The Patriots came into Chicago on a short week, walked up behind the Bears, pantsed them, stepped on their britches while around their ankles, pushed them down into a full-fledged face plant, and straddled them while pointing and laughing and calling them the Monsters of the Mediocre. Things started out well after Da Bears won the toss, deferred the football, the Pats went three-and-out, and Hester returned the punt for 16 yards after reversing the field and getting a few blocks. But then Da bears ran the ball three times in a roll for their own three-and-out and the game pretty much ended for Da Bears at that point.
Brady and his offense decided that it was time to stop playing around. They vehemently attacked the Tampa 2 where it's vulnerable, in the middle of the field. Brady consistently and successfully dumped the ball to receivers just behind the linebackers in front of the safeties. Once this got Da Bears on their heals, BenJarvis Green-Ellis would run it down their throat at 4.1 yards-per-carry. At least three times throughout the game, Brady dumped it to a receiver for a first down, then BGE ran for a first down. It was tough to watch your team get dominated, yet fun to see how an offense should operate. On this particular drive, their second possession, after passing over the middle for a first and BGE running for a first in consecutive plays, Brady hit Welker on a 3rd and 10 for a 17 yard gain and then Branch for yet another 17 yarder. After Chris Harris missed a tackle on one play and then couldn't "negotiate the pigskin" (thanks Joniak) on a tipped pass by Urlacher in the endzone, Brady connected with TE Gronkowski for a 7-yard touchdown when he boxed-out Urlacher at the goal-line. Let's review. So that makes it an 85 yard drive, a drive that the Tampa 2 is designed to not let happen, in which Brady went 7-10 for 72 yards and a TD pass.
The weather was of no factor, for New England anyway...
On the ensuing kickoff Davis fumbled the rock, but (whew) Bennett, with the help of a small miracle, recovered it. But that's neither here nor there as Cutler was sacked in the series and again went three-and-out.
This led to another Brady dump over the middle to Welker, another BGE run for a first, a FB run on 3rd-and-1 for a first, a perfectly executed screen for a first, two runs for a first, another BGE run for a first, and finally capped off by a 3-yard Danny Woodhead run for a touchdown. Let's review once more. That's an 85-yard drive followed up by this 87-yard methodical march down the field unfazed by weather or any one the defenses Da Bears use (Tampa 2, cover 3, nickel, nickel-man, man). Embarrassing. The front four were nowhere to be found, especially the tackles. This was by far the best O-line they will face this year and it was evident on the field. And again, this defense doesn’t work if you can’t get pressure up the middle. The scary part was the first down the Pats were converting on third down. The 3rd and 10's, 8's, 12's. ALL DAY.
The "Bear Weather" myth has officially been busted and it only got worse. As a side note Da Bears are actually waaaaay below .500 in games that are played in freezing conditions.
Ensuing Bears drive... Knox gets strip-tackled and fumbles, this time it goes for a 35-yard Gary Guyton scoop-and-score. TWO NE TD'S IN 20 SECONDS! At this point the Pats have more touchdowns than Da Bears have first downs! WHAT?!? 21-0. Hawk Harrelson chimes in and says "This ballgame is OVA!"
At least Manning returned two kicks for 40+ yards, I guess.
Another NE strip-sack to make it first-and-goal on the 8. At least they held them to a field goal, I guess.
At this point the Pats were on a 100-3 point differential since the third quarter of their game on Thanksgiving thanks in part to their 24-0 rout of the Mediocre Monsters. It would be upped to 112-3 by time Da Bears finally scored a TD. And just when you thought the half was over, Brady hits a wide-open Branch for a 59-yard TD pass. Coverage breakdown, but at this point it doesn’t matter. NE first half possession breakdown: punt, TD, TD, FG, FG, TD. Butt whoopin’.
The dumps, draws, screens, play-action dumps continued into the night. Hester had a nice 64-yard punt return in the second half and just as I was going to praise Cutler who’s been running for his life for making completions with his feet and arm….he’s throws a pick in the red-zone. The O-line was exposed yet again on Sunday. They’ve been keeping it together for a few weeks, but they couldn’t so much as run-block when they actually had the advantage on a slick surface of knowing where the play was going and they still got blown up.
O, and you also can’t turn the ball over four times, duh.
The odd thing is, it was actually a GREAT day for Da Bears. The Packers lost to the….Lions? No way! OMFG! Yes, it’s true. I’d like to personally thank Aaron Rodgers for not utilizing the QB slide to protect himself and getting knocked out of the game after being concussed. I’m not saying I’m happy that he was concussed but….you know what I’m saying….So it was another divisional loss for the Pack, which obviously bodes well for Da Bears. It’s more complicated to say that Da Bears’ magic number is 2, it very may well be, but divisional and conference games need to be considered and it’s a bit of a mess that I’ll be happy to clear up for you after this week. The Pack lost their noon game and some folks thought that maybe Da Bears came out flat because they knew that this wasn’t a “must-win” game. Uh, NO. They didn’t come out flat, in fact they stopped NE on their first series, remember? They just got stomped on. It happens.
PREACH
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Da Bears: Validity of Legitimacy
Da Bears have validation, sort of. Their defense certainly proved that it can contain one of, if not the most explosive player in football in Michael Vick. And I couldn’t be happier about it. Vick was all anybody talked about on television and radio starting on the Monday Night game when he posted video game stats against the Redskins. The MNF crew refused to get off his genitals and it turned out to be just another Monday Night game that I had to turn off because of the excrement spewing from their suck-holes. Da Bears holding off Vick and his posse of speed made it that much sweeter, but I digress.
The Cover 2 base that Da Bears use works best when the line gets penetration into the backfield and that’s what took place pretty much the whole afternoon. The rotating tackles did a great job caving the pocket and making Vick feel uncomfortable, yet not flushing him out of the pocket where he can also be dangerous. Each of the starting four linemen had at least half a sack. Tommie Harris created the turning point in the game when he put a paw on Vick’s pass in the red zone, which was picked-off by yet another Harris, Chris Harris. On Da Bears’ ensuing drive after Harris tipped it to Harris and Harris returned it to the 37, they drove down the field methodically. Cutler hit Knox for a nice gain and then Bennett for a 30 yard gain to make it the third 30+ yard play in the first half. The drive ended when Cutler did a great job freezing the safety by looking to the left of the field and then firing the ball to Bennett on an out-route to the right for a six yard touchdown pass. Folks, that’s a 14-point swing! That’s a huge difference from looking at going down six with under two minutes left in the half to being up by eight going into the third quarter.
The defense continued to get pressure from the front four, which of course helped the secondary. They did a tremendous job tackling. There wasn’t much miss-tackling going on and not much yards after the catch either. The defense wasn’t exactly perfect, 26 points against is a clear indication of imperfection. In fact, on two separate occasions, Vick overthrew a wide-open Brent Celek. Of course he finally connected with Celek in the end zone when he threw it 30 yards downfield through a space the size of a sheet of paper on 4th and 9 between three Bears defenders. But it was too little too late by then.
I’m surprised I haven’t heard Lovie say “We get off the bus running,” in his Southern drawl since that’s basically what they did in the month of November. Their run-to-pass ratio greatly increased. And guess what else? They went from being the second-to-worst in converting third downs to being the third best in the month of November as well. OMFG! I never thought I’d see the day, but somebody must have put OC Mike Martz in a sleeper-hold and made him run the ball more and make less 7-step drop play calls. AND IT’S WORKING. Da Bears shred a very good Eagles defense. They even dominated the time of possession in the third quarter with a 10:05 drive that resulted in a Gould field goal. Granted, the Eagles’ best player on that side of the ball, Asante Samuel, was on the injured list as well as their other starting cornerback, but Da Bears got the job done nonetheless. That’s all you can really ask of them. Well I suppose you could ask them to not get Cutler sacked four times in the first half, but he was only sacked once in the second half, which is nice.
Da Bears have been using the greatest show on bad turf to their advantage. There were two obvious plays where the field benefited the home team: the Urlacher sack when he also punched the ball out of Vick’s hands, but was recovered by the Eagles’ Anthony Adams and the Knox touchdown when the cornerback lost his footing near the goal line that left Johnny wide open at the near corner of the endzone. I’m glad the turf has become an advantage for Da Bears, but I hope it doesn’t lend reason for a player injury. The turf has been bad for years yet the park district continues to allow it to be a venue for concerts and soccer games amongst other events. The high school Prep Bowl game was even played on that very field the day before. THE DAY BEFORE! Yet other parks in Chicago have artificial surfaces for flag football! WHAT?!? Look, I like the grass too, but there are other options besides the slop that they play on now.
The bottom line is, this is a bottom line business and Da Bears are atop the North Division in the NFC at 8-3. I never thought that they would be at this point, but they are. They have proven their legitimacy in this glob of parity known as the NFL. Do I still have my doubts about Da Bears? Certainly. Do they have a shot at making the playoffs and making a run to the Super Bowl? Of course, but winning that Super Bowl….I still think it’s improbable. Go Bears.
PREACH
The Cover 2 base that Da Bears use works best when the line gets penetration into the backfield and that’s what took place pretty much the whole afternoon. The rotating tackles did a great job caving the pocket and making Vick feel uncomfortable, yet not flushing him out of the pocket where he can also be dangerous. Each of the starting four linemen had at least half a sack. Tommie Harris created the turning point in the game when he put a paw on Vick’s pass in the red zone, which was picked-off by yet another Harris, Chris Harris. On Da Bears’ ensuing drive after Harris tipped it to Harris and Harris returned it to the 37, they drove down the field methodically. Cutler hit Knox for a nice gain and then Bennett for a 30 yard gain to make it the third 30+ yard play in the first half. The drive ended when Cutler did a great job freezing the safety by looking to the left of the field and then firing the ball to Bennett on an out-route to the right for a six yard touchdown pass. Folks, that’s a 14-point swing! That’s a huge difference from looking at going down six with under two minutes left in the half to being up by eight going into the third quarter.
The defense continued to get pressure from the front four, which of course helped the secondary. They did a tremendous job tackling. There wasn’t much miss-tackling going on and not much yards after the catch either. The defense wasn’t exactly perfect, 26 points against is a clear indication of imperfection. In fact, on two separate occasions, Vick overthrew a wide-open Brent Celek. Of course he finally connected with Celek in the end zone when he threw it 30 yards downfield through a space the size of a sheet of paper on 4th and 9 between three Bears defenders. But it was too little too late by then.
I’m surprised I haven’t heard Lovie say “We get off the bus running,” in his Southern drawl since that’s basically what they did in the month of November. Their run-to-pass ratio greatly increased. And guess what else? They went from being the second-to-worst in converting third downs to being the third best in the month of November as well. OMFG! I never thought I’d see the day, but somebody must have put OC Mike Martz in a sleeper-hold and made him run the ball more and make less 7-step drop play calls. AND IT’S WORKING. Da Bears shred a very good Eagles defense. They even dominated the time of possession in the third quarter with a 10:05 drive that resulted in a Gould field goal. Granted, the Eagles’ best player on that side of the ball, Asante Samuel, was on the injured list as well as their other starting cornerback, but Da Bears got the job done nonetheless. That’s all you can really ask of them. Well I suppose you could ask them to not get Cutler sacked four times in the first half, but he was only sacked once in the second half, which is nice.
Da Bears have been using the greatest show on bad turf to their advantage. There were two obvious plays where the field benefited the home team: the Urlacher sack when he also punched the ball out of Vick’s hands, but was recovered by the Eagles’ Anthony Adams and the Knox touchdown when the cornerback lost his footing near the goal line that left Johnny wide open at the near corner of the endzone. I’m glad the turf has become an advantage for Da Bears, but I hope it doesn’t lend reason for a player injury. The turf has been bad for years yet the park district continues to allow it to be a venue for concerts and soccer games amongst other events. The high school Prep Bowl game was even played on that very field the day before. THE DAY BEFORE! Yet other parks in Chicago have artificial surfaces for flag football! WHAT?!? Look, I like the grass too, but there are other options besides the slop that they play on now.
The bottom line is, this is a bottom line business and Da Bears are atop the North Division in the NFC at 8-3. I never thought that they would be at this point, but they are. They have proven their legitimacy in this glob of parity known as the NFL. Do I still have my doubts about Da Bears? Certainly. Do they have a shot at making the playoffs and making a run to the Super Bowl? Of course, but winning that Super Bowl….I still think it’s improbable. Go Bears.
PREACH
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