Bears Struggle to Beat Hapless Lions

 

November 25, 2021

It would have been extremely embarrassing if the Bears had lost to the winless Detroit Lions. A Cairo Santos field goal with no time left lifted the Bears to a 16-14 win. The Bears would not have beaten any other NFL team. The Bears may not have won this game if the Lions best offensive player, running back D’Andre Swift didn’t get hurt in the second quarter. He may have been helpful on the Lions last possession. They were on the 50 yard line and without Swift they went to the passing game. Three consecutive holding penalties put them back to the 20 yard with a third down and 32 yards for a first down.

There are times watching football you may you see things you have never seen before. The Lions also had a third and 32 in the first half; Bears Coach Matt Nagy won a challenge. I can’t remember him winning any others. Something else I’ve never seen before is a delay of game penalty for two time outs without a play in between. 

This may sound like a broken record, but once again offensive guru Nagy’s offense scored less than 20 points. It’s hard to imagine this when your quarterback throws for over 300 yards. The Bears seem to be allergic to touchdowns. They move the ball into the red zone and become very vanilla. They always seem to settle for field goals. Throwing an interception in the end zone doesn’t help matters either. The only reason they had the one touchdown pass is that the man covering Graham had the ball slip right through his hands. The Bears didn’t get much from the running game. In Nagy’s tenure they have never been able convert in short yardage situations.  Third down or fourth down conversions with 2 yards are never successful. A good coach would figure it out after four years. David Montgomery averaged a measly 2.9 yards per carry. He had many runs that lost yardage. This is partly due to a bad offensive line. However, I have never seen Montgomery try to bump a run outside a pile of bodies up the middle.  

It was easy for the defense to stop this team.  The Lions don’t have many offensive weapons. They also committed 11 penalties, many of them holding on the offense. Bears linebacker Robert Quinn Jr. has been terrific and could be the comeback player of the year. The only bad news is the Bears best defensive player Roquan Smith left the game with a hamstring injury.

The Bears snapped a five 5 game losing streak with this victory. They will probably have a longer streak by losing their last 6 games. Matt Nagy is certain to be gone the Monday after the final game if not sooner. The Bears will also need to dump General Manager Ryan Pace. He has made multiple mistakes and they can’t afford him to stick around to pick a coach. John Fox and now Nagy will be gone before their contracts run out. Owner George McCaskey and team President Ted Phillips are responsible for
bringing them back for this year. I can’t believe they would be stupid enough not to make these changes.

Monstrosities of the Midway

 

 

 

November 22, 2021

 Winnable games? Give me a break. The Baltimore Ravens were without former MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson. They also had multiple players out due to injuries. The Bears lost their fifth in a row 16-13. Coach Matt Nagy and General Manager have turned this once proud franchise into a joke. There are problems in all facets of the game. Having too many men on the field and a blocked punt are inexcusable. I see Nagy on the sideline wearing a visor, so maybe his brain freezes.

 Once again offensive guru Matt Nagy’s offense didn’t score a first half touchdown and less than 20 total points. The disaster started when their first play was quarterback run. I liked the idea but you don’t show it on the first play or for that matter any first down. A major drawback is Fields gets hit enough on pass plays due to an ineffective offensive line.

 Fields was having an off day and the play calls were not tailored to his strengths. There were zero roll-outs or boot legs and only one play action pass. The Bears also don’t know how to score touchdowns. Nagy’s calls in the red zone are pathetic. Third and five at the Ravens 22 yard line he calls for a forward pitch to the running back, this play goes horizontally. Someone has to tell Nagy you want to go vertical. The Ravens have one of the worst pass defenses in the league and are apt to give up big gains. However, the Bears didn’t exploit this until late in the game. Running back David Montgomery had his typical game. He had four runs for 39 yards and ten other carries for only 19 yards, less than two per carry. Andy Dalton replacing Fields had two touchdown passes, the second as he changed the play call. This gave the Bears a 13-9 lead. Nagy inexplicably burned a time-out deciding to go for a 1 or 2 point conversion. Either way you get beaten by a Ravens touchdown. The Bears went for two and didn’t converThe defense was on the field for 39 minutes. This is still no excuse for letting an undrafted second year quarterback lead his team 72 yards for the winning score in less than two minutes. This was worse than last week when the Steelers only needed a field goal not a touchdown to win. The fateful drive was when the awful Kindle Vildor was called for a twenty yard pass interference. The Ravens were still 50 yards and all the Bear had to do was to keep the ball in front of them and not allow a big play. However, blown coverage on two pass plays gave the Ravens first and goal at the 4 yard line. At this point the Bears could have called a time out to leave some time to come back for a game tying field goal. However, the bumbling Nagy had burned all three time outs. This wasted a seven sack game in which Robert Quinn Jr. and Roquan Smith excelled.

 Teams usually don’t fire coaches during the season. This doesn’t mean it can’t be done. The Bears hierarchy has ample evidence to show this would be a time to do it. The main objective was to develop and protect the franchise QB. Fields hampered by Nagy’s offense stunted his growth and he also left the game with bruised ribs. In four days they play the Detroit Lions, who are poised to get their first victory of the year. I don’t want to hear that this a winnable game.

The Good the Bad and the Ugly

 

November 17, 2021

The Chicago Bears have dominated my recent posts. With this being their bye week, I thought I would write about other happenings in the world of sports.

It’s been a lot of fun watching the Bulls. V.P. of Basketball Operations, Arturas Karnisovas with the help of GM Marc Eversley have completely revamped the Bulls roster. There are only two players left since they have been in charge. With their wheeling and dealing they have put together a playoff team.

It started last year when they traded for all-star center Nikolas Vucevic. He was acquired to be another scorer to help Zach LaVine. Whatever you may think, LaVine is prolific scorer. Things didn’t go smoothly as they didn’t have time to learn about each other, especially with LaVine being injured at the end of the year.

The Bulls biggest need was at point guard as Lavine was turning the ball over on a consistent basis. The Bulls pulled off a sign and trade deal acquiring Lonzo Ball. A think first passer, he has been excellent at running the offense and leads the team
in assists per game. He has been working on his shot and scored 27 points with six three pointers in the Bulls rout of the Lakers. At 6’ 5” he is also excellent defensively. They also acquired former all-star Demar Derozan who leads the team in scoring with 26.9 points per game.

The Bulls have also been one of the best defensive teams holding opponents to a little under 103 points per game. Led by newcomer Alex Caruso they have been creating turnovers and wreaking havoc for their opponents. Caruso got the main assignment of guarding Paul George, one of league’s best guards. George did score 27 points but he shot 7/25.

Coach Billy Donovan deserves a lot of credit. The team has bought in to his fast paced offense and his defensive schemes. The Bulls are 10-4, winning 2 of 3 on the current 5 game road stand. This is without Vucevic who had his best game before testing positive for COVID-19.  Finishing the west coast swing 3-2 would be good, 4-1 would be outstanding.

 There are still many players in sports who are not getting vaccinated.  Not only are they in danger of catching the virus, they can pass it on to teammates and opponents. The most prominent of these players is Green Bay Packers MVP quarterback, Aaron Rodgers.

When asked if he was vaccinated, Rodgers said yes and added he was immunized to the virus. Turns out he was lying, insinuating that he been vaccinated. He never followed any safety protocols such as wearing a mask. He went on explain it is a personal choice for every individual. Not so when you can infect others. He made false statements claiming the vaccines are not proven to be effective and can cause infertility, both wrong. I used to love watching him play and will still watch hoping he and the Packers start losing.

The more disturbing story is the Chicago Blackhawks cover up of sexual abuse
accusations. Since there was nothing more important than winning the Stanley Cup, the Hawks didn’t address this matter until three weeks later. It took ten years and an investigation when the law firm of Jenner & Block released their findings. Former Blackhawks video coach Brian Aldrich pleaded guilty. He had to register as a sex offender as well. There were many men who were complicit in the cover up. Two were GM Stan Bowman and Coach Joel Quenneville.  Bowman and Quenneviille both resigned from their positions as GM and coach. Their whole lives have been hockey. They resigned in disgrace and neither will be hired ever again. The Hawks were fined 2 million dollars and have to reach a settlement agreement with Kyle Beach. The Hawks stench extends to the ice. They are one of the worst teams in hockey. This is a team that Bowman has been putting together for five years, the last time this team made the playoffs.

Justin Fields the Real Deal

 

 

November 9, 2021

 

Cairo Santos’ desperation 65 yard field goal attempt and the Bears came up short in their bid to upset the Pittsburgh Steelers. Steeler kicker Chris Boswell’s 40 yard field goal with 30 seconds left gave the Steelers a 29-27 victory. Even though the Bears outplayed the Steelers, they weren’t able to avoid their fourth consecutive defeat.

In what was one of the worst officiated games I have ever seen, the Bears ended up on the short end of the stick. They had 12 penalties for 115 yards. Most of these were how stupid can you be penalties, e.g. too many men on the field. These penalties were critical in this loss.

I am not that upset that the Bears lost. The sting was lessened by the play of rookie quarterback Justin Fields. He was terrific and it looks like the Bears have found the franchise QB they have spent years looking for. He completed 17/29 passes for 291 yards with one touchdown and one interception and ran for 45 yards. He also showed extreme composure in a hostile environment.  He had his longest completion of the year, a 50 yarder to Marquise Goodwin. The only problem is, first and goal at the ten yard line usually results in a Bears field goal. They could have scored a touchdown if tight end Jimmy Graham hung onto a catchable ball in the end zone. About midway through the third quarter, Fields threw a touchdown pass to Graham that was negated by a penalty. James Daniels was flagged for an illegal block which would have been the right call if he hadn’t fallen down and couldn’t make the block. Again they settled for a field goal and trailed 14-6. The Steelers led 20-6 heading into the final quarter. Early in the fourth, Fields led the Bears on an 82 yard touchdown drive. The TD came with the Bears in Willdcat formation. David Montgomery took the snap but instead of running, pitched the ball to wide receiver Darnell Mooney who waltzed 15 yards to the end zone. This is the prettiest play of the year to date. Fields was on fire and led the Bears to a 75 yard touchdown drive, capped by a gorgeous 16 yard thread the needle touchdown pass to Mooney giving the Bears a 27-26.

Cole Kmet, who keeps getting better, had 6 catches for 87 yards. Although not up to his standards, Allen Robinson got involved with 4 catches for 68 yards, including a 34 yard completion on the final drive. Much to my chagrin, David Montgomery got the start at running back. Overall, his numbers looked good. My problem with Montgomery is he can run for a ten yard gain and then he can run three more times and not get ten yards.

It may seem that the defense played bad in surrendering 29 points. However, due to the offense not clicking and poor punt coverage, the Steelers only needed to get 54 yards and then 30 yards for two touchdowns in the first quarter. They held the Steelers to 285 yards. Special teams forced a fumble return for a touchdown. It was real nice seeing Eddie Goldman come alive. You have to believe with a week off Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks will be healthy and the defense will get better. Now if we can only find someone to replace cornerback Kindle Vildor.

The key moment of the game came in the fourth quarter. Edge rusher Cassius March, sacked Steeler QB Ben Roethlisberger with under 4 minutes left.  He was penalized for taunting. This call was very controversial and instead of punting, the Steelers got a fresh set of downs. This penalty stymied the Bears momentum. The Steelers took precious time off the clock before they were held to a field goal. Fields then drove the Bears 75 yards and the Bears were ahead 27-26. The problem is there was still 1:45 minutes left for the Steelers to get in position for the winning field goal. Their final drive was helped by three consecutive off-sides penalties. Lining up in the neutral zone multiple times is just plain stupid.

The Death Spiral Continues

 

November 1, 2021

 Sunday was a winnable game. The Bears had home field advantage against a struggling San Francisco Forty-Niners team who had lost their last four games. Plus Coach Matt Nagy wasn’t on the sideline. The Bears were ahead 16-9 before they snatched defeat from the Jaws of victory, losing 33-22. The Detroit Lions look like the only victory left on the schedule and they may lose that game as well. .

What was once a stingy defense has now given up 95 points in the last three games. 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo who is having a poor year, had more passing yards than quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. Garoppolo completed 17 of 28 passes for 322 yards. The 49ers also ran the ball for 145 yards. With time running out in the first half, Garoppolo completed a 50 yard pass to wide receiver Deebo Samuel set up their third field goal.  Although San Francisco had only three field goals, they were moving the ball easily. You might think the Bears would make some adjustments. On their first possession of the second half the 49ers went on an 80 yard drive to score their first touchdown. This was highlighted by an 83 yard screen pass to Samuel 83 yards to set up the 49ers first touchdown. The 49ers missed the extra point so the Bears were still leading 16-15 The Bears’ problem is they never have a plan B for either offense or defense.  On their next series the 49ers scored a touchdown with a two point conversion to take the lead 23-16. 

 The positive is this was probably Justin Fields’ best game. They finally started calling plays more suited to his game. They had play action and roll-out pass plays. One roll-out produced a touchdown when on the run, he threw in the end zone, where only tight end Jesse James could catch it. He showed off his legs carrying the ball 10 times for 103 yards. One was a dazzling 22 yard touchdown to make the score 23-22 He was dead to right when he escaped four defenders in the pocket, went left, eluding more tacklers and veered right into the end zone. Cairo Santos missed the extra point and the Bears trailed 23-22 The usually reliable Cairo Santos missed the extra point that would have tied the game The play calling was somewhat baffling. Fields completed 19 of 27 passes but only 175 yards. The 49ers lead the league in pass interference and yet the Bears didn’t throw a deep pass all game. After having success with Fields on play-action an roll-outs, towards the end of the game Fields was under center. However, in the time it takes to drop back, he was always under pressure. With this porousoffensive line, with players who wouldn’t start anywhere else, a shotgun formation would have given Fields a little more time. 

 Seeing Fields’ growth is the only reason to keep watching. This offense can be real good if tailored to Fields and what he can do. However, offensive guru Matt Nagy is so hung up on his offense this won’t happen as long as he is the coach. He has got to go so Fields can develop into a franchise quarterback.