Bears game 1: Sunday, Sep 11 vs ATL, noon on Fox

[UMFan83]

WHOOSH

Uh, no. I understand what he's spazzing about, and he's still being ridiculous.

 

I don't think you do understand my friend.

[UMFan83]

- Hester fumbled after his first completion on the second play of the game (ran into his own lineman), but it came right back to him. Score was 0-0 at the time.

- Turner fumble at the end of the first quarter. Good strip by Tillman, Bears ended up with it at the bottom of the pile. Score was 10-3 at the time.

- Hester's muffed punt return where fortunately nobody was around. Bad muff in a fortunate situation. Score was 10-3 at the time.

- Ryan's "set the ball on the ground" fumble early in the third returned for the TD. Score was 23-6 (and then 30-6) at the time.

- Cutler's sack-fumble in the fourth that bounced right back to him. Score was 30-12 at the time.

 

In each situation, it's not necessarily that the fumble's weren't forced by the D, it's just that actually recovering the fumbles took some fortune, whether it was the situation or the bounce. The Bears are regularly quite effective at causing fumbles, but their recovery rate is right in line with the rest of the league. That often means they recover more fumbles than their opponents as a result of the high volume of fumbles caused. However, their rate isn't any better than anyone else's, and a 100% recovery rate was a bit fortunate, considering the circumstances for each fumble.

 

By the Hester muff, the Bears had basically seized control of the game and forced the Falcons to be one-dimensional, and the D shut down Atlanta's passing game completely after that point.

 

Of course they were fortunate to recover all the fumbles. That much is obvious. And I didnt read Barnwells article yet, all I read was people here saying that they are saying we were lucky to win because we recovered all 5 fumbles. So I saw that as him desperately trying to grasp on something to defending his Bears = bad prediction he's taking tons of heat for.

 

My "spazzing" was a exaggerated sarcastic remark based on that and all the other "lucky things" that happen to the Bears that these guys love to point out, not based on you trying to point out that we did get lucky in the grand scheme of things to recover all 5 fumbles. Actually it had absolutely nothing to do with you or anything you've said today, which is why I find it odd that you seemed to have taken it personally.

[bukie]

Barnwell's column was basically Detroit was better than the score looked due to garbage time points, and the Bears weren't quite as good as the score looked due to fortunate fumble recoveries at opportune times. His argument was basically that all the fumbles occurred at pivotal times, and any of them could've changed the complexion of the game had Atlanta recovered even one.

[jersey cubs fan]

Barnwell's column was basically Detroit was better than the score looked due to garbage time points, and the Bears weren't quite as good as the score looked due to fortunate fumble recoveries at opportune times. His argument was basically that all the fumbles occurred at pivotal times, and any of them could've changed the complexion of the game had Atlanta recovered even one.

 

That is an idiotic take away from that game. He's grasping at straws to defend a horrific prediction.

[cubweiser03]

Whats up with Gould kicking the ball out of the EZ or even deep. During Preseason when lovie said they were going to practice from the 30 because at the 35 Gould could kick it out of the EZ i laughed my ass off. Well, ill be damned.

 

Pretty awesome game to watch. Im liking what im seeing a lot.

[MWV]

His argument was basically that all the fumbles occurred at pivotal times, and any of them could've changed the complexion of the game had Atlanta recovered even one.

The problem with Barnwell's assertion is that the points in the game that he refers to were only pivotal because a fumble happened. It's not as though the Falcons were 3rd and goal during a tie game in the 4th quarter and coughed up possession. What's pivotal about 3rd and 3 from your own 27 yd line, down 17 points in the 3rd quarter? If Atlanta scoops that one up, it's 4th and long and they have to punt from inside their own 10. Not really a game changer.

The only case occurring at a point even close to pivotal was Turner's fumble (the Falcon's were building momentum on that drive and only down 7 at the time) which came about due to Tillman's stripping the ball. Watching the replay, there were 3 Bears at the point of attack when the ball came loose, and only 1 Falcon. Hester's fumbles were evidence of sloppy play, sure, but they were also uncontested recoveries by the Bears, and Cutler's fumble was a "garbage time" play by Barnwell's own admission. It's a pretty weak argument on his part.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Also, the percentage can be made up for in sheer opportunities. The Bears had the 2nd most number of "Opponent fumbles" last year.

 

http://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/opponent-fumbles-per-game

 

THE BREAKS JUST KEEP COMING! Teams just randomly start dropping the football when they play the Bears. How can one team get so damn lucky?

Are you purposely being obtuse here, or do you really not understand the difference between causing fumbles and recovering fumbles?

 

Fumble recovery percentage last year: http://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/fumble-recovery-pct

 

 

if anything, that link seems to say the Bears won despite being relatively UNLUCKY when recovering fumbles last year. it doesn't show in any way that their luck with fumbles was what led them to win yesterday. They win regardless of their fumble recoveries.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Whats up with Gould kicking the ball out of the EZ or even deep. During Preseason when lovie said they were going to practice from the 30 because at the 35 Gould could kick it out of the EZ i laughed my ass off. Well, ill be damned.

 

me too, but I'm pretty happy with Gould right now.

[Wilson A2000]

Lovie is a maddening character. In a macro sense he is a great leader and seems to get a high level of respect from players around the league. His teams have been up and down in his tenure, but in bad times he didn't lose the team and was able to come back to a high point after a low point. I could see him leading this franchise on the field for several more years.

 

But, the one area he drives me nuts is game time management and three areas in particular:

 

In yesterday's game, these situations were not critical. But, a well coached team should not get sloppy just because you have the lead. If Lovie would get improvement in his time management, he'd make me much happier as a fan.

 

Everything you mentioned is spot on. Now that he seems to have allowed for a more professional and aggressive approach to the offense, his time out/challenge issues are the most glaring example of unnecessarily handicapping his own team's effort. I just don't get it. The same mistakes over and over again.

 

http://www.onionsportsnetwork.com/articles/lovie-smith-says-voices-in-headset-keep-calling-hi,21267/?utm_source=recentnews

[Guest]

It would be awesome if someone could post when the NFL network replay of the game will take place this week. I definitely want to record it and watch it with sound this time.

[SpongeWorthy]

Barnwell's a loser of the Hollinger variety. He's on my [expletive] list now.

[UMFan83]

I just read most of the Barnwell article. Nice job antaginizing Bears fans. Tease them by putting a picture of the Bears dominating the Falcons up there, start talking about an NFC North team getting a dominant victory over an NFC South "contender" and then pull the rug out from under us by saying Detroit's defense was more dominant giving up 13 points to the 20th ranked scoring offense last year, as opposed to Chicago's defense giving up 6 points to the 5th ranked scoring offense.

 

Good stuff

[UMFan83]

Atlanta was without center Todd McClure, who makes the line calls and adjusts the protections along with Ryan, and right guard Garrett Reynolds was making both his first NFL start and his first NFL appearance since December 2009.

 

Even the soft stuff went Chicago's way. Falcons safety Thomas DeCoud had two interceptions bounce out of his hands, including one in the end zone. Matt Forte's long catch-and-run for a touchdown saw Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon deliver a particularly menacing nudge 20 yards downfield instead of attempting to wrap Forte with a tackle. Hester's 53-yard screen broke open when a Falcons defender slipped. The Bears did lose two players to injury during the game — but they were guard Lance Louis and wide receiver Roy Williams, arguably their two worst starters.

 

 

This comment was [expletive] hilarious all around. The Bears got so lucky that the Falcons player tried to shove Forte out of bounds but Forte skillfully kept his balance.

 

And then on Hester's run, the defender slipped...remember Hester didn't make him slip with a sick cut to the outside, he just compeltely slipped on his own....how much more good fortune can the Bears get? He mentions the 2 ints slipping out of their hands but doesnt mention at all a Cutler pass batted straight in the air into the hands of a Falcon who runs it back for a TD. That was skill, but all the other stuff was luck for the Bears right?

 

Oh but Also, Mcclure was missing for the Falcons. When the Bears stay healthy its "no fair teams always get hurt during the year", but when an opponent misses a game its another reason why the Bears lucked out. Oh and poor Falcons having to start a RG making his first NFL start. Bears didn't have anyone making their first NFL start yesterday did they?

[Guest]

Why do you guys get so mad about this crap?

 

Letting the media pull a cam'ron on you

[Guest]

Atlanta was without center Todd McClure, who makes the line calls and adjusts the protections along with Ryan, and right guard Garrett Reynolds was making both his first NFL start and his first NFL appearance since December 2009.

 

Even the soft stuff went Chicago's way. Falcons safety Thomas DeCoud had two interceptions bounce out of his hands, including one in the end zone. Matt Forte's long catch-and-run for a touchdown saw Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon deliver a particularly menacing nudge 20 yards downfield instead of attempting to wrap Forte with a tackle. Hester's 53-yard screen broke open when a Falcons defender slipped. The Bears did lose two players to injury during the game — but they were guard Lance Louis and wide receiver Roy Williams, arguably their two worst starters.

 

 

This comment was [expletive] hilarious all around. The Bears got so lucky that the Falcons player tried to shove Forte out of bounds but Forte skillfully kept his balance.

 

And then on Hester's run, the defender slipped...remember Hester didn't make him slip with a sick cut to the outside, he just compeltely slipped on his own....how much more good fortune can the Bears get? He mentions the 2 ints slipping out of their hands but doesnt mention at all a Cutler pass batted straight in the air into the hands of a Falcon who runs it back for a TD. That was skill, but all the other stuff was luck for the Bears right?

 

Oh but Also, Mcclure was missing for the Falcons. When the Bears stay healthy its "no fair teams always get hurt during the year", but when an opponent misses a game its another reason why the Bears lucked out. Oh and poor Falcons having to start a RG making his first NFL start. Bears didn't have anyone making their first NFL start yesterday did they?

 

Michael Turner turned a 3rd and 1 into a 50 yard gain and I believe a field goal on that same possession. Dude should just shut up. For every "coulda, woulda, shoulda", you can dig up the same thing for the other team.

 

Who was #44 for the Bears and where did he come from? I didn't have sound for the game and never did get a read on the back of his jersey.

[JonJayCutler]

This comment was [expletive] hilarious all around. The Bears got so lucky that the Falcons player tried to shove Forte out of bounds but Forte skillfully kept his balance.

 

And then on Hester's run, the defender slipped...remember Hester didn't make him slip with a sick cut to the outside, he just compeltely slipped on his own....how much more good fortune can the Bears get? He mentions the 2 ints slipping out of their hands but doesnt mention at all a Cutler pass batted straight in the air into the hands of a Falcon who runs it back for a TD. That was skill, but all the other stuff was luck for the Bears right?

 

Oh but Also, Mcclure was missing for the Falcons. When the Bears stay healthy its "no fair teams always get hurt during the year", but when an opponent misses a game its another reason why the Bears lucked out. Oh and poor Falcons having to start a RG making his first NFL start. Bears didn't have anyone making their first NFL start yesterday did they?

 

Eh, don't let it get to you. As has already been pointed out, some people will stop at nothing to make sure their opinions are still standing, even if ignorance is the only solution. Most are saying it was an impressive win, although I did see the other ESPN analysts (I forget who they were) giving Tony Dungy crap for "jumping on the Bears bandwagon" and then compared it to jumping on the Redskins and Bills bandwagons lol. The question is, what exactly did the Bears do between the NFCCG and Week 1 to warrant "emptying" the bandwagon? Nothing, and that's whats frustrating.

[Banedon]

sneakypower's favorite website begrudging gives the Bears some love...

 

I was curious to see how these two players would do in this game and despite giving up a pair of sacks and earning a -1.9 PFF grade overall, I think J’Marcus Webb can hold his head up high. It doesn’t come much tougher than trying to contain Abraham, especially when the Falcons are keeping a pitch count on him and making sure he is always at the peak of his powers. Webb was downright awful for much of last season on the right side, but this was a big step up and if he can continue this way in 2011, he just might be viable as a blindside protector.

 

Pressuring Matt Ryan with just four rushers was big. When blitzed Ryan had a QB rating of 118.8, but when pressured it tumbled to just 37.5. Get pressure, but don’t give him an easy out.

 

http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/09/12/re-focused-falcons-bears-week-1/

[Butterscup1679666578]

Atlanta was without center Todd McClure, who makes the line calls and adjusts the protections along with Ryan, and right guard Garrett Reynolds was making both his first NFL start and his first NFL appearance since December 2009.

 

Even the soft stuff went Chicago's way. Falcons safety Thomas DeCoud had two interceptions bounce out of his hands, including one in the end zone. Matt Forte's long catch-and-run for a touchdown saw Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon deliver a particularly menacing nudge 20 yards downfield instead of attempting to wrap Forte with a tackle. Hester's 53-yard screen broke open when a Falcons defender slipped. The Bears did lose two players to injury during the game — but they were guard Lance Louis and wide receiver Roy Williams, arguably their two worst starters.

 

 

This comment was [expletive] hilarious all around. The Bears got so lucky that the Falcons player tried to shove Forte out of bounds but Forte skillfully kept his balance.

 

And then on Hester's run, the defender slipped...remember Hester didn't make him slip with a sick cut to the outside, he just compeltely slipped on his own....how much more good fortune can the Bears get? He mentions the 2 ints slipping out of their hands but doesnt mention at all a Cutler pass batted straight in the air into the hands of a Falcon who runs it back for a TD. That was skill, but all the other stuff was luck for the Bears right?

 

Oh but Also, Mcclure was missing for the Falcons. When the Bears stay healthy its "no fair teams always get hurt during the year", but when an opponent misses a game its another reason why the Bears lucked out. Oh and poor Falcons having to start a RG making his first NFL start. Bears didn't have anyone making their first NFL start yesterday did they?

 

Michael Turner turned a 3rd and 1 into a 50 yard gain and I believe a field goal on that same possession. Dude should just shut up. For every "coulda, woulda, shoulda", you can dig up the same thing for the other team.

 

Who was #44 for the Bears and where did he come from? I didn't have sound for the game and never did get a read on the back of his jersey.

 

Tyler Clutts, FB. Signed from Browns practice squad.

 

I loved what I saw from him. He made multiple downfield blocks on both Forte's big play and Hester's.

[Banedon]

Tyler Clutts, FB. Signed from Browns practice squad.

 

I loved what I saw from him. He made multiple downfield blocks on both Forte's big play and Hester's.

 

Yep...considering he's only been with the team a week, he did great.

[imb]

Bears fans remind me so much of oklahoma fans, it's hilarious. If you don't absolutely fall over yourself fawning the bears with praise, everyone loses their mind like a 7-year old.

 

I love watching OU fans react to a recruit that chooses another school. It's like the ultimate betrayal.

[UMFan83]

Why do you guys get so mad about this crap?

 

Letting the media pull a cam'ron on you

 

I honestly don't know. I probably sound madder than I actually am. I think it in general makes me mad that people try to discuss the entire national football league and sound ignorant about it 95% of the time.

 

I can actually understand why writer with a national perspective saw the Bears as flukes last year. Like I said a week or two ago, there is no way these people can do in depth analysis on 30 teams, so they end up pigeon holeing teams one way or another. That's why groupthink prevails so often when predicting sports. There was a time last year after the 3-0 start where the media legitimately said the Bears are the best team in the NFC, and then that Sackfest happened in NY and the Bears never quite recovered from that in the public eye. Even the win over the Eagles never really completely convinced them of the Bears legitimacy, although it certainly gave them a little more respect. And then even if you had the Bears pegged as a lucky team, it was solidified when a) Joe Webb somehow led the Vikings to a road victory over Philly, securing a first round bye for the Bears, and b) the Bears somehow drew a 7-9 team at home for their first playoff game. At that point, the only way the Bears were going to get respect going into this year was to beat Green Bay. Anything less than a victory, unless they had an Eagles like offseason, would lead to the situation we saw going into this season.

 

As a side note, after the first 2 Packers possessions, the Bears played the Packers extremely well. The Packers didn't score any offensive points the last 3.5 quarters of the game, Rodgers couldn't get much going. The Bears 3rd string QB was within 30 yards of tying the game late. And yet, I keep reading about how the Packers steamrolled everyone on the way to a super bowl trophy.

 

That said, it gives me pleasure to refute this stuff and this is my number 1 message board, so mineaswell.

Edited September 12, 2011 by UMFan83

[sneakypower]

Re-Focused – Falcons @ Bears, Week 1

 

the Nick Roach line cracked me up

[Banedon]

Re-Focused – Falcons @ Bears, Week 1

 

the Nick Roach line cracked me up

 

Haha...I linked to it a few posts up.

[SpongeWorthy]

Bears fans remind me so much of oklahoma fans, it's hilarious. If you don't absolutely fall over yourself fawning the bears with praise, everyone loses their mind like a 7-year old.

 

I love watching OU fans react to a recruit that chooses another school. It's like the ultimate betrayal.

 

The Bears haven't gotten the national coverage commensurate with its market and tradition in a long, long time. No respect I tell you.

[Magnetic Curses]

Also, the percentage can be made up for in sheer opportunities. The Bears had the 2nd most number of "Opponent fumbles" last year.

 

http://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/opponent-fumbles-per-game

 

THE BREAKS JUST KEEP COMING! Teams just randomly start dropping the football when they play the Bears. How can one team get so damn lucky?

Are you purposely being obtuse here, or do you really not understand the difference between causing fumbles and recovering fumbles?

 

Fumble recovery percentage last year: http://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/fumble-recovery-pct

 

 

remember last year when the redskins fumbled like 8 times against us and recovered every single one of them?