Just Another Ugly Loss

 

December 21, 2021

The national television audience was treated to another debacle from the Bears. The Minnesota Vikings mediocrity was enough to beat the Bears 17-9. The game was not this close as the Bears scored a touchdown with no time left on the clock. The Bears season continues to unravel as they have lost 8 of their last 9 games. The future doesn’t look any better, although it can’t be much worse.

Without the conciliatory touchdown, offensive guru Matt Nagy’s offense scored only three points. His play calling was conservative and predictable. Once again the play calls were not tailored to rookie quarterback, Justin Fields strengths. Reaching the red zone 5 times, scoring 9 points is unacceptable. The one example that shows the Bears ineptitude comes when they have first and goal from seven yards out. Every time the first play is David Montgomery up the middle for no gain. Montgomery once again had a few good runs but as usual a bunch of bad ones. The Bears seem to be the only that can’t pick a first down when they only need one yard. The Bears did convert on a fourth down and 1 on a pass. The next time the situation arose, with confusion on the field Nagy should have called a time-out. The pass play got stuffed and the Bears turned the ball over on downs. A good team runs the ball and rarely has a problem picking up a first down in these situations. This shows Nagy’s lack of confidence in his running game

Justin Fields looked like he regressed in his development. This due in part to Nagy’s play calling. His biggest fault is holds on to the ball too long. He will learn it’s better to get rid of the ball, instead of trying to make plays. Fields at times can elude tacklers however, many times he gets sacked for big loses. I have not lost confidence that Fields will be an elite quarterback.  Rookie tackle Teven Jenkins got his first start. He got called for holding on the Bears first play after Montgomery gained nine yards. He played pretty well after that. He did get an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when he took exception on a brutal but legal hit on Fields. The only problem I have is that the other players were nowhere to be found as he was surrounded by Vikings

The Vikings came into the game with an explosive offense. The Bears had all second tier players in the secondary. A secondary can look real good if the quarterback is being pressured. The return of Akiem Hicks and the continued strong play of Robert Quinn and Raquan Smith resulted in five sacks. With constant pressure they held Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins to only 87 yards passing. All-star receiver Justin Jefferson only had 4 catches. Hicks presence also helped the Bears keep Vikings running back, Dalvin Cook in check. Despite their good play the defense made two costly 15 yard penalties on third downs during the Vikings last touchdown drive. The killer was an unsportsmanlike conduct after the whistle. This was just plain stupid. It’s very likely that Hicks won’t be back next year.

With the Bears now 4-10 rest assured Nagy is gone.  Therefore, the new chant at sporting events should be fire Ryan Pace. The Bears have to find a new person to oversee football operations. This person hires a new GM and they get together to hire a new coach. Next year the offensive playbook should be designed as what works best for Fields.

 

 

 

Another Sunday Night Fiasco

 

December 13, 2021

 

The Bears had some explosive plays in the first half to jump ahead of the Green Bay Packers. The Bears led 24-14 following a 97 yard punt return for a touchdown. It only took 47 seconds for Rodgers & Co. to close the gap. The Bears ended the half up 27-21. The Packers outscored the Bears 24 to 3 in the second half, leading to a 45-30 victory. Aaron Rogers still owns the Bears, passing for 341 yards with 4 touchdowns. The defense which was stout at the beginning fell apart in the second half. At least there were no headset malfunctions.

 

The offense scored 20 points and a touchdown on special teams. I can’t remember the last time the Bears scored 27 points in a game, let alone a half. Justin Fields was good and bad. He hooked up with Jakeem Grant for a 46 yard touchdown. Later he stared down his receiver and was intercepted by Rusal Douglas who ran it in for a touchdown giving the Packers a 14-10 lead. However, Fields came right back with a beautifully thrown pass to Damiere Byrd for a 54 yard touchdown. With less than two minutes in the half, Grant scored his second touchdown on a punt he should have never caught near his goal line. Rodgers countered with a touchdown pass to a wide open Davante Adams. It seems the Packers frequently have wide open receivers when they play the Bears. Fields engineered a nifty short drive to set up a Cairo Santos field goal. It was all downhill after that.

 

Once again the defense faltered, surrendering 45 points. Whether running or passing the Bear defense was totally ineffective. GM Ryan Pace has gutted the defense which keeps getting worse. There are major injuries but like the offense there is no depth. The Bears have many holes to fill on both sides of the ball. They will probably be without Allen Robinson and Akiem Hicks next year. 

 

The Bears can’t go a game without coaching blunders. Just because you are leading, doesn’t mean you don’t make halftime adjustments. The offensive guru’s offense was completely discombobulated and they didn’t score until the end of the fourth quarter. Contrast this to the Packers who made adjustments as early as the first quarter after sacks and pressure on Rodgers. The most important thing for the Bears is to protect Fields. One adjustment they could have made was adding a blocker to help out rookie lineman Trevor Jenkins. He was getting beaten all night. This caused Fields to be hit from the blind side and fumble. This led to an easy Packer touchdown from 25 yards out. Fields ran the ball well to keep from getting sacked and hit less often. Nagy failed to call any roll-outs, insisting they run his offense which has never worked. They had some play action which only works if you’ve established the run. The coup de grace is Nagy opting to punt on fourth down with inches to go, down eleven with a little over 8 minutes left. This shows he has little faith in his offense to convert this. It’s not as bad a play if your defense is playing well. Watching his defense, what the hell was he thinking?  

Just Pathetic

 

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December 6, 2021

 

The Arizona Cardinals have the best record in the National Football League. With returning starters, quarterback Kyler Murray and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, they faced offed against the injury depleted Chicago Bears. The Cardinals took advantage of four interceptions to pummel the Bears 34-22. This game was not even close as this lopsided victory. The Bears got a consolation touchdown against a soft Cardinal defense up 34-14 with three minutes left. In what epitomizes the Bear season, on fourth down and twelve the Cardinals were penalized for roughing the punter. On the ensuing play, Andy Dalton threw his third interception. Before I go on, the let me dispel the notion that there is no such thing as Bear weather.

 Aside from the consolation touchdown, offensive guru Matt Nagy’s offense put up 14 points. Andy Dalton threw four interceptions. While excuses abound he was responsible for three. The first was a sickly thrown ball on which the receiver had to contort his body to make the catch. Instead he tipped the ball to a Cardinal defender. The fact that he tipped it was pretty amazing. The second was not Dalton’s fault. Down 7-0, the Bears were on a scoring drive. A completion to tight end Cole Kmet would have given the Bears a first down at the Cardinal 10 yard line. However, Kmet lost control and the ball fell into the hands of a Cardinal defenseman who ran it back to the Bears 15 yard line. It took no time at all for Murray to scamper nine yards to a 14-0 Cardinal lead. The excuse for the third interception was the ball was tipped. The ball was thrown by Dalton so the tip is his fault. There was no excuse for the fourth one. I often criticize David Montgomery but I thought he had his best game of the year. He had 21 carries for 90 yards and there were more nice runs than the three or less variety. They finally used his pass catching ability as he had five receptions for 51 yards.

 I hark back to when Nagy proclaimed if healthy, “Dalton is the starter. The next day he announced Fields would start over a healthy Dalton. It’s a bold face lie when he says he made the decision himself and not that somebody above him told to start Fields. Another recurring problem is the Bears never make half time adjustments. Just look at how many times they get shut out in the third quarter. The Bears offense rankings are in or near the bottom in every category. However, they do lead the league in headset malfunctions.

 It saddens me that the Bears defense is no longer their calling card. You can’t put too much blame on them as most of the Cardinal scoring drives were from less than thirty yards out. Break downs and tackling are two consistent problems. With the exception of Detroit, they are allowing 30 points per game. In years past, they were able to make opponents settle for field goals which they did only twice against the Cardinals.

 As a glutton for punishment, I will still watch. It doesn’t matter if they win or lose, it’s all about the development of Justin Fields. Last week I said the Bears would not win another game this year. Then I see the Minnesota Vikings lose to the Detroit Lions. Can the Vikings be as bad as the Bears? Next up is nationally televised night game against Green Bay. The Bears are usually abysmal in prime time and are sure to lose. I don’t understand that NBC has the option to show another game and are staying with this stinker.