So the Bears lost. On the one hand, this was quite possibly our toughest game all year. Despite this loss, we could quite easily win 10, 11, even 12 games this year. On the other hand, more turnovers than points? Icky. So it would be easy to jump off the ledge on this one, but I’m trying to be a little more circumspect. Thus, I’m looking at this rationally. I’ve broken this down into things that I am worried about, things I’m not worried about, and things I’m undecided on–with a few non-Bears bits thrown in here.
Things I Am Not Worried About
The defense. Obviously. Despite spending over 37 minutes on the field, they held a very, very good offense to just 14 points, all of which came straight off turnovers. LT was basically a non-factor, except for that TD pass.
Rex Grossman. I wasn’t loving what I saw, particularly that fumble. But with no running game to back him up, suspect play calling (more on that in a minute), and one pick that falls at least as much to the receiver as it does to him–I’ll take it. The Bears need Grossman to not lose games probably more than they need him to win games, and you can’t hang this loss on him.
Things I Am Not Worried About (And Am Actually Kind of Enjoying)
Michigan and Notre Dame. Hee. Too bad at least one of them has to win next week.
Things I’m Undecided On
Special teams. Devin Hester did some work on his one return, and Manning was OK on kickoff returns.The punt return game was nonexistent. We held their return game fairly well in check. The blocked field goal was very nice. The “oops–did I do that?” fumble was perhaps the single most devastating play of the game.
Things I Am Worried About
The turnovers. Goes without saying.
The running game. Also goes without saying. Is it too late to call up the Jets and see if we can undo the Thomas Jones trade?
The play calling. Let’s go back to the 4th quarter, shall we? We’re down by 11, but there’s 9 minutes to go. Plenty of time to grab two scores if we get right on it. So the Bears come out firing. Six yards to Clark–complete. Seventeen yards to Berrian–complete. Eight yards to Muhammed–complete. Now, stop and appreciate this with me. The passing game is working. We’ve knocked off 31 yards in just over a minute. Grossman is spreading the ball around. Things are clicking. And what happens next? Benson runs for no gain. Peterson runs for a yard. Benson runs for no gain. We turn the ball over on downs and the game, for all intents and purposes, is over.
I don’t get it. I realize that, even in crunch time, you don’t want to become one-dimensional. So throw a run in there every now and then to keep them honest. But why, at the most crucial time of the game, would you suddenly abandon what is working for something that hasn’t worked the entire game? Perhaps the theory is that if your running backs can’t get you two yards with three tries, then who cares what the result is because you really don’t deserve to win the game.
Also, what happened to the long pass? I don’t get what Ron Turner was trying to accomplish with this game plan. Please explain.
Things I Am Not Paying Attention To, on the Advice of My Doctor
The Cubs.
September 11, 2007 at 3:15 pm |
Could we please get Thomas Jones back? I know the whole time he was here people complained that he was just average and Cedric Benson was going to be this great star (better be for that kind of money). I don’t care if he is, he sucks. He’s whiny and selfish and we had to mess with what was working (Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson as a 1-2 punch) because he is such a selfish brat. I can’t believe people spend so much energy hating Rex when he is really quite a likeable guy. It takes no energy to hate Cedric Benson. Maybe he will fake a knee injury and be out for the season.