Week 6: Bears at Falcons, noon central on Fox

[jersey cubs fan]

Any playoff spot at all would be amazing considering the expectations coming in to the season.

 

I'm not going to revise my expectations for this team. Yes they've played better in some areas, but there are still grave concerns and injuries are once again beginning to eat away at our effectiveness.

 

There isn't a game this team can't win. But there also isn't a game where I have confidence they'll be able to hold a lead, or avoid game-destroying mistakes, or what have you. The team is almost totally a crapshoot from week to week. We could beat a top NFC team one week, and lose to a crappy team the next. There's no way to predict anything with this bunch. It's pretty much like that around the entire league.

 

What were your expectations? I expected much worse. Now I expect 9 wins, and am hoping for 10. I expected offensive ineptitude and have been surprised by relatively decent play. They do need to get better line play though.

[Soul]

Any playoff spot at all would be amazing considering the expectations coming in to the season.

 

I'm not going to revise my expectations for this team. Yes they've played better in some areas, but there are still grave concerns and injuries are once again beginning to eat away at our effectiveness.

 

There isn't a game this team can't win. But there also isn't a game where I have confidence they'll be able to hold a lead, or avoid game-destroying mistakes, or what have you. The team is almost totally a crapshoot from week to week. We could beat a top NFC team one week, and lose to a crappy team the next. There's no way to predict anything with this bunch. It's pretty much like that around the entire league.

 

What were your expectations? I expected much worse. Now I expect 9 wins, and am hoping for 10. I expected offensive ineptitude and have been surprised by relatively decent play. They do need to get better line play though.

 

Initially 7-9. How can you expect 9 wins, maybe 10 when the team blows a lead almost every time out? Especially now with the obligatory defensive injuries showing up?

[jersey cubs fan]

Any playoff spot at all would be amazing considering the expectations coming in to the season.

 

I'm not going to revise my expectations for this team. Yes they've played better in some areas, but there are still grave concerns and injuries are once again beginning to eat away at our effectiveness.

 

There isn't a game this team can't win. But there also isn't a game where I have confidence they'll be able to hold a lead, or avoid game-destroying mistakes, or what have you. The team is almost totally a crapshoot from week to week. We could beat a top NFC team one week, and lose to a crappy team the next. There's no way to predict anything with this bunch. It's pretty much like that around the entire league.

 

What were your expectations? I expected much worse. Now I expect 9 wins, and am hoping for 10. I expected offensive ineptitude and have been surprised by relatively decent play. They do need to get better line play though.

 

Initially 7-9. How can you expect 9 wins, maybe 10 when the team blows a lead almost every time out? Especially now with the obligatory defensive injuries showing up?

 

Because I thought there was a good chance they'd be 1-5 right now. They were 7-9 last year, and this year's team is better. They blow leads I never thought they would have had in the first place. Granted, my adjusted 9 win expectations included yesterday's game, but they can make up for it. They still play 2 against some of the worst teams to ever play football, Detroit and STL. GB and MN are not nearly as good as some made them out to be going into the season. If they beat STL and DET, and split with MN and GB, that's 7 wins already.

 

Their toughest remaining AFC opponents are coming to Chicago, which makes me think they might actually win one against those two teams. They end in Houston, which is not a good football team and should be eliminated from contention by then. And they get New Orleans at home in December. Yes, a sub .500 record is still possible, especially with health involved. But I feel a heck of a lot better about their chances now than I did in August.

[Handlebar McSkullet]

I really wasn't too upset about this loss. They were thoroughly outplayed for about most of the game. Especially on defense. One point about the last play before the game winning field goal. If there was ever a tip your cap moment this year for an opponent it was that throw by Ryan. He had less that 3 seconds to throw that football, and he let go of the football just after he was hit by Harris. He had enough arm strength to put in a position to be caught with two feet in bounds. It was impressive.

 

It also was a basic 20 yard out where a qb and a wr practice the timing of the route. Ryan and White knew that the ball had to be let go in at least 2 seconds, and that White had to make his cut at the 35 yard line. My only gripe is that a zone takes away the ability to make multiple progressions, but in that situation, you knew Ryan was only going to make one. If there was any error by the coaching staff, it might be that they were expecting a hail mary instead of a one-read timing route. It was great call by Atlanta, but they were doing that all game.

 

A lot of you have touched on this. I am concerned about the inability to put pressure on the qb. 2 of the 3 losses were directly related toward the inability to put pressure on the qb. Our blitzes were not even close to effective.

 

What I am encouraged about is the passing game. After the first half, it was clear that the Falcons had to respect Orton's ability to spread the field. It opened up the running game. I think Forte had 10 yard rushing on 5 attempts in the first half. Also, I don't remember seeing any real mistakes on Orton's part. No near interceptions or truly misthrown balls. Its encouraging.

 

 

Bottom line is that the Bears are 3-3 and their 3 loses were against 3 teams with 4-2 records(all nfc south teams which is kinda weird). They have already played 4 games on the road... I thought at best they would be 2-4 at this point. I am confident they can win next week.

[BigbadB]

I really wasn't too upset about this loss. They were thoroughly outplayed for about most of the game. Especially on defense. One point about the last play before the game winning field goal. If there was ever a tip your cap moment this year for an opponent it was that throw by Ryan. He had less that 3 seconds to throw that football, and he let go of the football just after he was hit by Harris. He had enough arm strength to put in a position to be caught with two feet in bounds. It was impressive.

 

It also was a basic 20 yard out where a qb and a wr practice the timing of the route. Ryan and White knew that the ball had to be let go in at least 2 seconds, and that White had to make his cut at the 35 yard line. My only gripe is that a zone takes away the ability to make multiple progressions, but in that situation, you knew Ryan was only going to make one. If there was any error by the coaching staff, it might be that they were expecting a hail mary instead of a one-read timing route. It was great call by Atlanta, but they were doing that all game.

 

A lot of you have touched on this. I am concerned about the inability to put pressure on the qb. 2 of the 3 losses were directly related toward the inability to put pressure on the qb. Our blitzes were not even close to effective.

 

What I am encouraged about is the passing game. After the first half, it was clear that the Falcons had to respect Orton's ability to spread the field. It opened up the running game. I think Forte had 10 yard rushing on 5 attempts in the first half. Also, I don't remember seeing any real mistakes on Orton's part. No near interceptions or truly misthrown balls. Its encouraging.

 

 

Bottom line is that the Bears are 3-3 and their 3 loses were against 3 teams with 4-2 records(all nfc south teams which is kinda weird). They have already played 4 games on the road... I thought at best they would be 2-4 at this point. I am confident they can win next week.

 

I agree with most of this. However, Orton did have at least one poorly thrown ball. It was down the right side of the field and Olsen had to reach back to prevent the defender from intercepting it.