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

[sneakypower]

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.

that's sort of besides the point. putting up a fair fight is nice for moral victories or whatever, but the Bears really don't have "elite talent". who's even got a shot at the pro bowl, besides Briggs? they aren't outclassing teams and beating themselves like people are suggesting, the reality is they just have an inconsistent QB and merely a decent supporting cast. he's got to force the issue to compensate for the guys around him.

[UMFan83]

I just saw the replay of the Hester catch on that last drive...he was gone. He's the quickest guy on the field and the closest 2 defenders to him were even with Hester when he made the cut.

[Flames24Rulz]

Forte has Ryan Grant syndrome. He doesn't have a lot of holes to run through but when he does get a hole, he looks pretty tentative in hitting it.

 

A good line would more than likely cure that. I'm always leery of placing blame on a RB, especially when he's had previous success in the league. In Forte's case, he had a pretty solid rookie year so I wouldn't look to single him out. He'll be fine but like us, the Bears have some line issues.

[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.

that's sort of besides the point. putting up a fair fight is nice for moral victories or whatever, but the Bears really don't have "elite talent". who's even got a shot at the pro bowl, besides Briggs? they aren't outclassing teams and beating themselves like people are suggesting, the reality is they just have an inconsistent QB and merely a decent supporting cast. he's got to force the issue to compensate for the guys around him.

 

Elite teams win the games they are supposed to. They don't say "well if we did this" or "we did some good things but we didn't do them with consistency". Every team in the NFL or at least the upper 2/3 of the league do things well at least from time to time, but the best teams do them with consistency and execute when they need to. The Bears did some good things tonight, but didn't execute when they needed to, and it's now the second loss that you can say that. This isn't baseball where you can say "oh well we'll do it right next time", there are 16 football games in a season, and you don't execute like the Bears did today when they needed to and its the difference between winning the division, or making the playoffs altogether.

[WrigleyField 22]

Williams and Beekman are the only lineman worth keeping around for next year. Maybe Shaffer actually, would like to see what he could do, I bet he'd open up some holes.

 

Williams - New Guard - Beekman - New Guard - Shaffer

 

Overhaul this line.

 

Kreutz is going nowhere.

He should. How old is he now? How long is his contract? How much longer do we have to put up with him?

[SpongeWorthy]

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.

that's sort of besides the point. putting up a fair fight is nice for moral victories or whatever, but the Bears really don't have "elite talent". who's even got a shot at the pro bowl, besides Briggs? they aren't outclassing teams and beating themselves like people are suggesting, the reality is they just have an inconsistent QB and merely a decent supporting cast. he's got to force the issue to compensate for the guys around him.

 

Elite teams win the games they are supposed to. They don't say "well if we did this" or "we did some good things but we didn't do them with consistency". Every team in the NFL or at least the upper 2/3 of the league do things well at least from time to time, but the best teams do them with consistency and execute when they need to. The Bears did some good things tonight, but didn't execute when they needed to, and it's now the second loss that you can say that. This isn't baseball where you can say "oh well we'll do it right next time", there are 16 football games in a season, and you don't execute like the Bears did today when they needed to and its the difference between winning the division, or making the playoffs altogether.

 

Elite teams also have coaches who aren't late getting the defensive signals in on critical 3rd downs.

[UMFan83]

Williams and Beekman are the only lineman worth keeping around for next year. Maybe Shaffer actually, would like to see what he could do, I bet he'd open up some holes.

 

Williams - New Guard - Beekman - New Guard - Shaffer

 

Overhaul this line.

 

Kreutz is going nowhere.

He should. How old is he now? How long is his contract? How much longer do we have to put up with him?

 

Like Raisin said, he's not going anywhere. He is the undisputed leader of the Bears offense and he is extremely respected by the players and the organization. I'm not saying if he keeps playing bad he could be cut, but it's not likely unless he has a few awful seasons in a row.

[Omar]

Williams and Beekman are the only lineman worth keeping around for next year. Maybe Shaffer actually, would like to see what he could do, I bet he'd open up some holes.

 

Williams - New Guard - Beekman - New Guard - Shaffer

 

Overhaul this line.

 

Kreutz is going nowhere.

He should. How old is he now? How long is his contract? How much longer do we have to put up with him?

 

He's 32. On October 2006, Kreutz was signed to a three year contract extension through the 2010 season.

[UMFan83]

Incomplete list of things that, if executed properly, would have at least gotten us into OT:

 

-Interception in the red zone

-Unable to produce any points in 6 straight plays inside the 12 yard line

-Lost fumble at the 1 yard line

-Lance Briggs tries to grab a fumble and run it in, instead of just falling on it at Atlanta's 20 yard line and instead whiffs and the Bears don't get the ball

-20 yards of penalties on the final set of 4 downs in the game. Instead of first and 10 from the 14, its essentially 1st and 30 from the 44

-Devin Hester cuts towards the sidelines instead of running up the middle of the field, taking away a likely touchdown

-Cutler overthrows Hester who is wide open and, if caught is at least going to give the Bears the ball inside the 10

-Cutler has a pass tipped on a slant to Olsen inside the 15, which likely would have been a TD

 

Just think about how many points the Bears left on the field....and we ended up losing by a TD. Kick a FG in one of those red zone possessions, and have Hester take it to the house on the final drive and the Bears win in regulation. Surely a game of missed opportunities.

[Omar]

Incomplete list of things that, if executed properly, would have at least gotten us into OT:

 

-Interception in the red zone

-Unable to produce any points in 6 straight plays inside the 12 yard line

-Lost fumble at the 1 yard line

-Lance Briggs tries to grab a fumble and run it in, instead of just falling on it at Atlanta's 20 yard line and instead whiffs and the Bears don't get the ball

-20 yards of penalties on the final set of 4 downs in the game. Instead of first and 10 from the 14, its essentially 1st and 30 from the 44

-Devin Hester cuts towards the sidelines instead of running up the middle of the field, taking away a likely touchdown

-Cutler overthrows Hester who is wide open and, if caught is at least going to give the Bears the ball inside the 10

-Cutler has a pass tipped on a slant to Olsen inside the 15, which likely would have been a TD

 

Just think about how many points the Bears left on the field....and we ended up losing by a TD. Kick a FG in one of those red zone possessions, and have Hester take it to the house on the final drive and the Bears win in regulation. Surely a game of missed opportunities.

 

*sigh* yep. What could've been. I guess its time to focus on the Bengals now.

[Keener98]

Jim Miller on Comcast Postgame Show, is advocating going to a New Orleans Saints type of offense. He is saying outside of Colston our WR's matchup with the Saints Wr's, and our TE's matchup with Shockey.

[UMFan83]

Jim Miller on Comcast Postgame Show, is advocating going to a New Orleans Saints type of offense. He is saying outside of Colston our WR's matchup with the Saints Wr's, and our TE's matchup with Shockey.

 

It's not a horrible idea, but I don't think we have the receivers to do it. Some of NOs receivers are big and can go up and get the ball. We cannot.

[WrigleyField 22]

Does the New Orleans offense involve giving up at least two yards at the line of scrimmage? If not, we can't run it.

[JonJayCutler]

Going to try some optimism. Like the GB game, we made more critical mistakes than our opposition, and still had a chance to win/tie at the end. The Falcons, IMO, are an even better team than GB and we still managed to hang right with them despite no run game once again. We have yet to have a game where we both the run and pass are firing on all cylinders (we only had 140 pass yards against the Lions, our only big rushing game). Cutler makes his share of mistakes, but there is no question that we are able to move the ball downfield much quicker with him as our QB. I still think this team makes the playoffs.

[jaydee]

red zone turnovers....

[Outshined_One]

Sloppy team, sloppy game.

 

There talent is there for this team to be a competitor, but this team is just not fundamentally sound, nor does it seem to be particularly smart. There's still a long way for them to go before we can consider them among the top teams in the NFC.

[DivineBovine]

Jim Miller on Comcast Postgame Show, is advocating going to a New Orleans Saints type of offense. He is saying outside of Colston our WR's matchup with the Saints Wr's, and our TE's matchup with Shockey.

 

 

In terms of pure talent, who's to say our offense isn't as good? Orton and Benson sure look like pro bowlers outside of Ron Turner's horrific system. To me, the skill positions have talent. Adrian Peterson would've had a difficult time gaining yards today with the blocking, and Randy Moss couldn't have done much more than the receivers. It's easy to blame the offensive line, but what about the coach?

 

This offensive plays are horrible. The same old boring, predictable plays for the past few years. Over and over. Unless the QB is sharp, there will be turnovers and no long gains. There is no margin for any error is this system. No Bear QB has ever made it look easy. They have to continually execute sharp passes and keep making first downs, or they look terrible. Short passes. Runs up the middle. Nobody ever gets the chance to make a big play. The Bears have 2 of the fastest receivers on the planet, and all they get are short outs or jump balls. Matt Forte runs right into 8 man fronts that a combination of Barry Sanders and Adrian Petersen couldn't run against.

 

Grossman, Orton, and now pro bowler Cutler. Sure, Cutler looks better than the other two, but its the same old crappy offense. Either the other team has to suck, or the QB has to be perfect. How long can we keep blaming on offensive line.

 

Fire Ron Turner. Has the guy ever won anything? He couldn't even win in college. Has he ever produced a good offense? How the hell does this guy have a job?

 

I'd love to see what the Bears offensive talent could do with a real coach. Because we keep changing the players, keeping the same crappy coach, and getting the same results.

[Flames24Rulz]

Fire Ron Turner. Has the guy ever won anything? He couldn't even win in college. Has he ever produced a good offense? How the hell does this guy have a job?

 

I'd love to see what the Bears offensive talent could do with a real coach. Because we keep changing the players, keeping the same crappy coach, and getting the same results.

 

Illinois' offense during the Sugar Bowl year in 2001 was pretty good. Other than that, I'm as amazed as you are how this guy has a job in the NFL.

[cubbyvirus00]

Bear fans need to wake the hell up and see the REAL problem. Our offensive coaching is dreadful. There is zero excuse for this play calling. This was the worst game I've ever seen in terms of offensive stratagy. The nickel and dime 5 yard offensive gains are horrible. The last offensive series was the best one, because we were actually taking shots downfield. I have yet to see a playaction deep pass to two of the more speedy recievers in the NFL.

 

Get pissed Bear fans and let management hear it. We should be 5-0.

Edited October 19, 2009 by cubbyvirus00

[WrigleyField 22]

Bear fans need to wake the hell up and see the REAL problem. Our offensive coaching is dreadful. There is zero excuse for this play calling. This was the worst game I've ever seen in terms of offensive stratagy. The nickel and dime 5 yard offensive gains are horrible. The last offensive series was the best one, because we were actually taking shots downfield. I have yet to see a playaction deep pass to two of the more speedy recievers in the NFL.

 

Get pissed Bear fans and let management hear it. We should be 6-0.

6 wins in 5 games would be impressive.

[Omar]

Bear fans need to wake the hell up and see the REAL problem. Our offensive coaching is dreadful. There is zero excuse for this play calling. This was the worst game I've ever seen in terms of offensive stratagy. The nickel and dime 5 yard offensive gains are horrible. The last offensive series was the best one, because we were actually taking shots downfield. I have yet to see a playaction deep pass to two of the more speedy recievers in the NFL.

 

Get pissed Bear fans and let management hear it. We should be 6-0.

 

Not many people here favor Ron Turner.

 

>_> Lovie is good friends with Dungy. *cough*

[Banedon]

Ron Turner had nothing to do with the mistakes on the field. We had two interceptions, and fumbled both of them. Two fumbles on two consecutive plays by running backs. Interception in the red zone. Too many men on the field for a freaking punt return.

 

The Bears have a lot of talent...a lot of young talent on offense for sure. They just make wayyyyy too many mistakes to win on a consistent basis right now.

[rawaction]

Ron Turner had nothing to do with the mistakes on the field. We had two interceptions, and fumbled both of them. Two fumbles on two consecutive plays by running backs. Interception in the red zone. Too many men on the field for a freaking punt return.

 

The Bears have a lot of talent...a lot of young talent on offense for sure. They just make wayyyyy too many mistakes to win on a consistent basis right now.

 

Play calling in the redzone was pretty bad. Sure Forte and Cutler screwed up a couple plays, but the Bears had like 12 other redzone plays that they didn't come close to scoring on. The offensive line is a waste of space right now.

[rawaction]

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.

 

The OL isn't very good, but some of it is on Forte. He is very tentative hitting the hole now. He has been popped quite a bit this year, and I think he is a little gunshy. What happened to his ability to slip tackles? What happened to his cutback? Hell, he can't even hold onto the ball anymore, with 3-4 fumbles this year.

[Banedon]

Btw Raw, you were right on about the Vikings-Bears results. Although with an accurate kick and a complete pass to Knox on the slant, it could have easily gone the other way.

 

I just hate the way the Bears play football right now. They're always in it, but the rarely look like they are outplaying the other team. I really want to look like a solid football team instead of a bunch of guys that are overcoming their own repeated mistakes.

 

Unless the Vikings have some unexpected stumbles, we'd better start looking at the WC.