Thread: What we learnedOakland/Chicago

Originally Posted by Riczaj01

I won't disagree w/you Martz was bad. But at the end of the day, Haine could have chosen to not throw that screen and just junk it and we go up going into the 1/2. It's a dumb play, and better plays could have been called, but Haine's execution of it made it worse. we had I think 5 penalties in the first 2 or 3 drives, that put us in worse position and Haine MIGHT be down to 1 int on the game. Those aren't on Martz either. Better execution would have won this game; and that is on the players not on the pla callers was all my point was. I'll be more then happy to slap martz w/a good portion of the blame; but the majority goto the players.

Of course, Hanie shouldn't have thrown the pass (or thrown it so poorly). I blame MM even more tha Hanie (who admittedly sucked big time in the 1st half) because it is Mike Martz's job as OC to call plays that maximize the chances of overall success (i.e. WINNING THE GAME) based on the circumstances and personnel available!

If Joe Montana or Aaron Rodgers was taking the snap, they would have checked to next progression or chucked it away. Did Mike Martz not notice that he had a young, very inexperienced, and very rattled QB who had already thrown 2 inaccurate picks out there? Did it not occur to MM that the D is gonna be bunched up tight near the GL and a pass into the flat there could easily go for 6 the other way? Did it ever concern MM that maybe he shouldn't put a shaky QB starting his first game into a challenging position that is dangerous, unnecesary, and calls for quicker judgment than a new QB should be expected to have?

Or was this yet another example of MM trying to pound his "genius" square-peg playcalling into the round-hole of inappropriate personnel that can't reasonably be expected to have success with it?

Every one of us knows that a few power runs there safely gives you a 99% chance of 3 points and probably a 60% chance of 7...with all the psychological benefits and confidence of going into halftime with a new lead you just took in the last 2 minutes.

Originally Posted by WindyCity

The Bears lost on the road to a good team in a tough environment by 5 points with a QB that was starting in his first career game. Things will be okay.

Probably so, Windy, but that doesn't excuse MM basically giving away a game with bad coaching pure & simple. A win there (and I firmly believe we would have won if that late 1st half farce hadn't been allowed to even have a chance at happening) would have been HUGE.

Huge for Hanie's confidence going forward.
Huge for the team's confidence too
Huge for "being firmly in the driver's seat" for the playoff picture.

I remember just cringing when I saw Hanie drop back to pass there with 2nd & 1 from the 7...

DUMB, JUST DUMB

Oaklands punter can kick the ball 80 yards.