Post by JABF on Oct 21, 2019 9:18:06 GMT -6
It's worth following the link to read the entire Brad Biggs article.
LINK
The Bears are running out of excuses.
The masses held the belief that a sloppy, ineffective showing in the season opener was a direct result of Matt Nagy’s decision to keep his starters on the sideline for nearly all of preseason.
After a late rally was needed to win at Denver in Week 2, many believed the combination of altitude and heat led to a ragged showing.
Following a dispiriting loss to the Raiders in London two weeks ago, there was the theory that the team’s travel schedule was to blame for the poor showing.
With an extra week to prepare for the short-handed Saints — a team missing quarterback Drew Brees, running back Alvin Kamara, tight end Jared Cook and nickel cornerback P.J. Williams — the Bears looked as bad, maybe worse than they have all season. That makes this loss particularly painful. The Saints were short-handed without some of their very best players, and it wasn’t even a close game. The Bears get totally blown out here if not for a 102-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Cordarrelle Patterson.
It’s time to quit grasping for potential excuses and start wondering whether the Bears are not who we thought they were. This extends to every phase of the game. Remember when the organization’s biggest question was the kicker? Well, Eddy Pineiro is 9-for-10 on field goals and a perfect 11-for-11 on extra points. The kicker isn’t the issue.
The defense has given up 100-yard games to Latavius Murray (27 carries, 119 yards) and Josh Jacobs in consecutive games. The last time the Bears had allowed back-to-back 100-yard rushers was late in the 2015 season when Ronnie Hillman of the Broncos and the Packers’ Eddie Lacy did it.
Sure, the defense was on the field a ton. The Saints possessed the ball for 37 minutes, 26 seconds, the most for a Bears opponent since the 49ers held the ball for 38:47 in a 15-14 win on Dec. 3, 2017 at Soldier Field. But a defense that did such a dynamic job of creating takeaways last season isn’t doing that. The pass rush on Saints quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was tepid, at best. Those issues created a problem from the start of the game.
Most troublesome? The Bears were dominated in the trenches for the second consecutive game. That’s why they lost to the Raiders in London. That problem didn’t go away against the Saints.
The Bears are running out of excuses.
The masses held the belief that a sloppy, ineffective showing in the season opener was a direct result of Matt Nagy’s decision to keep his starters on the sideline for nearly all of preseason.
After a late rally was needed to win at Denver in Week 2, many believed the combination of altitude and heat led to a ragged showing.
Following a dispiriting loss to the Raiders in London two weeks ago, there was the theory that the team’s travel schedule was to blame for the poor showing.
With an extra week to prepare for the short-handed Saints — a team missing quarterback Drew Brees, running back Alvin Kamara, tight end Jared Cook and nickel cornerback P.J. Williams — the Bears looked as bad, maybe worse than they have all season. That makes this loss particularly painful. The Saints were short-handed without some of their very best players, and it wasn’t even a close game. The Bears get totally blown out here if not for a 102-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Cordarrelle Patterson.
It’s time to quit grasping for potential excuses and start wondering whether the Bears are not who we thought they were. This extends to every phase of the game. Remember when the organization’s biggest question was the kicker? Well, Eddy Pineiro is 9-for-10 on field goals and a perfect 11-for-11 on extra points. The kicker isn’t the issue.
The defense has given up 100-yard games to Latavius Murray (27 carries, 119 yards) and Josh Jacobs in consecutive games. The last time the Bears had allowed back-to-back 100-yard rushers was late in the 2015 season when Ronnie Hillman of the Broncos and the Packers’ Eddie Lacy did it.
Sure, the defense was on the field a ton. The Saints possessed the ball for 37 minutes, 26 seconds, the most for a Bears opponent since the 49ers held the ball for 38:47 in a 15-14 win on Dec. 3, 2017 at Soldier Field. But a defense that did such a dynamic job of creating takeaways last season isn’t doing that. The pass rush on Saints quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was tepid, at best. Those issues created a problem from the start of the game.
Most troublesome? The Bears were dominated in the trenches for the second consecutive game. That’s why they lost to the Raiders in London. That problem didn’t go away against the Saints.
