Did anyone get the license plate of that Mack truck? Another primetime game versus the Pack provided a ho-hum result many Bear fans have suffered their entire lives.
The games in recent years seemingly scripted, follow the same flow; Bears start strong and hang with Green Bay for a quarter or so, the wheels temporarily fall off in the second quarter as Rodgers starts to pick on a weakness, Bears come out of halftime sluggish on offense while defense fights for their lives to, Bears catch a break and offense scores some points, bad call or missed opportunity leads to the Aaron Rodgers dagger effectively ending the game.
It’s a tale as old as time and if you’re like me you fell for it once again last night. As long as Aaron Rodgers is on the other sideline the Bears will be little brother. The rivalry will cease to exist in any meaningful fashion other than the rich history these two storied franchises share. Going into the season the expectations for the team were low and that was okay. The number one goal for the year was to develop the young talent. That being said, there were some glaring disparities that I don’t think we may have realized after last week’s win may have put the blinders on some of us.
Bad News Bears
Both sides of the ball are guilty of getting out-classed. Defensively it was easier to identify the culprits that led to the second quarter implosion. The offense seemed to be more of a group effort in their ineptitude. Here are the three main problems I and anyone else with a set of eyeballs should have been able to see:
- Kyler Gordon. Undoubtedly he was the biggest liability and it wasn’t close. It’s only been two games, but according to PFF he’s allowed 15 receptions on 18 targets. That’s what we call burnt toast. Week one wasn’t as noticeable, but last night it was obvious Green Bay’s plan was to pick on the rookie corner. It worked to perfection. The 22 year old corner got cooked time and time again, including
Rookie cornerback Kyler Gordon had a night to forget last night. multiple times by washed up Sammy Watkins and Randall Cobb. Getting beat on a great route is one thing, but for 31 year old Sammy Watkins to beat you by three steps on a lazy drag route is flat embarrassing. Time to move him outside.
- Interior defensive line. This is a group effort, and it’s not much of a surprise. This group had the biggest question mark for me heading into the year. A lot of new names in a new scheme can make for some up and down play. Week one this group looked like a serviceable group. Last night told a different story. Both Packers running backs got to the linebackers untouched over and over allowing them giant lanes and a full head of steam. Sidebar: It may be worth moving Roquan Smith back to the Mike backer. Just a thought.
- The Offense. As a whole, everyone failed to do their jobs 95% of the time. Outside of the first and last drives of the game it couldn’t have went worse. Everything failed at every level. Receivers failing to get separation, dropping the ball, the line not holding up, or Fields holding onto the ball too long. Nothing looked crisp. I talked last week before the game about two guys being the keys to success; Darnell Mooney and David Montgomery. Darnell only had two targets last night and managed one catch for negative yards on a busted play. That isn’t going to cut it. You can’t be invisible in an offense if you want to be WR1. He’s got to make it happen. Montgomery must have read my article because he was one of the few bright spots.
It Wasn’t All Bad… Right?
Actually, it was all pretty rough, but what else should we have expected. It’s a young Bears team with a first time coaching staff and a young QB making his 12th start. With all the bad I’ve pointed out: they had a chance at the end to steal the game. The biggest reason for that? The Bears ran the ball down their throats and then ran it some more.
David Montgomery was a mad man rushing 15 times for 122 yards. Khalil Herbert tacked on a decent night himself on limited touches: 4 carries for 38 yards including a monster 27 yard run.
That is how the Bears will have to win games this season while the passing game comes along. Shove it down the defense’s throats then roll Justin out cutting the field in half for him. When done properly it looks a lot like the first possession that ended in Fields diving in for a touchdown.
The Bears pass rush was highly effective most of the game causing Rodgers visible frustration. The defensive backs outside of Gordon did a solid job in holding down a poor Green Bay receiving Corps. It’s unfortunate the run defense bailed the Packer offense out.
What To Make Of The Bears Up and Down Performance
If you want to be a pessimist you could say the Bears got punked by the Packers again on national tv. You could say Green Bay ran all over the defense. The rookie cornerback pissed down his leg and the offense looks the same as it always has in Chicago.
The optimist would look at that game and say the Bears ran up and down and all around the Packers defense. You could say Justin Fields only needed to throw the ball 11 times because the run game was so effective. You could say the defense stepped up, sacking Rodgers three times and forcing a multitude of miscues. Even better, you could say the refs completely hosed the Chicago Bears of a touchdown.
Both would be right and wrong. There was essentially three games played within one. The first quarter the Bears had Green Bay on their heels. They mixed play-calling up well and the defense did their job. In the second and third quarter the Packers did their job and beat up on a young team. They dominated the fourth quarter and got themselves within striking distance. Forcing turnovers and getting back to a successful run game set them up for that fateful fourth down play on the goal line. If the call is a touchdown, who knows what the last 8:30 of the game looks like.
Baby Bears Have Much To Look Forward To In Both Short and Longterm
There are a lot of takeaways for the young Bears to hang on to. There are going to be more growing pains as we move along. They will beat teams they shouldn’t and lose games in equal fashion. I still believe Eberflus can be the guy and that Poles can provide him the best roster possible, it just takes time. There is still plenty to believe in for Chicago, even if that is simply believing that one day Green Bay won’t have a hall of fame quarterback to terrorize us every season.
Bear Down!
3 Comments
Typical trash talking young writer who never set foot on an NFL practice field.
Their goal isn’t to develop all of these young players. They are here as “replacement” players while the Bears work off their dead cap, make some deadline trades and finish in the bottom third of the NFL. Next year with some free agent signings and another good draft, we’ll start to see more parts of their roster moving forward.
Up front on D, they don’t have enough beef up front nor skill to prevent being held on running plays. Support the team. They’re doing the best they can this year during the rebuild.
If you’re referring to Kyler Gordon he had a PFF grade of 35.2 Sunday night. Against arguably the worst receiving corps in the league
Three things:
1. You missed the main point and are nibbling at the edges.
2. Thanks for the 411 on Kyler Gordon but he was also playing against arguably the best QB in the league. Not all rookies are ready year one. Braxton Jones looks OK so far.
3. I take no pleasure in watching a mismatch. The Bears are favorites next week but could go o-fer in October. Like Mike Ditka once said: Some games you teach, some games you learn.