Re: Week 6 - Chicago Bears at Atlanta Falcons, 7:20 PM NBC

[SpongeWorthy]

This game sort of destroyed my confidence that Forte is more than a slightly above average NFL starting running back.

[Keener98]

Wow...it's like we have the talent to be an elite team

no, that's not even a little bit true

 

They can compete with any team in the NFC in any game.

[Linguistic Man]

Wow...it's like we have the talent to be an elite team

no, that's not even a little bit true

 

Sure it is. At times it seems like we are completely dominating teams. Not just beating, but absolutely destroying them. We shoot ourselves in the foot, and BAM, back to earth.

 

If you want to argue that by shooting ourselves in the foot we're not elite, then fine.

 

We're not getting beat. We're beating ourselves. That's a crucial difference, and thats why these loses hurt 1000x more.

[CDBears1259]

Wow...it's like we have the talent to be an elite team

no, that's not even a little bit true

I'll agree to an extent, not enough talent to be an elite team, but enough to be competitive and winning the games we've lost.

[UMFan83]

I'm so upset that Hester made that extra cut on that catch and run....I am certain he is gone if he just puts on the jets and no one can convince me otherwise.

 

He's afraid of contact.

 

That's exactly my thought regarding that. He wasn't sure he could by the guy, so he takes the cut towards the sidelines. I'm not saying he was purposely trying to run to the sidelines to avoid getting hit, but he didn't want to take the chance of getting creamed in the middle of the field.

[Keener98]

This game sort of destroyed my confidence that Forte is more than a slightly above average NFL starting running back.

 

He has absolutely ZERO holes to run through. None. Give him a decent Oline and hes going to be productive, but this Oline is horrendous.

[UMFan83]

Wow...it's like we have the talent to be an elite team

no, that's not even a little bit true

 

They can compete with any team in the NFC in any game.

 

I'd say the Saints would blow us out of the water, but we've played them well the last 3 seasons. Though their defense is much improved.

[gflore34]

Should have won this game. End of story. You can't turn the ball over in the red zone like the Bears did. Make no mistake, this loss should have been a win.

 

Who knows maybe the Bears will get another shot at them down the line, they'll go into the game with their chests all puffed out and the Bears will kick the [expletive] of them.

[CDBears1259]

This game sort of destroyed my confidence that Forte is more than a slightly above average NFL starting running back.

It all starts with the OL and until they get that fixed Forte's going to continue to struggle.

[Linguistic Man]

Wow...it's like we have the talent to be an elite team

no, that's not even a little bit true

I'll agree to an extent, not enough talent to be an elite team, but enough to be competitive and winning the games we've lost.

 

Our 2 loses are stupid loses where we beat ourselves. The only team in the NFC which I think will beat us regularly is the Saints. All the other teams its somewhere between "could go either way" to easy victory.

[Keener98]

Frank Omilaye BETTER not be the starting lineman next Sunday. He needs benched, and benched immediately.

[SpongeWorthy]

This game sort of destroyed my confidence that Forte is more than a slightly above average NFL starting running back.

 

He has absolutely ZERO holes to run through. None. Give him a decent Oline and hes going to be productive, but this Oline is horrendous.

 

Productive? Sure. Most running backs will be productive if they have consistent lanes to run through. Forte's best strength is that he can catch the ball out of the backfield but we've somewhat rightly gone away from that with Cutler in the fold.

 

I still like him but Forte's not the kind of guy that can turn woeful run blocking into at least something semi productive. He doesn't get downhill or hit the hole hard enough for that. His vision was pretty bad tonight too. He missed some cutbacks for sure.

[UMFan83]

This game sort of destroyed my confidence that Forte is more than a slightly above average NFL starting running back.

 

He has absolutely ZERO holes to run through. None. Give him a decent Oline and hes going to be productive, but this Oline is horrendous.

 

I saw a couple of holes he could have cut to, but he was running with his head down. One play in particular I recall, he was stuffed at the line by 3 Bears players blocking 3 Falcons players, and the outside Bears O-line guy had an angle on the Falcons player to keep him pinched on the inside. If Forte makes a cut, he's getting 10 more yards easy, but he just kept his head down and took the 1 yard gain.

[CDBears1259]

Wow...it's like we have the talent to be an elite team

no, that's not even a little bit true

I'll agree to an extent, not enough talent to be an elite team, but enough to be competitive and winning the games we've lost.

 

Our 2 loses are stupid loses where we beat ourselves. The only team in the NFC which I think will beat us regularly is the Saints. All the other teams its somewhere between "could go either way" to easy victory.

Um, I think we agree.

[brinoch]

Omiyale was (and is) terrible.

[Keener98]

Also, Id like to see the Bears run the Wildcat with Hester a little more. I think if they would have ran it on the goalline like Miami did last Mon night with Ronnie Brown, we would have been able to score a td. The one time they ran it it went for 5 yards or so, and on the goalline, with them being bunched up with big bodies, I think Hester could be successful running it down there.

[UMFan83]

I'm like 95% sure Pisa is out for the year. We need to trade for or more likely sign an outside linebacker this week. We can't trade for one because we can't burn anymore draft picks, but whatever.

[Keener98]

This game sort of destroyed my confidence that Forte is more than a slightly above average NFL starting running back.

 

He has absolutely ZERO holes to run through. None. Give him a decent Oline and hes going to be productive, but this Oline is horrendous.

 

I saw a couple of holes he could have cut to, but he was running with his head down. One play in particular I recall, he was stuffed at the line by 3 Bears players blocking 3 Falcons players, and the outside Bears O-line guy had an angle on the Falcons player to keep him pinched on the inside. If Forte makes a cut, he's getting 10 more yards easy, but he just kept his head down and took the 1 yard gain.

 

I agree about Forte running with his head down, I mentioned it a few times during the game.

[SpongeWorthy]

Also, Id like to see the Bears run the Wildcat with Hester a little more. I think if they would have ran it on the goalline like Miami did last Mon night with Ronnie Brown, we would have been able to score a td. The one time they ran it it went for 5 yards or so, and on the goalline, with them being bunched up with big bodies, I think Hester could be successful running it down there.

 

It's a nice thought and it should remain as a wrinkle for sure. My fear is that you don't really ever want Hester thinking on the field (e.g. making a zone read). He's an all instinct type of guy.

[UMFan83]

The thing I'm most upset about is Cutler's accuracy. He was underthrowing receivers, he was overthrowing receivers. He had Hester wide open for a TD and he threw the ball 5 feet into the sidelines. He misfired on 4th and game on the pass to Clark (though that was a bit excusable considering the coverage), he completely missed Forte in the flats when he had room to run on the last drive. Thats only a few of the many. He made some good throws but he made some awful ones too.

[Keener98]

I'm like 95% sure Pisa is out for the year. We need to trade for or more likely sign an outside linebacker this week. We can't trade for one because we can't burn anymore draft picks, but whatever.

 

Derrick Brooks time?

[Linguistic Man]

Wow...it's like we have the talent to be an elite team

no, that's not even a little bit true

I'll agree to an extent, not enough talent to be an elite team, but enough to be competitive and winning the games we've lost.

 

Our 2 loses are stupid loses where we beat ourselves. The only team in the NFC which I think will beat us regularly is the Saints. All the other teams its somewhere between "could go either way" to easy victory.

Um, I think we agree.

 

Haha that was more targeted at sneakypower. I'm still trying to figure out what the hell just happened.

[SpongeWorthy]

I'm like 95% sure Pisa is out for the year. We need to trade for or more likely sign an outside linebacker this week. We can't trade for one because we can't burn anymore draft picks, but whatever.

 

I've seen him on the field for maybe 10 minutes of total game time this year and basically have loved his play. It blows he can't stay healthy.

[UMFan83]

I'm like 95% sure Pisa is out for the year. We need to trade for or more likely sign an outside linebacker this week. We can't trade for one because we can't burn anymore draft picks, but whatever.

 

I've seen him on the field for maybe 10 minutes of total game time this year and basically have loved his play. It blows he can't stay healthy.

 

Agreed. And if he's done for the year, he's done as a Bear so we'll never know how much he could have helped us.

[Keener98]

Also, Id like to see the Bears run the Wildcat with Hester a little more. I think if they would have ran it on the goalline like Miami did last Mon night with Ronnie Brown, we would have been able to score a td. The one time they ran it it went for 5 yards or so, and on the goalline, with them being bunched up with big bodies, I think Hester could be successful running it down there.

 

It's a nice thought and it should remain as a wrinkle for sure. My fear is that you don't really ever want Hester thinking on the field (e.g. making a zone read). He's an all instinct type of guy.

 

I understand that concern, but really, there isnt that much thinking. Catch the ball, either hand it off to Wolf/Forte or run it to the outside. its a split second thing that he SHOULD be ok with. Id just like to take more advantage of our speed. Id like to see Knox on some end arounds, and such. Turner is just so damn BLAH with his offensive playcalling. Watching Mularkey(sp?) tonight made me really wish we had a offensive coord with some imagination. Mularkey had our D confused as hell