I'm not totally convinced of that, the Cards defense would have probably been playing the same pass defense they used throughout the game as it was, bury the receivers under double and triple coverage and intercept the obvious pass. Oh yes! If all you do is run deep pass plays, the DBs/safetys and MLB blanket the receivers so the D-line has a lot of time to get through. That's the reason you do the delays, shovels and screens, spread the D-line and pull the safteys and MLB in. Absolutely! I don't know about that, but as we saw, the Cards couldn't keep the offensive pressure up for four quarters, their defense maintained fairly well. Agreed. I'm not sure about Leinart, but he's real good. When Urlacher gets fired up, he is quite a show to watch. Well worth the price of admission!
On the opening play the reciever was wide open and had six for sure. The mo and pressure may welll have changed the complexion of the game. I don't have to tell you that players are succeptable to emotion. The Bears MUST develop a ground game!!! That will make everything better. They didn't try much on the ground and with turnovers and 3-and-outs (with too many long passes) they were down 20 very quickly. After the first drive (still shocking the way the Bears were not prepared for it) the Cards had a short field almost the whole game. In that crtical last six minutes the Cards D almost wasn't on the field. The O was clearly winded but Leinert was again brilliant in the last drive. He had the poise and touch that you have rarely ever seen in a rookie! Bush may live up to expectations, but Leinert will exceed them. He needs a team and coaches though. I have heard that Greene may not finish the season at Phoenix unless he turns it around fast.
Exactly. The predictions were so one-sided as were the emotions that it would have been easy to knock out whatever wind was in the Cardinals' sails on the first play. It was a good call, but after the miss they needed to establish a regular control offense and dictate the game. The Bears were acting as if they were just toying with Arizona and all of a sudden found themselves in a 0-14 hole and pedalling backwards. It seems as if, just like last year, the Achille's heel for the Bears D is the short-drop passing game.
Leinert was working the flanker screen like an old pro. the Bears were dropping and he was burning them for 7+ all over with that play. First down is the play. The Cards were second and short all night long. The Bears were second and 10. The O-line has to get a running game going, simple as that. Thomas is an OK back but he probably wont get more than 2-3 100 yrd games. of course the "Edge" was plain awful, but with Leinert he was only there to keep the D honest. let's hope the Bears learned something. Grossman is the best QB the Bears have had in a generation, but he needs work and maturity. The first five games had him thinkng he was Brett Favre, he's good, but not that good yet.
That was the most incredible game I have ever seen, and I woke up like half the neighborhood with my screaming once that return became a TD. What's funny though; I always thought they'd somehow, someway, win. Even when it looked too grim, I had hope they'd pull it off.
They looked so good when the whipped the Buffalo Bills! They zipped up and down the field so easily, and made the Bills look like Cub Scouts, ... 1986 comes to mind. 4th row on the 15 yard line is great! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks, these are images I took. (Nikon D200, 70-200 f/2.8 AF-S VR, & images are cropped). The above image is just after Thomas Jones (20) took the handoff from Grossman and faked a pass. He continued to hold the ball like he was ready to pass, which gained him a few seconds. The top shot below is of Jones floating in the air from the same series of downs. The middle shot below is of Mark Anderson (97) sacking the Bill's QB J.P. Losman. The bottom shot is ANOTHER sack. It is very very close to the image that the Northwest Herald newspaper featured in their coverage the next day. http://nwherald.com/shared-content/gallery/?galleryid=1&gallery_page=0&album_page=0&albumid=5&mediaid=97 (this link probably won't be valid too long) GO BEARS! http://www.chicagobears.com/ Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Grossman is another failed quarterback out of the Miami program. He's no where near as good as his hype. Brian Griese should replace him for the rest of the season.
Yesterday I heard my neighbors talking about the bears...it was funny. It was like that scene in Fargo where the cop goes to see the guy shoveling snow... "Ya..Da bears got dat monkey off der back of being undefeated" "ya" "ya"
I love that Madden called it a "No, No! Go, Go!" play. I was yelling the same thing. Hopefully they're back on track, and I don't think the Jets and Pats will be that big of a deal. Kind of strange that they play in the same road stadium again next week.
Just a beautiful thing, that return... what makes it even more of a classic was the initial hesitation. Seemed like he had time to eat a sandwich, then - he bolted.
Defense wins the game. Both sides had difficulty passing. The weather was very windy so passing shouldn't have been for deep passes. Both sides showed weak passing games. One is a veteran and Super Bowl winner and the other is a young guy already with big wins in his pocket. I can only see one of Rex's interceptions being his fault. The problem with the Bears is the play calling. Not the QB. The Bears are way too aggressive on offense. From the limited games I've seen televised in my area, they appear to go for much more than 1st down when passing. I think they need to play a little more conservative. Pick up 5 yards here, 8 yards there, etc. Keep chopping away at it and a bunch of small plays will add up to a very nice drive. Hail marys will only win you style points. This isn't the BCS and college football. 10-2 and I still think they're a top team. Defense wins the game. As long as there aren't too many turnovers on offense setting up great field position for the opponent, the Bears should win. Sometimes the Bears play calling would be better by punting on 1st down instead of throwing deep on a windy day. Rex's next game is indoors at St. Louis. A passer's stadium with no wind. He needs to show that he's still got it because I'll let him slide with the wind yesterday. I hope the Bears can get homefield advantage. The weather conditions will be hard for both sides so that will allow the Bears' d to step up and win the game. Defense always wins the game. In other news, my Gators (also Rex's) are going to the BCS championship game! WOO!!! The Gators face the same problem as Chicago. Our offense is nothing pretty. We have some good and bad passing game. We share one thing--great defense. Our defense has pulled us out of games. Most recently aganist South Carolina with a blocked PAT, and punts. The game will be Florida's defense vs Ohio State's offense. Our defense will be well rested so I'll be interested in how it turns out. Our front 7 is strong, but I hope OSU's o-line doesn't hold us up and allow Troy Smith to be very mobile. Our safeties are great. My main concern is with our cornerbacks. We're not so great there with Troy Smith's passing game. I still give the advantage to OSU by 10 points, but I won't be surprised if we win by 10.
Hi Al, While I do agree with some of your points, there is a fairly thick slice of fault, that lies on Rex's plate also. I think some of it can be chalked up to being his first full season of NFL "seat time." In the same vein of logic, I feel they should give Greise a bit of time, before the post-season. Yes, the offensive co-ordinator makes the play calls, but generally, Rex scans the field and picks the receiver. There may be three receivers out there, and on some occasions, Rex has been forcing passes into zones of double and triple coverage. If there is 2X or 3X cover, where he has thrown the ball, somebody else has to be wide open. However, on the long int Sunday, it was solely the receiver's fault. He had single coverage and he let the defender take the inside away from him. I have been bit*hing for a while now, that the play calling has not included enough running or any mis-direction plays. We'll see what happens in the coming weeks, I hope there are tricks are still in the bag. Bill
Bears win 42 - 27 and clinch a first round bye. A lot of credit due to Hester as this would've been a 28 - 27 game without him. Rex played solid, but I'll just call it OK. Nothing crazy in a good or bad way. I still don't like the long pass play calling, but today's play calling was more conservative. Definitely what I like. Next 3 games are against teams with losing records (Bucs, Lions, Packers). The Bears' defense looked very weak today, at least in the secondary. I had heard before the game that 2 or 3 defensive starters were out. Not sure who, but maybe that had something to do with it. I think they'll win at least 2 of the last 3 games and clinch homefield advantage. We'll see.