The Bears defense made a statement tonight. They finally finished a game. After giving up two fourth quarter leads the past two games, the Bears picked up a huge win to improve to 2-2 on the year.
The Eagles had 1st and goal on the Bears four yard line and could not punch it in. The photo up above from the AP shows the Bears defense celebrating as they stopped Eagles running back Correll Buckhalter on 4th down from the 1 yard line, essentially ending the game.
It was interesting that the Eagles did not try one play-action pass. Why the hell wouldn’t they when the Bears had 9 men in the box??
The defense truly won the game because they caused the Eagles to settle for field goal attempts and not touchdowns. It also helped the Eagles kicker David Akers missed two field goals.
For how good the offense looked in the first half with Orton passing for 3 TD’s and putting up 21 points, it was atrocious in the second half.
Here’s the Bears offensive stat line for the 3rd quarter
-2 total yards of offense; 3 turnovers
The Bears first 1st down of the second half?
-13:17 left in the 4th quarter
The Bear’s six offensive possessions in the 3rd quarter went like this:
-punt
-interception
-punt
-fumble
-punt
-fumble
Are you kidding me? Something needs to be done with the offense. It didn’t help that the only playmaker at the wide receiver position, Brandon Lloyd, left the game with a knee injury right before half time and did not return. When are the Bears going to put together a complete game on offense?? This is the main reason why the Bears have blown leads the past 2 weeks. The offense doesn’t generate anything in the 2nd half and the defense wears down.
The Bears could not generate any type of running game and that allowed the Eagles to bring pressure and constantly get to Orton (causing the fumbles and interceptions).
If Lloyd is out for any significant amount of time, the offense could be in trouble. They have no viable threat at receiver, and the only other players Orton looks comfortable throwing to are his TE’s, Dez Clark and Greg Olson.
With the Bears defense noticeably starting to wear down in the beginning of the 4th quarter, the Bears offense put together their one drive of the second half, as they moved the ball from their own 40 to the Eagles 23 yard line before kicker Robbie Gould connected on a 40 yard field goal to extend the lead to 24-20.
This was a good enough drive to give the defense a much needed rest, and the defense took care of the rest.
Some questions the Bears need to answer for next week’s game:
What can Ron Turner do to make the offense more efficient in the 2nd half?
Is his play calling too conservative? Does he need to mix it up more?
After Forte’s big game in Indy, the running game hasn’t done much, especially the last two weeks. How can the running game get back on track?
Does Kyle Orton hold onto the ball too long? A couple of those sacks he took he needed to throw the ball away.
***Another injury note: Charles Tillman left the game in the 4th quarter with a shoulder injury and did not return.
3 comments:
Maybe the Bears should play all their games on Sun night. It looked like they could possibly blow it again, but take it anyway you can. Next week against Det should be the easiest game they've had so far so hopefully Turner can make the necessary adjustments. But it's a win take it anyway you can get it and the winning the North is still definitely a possibility right now.
I am just glad the Bears finished the game strong, unlike the past two weeks. Forte has been a big surprise, and Orton has really stepped up when he has needed to. We just need to sustain a more consistent offense, even with Lloyd out. Next week at Detroit should be a breeze, as long as our pass defense can hold up against Calvin Johnson and company.
You literally covered everything. Not much else to say, Detroit next week. I'm not going to say this is a guaranteed win though. We are the Bears. And, yes, they are Lions. But, for the first time in eight years, they're the Millenless Lions.
Oh, and completely off topic, but the Wildcats of Evanston look good, so good that I am predicting them to see USC in the Rose Bowl. This, of course, assuming Penn State will be in the BCS Championship. Maybe they could put up a better fight than the pitiful Illini lost last year.
Post a Comment