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After Thoughts: Bears Fumble Game Away In Denver, Losing Sight Of Playoffs

12th December 2011 by under After Thoughts     

The Bears played the part in three important areas, but still couldn’t come up with the win yesterday in Denver.

The Bears defense contained Broncos running back Willis McGahee allowing him to rush for only 34 yards on 17 carries.

They shut down Tim Tebow for the most part, allowing him to rush for 49 yards and throw for 236 yards.

Lastly, they forced two turnovers, an interception and a fumble.

Those things seemed to be working for the Bears up until almost the end of the game.

The score was 10-0, but they allowed Tim Tebow to complete throws down the field consistently. It looked like the Bears were playing prevent defense.

With no timeouts for the Broncos, the Bears allowed Tebow to lead his team to a touchdown to make the game 10-7.

The Broncos were forced to onside kick the ball with roughly 2:08 left on the clock, Bears linebacker Nick Roach recovered the kick.

The Bears ran one play, then the two minute warning stopped the clock. One first down would have ended the game.

The very next play Marion Barber, who up to that point was a big reason the Bears were ahead in the game made a big mistake.

He had the loan touchdown in the game for the Bears, but he ran out of bounds after picking up about five yards.

That stopped the clock once again. The Bears failed to pick up the first down.

The Caleb Hanie led offense was only able to convert two of 15 third downs.

So, the Broncos got the ball back and Tebow drove them down the field in time to set up a Matt Prater 59-yard field goal attempt.

Robbie Gould made a 57-yarder for the Bears to put them up 10-0 in the early stages of the fourth quarter, so the Broncos weren’t afraid to try a far kick either.

Prater made it and again Tebow brought back the Broncos in the fourth quarter.

The Bears win the toss in overtime and Caleb Hanie finds Knox and Barber a couple times to lead them into field goal range.

Marion Barber finds a hole on a run and it looks like he is going to break it for a touchdown. He loses the ball and the Broncos take over.

Prater boots a 51-yarder for the win and the rest was history.

The Bears blew a perfect chance at their eighth victory of the season.

Barber’s woes’

Barber has to hold on to the ball with two hands in a situation like that. Its a tough break for the Bears offense, who seemed to be set up for the win.

Hanie seemed to be consoling Barber on the sideline.

You got to feel bad for the Barber, but at the same time he knows better than to make a mistake like that in a key situation.

The seven-year veteran Barber, cost the Bears a touchdown a week ago against KC on an illegal formation play.

He ran out of bounds basically costing the Bears the game on Sunday and then he fumbled the game when it was on the line.

He runs hard, but maybe the Cowboys released him because he made too many mistakes.

Expect to see more Kahlil Bell on Sunday against Seattle, so Barber understands he can’t make big mistakes.

Now What?

At 7-6, the Bears are a game behind the Atlanta Falcons (8-5) and Detroit Lions (8-5) in the wild-card race.

The Bears have scored three touchdowns the past three weeks, compared to four touchdowns the week prior to Hanie taking over at quarterback.

Here’s what the playoff picture looks like in the NFC:

4th seed New York Giants (7-6)
Remaining games: Redskins (4-9), At Jets (8-5), Cowboys (7-6)

5th seed Atlanta Falcons (8-5)
Remaining games: Jaguars (4-9), At Saints (10-3), Bucs (4-9)

6th seed Detroit Lions (8-5)
Remaining games: At Oakland (7-6), Chargers (6-7), At Packers (13-0)

7th Bears (7-6)
Remaining games: Seahawks (5-7), At Packers (13-0), At Vikings (2-11)

8th Cowboys (7-6)
Remaining games: At Bucs (4-9), Eagles (5-8), At Giants (7-6)

The Bears must win next week against Seattle. Luckily they return home, where they’ve had success.

The offense needs to play mistake free football because the defense has been pretty good these past three losses.

It wasn’t the offenses fault completely on Sunday because the defense gave up big plays down the stretch, but Hanie and Co. need to step up now.

Expect a fired up bunch on Sunday against Seattle.Caleb Hanie needs to find ways to convert third downs for the offense because they’ve converted only two out of 26 over the past two games.

The offensive line gave up four sacks and had way too many false starts, but played much improved collectively.

Lovie needs to get this team together because the season is slipping away very fast.

The season isn’t over just yet. The Bears are not a team that gives up.

Do you believe?

Jake Perper is the owner and head writer for Bearsbacker.com. He is also the Chicago Bears writer for NFLTouchdown.com. Follow him on Twitter, @Bearsbacker and on Facebook for up to the minute news about the Bears.

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After Thoughts: Bears Lose Forte To Injury and to Kansas City 10-3

5th December 2011 by under After Thoughts     

The Bears defense has allowed only two touchdowns the past two games, but the team has lossed both of those games.

Take away a miracle Hail Mary touchdown pass by Tyler Palko to Dexter McCluster and the Bears defense gave up three points.

Brian Urlacher and Chris Conte did the right thing by batting the ball down in the endzone, but safety Craig Steltz just wasn’t in position to box McCluster out.

The defense played with great intensity allowing a total of 252 yards in the entire game. 38 yards came on the hail mary catch at the end of the first half by McCluster.

The Chiefs were able to convert only seven of 20 third downs, while the inept Bears offense failed to convert a single third down on 11 attempts.

Three points scored on offense and no takeaways against a bad Chiefs team will not get you a victory.

The loss wasn’t the worst part about the Bears day.

The worst part was the loss of running back Matt Forte in the first quarter. Forte took a handoff from Hanie and was hit hard in his right knee by Chiefs LB Derrick Johnson.

Forte was quickly announced done for the day after he rushed for 12 yards on five attempts. He suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain on the hit by Johnson.

An injury like Forte’s takes up to four weeks to heal usually, but the Bears could get Forte back in time for the Christmas clash with the 12-0 Packers.

Without Forte, the Bears will lean on Marion Barber and Kahlil Bell. Undrafted rookie Armando Allen is currently on the practice squad, but he could be used as the third back.

This is a game the Bears needed to have considering the tightness of the NFC wild card race.

The Chiefs are certainly not a better team then the Bears. The Bears defense can contain offenses, but can’t win them games without help from the offense.

Caleb Hanie needs to step it up next week. Earl Bennett was used incorrectly. Devin Hester saw more time on offense. Johnny Knox had success once again.

Roy Williams looked pathetic on the potential touchdown pass from Hanie that turned out to be intercepted by the Chiefs.

The receivers might not be in sync with Hanie up to this point, but Hanie needs to make better decisions with the ball. Way to many times in the game, he was waiting in the pocket and wound up getting sacked.

Hanie has been picked off three times in each of his starts this season. He was sacked seven times by a last ranked Chiefs pass rush.

He needs to get rid of the ball quicker and can’t be so indecisive with the ball like he has been.

Head coach Lovie Smith seems adamant about leaving the Bears quarterback situation alone.

He reiterated that Caleb was the Bears quarterback this morning and Forte will likely be back for the end of the season in the press conference.

Good News

Despite the loss, the Bears are still the fifth seed in the NFC. Detroit, Atlanta, Dallas and New York all lost.

So, at 7-5 the Bears are still on pace to make the playoffs, but they need to get things together on offense.

They can’t go through a game and not convert a single third down. Roy Williams should see less time on the field, while Bennett and Hester should be used more.

The only consistent receivers for the Bears yesterday were Johnny Knox and Kellen Davis.

A matchup against the first place Tebow led Broncos in Denver will be a big test for the Bears.

The time is now for the Bears, if they want any chance at the postseason they need to start playing playoff caliber football.

Without Cutler and now Forte the offense will have a tough time, but it can’t get much worse then the performance against Kansas City on Sunday.

Remaining Schedule

Here’s a look at the last four games for all the NFC wild card contenders.

Bears (7-5): at Denver, Seattle, at Green Bay, at Minnesota

Lions (7-5): Minnesota, at Oakland, San Diego, at Green Bay

Falcons (7-5): at Carolina, Jacksonville, at New Orleans, Tampa Bay

Cowboys (7-5): N.Y. Giants, at Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, at N.Y. Giants

Giants (6-6): at Dallas, Washington, at N.Y. Jets, Dallas

Jake Perper is the owner and head writer for Bearsbacker.com. He is also the Chicago Bears writer for NFLTouchdown.com. Follow him on Twitter, @Bearsbacker and on Facebook for up to the minute news about the Bears.

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After Thoughts: Bears Victory Over NFC North Foe Detroit

15th November 2011 by under After Thoughts     

The Bears clearly sent a message to the Detroit Lions on Sunday in their 37-13 victory over them.

Some mistakes were made by the Bears that might not have caught the regular fans eye because the Bears were playing so well.

In tight games, the Bears have been able to create those key turnovers.

They sometimes can’t come up with those easy plays though.

In Sunday’s game, nickelback D.J. Moore dropped a sure interception (pictured above) and safety Chris Conte dropped about two balls that looked to be easy picks.

Those mistakes didn’t matter because the Bears were already up in the game by so much, but in closer games those young players need to bring those in.

Moore is on pace to reel in more interceptions than last season, with three already in nine weeks, but again he needs to make sure he makes those big plays.

Stepping up

Special teams star Corey Graham forced a fumble two weeks ago against Philadelphia on a punt return by DeSean Jackson.

This past week he came up with an interception in the fourth quarter against Detroit.

It was perhaps the best interception of the game.

For Graham, it was first interception since 2008, which was the year he was a starter for the entire season.

Looking for help

In other news, the Bears are looking to fill the final roster spot available with an offensive lineman. They brought free-agent guard Mansfield Wrotto to Halas Hall today for a workout.

Wrotto, a six-year veteran has appeared in 27 games making 12 starts. He made seven starts for the Buffalo Bills a season ago and was part of their final cuts.

Wrotto could be signed as soon as tomorrow if the Bears like his body of work or they could look somewhere else.

They could grab another free agent lineman or promote a lineman from their practice squad.

Jake Perper is the owner and head writer for Bearsbacker.com. He is also the Chicago Bears writer for NFLTouchdown.com. Follow him on Twitter, @Bearsbacker and on Facebook for up to the minute news about the Bears.

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After Thoughts: The Bears Lost To Three Very Good Teams

13th October 2011 by under After Thoughts     

 

Blame quarterback Jay Cutler, the wide receivers and the Roberto Garza-led offensive line if you want, but it starts with coaching.

It also starts with the front office and general manager Jerry Angelo, who didn’t do much to help his team out this offseason.

Angelo claims the Bears did the best they could to upgrade this offensive line, but letting go of Olin Kreutz seems even dumber now.

The additions at wide receiver (Roy Williams and Sam Hurd) were supposed to make the unit much improved, but that hasn’t appeared to be the case so far.

Trading tight end Greg Olsen for a third-round pick, doesn’t look like the best move right now either. Kellen Davis, the starting tight end for the Bears was said to be a better blocker, but he hasn’t showed that this season.

Letting Danieal Manning walk in free agency could have been a mistake as well. Chris Harris, Brandon Meriweather, Major Wright, Craig Steltz and Chris Conte have all been used at safety through five games this season.

The Bears didn’t do anything to upgrade their team on offense except at right tackle with Gabe Carimi. Unfortunately he has been out with a knee injury. RB Marion Barber has been a nice addition, but hasn’t made a tremendous impact just yet.

As bad as the Bears offensive line played in Monday night’s 24-13 loss to Detroit, Jay Cutler and Matt Forte both had a lot of success.

Cutler completed 28 of 38 passes for 249 yards and one touchdown. Matt Forte carried the ball 22 times for 116 yards and caught three passes for 35 yards.

With a record of 2-3, the Bears’ three losses have come to NFC teams, two in the NFC North. The three losses came against the Saints (4-1), Packers (5-0), Lions (5-0).

14-1 is the record between those three teams, so its been a tough stretch for the Bears so far this season.

You can continue to say the Bears are a bad team, but they still have a shot at the playoffs despite the losses they’ve suffered this season. Six of the last 11 games remaining on the Bears schedule are against teams with losing records.

The six teams fighting with the Bears for an NFC playoff spot are: WAS (3-1), NYG (3-2), TB (3-2), DAL (2-2), ATL (2-3) and SEA (2-3). The Bears own the head-to-head with the Falcons and will take on the Bucs and Seahawks later in the season.

Don’t give up on these Bears just yet. Its very easy to give up on them now, considering their leading receivers last game were their No. 5 (Sam Hurd) and No. 6 receivers (Dane Sanzenbacher).

Bright spots are hard to ignore. Jay Cutler and Matt Forte’s efforts on Monday night seem wasted now, but it only shows how good this offense can really be.

Mike Martz needs to change the playcalling. He needs to protect Jay Cutler better with perhaps more personnel. He needs to help Cutler out, so why not call plays that get the ball out of Cutler’s hands faster.

Martz needs to realize this offensive line is not very good. It’s time to call on players that help Cutler out because Cutler is starting to lose some confidence in the unit.

Right tackle Frank Omiyale is a nice guy, but he shouldn’t be in the NFL. He consistently gets beat. Lance Louis should slide over to right tackle if Gabe Carimi can’t go and Chris Spencer should be at right guard.

Last year’s seventh-round pick J’Marcus Webb was called for way too many false starts on Monday night. The Bears wound up with 14 penalties total.

More penalties than points is pathetic. The team needs to be more disciplined on both sides of the ball on Sunday night.

Defensive woes:

Safety Chris Harris didn’t seem to be at 100 percent on Monday night, consistently being out of position.

He was beaten over the top on the 73 yard touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson, was too far in the end zone on Brandon Pettigrew’s touchdown catch and was nowhere to be found on Jahvid Best’s 88 yard run.

At halftime the Bears led 10-7 and seemed to be in control. But the defense came out soft.

They weren’t flying around like they usually do. They were out of their gaps too often and weren’t getting any pass rush on Matthew Stafford.

Brian Urlacher needs to find a way to get this unit going because he was furious after the game. He has every right to be upset, but honestly he might want to look in the mirror.

Urlacher might not be able to cover the field in the cover-two defense like he used to. Changes need to be made to help him out.

How to fix this team?

It’s time for the Bears to make changes on both sides of the ball. The play calling needs to be altered. The run game is working, but Martz needs to help Cutler out by calling more quick passes.

The defense needs to be more sound. They’ve been allowing way to many big plays and that’s very uncharacteristic of them. They could just be over the hill—a lot of the players on this unit are over 30 years old.

Last week I thought they would be much improve on defense, but they keep making the same mistakes.

The Bears thrive off of good defense, so expect a little different game plan since Vikings RB Adrian Peterson is coming to town on Sunday night.

Sunday night is a must win for the Bears. That’s obvious. But the future for the Bears could be figured out as well come game time.

Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo’s jobs are in jeopardy if the Bears unravel in the latter parts of the season.

If you are looking to bet the Bears this week, make sure to check out TobBet Sportsbook.

Jake Perper is the owner and head writer for Bearsbacker.com. He is also the Chicago Bears writer for NFLTouchdown.com. Follow him on Twitter, @Bearsbacker for up to the minute news about the Bears.

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After Thoughts: Johnny Knox’s Punt Return That Was Called Back

25th September 2011 by under After Thoughts     

The punt return that Bears fans thought Johnny Knox returned for a touchdown was quickly called back. According to Rules Analyst Mike Pereira at Fox Sports via Twitter, “On Knox punt return, #21 held the gunner and he grabs and pulls him from behind early in the kick, you can only see it in the live shot.”

In the video, you can see about seconds in that Bears cornerback Corey Graham grabs #24 Jarrett Bush’s jersey on the punt.

What a shame. This could have gone down as one of the best plays in Bears history, just shows you the type of day they had.

Photo credit to @Cfaris09, great find.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Bears news on Twitter, follow @Bearsbacker.

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After Thoughts: Bears Week One Win Against The Falcons

11th September 2011 by under After Thoughts     

The Bears didn’t allow the Falcons to score a touchdown in this game. Two field goals and an interception return for a touchdown was all the Bears gave to the Falcons.

Brian Urlacher led the Bears defense in tackles with ten on the day. It was the first time in his ten year career that he intercepted a pass and returned a fumble for a touchdown.

Only three defensive ends were active for this game, starters Israel Idonije and Julius Peppers and reserve end Nick Reed.

Cornerback Charles Tillman forced a fumble out of Michael Turner’s hands in the first quarter. His forced fumble today was his 25th in his nine seasons in the NFL. He has the most forced fumbles among cornerbacks since 2003.

The Bears win today was their 62nd home-opening win. The 62 wins are an NFL best. The Bears have beaten five of the last six opponents who have come to Solider Field for the season opener.

Today marked the first time since September, 16, 2007 against Buffalo that the team tight end Matt Spaeth scored for won.

Safety Brandon Meriweather was out on the field for some plays in the second half gaining some valuable experience.

Falcons WR Harry Douglas who was called “scary fast” in the slot this preseason was held to two catches and ten yards receiving.

QB Jay Cutler posted a quarterback rating of 107.8  while averaging almost 10 yards per game. The last time Cutler posted a quarterback rating that high was in a Week 13 win against Detroit last season.

WR Roy Williams reeled in over 50 yards on four catches. It was the first time since Week 12 of last season that he had over 50 yards receiving in one game.

RB Matt Forte, who is looking for a new contract could earn one very soon with his performance today. On 21 touches, Forte racked up 158 yards and a touchdown from scrimmage, 68 on the ground and 90 through the air.

Ron Jaworski was the only ESPN analyst on Sunday NFL Countdown who picked the Bears to defeat the Falcons today.

For Bears news on Twitter, follow @Bearsbacker.

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