My thoughts of the game

[Daventry]

I was not able to actually watch the game, but followed it on NFL.COM on play by play and have read quite a few articles. Sucks being in a place where you can't watch the game, but next week I will be watching on the big Sky....

 

In terms of Lovie, nothing much new here as far as I am concerned, I tend to think he may have been trying to ingratiate himself to Bears fans by going for it on the 4th down call. Overall I think the game shows, again, that he is not a smart coach. As does the drafting, personnel decisions, and public persona.

 

I am heartened by the D, and Url's, performance. I don't like Url much, I feel he is an overpaid lout, but if he can get back to his closer to prime form, then hey, I will hold my nose and tolerate him. Overall, the D seemed to do pretty well. It gives me hope that Marinelli might live up to the hype and we might actually see a good D this year.

 

On O, I am overall heartened. The fumbles/turnovers/drops suck, but let's see how the year pans out. I will not consider the players undisciplined or error prone until it becomes a pattern. Forte had some great plays, the passing game put up some big numbers. Promising.

 

Overall, it appears to me that if the team develops from here we could have a winning record this year. I don't hope for much more, but will happily take anything more offered.

 

So, diehard Bears fan I will remain, and hope that the year shows good things. If not, I will continue to use the Sundays as an excuse to get bladdered and watch the Bears!

[balta1701-A]

Bladdered?

 

[Daventry]

Bladdered?

 

 

 

Bladdered=UK version of "wasted" or "drunk"

[madlithuanian]

Not "pissed"?

 

Bladdered=UK version of "wasted" or "drunk"

 

[Daventry]

Not "pissed"?

 

 

That would be another appropriate option, but bladdered is considered the more excessive term methinks...

[madlithuanian]

Cheers to that!

 

That would be another appropriate option, but bladdered is considered the more excessive term methinks...

 

[balta1701-A]

Sweet, thanks, I learned something today!

[lemonej]

I have decided to take a more laid back approach to all Chicago teams and that is watch the games cheer for our teams and if they lose don't take it as if its the end of the world. Which takes me to another point. I feel like I'm not as passionate as I was in 86 when I was taping evey game and editing any down time by pushing the pause button on my VCR once the play was over. It was real tough for me when halftime came and I had to re pause the tape every 2 minutes. That was tough for bevarage removal that we typically save for halftime when we are younger and during official timeouts when we are middle-aged like now.

[madlithuanian]

I get your point...but seriously, in 1986...if you didn't rabidly follow this club, you must've been in a coma!

 

In some ways, I'm more rabid now than then. It's the impatience thing. When you are kick-ass, like we were in the 80's, you get more disappointed, than angry. Now I get angry at the shoddiness of the management and coaching on a regular basis for the past 3+ years! I shouldn't. I should know that they are lousy and cie la vie. But I can't help wanting better for this club. For the fans...

 

I have decided to take a more laid back approach to all Chicago teams and that is watch the games cheer for our teams and if they lose don't take it as if its the end of the world. Which takes me to another point. I feel like I'm not as passionate as I was in 86 when I was taping evey game and editing any down time by pushing the pause button on my VCR once the play was over. It was real tough for me when halftime came and I had to re pause the tape every 2 minutes. That was tough for bevarage removal that we typically save for halftime when we are younger and during official timeouts when we are middle-aged like now.

 

[lemonej]

I get your point...but seriously, in 1986...if you didn't rabidly follow this club, you must've been in a coma!

 

In some ways, I'm more rabid now than then. It's the impatience thing. When you are kick-ass, like we were in the 80's, you get more disappointed, than angry. Now I get angry at the shoddiness of the management and coaching on a regular basis for the past 3+ years! I shouldn't. I should know that they are lousy and cie la vie. But I can't help wanting better for this club. For the fans...

Mad L we have always been allies for the most part and what I'm getting at is that the Bears have gone the way of the Cubs and have fielded a team that peaks interest but they really care about the bottom line. Maybe the empty seats recently at Wrigley will spur Bear fans into a similar mindset. This is simply saying that if we continue to show up and avert blackouts locally in complete contrast to Teddy's salvo it will be business as usual. I just think at this point in my life there are more things to get excited about like like lemonej III celebrating his first B-day this Sunday and I have told my son that I hope his wife doesn't get offended if we are cheerin' for the Bears at the begininng of the partty? Since my daughter-in law is Antwon Randle El's first cousin I think some negative comments about the Steelers is appropriate for the occassion even thoug the focus should and will be on the youngest lemon.

[madlithuanian]

I hear ya! If the product gets bad this year, people should not attend. Right now, I'm pleased that we're seeing some positives out there. I've been on a personal boycott of anything financial that would go into the McCaskey's pockets. The only thing I won't cancel is my NFL Ticket. I know money is going to them...but at least it's league wide, and not directly pocketed by the family. I plan on ending my personal boycott once Smith is fired. But, I may refrain if I think his replacement is a cheap pawn of the McCaskeys. I'll always watch and be a rabid fan...(I think it's too late for me, I need professional help), but I'll be limiting $ into their pockets until I see better. I encourage everyone to do the same, but fully understand if people can't help but going to games/etc.

 

Family is always a priority! But, having the Bears game on during a birthday party is no sin! I'm sure Roethlisberger alone can help you come up some easy trash talk!

 

 

 

Mad L we have always been allies for the most part and what I'm getting at is that the Bears have gone the way of the Cubs and have fielded a team that peaks interest but they really care about the bottom line. Maybe the empty seats recently at Wrigley will spur Bear fans into a similar mindset. This is simply saying that if we continue to show up and avert blackouts locally in complete contrast to Teddy's salvo it will be business as usual. I just think at this point in my life there are more things to get excited about like like lemonej III celebrating his first B-day this Sunday and I have told my son that I hope his wife doesn't get offended if we are cheerin' for the Bears at the begininng of the partty? Since my daughter-in law is Antwon Randle El's first cousin I think some negative comments about the Steelers is appropriate for the occassion even thoug the focus should and will be on the youngest lemon.

 

[flea]

That would be another appropriate option, but bladdered is considered the more excessive term methinks...

 

 

blathered

 

[balta1701-A]

This was a good enough read that I wanted to post it somewhere.

Since the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions played our only divisional game last weekend, let's look at how the Bears' defense performed on third-and-long -- one of their 2009 pitfalls -- and how the Lions defense stood up against downfield passes. First up is the Bears.

 

As you remember last spring, we put forth a theory that suggested the Bears left themselves vulnerable to third-down conversions last season because of over-blitzing. The idea was that too much blitzing left mid-range receivers open too often, providing too-easy third-down opportunities for offenses. Indeed, Bears opponents had the NFL's best passer rating on third-and-8 or longer last season, completing 67.6 percent of those passes and averaging eight yards per attempt.

 

The Bears brought down those numbers significantly Sunday at Soldier Field. According to ESPN's Stats & Information, the Bears brought an extra pass rusher on 30 percent of their defensive snaps -- down from an average of nearly 43 percent per game last season. As the first chart shows you, what was supposed to be an explosive Lions offense averaged 3.9 yards per attempt on eight passes when facing third-and-8 or longer. They completed five of those passes but converted only one of them for a first down.

 

The easy explanation is that the addition of defensive end Julius Peppers gave the Bears more confidence in their base pass rush, necessitating fewer blitzes and more defenders devoted to coverage. We'll see if that was a one-game decision or if it becomes a trend for the Bears this season.

 

Now let's move on to the Lions. As we discussed in the spring, the Lions' pass defense was horrendous on pretty much all levels last season. Particularly galling was their performance against the longest of downfield passes -- those that traveled at least 21 yards in the air. Opponents completed more than half of those throws last season, averaging more than 41 yards per completion.

 

This spring, we suggested that an improved pass rush could reduce the time required for those passes. On Sunday, it did. The Lions sacked quarterback Jay Cutler four times, and as the second chart shows, only 60 of Cutler's 375 passing yards came on those kinds of downfield throws. (One was the game-winning touchdown, a 28-yard pass to tailback Matt Forte.)

 

But as it turned out, stopping the downfield pass wasn't enough for the Lions. Cutler, in fact, burned their defense on short-range passes. As the third chart shows, Cutler had a 117.9 passer rating on 24 passes that traveled 10 yards or fewer past the line of scrimmage.

 

In general, you would rather have teams dinking and dunking than heaving the ball deep. But on Sunday, the Bears moved the ball throughout the game in that fashion and then won the game on a downfield pass.