Noots Posted November 10, 2008 Report Share Posted November 10, 2008 Noots’ Notes-Game 9: 21-14 Loss to Tennessee By Michael Nudo The Bears (5-4) fell to the Titans at Soldier Field 21-14 to keep Tennessee undefeated. After the Bears took their opening drive for a touchdown, the Titans responded with 21 unanswered points before the Bears scored again in the fourth quarter. Another game, another 7 on 7 drill by an opposing quarterback (AP Photo/David Banks). OFFENSE Quarterback With Kyle Orton sidelined by an ankle injury, the Bears turned to Rex Grossman (20-37-173, TD, INT, 1/1 TD). Although he led the team on a touchdown drive to open the Bears’ possessions, he was downright brutal for most of the rest of play. His passes were to open receivers that were well wide, long, high or behind the mark. Lowlights included missing Rashied Davis on an out pattern on third and 8 and overthrowing Devin Hester on a bomb. His interception came on a lofted pass up the left sideline to Marty Booker that was deflected from one defender to another. There were several other passes that were nearly picked off. Grossman was rarely hurried, and was only sacked twice. The majority of Grossman’s passing yards (102) came in the fourth quarter. GRADE: D Running Backs With an ineffective passing game, Matt Forte (20/72, 7-54, TD) was all the offense the Bears had. He caught a 5-yard touchdown pass on the Bears’ first drive. Forte saved Grossman from a potential interception when he alertly hauled in a pass deflected at the line. He also broke a tackle on a brilliant 18-yard reception up the right sideline in the fourth quarter. Jason McKie (2/5) made a few nice blocks. Kevin Jones was not a factor. GRADE: B- Receivers Devin Hester (4-54) made a brilliant catch along the right sideline, getting both feet in bounds to pick up a conversion on third and 9. He also caught a 29-yard floater over the middle from Grossman to set up the Bears’ second scoring drive. Tight end Greg Olsen (5-40) had a strong game, breaking several tackles. Rashied Davis picked up 15 yards early in the contest but could not synch up with Grossman for the rest of day. Marty Booker was held without a reception, although numerous passes went his way. Desmond Clark caught three passes for short yardage. Brandon Lloyd was inactive. GRADE: C- Offensive Line This was the biggest challenge of the year for the interior line, facing Albert Haynesworth. He was limited to just three tackles. Rex Grossman had plenty of time to pass. Matt Forte had plenty of holes to run through, especially considering the compete futility of the Bears’ passing game. John Tait and Roberto Garza had big blocks to spring Forte on a run inside of Tait. Josh Beekman held his own and then some against Haynesworth. He pulled right to pick off the linebacker off right tackle to open the alley for Forte on the Bears’ first play. Olin Kreutz played well with the exception of getting knocked headlong into the backfield in the fourth quarter on a negative running play. John St. Clair had an up and down performance. GRADE: B- DEFENSE Defensive Line The Titans’ running back tandem of Lendale White and Chris Johnson were reduced to rubble (24 carries for 32 yards) by the Bears’ front. Adewale Ogunleye led the way with 5 tackles, a sack and a tackle for a loss. Ogunleye’s sack was the Bears’ only real shot on Kerry Collins (30-41-289, 2 TD), who had all day to throw. Tommie Harris had big stop early and was quiet until late in the contest. Tackles Dusty Dvoracek (2 tackles) and Marcus Harrison (tackle, PD, TFL) turned in big stops and helped plug up the middle. Alex Brown had a tackle for a loss late in the contest. Collins had only been sacked three times prior to Sunday. The Bears only got to him once, in spite of numerous blitz attempts. GRADE: C- Linebackers Lance Briggs (13 tackles, 2 TFL) again stood out. The majority of his tackles were along the line of scrimmage. He also put a big hit on fullback Ahmard Hall. Brian Urlacher (5 tackles, 2 TFL) was more active, tracking down plays from sideline to sideline. Nick Roach (3 tackles) was not a factor. Run fits were excellent. Pass coverage was decent, although tight end Bo Scaife (10-78, TD) had a banner day in the soft underbelly of the Bears’ secondary. GRADE: B Secondary Safety Mike Brown (8 tackles, 2 TFL) played much of the game up near the line of scrimmage. He terrorized the Titans’ ground game, at one point nearly taking the handoff en route to a 7-yard tackle for a loss. Kevin Payne (6 tackles) had more coverage responsibility and was a part of the soft coverage over the middle. Corey Graham didn’t start but was in on quite a few plays. He recovered an unforced fumble at the goal line and made several big stops along the sideline on attempted screens and hitches. Charles Tillman (7 tackles, PD) had a near interception that the receiver broke up, drawing interference. He had a deflection later as well. Nathan Vasher (3 tackles, 2 PD) allowed former Bear Justin Gage to catch a slant inside him for a 12-yard touchdown. Danieal Manning played but was not a factor. The Bears allowed Collins to complete 73 percent of his passes. He only had three touchdown passes prior to picking up two more in this contest. The secondary needed to make a play in coverage and failed to do so. GRADE: D+ Special Teams Robbie Gould had a 48-yard field goal blocked (low kick). Brad Maynard had numerous attempts to kick the Bears out of trouble and did little to help the situation. He punted 8 times and his long was 45 yards, with only one kick inside the 20. Devin Hester showed signs of life, returning a late kickoff 41 yards. Garrett Wolfe committed a holding penalty on the kickoff return at the beginning of the third quarter. Darrell McLover was flagged for running into the kicker and lining up in the neutral zone. This was the kind of game where a big special teams performance could have made the difference. It went the other way. Penalties and poor kicks as well as weak return coverage cost the Bears precious field position. GRADE: D Coaching It’s interesting that run blitzes were able to break through for big stops, but pass blitzes are all picked up. The Bears have no pass rush and cannot prevent opposing offenses from exploiting the middle of the field. The few times when Collins was hurried, he could flick the ball out to pick up a short gain. Just once, if the Bears could combine a blitz with press coverage, they might be able to get a sack. That must be outside the playbook. On offense, the fade routes up the sidelines are murder. They finally had one of these ducks intercepted today. I’m convinced it will take more than that to learn their lesson. Kudos to the coaches for deciding to start Orton at the beginning of the season. Many were not convinced this was the right decision. It’s clear they knew what they were doing. Only 20 carries today for Forte. Seeing this offense under Grossman, they should get Jones and Peterson ready to share the load next week. Why they didn’t run 40 times against the Titans this week is a disgrace. If Orton can’t play next week, they should be prepared to run 40 times. GRADE: D Noots’ Nut Crackers Lance Briggs on Ahmard Hall Brian Urlacher on Bo Scaife Nudo’s Kudos Matt Forte Mike Brown Lance Briggs Horns Rex Grossman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CubbiesFan07 Posted November 11, 2008 Report Share Posted November 11, 2008 Giving the QB position a grade of D is a generous proposal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balta1701-A Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Giving the QB position a grade of D is a generous proposal. He didn't throw any picks that were really his fault and didn't totally screw over his team. For a backup qb, that's often not bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madlithuanian Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 The pick was his fault. Booker was covered tight and Rex did his usual back-pedal and sling a duck routine... He didn't throw any picks that were really his fault and didn't totally screw over his team. For a backup qb, that's often not bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CubbiesFan07 Posted November 13, 2008 Report Share Posted November 13, 2008 For as many yards and passes the defense gave up, there was a huge opportunity for us to come back and win this one. Scoring 21 points is what teams have been doing on us all season, we just didn't put up enough on the board this time to compete with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selection7 Posted November 13, 2008 Report Share Posted November 13, 2008 Great write up Noots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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