Noots' Notes Game 6: 22-20 Loss at Atlanta

[Noots]

Noots’ Notes-Game 6: 22-20 Loss at Atlanta

By

Michael Nudo

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The Bears (3-3) somehow managed to get into a game they had no business to be in with just a few minutes remaining. They then managed to lose a game they had no business losing with only seconds to go. This game was clearly mismanaged.

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Bear defenders helped build a Canton bust for Matt Ryan on Sunday (AP Photo/Dave Martin).

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OFFENSE

QuarterbackKyle Orton (26-43-286, TD) did all he could do to put the Bears in position to win the game. He led the Bears on an excellent touchdown scoring drive at the end of the fourth quarter to put the Bears ahead with only 11 seconds to go. He threw a perfect 17-yard touchdown pass to Rashied Davis in the left corner of the end zone. He continues to spread the ball around evenly to all of his receiving options and is attacking all areas of the field. Orton took one sack because he held the ball too long and had a delay of game penalty. However, Orton did an excellent job of limiting mistakes and keeping things under control in a road game where he had very few first half opportunities to move the offense. GRADE: B+

Running BacksMatt Forte had a respectable day carrying (20-76, TD) and receiving (5/34). Forte made a great hesitation move on his 4-yard touchdown run. He was stopped for no gain on a second and 1 carry where he didn’t make a good decision with the ball. Forte was stopped on a fourth and goal carry at the 1-yard line. Kevin Jones had a few carries and was flagged for holding. Jason McKie was also stopped on a third and goal carry at the one. McKie’s run blocking was average at best. GRADE: C+

ReceiversIn the offensive play of the game, Rashied Davis (4/41, TD) ran a beautiful route to the left flag that split the defenders. He alertly slowed up in the end zone when he knew he was running out of room, leaped, made a great catch and came down with possession, both feet and one knee in bounds. Devin Hester continues to make strides as a receiver. He had several key grabs in the second half on his way to being the Bears’ leading receiver (6/87). He also drew a pass interference penalty. Hester had an unforced fumble on a third and 8 reception that resulted in the play coming up a yard short. Marty Booker (3/33) had a few key third down receptions to keep drives alive. Tight ends Greg Olsen (3/41) and Desmond Clark (5/50) had big contributions late in the contest. Clark made a few excellent blocks off the edge to help Forte. Unfortunately, Olsen missed badly on several of his assignments on running downs. GRADE: B

Offensive LineKyle Orton had ample time to throw for most of the contest. He only took one sack, which was more due to coverage than pressure. The Bears limited John Abraham to just two tackles and no sacks. Forte’s long run of 20 yards was a run over right guard Roberto Garza. Garza released his man for a pulling Josh Beekman to trap. Forte ran inside Beekman’s block and followed Garza’s block upfield. Garza was flagged for holding on a short run. Beekman allowed a pressure on a third and 8 that led to an early throw that fell incomplete. Garza was flagged for two holding penalties. Overall, run blocking was fair and pass protection was above average. The line could have done a little more on the short yardage plays. GRADE: B-

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DEFENSE

Defensive LineTommie Harris returned to action, seeing most of his snaps in nickel packages. Harris was in his best condition both physically and spiritually all year. He supplied a few of the rare pressures that rookie Matt Ryan saw. Unfortunately, Harris didn’t show up mentally on a crucial turnover. In the second quarter, Harris jumped on a forced fumble, deep in Bears’ territory. Instead of staying on the ball until the whistle or returning it, he flicked the ball away. The Falcons alertly recovered and since there was a change of possession, they were granted a fresh set of downs and a Brian Urlacher unsportsmanlike penalty to set up an easy field goal. The line played a great game against run, only allowing one big play for Michael Turner (25-54). Dusty Dvoracek (5 tackles, 3 TFL, PD), Adewale Ogunleye (6 tackles) and Alex Brown (3 tackles, TFL) all made key stops on Turner. Israel Idonije was not a factor. Unfortunately, there was almost no pass rush against Matt Ryan, and there were excellent passing lanes. GRADE: C

LinebackersBrian Urlacher finally made a few run stops behind the line of scrimmage. Hunter Hillenmeyer provided one of the few pressures on Ryan (22-30-301, TD) on a blitz. Lance Briggs had a few plays in run support. Briggs and Urlacher were rarely in position to make a play in coverage. Opposing teams have figured out how to defeat the Bears’ defensive look that puts the linebackers in the gaps and then backs them off. Ryan probably faced more difficulty completing passes in the 7 on 7 drills in the week leading up to the game. GRADE: C

SecondaryThe Falcons picked apart the Bears’ secondary all game long. Injuries decimated the cornerback position. With Nathan Vasher not dressing, Charles Tillman (7 tackle, PD) aggravated his shoulder injury and was gone before halftime. Trumaine McBride suffered a minor injury on special teams and missed a chunk of action as well. Even Marcus Hamilton was pressed into action. In the meantime, Corey Graham did all he could to prove he belonged. He led the Bears with ten tackles, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble. Even nickel back Danieal Manning left with an injury. Safeties Mike Brown and Kevin Payne allowed back breaking plays. Payne allowed a 47-yard pass over the deep middle to Douglas on third and 10. With only one play to work with, the Falcons completed a 26-yard pass in front of Brown’s coverage to set up Jason Elam for the game-winning 48-yard field goal. It’s not like these were the only bad plays. The Falcons repeatedly converted third and long passes inside the Bears’ coverage. GRADE: D-

Special Teams

Robbie Gould connected from 36 and 32 yards. His kickoffs were deep except for his last. The Bears tried a squib kick at the end of the game, but the ball was fielded at the 34 and returned 10 yards. The Bears might have been better off kicking it out of bounds. Punter Brad Maynard only had three punts but had one of his better kicks, a 57-yarder that was only returned 6 yards. Devin Hester looked tentative on kickoffs again. Danieal Manning returned one kick but left due to injury. Garrett Wolfe fielded two short kicks. His second return set up the Bears’ offense at midfield. Coverage teams were not up to par. Rashied Davis was whistled for fair catch interference. He nearly committed the same foul on successive punts. Coverage teams allowed Jerious Norwood 4 kickoff returns for 178 yards, including an 85-yarder. GRADE: D

Coaching

The Bears have won the coin flip five weeks in a row and have deferred the kickoff each time. The offense played reasonably well for being on the road. A few play calls were questionable. Someone needs to break it to Ron Turner that the fade route isn’t a good choice on third down. It’s a low percentage play and can easily be intercepted. Third and goal at the one-yard line is not the time to give the ball to Jason McKie. Bob Babich’s defense had a miserable game. No pass rush pressure on the rookie. He averaged 10 yards per pass attempt. They failed to prevent a big pass at the end of the game to lose the contest. Countless third and long conversions allowed. Outside in coverage has dictated routes that break inside. Nobody has their hands in the air at the line and the linebackers are not in position to cut the angles because they’re up in the gaps. They failed to get off the field in the first half, allowing long, time-consuming drives that led roughly a two to one time of possession differential. Dave Toub’s special team units didn’t help matters when it mattered most. GRADE: D

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Hardest Hits

Mike Brown on Roddy White

Game Balls

Kyle Orton

Rashied Davis

Matt Forte

Dusty Dvoracek

Horns

Entire Coaching StaffRoberto GarzaMike BrownKevin PayneTommie Harris

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[Ed Hochuli 3:16]

DL gets a "C"?

 

They didn't have 1 f***ing sack. More like "D".

[Lucky Luciano]

have to disagree noots on a few points:

 

1. the defensive line deserves a complete F- for their performance. there was nothing redeeming about this game from them in any way shape or form. they and the coaching staff lost this game for chicago!!!!

 

we took a rookie qb and made him look like joe montana in his prime. he had open passing lanes all game long, he could have baked a freakin cake behind the line waiting for his receivers to get open (not like that was difficult due to the soft play from our corners). even on rollouts there wasn't a bear within 5 yrds of him when he released the ball 90% of the time.

 

by the way, is tommie harris plain nuts or is he just pissed because of the week off? i don't think i have seen anything like that 'fumble', if you can call it that, in my entire life. lovie should have cracked his helmet open like an egg on the sideline.

 

to think how much has been spent in salary and draft picks to put up what we saw today is simply mindboggling.

 

2. coaching staff.... F. being behind by SIX points late in the 4th quarter you decide to go for it on 4th and goal??? you decide to run it AGAIN when it didn't work on 3rd and goal??? you take the freakin POINTS unless the game is in the last minute or two of the game!!!

 

do you think that after watching ryan chew up our defensive backs for 8-10 yrd chunks all day in soft zones they could tighten up their coverage?? obviously not.

 

and speaking of mckie, did you see our great FB lead blocker laying on the ground in the hole he was supposed to clear for forte on 4th down?

 

was it REALLY neccessary with ELEVEN seconds left in the game to squib kick it? REALLY lovie????

 

would it be too complicated for this staff to realize that with SIX seconds left in the freakin game and your opponent is on their own 40+ yrd line there is time for ONE deep play only and the LAST thing you want is to have a soft deep coverage called AND defend it to the middle of the field??????????????????????????? you HAVE to take the sideline away in a situation like that!!!!!!!

 

we may be lost, but we are making good time.

 

what a thoroughly disgusting game.

[Connorbear]

1. D-line gets a D-. No pressure on the QB all day.

 

2. Garza has got to go - he is our worst o-lineman. Time for Beuning or Metcalf.

 

3. Olsen is horrible blocker. He needs to either improve his blocking or move to wr.

 

4. What is Turner's obsession with McKie??? He has absolutely no value on this team.

 

5. Clearly Devin cannot handle return and wr duty. I would limit him to punt returns and have Wolfe or Manning on kick returns.

 

Peace

[selection7]

Great write-up Noots!

 

would it be too complicated for this staff to realize that with SIX seconds left in the freakin game and your opponent is on their own 40+ yrd line there is time for ONE deep play only and the LAST thing you want is to have a soft deep coverage called AND defend it to the middle of the field??????????????????????????? you HAVE to take the sideline away in a situation like that!!!!!!!

You covered all the angles of how the coaches blew it pretty well, especially if they didn't clue-in Mike Brown that an inbounds pass at that distance would have run the clock out (no time for a timeout). I checked it. The play took just less than 6 seconds...but just barely.

 

At the end of the day, though, if we can get over the tough loss, we should all be pretty ecstatic. Our D has had rough games before, and you have to give them credit for not allowing TD's. You can't call it all luck. Also, we have serious offensive talent and a serious QB. I've said in past weeks I wanted to see several productive, consistant games in a row before I relaxed about Kyle and now he's done it. WE have a QB!! Even if Kyle has a bad game next week, I'm confident it won't be a total breakdown of another QB destined to fall by the wayside but just part of the ups and down of a starting caliber NFL quarterback. It feels so good to finally relax about the QB positon (aside from possible injury).

 

There's maybe not a team in the NFL we wouldn't have a decent chance of beating right now. Furthermore, we've not lost anyone major to season ending injuries! I pleaded with the football gods for at least 4 games to start the season (and training camp) so I could truly get a look at what our team was made of rather than just "well, guess I'll never know how it'd be different with Dusty...or Mike... or Rex...or whoever". Anyway, I don't want to jinx anything (I'm not superstitious) and I'm sure this won't last, but we've made it to the middle of October now. That's gotta be some kind of Chiacago Bears record.

[Bears4Ever_34]

If we played like the New York Giants D line, WOW, our defense would be Baltimore Ravens like in 2000. No matter who is the quarterback, pressure always wins, especially when its constant pressure. I love watching the Giants defense because always get after the quarterback. People act like Matt Ryan played like God yesterday but with no pressure and poor coverage, it's pretty easy to pick apart a defense. Topped onto that, the cover 2 is the easiest defense in the world to tear up and you have to credit Ryan for doing that. He made alot of key throws.

[Ed Hochuli 3:16]

1. D-line gets a D-. No pressure on the QB all day.

 

2. Garza has got to go - he is our worst o-lineman. Time for Beuning or Metcalf.

 

3. Olsen is horrible blocker. He needs to either improve his blocking or move to wr.

 

4. What is Turner's obsession with McKie??? He has absolutely no value on this team.

 

5. Clearly Devin cannot handle return and wr duty. I would limit him to punt returns and have Wolfe or Manning on kick returns.

 

Peace

I still think he's just a soft player. Despite Rashied eventually catching the TD, Orton threw a perfect ball to Olsen and he didn't even jump for it, like he didn't want to get hit.

[madlithuanian]

Agreed. I think that's a generous C...

 

They stopped the run, but nothing else.

 

DL gets a "C"?

 

They didn't have 1 f***ing sack. More like "D".