A few thoughts

[BearsFan1974]

- Webb blocks like the defense has leprosy. When he decides to block, he holds. Not impressed by him whatsoever, actually disgusted. IMO, the biggest disappointment of the game.

- Spencer/Louis, Garza and Williams did well.

- Carmini did great and I can see his potential.

- Thank God Spaeth was signed to make up for Webb's lack of everything.

- Fotre...pay him. 'Nuff Said.

- Cutler looked great and actually looked like he enjoyed himself. Good to see him smile and have positive body language so the announcers can quit busting his balls.

- The WR core did a lot better than anticipated. Williams did well and I hope his injury is not serious. Knox did great. Hester popped that big gain by was silent other than that.

- Defense was AWESOME!!! Tillman strip, Urlacher pick and a fumble return TD, Melton a pair of sacks!!!! Greta showing shutting down an explosive offense. They let up 6 pts...Shut down Ryan, Turner, White, and Jones. Bend but don't break worked great.

 

THE ANTHEM SET THE TONE....GOD BLESS AMERICA AND THE BEARS.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

I've said it once and I'll say it again. Say what you will about Martz, but not only is the team learning the Martz concept, but what we have been watching as of recent is not "The Greatest Show on Turf" redux. Martz is adapting his style of offense to what the Bears give him. He is also taking into account with the difficulty the OLine has been having. With screens and delays and a few trick plays thrown in occasionally to keep the opposing Defense honest. It was seen in small amounts during the pre-season and yesterday in larger doses with the Falcons. This adaptation by Martz definitely put the Atlanta Defense on its heels.

[lemonej]

I've said it once and I'll say it again. Say what you will about Martz, but not only is the team learning the Martz concept, but what we have been watching as of recent is not "The Greatest Show on Turf" redux. Martz is adapting his style of offense to what the Bears give him. He is also taking into account with the difficulty the OLine has been having. With screens and delays and a few trick plays thrown in occasionally to keep the opposing Defense honest. It was seen in small amounts during the pre-season and yesterday in larger doses with the Falcons. This adaptation by Martz definitely put the Atlanta Defense on its heels.

IMO the best play that Martz called was the play to Davis that Cutler overthrew missing an easy TD. He is clearly adapting to his personnel.

[BearsFan1974]

IMO the best play that Martz called was the play to Davis that Cutler overthrew missing an easy TD. He is clearly adapting to his personnel.

That was a good call too. Maybe Martz is a bit smarter than we thought? or is it too early for Kool-Aid?

[lemonej]

That was a good call too. Maybe Martz is a bit smarter than we thought? or is it too early for Kool-Aid?

He has always been smart but, smart and stubborn don't mix. I also heard what I thought was a funny assessment of Forte. One of the local guys referred to Matt Forte as a Marshall Faulk cover band in this offense.

[Connorbear]

The question has never been for the Bears whether or not to pay Forte. The question is how much.

 

Peace

[Mongo3451]

The question has never been for the Bears whether or not to pay Forte. The question is how much.

 

Peace

Of course, it's not my money, but I'd almost overpay to keep him around. Market value has been established.

[balta1701-A]

Of course, it's not my money, but I'd almost overpay to keep him around. Market value has been established.

The closer he gets to FA, the higher his market value will be, assuming he doesn't get hurt. Simply how it works. Bears have a market value offer on the table right now. He wants to get the money that a free agent RB got, he needs to get close to FA.

[jason]

- Webb blocks like the defense has leprosy. When he decides to block, he holds. Not impressed by him whatsoever, actually disgusted. IMO, the biggest disappointment of the game.

- Spencer/Louis, Garza and Williams did well.

- Carmini did great and I can see his potential.

- Thank God Spaeth was signed to make up for Webb's lack of everything.

- Fotre...pay him. 'Nuff Said.

- Cutler looked great and actually looked like he enjoyed himself. Good to see him smile and have positive body language so the announcers can quit busting his balls.

- The WR core did a lot better than anticipated. Williams did well and I hope his injury is not serious. Knox did great. Hester popped that big gain by was silent other than that.

- Defense was AWESOME!!! Tillman strip, Urlacher pick and a fumble return TD, Melton a pair of sacks!!!! Greta showing shutting down an explosive offense. They let up 6 pts...Shut down Ryan, Turner, White, and Jones. Bend but don't break worked great.

 

THE ANTHEM SET THE TONE....GOD BLESS AMERICA AND THE BEARS.

 

Couldn't agree more. I'm very pleased with the play of all but one player from yesterday. Other than Webb, there is no reason to hand out passing grades to every other player on the team. And the DL should get a reward of some kind.

[lemonej]

- Webb blocks like the defense has leprosy. When he decides to block, he holds. Not impressed by him whatsoever, actually disgusted. IMO, the biggest disappointment of the game.

- Spencer/Louis, Garza and Williams did well.

- Carmini did great and I can see his potential.

- Thank God Spaeth was signed to make up for Webb's lack of everything.

- Fotre...pay him. 'Nuff Said.

- Cutler looked great and actually looked like he enjoyed himself. Good to see him smile and have positive body language so the announcers can quit busting his balls.

- The WR core did a lot better than anticipated. Williams did well and I hope his injury is not serious. Knox did great. Hester popped that big gain by was silent other than that.

- Defense was AWESOME!!! Tillman strip, Urlacher pick and a fumble return TD, Melton a pair of sacks!!!! Greta showing shutting down an explosive offense. They let up 6 pts...Shut down Ryan, Turner, White, and Jones. Bend but don't break worked great.

 

THE ANTHEM SET THE TONE....GOD BLESS AMERICA AND THE BEARS.

BF74 Carimi was just as bad as Webb yesterday he just didn't make penalties. He on one play was turned completely around and basically looked like a turnstile. I don't know if you were able to watch the game live or not but even the announcers made negative comments about Carimi.

[BearsFan1974]

BF74 Carimi was just as bad as Webb yesterday he just didn't make penalties. He on one play was turned completely around and basically looked like a turnstile. I don't know if you were able to watch the game live or not but even the announcers made negative comments about Carimi.

 

I think Carmini plyed better because they usd Spaeth on Webb's side more because he couldn't hold the edge as well. Webb's penalty brought back a huge play that would've chewed more time of the clock and then had the stones to smile about it inthe huddle. Even Knox was pissed. Webb had by far the worst game. Carmini-NFL Debut, shit happens.

[Bears4Ever_34]

It really looks like this is going to be the same story as last year, as far as the offensive line goes. 5 sacks in the opener is pretty terrible. Both of our tackles played terrible and that lead to Cutler getting in trouble. It's time to go back to the drawing board and get something fixed. They didn't play that badly in the last 3 preseason games. Lets try to keep it that way.

[BearFan2000]

That was a good call too. Maybe Martz is a bit smarter than we thought? or is it too early for Kool-Aid?

 

That was a brilliant play call, execution was great up to the throw and it sailed a bit on Cutler. From the replay it almost looked like Davis had room to adjust to the ball but stood there and let it go over his head. But great play call and if executed that was a walk in TD. I like some of the wrinkles that Marts is throwing in here and there. I still think Hester did score on that long run... bad camera angles cost us a TD on that play but we got it on the next play anyway. I thought we got a bit cutesy on that drive that resulted in the turnover for the TD. I liked us staying aggressive but I think you need to be smart about that too and not try to get too clever for your own good.

[BearsFan1974]

BF74 Carimi was just as bad as Webb yesterday he just didn't make penalties. He on one play was turned completely around and basically looked like a turnstile. I don't know if you were able to watch the game live or not but even the announcers made negative comments about Carimi.

 

....and Webb's guy tipped the Cutler pass that Bierman took back.

[jason]

BF74 Carimi was just as bad as Webb yesterday he just didn't make penalties. He on one play was turned completely around and basically looked like a turnstile. I don't know if you were able to watch the game live or not but even the announcers made negative comments about Carimi.

 

Yeah, but you have to take that with a grain of salt because Tony Siragusa is nuclear-level retarded and is wrong just as often as he's right. There's a reason he doesn't get to sit in the booth with the big boys, and only part of that reason is his body odor.

 

And let's not forget Webb got more help on his side than did Carimi...who is also a rookie.

 

It is no surprise that Webb sucks. The Bears should have found his replacement in the offseason.

[balta1701-A]

It really looks like this is going to be the same story as last year, as far as the offensive line goes. 5 sacks in the opener is pretty terrible. Both of our tackles played terrible and that lead to Cutler getting in trouble. It's time to go back to the drawing board and get something fixed. They didn't play that badly in the last 3 preseason games. Lets try to keep it that way.

I disagree that they played terrible. There was a huge difference between the performance of the line last week compared to the first half of last season.

[xvflutop]

It really looks like this is going to be the same story as last year, as far as the offensive line goes. 5 sacks in the opener is pretty terrible.

I would say it was only three sacks on the line. One was when Jay fumbled the snap and dove on it. and the other was when he slid behind the line to stay in bounds at the end of the game. In both instances thats not really the fault of the line. nor are those really sacks.

[balta1701-A]

I would say it was only three sacks on the line. One was when Jay fumbled the snap and dove on it. and the other was when he slid behind the line to stay in bounds at the end of the game. In both instances thats not really the fault of the line. nor are those really sacks.

And on at least 1, if not 2 of the Early ones, Cutler felt pressure and moved away from it, but then held the ball too long. On one of the sacks he stepped up to avoid Abraham (who was pushed to Cutler's rear by Webb) but then pumped the ball at least twice before the sack. It's not entirely on Cutler, but it's not entirely on Webb either.

 

I won't say anything silly like saying that the line had a great game or anything like that, but compared to last year it was night and day. Protection broke down sometimes, but more often than not, Cutler had time to throw the ball. There were at least 4-5 completions of 20+ yards in the first half. The receivers had time to get downfield and get open. There was a lot of movement on the line as well, guards pulling, etc, that was really effective as well in setting up screens and getting blocking downfield.

 

There's still clearly room for improvement and I'm not trying to say that isn't needed...but this was a good team the Bears were facing last year, and given everything, the line held up OK.

[jason]

And on at least 1, if not 2 of the Early ones, Cutler felt pressure and moved away from it, but then held the ball too long. On one of the sacks he stepped up to avoid Abraham (who was pushed to Cutler's rear by Webb) but then pumped the ball at least twice before the sack. It's not entirely on Cutler, but it's not entirely on Webb either.

 

I won't say anything silly like saying that the line had a great game or anything like that, but compared to last year it was night and day. Protection broke down sometimes, but more often than not, Cutler had time to throw the ball. There were at least 4-5 completions of 20+ yards in the first half. The receivers had time to get downfield and get open. There was a lot of movement on the line as well, guards pulling, etc, that was really effective as well in setting up screens and getting blocking downfield.

 

There's still clearly room for improvement and I'm not trying to say that isn't needed...but this was a good team the Bears were facing last year, and given everything, the line held up OK.

 

Now that is difficult to argue with. There was definitely a difference between this year's week 1, and the entire last year. Still, 5 sacks is too many. If this OL even improves to average by the end of the year, and can keep Jay clean the majority of the game, the offense will continue to torch opponents and the Bears will be VERY difficult to defeat.

[xvflutop]

Now that is difficult to argue with. There was definitely a difference between this year's week 1, and the entire last year. Still, 5 sacks is too many. If this OL even improves to average by the end of the year, and can keep Jay clean the majority of the game, the offense will continue to torch opponents and the Bears will be VERY difficult to defeat.

Well if we are going to go with 1 of those 5 were because Cutler held the ball to long then that only puts 2 on the line. I'm ok with that. but then again i'm not the one getting sandwiched by 300 lb men running full speed either.

[bowlingtwig]

Well if we are going to go with 1 of those 5 were because Cutler held the ball to long then that only puts 2 on the line. I'm ok with that. but then again i'm not the one getting sandwiched by 300 lb men running full speed either.

I was happy with the oline play for the most. I was more upset with Webb especially when on the shot cutler took in the end zone. Some sacks are ok especially if he sees it he can protect himself but these blindside hits where defender cones in untouched simply can not happen

[nfoligno]

Thoughts on the OL:

 

- as far as sacks go, only 3 of the 5 can be attributed to the OL. Even of thoese three, commentators even at times said they were coverage sacks. On most downs, Cutler had time (I'm not saying forever, but not like he had a guy in his face within a 3 step drop). So while the OL may not be great, heck, or even good, they were not awful. Even Webb, who was easily the worst of the group, wasn't getting beaten on a consistent basis as we have seen at times in recent past with our LTs.

 

The OL is not where they need to be, but I think going into the season, most were saying if they were only average and didn't suck, our offense could be good. Well, after just one game, against a good defense, I think they were better than most would have expected.

 

- I think you also really have to consider other factors here. Webb is not exactly a seasoned veteran at LT, and it's reasonable to think he will improve through the season. Garza is at a new position, and we had to insert Spencer. The interior OL was actually pretty decent. Opinions of the rookie's play vary, but I'd argue he played fairly well for a rookie in his first game.

 

Last year, the OL improved as the season went along. This group has ONE player returning to the same position, and a lot of youth. I think there was always the expectation is was going to be better later than sooner, but I think we are better than we were game one last year, and frankly, didn't think they looked awful in general. Lots of room to improve, but not starting from as low of a point as last year, and with more hope IMHO.

 

- Finally, consider the system and the OC. Martz called a game unlike his norm, but at the same time, he is still Mike Martz. In his system, the QB is going to get hit more than in most other systems.

 

So for me, I think the OL did give us fans reason for hope that they will not suck this year, and could even be average. Not sure I would go much higher than that. But if the OL plays average, I think this offense can be pretty solid or better, and paired with the defense I saw, this team could really surprise a lot of people.

 

With ALL that said, while I think we may get by for now with this OL, what still troubles me is I'm not sure I see the great future. Not sure I count Garza or Spencer as future starting pieces. Garza has a lot of wear, and I think it reasonable to expect him to begin to decline. Webb at LT simply doesn't look like our future LT. Williams does look like a solid young fixture. As does Carimi at RT. Not sure Louis or other young players we have are viewed as future pieces either. So we have Williams and Carimi, with maybe Garza for a couple more years. That leaves two spots we still need to find long term solutions, and a center before too long as well.

 

 

Now that is difficult to argue with. There was definitely a difference between this year's week 1, and the entire last year. Still, 5 sacks is too many. If this OL even improves to average by the end of the year, and can keep Jay clean the majority of the game, the offense will continue to torch opponents and the Bears will be VERY difficult to defeat.

 

[BearsFan1974]

I was happy with the oline play for the most. I was more upset with Webb especially when on the shot cutler took in the end zone. Some sacks are ok especially if he sees it he can protect himself but these blindside hits where defender cones in untouched simply can not happen

 

 

That one was one Kellen Davis, but he thought he had help. But I agree with the "Webb Sux" movement.