Here's my take on the game.
This was one of those wins that feels like a loss based on the play of the Bears. It rested on a dropped winning TD by the Lions late in the game.
The Lions were severely undermanned with their starting corner Okuda out and later the other corner Trufant left the game. Their best RB didn't play except to drop the TD pass
and their OL had a rookie RG and second string RT.
But anyway, the Bears still had a job to do which they largely left on the table.
here's my opinion:
Trubisky.
The first half looked like a continuation of last year. Nauseatingly like last year. Did all the changes and hard work and talk produce nothing?
Tru still had that scared and confused look we find all to often. He still overthrew receivers and showed inacuracy. He didn't throw picks which is probably the only reason they were still even in the game.
The only ray of hope I saw was that he wasn't missing by much. Could it be the lack of normal training camp? Can that be improved?
He had a nice first half TD pass to Robinson but Robinson only had his left hand on the ball. The defender was holding his right arm straight up but no PI call.
Then the fourth quarter came.....do or die.... and Mitch has 3 TD passes in 3 drives. Whhhaaattt?
Did a coach yell at him? Did he turn off his headset?
AS we've seen several times, he seems to play his best game on the comeback. When it's "you have to go out and win the game now" he makes the plays.
Maybe "you be you" is replaced with a kick in the arse. I don't know.
Ben Roethlisburger and Phillip Rivers have made a career out of this type of game, but Mitch doesn't have the steps of success to really celebrate a game like this.
Coaching:
The Bears look to me like a pretty talented offense that just can't get over the top of the hill. They look ready to break out but just can't do it.
Juan Castillo pleasantly surprised by teaching the OL how to run block with success between the tackles. Still it seemed like they had no real offensive game plan.
Why didn't they attack the backup corner. Why didn't they have the new tight ends out for more short passes to move the chains? Antonio Gates played the last 5 years of his career going out 7-10 yards and standing there Where Phillip River could simply throw it high where only Gates could get it.
Defense:
The front seven that was supposed to be the strength of the team looked old and relatively ineffective. This is alarming.
Mack did a "nice" job rushing the passer but just came close and had no sacks against a second string tackle. Not particularly disruptive.
The last couple of weeks it was reported he had a bad knee, so maybe that's part of it, or maybe he just hit the wall and will never be the player he was 2 years ago.
The rest of the line was not good. No one could get a pass rush. Hicks was a non factor against a rookie guard except 1 sack play. No penetration otherwise.
It was disappointing to see the Lions run on the defense like that. So much for Nichols and Robertson Harris having great camps.
Trevathan looks like he lost a step, we'll see. I couldn't say how Smith played. He was out there but I don't know.
The corners played well. Fuller is a pro bowl quality guy. Johnson had some rookie issues with speed and toughness of NFL receivers but recovered well.
The safeties? meh. Amendola with no speed was sure open in the middle of the field on a few third and long plays.
Maybe this team will shake off some rust the next few weeks. They didn't seem to have the sense of urgency I saw from other teams this week.
This is a time for good coaching to put this puzzle together. If they can't do it....
Home
Chat
Login
Register