Author Topic: Today's Game - 2011  (Read 18520 times)

dallasbear

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Re: Today's Game
« Reply #120 on: August 23, 2011, 01:46:43 pm »
Here are my grades for last night.

STARTING OFFENSE - D
Cutler looks much better and the OL is rounding into form. That's about it for the positives. The air game was brutal...  Roy Williams and Hester failed multiple times each on clutch plays, and Knox and Kellen Davis were invisible. The much ballyhooed improved ground game was nowhere in evidence. Red zone playcalling and execution were both dreadful.

SCRUB OFFENSE - C-minus
They scored a TD, which is more than the starters could do. But our 2nd-team O-Linemen wouldn't even be on a good team's roster.

STARTING DEFENSE - C-minus
Marginally improved pass rush offset by terrible coverage and bad tackling. It doesn't appear we have anyone in the D-Backfield except Tillman who can cover and nobody but Tim Jennings that can tackle. Major Wright did not look like starting material and as much as I never thought I'd say it, I think we'll be missing Danieal Manning sooner than later.

SCRUB DEFENSE - F
We are really screwed if any of our D starters go down cause these guys are awful. Can't think of a single guy on this unit who really looked like he belonged on an NFL field. Okoye, maybe. Paea and Gholston were non-factors and Conte may have athleticism but he looks totally lost out there.

SPECIAL TEAMS - D
The only thing that keeps this from being lower is the 6 points from our FG unit.  Punting....  yikes. Neither of our P's have any leg, coverage was bad and the blocked punt was inexcusable.  Kickoff returns were a non-factor but I lay that on the NFL rule change more than our team.

BOTTOM LINE
Lazy, sloppy and embarrassing showing by a team that appears to have lost more good players than they've gained.

Comments on:

STARTING OFFENSE:   Knox was invisible in the 1st half cuz he was on the bench.  As for Davis being invisible - get used to it.  He won't be split out as frequently as Olsen was and I'd bet he's not targeted as frequently.  Not saying he can't have a decent year but I think Martz had to draw up special plays to get Olsen into the game plan.  I don't think he will be that accomodating with Davis and Spaeth. 

SCRUB OFFENSE - I liked the young RT..is that Levi Horn...#79?

STARTING DEFENSE - I thought the DBs played the pass OK.  Didn't see Manningham or Nicks or their starting TEs do much of anything.  Wright took a bad angle - it happens.  Chris Harris did the same thing last PS too...several times.  I thought Roach and Iwuh looked good.  DTs were invisible.  Peppers was a beast.

SCRUB DEFENSE - Not much there last night.

SPECIAL TEAMS - Abysmal...like last PS.   Toub will fix what can be fixed.  Not sure about the KO returns...remains to be seen if every KO will be returned.

BOTTOM LINE
O-line looked decent, Cutler was sharp, no injuries...biggest concern is getting Roy Williams going.

VJ

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Re: Today's Game
« Reply #121 on: August 23, 2011, 01:48:24 pm »
Spencer may be an upgrade over Kreutz...if he was lined up next to Garza.

If he stays healthy, Wright has the talent and instincts to be an upgrade over Manning.

Olsen?  Wait till the next draft?  He wasn't perfect.  He wasn't the prototypical blocking TE that Martz wanted, but he made plays.

Roy hasn't proven he can be as dependable a pass catcher as Aroma during the little time he was on the field.

It won't take much for Okoye or Melton or Paea to have a bigger impact than Tommie.

Carimi is well on his way to being a fixture at RT and haven't heard much about Chris Williams at LG...which is a good thing.

Yapper would be a upgrade over Manu.


yapper

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Re: Today's Game
« Reply #122 on: August 23, 2011, 02:03:30 pm »
As for Davis being invisible - get used to it.  He won't be split out as frequently as Olsen was and I'd bet he's not targeted as frequently.  Not saying he can't have a decent year but I think Martz had to draw up special plays to get Olsen into the game plan. 

It really *****d me off when Martz called those two worthless plays to Hester down on the goal line. The first one he fell down and the second one he dropped even though the ball was perfectly placed.  At least one of those plays should have been a pass to Kellen Davis and I can only hope that's one of those plays they're keeping hidden for the regular season.

STARTING DEFENSE - I thought the DBs played the pass OK.  Didn't see Manningham or Nicks or their starting TEs do much of anything. 

That Cruz kid ate us up. D.J. Moore just looked stupid on that one play where Cruz went up and got it and Moore didn't even turn around. He's been in the league long enough he should know how to defend that play but then our DB coach isn't very good so that's not a real surprise I guess.  Tillman and Jennings played pretty well and Corey Graham showed some good stuff with the 2s but the rest of our DBs did not impress, either in pass coverage or run support.

As for Spencer, it looked like he did OK but by the time he was at C the Giants were playing their scrubs so it's kind of hard to grade him out. I do know that the interior of our starting OL is much stouter with Garza at C and it was nice to see Cutler actually able to step up into the pocket a couple of times. I found our run blocking to still be a bit lacking though. In any event the Giants have a Top 5 DL so it's good our OL got that test early on.

« Last Edit: August 23, 2011, 02:08:08 pm by yapper »

dallasbear

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Re: Today's Game
« Reply #123 on: August 23, 2011, 02:14:10 pm »
Dallas, do you think we have a better team player-for-player this year than we did last year?  In other words, after adding Roy Williams, Barber, Okoye, Gholston, Spencer, Spaeth and this year's rookies... and subtracting Manu, Tommie Harris, Danieal Manning, Greg Olsen, Kreutz, Aromashadu, etc...  are we net positive for talent, or negative?

On paper it would appear we've improved significantly but on the field it's been a different story.  Carimi is definitely an upgrade at RT...  Spaeth is a better blocking TE than Manu...  Barber is better than Taylor (who I assume he will displace).  Other than that...

At this point in the season compared to last year we are a bit better.  Chris Willaims was our LT and Omiyale was RT.  We are much better there.  Barber is an upgrade to Taylor...so far it seems.  Bears will miss Kreutz but he might have been the reason we were 31st in the league on 3rd and 4th and 1 conversions.

I will need proof that Roy Williams/Davis/Spaeth is an upgrade to Knox/Olsen/Manu.  Not looking good right now.

Defensively, we need a healthy Wooten, but Okoye is an upgrade to Tommie Harris.  Major Wright just needs some reps.  I'd like to see Bowman back in the mix against Jennings, but I see why he's starting.

Bottom line, I think we're somewhat ahead of where we were last year at this time.  But not close to where we were at the end of the season.  But that's expected.

yapper

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Re: Today's Game
« Reply #124 on: August 23, 2011, 02:16:32 pm »
SPECIAL TEAMS - Abysmal...like last PS.   Toub will fix what can be fixed.  Not sure about the KO returns...remains to be seen if every KO will be returned.

The one thing I have to keep reminding myself of there is that Toub is down two guys (Rasheed Davis and Garrett Wolfe) who for all their positional shortcomings were aces on STs.  Plus the loss of a stud returner (Danieal Manning), and a long time punter (Maynard).  So it's probably not too much of a stretch to say that this is a rebuilding year for STs. 

Still...  STs looked really bad last night. Especially the punt team.

yapper

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Re: Today's Game
« Reply #125 on: August 23, 2011, 02:19:45 pm »
Bottom line, I think we're somewhat ahead of where we were last year at this time.  But not close to where we were at the end of the season. 

That's a fair assessment, and I concur. I think it's unrealistic to assume that the Bears team that faces the Falcons on Sept. 11 will be as good as the team that beat up the Seahawks in the playoffs -- in fact the Falcons may very well clean our clocks in the opener -- but hopefully it won't take us more than a couple games to get back to that level and then we hopefully improve from there.
« Last Edit: August 23, 2011, 02:21:44 pm by yapper »

boogie

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Re: Today's Game
« Reply #126 on: August 23, 2011, 02:42:14 pm »
And lets not forget the contribution Briggs makes on D.  He is not the superstar, but he does make a difference.

yapper

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Re: Today's Game
« Reply #127 on: August 23, 2011, 03:00:14 pm »
And lets not forget the contribution Briggs makes on D.  He is not the superstar, but he does make a difference.

He makes a huge difference. I have maintained that for the last couple of years he (not Urlacher) is the most valuable LB we have and that he is second only to Peppers in his importance to our D. 

With him, Urlacher and Peppers all out of the lineup of course a defensive letdown was to be expected... but I really expected our backup defenders to show more than they did.  There were some guys out there last night who really didn't look like they belonged in an NFL uni.
« Last Edit: August 23, 2011, 03:02:27 pm by yapper »

Sportster

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Re: Today's Game
« Reply #128 on: August 23, 2011, 03:06:17 pm »
My opinion on the whole matter is without a doubt, Angelo has to go. He cannot be near this team next season if they expect to show marked improvement on talent on this team. His drafts are just horrendous and he's dragging this team downward talentwise. We're right now relying on either FA acquisitions or old talent (Url, Briggs, Tillman, Cutler, Peppers, Barber). Last time I checked, you don't build a champion from FA acquisitions! His drafts have been so horrendous it's hard to remember if there are any impact players ON the team from recent drafts!


 In BOLD-Players having made a impact
Players no longer with team

2005 Bears Draft                                            2006 Draft                      2007 Draft
                                                                      1 Daniel Mannin               1 Greg Olsen
Cedric Benson                                          2 Devin Hester               2 Dan Bezuin
Mark Bradley                                              3 Dusty Dvoracek            3 Garrett Wolfe
3 Trade                                                          4 Jamar Williams               4 Michael Okwo
Kyle Orton                                                5 Mark Anderson            5 Josh Beekman
Airese Currie Clemson                                6 JD runnels                     6 Kevin Payne
6 S Chris Harris                                             7 Tyler Reed                     7 Corey Graham
Rod Wilson S.                                                                                    8 Trumain McBride
                                                                                                             9 Aaron Brant
2008 Draft                                      2009 Draft                             2010 Draft
1 Chris Williams                            3 Jarron Gilbert                       1 Major Wright
2 Matt Forte                                 4 Juaquin Iglesias                  2 Corey Wooten
3 Earl Bennett                              5 Henry Melton                       3 Josh Moore
4 Marcus Harrison                          6 DJ Moore                              4 Dan LeFevour
5 Craig Steltz                                7 Johnny Knox                     5 J' Marcus Webb
6 Zach Bowman                            8 Marcus Freeman       
7 Kellen Davis                              9 Al Afalava
8 Earwin Baldwin                         10 Lance Louis
                                                     11 Doug Kinder
9 Chester Adams
10 Joey LaRocque
11 Kirk Barton
12 Marcus Monk
« Last Edit: August 23, 2011, 03:50:47 pm by Sportster »

yapper

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Re: Today's Game
« Reply #129 on: August 23, 2011, 03:53:02 pm »
Thanks for the research Sportster.  That's really enlightening and a pretty big indictment of Angelo.

Those 2006 and 2007 draft classes in particular are almost total washouts at this point. Those are the (now) 4- and 5-year pro's that in a well-run organization comprise the core of the team and are in their prime, contributing at a high level.  Instead, our sum total return on those two drafts is a PR/gimmick WR (Hester) and a backup CB (Graham).

Which goes a long way to explaining why Angelo has had to open the checkbook for high-priced FAs and take flyers on other team's high-priced busts.
« Last Edit: August 23, 2011, 03:55:54 pm by yapper »

Sportster

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Re: Today's Game
« Reply #130 on: August 23, 2011, 03:58:17 pm »
Huge indictment. Angelo IS the reason this team is struggling finding talent. He is horrible at it!!

yapper

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Re: Today's Game
« Reply #131 on: August 23, 2011, 04:04:19 pm »
It would be interesting to take that research one step farther and identify not only how many of Angelo's picks are no longer on the Bears, but out of the league altogether.

It's one degree of bad to draft a bunch of players that can't make a slightly above average team (which the Bears have been for most of Angelo's tenure).  It's a whole nother level of bad to draft guys that can't make anybody's roster.  Those are guys who clearly had no business even being drafted in the first place.
« Last Edit: August 23, 2011, 04:16:26 pm by yapper »

yapper

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Re: Today's Game
« Reply #132 on: August 23, 2011, 04:11:25 pm »
Not that it should make anyone feel better, but the Giants' win last night is coming with a HUGE price tag.

Three defensive players injured last night (two CBs and their rookie 2nd round DT), and all out for the year.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/23/giants-second-round-pick-austin-likely-out-for-season/

packrat

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Re: Today's Game
« Reply #133 on: August 23, 2011, 06:54:57 pm »
Wow!

46

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Re: Today's Game
« Reply #134 on: August 23, 2011, 09:43:12 pm »
Ugh.  Maybe trying to hard to win in preseason isn't a good idea afterall.  Then again, if a team has any, I don't know DEPTH, then the impact is lessoned isn't it? I sometimes feel like the Bears are like those old hollywood back sets, just fronts. Nothing in the back after you get past the front.