This Weeks Ten Observations................

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11-30-2011, 02:23 PM
soulman

This Weeks Ten Observations................

10 observations on the Bears
BY MARK POTASH mpotash@suntimes.com November 28, 2011 1:01PMView Gallery

Updated: November 28, 2011 9:19PM

Caleb Hanie lost a game that Jay Cutler would have won. But until he loses a game that Caleb Hanie should have won, there’s no reason to get too panicky over the performance of the Bears’ back-up quarterback. (I think this is a good way to put it. With Cutler playing his usual game we win this one hands down but we knew it was 50-50 with Hanie because it was his first start. That's Hanie's one gimme. This week it's HIS game to win)

If Hanie had started strong and thrown three interceptions in the second half with a chance to win the game, you might have something there. But almost every mistake he made was pretty typical for a young quarterback making is first NFL start against a good pass-rushing team on the road. (I'm not so sure we could have survived three picks no matter when they came but I do know that the last one was the pivotal one as far as winning or losing the game was concerned and I think most of immediate football watching world knows that too.)

The big question is how quickly he learns. Hanie’s second NFL start will be at Soldier Field on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs — who rank 20th in yards allowed, but more importantly are last in the NFL with 13 sacks in 11 games. If he throws three picks and has a sub-80 passer rating in this game, the Bears have a problem. (The weekly "no shit" statement from the Sun-Times own Captain Obvious, lol)

(Though it’s worth noting that Ben Roethlisberger — a quarterback even more accomplished in the NFL than Cutler — had an 81.8 rating against the Chiefs on Sunday night on 21-of-31 passing for 193 yards, a touchdown and an interception.)

Maybe 11 weeks of Lovie Smith is wearing on me, but all the Bears have to improve from top to bottom this week, not just Hanie. Mike Martz has to call a better game. Special teams has to give Hanie better field position. And the defense has to create more than one turnover. That’s the formula that’s going to carry the Bears through the Cutler injury. (Well the play calling issues are an obvious problem and all we can hope for is that Lovie jumped all over Martz about that again!!!!!! this week. Special teams (I think he means Hester) couldn't do much against the best punter in the NFL. An 80 yard punt???? Come on man that's inhuman! Turnovers? Well we had our chances if only Tim Jennings could cover a ball up as well as he covers most WR's. Two missed chances there to prevent FG's by my count.)
But the bottom line is that nothing happened in Sunday’s loss to the Raiders that altered the Bears’ course this season. This was expected to be a difficult one. The real test for the Bears in the post-Cutler phase of their season begins Sunday. (I agree 100% with this statement. The Raider game was a somewhat anticipated bump in the road. As long as we get back on track again this Sunday it remains a bump in the road.)

And now the slide show;

CLICK HERE for 10 other observations from the Bears-Raiders game:
11-30-2011, 02:46 PM
soulman

Down the list of the ten.

1) Martz play calling has to improve and give Hanie a better chance to use his specific skill set to win this game. Just run some good old fashioned straight forward plays and forget the cute stuff. Let Forte and Barber keep him out of jams with their running so he doesn't have so many 3rd and longs that result in three and out. He also needs to let him make some plays with his feet like he did last Sunday. He can't throw on the run as well as Cutler but he runs better on the run than Cutler. Let him run! He won't break.

2) Just more of one. Martz has called that play twice this year and it's failed twice let's not see if the third time is the charm.

3) We'll see. Filling Cutler's shoes was never gonna be an easy task but Hanie doesn't need to. He just needs to play his game, not Cutler's.

4) Yeah that wearing down thing on defense worries me alot more when we play the Broncos here than it does playing KC in Chicago. All the more reason to keep the defense off the field with smart ball control and long drives.

5) Robbie.......yes!!!!! I remember when he arrived with the Bears and struggled beyond 45 yards and now he puts them through from over 50 with room to spare. He also must be close to the top of the league in kick offs past the endline too. He's alwasy been ultra accurate but now his leg is that much stronger too.

6) KC has a bottom ten ranked offense and most of that has been with Cassell playing. If Palko plays they're even less potent and even if Orton starts it's his first start with KC and he hasn't started in Denver for weeks so he's got to be a bit rusty. Maybe the breaks fall our way this week. (Does anyone else think the name Tyler Palko reminds them of that all time great Replacements QB Shane Falco?)

7) Yeah, the Raiders only had 6 penalties hmmm. I'd say they were the beneficiaries of some pretty benevolent refs. There was a lot more that should have been called then were.

8) 304 yards total offense for Hanie but of course 80 of those came on one huge play and another 50 from his feet. I hope Martz pays attention to that this week. That bomb to Knox was the first really long heave I remember us collecting on this year. There have been some chances but they didn't connect.

9) Who cares what Jay Cutler did in his first start with Denver? It's ancient history.

10) When you have 172 yards rushing on just 27 carries (6.37 ypc) you should win the game. We should do that well again this week only with a better outcome.
11-30-2011, 05:29 PM
MPBears68

Quote:

Originally Posted by soulman

Down the list of the ten.

1) Martz play calling has to improve and give Hanie a better chance to use his specific skill set to win this game. Just run some good old fashioned straight forward plays and forget the cute stuff. Let Forte and Barber keep him out of jams with their running so he doesn't have so many 3rd and longs that result in three and out. He also needs to let him make some plays with his feet like he did last Sunday. He can't throw on the run as well as Cutler but he runs better on the run than Cutler. Let him run! He won't break.

2) Just more of one. Martz has called that play twice this year and it's failed twice let's not see if the third time is the charm.

3) We'll see. Filling Cutler's shoes was never gonna be an easy task but Hanie doesn't need to. He just needs to play his game, not Cutler's.

4) Yeah that wearing down thing on defense worries me alot more when we play the Broncos here than it does playing KC in Chicago. All the more reason to keep the defense off the field with smart ball control and long drives.

5) Robbie.......yes!!!!! I remember when he arrived with the Bears and struggled beyond 45 yards and now he puts them through from over 50 with room to spare. He also must be close to the top of the league in kick offs past the endline too. He's alwasy been ultra accurate but now his leg is that much stronger too.

6) KC has a bottom ten ranked offense and most of that has been with Cassell playing. If Palko plays they're even less potent and even if Orton starts it's his first start with KC and he hasn't started in Denver for weeks so he's got to be a bit rusty. Maybe the breaks fall our way this week. (Does anyone else think the name Tyler Palko reminds them of that all time great Replacements QB Shane Falco?)

7) Yeah, the Raiders only had 6 penalties hmmm. I'd say they were the beneficiaries of some pretty benevolent refs. There was a lot more that should have been called then were.

8) 304 yards total offense for Hanie but of course 80 of those came on one huge play and another 50 from his feet. I hope Martz pays attention to that this week. That bomb to Knox was the first really long heave I remember us collecting on this year. There have been some chances but they didn't connect.

9) Who cares what Jay Cutler did in his first start with Denver? It's ancient history.

10) When you have 172 yards rushing on just 27 carries (6.37 ypc) you should win the game. We should do that well again this week only with a better outcome.

If there was ever a situation that called for a ~ 60/40 run/pass gameplan, then last week's game in Oakland was it. What did MM do? The exact opposite. Why? God alone knows. It's not like Forte & Barber were getting stuffed every time or the Raiders have such an awesome run-D. It's not we were way behind and had to pass. It's not like CH was lighting it up either in the first half. I just don't get why MM feels the compulsion to get cutesy and out-think the obvious.

The first 2 picks were bad decisions by an inexperienced QB with jitters...not unexpected. The 3rd was a game-changer and is mostly on MM for stupid playcalling that put his QB in a difficult position there was no discernable reason to put him in. Running the ball north-south there puts us up 10-9 (prob 14-9) minimum going into half and we probably win the game. Big difference playing with a lead and some mo in the 2nd half, esp. with a young, new QB. Too dumb for words on MM there.

Robbie G is MONEY...nuff said.

Hanie's running ability is pretty impressive. Not saying trying to turn him into Tebow or Vick, but Lovie could say "Caleb, if it ain't there and you see an opening, run the ball and SLIDE."

Blaming the refs is usually lame and they weren't the reason we lost, but the overall officiating was pretty "home team friendly" no doubt.

Lovie won his one challenge but another easy one got away. He should have challenged the CH-OOB call and would have won for sure. Challenges still remain challenging for Lovie for some inane reason.

KC's offense utterly blows--they haven't scored an offensive TD in some ridiculous number of consequetive quarters now. This is a game that CH must win and not give away. Anyone notice Bowe completely give up on breaking up that INT last weekend?