Atlanta Falcons place-kicker Jason Elam (1) reacts with holder Michael Koenen (9)
after kicking the game- winning 48-yard field goal with one second remaining to defeat the Chicago Bears 22-20 in their NFL football game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
(AP Photo/Dave Martin)
Wow, I think that was the most improbable ending to a football game I have ever seen in my life, and I’ve watched a lot of football.
I went from the highest of highs, when Orton took the Bears offense down the field in 2:30 to score what looked like the game winning touchdown, to the lowest of lows, when Falcons kicker Jason Elam kicked the game winning field goal as time expired.
I have to question the Bears decision to pooch the kickoff with 11 seconds to go. Why not kick it deep?
I blame this one on the coaches for calling a pooch kick and not kicking it deep. I know the last time they kicked it deep Norwood almost ran it back for a touchdown, but what are the odds of that happening again? Slim-to-none.
If Norwood catches the ball on the five-yard line and runs it up to midfield that is going to take at least six or seven seconds off the clock. The clock would have gone from eleven seconds to four or five seconds, and that would have left the Falcons with one hail mary pass. Instead the
Falcons have enough time to run a play, a 26-yard out right to Michael Jenkins to the Bears 31 yard line with one second left.
Which brings me to my next point. What kind of coverage was that and why was Jenkins so open?? There was a huge gap between the corner, Marcus Hamilton, and the safety, Mike Brown. How can you let a receiver run an out route and get to the sidelines? That is totally unacceptable coverage. You are taught in pee wee football to force the receivers toward the middle of the field at the end of the game.
The Bears secondary and pass coverage looked vulnerable all game. I know starting cornerback Nathan Vasher did not play and Charles Tillman left the game in the 2nd quarter with a hip injury, but backups Corey Graham and Marcus Hamilton were constantly getting beaten on slant routes and quick hitches.
I’m just so disappointed because even though the Bears got dominated for ¾ of the game, they should have pulled out this victory. When Elam missed the gimme field goal with 2:35 left I thought karma was with the Bears. Good teams are able to win games even when they don’t play well and get dominated, and the Bears fell short.
I have to give credit where credit is due though. Matt Ryan played a great game and didn’t look like a rookie. He completed 22/30 for 301 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions. He made all types of throws, and slightly outplayed Kyle Orton, who has made major strides himself the past couple weeks and played a solid game.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Bears fall in a heartbreaker, 22-20
Posted by UISJMC Chiakulas at 2:53 PM
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6 comments:
I have to give credit to Orton this week. He really did play well, but he still got outplayed by a rookie. Maybe the Lions game wasn't a fluke. Still the better team won that game. Atlanta dominated the majority of the game and nearly lost it. The football gods just made sure the better team won by Jenkins getting wide open for that 31-yard reception with ONE SECOND LEFT! I mean where's the coverage? I understand that when you play prevent you don't want to get beat deep, but you have to know where field goal range is too. I guess they just didn't think that a team could run a play like that in what like six seconds? Think again Chicago. You're playing in Atlanta.
Lovie Smith made some awful decisions. If they kick the fg, instead of goin for it on 4th and goal they win the gm. Still enuf time where they didn't need to go for it. Then how do you not kick it deep. Ya it was unlikely that they would get into fg range that quickly but why take the chance. I was worried about this gm goin into it and Atl is doin an incredible job. Most teams it would take a very long time to recover from how much Vick screwed them over and its takin them a year only. Drafting Ryan was a tremendous choice and Turner is comin into his own. I'm still pissed but Atl deserves a ton of credit.
If you're a Bears fan, you have to be encouraged by the performance of Kyle Orton. The Iowa native has really stepped it up for you guys, and he is the main reason why you have any hope for the postseason right now. If Grossman were in you'd be a 1-5 football team, but instead you're tied for the division lead.
I second what uisjmc cooley stated above. If you got Grossman in, you don't even have a chance on that last two minute drive. I say Grossman throws a pick within the pass attempts.
God does not like Chicago sports right now. We just have to accept that. There wasn't really much we could have done, maybe you're right about the pooch kick, but who really knows. The Bears were destined to lose this game.
So we need to look at the plus sides: Orton looks great, no one (not even the Burner) can run on the Bears, Hester is actually looking like an NFL wide receiver. And, we've got time. We play in arguably one of the worst divisions in football, we get to play the Vikings next week, and then get a week off. Next week is what I would consider the first "must win" or at least "probably should win" game of the season. We take a 4-3 record into the bye week, and I'm happy.
This team is going to have ups and downs. And if we play it close, like we have in all 3 of our losses, we can maybe squeak out 9 or 10 wins, which should be enough to get us into the playoffs. The NFL is all over the place right now, great teams are losing, not so great teams are winnings, it's exciting. Every team is in it (excluding the bottom feeders of football, i.e.: Rams, Chiefs, Raiders, Texans), and the Bears definitely aren't out.
I enjoyed your usage of boldface and italics in the article, it was nice little touch. Great pace in this one as well.
Something to consider is that Hamilton was on Tampa Bays practice squad last week. If you want to know why we couldnt guard a slant route to save our lives. it's because we had a total scrub running around back there. What I can't understand is why a vet like Mike Brown launched Jenkins out of bounds when he could have easily just grabbed him and pulled him towards the field, letting the clock run out. Instead he hit him three yards, sending him flying out of bounds. Thats a rookie move and he should have considered the game situation.
The problem with the end of the game was extreme conservatism. Of course they won't be able to return the horrible squib kick for a TD, but they will still get a better return than usual. Then the coverage was like the Iowa defense times 2. Everyone in the stadium knew the Falcons were going to try to complete a pass and get out of bounds. However, the coverage looked like Mike Brown was dropping back to cover the hail mary.
The NFC north looks even more wide open now. The Bears are a little better than the Packers (their running game and D is better) and I the Vikings are going to be the odd team out.
I have to give a big hallelujah about the Lions getting a 1st round pick for Roy Williams. It was obvious he didn't want to be there, so I'm excited to see the Lions hopefully be smarter with their picks now that Millen is gone.
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