Bears Blitz

Published by Joe Willett on September 13, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears were somehow able to come out of a sloppy game against a Detroit Lions team that they thoroughly dominated with only a slight, 19-14 victory.

Throughout this game, Lovie Smith made bad calls that nearly cost the Bears a game that, on paper, should have been a blowout.

Here are some stats to let you know just how one-sided this game really was.

• Passing Yards: Jay Cutler– 372, Matthew Stafford/Shaun Hill- 148
• Yards Per Pass: Bears- 10.3, Lions- 4.4
• Rushing Yards: Bears- 101, Lions- 20
• Total Yards: Bears- 463, Lions- 168
• First Downs: Bears- 23, Lions- 13
• Total Plays: Bears- 70, Lions- 57
• Time of Possession: Bears- 34:42, Lions- 25:18

Now, here are some stats that show the mistakes that the Bears made, most of the time in crucial situations, that nearly cost the Bears this game.

• Fumbles Lost: Bears- 3, Lions- 2
• Penalties: Bears- nine for 100 yards, Lions- seven for 40 yards
• Red Zone Efficiency: Bears- zero touchdowns on four attempts, Lions- two for two

What is surprising is, unlike last season, it wasn’t Jay Cutler who caused most of these issues.  Yes, he threw one stupid interception and had a fumble, but he also nearly threw for 400 yards and found Matt Forte for two touchdowns.  This time, it was others that nearly cost the Bears this game.

For example, the horrible play calling of Lovie Smith.

The most obvious example is his handling of fourth down on the goal line.  In the first quarter, you have a choice when it’s fourth and goal from the one-yard line of whether or not to kick a field goal or go for a touchdown.  Smith chose the field goal, no problem, you have set the precedent for how you treat that situation for the rest of the game barring extenuating circumstances.

Then, the Bears are put in the exact same situation in the fourth quarter down 14-15 and needing just a field goal to take the lead.  You set the precedent early in the game, so you know what you are going to do, right?  So you can imagine my, and every Bears fan’s, surprise when you see the Bears lining up to go for it on fourth down, and the anger running through out veins as Forte was stuffed for a third time on that specific goal line stand.

It seems reasonable enough to ask the coaching staff to go for a field goal in that situation, especially when they have two very good defensive linemen in Ndamokung Suh and Kyle Vanden Bosch that can easily make it through a weak Bears offensive line.

The running game was bad all day, with Forte running for only 50 yards on 17 attempts and averaging just 2.9 yards per carry while highly touted free agent acquisition Chester Taylor didn’t do much better picking up 29 yards on nine carries, averaging just 3.2 yards per carry.

In fact, the Bears only reached 100 yards rushing thanks to Cutler, who ran for 22 yards on five attempts, all while running for his life and trying not to be mauled Jake Delhomme-style by Suh.

Luckily for the Bears, the defense played outstanding and the receivers were just as good as promised and better than expected by the general public. 

Devin Aromashodu played well catching five passes for 71 yards including a play in the first quarter where he juked about half of the Lions defense at separate times throughout the play before being tackled from behind.  Other than a dropped pass in the end zone on the next play he looked stellar.

Johnny Knox only caught three passes but he still got 52 yards out of them and had a solid game while Devin Hester got the reduced role everybody wanted, only catching one pass.

Hester, however, is the subject of another misstep by the Mr. Lovie Smith.  If he is only going to be used sparingly in this offense, why isn’t he back to returning both kicks and punts?  He didn’t have any big punt returns this game, but he also had nowhere to go.  Maybe you need to watch this video and realize how good he really is at what he does.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Bears were nothing short of outstanding.  They kept highly touted first round pick Jahvid Best in check, and not including his two touchdown runs he had just nine yards on 12 carries.

Calvin Johnson was held completely in check, catching just four balls for 45 yards.  The Lions were unable to get anything going through the air, as Johnson was still their leading receiver.

Julius Peppers showed up a few times throughout the game getting to Stafford on occasion and eventual separating his shoulder, causing Shaun Hill to be put at the helm for the Lions during the second half.

Brian Urlacher was everywhere on the field as he got to the Lions for eight tackles and one sack in his first game since he was injured Week 1 of last season, let’s hope he can stay healthy this season and become the force he once was.

The star of the game defensively, however, was Lance Briggs, who led the Bears in tackles with 10 and also had a forced fumble on a play where he perfectly timed the snap count and got to Hill before he could hand the ball off to Best.

Overall the Bears showed some good things in their game against the Lions, and most of the problems that they had can be easily fixed.  Here is a short list of things that you need to do to have a successful season.

1. Teach these players how to hold on to the ball, if Tiki Barber can learn the trick in one off-season, why can’t this Bears’ team?
2. Fire Lovie Smith and hire somebody, anybody else, to run this team.

Now get on that Bears management.

I’m Joe W.

This article can also be found at The Chicago Perspective.  Check it out and help out a young writer.

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