample time to find his receivers. On that sack, defensive end Jared DeVries lined up over tight end Desmond Clark on the right edge of the line. Right tackle John Tait was also covered. Clark released into his route without accounting for DeVries, who went untouched to clobber Orton. Run blocking was a disappointment against a defense that had been getting carved up heading into this contest. Left guard Josh Beekman was flagged for holding. Backups Terrence Metcalf and Fred Miller got into the game in the fourth quarter. GRADE: B-

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DEFENSE

Defensive LineWith Tommie Harris suspended, the rest of the line stepped up with big performances. Alex Brown picked up a sack and forced a fumble. He also sniffed out a draw for a short gain. Adewale Ogunleye had a sack and applied constant pressure on Lions quarterbacks. Rookie Marcus Harrison had a sack. Tackles Israel Idonije and Dusty Dvoracek each deflected a pass at the line. Dvoracek was flagged for encroachment. Anthony Adams made a few plays in the backfield in the second half. Overall, there was good pressure and run stopping was decent considering the Lions had to go away from the run relatively early because of the large deficit. GRADE: A

LinebackersLance Briggs led all tacklers with 8 tackles and a sack. He made a key stop on Rudi Johnson on a short pass over the middle. Brian Urlacher had a quiet game, collecting four tackles and stopping Kevin Smith for no gain early in the contest. Hunter Hillenmeyer had a pass deflection and near interception on a second half pass. Nick Roach saw some action but left with a shoulder injury. GRADE: B

SecondaryCharles Tillman played through pain (shoulder) and turned in another excellent performance. He broke up several short passes with perfectly timed hits. Tillman later collected a deflection for an interception that he took back 26 yards for a touchdown. With Nathan Vasher sitting this one out (thumb/wrist), Corey Graham received the start. He collected 7 tackles and had a strong game in both coverage and run defense. Trumaine McBride saw some action late to spell Tillman and was called for holding. Safety Kevin Payne had a quiet game but wasn’t beaten. He did get whistled for a face mask penalty. Mike Brown put a crunching hit on receiver Mike Furrey. GRADE: A-

Special Teams

Robbie Gould connected from 37 and 45 yards out. He had one bad kickoff (it was so bad, it may have been a planned squib kick). Devin Hester had a bad day returning the ball. I guess the 5 yard line is the new 10. He called for a fair catch inside the 10. He appeared to shy from contact on some of his returns. A Hester fumble of a punt return at the Bears’ 22-yard line set up the Lions for their lone score. Brad Maynard put 4 of his 5 punts down inside the 20 to pin the Lions deep in their territory. Kick and punt coverage was good. Jamar Williams led the way with 3 special teams tackles. GRADE: B

Coaching

The Bears have won the coin flip four weeks in a row and have deferred the kickoff each time. Ron Turner had an excellent game. The Bears had perfect run to pass balance. Bob Babich’s defense held Detroit to -4 yards in the first quarter and 185 total yards for the game. Detroit was 3 of 14 on third down conversion attempts. Penalties were limited, which can be very difficult for an offense on the road. Special Teams coach Dave Toub needs to recognize when Hester isn’t playing well and take measures to either correct his play or let someone else return kicks. The Bears played well without starters Tommie Harris, Nathan Vasher and Brandon Lloyd. This was a game they should have won going away and they didn’t disappoint. GRADE: A

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Hardest Hits

Mike Brown on Mike Furrey

Ernie Sims on Devin Hester

Game Balls

Kyle Orton

Rashied Davis

Matt Forte

Charles Tillman

Lance Briggs

Alex Brown

Horns

None!

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[Pixote]

Excellent write-up! I usually find something I disagree with or add to, but this time I feel you hit on all cylinders. Great job. Let's hope the season gives you a chance for many more upbeat articles. Sure is a lot more fun to read!

[selection7]

Nearly double the time of possession of Detroit! Orton had no fumbles or picks. No game changing dropped passes by WR's. ...and the D did just as well as the O! It's good to get one of these dominant wins under out belt.

 

Having Tillman was huge. Seems like it was so long ago now that Tillman was a bit of a goat to many fans. I loved Kyle Orton's response at the end of the game to how it felt to do so well...he said something like "it felt like we just executed and good results come from that. We'll just keep plugging along" (paraphrased). More evidence that he's even-keeled enough to handle lows and highs.