Post by JABF on Nov 13, 2017 13:04:47 GMT -6
This is a great read, IMHO. Here is the LINK to the article. And here are a few things taken from it:
... The mistakes — and there were plenty of them in the latest affair — will not necessarily appear this coming Sunday when the Lions come to Soldier Field. But the main takeaway I had was that this is the kind of loss that could end up coming back to haunt coach John Fox and his staff at the end of the year. Sloppy at times. Uninspired at other times. Undisciplined for sure at times. The Bears had the bye week to self-scout and look to tighten up a few things, as much as an NFL team can at the midway point of the season, and they were catching the Packers on a short week after they were pummeled on Monday night by the Lions, who got a masterful performance from quarterback Matthew Stafford. The Packers were without starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers. They lost right tackle Bryan Bulaga and safety Morgan Burnett to injuries in that Detroit game. They were missing tight end Martellus Bennett, who was released mid-week after he opted to shut it down for the season and have shoulder surgery before, you know, the Patriots claimed him off waivers and put him on the field Sunday night at Denver. More on the ex-Bear Bennett below. The Packers had dropped three in a row and maybe that worked against the Bears a bit because Green Bay came in with this being a must-win game. Green Bay then lost Aaron Jones (knee) and Ty Montgomery (ribs), the top two running backs, before the start of the third quarter. So much looked like it favored the Bears.
The Bears racked up eight penalties costing them 78 yards. That doesn’t include the four penalties called against them that the Packers declined. There were false starts on consecutive snaps in the first quarter. A clear holding penalty against wide receiver Josh Bellamy wiped out an 11-yard run by Tarik Cohen. The 29-yard defensive pass interference call against Prince Amukamara was ticky-tack and it was a very poorly thrown ball by Brett Hundley but you’ve got to be able to overcome stuff like that and the self-inflicted wounds just piled up. An unnecessary roughness penalty against reserve lineman Bradley Sowell on the final play of the first half — after Connor Barth’s 44-yard field goal sailed through the uprights — pushed the kickoff back to open the third quarter and that led to the Packers beginning their possession on the Bears’ 46-yard line following a 34-yard return by Trevor Davis. A delay of game penalty before an extra point in the fourth quarter? It didn’t wind up hurting the Bears but how does this stuff happen?
You felt like the Bears had taken some steps in the right direction during the first half of the season even if the 3-5 record they brought into this game wasn’t much to brag about. They beat the Steelers, who look pretty darn good right now, in Week 3, manhandled the Panthers three weeks ago and were plenty respectable in a 20-12 loss at New Orleans two weeks ago. The Saints have now rattled off seven straight wins, so they’re legit competition. Go back to the opener against the defending NFC champion Falcons and the Bears had four shots near the goal line in the final 30 seconds to win that game. But being close is the ultimate loser’s lament and that’s what Fox was clinging to at the end of this one.
“Really, what I said in a nutshell, is that in nine games, two of them we didn’t give ourselves a chance,” Fox said. “But in seven games, we’ve had the opportunity to win every single one of them. Reality is we are 3-6.”
Fox is savvy enough to know the “we’ve been close” line isn’t going to play as he enters the second half of Year 3. No one is going to buy that. Sure, the Bears have injuries too but every team is dealing with those and the Bears were not missing a player that even approaches the impact of Rodgers. This shouldn’t be viewed as a make-or-break game in the grand scheme of things but a victory would have improved the team to 4-5 and validated some of the feel good they’ve had at Halas Hall. More importantly, it would have put them one win away from .500 with a good but far from great Lions team coming into Soldier Field. Detroit has its flaws and they’re familiar ones. The Lions struggle to run the ball and struggle to rush the passer. But now the Bears sit there at 3-6 and headed to, well, who knows where. The second half of the schedule is easier but if you can’t beat Hundley at home with an extra week to prepare, there are some real warning signs.
The Bears racked up eight penalties costing them 78 yards. That doesn’t include the four penalties called against them that the Packers declined. There were false starts on consecutive snaps in the first quarter. A clear holding penalty against wide receiver Josh Bellamy wiped out an 11-yard run by Tarik Cohen. The 29-yard defensive pass interference call against Prince Amukamara was ticky-tack and it was a very poorly thrown ball by Brett Hundley but you’ve got to be able to overcome stuff like that and the self-inflicted wounds just piled up. An unnecessary roughness penalty against reserve lineman Bradley Sowell on the final play of the first half — after Connor Barth’s 44-yard field goal sailed through the uprights — pushed the kickoff back to open the third quarter and that led to the Packers beginning their possession on the Bears’ 46-yard line following a 34-yard return by Trevor Davis. A delay of game penalty before an extra point in the fourth quarter? It didn’t wind up hurting the Bears but how does this stuff happen?
You felt like the Bears had taken some steps in the right direction during the first half of the season even if the 3-5 record they brought into this game wasn’t much to brag about. They beat the Steelers, who look pretty darn good right now, in Week 3, manhandled the Panthers three weeks ago and were plenty respectable in a 20-12 loss at New Orleans two weeks ago. The Saints have now rattled off seven straight wins, so they’re legit competition. Go back to the opener against the defending NFC champion Falcons and the Bears had four shots near the goal line in the final 30 seconds to win that game. But being close is the ultimate loser’s lament and that’s what Fox was clinging to at the end of this one.
“Really, what I said in a nutshell, is that in nine games, two of them we didn’t give ourselves a chance,” Fox said. “But in seven games, we’ve had the opportunity to win every single one of them. Reality is we are 3-6.”
Fox is savvy enough to know the “we’ve been close” line isn’t going to play as he enters the second half of Year 3. No one is going to buy that. Sure, the Bears have injuries too but every team is dealing with those and the Bears were not missing a player that even approaches the impact of Rodgers. This shouldn’t be viewed as a make-or-break game in the grand scheme of things but a victory would have improved the team to 4-5 and validated some of the feel good they’ve had at Halas Hall. More importantly, it would have put them one win away from .500 with a good but far from great Lions team coming into Soldier Field. Detroit has its flaws and they’re familiar ones. The Lions struggle to run the ball and struggle to rush the passer. But now the Bears sit there at 3-6 and headed to, well, who knows where. The second half of the schedule is easier but if you can’t beat Hundley at home with an extra week to prepare, there are some real warning signs.
