Please Don't Let Us Fall to 3-4!

What should have been a blow-out, became an "O dear Goodness, please don't let us fall to 3-4" game.

First of all, when you get the opening possession on the 40 yard line on an illegal procedure because they were trying to stay away from your explosive kick returner, you have to get points on the board. Da Bears couldn't even move the chains!

Lovie and company got lucky again when it came to the personnel --or lack there of-- for the Bucs. (By the way, why didn't Lovie decline an illegal shift to make it second and six instead of third and one? It's much easier to get one yard on one down. Just another bad in-game decision by Coach Smuggie, I mean, Lovie , I suppose). Starting DT McCoy was on the inactive list, which was big is slowing their pass rush. RB Blount was inactive as well and that was good since Bears have had trouble with physical running backs in the past. Then, the Wembley Stadium Turf Monster gobbled up back-up running back Graham. This left them with third stringer Lumpkin, who gained a whopping 15 yards on the ground.

Later, the Turf Monster came back for seconds and thirds when he devoured a Tampa Bay linebacker and a safety too. More on that further down...

If there was an NFL video game, Zielinski '11 --named after me, of course-- Matt Forte's vision would be a 99 and his patience would be a 98. Forte is having a Pro Bowl type season. He's the first player since 2004 to have over 1,000 yards from the line of scrimmage through the first seven weeks of the season. Sure, he's got some good moves in the open field, but his performance is predicated on vision and patience.

On Forte's rushing touchdown, Martz called his long-time favorite running play, the "Stretch G". The offense gave the Bucs and double tight-end look and pulled the front-side guard --in this case it was Chris Spencer-- Matt Spaeth did a nice job sealing the edge and Spencer kicked out his assignment, all while Forte waited for the play to develop. A crease was created and Forte exploded through it. He's like the Bobby Fischer of football. He sees six or seven moves ahead of him and he makes the opponent look foolish in the open-field. So foolish, in fact, that he caused two Bucs to violently collide with each other before he took his 32 yard scamper to The House.

Roy Williams even made a few impact plays, one being a nice down field block on that Forte touchdown. Another being his patented dropped pass. But he did make a big-boy catch on his first TD on the year. He was able to avoid a jam at the line of scrimmage and not have to re-route his pattern. Cutler got the ball out of his hands quickly, but it was a rather poor pass. Williams was able to adjust his body to the ball and beat his man for the score. I'm surprised that he acted like he's been in the end-zone before --albeit with a different team in back in 2010-- but we didn't even get the Texas "Hook 'em" fingers. This coming from a guy who will give us the first-down mechanic when Da Bears trail by double-digits late in the fourth quarter.

The o-line was solid. The backs were great. The receivers were dependable. The offensive coordinator was back to being himself, unfortunately.

Da Bears were up 21-5 with 10:32 left in the third quarter, but Martz called 17 passes to just 11 runs in the second half. I don't care if the Turf Monster ate up the Bucs' linebacker and safety, you don't try to exploit that with passing when the game pretty much in hand. Cutler already threw a pick because of a high pass to a RB, which is a big no-no since they typically don't have the same skills to go up and catch the ball as a wide receiver does. Especially, when the intended receiver in that case was Marion Barber.

Da Bears had first and goal inside the five yard line and Martz called three straight passes. One was almost intercepted and Cutler was dropped by Ronde Barber like he knew the play and protection scheme on the third. Luckily, Clown Talib was called for a personal-foul and Da Bears were granted a fresh set of downs. Somebody must have told Martz to run the damn ball, so he did, three straight times to the right side. Even though, since they were beyond the five yard line from the sack, one pass could have been in order off of a play-fake.

Chris Conte wasn't challenged much in his first start. He saw a little more action this past Sunday. From the Cover 1, playing the single-high safety, Conte made a good read and drove downhill on the skinny post pattern and stripped the ball away from Mike Williams. Big play from the rook in his second consecutive start. (Props).

Brian Urlacher solidified his spot in Canton. He was on the fence --for me anyway-- but his tackles for a loss are piling up and he's a top-tier linebacker when it comes to pass defense and his third interception on the season was evidence of that.

The Bucs and Bears gave the fans in the UK a lot to watch and discuss. At one point they saw an interception, interception, safety. Good stuff. Even better stuff, was when a fan ran about 150 yards on the field, shirtless, and even gave a Buccaneer a high-five.
Da Bears are 4-3. Again, they are near the top of the NFL blob and they've kept their hopes alive for another playoff appearance.

With their up-coming schedule, it's not completely out of the question to make a run for a wild card spot. But they have to be more consistent on all fronts, especially against elite teams, if they want to go deep into the playoffs again.


Tune in to the Chicago Sports Fix radio show with Josh Catlow and me, Rob Zielinski, this and every Monday from 6 to 8pm only on http://www.chicagolandsportsradio.com/
Share your thoughts with us by calling 312.564.7375 during show hours or email us at chicagosportsfix@gmail.com
Adam Oestmann, Managing Editor for Chicago Bears Huddle, will be joining us in the first hour!
The Daily Herald's Barry Rozner, who also hosts WSCR 670-AM The Score's venerable baseball program Hit & Run, will be joining us any Monday now to TALK MORE HOCKEY! Unfortunately, due to his schedule, we cannot get a definitive date. So you'll have to be listening to catch our interview with him.

PREACH

At Least We Don't Live In Minnesota

We didn't learn much about Da Bears collectively on Sunday Night Football.

They are a mediocre team near the top of the NFL blob, but well below the cream of the class (thank you, Dan Hampton). Da Bears beat a bad Vikings team 39-10, at home, against a QB who seemed to have a birthday with every Minnesota possession. But they did what they had to do, they beat a bad team convincingly.

QB Jay Cutler has been very critical of the offensive game plan in recent weeks and took a handful of shots, subtle as they were, but shots nonetheless, at Mike Martz' game planning. He was even caught with an in-game play calling disagreement with his now infamous "Tell Martz [BLEEP] him," as he broke from the huddle on a 3rd and 7. However, after the game Sunday night, he was praising the game plan which involved getting the ball out of his hands quicker, max protections, and chip-blocks from running-backs and tight-ends.

When he's upright and not busy making Cutler-shaped indents in the turf, Jay is an outstanding quarterback. He started picking apart the Minnesota Cover 3 early with the Hi-Lo crossing routes because he had time. The 48 yard touchdown pass to Hester on their third play from scrimmage was more like an afterthought. The deep post route was just supposed to draw the cornerback and safety up-field to clear a space for a shorter route, but since Cutler had time he was able to connect with Hester, even with the safety playing deep! Field position between the forties is a place to take a shot down-field and I'm sure that was in the back of Cutler's mind as he walked to the line. Good time = good Cutler.

Da Bears got a lot of help early from the Vikings with dropped passes, a failed run game with a premier running back, shanked punts, a fair catch at thier own five and pooched kickoffs. All in the first quarter. All bad. It makes you wish they could play the Vikings at Soldier Field every week.

The O-line took care of business all game though. It was the fifth lineup in six games. Frank "Revolving Door" Omiyale got the hook and Lance Louis slid in at right tackle next to Chris Spencer and his broken hand. They got the job done. I hope Forte bought them lunch this week because whether he was running up the gut or off the edge, he had a hole to hit.

Jared Allen hit the trifecta on his sack, strip and recovery, but that one was on Cutler as he held on to the ball too long and it was just a hustle play by Allen. Otherwise, you didn't hear his name much during the broadcast. We did see his frustration building early in the game though, as he was talking with a lot of animation on the sideline. There's not many hogs to be tied when you're being slowed down by a sophomore left tackle with the help from chipping backs and tight ends.

Devin Hester was being Devin Hester in the return game. I said "Ut oh" as soon as I saw the crease. Hester hit it and he was gone. We're watching a Hall of Famer, folks. Enjoy it as much as possible because he'll be one of the few bright spots at the end of this season.

On defense, Stephen Paea had himself a nice game recording his first sack that turned out to be a safety (do the safety dance, you can dance if you want to...I'll stop). It was the charter franchise's 52nd safety to take the all-time NFL lead. Julius Peppers notched two sacks of his own -- on a bum knee, no less! Peanut Tillman led all Bears with 11 tackles and the newest safety tandem didn't give up the big play. Sure, Chris Conte was 22 yards deep and back-peddling as the ball was being snapped, but he did what was asked of him.

Some fans were up in arms about the benching of both Merriweather and Harris. They may be a little more talented and defintely more experienced, but if you don't play the Lovie-2 the way he installed this defense and play the positions the way he wants it played, you'll find yourself spectating from between the thirties. Or in Chris Harris' experience, sulking in street clothes and requesting a trade the next day like an immature clown.

Da Bears are still a low-talent team. They're flawed and they'll be exposed in weeks to come. We've seen them get destroyed and we'll see it again.

But at least we don't live in Minnesota.


Tune in to the Chicago Sports Fix radio show with Josh Catlow and me, Rob Zielinski, this and every Monday from 6 to 8pm only on http://www.chicagolandsportsradio.com/

Share your thoughts with us by calling 312.564.7375 during show hours or email us at chicagosportsfix@gmail.com

Adam Oestmann, Managing Editor for Chicago Bears Huddle, will be joining us in the first hour!

The Daily Herald's Barry Rozner, who also hosts WSCR 670-AM The Score's venerable baseball program Hit & Run, will be joining us any Monday now to TALK MORE HOCKEY! Unfortunately, due to his schedule, we cannot get a definitive date. So you'll have to be listening to catch our interview with him.

PREACH

Bottom-Line Business

And business is not good. Da Bears' season is over.

Last year's luck has run out. No more third string quarterbacks. No more not having players on the injury list.

Yes, Da Bears have played some good teams with potent offenses; however, Da Bears themselves were supposed to be a good team with an elite defense. That means you win some and you lose some, NOT lose every game to every team that has a decent offense. They've beaten an okay Atlanta team at home who is terrible on the road and they slipped past a bad Carolina team with a rookie QB under-center.

The bottom-line is Da Bears aren't very good. (Bold statement, I know). They're not even good. You can't be considered good when the offense is consistently wetting themselves at the line of scrimmage, nor when the defense doesn't play their gaps correctly.

It was the ugliest 1st quarter that I've seen from Da Bears in a long time on Monday night. Four false start penalties is unacceptable for one game, let alone one quarter! Absolutely pathetic. They knew it was going to be tough to hear the cadence from Cutler inside Ford Field, just like down in DREW Orleans LouBREESiana, but four false starts is indefensible. I would have let ONE slide, but that's you're only pass. The Lions were TRYING to let them march down the field, but Da Bears weren't having it.

Kellen Davis had three of the first four false starts. Bench him already! Penalties are playbook assassinators. It's not like he has played flawlessly the weeks prior. Lovie needed to pull him to the side after his second infraction and say "You're sitting the rest of this game out and you'll sit out the coming weeks if you don't get to a sergeon and have him perform an emergency remove head from rectumotomy" --or something along those lines. Although, Lovie and Martz should schedule their own operations, as well.

Martz doesn't learn from his mistakes. On 3rd and short, he opted to go with an empty set and Cutler got sacked. Why? Maybe Marion Barber isn't listed on Martz' roster sheet. Luckily, Avril was called for a face mask and Da Bears got a fresh set of downs. Well, maybe luckily was a bad word choice in hindsight as the most embarrassing possession of the game ensued. On 3rd and short, Martz called a hand-off to Forte. Mike, his name is Marion Barber. USE HIM.

Next, they had to call a timeout because they had the wrong personnel on the field or they couldn't be decisive --a recurring theme this season-- or the radio in Cutler's helmet may have been malfunctioning as Kellen Davis alluded to Wednesday night on WSCR. Whatever the excuse, another timeout had to be burned.

Then, instead of taking the points on the road to take an early lead and quiet the crowd, Lovie got cute and decided to go for it on 4th and short. Martz got half of the play-call right by handing the ball off, but he handed it to Forte. Again, because Barber is an apparition to Martz, even though somehow Barber was miraculously on the field before they had to burn that timeout. Maybe it really was his ghost in the backfield. On top of all that, Lovie challenged the spot, and lost. What new?

Seven minute drive. No points. No more timeouts. No more challenges for the rest of the half.

The right tackle's name doesn't deserve to be mentioned because he doesn't deserve to play in the NFL. Yet, he was a starter on the team Jerry Angelo has assembled. I hear he's a great guy, but the bottom-line is personality doesn't win you football games.

Jay Cutler was outstanding. He was constantly under the gun and he made play after play. He used his feet to escape pressure and his accuracy was nearly impeccable. With that said...

It's time to fire Mike Martz. He's not signed for next year and he rejected a contract extension. It doesn't matter if he's still here right now. Getting a new offensive coordinator gets you closer to a Super Bowl. If Angelo has any brains or guts -- it's hard to tell if he does these days-- Martz will be fired on the flight home from London so the new OC will have the bye week to install his offense.

Defensively, saying that they played poorly would be an understatement. It was the birth-child of a debacle/fiasco romp.

Lovie's Cover 2 wasn't the problem. X's and O's aren't to blame here --we'll get to the blame-game later-- the reason the defense got abused was the sheer lack of discipline.

Calvin "Megatron" Johnson scored on a 73 yard BOMB because he got a free-release off the line, QB Matthew Stafford had all day in the pocket and Gimp Harris, I mean, Chris Harris played the stem of Megatron's pattern and got beat deep. Why Tillman let Johnson get a free-release is a mystery. On the previous Detroit possession, Tillman had good outside technique and was jamming him at the line. He just got lazy on 3rd and long, I suppose.

Urlacher bit on a fake trap, abandoning his zone for a split second and left a lane open for a Pettigrew touchdown. Briggs was worried about somebody else's gap when Best made one cut at the second level and was gone for a historic Lions touchdown. Detroit's longest TD run since 1950 came against your Chicago Bears. Puke. Play on your landmarks, make your reads and make the play. Easier said than done, apparently.

It's time to play The Blame Game. Jerry Angelo blamed the coaching staff for miscues, then Lovie blamed Martz for the play-calling. The bottom-line is nobody in the organization is holding themselves accountable.

It's sad. It's pitiful. It's so Bears.


Tune in to the Chicago Sports Fix radio show with Josh Catlow and and me, Rob Zielinski, this and every Monday from 6 to 8pm only on http://www.chicagolandsportsradio.com/

Share your thoughts with us by calling 312.564.7375 during show hours or email us at chicagosportsfix@gmail.com

Adam Oestmann, Managing Editor for Chicago Bears Huddle, will be joining us in the first hour!

The Daily Herald's Barry Rozner, who also hosts WSCR 670-AM The Score's venerable baseball program Hit & Run, will be joining us any Monday now to TALK MORE HOCKEY! Unfortunately, due to his schedule, we cannot get a definitive date. So you'll have to be listening to catch our interview with him.

PREACH

Oxymoron: Frustrating Win

Or at least I THINK that qualifies as an oxymoron. But I digress.

Da Bears were fortunate to win Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. They had a favorable match-up in facing a rookie quarterback, under a rookie head-coach, with a depleted defense, at home. Not a very convincing 34-29 victory.

Matt Forte had himself a day. A career day. He had 25 carries for 205 yards (I know, I can't believe OC Mike Martz even called 25 running plays--31 altogether--or that the first nine plays from scrimmage were run-plays, either). Forte finds himself in elite company with Walter Payton and Gale Sayers as the only Bear to rush for over 200 yards in a single game.

It seems as though Martz had his hand smacked by Lovie's yard-stick after calling 11 and nine run-plays the two weeks prior, respectively. Or maybe o-line coach Mike Tice had a hand in the offensive play-calling. Or maybe, just maybe, Martz actually put his players in a position to succeed this past week.

It's not about balance and chances, but rather HOW you run the ball. It makes a world of difference when you call plays that allow your o-linemen to fire off the ball and that give your ball-carrier a lead-blocker so as to isolate the linebacker, allowing Forte to make one cut and go. Run downhill between the tackles, then open it up and run off-tackle, then open it up further with sweeps. Forte has the ability to gain the corner and then get up-field. It's not the sexiest style of football, but it still feels good winning individual battles and marching down the field. That's what you have to do against an injury-plagued defense. That's what I mean by putting your players in a position to succeed.

With that said, Da Bears won't be able to do that against better defenses. They can't continue to depend on Forte like that every game. Through the first four weeks, Forte accounts for 51.5% of the offense. Just to give you some perspective, accounting for 30% would be a heck of a lot. That's why GM Jerry Angelo should give him a fair contract extension as soon as possible; no Forte, no wins. But that's another post for another time.

Martz had his miscues, though. On third and goal from the four-yard line he called a QB draw. This, after Forte and Barber got them down there on lead-strong and lead-weak rushes. I wish they had a bruising down-hill runner to pick up that tough yardage, don't you, Marion Barber? It's as if University of Miami boosters pay Martz bounties every time Cutler gets destroyed (Offensive genius? I fear not). Even Cutler said that they should put that play on the shelf for a while. Later on, on third and one, Martz called a fake QB sneak/swing pass to Forte, which fooled NOBODY. Luckily, they picked up the first on fourth down with ... um, MARION BARBER.

Then, the collective, pathetic and inexcusable indecisiveness between Lovie and Martz caused Cutler to call a timeout on fourth down. Cutler even mouthed the words "That's embarrassing" on camera. And I concur. I don't even know what there was to think about. You're up a point with less than seven minutes left in a game in which you're lucky to be leading in the first place. Take the field goal and the four-point lead and force rookie QB Cam Newton to drive down the field for a touchdown! (Nice to see that confidence in your defense, Lovie.)

Finally, with just over five minutes remaining, Da Bears DID stop Newton and got the ball back...only, after a 20 yard-run and a 4 yard-run by Forte, Martz dialed up two passing plays which forced them to punt instead of eating clock with successful run-plays. The Panthers KNEW you were going to run and they STILL couldn't stop it, but let's try passing it because your ego won't allow you to chew clock on the ground.

Big picture: Jay Cutler is getting worse. His QB-rating Sunday was just below 48. His internal clock has sped up. He made that admission this past Wednesday. It was evident on Sunday when he felt the non-existent pressure all game, especially on the INT he threw as he rushed his throw and let the ball sail on him. That's the price you pay as a front-office when you don't give your QB the personnel around him necessary to succeed, and in an offensive scheme made to get your QB dominated in the back-field.

The O-line is off the hook ... for this week. Lance "Turn-Style" Louis actually stepped in and stepped up when his name was called to fill in for RG Chris Spencer, who was temporarily sidelined with a hand injury. He then slid over to RT and did a nice job when Frank "Revolving-Door" Omiyale (or "False-Start Frank," if you perfer) was benched at halftime. Louis' performance may have supplanted the job from Omiyale until Gabe Carimi comes back, which unfortunately for Lance, may be this Monday night in Detroit. So, for now, he's Lance "I Can't Let You In" Louis (somehow I feel like that nickname won't stick).

On the other side of the ball, Da Bears gave up 29 points induced by 17 plays of 15 yards or more and 12 of 20 yards or more. I understand the bend, but the break is unacceptable. As always, it starts in the trenches. Cam Newtown dropped back to pass 46 times; he was sacked ZERO times. They didn't even record a Quarterback Hit! Again, unacceptable and downright pathetic. You're not helping your secondary if you're not being disruptive in the back-field and pressuring the opposing quarterback. And help they need.

I can't remember a worse game for Bears' safeties under the Lovie regime than the Wright/Merriwether tandem on the field Sunday. I don't remember how or when, but apparently Major Wright recorded six tackles. It was probably when Carolina WR Steve Smith was busy torching him and Brandon Merriwether for 181 yards. I can see why Patriots' coach Bill Belichick didn't want Merriwether on his already reeling secondary.

Merriweather free-lances way too much in a Cover 2 scheme which requires discipline. He is the very definition of a head-hunter. He actually presses his fists to his chest and leads with the crown of his helmet instead of getting his head across the ball-carrier, wrapping him up and taking him down. Toughness is consistently making textbook tackles in the open-field and breaking up passes in coverage, NOT timing and teeing-off on a defenseless receiver. I'm sure he has already received his FedEx letter with dollar signs indicating just how much will be donated to United Way out of his pay-check.

The bottom line is that this defensive scheme cannot function with shaky coverage and a lack of pressure from the front-four. When they don't get pressure from the front-four, they're forced to blitz which means less players in their coverage zones, less eyes on the QB, and TROUBLE. Furthermore, they can never seem to get home and sack the QB. This has to be the worst blitzing defense in the NFL; they ALWAYS get picked up at the line of scrimmage. Even furthermore, I guess, they blitz on predictable downs, as twice on Sunday they got caught blitzing on screen-plays which went for big chunks of yardage.

Congratulations to Devin Hester on his record-breaking punt return touchdown and his triple somersault. Marion Barber's 340 degreeback-flip? Not so much.

A win is a win, is a win. However, if they play like that this coming Monday night at Ford Field, they'll be 2-3 on the year.


Tune in to the Chicago Sports Fix radio show with Josh Catlowand and me, Rob Zielinski, this and every Monday from 6 to 8pm only on http://www.chicagolandsportsradio.com/

Share your thoughts with us by calling 312.564.7375 during show hours or email us at chicagosportsfix@gmail.com

Adam Oestmann, Managing Editor for Chicago Bears Huddle, will be joining us in the first hour!

The Daily Herald's Barry Rozner, who also hosts WSCR 670-AM The Score's venerable baseball program Hit & Run, will be joining us any Monday now to TALK MORE HOCKEY! Unfortunately, due to his schedule, we cannot get a definitive date. So you'll have to be listening to catch our interview with him.


PREACH