A Few Game Comments

[tshanno]

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Game Comments: Bears V. Seahawks, January 16, 2011

Posted on January 16, 2011 by Tom Shannon

Defense

 

• The Bears came out with lots of single coverage with nickel personnel. They did a good job doing, it, too.

• A key to the defensive effort was the ability of the Bears to stop the run with seven in the box.

• The Seahawks were doing a lot of things right. For instance, with the exception of a brief period in the second quarter, they were mixing it up well with some good play calls.

• The Seahawk plan was obviously to attack the edges. They also came out and showed some good misdirection plays. As most fans know, speed defenses like the Bears are susceptible to this.

• Having said that, without looking at the actual statistics, I thought maybe the Seahawks could have run the ball more. Admittedly when they did they weren’t effective.

• The Bears did start to blitz a lot in spurts when they were reasonably sure the Seahawks were going to throw. It was effective in that it did throw Matt Hasselbeck’s accuracy off a bit and that allowed them to fake the blitz and pull out effectively at other times. But in truth, Hasselbeck wasn’t bad. His receivers just killed him by dropping too many balls.

• I know it didn’t look like Julius Peppers and the defensive line was getting that much pressure but they were. Peppers was regularly pushing Russell Okung back into Hasselbeck’s lap.

 

 

Offense

 

• Gutsy call by Mike Martz throwing the bomb with 3rd and short on first possession. Greg Olsen – touchdown. Heck of a throw by Jay Cutler.

• The offensive line provided good protection for Cutler. But the Bears were keeping a lot of blockers in to do it.

• Most of us thought the Seahawks would come out blitzing. They did do much of it. But note that when they did do it, they were getting pressure. I’m sure the Green Bay Packers noticed.

• Of course, as everyone saw, the Bears just ran over them. As I’ll note below, the Seahawks looked flat from the time they walked on to the field. Nevertheless, the offensive balance is back.

• The Bears were drawing that eighth guy down into the box on first down occasionally but really, it was probably their stubborn refusal to do it more often that kept the Bears running the ball at them. Seattle insisted on playing straight up cover two with little blitzing. The Bears took what they gave them.

• Some of the worst tackling I’ve seen all season from Seattle today.

• Was that Cutler throwing the ball out of bounds in the second quarter? Was it snowing in hell, too?

• Big, big game for Greg Olsen.

• We all thought that Seattle would be the team that would pull out all the stops but it was the bears who pulled out a few special plays like the wildcat. They were the ones throwing the bomb on third and short. It did bite them when Matt Forte threw his interception but the point it that the Bears were teh ones that played it more loose.

 

Miscellaneous

 

• I was told during the week that I’m too nice when it comes to evaluating announcers. Sorry. I still think Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa did a solid, if not spectacular job. They hit on many of the points above during the broadcast. Admittedly they didn’t teach me a lot, today, but I was happy.

• Generally speaking the Bears covered kicks pretty well today. Both Leon Washington and Devin Hester ripped off one good run.

• I thought that Jon Ryan generally did a good job of handling Devin Hester. Good high kicks with lots of hang time.

• Hard to believe Seattle punter Ryan drove Hester out of bounds in first quarter. They were basically one on one. I don’t know how to put it but something was off about Hester today. He was generally hesitant.

• Generally speaking I didn’t think either team had too many penalties.

• Corey Graham, Corey Graham, Corey Graham and some more.

• The Bears had one turnover but didn’t get any. Lovie Smith won’t be happy with that.

• It was nice to see the other team slipping around more than the Bears for once.

• A surprising number of Seattle players went down with injuries. The hits weren’t dirty but perhaps it was a sign of how physically they were treated.

• Tweet of the game from BradBiggs: “#Bears lead 21-0 with 10:01 left in 1st half. Prices for Packers Bears NFC title game tix gotta be skyrocketing.”

• Two minutes left in the third quarter and the Seahawks kicked a field goal. Johnston called it an “interesting decision”.

• I’ve been extremely vocal about the fact that the Bears haven’t been able to play effective man defense. Today the Bears flipped the finger at me and everyone like me. They won the game playing tenacious Packers style man-to-man defense. I was holding my breath every time Hasselbeck threw at Tim Jennings and only a little less so when he threw at Charles Tillman trying to get the ball to the sizable Mike Williams. But they held up. Kudos.

• The minute they hit the field, before even the first snap, you could see that Hasselbeck looked excited but everyone around him looked dead. The Seahawks came out sluggish after last weeks big game. They let down and the Bears literally just ran over them. Now lets hope the Bears can avoid doing the same thing next week.

[Daventry]

http://bearingthenews.com/?p=589

 

Game Comments: Bears V. Seahawks, January 16, 2011

Posted on January 16, 2011 by Tom Shannon

Defense

 

• The Bears came out with lots of single coverage with nickel personnel. They did a good job doing, it, too.

• A key to the defensive effort was the ability of the Bears to stop the run with seven in the box.

• The Seahawks were doing a lot of things right. For instance, with the exception of a brief period in the second quarter, they were mixing it up well with some good play calls.

• The Seahawk plan was obviously to attack the edges. They also came out and showed some good misdirection plays. As most fans know, speed defenses like the Bears are susceptible to this.

• Having said that, without looking at the actual statistics, I thought maybe the Seahawks could have run the ball more. Admittedly when they did they weren’t effective.

• The Bears did start to blitz a lot in spurts when they were reasonably sure the Seahawks were going to throw. It was effective in that it did throw Matt Hasselbeck’s accuracy off a bit and that allowed them to fake the blitz and pull out effectively at other times. But in truth, Hasselbeck wasn’t bad. His receivers just killed him by dropping too many balls.

• I know it didn’t look like Julius Peppers and the defensive line was getting that much pressure but they were. Peppers was regularly pushing Russell Okung back into Hasselbeck’s lap.

 

 

Offense

 

• Gutsy call by Mike Martz throwing the bomb with 3rd and short on first possession. Greg Olsen – touchdown. Heck of a throw by Jay Cutler.

• The offensive line provided good protection for Cutler. But the Bears were keeping a lot of blockers in to do it.

• Most of us thought the Seahawks would come out blitzing. They did do much of it. But note that when they did do it, they were getting pressure. I’m sure the Green Bay Packers noticed.

• Of course, as everyone saw, the Bears just ran over them. As I’ll note below, the Seahawks looked flat from the time they walked on to the field. Nevertheless, the offensive balance is back.

• The Bears were drawing that eighth guy down into the box on first down occasionally but really, it was probably their stubborn refusal to do it more often that kept the Bears running the ball at them. Seattle insisted on playing straight up cover two with little blitzing. The Bears took what they gave them.

• Some of the worst tackling I’ve seen all season from Seattle today.

• Was that Cutler throwing the ball out of bounds in the second quarter? Was it snowing in hell, too?

• Big, big game for Greg Olsen.

• We all thought that Seattle would be the team that would pull out all the stops but it was the bears who pulled out a few special plays like the wildcat. They were the ones throwing the bomb on third and short. It did bite them when Matt Forte threw his interception but the point it that the Bears were teh ones that played it more loose.

 

Miscellaneous

 

• I was told during the week that I’m too nice when it comes to evaluating announcers. Sorry. I still think Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa did a solid, if not spectacular job. They hit on many of the points above during the broadcast. Admittedly they didn’t teach me a lot, today, but I was happy.

• Generally speaking the Bears covered kicks pretty well today. Both Leon Washington and Devin Hester ripped off one good run.

• I thought that Jon Ryan generally did a good job of handling Devin Hester. Good high kicks with lots of hang time.

• Hard to believe Seattle punter Ryan drove Hester out of bounds in first quarter. They were basically one on one. I don’t know how to put it but something was off about Hester today. He was generally hesitant.

• Generally speaking I didn’t think either team had too many penalties.

• Corey Graham, Corey Graham, Corey Graham and some more.

• The Bears had one turnover but didn’t get any. Lovie Smith won’t be happy with that.

• It was nice to see the other team slipping around more than the Bears for once.

• A surprising number of Seattle players went down with injuries. The hits weren’t dirty but perhaps it was a sign of how physically they were treated.

• Tweet of the game from BradBiggs: “#Bears lead 21-0 with 10:01 left in 1st half. Prices for Packers Bears NFC title game tix gotta be skyrocketing.”

• Two minutes left in the third quarter and the Seahawks kicked a field goal. Johnston called it an “interesting decision”.

• I’ve been extremely vocal about the fact that the Bears haven’t been able to play effective man defense. Today the Bears flipped the finger at me and everyone like me. They won the game playing tenacious Packers style man-to-man defense. I was holding my breath every time Hasselbeck threw at Tim Jennings and only a little less so when he threw at Charles Tillman trying to get the ball to the sizable Mike Williams. But they held up. Kudos.

• The minute they hit the field, before even the first snap, you could see that Hasselbeck looked excited but everyone around him looked dead. The Seahawks came out sluggish after last weeks big game. They let down and the Bears literally just ran over them. Now lets hope the Bears can avoid doing the same thing next week.

 

 

Love your posts, thanks for sharing!