Okay, so after a bad sports weekend and a horrible loss for the Hawks last night, I FINALLY get a good result for my team, and that's... Da Bearsss. The Bears beat the New York Football Giants 27-21 in a fairly well-executed game for a Thursday Night Football national audience. The Giants came into the game with an 0-5 record.
Okay, the defense could have been better, but the offense really stepped up tonight. "Good Jay" was in the building tonight, as he threw for 262 yards, completing a total of 24 out of 36 pass attempts, had a passer rating of 106.5 and connected with Brandon Marshall in the end zone twice. As for the defense, well, it could have been better. Now granted, they were missing Stephen Paea, Henry Melton and Charles Tillman, but SIU grand Brandon Jacobs ran for 106 yards and two TDs.
But, the Bears intercepted a struggling Eli Manning three times, including a Pick-Six by Tim Jennings. So I guess there's a silver lining in that cloud. Jennings' second interception sealed the win with 1:54 left in the game. At one point the Bears were up by 13, but a Brandon Jacobs touchdown cut that lead to 6.
Eli himself threw for 239 yards, completing 14 of 26 passes and a touchdown, as well as those previously-mentioned interceptions. He was intercepted 44 seconds into the game and then on the Giants' second drive, on Jennings' pick-6. Brandon Jacobs then scored on a 4-yard run to tie the game.
But the Bears responded, and Jay and Brandon connected on their first touchdown pass to put them up. But then Rueben Randle caught a 37 yard pass from Eli to tie the game. But the Bears took control, and Cutler and Marshall connected again on a 3-yard pass. Robbie Gould kicked two field goals that in the end, put the game out of reach for the G-Men.
Okay, defense aside (which is admittedly struggling and banged up), this was a good game for the Bears. I always like seeing Good Jay showing up, but I would appreciate it if he consistently showed up. That being said, I thought Cutler did an excellent job after two very bad outings in the previous two weeks. As for Brandon Marshall, those green shoes he wore did the trick. I think he should wear them more often, NFL fines be damned.
It's also pretty surprising these Giants are 0-6. They could have easily won this game, but the Bears definitely took them seriously. It's a step in the right direction for the Bears, and hopefully they'll use the extra three days to figure things out before they take on RGIII and the struggling Washington team.
Showing posts with label NFL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NFL. Show all posts
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Sunday Night Quarterbacking: Are You Serious?
Sigh... this hasn't been a good sports weekend for me. The Hawks somehow lost, Northwestern (I didn't go there, but I happen to like them) couldn't keep up with Ohio State and now this. The Bears turned into turkeys today against the New Orleans Saints.
The Saints showed they're one of the best offensive teams in the NFL today. And the Bears, well, they still need some work done. They suffered from multiple pass protection breakdowns and were flagged for 6 penalties while only accumulating a grand total of 12 minutes of possession time.
The offense wasn't real bad, though. Alshon Jeffery had over 200 yards of receiving, a personal record for him, and Jay Cutler was able to protect the ball a lot better. But the Saints defense and big mistakes by the Bears offense combined with Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan's schemes, the Saints stopped most of the Bears' drives. Jimmy Graham had 10 receptions for 135 yards, shredding the Bears offense.
The offense only gained two first downs in their first five series, a product of miscues and the Saints defense. The Saints quickly jumped out to a 13-0 lead, helped in part by the Saints blitz play. It took some time before the Bears could finally get on the board, but they had to play from behind the whole game while the Saints offense get having their way with the defense.
Thankfully, they were able to make the necessary adjustments, but by then it was too late. The mistakes that cost the Bears included a fumble by Matt Forte, three sacks on Jay Cutler and Earl Bennett dropping an easy pass on a 4th down situation with just over two minutes left.
I had hoped the Bears could recover from the beating they took last week against the Lions. In a way they did, but the Saints forced them to make the mistakes I keep talking about. When you only have 12 minutes of possession, there's something wrong. Coach Trestman will have to figure out just what happened and make the necessary adjustments.
He's only got until Thursday when the Bears welcome the New York Giants for a Thursday night game. These mistakes cannot be repeated against the Giants, or else this will be a long season with way too many growing pangs.
The Saints showed they're one of the best offensive teams in the NFL today. And the Bears, well, they still need some work done. They suffered from multiple pass protection breakdowns and were flagged for 6 penalties while only accumulating a grand total of 12 minutes of possession time.
The offense wasn't real bad, though. Alshon Jeffery had over 200 yards of receiving, a personal record for him, and Jay Cutler was able to protect the ball a lot better. But the Saints defense and big mistakes by the Bears offense combined with Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan's schemes, the Saints stopped most of the Bears' drives. Jimmy Graham had 10 receptions for 135 yards, shredding the Bears offense.
The offense only gained two first downs in their first five series, a product of miscues and the Saints defense. The Saints quickly jumped out to a 13-0 lead, helped in part by the Saints blitz play. It took some time before the Bears could finally get on the board, but they had to play from behind the whole game while the Saints offense get having their way with the defense.
Thankfully, they were able to make the necessary adjustments, but by then it was too late. The mistakes that cost the Bears included a fumble by Matt Forte, three sacks on Jay Cutler and Earl Bennett dropping an easy pass on a 4th down situation with just over two minutes left.
I had hoped the Bears could recover from the beating they took last week against the Lions. In a way they did, but the Saints forced them to make the mistakes I keep talking about. When you only have 12 minutes of possession, there's something wrong. Coach Trestman will have to figure out just what happened and make the necessary adjustments.
He's only got until Thursday when the Bears welcome the New York Giants for a Thursday night game. These mistakes cannot be repeated against the Giants, or else this will be a long season with way too many growing pangs.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Monday Night Quarterbacking: What the Heck Happened?
I guess that 3-0 start for the Bears was too good to be true. Sadly, Bad Jay showed up again and the Bears just disintegrated against the Lions. The Lions for goodness sake! Weren't we supposed to be dominating the NFC North this year?
The Bears were bad in all ways this past Sunday. Jay Cutler threw two interceptions, the defensive line could not stop Reggie Bush, and the Lions just made the Bears look stupid all Sunday. It was clear that the Bears were not going to go undefeated this year, but it was so utterly total that this loss might be a template for other teams to beat the Bears.
As mentioned previously, Jay Cutler was back to his old self. His throwing motion got worse as the Bears predicament went further south, a problem that was supposed to be fixed by Trestman. Cutler had been dominant in the fourth quarter in the past three weeks, but there was none of that. So what happened? My hypothesis is that the Lions knew this is still Jay Cutler and they took advantage of his mental instability.
And the Bears offense couldn't do anything either! Aside from a Matt Forte run, the Bears mostly had to settle for field goals for much of the game. Oh, and did I mention they were 1-13 on third down conversions? They only third down they had the entire game was with :48 left in the game. Yeah, you're not going to win if you can't convert on third down.
Of course, the defense is not blameless at all her, either. The Lions shredded the Bears defensive line, which was hurting with Henry Melton out for the season and Pat Tillman not 100%. The Lions had 16 plays where they gained 10 or more yards against the Bears. Reggie Bush had 139 yards on 18 carry attempts. Looking at the replay, he made the defense look like idiots.
The worst part is this comes a week before the high-power Saints offense comes to town. The Bears defense will have to watch the game tape, shame themselves and come back. Now granted, they did force a few fumbles (a number of which they could not recover) and they held Calvin Johnson. Also, this bad defense only showed up in the first half. The rest of the game, they were able to contain Bush.
So what happened? The Lions took advantage of the Bears' hiccups, that's what. Cutler picked a bad week to go back to Bad Jay and the Lions made him pay. The defense was still recovering from Henry Melton's injury and the Lions found the gaping holes. Trestman will have his work cut out for him. He'll have to figure out a way to get Jay to drop the "Bad Jay" persona and become the Pro Bowl Quarterback we all know he can be.
There is significant work that will need to be done before Week 5. The Bears offense needs to step up and recover from bad play pretty quickly, or else this will be another year of disappointment. However, before things get worse, I might as well point something out: The Bears are still 3-1. But this game has exposed the Bears flaws. They must be fixed and fast.
The Bears were bad in all ways this past Sunday. Jay Cutler threw two interceptions, the defensive line could not stop Reggie Bush, and the Lions just made the Bears look stupid all Sunday. It was clear that the Bears were not going to go undefeated this year, but it was so utterly total that this loss might be a template for other teams to beat the Bears.
As mentioned previously, Jay Cutler was back to his old self. His throwing motion got worse as the Bears predicament went further south, a problem that was supposed to be fixed by Trestman. Cutler had been dominant in the fourth quarter in the past three weeks, but there was none of that. So what happened? My hypothesis is that the Lions knew this is still Jay Cutler and they took advantage of his mental instability.
And the Bears offense couldn't do anything either! Aside from a Matt Forte run, the Bears mostly had to settle for field goals for much of the game. Oh, and did I mention they were 1-13 on third down conversions? They only third down they had the entire game was with :48 left in the game. Yeah, you're not going to win if you can't convert on third down.
Of course, the defense is not blameless at all her, either. The Lions shredded the Bears defensive line, which was hurting with Henry Melton out for the season and Pat Tillman not 100%. The Lions had 16 plays where they gained 10 or more yards against the Bears. Reggie Bush had 139 yards on 18 carry attempts. Looking at the replay, he made the defense look like idiots.
The worst part is this comes a week before the high-power Saints offense comes to town. The Bears defense will have to watch the game tape, shame themselves and come back. Now granted, they did force a few fumbles (a number of which they could not recover) and they held Calvin Johnson. Also, this bad defense only showed up in the first half. The rest of the game, they were able to contain Bush.
So what happened? The Lions took advantage of the Bears' hiccups, that's what. Cutler picked a bad week to go back to Bad Jay and the Lions made him pay. The defense was still recovering from Henry Melton's injury and the Lions found the gaping holes. Trestman will have his work cut out for him. He'll have to figure out a way to get Jay to drop the "Bad Jay" persona and become the Pro Bowl Quarterback we all know he can be.
There is significant work that will need to be done before Week 5. The Bears offense needs to step up and recover from bad play pretty quickly, or else this will be another year of disappointment. However, before things get worse, I might as well point something out: The Bears are still 3-1. But this game has exposed the Bears flaws. They must be fixed and fast.
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