| 16 September 2009
There really isn't much to say as I embark on the long journey of watching the Bears' offense struggle in one of the worst opening debuts they've had in a long time. Most of us saw it with our own eyes and can only shake our heads in disbelief and in a lot of cases disgust. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong and not a lot of things went right. I'll sift through the smoldering wreckage of the Bears' offense and point out some of the positives, there were positives right?
Bears' opening drive on offense
This drive is doomed from the start, Cutler bobbles the snap and throws the ball for the sake of throwing the ball. It's almost as if this one play fore told a lot of things that were about to come in this game. I don't even think Cutler bothered to look where he was throwing he just picked up the bobbled snap and threw it. The next play is a weak zone read run right into the strong side of the Packers' defense. The run goes no where because the Packers have more defenders than the Bears do blockers. Third down the Packers come with a delayed blitz, Cutler gets pressured and can't make a good throw. Three and out Packers ball.
Bears' second drive
The first pass of this drive is a great throw and catch Cutler to Devin Hester. This is a number one receiver type of catch by Hester and it gives the Bears a first down. A run by Forte goes no where as Frank Omiyale pulls around to the right side. He bounces off defenders as if he's giving some sort of effort to block them. He looks more like a pinball than a blocker on this play, and it's a sign of things to come for Omiyale. Packers blitz again hard from the right side but Cutler makes a good throw to Earl Bennett for a gain of seven and a first down. First down play again and the Packers blitz hard from the right side, most of the blitz is picked up but the Packers blitz more than the Bears can protect and Cutler throws off his back foot. Incomplete pass second down upcoming. This is a play where Cutler should have better made a read with Devin Hester. Hester is left essentially wide open on the corner blitz withe safety lining up on him 10 yard behind the line of scrimmage. This type of single coverage should be exploited by both Hester and Cutler, Hester should settle and Cutler should take the quick read and throw approach here to beat the blitz. Decent little bubble screen to Hester goes for a first down. The Bears have mad a couple first downs on this drive already, all via the pass. It appears that Ron Turner didn't abandon the run, he just never start to run the football at any point during the first two drives. The play-calling has been Cutler pass, Cutler pass and very little Forte runs. Packers blitz, Bears go with a short drop and a short route, complete to Earl Bennett, right read, right call, right throw.
Cutler nearly throws his first INT of the night, Cutler gets pressured from the right side, Chris Williams' side and steps out of the pocket and then makes a good throw, however the refs completely blow a pass interference call as CB grabbed and spun the receiver out of his route in order to get the positioning to nearly make the pick. This is a major miss on the part of the officials here and it makes Cutler look bad because of it. Cutler nearly throws another INT as he telegraphs his throw and the CB makes a solid break on it and could have gotten a pick six out of it. Not sure what Cutler was looking at here it was just a bad throw under the pressure of an easy blitz. On the flip side of it there's an illegal contact play that gets the Bears a first down and puts them in field goal range.
Cutler finally is picked off, after nearly being picked off two times, he finally makes the throw that the Packers intercept. Yes this is all bad on the part of Cutler his decision making his errant throws all of it. But I'd like to point out to one key stat here to start the game, Matt Forte two carries. Two carries out of 12 plays, that's not abandoning the run, that's never getting started running the football. Really bad way to start the game for the Bears. This type of play-calling is unacceptable with Matt Forte in your back field. Cutler is nearly picked and then finally picked because of the predictability of the play-calling. It's nearly the same type of pass play every time, a blitz a quick read and throw, the CBs knows what is coming and they break on the ball and make plays. The Bears were about to score on their opening drive but because they ran the football twice, one in each offensive possession and threw the ball so many times the Packers defense was able to start ganging up on the predictable passing.
Bears back on offense 2:35 left in the first quarter third possession of the first quarter.
Don't ask Frank Omiyale to pull because he doesn't know how to pull and it's a freaking guard. Jesus christ Omiyale is pathetic and his effort is weak. Why the Bears chose to try and make an offensive guard out of a player that is clearly an offensive tackle is beyond me. I don't have any clue why they made this deal as it's already cost them in this game and if they do this the entire rest of the season, will cost them the season. The Williams wall will feast on Omiyale's weak attempts at run blocking. Even Garza and Chris Williams chip in for piss poor run blocking on this play though at this point it's pretty predictable the Bears are going to try the run (they run to the short side of the field as well) because they haven't run all game long. Might as well run the ball now, good game planning Turner.
Hey the Bears run well on this next play, Forte gains eight on the play as he weaves his way and picks up solid yards on a second and 11 call. Omiyale doesn't block anyone on this play he falls down onto his knees, you wonder had he actually blocked someone if he could have sprung Forte for a bigger gain. As it is Forte is the one who makes this play happen with his nifty feet. Third and three the Bears line up in the shot gun and give it away that they are going to pass. Cutler gets a pass off that is dropped by Greg Olsen, hits him right in the hands would have gone for a first down and represented the second scoring drive the Bears had in this game. Instead they're forced to punt because of more poor play calling on Turner's part. Third and short and you line up in the shot gun? Third and short and you should like you're going to run the ball or at least give that perception by having your QB under center. Christ what a bad play call here. Olsen should have never dropped this pass though on top of the bad play call.
Bears back on offense first drive of the second quarter
Omiyale again gives up on the run block, he doesn't bother to stick to his defender and make any sort of attempt to drive him. Omiyale gets brushed aside and then Colin Jenkins is directly in Forte's path and he squares up on him and body slams him to the turf. Second and 11 Forte again just sort of takes his time for some sort of semblance of a hole to open up and chugs ahead for about eight yards. Omiyale gets a good block on a LB but this happens because there is not D-Lineman for him to square up on. On the flip side Orlando Pace misses a block but the defender chooses the path and Forte is able to cut outside of the defender and gain the positive yards. Third and three Cutler rolls and throws to Earl Bennett who is a lot of traffic. It's a throw behind Bennett that perhaps he could have caught but it just wasn't in a good spot. Fourth down.
Bears back on offense here 8:13 left in the second quarter
This is the deep pass play to Johnny Knox that Cutler makes. One of the best throws of the game, but it's of note that Orlando Pace gets knocked over by a blitzing LB. Thankfully it's a five step drop and one throw pass play, otherwise progressions would have led to a Cutler sack. Pace getting knocked over so easily isn't a positive sign, I'll be watching him on tape further. The one problem with this big completion is had Knox made a cut back to the middle of the field he would have scored. He wouldn't have been knocked out of bounds and the Bears would be on the board with six instead of what looms. First and goal and the Bears try the left side of the offensive line on a run play and get stuffed up again. It looks like a rugby scrum that never really gets a push and Forte is stopped for no gain. The mind numbingly stupid play by Desmond Clark as the Bears empty the backfield on second and goal. Not sure what happened here and I never will be. Clark stopped his route and the Bears have another easy missed scoring chance.
Cutler's next pick down here on the goal-line I feel 50/50 on. Not Cutler's fault mind you as Jolly just makes a hell of a good football play. These things happen you tip your cap to the other guy and move on and don't let it become any worse than that. But the screen call on third and goal I'm not so sure I agree with on Turner's part. You need room to work a screen and down here the goal line on a third down play there isn't a lot of room to work nor is there a lot of room for error.
Bears back on offense after the safety by Danieal Manning 5:45 left in the first half
First and ten Cutler drops back to pass, gets chased out of the pocket and throws to no one. He's pressured by Chris Williams' man on the right side. Williams just gets beat by a simple rush move to the outside. Second and ten a down the side lines screen to Bennett, the throw is high the blocking is never there, the play is simply out of rhythm and is a bad play call. Cutler's third INT on the night has him being pressured heavily from the left side, both Omiyale and Pace fail to pick up any rusher, Omiyale especially and Cutler air mails it. It's picked off immediately, a bad throw, but also bad blocking. Cutler should not have made this throw under any circumstances.
Bears back on offense after the touchdown 4:29 left in the second quarter down 10-2.
Garrett Wolfe's first carry of the night is good for seven yards. Kreutz pulls and leads the way with Roberto Garza who get decent blocks. Kreutz mainly looks very good on this pull block and helps Wolfe with the gainer on first down. Second down and three and Wolfe picks up the first down with a run behind Omiyale. This is Omiyale's best effort of the night and the run picks up the three yards and a first down. Cutler under pressure from a CB blitz that Orlando Pace can't reach out and stop. Pace is old and slow and can't get his hands on the smaller CB who flushes Jay into the waiting arms of a LB who makes the sack. Second and 12 Bears go with the screen call, not a bad screen call, just poor execution as Wolfe gets plopped right away.
Another blitz by the Packers flushes Cutler from the pocket on third down. Cutler rushes for an attempt at the first down and comes up short.
Bears on offense again 47 seconds left in the half 1st and 10 from their own 41
Johnny Knox on a nice slant route and he picks up some good yardage here. One of the best throws of the night here. Bears spike the ball. Bears go three wide Packers blitz Cutler zings it and Bennett drops it. Third down and ten upcoming, a draw to Matt Forte goes no where and the end of the half is here. Bears go for a hail mary and miss on fourth down.
First half notes, Omiyale is bad, Pace only slightly better, Williams slightly better than that Kreutz and Garza the only thing stabel up front. Piss poor play calling by Ron Turner not running the football at all. The best way to slow the blitz is to line up and run at it. Turner instead chooses to throw his QB directly into the blitz and it pays off with two points and three INTs and a number of times where Cutler is pressured.
First and ten for the Bears here Bears run the football with Matt Forte and gain minimal yards. Packers hold the point of attack well on the Bears' right side of the offensive line and stuff it up. Greg Olsen lines up in the H-Back slot and leads the way for Forte who gains good yards over the left side with Garza leading the way on the pull block. One of the best run blocked plays of the night pays off with a first down. Bears run the ball again and this is Frank Omiyale's worst block of the night...well non block. He leans way to forward and the D-Lineman simply pushes him over and into the ground drops Forte for a loss. This is poor fundamentals and stuff you see from a rookie not a guy making a ton of money to be the starting left guard.
Second down and 13 another freaking screen, christ how many screens is Ron Turner going to attempt to dial up tonight? I've been a big defender of Ron Turner, but tonight he is really looking like a big retard/idiot. Turner hasn't called this game right at any point in time and it shows. This is one time where I can't and won't step up to the plate to defend Ron Turner and he deserves all of the criticism he gets.
Third and nine for the Bears now after a gain of four on the screen. On this play Cutler makes a sweet throw with just enough air under to get over the defender and down in between double coverage for the catch. The catch goes to Earl Bennett and it's first down Bears. Just a gorgeous throw here by Cutler, a throw that neither Rex or Kyle could have made. The reception is good for 21 yards and it's one of the best pass protected plays of the night with the Packers bringing pressure. Solid play very well execute right here and you hope to see more of these type of throws going forward this season.
First and ten Matt Forte with a run to the outside Garza and Omiyale pull on this run play and Forte picks up decent yards. Omiyale still looks like he's struggling to run block, but his block here is good enough for Forte to get some yards. Second down and three and Jason McKie drops a pass in the flat. Forte catches the toss on the run play with Williams and Garza leading the way and a great block by Omiyale the Bears get near the first down. There should have been better blocking on the second level though. This play would have gone a lot further had Rashied Davis had a better block on the play. Usually a receiver getting a block doesn't happen so that's why this play only gains three yards. Fourth and inches after the measurement and the Bears sneak it and get the first down. The Bears finally get on the board with a touchdown throw to Hester. Just a drop and a throw with no coverage on Hester. Pretty effortless play right here, not sure what the Packers had in mind but they look stupid on this one.
Bears back on offense gain with 8:29 left in the third quarter.
First and ten a quick zip throw to Earl Bennett who chugs ahead for good yards. It's Bennett's sixth reception of the night showing that when given the chance the Bears can find a bit of a rhythm and move the football. Bears pull Garza and Omiyale and they both block well as the Bears gain five yards on the play. Bears starting to find their groove as this half moves on. Forte again on second and five over the right side, Packers bring nine in the box on this play and the Bears gain yards but not enough for the first down. Clark and Olsen run routes from the same side of the field and Clark made a nice catch. He's hit hard down by the ribs near his kidney area. This is where Clark's cracked ribs happen, the ribs being the extreme lower ribs is a major concern. It's not quite like cracking the upper ribs and then playing through the pain while wearing a flack fest. Gain of 23 on the pass with Cutler getting good protection and working out of the shot gun. Great pass protection by the O-Line here all the way around.
Matt Forte just has great vision and explosion upon seeing a hole in front of him and it shows. This play would have gone a lot further had Omiyale not ended up on his belly while trying to block his man. The play was run away from Omiyale but his man got back side pursuit to make the tackle. Better run blocking and this play gains more yards than it did. Second and eight false start penalty...YUCK. Orlando Pace and Frank Omiyale combine to miss a block, yes they both miss the same rusher on this block and he gets loose and drops Cutler for a sack. Pace looked lost, Omiyale gets knocked backwards and the drive begins to stall. Third and 22 and the draw play goes no where, the Bears attempt a field goal here.
Bears back on offense with 14:41 left in the game
Frank Omiyale again misses a block, he's flung aside pretty easily and Forte is dropped for another loss. Omiyale is bad and re-watching the game only confirms it. Cutler feels the pressure from Chris Williams' man and Olin Kreutz isn't able to anchor was well so the pocket collapses and gives Cutler no where to step and throw to. Cutler gets a decent gain on the scramble. Earl Bennett with another big first down catch in which he settles into the zone and catches a Cutler fast ball. Cutler from the shot gun on this play. Cutler gets hit on the play as Chris Williams struggles against his man, but the pass was still complete. Still you don't want your QB taking a hit even on a completed pass. The play is negated with Earl Bennett had lined up across the line of scrimmage. Stupid immature penalty that costs the Bears big here.
Cutler on third and 11 three wide from the shot gun, both the DEs get outside pressure on Cutler meaning both Williams don't anchor in place very well against their rushers. Three of the five offensive lineman have played like crap tonight, only the two remaining starters from last season have been average to good. The pass is incomplete, thrown just slightly behind Bennett. Bears are forced to punt and Patrick Mannelly makes a stupid call when he decides to quick snap it to Garrett Wolfe on the uh fake punt?
Bears go back on offense down 13-12 with 10:04 left in the game.
Cutler recognizes the blitz makes a hot read as necessary and throws another completion to Earl Bennett for a first down. Cutler on a small roll out pass play, gets some last second pressure and throws off of his back foot and the ball is almost picked off. Four defenders in coverage on the play and Cutler slinging it into a bad spot. Second and ten a give to Matt Forte who has no where to go on the left side of the offensive line, yet again. Poor blocking by both Pace and Omiyale.
Another third and long and pressure comes from the right side as Chris Williams again struggles in pass protection. Illegal contact gives the Bears an automatic first down. They luck out on this play. First and ten a throw down the side line to a wide open Hester who has nothing but room to run. Hester does just that and gains some pretty good YAC on the play. Gain of 24 yards on the play, a great run after the catch on Hester's part.
First and ten a give to Forte who gets snowed under trying to run behind....you guessed it the left side where Omiyale and Pace live. Overloaded blitz on the left side and Pace has no chance here. Cutler makes a quick throw and completion to Greg Olsen. Olsen has been blanketed by double coverage all night. Play-action pass to Jason McKie from out of the backfield gets teh Bears a first down on third and two.
Bears run on first down and 10 from the 15 to the right away from Omiyale, Omiyale winds up on his belly anyway. Forte doesn't get much but the Packers had nine in the box on this play anyway so it's not as if he had anywhere to go. Far more defenders than blockers not much you can do with those odds. It is a gain of three so it's second and seven Bears at the Green Bay 12 yard line. Forte up the gut on this play plows ahead for what should be a first down. Instead a shitty spot puts the Bears at third and inches behind a Kreutz and Garza block. Forte down to the five yard line here they should be punching it in for a big go ahead touchdown instead. The spot really screws the Bears in this game, it totally changes the complexity of this drive.
Forte just gets a first down on the third and inches play. First and goal and Forte just gets a couple of yards, second and goal, again no room to run as the Packer gang up on the run. Poor run blocking here, though a play-action pass to Olsen could have worked here. A roll out by Cutler on third down and he air mails it over and out of the end zone. Garza gets beat really bad so the pressure comes up on Cutler quick so he has to make a desperation throw. This missed opportunity to score a touchdown on this drive costs the Bears the game.
Overall really bad blocking by the three new starters on the offensive line. Williams, Pace and especially Omiyale all had their really bad moments in this game. The play calling in the first half was absolutely dismal on the part of Ron Turner. Why he never started to run the football in the first half is beyond me, this is a game in which Turner deserves every ounce of criticism he gets. There is no reason not to run the ball more with Matt Forte as your RB it takes heat off of your O-Lineman and helps slow the blitz.
Finally the Bears should have cashed in for more points when they had some major opportunities to do so. Not taking advantage of major scoring chances really killed them. Hopefully Ron Turner is unafraid to attack the Steelers even though they have such a stout run defense.
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