Bears game 16: January 2 @ GB, 3:15 on Fox

[UMFan83]

It's impossible to judge a schedule before the season. Coming into this season, many people thought we had a really tough schedule, but it turned out to be one of the easier ones until this recent stretch.

[Banedon]

Devin Hester found a way to reward his blockers.

 

The Bears return man bought 14 remote-control cars and helicopters for his special-teams teammates for helping him set the NFL record with 14 career kick-return touchdowns. Hester accomplished the feat with a 64-yard punt return for a touchdown against the Vikings on Dec. 20.

 

"The big ones,'' Hester said of the gifts. "Gas remote-control cars and everything.''

 

Special-teamer Rashied Davis was appreciative.

 

"I loved it, but I can't figure mine out, though,'' Davis said. "I got a remote-control gas car, and I broke it.''

[Old Style]

I thought this was interesting:

 

Green Bay is tied for the fourth fewest penalties in the NFL with 74. Remarkably, 18 of those (24.3 percent) came in the Bears' 20-17 victory in Week 3.

 

"It made me sick," McCarthy said of those penalties. "Clearly the penalties were the biggest factor in the outcome of the game, and there is no way around it."

Wow. That's an incredible stat.

[kujay]

Devin Hester found a way to reward his blockers.

 

The Bears return man bought 14 remote-control cars and helicopters for his special-teams teammates for helping him set the NFL record with 14 career kick-return touchdowns. Hester accomplished the feat with a 64-yard punt return for a touchdown against the Vikings on Dec. 20.

 

"The big ones,'' Hester said of the gifts. "Gas remote-control cars and everything.''

 

Special-teamer Rashied Davis was appreciative.

 

"I loved it, but I can't figure mine out, though,'' Davis said. "I got a remote-control gas car, and I broke it.''

 

They brought their [expletive] toys?!

[Banedon]

Wow....

 

The Bears are the only team in football to run more than they have thrown in the last eight weeks.

[Banedon]

GB punter asked a question about Hester...

 

"I'll probably just hit low line drives down the middle and see if he can do anything with it," punter Tim Masthay said Wednesday, with the deadpanned look of a nightclub comedian.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Why not? It's not like he's returned every punt he's ever fielded.

[rawaction]

I thought this was interesting:

 

Green Bay is tied for the fourth fewest penalties in the NFL with 74. Remarkably, 18 of those (24.3 percent) came in the Bears' 20-17 victory in Week 3.

 

"It made me sick," McCarthy said of those penalties. "Clearly the penalties were the biggest factor in the outcome of the game, and there is no way around it."

Wow. That's an incredible stat.

 

Or.... the biggest factor in the outcome of the game was that the defensive line was all over the place causing several holding penalties and false starts.

[David]

I thought this was interesting:

 

Green Bay is tied for the fourth fewest penalties in the NFL with 74. Remarkably, 18 of those (24.3 percent) came in the Bears' 20-17 victory in Week 3.

 

"It made me sick," McCarthy said of those penalties. "Clearly the penalties were the biggest factor in the outcome of the game, and there is no way around it."

Wow. That's an incredible stat.

 

Or.... the biggest factor in the outcome of the game was that the defensive line was all over the place causing several holding penalties and false starts.

 

 

I was at that game and somewhat inebriated. Just how many of those were holds and false starts?

 

That was the game Cutler had an INT or two wiped out by penalties on the late drive.

[bukie]

I thought this was interesting:

 

Green Bay is tied for the fourth fewest penalties in the NFL with 74. Remarkably, 18 of those (24.3 percent) came in the Bears' 20-17 victory in Week 3.

 

"It made me sick," McCarthy said of those penalties. "Clearly the penalties were the biggest factor in the outcome of the game, and there is no way around it."

Wow. That's an incredible stat.

 

Or.... the biggest factor in the outcome of the game was that the defensive line was all over the place causing several holding penalties and false starts.

 

 

I was at that game and somewhat inebriated. Just how many of those were holds and false starts?

 

That was the game Cutler had an INT or two wiped out by penalties on the late drive.

All of them and then some. They were holding as often as possible to keep Peppers off Rodgers. On the plus side, Rodgers didn't get much pressure. On the down side, they got a ton of holding penalties.

[rawaction]

I thought this was interesting:

 

Green Bay is tied for the fourth fewest penalties in the NFL with 74. Remarkably, 18 of those (24.3 percent) came in the Bears' 20-17 victory in Week 3.

 

"It made me sick," McCarthy said of those penalties. "Clearly the penalties were the biggest factor in the outcome of the game, and there is no way around it."

Wow. That's an incredible stat.

 

Or.... the biggest factor in the outcome of the game was that the defensive line was all over the place causing several holding penalties and false starts.

 

 

I was at that game and somewhat inebriated. Just how many of those were holds and false starts?

 

That was the game Cutler had an INT or two wiped out by penalties on the late drive.

 

There were like 5 pass interference calls against the Pack. 3 personal fouls on the D for roughing the passer, late hit, and facemask. There was an offside on a kickoff.

 

But I also counted 4 holding calls on the OL, an intentional grounding on Rodgers, 2 false starts, and a penalty for the LT on Peppers who got flagged for lining up in the backfield, which was obviously to get an advantage on a passing play.

[Guest]

There were like 5 pass interference calls against the Pack. 3 personal fouls on the D for roughing the passer, late hit, and facemask. There was an offside on a kickoff.

 

But I also counted 4 holding calls on the OL, an intentional grounding on Rodgers, 2 false starts, and a penalty for the LT on Peppers who got flagged for lining up in the backfield, which was obviously to get an advantage on a passing play.

 

Oh yeah, can't forget about those personal foul calls. IIRC, there were 2 on the same drive.

[JonJayCutler]

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=7442

 

I see someone already quoted a part of this article, but here's the whole thing. Not really anything we didn't know already but a good read nonetheless.

 

It's so freaking nice to have a real offensive coordinator.

[rawaction]

There were like 5 pass interference calls against the Pack. 3 personal fouls on the D for roughing the passer, late hit, and facemask. There was an offside on a kickoff.

 

But I also counted 4 holding calls on the OL, an intentional grounding on Rodgers, 2 false starts, and a penalty for the LT on Peppers who got flagged for lining up in the backfield, which was obviously to get an advantage on a passing play.

 

Oh yeah, can't forget about those personal foul calls. IIRC, there were 2 on the same drive.

 

Yeah, I think 2 of those and a PI was called on the game winning drive. Kinda gave that game to the Bears in that sense. But also they took a TD off the board by holding (FG was then blocked by Peppers). Bears though did drop a TD pass (Clark) and Gould missed a makeable FG to open the game.

[mul21]

There were like 5 pass interference calls against the Pack. 3 personal fouls on the D for roughing the passer, late hit, and facemask. There was an offside on a kickoff.

 

But I also counted 4 holding calls on the OL, an intentional grounding on Rodgers, 2 false starts, and a penalty for the LT on Peppers who got flagged for lining up in the backfield, which was obviously to get an advantage on a passing play.

 

Oh yeah, can't forget about those personal foul calls. IIRC, there were 2 on the same drive.

 

And don't forget the additional probably half dozen or so obvious holds that didn't get called. Peppers was either on fire that night or the Packers OTs were just having the worst night of their lives.

[Guest]

There were like 5 pass interference calls against the Pack. 3 personal fouls on the D for roughing the passer, late hit, and facemask. There was an offside on a kickoff.

 

But I also counted 4 holding calls on the OL, an intentional grounding on Rodgers, 2 false starts, and a penalty for the LT on Peppers who got flagged for lining up in the backfield, which was obviously to get an advantage on a passing play.

 

Oh yeah, can't forget about those personal foul calls. IIRC, there were 2 on the same drive.

 

And don't forget the additional probably half dozen or so obvious holds that didn't get called. Peppers was either on fire that night or the Packers OTs were just having the worst night of their lives.

 

I might not be remembering correctly, but I seem to recall the Packers RT was a second stringer in that game, and he was the one getting several of the calls while trying to contain Peppers.

[jersey cubs fan]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/insider/columns/story?columnist=joyner_kc&id=5966457

 

Another lucky Bears story. This one focusing on INTs and tipped balls, in a very poor man's version of Bill Jamesing the sport of football.

 

Anyway, the picture on the top brings back the horrible reminder that because of Lovie's challenge problems, the Bears are only 11-4 right now and not 12-3.

 

http://a.espncdn.com/i/mag/blog/1230Lovie.jpg

[JonJayCutler]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/insider/columns/story?columnist=joyner_kc&id=5966457

 

Another lucky Bears story. This one focusing on INTs and tipped balls, in a very poor man's version of Bill Jamesing the sport of football.

 

Anyway, the picture on the top brings back the horrible reminder that because of Lovie's challenge problems, the Bears are only 11-4 right now and not 12-3.

 

http://a.espncdn.com/i/mag/blog/1230Lovie.jpg

 

Flap.

 

:D

[jersey cubs fan]

Is Drake referring to Turner?

 

"I talk to Brandon Lloyd once or twice or week. He was probably talking about some other people," Drake said. "We had a great relationship when he was here, and we still have a great relationship. We still have an unbelievable relationship. That was blown out of proportion. ... They should have asked him who specifically he was talking about."

 

"I'm proud of Brandon Lloyd," Drake said. "I always thought Brandon Lloyd had talent. I'm glad that (Denver) used him, that he stayed healthy, and that he showcased his talents."

 

He played in Chicago, but after some early success they didn't seem to throw much his way. Orton was the starter. Or is this simply nothing to do with the Bears?

[UMFan83]

I dont know. The entire argument is odd. He has been in the league for at least 6-7 years, with numerous teams and given big roles in other teams offenses. He's been given extended chances to produce and hasn't produced like he has this year. I remember when he came to the Bears people kept saying he was a great preseason/practice player but when the curtain goes up he's very average. We only had him for 1 season. If anything it would seem he's talking about SF since that's where he began his career and spent by far the most time.

[Banedon]

I definitely read it as a shot at Turner. I always thought Lloyd looked good in the preseason...was always surprised he didn't really get a shot.

[SpongeWorthy]

Brandon Lloyd has like 3 of the top 10 greatest catches in league history. He's got talent, obviously.

 

But all the numbers put up under Josh McDaniels are kinda suspect, IMO.

[Productive Outs]

on the topic of "Bill Jamesing" football: what do you guys think about efforts to do this? personally, i think that advanced metrics applied to teams as a whole (pass efficiency, run efficiency, GWP, all that) is great. getting down to individual players is much more difficult. there are so many things that go on in every snap. i do think that quarterbacks are easier to evaluate than other positions (RBs especially).

 

i'm a pretty big fan of http://www.advancednflstats.com. i really love the WP graphs, and i'm a big proponent of GWP. i have noticed that some of you, who are into advanced baseball metrics, stay away from advanced NFL metrics. i would like to know why.

[rawaction]

I definitely read it as a shot at Turner. I always thought Lloyd looked good in the preseason...was always surprised he didn't really get a shot.

 

Didn't get a shot because he couldn't stay healthy. Oh and the QB sucked too.

[SpongeWorthy]

on the topic of "Bill Jamesing" football: what do you guys think about efforts to do this? personally, i think that advanced metrics applied to teams as a whole (pass efficiency, run efficiency, GWP, all that) is great. getting down to individual players is much more difficult. there are so many things that go on in every snap. i do think that quarterbacks are easier to evaluate than other positions (RBs especially).

 

i'm a pretty big fan of http://www.advancednflstats.com. i really love the WP graphs, and i'm a big proponent of GWP. i have noticed that some of you, who are into advanced baseball metrics, stay away from advanced NFL metrics. i would like to know why.

 

Completely agree with the team vs. individual distinction. I doubt there will ever be a metric that'll capture as much about an individual player (outside of QB maybe) as even OPS does for a baseball player. But I'm in favor of it overall and I actually think the NFL is adopting it as a tool faster than MLB did.