Bears game 1: Sunday Sep. 12 vs DET on Fox

[Magnetic Curses]

Oh and BTW, I take back most of my argument about Cutler's performance. For some reason I thought I saw he had 44 attempts today. He only had 35. Statistically, that is a very good game. Still infuriates me when he misses wide open WRs when hes standing in the pocket.

 

every qb misses wide open receivers. don't take a couple of throws a game and let them tell the story.

[UMFan83]

I'm going to defend Lovie on that one particular call. I don't mind it that much.

 

I bet the hard numbers say you go for it on 4th down in that situation unless you're talking about the clock really being a factor.

 

I just cant see how you take away a chance to have the lead. Your d makes a huge play for you and gives you the ball at the 1 yard line and you get 0 points from it? It took the Bears until 1:30 left to actually take the lead. They apparently didnt have a huge margin of error.

[Omar]

Does anyone else realize Cutler's QB rating for today was 108?

[UMFan83]

I miss Jerry Azumah on the postgame show. Anyone know where he went? Who is this new guy?

[Wilson A2000]

I'm going to defend Lovie on that one particular call. I don't mind it that much.

 

I bet the hard numbers say you go for it on 4th down in that situation unless you're talking about the clock really being a factor.

 

But the Lions hadn't moved the ball at all in the second half so trying to score a TD wasn't really necessary. It was just too risky that late in the game. Did the Bears try play action the time that Cutler had to throw the ball away and almost was sacked?

[Guest]

I'm going to defend Lovie on that one particular call. I don't mind it that much.

 

I bet the hard numbers say you go for it on 4th down in that situation unless you're talking about the clock really being a factor.

 

But the Lions hadn't moved the ball at all in the second half so trying to score a TD wasn't really necessary. It was just too risky that late in the game. Did the Bears try play action the time that Cutler had to throw the ball away and almost was sacked?

If the bears only had a 2 point lead at the end of the game, they lose.

[SpongeWorthy]

I'm going to defend Lovie on that one particular call. I don't mind it that much.

 

I bet the hard numbers say you go for it on 4th down in that situation unless you're talking about the clock really being a factor.

 

I just cant see how you take away a chance to have the lead. Your d makes a huge play for you and gives you the ball at the 1 yard line and you get 0 points from it? It took the Bears until 1:30 left to actually take the lead. They apparently didnt have a huge margin of error.

 

If we're talking about nebulous moral victories then their D holding you to a field goal in that situation is a win for them.

 

The thing is, sticking a crappy offense on its own one foot line is a big advantage. You kick a FG, you give them the ball and they presumably aren't standing in the shadow of their own goal post on the next drive. A 1 point lead with 9 minutes left isn't some insurmountable lead.

 

The worst part of the sequence was not sneaking it on 1st and goal.

[Wilson A2000]

But he didn't hold onto the ball through the complete process of contacting the ground.

 

Ok. Makes sense now. It sure saved Lovie's butt.

[Magnetic Curses]

Oh and BTW, I take back most of my argument about Cutler's performance. For some reason I thought I saw he had 44 attempts today. He only had 35. Statistically, that is a very good game. Still infuriates me when he misses wide open WRs when hes standing in the pocket.

Every quarterback is going to miss some throws. He had a very good game with one brain fart. I don't care how well the ball was thrown on the INT, it was a stupid decision to throw into triple coverage. If, in fact, the ball was perfectly thrown as sulley says it makes the decision worse in my mind. If that was a perfectly thrown ball and still got tipped and intercepted (albeit on a nice play by peterman), that means there was basically no margin for error and an ill-advised throw.

 

it was an ill-advised throw, but we have one of the few qbs who can come close to making it.

[Wilson A2000]

If the bears only had a 2 point lead at the end of the game, they lose.

 

I doubt the Bears play prevent defense if all Detroit needed was a field goal. The prevent defense is stupid most of the time.

[USSoccer]

I'm going to defend Lovie on that one particular call. I don't mind it that much.

 

I bet the hard numbers say you go for it on 4th down in that situation unless you're talking about the clock really being a factor.

 

I just cant see how you take away a chance to have the lead. Your d makes a huge play for you and gives you the ball at the 1 yard line and you get 0 points from it? It took the Bears until 1:30 left to actually take the lead. They apparently didnt have a huge margin of error.

 

At least that was intelligently aggressive. There was a ton of time left and Detroit's offense hadn't done anything.

 

Against a better offense, or with less time on the clock, sure, kick the FG. There, I don't see it as being so silly.

[Magnetic Curses]

i love how this call has brought all the complete idiot meatballs out.

[Guest]

Gotta run shortly, but I don't mind going for it at the end zone. However, the inside of our line hadn't gotten push against their line the entire game. I hated doing the three inside runs out of four attempts. It just wasn't going to work.

[Sosa21MVP]

Gotta run shortly, but I don't mind going for it at the end zone. However, the inside of our line hadn't gotten push against their line the entire game. I hated doing the three inside runs out of four attempts. It just wasn't going to work.

 

QB sneak ftw. I don't see how a QB sneak doesn't work from that close to the goal. Cutler is a big guy, he just needed to fall forward.

[bukie]

I have a much bigger problem with the Bears punting four times in Lions territory (3 times inside the 40!) than I did with them going for it on fourth from the 1. The thing I'm annoyed about is that they didn't once just call a stupid QB sneak. They know the line is terrible, and any play that takes more than a second to develop in a goal line situation is not going to work.

[Mark Priors Calves]

I miss Jerry Azumah on the postgame show. Anyone know where he went? Who is this new guy?

I still miss William Jackson from CSN. His unintentional comedy was gold.

[Omar]

Official explanation of non-catch

POOL REPORT

REFEREE GENE STERATORE

 

Q. What is the rule used on the near Detroit touchdown at the end of the game?

A, The ruling is that in order for the catch to be completed he has got to maintain possession of the ball throughout the entire process of the catch.

 

Q, He was on his behind before he rolled over. If he stayed on his behind would it have been a touchdown?

A. No. We don’t play with the two feet or one knee or anything of that scenario. We’re talking now about the process of the catch. He’s catching the football, as he goes to the ground, he must maintain possession of the ball throughout the entire process. So as he continues to fall if he fell with two feet and his elbow hit the ground and came out it would be incomplete.

 

Q. It looked like he had the ball up in one hand while on his rear end, but there was continuation?

A. Well, the process was not finished until he finished that roll and the entire process of that catch.

 

Q. How long did it take to determine that?

A. We had the normal time as far as the video was concerned. We would not run it any longer.

[rawaction]

Studs:

-Cutler. Looked very good other than the early pick. It was against a bad defense, but still. Nice mobility as well.

-Forte. A force receiving out of the backfield like he was in his rookie year. Was alright on running plays. Fumbles were a problem but he made up for it.

-LBs. Urlacher and Briggs were impressive as usual.

-Bowman/Peppers. Bowman kept CJ quiet until the end. Peppers had a critical sack although that was it.

 

Goats:

-Lovie. Way too conservative on the couple 4th and shorts we had.

-O-Line. Looked decent early, but then the protection fell off. Also, you HAVE to open up a hole on 1st and Goal from the 1-foot line.

-Knox/Hester. A couple blown routes from Knox which we saw a lot from him last year. Hester meanwhile was nothing special in the return game and was almost non-existant in the passing game.

-Olsen. Didn't get many chances but the ones he did get weren't great. Can't fumble inside the 10 like that.

 

Additionally, I thought DJ Moore had a wonderful game at the nickel. But I don't think Detroit threw any balls in the middle of the field. The only time you saw the LBs and safeties in coverage was coming up to tackle the dump off to the RB. I don't know if it was playcalling or good coverage, but the safeties were not exposed as I feared.

 

Also I think you take the lead on 4th down. There were only 9 minutes left in the game. I understand the Lions had done nothing on offense and there was a good chance if you give them the ball inside the 1, you get the ball back with another chance to take the lead with 1 first down due to field position. But because they couldn't move the ball, you take the lead and pin your ears back defensively, while giving your offense a chance to eat up the clock the next time they had the ball.

 

The OL is scary. A lot of pressure got there when they had help from a RB and TE. There were a lot of 2 WR routes. At first I blamed Cutler for holding onto the ball for so long, but when you only have 2 options, it's got to be pretty tough to find one of them open.

[UMFan83]

Lions fans have a lot of pent up rage:

 

 

(not at all SFW)

[Wilson A2000]

Lovie said his goal line call 'helped win the Bears the game.' Whatever the merits of that call, it certainly didn't help win the game. For as classy as this guy is off the field, he is incredibly arrogant in his post-game interviews. Edited September 13, 2010 by Wilson A2000

[EhDubya]

You know, I love football, and especially the NFL. But try watching a finish like that with a couple young kids who are just starting to fall in love with the sport. 9 and 11 years old, they watch that catch and get excited for seeing such an amazing catch... only to see the refs say that, in fact, it was not caught.

 

Telling these 2 young boys that "well, there is a rule that says he didn't actually catch it" doesn't fly. They feel robbed, and they've got no ties to Detroit. What a shame. Stupid rule.

[Wilson A2000]

I really doubt that has any long term effect on their interest in football

[Butterscup1679666578]

jesus christ it's a football game.

 

now if they had called it incomplete and then someone shot one of the referees there might be something to explain to the kids. they won't remember it by next sunday.

[kujay]

Lovie said his goal line call 'helped win the Bears the game.' Whatever the merits of that call, it certainly didn't help win the game. For as classy as this guy is off the field, he is incredibly arrogant in his post-game interviews.

 

Yeah that's a pretty stupid thing to say. And I agreed with the call at the time.

[EhDubya]

jesus christ it's a football game.

 

now if they had called it incomplete and then someone shot one of the referees there might be something to explain to the kids. they won't remember it by next sunday.

 

All I was saying was it's a hard play to tell some kids that the player didn't catch it. I never said the kids would hate football now, or be traumatized or anything, just that it's a stupid rule. That's it. Don't be a douche.