Thread: Climb down from the ledge, my friend JABF

Roach's play seems to have hit a brick wall yesterday. Missed tackles by any Bears defender is about the biggest no no you can have and he missed multiple ones by the sound of it. Not good. He's not a rookie and he should know better than that. Solid ass chewing coming his way after the vid review.

Cutler had a bad game which didn't help. Some of it due to pressure, couple of key drops and a few off target throws is what it sounds like. I keep getting conflicting reports about Spencer but if he's still around and starting against Indy then I'll know the truth. Rachal never has been able to pass block so anything other than a bad report of that would be a surprise.

Sounds to me like the team had a bad stretch in the 2nd Q mostly attributable to some bad play by a handful of players. Ho hum, another bad week in the preseason. Meh. I won't start getting too anxious until about the 5th game. If we're not 4-1 after that then I have to wonder.

Originally Posted by soulman

Roach's play seems to have hit a brick wall yesterday. Missed tackles by any Bears defender is about the biggest no no you can have and he missed multiple ones by the sound of it. Not good. He's not a rookie and he should know better than that. Solid ass chewing coming his way after the vid review.

Cutler had a bad game which didn't help. Some of it due to pressure, couple of key drops and a few off target throws is what it sounds like. I keep getting conflicting reports about Spencer but if he's still around and starting against Indy then I'll know the truth. Rachal never has been able to pass block so anything other than a bad report of that would be a surprise.

Sounds to me like the team had a bad stretch in the 2nd Q mostly attributable to some bad play by a handful of players. Ho hum, another bad week in the preseason. Meh. I won't start getting too anxious until about the 5th game. If we're not 4-1 after that then I have to wonder.

Soul,

I think that's pretty much spot on. It's easy to over-react when the team has a bad 10 minutes going into half that totally changes your impression of the game.

Cutler was NOT good. True he didn't have any run production at all but the difference in his stats (esp. completion perecentage) and Manning's was NOT that he was under siege every play. [I was expecting the NYG DL to be up his ass every dropback like in 2010 and that was not the case despite some whiffs on pass pro by Rachal and CWill.] The difference was a few drops and more than few BAD throws by Jay. He was simply not accurate even when he had guys open. I'm not worried about it but just pointing it out. Campbell was inaccurate too as was Carr.

Everyone is naturally focusing on the OL and it was a mixed bag. Rachal was terrible and should be cut imo. CWill proved he can't play LT except in a pinch, he needs to move back to LG for good and a swing OT vet needs to be culled from the waiver wire. Spencer was decent, nothing more. He's relatively expensive for a backup so I dunno what to do with him. Webb had a horrible (mental again?) whiff on a run play but was pleasantly decent on pass pro. The OL, bottom line, was hardly killer but they didn't "cost us the half".

Unga's whiff cost us 7 and cost him a roster spot chance as far I can see.

Booker continued to make a case to stick.

As did Walters...who now should be on the team since Brandon dumbshit Hardin has now Meriweather'd himself out of his rookie year on IR.

Peanut had a really bad 10 minutes but that isn't anything to worry about either. We know he's solid come September.

Yeah, but you hit the nail on the head with Roach. All I saw most of the 1st half was #53 getting blocked out of the play or letting short gainers become big(ger) ones by sloppy tackling. NR needs to make whatever time BU needs off to be less than a gaping liability. Just be a "step down" rather than a "huge hole". He looked like a hole to me yesterday. On David Wilson's first "big" run, Roach came up to hit him (helmet first, no arms whatsoever) and DW bounced off. What should have been a <10 yd gain and 3rd & 4 became a 20 yd run and 1st & 10. No bueno.

A few simple things like playing the right OLs in the right place, a few proper tackles by Roach especially, not whiffing completely on punt protection, and Jay maybe hitting the side of the barn a few more times and we would have went into half UP with everyone having a very different outlook on the game no matter what the final score was.

Originally Posted by MPBears68

I re-watched the 1st half in detail and slo-mo without the crazy distractions I had last night. Its remarkable how different your perspective can be compared to the impression you first come away with (after that horrible end of the half last few minutes). Here's what I saw in looking at greater detail...


1st Q
O1: +good KR by Weems 30+ yds
+pass pro fine
(would have had 1st on JC scramble in RS, slid down wisely short of 1st to not risk injury)

D1: +excellent P and coverage by ERod
+good TFL tackle by Jennings on swing pass
+decent pressure on EM-->incomplete, 3 and out

O2: +fine pass pro, 1st down on pass to Bennett
-TFL on Forte, ERod missed block on run blitz LB
+good pass pro on deep pass to BM, JC overthrows
+ """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" KDavis, JC overthrows or KD ran bad route

D2: +good punt by Quigs, fair catch @ 14
+Exc. penetration by Melton, dump off pass TFL'd by Steltz
-1st big run by DWilson, s/b stopped for 3rd & 4-5 but Roach missed open field tackle but hitting w/o wrapping up
-2nd big run by DW, Tillman & Roach missed tackle just past LoS
-Good pressure but dump off to DW goes big, totally bullshit late hit call on Steltz adds 15
+TFL on run play DESPITE holding call on NYG RT right at point of attack
+good pass rush forces short complete with no YAC
+"""""""""""""""""""""" incomplete/thrown away
(short complete pass on 3rd &15, NYG forced to settle for FG despite 1st & 10 deep in Red Zone)

NYG 3, CHB 0

O3: +Booker wiith great KR 40+ yds
+Nice end around to Hester for 20, good downfield block by ERod
+JC to BM for 8, pass thrown high which prevented YAC
-TFL against Forte, total whiff by Webb in run blocking
+JC to BM for short 1st pickup, good YAC
-Beautiful deep slant to AJ, well thrown, AJ drops it at the 2.
+TD to BM next play, no NYG DB can cover him 1 on 1

CHB 7, NYG 3

D3: Delay of game on EM
+Pep TFLs RB big time for near safety, Giants' OLman whiffs on Pep
+EM nearly sacked, throws ball away, very questionable PI call on Tillman gives NYG free 1st down

(bizarre end-of-quarter ref controversy)

2nd Q

D3: -good run by DWilson, Roach whiffs on tackle again
+DW stuffed at LoS
+D holds on 3rd & 1, incomplete pass
-good punt by Weatherforn pins us @ 9 yl

O4: -false start by KDavis
-3 & out, JC throws poor pass to BM incomplete

D4: +great punt from deep in our zone and coverage at 42 yl
+complete for 1 yd, Tillman prevents YAC
+run play stuffed for 1
-Manning starts hitting short stuff, to Cruz for 8 and 1st down
-EM to Barden for 14 and 1st
+run play TFL'd for -1
-poor pash rush, 1st down complete pass to TE
+run play TFL'd for -1
-EM to Cruz, Tillman late
-EM to Barden for TD, Tillman beat on slant

NYG 10, CHB 7

O5: -really good pass pro, JC pass tipped and IC
-Rachal whiffs vs LB, short gain by Forte
+pass pro decent, 1st down complete JC to AJ
-decent pass pro, JC misses WIDE OPEN Bennett overthrown, would have been 30+ yd gain
-CWill whiffs on LT on pass pro blowing play, IC pass

(punt, runback negated by 2 penalties on NYG pushing them back)

D5: +one good pass play by EM, then D holds and forces punt

O6: -Cutler misses wide open Forte in flat, would have been sizeable-to-big gain
-Cutler misses wide open Forte over middle, Rachal a sieve on pass pro

(short complete to Hester forces 3 & out)

--Unga whiffs completely on punt blocking causing change of possesion deep in red zone and easy NYG TD

NYG 17, CHB 7

--subsequent kick clown school w/ Weems fumbling upon being hit by teamate, Bears run out clock pinned at the 2

The overall point of this is that the TERRIBLE way the half ended made it look way worse than the actual (and expected in RS) play truly was. There was also some very suspect calls/no-calls from the refs that hurt us much more than NY. Not making excuses for these Bears players...

Unga (he's a cut and that punt-block/TD doesn't happen 99% of the time if Clutts is back there instead)
Roach (dude, when you're a MLB defending the run you MUST tackle better. Hopefully he will be playing SLB most of the year)
Rachal (was terrible on pass and run blocking, will not be starting and s/b cut too)
Tillman (simply had a terrible 15 minutes, it happens and we know he's better than that)
CWill (wasn't good at LT, Webb was much better except for that bad missed run block vs Osi. O/w Webb & Spencer were solid)

...and the surprising sure-fire starter player who played in his final proper position and really hurt the team in the 1st half was...............................

JAY CUTLER

He did NOT play well at all. He had some pressure yes, but no more and probably less than Manning saw. He simply was not crisp and accurate at all. One well thrown ball at the goalline to Jeffery was dropped but BM bailed him out the next play for the TD so it didn't cost anything. But Jay threw behind guys, overthrew guys, and frankly left two big gainers (esp to Bennett) on the table by missing badly on passes to as "wide open" as a receiver gets in the NFL.

Manning's stats were so much better because he threw a lot of short completions, had only one questionable drop, benefitted from two big bullshit penalties, and was much more accurate. It had little to do with pass protection.

The Bears, even accounting for a few expected lapses and burns that every team has every week, would have gone into halftime up 14-10 or even 17-10 without OLmen playing who shouldn't be, without Unga whiff-blocking on a routine punt, and Cutler playing the kind of QB he should.

Overall, the team--the team that actually matters for RS--played better than the halftime score indicated and better than Jay did. JMO but no need to panic yet.

I watched the game for the first time today & I saw it the same way as you MP. A few plays make it look worse than it was & Cutler seemed off & aggravated from the start.

Four plays I'll mention is the drop by Bennett, Cutler missing Bennett wide open for a possible TD, an early whistle on a fumble that our D would've scored on & the blocked punt allowed by someone who will no longer be a Bear very soon.

I am climbing back in off the ledge now.

Seriously, I believe we had multiple failures on defense, offense & special teams. Most of these can be cleaned up. But I stand by the fact the offensive line was bad. It is bad.

Against the 1st team defense we averaged about 1/2 yard per carry. Any way you try to spin that, it's bad. You don't win many NFL games with that kind of run-blocking.

The pass blocking was good at times. Bad at times. Inconsistent. That's how I saw the game.

I completely agree about Cutler, and all the other failures. But those can be eliminated. I have no doubt about that. I do feel our offensive line is the worst I've seen in many years (yes, worse than last year. I don't understand how that happened. But I see that we have regressed).

But how do you possible spin it that rushing for less than 1 yard per carry is OK against their starting defense? Is that "OK" with you guys? Fine if it is. But I set the bar higher (light years higher) than that.

I realize some may be fine with that kind of performance. I just can't for the life of me stomach that kind of blocking. You can rationalize that everything and everyone else is to blame but not the oline.

But I'm not satisfied with that kind of performance. I do respect folks that are pleased with our oline though.

Originally Posted by MPBears68

I re-watched the 1st half in detail and slo-mo without the crazy distractions I had last night. Its remarkable how different your perspective can be compared to the impression you first come away with (after that horrible end of the half last few minutes). Here's what I saw in looking at greater detail...

Haugh and Biggs agree with you. I'll put the link to their video here. But maybe it wasn't as bad as I saw it. I hope so. We will get better, and hopefully we'll learn how to run block. Sounds like Webb is "The Guy" at LT. Spencer the LG winner.

The Haugh/Biggs video seems very objective. Right on. Like your excellent post MBbear. Thanks for sharing that with us. I feel (a little) better. Still worried about the oline. And a tad bit about Urlacher. We desperately need him to play an entire season. And at a high level.