How Bout Dem Bears?

Great performance. That's what's been frustrating about the previous 5 weeks, you thought the team was capable of better. No-one's expecting perfection, but you'd like to see high-intensity and cohesiveness. We got that yesterday.

- I thought it started with the d-line....sacks, pressures, forced holding penalties. Wasn't looking at the personnel that closely, but seemed like they played a good few snaps with Willie Young in for Houston at LDE, and Allen on the other side. Worked well. Having Ratliff back probably helped too with the pressure up the middle.

- We have to remember the Atlanta o-line isn't great, and is banged up, but if you can at least beat a weak o-line, that's something.

- Fuller on Julio Jones was awesome. Looking at Jones's stats today: 12 targets, 4 receptions. So you've got a good QB in Ryan, throwing to one of the best WRs in the league, and he has a 33% completion rate.

- Linebackers...is it a testament to the reserves or an indictment of the starters, that the 3 starters were out and weren't missed at all? (I think more the latter).

- Cutler...man, he is Jekyll and Hyde. Yesterday we had Good Cutler.

crunchie44 wrote: »

My favourite thing from last night was our response in 2nd half after Falcons scored 10 points to level up. Considering how we tend tend to collapse lately, I was delighted to see instant response from the offence to get us in front again. Good to see Jeffrey go long and Jay find him. Should stretch defence's in next few games to free up space and expose opponent linebackers.

Yeah, when they had brought it back from 13-3 to level it up, you felt Atlanta had all the momentum.

The big completion to Jeffery, and the subsequent drive was the dagger after extra-point was missed. I need to watch that drive again, but here's the play-by-play....87 yards, 15 plays, just one incompletion. And then the two-point conversion to top it off.

3rd Quarter Play-by-Play
Chicago at 3:35

1st and 10 at CHI 13 (3:35) J.Cutler pass short middle to B.Marshall to CHI 26 for 13 yards (R.Alford). 19 13

1st and 10 at CHI 26 (2:48) (Shotgun) A.Jeffery right end to CHI 25 for -1 yards (J.Massaquoi).

2nd and 11 at CHI 25 (2:06) (Shotgun) J.Cutler pass short middle to M.Forte to CHI 35 for 10 yards (K.Ishmael).

3rd and 1 at CHI 35 (1:40) M.Forte right end to CHI 37 for 2 yards (D.Trufant).

1st and 10 at CHI 37 (1:03) E.Britton reported in as eligible. J.Cutler pass incomplete deep left to B.Marshall.

2nd and 10 at CHI 37 (:55) (Shotgun) J.Cutler pass short right to M.Forte to CHI 36 for -1 yards (T.Jackson).

3rd and 11 at CHI 36 (:06) (Shotgun) J.Cutler pass deep left to M.Bennett to ATL 39 for 25 yards (J.Wilson).
END QUARTER 3

4th Quarter Play-by-Play
Chicago at 15:00 CHI ATL

1st and 10 at ATL 39 (15:00) M.Forte right guard to ATL 35 for 4 yards (T.Jackson). 19 13

2nd and 6 at ATL 35 (14:20) (Shotgun) M.Forte right guard to ATL 33 for 2 yards (J.Wilson).

3rd and 4 at ATL 33 (13:42) (Shotgun) J.Cutler pass short right to A.Jeffery to ATL 23 for 10 yards (J.Massaquoi).

1st and 10 at ATL 23 (13:01) M.Forte right end to ATL 17 for 6 yards (T.Jackson).

2nd and 4 at ATL 17 (12:28) (Shotgun) J.Cutler pass short left to A.Jeffery pushed ob at ATL 10 for 7 yards (K.Ishmael).

1st and 10 at ATL 10 (11:51) (Shotgun) M.Forte right guard to ATL 8 for 2 yards (T.Jackson; J.Bartu).

2nd and 8 at ATL 8 (11:10) (Shotgun) J.Cutler pass short left to A.Jeffery for 8 yards, TOUCHDOWN NULLIFIED by Penalty. PENALTY on CHI-A.Jeffery, Illegal Touch Pass, 5 yards, enforced at ATL 8 - No Play.

2nd and 13 at ATL 13 (11:01) (Shotgun) J.Cutler pass short middle to M.Bennett to ATL 9 for 4 yards (J.Massaquoi).

3rd and 9 at ATL 9 (10:12) (Shotgun) M.Forte right guard for 9 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

(Pass formation) TWO-POINT CONVERSION ATTEMPT. J.Cutler pass to M.Bennett is complete. ATTEMPT SUCCEEDS. 27 13

CHI DRIVE TOTALS: 15 plays, 87 yards, 8:28

- One of my favourite bits was a big Atlanta 3rd down in the 4th quarter. It was just after the above drive. Every 3rd down is big at that stage. The Bears fans started making a ton of noise and the defensive players started urging to them to increase it further. Atlanta were forced to take a timeout. Great moment.

There's a thread about it on Reddit:
Well done, traveling and local Georgian Bears fans.


- Looking ahead....1-1 in the next two games should be achievable. Go into the bye-week 4-4, clear up the various minor injuries, and head into Green Bay for what is probably a must-win game.

SameOleJay wrote: »

Our special teams is an embarrassment to the game.

The return game is awful. I was wondering yesterday have we returned a kickoff outside our own 20 yet this season? I can't remember one.

One bright spot on special teams: Pat O'Donnell. Didn't give Hester much of a chance yesterday.

padraig_f wrote: »

- Fuller on Julio Jones was awesome. Looking at Jones's stats today: 12 targets, 4 receptions. So you've got a good QB in Ryan, throwing to one of the best WRs in the league, and he has a 33% completion rate.

kennyb3 wrote: »

Kyle Fuller is bloody awesome - will be investing in a jersey with his name on it. I'd watch this team to see him play alone.

I had money on on the under lines for Kelvin Benjamin and Julio Jones the past two weeks. Plan to do that bet for the rest of the season too against our opponents no 1 receiver with Fuller out there covering them.

We got a player on the front of the ESPN stats page:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics

Actually two, as Fuller is joint-top in interceptions.

Dr. Jekyll makes the Pro Football Focus team of the week:
All-Star Team of the Week: Week 6

Garza is there too. I find it hard to evaluate interior linemen, the side-on camera angle makes it difficult. Probably need to look at the all-22 to properly evaluate it.


Advanced Football Analytics have a player stats page I didn't see before:
http://www.advancedfootballanalytics.com/index.php/home/tools/vizualizations/position-leaders

JJ Watt is pretty ridiculous in the DE category, but we have a good showing in the CB category.

Anyone see where the refs called a ST penalty against our no.34 at one point?

Talk about a late flag, guy is 14 years dead!

kennyb3 wrote: »

http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/videos/Thayers_Playbook_Playing_Sharp/57cd7e8f-3d13-4744-85ec-6f6caefe6482

Some good stuff there.

@ 2.50 ish Ego holding up against the double team is impressive

Sharpton had a hell of a game. First time I heard of him.

padraig_f wrote: »

Sharpton had a hell of a game. First time I heard of him.

To that and also call plays is unreal. Really hoping they continue with him over the fat, old and slow dj Williams who while not being terrible has been very very ordinary.

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1/New-philosophy-is-paying-dividends/cf115dab-7adc-4fea-a3b1-4f96feb1d813

“We got a one-game evaluation on [the replacements]. They stepped in and we feel good about what they did. [But] when guys are healthy and ready to go, I anticipate those guys getting back in there and filling those roles again. And we know that we have guys that can step in when needed and get the job done, and that’s the expectation for us.”

Really disappointed with that tbh, basically no matter how well anyone plays it don't matter - the senior player will get their job back.

Watching Pats-Jets last night, the Pats aren't great, the Bears can win there next week. Matt Forte's eyes will be lighting up, the Jets ran 43 times at 5.1 yards per carry. I think they said it was the most rushing yards ever conceded under Belichick. And that was with no passing game to speak of, the Pats knew they were running and still couldn't stop it.

Anyway, there's a game this weekend before that, and interested to see if the team can build on last week's performance and show it wasn't just a flash in the pan.

I'm optimistic. I think the various injuries have been a factor. While we've lucky enough major injuries (just Tillman), there've been a lot of minor ones that have undermined what the team is trying to do.

I think they've missed having a solid slot receiver more than I expected (I see Marquess Wilson is back in training now). Just in terms of those hi-lo combination routes where you stretch the field with Marshall/Jeffery, then have a relatively easy completion underneath to your slot receiver.

Then you've had of course Marshall and Jeffery's niggling injuries, Bushrod, Slauson on the o-line. Seem to be getting those guys back healthy now so we might see an uptick in offensive performance over the coming weeks.

Don't think the Dolphins will be easy, really should've beaten the Packers last week. Will be a an encouraging sign if we can beat them.

padraig_f wrote: »

Watching Pats-Jets last night, the Pats aren't great, the Bears can win there next week. Matt Forte's eyes will be lighting up, the Jets ran 43 times at 5.1 yards per carry. I think they said it was the most rushing yards ever conceded under Belichick. And that was with no passing game to speak of, the Pats knew they were running and still couldn't stop it.

Also remember it's the very same pats that obliterated the bengals. Will depend which pats and which bears turn up. If I was having a bet I'd still strongly fancy them at home.

Jesus Christ. What a tragic performance. Bad Jay today, by the looks of it. The DC needs a proper toe in the hole as well, Ratliff is the only one who looks like he could give a ****. Trestman's playcalling has been dire, and didn't even use a time out before half time (although maybe the risks involved in putting the offense on the field again put him off)

Do the Bears just not like playing in Soldier Field? (I mean, they won't like it now, what with the fans booing and all, but...) We'd be better off just taking our games on the road at this rate. As Oat says, it's possible the grass is a problem, but Miami are on the same field as we are and we're making them look like it's 1972.

I dread to think about what the score could be if ratliff wasn't on form. There is simply zero coverage in the backfield. Dolphins have figured out that if you keep the ball away from fuller then we can easily be exposed

Fuller

Hope it's not too serious.

Make it stop

Hate Finnegan too. Why does it have to be him making plays.