Possession by Possession Analysis of the Bears-Eagles Game

After missing the play-by-play analysis of last week’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, BlitzedoffmyPass is back to cover the Bears-Eagles game. Thoughts on the Vikings loss last week will be coming; there hasn’t been enough time in my life to recap that game.

In simple terms, Adrian Peterson ran all over the Bears defense, which had its worst effort of the season. The offense showed signs of life way too late in the game, but Devin Hester is truly amazing. Too bad he’s on a team that can’t put it together in all three phases of the game.

What can we expect from today’s game in Philadelphia? Who knows? Both teams are pretty bad, and this game could be a grind fest. It’s hard to pick a winner in this game as both teams are on the decline. A win for either the Eagles or Bears will keep modest playoff hopes alive, but both teams will be fishing after Week 17. Philadelphia takes this game 17-13 in a game rough on the eyes. Chicago’s playoff aspirations officially die this afternoon as the Bears officially become yet another Super Bowl loser to disappoint the following season.

First Quarter:

Philly is always a tough place to play on the road. So even though this version of the Eagles is nothing special, the Bears will have to earn it today. Robbie Gould to kick off to the Eagles, Correll Buckhalter back deep. Buckhalter returns to the 24-yard-line.

Eagles: Donovan McNabb has never lost to the Bears. Remember what he did to the Bears in the 2001 playoffs? Brian Westbrook rattles off nine yards on first down. Channeling Adrian Peterson. Westbrook picks up six yards on second down for an Eagles first down. Archuleta, a disappointment this year, got blocked out of that play. McNabb in gun on first and ten and his pass is off the hands of wideout Hank Baskett. McNabb fakes the pitch and hits Matt Schobel on second down for nine yards. However, a hold will negate the play and make it second and 20 from the Philadelphia 28 yard line. McNabb in gun and hits Kevin Curtis for 11 yards, setting up a third and nine. McNabb’s pass is off Kevin Curtis’ hands and nearly intercepted by Danieal Manning, who’s also stunk up the joint lately. Devin Hester waiting and the Eagles kick the ball out of bounds. Chicago will begin at 42-yard line.

Analysis: Not an Andy Reid fan but at least he’s got the common sense to not kick the ball to Hester. This game has the feel of a real snoozer.

Bears: Griese tied a career high with three touchdown passes last week. Tom Brady had six touchdowns today and five last week. Cedric Benson runs on first down for two yards. Benson runs for about three yards on second down, setting up a third and a long five. Ron Turner comes out conservative yet again…Griese in gun and dumps a two-yard pass to Desmond Clark. Yawn. Brad Maynard in to punt and and sends the ball into the end zone.

Analysis: Here’s the best way to describe the Chicago Bears offense under Ron Turner this season: vertically-challenged. Here’s the new theme for the Bears offense — Setting the game back 70 years.

Eagles: Does anyone else wish that Fox would switch to the Cowboys-Vikings game? Ten-yard penalty on punt against Philadelphia’s Reno Mahe for signaling fair catch and then blocking a Bears player. First and 10 from five-yard line. Westbrook runs for eight yards, tackle by Hunter Hillenmeyer. Brian Urlacher once again blocked out of a play. This Bears’ defense looks uninspired. Urlacher stuffs Westbrook on second down but goes for strip, allowing Philadelphia back to fall forward for first down. First and 10 from 15 — Westbrook loses a couple of yards on first down run. Bears finally get pressure. McNabb hits Jason Avant for eight yards on second and 11. McNabb hits Reggie Brown for 21 yards. Nice hit by Archuleta. It looks like that ball hit the ground, but Eagles hurry up and get play off — Westbrook run for two yards on first down. 2nd and 8 from 45 — Bears had Westbrook wrapped up in the backfield, but he avoided Tommie Harris and got seven yards. Third and one — McNabb flips it to Brian Westbrook for six yards after fake quarterback sneak. First and 10 from Bears 43 — McNabb hits Reggie Brown for seven yards. Eagles are going after rookie cornerback Trumaine McBride from Ole Miss. Second and two — Mark Anderson stops Buckhalter for a loss of one. Anderson was very ineffective last week against the Vikings. Third and three — McNabb fakes pitch and then hands to Buckhalter on a draw, who runs for 15 yards to the Bears 20. This Bears defense is looking awful. McNabb hits Kevin Curtis for 11 yards for a first and goal at the Bears nine-yard line. Westbrook is wrapped up for a loss of four yards. Nice initial pressure from Urlacher with Archuleta and a swarm of Bears finishing up on the play. 2nd and Goal from 14 — McNabb hits Avant for seven yards. Urlacher destroys Avant on the play. 3rd and Goal just outside the six — McNabb’s pass is dropped by Reggie Brown at the goal line. Should have been a touchdown there. David Akers from 24 yards is good. Philadelphia 3, Chicago 0.

Analysis: Eagles ineptitude inside the red zone shows up again. Bears defense simply does not look too hot. Urlacher woke up a bit on that drive. Chicago kind of seems like it’s going through the motions on some plays. This is not a very confident football team. Time for Ron Turner and the boys to put us all to sleep.

Bears: Akers short kick is fielded by the Bears Adrian Peterson, who is hit immediately. TV timeout. First and 10 from 27 — Griese’s pass to Bernard Berrian is broken up by Lito Sheppard. Cedric Benson rattles off a tough, nine-yard run on second down. Was that the offensive line opening up a hole for a Bears running back? Third and 1 — Benson runs for four yards and a first down to end the first quarter.

First Quarter Analysis: Same old Bears. Only six plays on offense. How many times has that happened this season under Turner’s guidance? A depleted and ineffective defense on the field for too long. Should be down more but aren’t. This is just bad football. The Bears have lost any swagger that they once had last year.

Bears: First and 10 from 41 — Griese pitch to Benson for a yard. Holding on John Tait on the play will bring the Bears ten yards back. First and 20 from 31 — Griese strikes Greg Olsen to the Eagles 50. However, Olsen fumbles the ball, and the Eagles recover inside Bears territory.

Analysis: Lovie’s teams are about creating turnovers. The Bears have turned the ball over way too much this season while not creating enough turnovers. Complacent Bears defense (Urlacher’s words, not mine) set to take the field yet again after offense puts them in terrible position. The Bears are a dead team walking at this point.

Bears are challenging the previous play and should win it. Olsen’s knee looked down. TV timeout. Fox should have scrolled “To Be Continued…” at the bottom of the screen to at least build some sense of suspense in this bore of a football game. Here’s guessing that this game won’t make NFL Network’s NFL Replay this week. Bears get the ball back as the play is overturned. Olsen has some talent. Could you imagine if he had a quarterback, running back and offensive coordinator?

Bears: First and 10 from Philadelphia 48 — Benson run for seven yards. Benson actually looks aggressive today, running downhill instead of shaking and baking. Can he maintain it for four quarters though? Benson gains a yard on second-down pitch, setting up third and one for the Bears. Benson falls forward for two yards and a first down. Benson runs for a few yards to the Eagles 35 yard line, setting up a second and eight. Devin Hester in the game — Griese play-action pass to Hester in the end zone is knocked down by Sheldon Brown. The play was there. Griese should have thrown a bit earlier. Good call by Turner, for once. Third and eight — Griese hits Desmond Clark for eight yards and a first down at the 27. Benson runs for two yards on first down. Chicago is at least swinging the time of possession game on this drive. Second and 7 — Griese hits Clark for three yard gain. Third and four from 21 — Griese takes timeout as Eagles show blitz. The Bears had three receivers bunched to the long side of the field. An interesting look to say the least (maybe a slant play on that call). Chicago needs to punch it in on this drive, obviously beginning with a third down conversion, something that has been few and far between this year. Third and four — Griese in gun, pass to Muhsin Muhammad is tipped and nearly intercepted. Robbie Gould from 39 yards — the kick is no good. Eagles 3, Bears 0.

Analysis: Reliable Robbie with a surprise miss. Long drive results in nothing. This is quickly becoming a long season resulting in nothing for the Bears.

Eagles: First and ten from Philly 29 — End-around to Reggie Brown for 12 yards. TruMaine McBride overcommitted and had a break down of fundamentals. He could have stopped Brown but was off-balance. Westbrook run for three yards. Tackle by Anthony Adams (who’s played hard the last two weeks) and Urlacher. Second and 7 — McNabb slant pass to Westbrook for a first down at the Chicago 48. Who got burned again? Adam Archuleta, one of Lovie’s boy toys from St. Louis. Lovie is getting burned by his guys this season, Archuleta, Benson and Babich (the last couple of weeks). McNabb hits Avant for eight yards to Bears 40. Urlacher wraps up Buckhalter for a loss of a yard on second down. Third and three — McNabb in gun and hits Curtis for eight yards. Simple dump off in the middle of the field. Chicago blitz couldn’t get to McNabb, who fires a first-down slant to Curtis for 12-yards. Charles Tillman overcommitted on that play, allowing Curtis to bring the ball back outside. First and 10 from Bears 22 — Play-action fake, McNabb overthrows Schobel. That’s a bad throw by McNabb. Second and 10 — Westbrook breaks tackle attempt by Lance Briggs and rattles off eight yards. Briggs is playing today. Haven’t heard his name all game? He’s been not much of a factor the last six quarters. 3rd and 2 — McNabb is hit from behind by Adewale Ogunleye, who beat Jon Runyan. Akers from 33 yards, the kick is up and good. Eagles 6, Bears 0.

Analysis: Bears bend but don’t break. Eagles stall again in the red zone. Chicago should be down 14-0 or 14-3 here, but Eagles own offensive problems keeping Bears alive for the time-being. It’s time for Chicago’s offense to get in the end zone. Eagles winning time-of-possession game.
Bears: Akers squib returned by Rashied Davis to Chicago 26. Eagles not letting Hester be a factor on special teams. First and 10 from 26 — Griese hits Muhammad for 44 yards. First catch by a receiver today (that’s just sad) makes it first and 10 from Philly 30. Benson runs for two yards on first down. Griese avoids pressure and hits Greg Olsen for nine yards. Nice job by Griese as Brown was blitzing and had a hand on him. First and 10 from 19 — Hester in the game and Benson runs for nothing. Two minute warning here. Can the Bears score a touchdown here and take a 7-6 lead at the break despite doing very little in the first half? Second and 10 from 19 — Griese hangs the pass to Olsen…lucky that the pass wasn’t intercepted. Another third and long likely means a Gould field goal. Griese in shotgun and a false start on Chicago’s Ruben Brown. Now Turner will surely play for a field goal. Bears look confused and Griese calls a timeout right before Fred Miller’s false start. Yikes. Third and 15 from 25 — Griese in gun and hits Muhammad for about 12 yards. Here comes Robbie Gould for a 31 yard field goal. The kick is good. Eagles 6, Bears 3.

Analysis: Chicago’s offense, like Philly, sustaining drives but unable to do anything once getting in the red zone.

Eagles: Buckhalter returns the ball from the six to the 26 with 1:39 remaining. McNabb in gun and throws low to Brian Westbrook out of the backfield. Second and 10 — McNabb in gun and scrambles for nine yards before running out of bounds. 1:26 remaining. Third and 1 from 37 — Tony Hunt stuffed at the line of scrimmage but got the first down. Eagles take a timeout. 1:20 to go. Westbrook 14-yard run to Philadelphia 50. Eagles take another timeout with 1:13 to go. McNabb hits Hank Baskett to the 25-yard line. McNabb dumps to Westbrook with the clock running after six-yard gain. McNabb pump-fake is thrown out of bounds with 30 seconds left. Third and four from Chicago 19 — McNabb overthrows Matt Schobel in the end zone. Another bad throw by McNabb. Danieal Manning lucky not to get a penalty for going to the head on that play. Akers hits a 37-yard field goal. Eagles 9, Bears 3.

Analysis: Can any of these teams score inside the opponent’s 20? Nope. Chicago will bank on being able to do so on the first drive of second half.

Bears: Akers pooch goes out of bounds. First and 10 from 40 yard line. Chicago needs to take a chance here with 22 seconds and one timeout left. Griese in gun…and is nearly picked off. Trent Cole hit Griese while throwing the ball. Griese dump pass to Rashied Davis stops the clock with 10 seconds left. A gain of a whopping two yards on the play. Third and seven — Adrian Peterson run and the Bears will go into the half. Eagles 9, Bears 3.

Halftime Analysis: Brian Baldinger hits it on the head and reveals problem with Bears philosophy. Chicago thinks it can win these 13-10 games with an offense that doesn’t take any chances down the field. If the Eagles could do anything in the Bears red zone, Chicago would be down double digits. This falls on Lovie, who continues to sit on the sidelines and let his team hang in but never goes for the win. Chicago plays not to lose rather than playing to win, and it’s a joke to watch. Chicago may still win this game as the Eagles are almost as inept as them…but in the long run, the Bears lose these types of games every time against better opponents because it is unrealistic to expect the defense to bend but not break for four quarters. These expectations are being placed on a Bears defense that is frankly not that good right now. When does the coaching staff change this philosophy. Under Lovie, never. Lovie Smith is another Dick Jauron, who is overwhelmed on the sidelines and not smart enough to notice themes with his team and how they apply in the future.

Third Quarter

Bears: Pooch to Rashied Davis, who falls forward past the Chicago 35. First and 10 from 36 — Griese play-action to Greg Olsen for ten yards and a first down. First and 10 from 47 — Benson run for a yard. Griese slant to Muhammad for six yards. Creates a third and four. Griese in gun… and is sacked by Trent Cole as defensive coordinator Jimmie Johnson brings the blitz. Defensive holding on the play gives the Bears a first down. Bad call there. William James did not hold Berrian, just got his arms into him. First and 10 from 43 — Griese’s bomb to Bradley is incomplete. Close to pass interference but refs don’t call it. A makeup for last play. Benson run for five yards as Turner just loves to put the Bears in third downs. Third and five from 39 — Griese avoids sack and hits Adrian Peterson for 18 yards to the Eagles 21. Jason McKie fullback blast for five yards on first down. Second and five — Peterson run for four yards. Third and one — playaction would be a gutsy call. False start on Roberto Garza on play. Nice job by the Bears. Third and one turns into third and six. Griese under center, this can’t be good. Griese quick drop, hits Bernard Berrian for ten yards and a first and goal from the six. Peterson run for three yards but a flag on the play. Philadelphia with 12 men on the defense. That’s pretty sad, boys. First and gaol from three yard line — Griese fade to Greg Olsen is knocked down by Sheldon Brown. That ball should have been picked. Bad throw by Griese. Second and goal– Griese play-action pass to McKie to the one-yard line. Third and goal from the one — Griese fumbles the snap. This team is just sad. Gould field goal attempt from 22-yard line is good. Eagles 9, Bears 6.

Analysis: A comedy of errors. Bears get break on questionable defensive holding call and can’t even get the snap from the one yard line. Chicago’s offense is beyond embarrassing. These are professional players out there? Turner is a clod. First and goal from the three and he wants to be aggressive and pass after playing it close to the vest the entire game. Pound the ball up the gut three times and get into the damn end zone, you moron. Bears have a 13-play drive (eating up half of the quarter) end up with just a field goal. For shame.

Eagles: Buckhalter returns to Philly 30. TV timeout. Westbrook runs for five yards on first down. McNabb play-action pass to Westbrook, who simply splits two Bears defenders and falls forward for a gain of six and another first down. First and 10 from 41 — Dump off pass to Buckhalter for ten yards and a first down. McNabb dumps to Westbrook for seven yards. Briggs with first tackle in the game. This game is a flashback to the 1920s. Ugly, ugly football. Second and three — McNabb’s pass to Thomas Tupee is broken up by Urlacher. Third and three from 41 — McNabb in gun and pass to Avant is broken up. Punt on its way. Sam Rocca punt goes into the end zone and the Philly boo birds justifiably come out.
Analysis: Eagles are as conservative as the Bears on offense. Now I know why I don’t like Andy Reid. He sucks like Turner. The Bears may actually win this game because of Philly’s sissiness. However, don’t take stock in a Bears win today (if it happens). This team sucks right now and is not going to make the playoffs. Chicago may very well finish last in the NFC North.

Bears: Benson run for four yards. Griese hits Greg Olsen for seven yards and a first down. First and 10 from 32 — Griese hits Berrian for 24 yards. Now stay aggressive dammit. Nope. Turner is such a moron that he goes back to Benson for a loss of two yards, setting up a second and 12 and likely a third and long. Turner should be fired right now. The guy is a complete wimp as a coordinator. Griese hits Berrian for a whopping three yards. Is anybody else sick of this garbage offense? The opportunities are there. Take chances down the field. Hester in the game, Griese in gun, Muhammad calls a timeout as Hester didn’t know where he was supposed to be on the play. This offense is not worth getting mad about anymore; it’s so funny that this unit can be so inept and that Turner can still have a job. Third and 7 from Philly 41 — Griese in gun and the Bears throw a bubble screen pass to Hester for 11 yards and a first down. Nice block by Muhammad. That’s all Hester in open field. First and 10 from 30 — Griese hits Peterson for six yards. Nice checkoff by Griese. That’s when you checkoff, when you have to. Benson runs for a yard on second and four. Chicago has 52 yards rushing on 19 carries. That will be the end of the third quarter. Eagles 9, Bears 6.

Analysis: OK, Bears. This is the ballgame here. You are dominating but stalling on offense. Forget about the running game and start throwing the ball over the field. If Chicago plays for a field goal here, Lovie and crew should have to walk back from Philly to Chicago.

Fourth Quarter:

Bears: Griese overthrows Berrian, who stopped his route. Chicago not on the same page seven weeks into the season. Robbie Gould from 41 yards. and the Bears are confused again, taking another timeout. Chicago has one timeout left now. This team is not focused. As said earlier, this looks like a team going through the motions. To be honest, the Bears know they’re done this season. Too bad Chicago has nine games remaining after this one! Back from TV break. Gould field goal from 41 is down the pipe and good. Bears 9, Eagles 9.

Analysis: Chicago with yet another long drive resulting in just a field goal. The Bears are lucky that Andy Reid is as inept of an offensive coordinator as Turner. If Chicago was playing any team that could score, it would be done in this game.

Eagles: Return to own 26. Yet another timeout. The Bears have allowed 71 points in the fourth quarter; the most of any team in the league this season. Tommie Harris sacks McNabb on first down for a loss of eight. Westbrook run for six yards, sets up a third and 12. McNabb in gun and is sacked by Tommie Harris again. Eagles kick out of bounds again. Eagles fans are booing, but that’s a smart decision with Hester on the field.

Analysis: Welcome back Tommie Harris after doing nothing last week. In Harris’ defense, this guy should not be on the field with his injuries. Chicago with the ball at the 50. Anything less than a field goal is unacceptable. It’s time to get into the end zone here. Turner should try a bomb to Berrian on first down.

Bears: What the hell was that. Ball gets snapped past Griese. The play is ruled a false start. Oh, you Bears. Always thinking of new ways to screw up things. First and 15 from Chicago 45 — Adrian Peterson run for nine yards. Griese screen pass to Cedric Benson, who takes the ball inside the Eagles 30. First and ten from 27 — Benson runs for four yards. Second and short seven from 24 — Griese hits Greg Olsen to the 10-yard line. Pass interference on Olsen on the play. Bring the play back ten yards. Second and 17 from 34 — now Chicago needs to pick up yards for a doable Gould field goal. Griese in gun and hands off to Peterson for four yards. Hester in on third down. Third and 13 — four wideout set, Griese hits Muhammad for about three yards, setting up a Robbie Gould field goal. Gould’s field goal attempt from 45 yards hits the upright and is good. Bears 12, Eagles 9.

Analysis: Call it whatever you want…ugly, fugly, pug fugly, puckin fugly, but it counts. Unfortunately, for the Bears, even a win in this game won’t mean much in the long run. This team is on a road to nowhere.

Eagles: 9:21 remaining. Buckhalter return to the Eagles 26. Brendan Ayanbadejo with the tackle. Westbrook swarmed for a run of one yard on first down. Second and 10 — McNabb to Westbrook on a screen for six yards. Third and four from 32 — McNabb’s pass is caught by Kevin Curtis at the Bears 45. Nice scrambling by McNabb. McNabb checkslow and the pass is dropped by Thomas Tapeh. Second and 10 — McNabb pass to Curtis is incomplete, pass interference on Tillman. First and ten from Chicago 39 — McNabb hits Reggie Brown to the Chicago 24, with Urlacher throwing Brown hard to the ground. However, the Eagles are moving. Westbrook run for two yards. Urlacher with a touchdown-saving tackle? Urlacher has had a very nice game after a slow start. Where’s Briggs? Second and seven from Chicago 21 — McNabb hits rookie tight end Seleck for eight yards and a first down. First and ten from Chicago 14 — McNabb hits Schobel for a touchdown. Akers PAT is good. Eagles 16, Bears 12

Analysis: Eagles finally get away from conservatism and get the Bears off-balance. All you can say is “Ha Ha” to the Bears offense. When you’re defense holds a team to nine points through three quarters and you just play for field goals on offense, you deserve to lose. Chicago doesn’t deserve this game.

Bears: Eagles kick to short man. Davis return to Chicago 40. First and ten with 4:50 remaining. Griese is nearly intercepted on first down. That’s what happens Ron Turner when you don’t throw down field all game and then have to because of your conservative nature. Second and 10 — Chicago pitch to Benson for two yards. Holding on Olin Kreutz on the play. Wow. Ron Turner. You are a dog with your play calling. Second and 20 from the 30 — Griese hammers the ball to Berrian, who drops another one. Chicago needs to let this guy walk after the season. He’s been abysmal in a contract season. Third and 20 — Griese is sacked. Maynard in to punt. Mahe taken down at Philadelphia 42.

Analysis: Chicago’s hard-headed coaching staff probably still can’t see the errors of their conservative ways. This game was there for the taking. Bears refused to do so and will now lose.

Eagles: McNabb under center and hands to Westbrook for a yard. Lovie Smith looks confused on the sidelines. Oh Lovie, how you’ve blown it this year! McNabb’s pass to Reggie Brown is off the receiver’s hands. Third and eight with 3:17 remaining: McNabb in gun and runs for a first down. For all of McNabb’s alleged flaws, he still is mobile enough to make that type of play. Beautiful footwork on the sidelines. First and ten from Chicago 47 — McNabb is sacked by Archuleta at the 50. Second and 13 — Westbrook run for five yards. Bears use final timeout with 2:30 remaining. Philly seals this game with a first down. Eagles now call a timeout. Third and eight from 45 — McNabb handoff to Westbrook who breaks a tackle and gets first down. However, a hold on Philadelphia brings the play back. Third and 17 from Philly 46 with 2:24 remaining. McNabb swings it to Westbrook for a gain of a couple of yards. Two minute warning. Philly to punt. Sav Rocca punts the ball to the six yard line. Griese essentially must be John Elway here with 1:53 and no timeouts. No chance.

Analysis: This should be interesting. When do the Bears turn the ball over here? Right away or after a few plays? Give me a hell yeah if you’re smelling a Griese interception. How much money does Turner work the middle of the field?

Bears:  Make the ball on the three yard line now after a conference by the officials. Griese to Clark for eleven yards and he gets out of bounds. Griese in gun and throws to Peterson over the middle. Thankfully, he drops the pass as that would have gone for about three yards and ran off a lot of time. Griese to Peterson over the middle for a first down. Griese hits Hester in bounds to the Chicago 32. 1:08 remaining. Griese goes deep and incomplete to Muhammad. 1:01 left. Second and ten for Chicago — Griese’s pass to Peterson is incomplete. Holding on Chicago and Philadelphia. Penalties offset and second down will repeat. Second and 10 from 31 yard line — Griese hits Desmond Clark out of bounds at the 39. Got to love this short crap. Third and three with 49 seconds remaining. Griese to Berrian to the Eagles 35 with 31 seconds left. Got to get a field goal here (just joking). No need for Eagles fans to be apprehensive. Chicago can’t punch it in. Griese to Hester at the 15. Chicago needs to spike the ball and do with 15 seconds left. Griese to Muhammad for a touchdown. Wow. Nice throw by Griese. Nine seconds remaining. Gould makes the PAT. Bears 19, Eagles 16.

Analysis: See what happens when you throw the ball downfield, Ron Turner (who’s still a bum). Stop being so conservative from now on. Your season has been saved for a week.

Eagles: Return to the 35-yard line with four seconds left. McNabb in gun, watch hook and ladders. McNabb’s pass to Brown is underthrown. Game over. Bears 19, Eagles 16.

Final Analysis: Bears are lucky and not good. This team survives for another week but are being put behind the eight ball by overall conservatism of Smith and Turner. Against a good team today, the Bears lose by double digits.

Griese with a nice job on that last drive. Turner needs to open up the offense and forget the running game. Benson can’t do anything and the line is really in shambles. A nice win for the moment, but the Bears are in trouble unless Turner and Smith let the offense play rather than handcuffing them all game.

Possession by Possession Analysis of the Bears-Packers Game

First Quarter

Green Bay to receive. Gould kicks to Trammon Williams, who is wrapped up at the 28-yard-line by Adrian Peterson, who is a much better special teams player than a second-team running back. Holding on Green Bay during the return.

Packers: 242 straight starts for Favre. Rookie DeShawn Wynn with a 12-yard run on first down. Green Bay has no rushing attack thus far this year and will need more balance to be a Super Bowl contender. Favre hits Donald Driver for seven yards on a slant on first down. 2nd and 3 from Green Bay 36 — Favre play action, hits Greg Jennings for a first down. Green Bay attacking Peanut Tillman on the pass. Tillman missed last week’s game against Detroit. First and 10 Green Bay from own 48 — DeShawn Wynn 44-yard run to Chicago 10-yard line. 1st and Goal — Wynn run for a yard. 2nd and Goal — Favre time? 423? Favre in shotgun, hands off to Morency, who brings it to the 2-yard line. Tackle by Lance Briggs. Big third and goal here — play action? Nope DeShawn Wynn over the top for a touchdown. Crosby kick is good. Packers 7, Bears 0.

Analysis: That’s all on the Bears front four that drive. They got destroyed off the line, making Wynn look like he’s Walter Payton, who broke the NFL’s All-Time rushing record 23 years ago today. About as bad of a start that the Bears could have imagined. Running game will open up passing game even more for Favre. Let’s see if the offense can pick up a first down here. Not likely. Green Bay with 64 rushing yards on first drive…10 more yards than season average.

Bears: Green Bay short kicks to Israel Idonije, who is hit at the 30-yard line. Glad to see that one team has figured it out: don’t kick to Devin Hester. He’s all Chicago has. T.V. timeout. Griese pass to Desmond Clark for minus-one yard. Note to the Bears. You’re supposed to move forward. Benson run for four yards on second down before getting swallowed up. 3rd and 6 — Chicago has been brutal on third downs all year long. Hester in the game. Griese’s pass is knocked down at the line. Maynard punt to Charles Woodson, who returns for nine yards to Packers 22.

Analysis: 3 plays, 3 yards does not equal touchdown football. Looks like my 17-12 prediction may get blown out of the water. Just a sad offense, in the simplest of terms. Looking at the positive, at least Chicago did not turn the ball over…yet.

Packers: Favre’s pass to Driver is underthrown. Nice pressure from defensive line and coverage by Tillman. 2nd and 10 — Typical Favre, fake jump pass. Morency run for four yards, Tommie Harris with the tackle. 3rd and 6 — Favre in gun, hits James Jones for a 23-yard gain and first down. No blitz from Chicago. The Bears need to pressure Favre or get picked apart. 1st and 10 from 48 — Morency run for two yards. Wynn out momentarily with cramping in his left leg. It is tiring running all over the Bears (and watching the Bears get run over). Favre hits Ruvell Martin for a gain of 17 yards. 1st and 10 from 33 — Favre is sacked by Harris. 2nd and 14 — Favre fires to Donald Driver for ten yards. 3rd and 4 from Chicago 24 — Favre in gun and fires to Donald Lee for six yards and a first down. Chicago bringing no pressure. 1st and 10 from 19 — Favre hist Jones on a 11-yard slant, who fumbles the ball. Ricky Manning Jr. with the recovery. Tillman with the strip. Green Bay will challenge. This play should not be overturned. TV timeout.

Analysis: Big turnover saves embarrassing effort by Chicago defense thus far? We shall see after the break. The ruling on the play stands. Chicago saved for at least the moment.

Bears: 1st and 10 from 16 — Benson big run for…two yards. In his defense, no blocking. 2nd and 8 — Benson run for two yards. Offensive line once again doing nothing. 3rd and 6 from the 20 — Griese in shotgun and hits Benson for five yards. Fourth and 1 from 25 — Chicago to punt. Woodson minimal return deep in Green Bay territory. Brendan Ayanbadejo with another tackle. At least one guy on Chicago remembers how to play football.

Analysis: Six plays, not one first down for the Bears offense. How does Ron Turner still have a job? Bears really take advantage of forced turnover with yet another miserable drive. Chicago’s defense looks bad tonight and will be on the field once again. Add that with a stagnant offense and there’s a formula for a blowout.

Packers: 1st and 10 from 24 — Darwin Walker out. Tommie Harris with a tackle of Morency on a two-yard run on first down. Harris is not fully healthy and yet playing the best of anyone on defense. Favre slant to Donald Driver for 26 yards. A whole lot of missed tackles on that play, beginning with D. Manning and Adam Archuleta. 1st and 10 from Chicago 48 — Favre slant to Jones, who fumbles once again. The Bears recover. Tillman punched it out again. Archuleta recovery.

Analysis: Even though the Bears suck, rookie James Jones needs to realize that Chicago likes to strip the ball. That’s Lovie’s philosophy. Bears surviving on forced turnovers. This game could be much worse but will still be a blowout. Chicago’s offense revving up for another three-and-out. TV timeout.

Bears: Packers with 189 yards, Chicago with 12. That’s just embarrassing. Benson run for a yard on first down. 2nd and 9 from Bears 39 — Griese’s bomb is way overthrown to Bernard Berrian, who didn’t even have the opportunity to drop that pass. Griese actually had decent pass protection. Stop the presses. The offensive line blocked on a play. 3rd and 9 –Griese hits Rashied Davis for eight yards. 4th and 1 from 48 — Chicago needs to go for it. It’s time for Lovie to take a chance. Measurement will be way short. More time for Lovie to punt the ball. Go for it. Nope. Lovie’s content with losing this game. Watch for a crappy fake here. Maynard punts into the end zone.

Analysis: Nine plays, not one first down. Maybe the Bears do need an offensive consultant?

Packers: Morency stuffed on first down by Mark Anderson. End of first quarter. Packers 7, Bears 0.

Analysis: Green Bay dominates and should be up anywhere from 14 to 17-0 but only lead by a touchdown due to turnovers. Will Packer’s youth on offense eventually be its downfall? Most likely yes. Chicago’s defense follows up bad fourth quarter performance against Detroit with nearly as bad of a one in the first quarter tonight. Chicago’s offense still MIA. Pretty sad all around.

Second Quarter:

Packers: Morency run for a yard. 3rd and 7 from 22 — Favre in gun and hits Morency for about five yards. Chicago defense finally with a stop. Briggs with the tackle. Haven’t heard Urlacher’s name all night. John Ryan punts to the Chicago 10, Devin Hester returns to 27 after 61-yard punt. Flag on the play. Illegal block in the back on Jamar Williams.

Analysis: Chicago’s run defense finally stiffens on this drive. Still the Bears defense has been on the field way too long. That doesn’t bode well for the second half.

Bears: First and 10 from 18 — Griese nine-yard pass to Greg Olsen. Do you smell a first down? Benson runs for three yards and a first down. It only took 17 minutes. Back to the Olsen play, it’s about time Chicago gets this kid the ball. Now what about Desmond Clark. 1st and 10 from 30 — Benson runs for three yards. 2nd and 7 — Griese, under pressure, throws incomplete to Benson. 3rd and7 — Special teams tying their shoes and getting ready. Griese in gun. Holy cow. Griese hits Adrian Peterson out of the backfield for 30 yards. Nice block by Devin Hester. 1st and 10 from GB 36 — finally a creative play call. Reverse to Hester for six yards. 2nd and 4 — Griese to Jason McKie for a first down. Finally some rhythm for the Bears anemic offense. Griese the Game Manager playing dink and dunk game. Griese pass to Greg Olsen is incomplete and out of bounds. At least, Chicago is throwing to him. 2nd and 10 from 25 — Benson run for four yards. 3rd and 6 — Can the Bears keep the drive going or will they settle for yet another field goal (granted that they don’t turn the ball over). 3rd and 6 — very conservative, garbage call by Ron Turner. Peterson draw for two yards. Gould field goal attempt from 36 yards is good. Packers 7, Bears 3. However, a penalty on the play. Looks like it will be against Green Bay. Illegal formation gives the Bears a first down and wipes off field goal. Just like Detroit last week, Green Bay lined up under center. Can the Bears punch it into the end zone now? Benson run to the 10- yard line on first down. 2nd and 6 — holy cow. Cedric Benson ten-yard touchdown run. Bears with an 82-yard scoring drive. Gould PAT is good. Bears 7, Packers 7.

Analysis: Finally, an offensive touchdown off of a long drive. Benson finally running like a man, at least on that play. Chicago lucky to be tied due to turnovers and a generous call by the officials on the Gould field goal. Beggars can’t be choosers at this point. Slightly less than eight minutes to go in the half.

Packers: Williams return to Green Bay 25. TV timeout. Favre will need to get Green Bay offense back in gear after two turnovers and a three-and-out stagnated early momentum. Favre from 26 –Morency run for eleven yards to Green Bay 37. Walker limping off the field again. Injury bug has really taken a toll on Chicago defense this year. 1st and 10 — Morency run for 15 yards. Once again, the Chicago defense getting blown off line of scrimmage. Madden asks “Where’s Brian Urlacher?” Getting taken out of the play by a block once again. Urlacher can not disengage from blocks. No one points this out about Urlacher, who is having a relatively quiet season thus far. First and 10 — Favre to Jennings for two yards. 2nd and 8 from 48 — Green Bay takes a timeout. Favre screen to Morency for five yards. Nice pursuit by Briggs. 3rd and 3 from 43 — Favre in gun, fires deep and hits Greg Jennings for a touchdown. D. Manning got burned on that play, bringing back memories of Reggie Wayne in the Super Bowl. Crosby PAT is good. Packers 14, Bears 7.

Analysis: Chicago’s defense fails to respond after rare offensive touchdown. Packers surprising running game gets momentum back and lets Favre go to work with the deep ball. Bears defense has looked terrible tonight.

Bears: Packers squib kick to John Gilmore. Bears first down in good field position. Griese hits Muhammad for a first down. Facemask by Al Harris at the end of the play. First and 10 from Green Bay 43 — Benson with a very nice run for 11 yards. 10 rushes for 41 yards. Finally, some running downhill from Benson. 1st and 10 — False start on Ruben Brown. 1st and 15 from 37. Benson is hammered on a terrible call. Yet another draw. Blitzing Packers results in a loss of five. What is Turner thinking? 2nd and 20 from 42 — Griese trying to go down field to Berrian, pass is once again overthrown. Play never had a chance. Charles Woodson blanketed Berrian. 3rd and 20 — another Turner draw (just joking); nope, but he does call a halfback drop pass for two yards. Pathetic. Turner is a joke. 4th and 18 — Woodson fair catch at 15 with 2:09 go to.

Analysis: Favre and Packers can put this game away with a touchdown in two-minute drill. Chicago offense has momentum and then shoots itself in foot with penalty and poor play calling.

Packers: Morency run to the 18-yard line. Urlacher finally with a tackle. Two minute warning. Favre will come out slinging on slants. Chicago needs to jump Favre’s passes here…this could be a prime opportunity for an INT and touchdown. Fate of the game rests on these final two minutes. Packers score means ballgame. Bears stop gives Chicago little, but at least, some hope. 2nd and 7 — Favre fake to Morency, throws a scary pass to Driver for eight yards. Penalty on the play. Offensive pass interference on Driver. 10-yard penalty. Green Bay should be conservative and not let Favre make a mistake. 2nd and 16 from 8 — Favre is 13 for 14 tonight. Morency run for about eight yards and stupidly runs out of bounds. Holding on Chicago on the play, gives Green Bay a first down. First bad play of the year by special teams stalwart, Israel Idonije. 1st and 10 from 14 — Favre to Morency to the 30-yard line. Poor tackling by Chicago. Clock running. Favre to Morency for five yards. Briggs with the tackle. Green Bay with only one timeout. Clock running. 1 minute left. 2nd and 6 from 35 — Favre to Ryan Grant to the 43-yard line and a first down. Favre spikes the ball with 32 seconds left. Green Bay playing for a field goal here. Flags on the field. Chicago with too many men on the field. Add five yards to 47 yard line of Green Bay. Chicago knows how to shoot itself in the foot. The Bears have been undisciplined this season (in addition to stupid and embarrassing on offense). Play reviewed up-stairs. You’ve got to hate replay sometimes. Chicago only had 11 guys on the field. Will go back to 2nd and 10 from Green Bay 42 — 32 seconds still remain, halftime can’t get here fast enough for Chicago, Favre in gun, refs stop the game to put 15 seconds on the play clock. Favre to Morency for three yards, who gets out-of-bounds with 27 seconds left. Green Bay needs to go down the middle for 20 yards and use a timeout. Favre avoids the sack and hits Greg Jennings at the 26-yard line. Green Bay uses timeout. Favre upset, he wanted to spike the ball. 18 seconds left. Favre in gun and hits Bubba Franks at the 20. Clock running. Favre spikes the ball at the 20. Crosby field goal attempt from 37 yards is nearly blocked by Urlacher but good. One second left. Green Bay has 341 yards in the first half. Packers 17, Bears 7.

Bears: Packers squib kick is recovered by Chicago. Halftime. Packers 17, Bears 7.

Analysis: Chicago lucky to only be down 10 in this game and are yet still done. Chicago is not a come-from-behind team. Worst effort by the defense in the first half this season. 341 yards for Green Bay. Bears defense has been bad from the get-go. Offense has gotten some rhythm and is now expected to get the team back in the game, beginning on first drive of half. Not likely, especially considering that Green Bay is wisely not letting Hester touch the ball. Chicago will need a defensive touchdown to win this game. It’s not going to happen. The Packers have left of opportunities on the field and yet will survive against a sad Bears team. However, Green Bay won’t win like this in the playoffs. Favre is still amazing though. He is 19 of 22 for 239 yards, numbers that would be a wet dream in three games for Bears quarterbacks.

Third Quarter

Chicago to receive. Biggest half of the Bears season rests on offense doing something and defense waking up. Squib kick to Idonije, who is down at the 36 yard line.

Bears: Benson run for two yards on slow developing play. 2nd and 8 — Griese hits the underutilized Desmond Clark in the middle of the field to the Packers 34-yard line. Griese pass to Greg Olsen is incomplete. That looked like defensive holding. Nice play call by Turner, taking a chance down field. Time for Chicago offense to continue momentum. Benson run for three yards creates another third and long. 3rd and 7 from 31 — Griese under center and a delay of game on offense may push away a Gould field goal. Expect Turner to call a dump pass to a running back to get a field goal. 3rd and 12 from 37 — Griese slant to Berrian for nine yards. Field goal attempt coming. 4th and 2 — Gould from 44 yards is good. Packers 17, Bears 10.

Analysis: That hurts. Chicago’s offense comes out looking strong and has to settle for a field goal after a delay of game penalty. Little things like that especially hurt when Chicago can’t consistently score and the defense is struggling. It’s time for the defense to get going after an embarrassing first half.

Packers: Williams returns deep into Chicago territory to the Bears 33. Typical Bears. Chicago never plays a solid game in all three phases. Just when one unit steps up, the other steps back. Favre screen pass to Wynn for 13 yards to the Bears 20. Hunter Hillenmeyer gets drilled on that play. Hunter has done nothing the last couple of weeks. Wynn run for six yards on first down to Chicago 14. Madden with second “Where’s Brian Urlacher?” Wynn run for two yards, Urlacher with initial hit, Adams with finisher. 3rd and 1 — Wynn is swallowed up by Briggs for a loss of three yards. Green Bay field goal attempt coming. Can Idonije do it again? Delay of game on Packers. Crosby from 37 yards is right down the pipe. Packers 20, Bears 10.

Analysis: Special teams puts defense in precarious position. To credit of defense, Packers held to a field goal. Yet this game is not looking good. Offense needs a touchdown, which isn’t coming from Hester on special teams as the Packers will squib once again. Mike McCarthy is apparently a better coach than Herm Edwards and Rod Marinelli.

Bears: Kick squibbed to John Gilmore. 8:58 remaining. TV timeout. First and 10 from 40 — Benson swarmed by Packers. Loss of one yard. This offensive line is pretty sad. Griese 10/16 for 115 yards. Griese’s pass is through the hands of Desmond Clark. Could be defensive holding? Nope. Illegal contact. Automatic first down for Chicago. 1st and 10 from Chicago 44 — Benson run for three yards. Nowhere to run for Benson. Griese playaction fake to Olsen to the 50-yard line. Illegal hands to the face on Al Harris of the Packers. Another automatic first down for Chicago. 1st and 10 from GB 49 — Griese under pressure throws over the head of Mark Bradley. It turns out that Jerry Angelo said he traded Thomas Jones because Benson and he couldn’t coexist in locker room. Looks like the Bears picked the wrong back. With that said, Jones wouldn’t have had much of a chance with this offensive line. Bears call a timeout on second down. Saints versus Seahawks next week on SNF. Another snoozer. Benson run for two yards. Another third and long for Chicago. It’s time to go shotgun. 3rd and 8 — Griese in gun, steps up and is sacked by Nick Barnett. Maynard punt to Packers ten. Flag on the play. Penalty against Green Bay. 12-men on the field. Bears decline it.

Analysis: Ron Turner loves to get the Bears in those third and longs. Offense has looked slightly better tonight but is still nowhere on par with a professional unit. Bears defense needs a turnover badly. Game is still in reach but is slipping away. One Favre big play from putting this game away. Remember his 99 yard touchdown pass to Robert Brooks against the Bears on MNF in 1994. Sunday Night Football has been really bad this season.

Packers: Wynn run for four yards on first down. Favre with another hard count. Wynn stuffed for nothing. Big third and five here — Favre in gun, rolls out and throws an INT to Urlacher. Bad decision gives Bears life.

Analysis: Favre is now tied with George Blanda all-time for interceptions. Chicago defense gets the turnover. That’s the bad Favre, that’s been missing so far this year. Dumb throw. Urlacher finally makes a big play.

Bears: Griese touchdown pass to Olsen, who is forced out of bounds. The Bears finally use Olsen. Force out is not reviewable. Gould PAT is good. Packers 20, Bears 17.

Analysis: Bears finally convert off a turnover. Nice throw by Griese, and Turner finally takes a chance five games into the season. Green Bay with three turnovers, Chicago with none. Bears have been turning the ball over all year long.

Packers: Williams wrapped up at the 20 yard line. Wynn run for two yards. Chicago is energized here with four minutes in the quarter. 2nd and 9 — Wynn hammered at 25 by Briggs after three-yard run. 3rd and 6 –Conservative play call. Winn runs for four yards. What is Green Bay thinking? Besides his one mistake, Favre has been excellent tonight. Let him throw the ball. Hester time? Green Bay would be better suited to kick to sidelines. Ball is kicked out at 36 of Chicago.

Analysis: Chicago with momentum. Time for the offense to seize the day with great field position.

Bears: Griese to Greg Olsen for two yards. At least they’re using this kid. With that said, Bears fans are tired of this dink and dunk garbage. Don’t run and set up a long third down. False start on Desmond Clark will likely set up long third down. 2nd and 13 from 33 — Griese in gun and Chicago runs to Benson for a loss of three yards. Ron Turner back to his old self after Olsen touchdown pass. This guy is garbage as an offensive coordinator. 3rd and 16 — Griese downfield to Muhammad. The pass is incomplete. Charles Woodson fumbles the ball after return to Packers 41. Brad Maynard recovers. Ayanbadejo with another big play.

Analysis: Chicago’s offense fails to seize momentum again because of dumb penalty and dumb play calls. Special teams makes up bad coverage early in third by forcing fourth turnover of the night. Ayanbadejo is spectacularly solid in coverage once again.

Bears: Griese 17-yard pass to Bradley. 1st and 10 from 24 — Benson run for nothing. End of third quarter. Packers 20, Bears 17.

Analysis: Chicago’s season comes down to the final 15 minutes. The Bears are starting to look like a team here. Anything less than a touchdown on this drive would be considered a failure. Even though a field goal would tie the game, Chicago needs to put the pressure on Green Bay from behind. That’s when Favre is susceptible to mistakes.

Fourth Quarter

Bears: Griese throws the ball away on third down. 3rd and 9 from 23 — expect conservative call to keep field goal in line. Griese in gun, hands off to Peterson for a run of six yards. Gould field goal attempt of 36 yards is good. Bears 20, Packers 20.

Analysis: While Chicago has fought back to tie the game, will conservatism on third down hurt the Bears in the end? Favre is coming out throwing here. Bears defense, especially in the middle of the field, needs to be ready. 4th quarters have been nightmares for the Bears defense. Chicago finally winning the turnover game after being awful in this phase since Super Bowl XLI.

Packers: Williams from three out to around the 25. Holding on Green Bay. That was just flagrant. 1st and 10 from 10 — Wynn is swarmed by Briggs and Alex Brown (forget about this guy? I have). 2nd and 10 from 10 — Favre’s pass is knocked down by Adewale Ogunleye, who has been quiet after a great game against Detroit. 3rd and 10 — Favre in gun , hits Franks for five yards. Briggs with another tackle. Please sign this guy to a contract tomorrow. Green Bay with only 37 yards in second half. Defense has responded, for now, after terrible first half. Hester back to return and is taken down at the 35. Flag on play. Green Bay player ran out of bounds. Five yards added to end of the play.

Analysis: The game is here for the taking. Can Chicago’s offense get it down? Bears need a touchdown as Favre will give the Packers at least one chance to win this game.

Bears: First and 10 from Chicago 40 — Benson run for four yards. 2nd and 6 — use the tight ends here…Benson run for nothing. Ron Turner is being too conservative. The guy is just a terribly inconsistent coordinator. 3rd and 6 — Griese throws out to Garrett Wolfe. Hate the call. The guy hasn’t been in all long. Bears get bailed out by facemask on Green Bay, of the 15 yard variety. Packers are giving this game to the Bears; Turner refuses to take it. First and 10 from 39 — Griese throws off his back foot and is intercepted by Brady Poppinga. Olsen was the intended receiver.

Analysis: This is where the game swings. Deja vu. Chicago’s defense has held throughout the second half and the Bears offense has been unable to take the lead on two poor excuses of drives. Griese was due for a mistake and made it. Turner continue to handcuffs the offense with conservative calls after the game was tied. If this guy is around after this season, then Lovie doesn’t have a clue. It’s Favre time.

Packers: 1st and 10 from 22 — Favre dump pass negated by another Green Bay penalty. Green Bay is shooting itself in the foot. 1st and 20 from 13 –Favre underhand throws the ball out of bounds with Ogunleye chasing. Packers second-half play calling leaving a lot to be desired. 2nd and 20 — Favre shovel pass is incomplete. The bad Brett Favre is showing up here in the second half. Another questionable decision. This game is showing that Green Bay is a pretender rather than a contender. 3rd and 20 — Favre dump pass to Morency for four yards. Punt coming. Hester back to receive. Returns to Green Bay 35. Holding on Rod Wilson of Chicago. 1st and 10 from Chicago 47 — T.V. timeout.

Analysis: Killer penalty negates great field position for Bears. It’s time for Ron Turner to get some guts and let the Bears win this thing. It’s now or never for Turner and the Bears offense. If they don’t get it done here, they have no one to blame but themselves. The Chicago defense has responded in the second half.

Bears: Benson run for two yards. Come on Turner. Get your head out of your butt. Second and 8 from 49 — Benson run for two yards. Yet another third and long. Turner just doesn’t get it. Use your tight ends. Both teams are playing not to lose. 3rd and 6 — Griese in gun and is sacked. This is just pathetic. The offensive line breaks down again, but Turner’s brain farts and inability to take chances is killing the Bears. Maynard punt to Green Bay 26. He shanked it.

Analysis: Turner is a gutless wonder. Chicago’s defense is once again giving them this game and the Bears offense can’t even sustain anything. Ineptitude from the guy calling the plays is going to result in a Green Bay victory. Favre is just too good. A sinking feeling is developing in the stomachs of Bears fans.

Packers: Favre to Franks for seven yards. Green Bay looking to spread it out. 2nd and 3 from 33 — 7 minutes left, Wynn is stuffed by Briggs. It looks like another holding on Green Bay and it is. 2nd and 13 from 23 — Green Bay has been way too conservative after getting the running game on track early. Favre in gun, avoids the sack and hits James Jones for a gain of 11 yards. 3rd and a long 3 from 34 yard line — Favre in gun, Bears finally bring pressure, Favre hit by Mark Anderson and the pass is incomplete. Briggs has 15 tackles tonight. Ryan punt to Chicago nine, Hester returns to 20. How conservative does Turner get?

Analysis: Is this where a Griese INT or Benson fumble comes into play? Chicago deep in its own territory.

Bears: Benson run for one yard. Turner just doesn’t get it. How this guy still has a job in the NFL is mind-boggling? Five minutes left. Griese hits Greg Olsen for a big gain of 27 yards. Greg Olsen’s coming out party. Imagine if he had a competent offensive coordinator. First and ten from 47 — Benson sweep to the Packers 46. 2nd and four — Benson is eaten alive and gets back to the line of scrimmage. Packers stuffed the line. Benson at least broke a tackle there and showed some fight. Benson 25 carries for 56 yards. He’s ran harder tonight but doesn’t have what it takes to be a number-one back. Chicago’s offensive line is still not that good enough and hasn’t done much for Benson, to his defense. But he’s still not the guy. 3rd and 4 — Griese under center and Peterson looks to have gotten the first down on the draw. 3:15 left. Bears pick up first down at Green Bay 42. Chicago can’t think field goal, must think touchdown. Green Bay is challenging the spot of the ball. Should be interesting where the ball was considering when Peterson’s knees hit the ground. The ball will be moved to the 42 and remeasured. If Chicago doesn’t have first down, the Bears must go for it. QB sneak. Nothing too complicated. Doesn’t matter. The nose of the ball is at the stick. Chicago gets the first down. 1st and 10 from 42 — do the Bears have confidence here that Benson can hold onto the football? Madden and Michaels are talking field goal. Chicago will lose with that philosophy. Benson run for seven yards. Wow. It’s about time. Nice tough run. Clock running at 2:30. 2nd and 3 — Benson for a yard. And Green Bay takes the timeout. 3rd and 2 from 34 — If Turner had any guts, a play-action pass to Desmond Clark or Greg Olsen. Expect a run considering his conservative nature. Wow. Turner finally got it right. Play action fake to Desmond Clark for a 34-yard touchdown pass. It’s about time Turner took a chance. Jeezus. Turner still sucks. Gould PAT is good. Bears 27, Packers 20.

Analysis: The Bears finally use Clark. As much as Turner is despised and needs to go, he finally made the right call. It only took him about a quarter here to figure it out. Don’t let this play fool you about Turner. He’s still incompetent. Now this is where Brett Favre specializes: the two-minute drill. This is also where Favre is dangerous and can force things and be picked. Chicago’s defense has been a different unit in the second half. It all comes down to this.

Packers: Williams returns to 26. Two-minute warning. First and 10 from 26 — Green with one timeout. Favre in gun and hits Driver for nine yards. 2nd and a long 1 — Clock running, Favre hits Donald Lee to the GB 42 for a first down. 1:20 left. Favre Hits Lee to the 50. Chicago is letting Green Bay get this small stuff over the middle of the field. Under a minute here. A lot of time running here. Favre is nearly intercepted by Tillman on 2nd and two. Bad throw. 3rd and 2 with 41 seconds — Favre in gun and fires a strike to Jones, who makes a great catch. Clock running 25 seconds left. 1st and 10 form 41– Favre dumps to Morency to the 33 yard line. Green Bay calls final timeout with 13 seconds left. 2nd and 1 — NBC detailing how Tillman saved this game in first half. Favre in gun and the pass is dropped by Jones at the 13. 3rd and 1 with eight seconds left — Packers got to take a chance in the end zone, unless using sidelines. Favre in gun, fires to end zone and is picked by Brandon McGowan with an interception. One second left. Bears will win and salvage season for a week. Excuse me. That pick tied Favre with Blanda.

Bears: Griese takes knee. Chicago wins. Bears 27, Packers 20.

Analysis: Awful clock management by Green Bay on the last drive. Used too much of the middle of the field rather than the sidelines. Packers came back down to earth. Chicago’s playoff aspirations alive for the time being. Green Bay doomed by turnovers, five in the game to be precise. Chicago with only one turnover, and offense finally made a big play after leaving too many opportunities on the table. This game was won by the defense. Tillman’s two strips in the first half saved a blowout, and the Bears defense responded in the second half. Green Bay got way too conservative in the second half, thus helping the Bears. Chicago will take this, but a lot of problems remain. The offensive line is old, the running game nonexistent and the play calling very choppy. But the Bears are 2-3 rather than 1-4. Chicago is now only two games back in the division, but a lot of work remains. And that’s an understatement. Are the Bears a playoff team at this point? Not yet. But their aspirations are at least still alive.

For at least one night, life as a Chicago sports fan is decentt. The Bears won and the Cubs are done, and the Bulls begin preseason play on Tuesday night.

NFL Week Five: Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers

A Battle of an Undefeated and a Defeated? Chicago’s Season on-the-Line at Lambeau!

Twenty-three years ago on this day in NFL history, Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton became the league’s all-time leading rusher, surpassing Jim Brown’s record mark of 12,312 yards during a 20-7 victory against the New Orleans Saints. Payton’s record would, of course, be broken years later by Dallas Cowboys running back Emmit Smith, who hung on way too long to break the record.

Last weekend, Green Bay Packers venerable quarterback Brett Favre threw his NFL record 421st and 422nd touchdown passes in a 23-16 road victory against the Minnesota Vikings.

The disappointing Chicago Bears could only wish that it had players of Payton’s and Favre’s talent at the running back and quarterback positions. Third-year running back Cedric Benson has been a bust during his first year as a starter while the Bears revolving door at quarterback is now open to Brian Griese, who replaced the embattled Rex Grossman last week against the Detroit Lions and was absolutely brutal.

Entering Lambeau Field tonight, the Bears and Packers are in positions that not many would have expected at the start of this year. The surprising Packers are 4-0, on top of the NFC North with a three-game lead on the defending NFC Champion Bears, who are a disappointing 1-3. In simple terms, a loss tonight will seal any chance of Chicago winning the division for the third straight year.

With that said, expect the Favre magic to continue tonight in an ugly 17-12 Green Bay victory. Chicago’s defense will keep the Bears in it for a while but Favre will muster two touchdown drives. As for the Packers, its underrated defense will limit the Bears to four field goals as the season is officially lost tonight.

Chicago’s defense is still hobbled, the offensive line still in shambles, and the offense still junior varsity. Green Bay is playing much better, all-around football, thanks to the inspirational Favre and a nice, young defense, and will win its ninth straight game dating back to last year.

Detroit Lions 37, Chicago Bears 27

Lions Score a NFL-Record 34 Points in the Fourth Quarter

Entering the fourth quarter of yesterday’s game at Ford Field in Pontiac, Michigan, the Chicago Bears were up 13-3. Come again?

Yes sir. The Bears were up 10 points going into the fourth quarter. And while the Lions were on the verge of scoring at the end of the third quarter and actually did so on the first play of the fourth when quarterback Jon Kitna connected with wide receiver Shaun McDonald on a quick-hitting out pass, the question remains what went the hell went wrong in the final 15 minutes.

Well to begin with, the Bears offense was a big culprit once again. In simple terms, Chicago’s defensive front four carried a depleted unit and dominated the Lions for three quarters, and Chicago failed to take advantage and put the game away.

After Brian Griese hit Mushin Muhammad for a touchdown pass in the second quarter to give the Bears a 6-3 lead, Chicago seemed to have seized the momentum. Griese and the Bears were on the doorstep of another touchdown late in the first half when the newly-anointed quarterback made a play seen way too often by his predecessor, the recently-benched Rex Grossman.

Lacking the arm strength of Grossman, Griese tried to roll out and throw a pass off his back feet to Bernard Berrian in the end zone. The pass was naturally picked off by Detroit’s Fernando Bryant and a potential 13-3 lead (assuming the PAT; a big assumption thus far this season in the NFL) at that point, ceased to be.

After Mark Anderson sacked Kitna and forced a fumble at the Detroit 12-yard line early in the third quarter, the Bears proceeded to immediately turn the ball over. Griese threw a pass behind Berrian that bounced off his shoulder pads and was picked off by Ernie Sims. Oh, what could have been a 20-3 lead or even a 13-3 lead or even a 10-3 lead remained a 7-3 lead.

Up until the final minutes of the third quarter, Chicago’s defensive line held the Lions from doing anything. Offensively, the Bears had two more drives in Detroit territory and had to settle for field goals. If Chicago was able to get at least one touchdown on one of those drives in combination with a Robbie Gould field goal, the Bears would have been up anywhere from 30-3 to 23-3 to 20-3 rather than a 13-3 lead.

Like every game this season (refer back to the first quarter of the Cowboys game and first halves of the Chargers and Chiefs games), the Bears didn’t take advantage offensively when the defense was dominating.

And naturally, after the defense finally gave up a touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter, the offense gave one right back to the Lions. After the McDonald touchdown, Griese made another Grossman-like play, throwing a ball directly to Detroit defensive back Kevin Smith for a 65-yard touchdown return and a 17-13 deficit.

Devin Hester then once again tried to save the Bears, returning a kickoff 97 yards for a 20-17 lead. However, the Bears defense, decimated by injuries, was worn out at this point of the game. Kitna marched the Lions down the field, hitting Troy Walters on a beautiful pass and catch for the touchdown and a 24-20 lead.

Chicago’s offense responded like it’s done all season long, by either turning the ball over or going three-and-out. Quick. Pick a hand, any hand. If you picked the right hand, you would be correct. Trailing by four, the Bears put together yet another “impressive” three-and-out drive on offense.

The Lions would score on its next possession, with the Detroit running game and a terrible offensive line starting to take advantage of an exhausted Chicago defense line. Lions Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz finally attacked the Bears second-string defensive secondary, with Kitna hitting Mike Furrey on a big slant in the middle of the field deep down into Chicago territory. On a play eerily similar to LaDainian Tomlinson’s fourth quarter touchdown in Week One, Kevin Jones ran off the right tackle, over and past the Bears defense for a touchdown and a 30-20 lead.

Chicago then amazingly dinked and dunked over the middle of the field, rather than using the sidelines, with the game in its final minutes. The Bears would catch a break on a strange fumble recovered by offensive lineman Roberto Garza, who then fumbled the ball right back to Detroit. However, the call was finally overturned by a beleaguered officiating crew since Garza can not advance the ball as an offensive lineman.

After this break, the Bears almost still didn’t score a touchdown but were aided and abetted when Shaun Rogers jumped offsides on a Gould field goal attempt. On fourth and goal from the one yard, Griese would hit Desmond Clark for a touchdown with slightly over a minute left.

The Bears would then screw up an onside kick that was returned for a touchdown by Detroit for a touchdown to seal the game. After a Jason Hanson PAT, the Lions had scored a record 34 points in the fourth quarter, and the Bears were left licking its wounds.

In all seriousness, the Bears could have had 41 points in this game (making a huge assumption that Griese doesn’t throw the two interceptions inside the Lions 10 yard line and that the Bears actually got two touchdowns on that drive). But to make such an assumption, one would have to assume that the Bears had an offense.

Grading Sunday’s Performances in No Particular Order

Chicago Offensive Line F: This unit was supposed to be a strength coming into the season; it has been the foundation of all the Chicago’s problems on offense. Chicago tackles Fred Miller and John Tait have been burned off the corners all season long, and the Bears can not pick up a blitz, give Griese or Grossman any time to throw the ball or really open up a hole for the awful Cedric Benson. Chicago’s line looks old, and it’s time for the Bears to retool this unit after the season.

Brian Griese F: Granted that the line didn’t do much for him in terms of protection (Griese was sacked six times Sunday), the new Chicago quarterback had three bonehead interceptions. While rusty, Griese had a worse game on Sunday than any of Grossman’s first three performances in 2007. Griese is a decent backup and a quality teammate; however, he’s a game manager. The Bears are no better with Griese than they were with Grossman, especially when the offensive line is full of matadors.

Cedric Benson F: This kid needs to go. In Benson’s defense, Chicago’s offensive line has not consistently opened up many holes. With that said, Benson was drafted to run over people. Have you ever seen a bigger guy go down on initial contact? A prime example. Benson broke out for a 16-yard run into the Lions secondary early in the third quarter only to have a Detroit safety put his shoulder down and knock the Bears back straight to the ground. Benson also fumbled after getting drilled by Ernie Sims in the second quarter and disappeared yet again from the game immediately afterwards.

Ron Turner F: As the Offensive Coordinator, Turner gets the blame for his unit’s pathetic showing in the first quarter of the season. People complained that the Bears threw the ball 51 times yesterday. This is not Turner’s fault as the team doesn’t have a running back. However, the fact that Chicago only threw one pass out of 51 passes for more than 20 yards is a disturbing revelation of a coordinator who’s dinking and dunking the Bears into the cellar of the NFC North.

Lovie Smith F: This guy just sits back and watches these similar types of losses unfold each and every time. And the Bears are starting to look like a very undisciplined team, with four personal foul penalties on Sunday. Discipline falls on the shoulders of the Head Coach, and the Bears are falling apart under Smith’s watchful eye.

Chicago Front Four A-: Chicago’s front four (primarily Mark Anderson, Tommie Harris and Adewale Ogunleye) dominated this game for nearly three quarters. Anderson had two sackes, Harris was very strong despite an injury himself, and Ogunleye had his best game as a Bear. The front four kept Chicago in the game for as long as they could, but the offense failed to convert, and these guys began to get tired physically and mentally.

Chicago Defense as a Whole B-: Former Bear Jerry Azumah made a very dumb comment last night when analyzing the game. He blamed the Bears defense for giving up 37 points. In reality, the Bears defense gave up 23 points, not bad considering how decimated the unit was coming into the game and taking into account that the Lions do have a good offensive system (despite Martz’s conservatism through three quarters). Don’t hang this game on the defense, which gave the Bears a chance yet again. The offense, once again, failed to seize the day.

Devin Hester A+: Even though he had two fumbles which weren’t lost, Bears fans will live with that with Hester, considering that he basically has to score every time he touches the ball. Hester’s fourth quarter kickoff return was flat-out amazing, and Hester nearly missed two other returns for scores. Hester basically won the Chiefs game and tried his best to do so yesterday. It’s unfortunate that a Hester is wasting away on this Bears team.

Officiating F: That was as bad as a game that’s ever been called. Those refs were clueless and confused from the onset of the game, from a Kitna fumble in the first quarter that wasn’t allowed to be challenged to leaving their microphones on during a meeting with Lions Head Coach Rod Marinelli to taking forever to make a decision on the Garza play to calling a penalty with two seconds left in a fourth quarter that was more than an hour long. Guess you don’t have to be the Chicago Bears Offensive Coordinator to be a knucklehead.

Possession by Possession Analysis of the Bears-Lions Game

Live Blog of Bears-Lions Game

First Quarter

The Bears are officially without Lance Briggs, Charles Tillman, Nathan Vasher and Adam Archuleta today. This could get ugly in the passing game. Chicago will need to hurry Jon Kitna all day to make up for these injuries. If the Bears sit in a zone, the team is going to get killed in the pass defense, with Kitna and Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz picking them apart. This game will be a good test of the Bears’ character, with Griese in and all the injuries considered.

Detroit will receive the ball. Robbie Gould set to kick. Mike Furrey and Brian Calhoun back to receive. Calhoun takes knee in end zone.

Detroit: Kitna had 446 yards last week during the blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Tatum Bell run for six yards on first down. Some misdirection on the previous play. Bell run for two yards and stuffed by Brandon McGowan, who’s replacing Archuleta at strong safety. Kitna avoids a sack and hits a wide open Mike Furrey, whose foot was out of bounds on the play. No catch. Bears catch a break and looked confused on play. Devin Hester returns the ball deep into Detroit territory, fumbles but the ball goes out of bounds.

Analysis: Hester is amazing, going ten yards backwards across the field and returning the ball for 29 yards. Another Hester fumble though after several bobbles last week against the Dallas Cowboys.

Bears: First and 10 from 41 of Detroit–Cedric Benson run for a yard. Griese avoids the pressure on second down and hits Desmond Clark for six yards. Offensive line got blown up again on that play. Detroit had good pressure. Third and 3 — Bears look generally confused and call a timeout. T.V. timeout. Bears need to punch it in the end zone on this drive after Hester sets up great field position. Griese pass to Bernard Berrian is knocked out of his hands. Fourth and 3 from 34 yard line. Gould will try from 52 yards. The kick is blocked and returned by Kenoy Kennedy into Chicago territory. Shaun Rogers with the block. Personal foul at the end of the play on Mark Bradley of the Bears.

Analysis: After blocking several kicks this year, the Bears get it sent back at them. Detroit now with great field position. Expect Mike Martz to let Kitna take a chance here. Can the injured Bears defense hold strong and limit to a field goal. Inability to pick up short third down looms large.

Lions: First and 10 from Bears 27. Bell run for two yards, tackled by Briggs replacement, Jamar Williams. Bell second-down run for one yard. Tackle by Urlacher. Why is Martz being so conservative early here? Kitna is sacked on third and six by Tommie Harris with Mark Anderson finishing on the play. Kitna fumbled on the play and the Bears recovered. Chicago needs to challenge this and does. It looks like Adewale Ogunleye recovered. No challenge now. Jason Hanson 49-yard field gaol is good. Detroit 3, Bears 0.

Analysis: Why weren’t the Bears allowed to challenge that play? It was clearly a fumble. Did the refs blow the whistle or consider Kitna’s progress stopped? Smith and his coaching staff should have been more adamant there. This game should be notched at zero still. Mike Martz with a case of Ron Turner-itits early with very conservative play calling. Why aren’t the Lions carving up the Bears decimated secondary?

Bears: Hester return to the 26-yard line. It looks like the Kitna play was blown dead as he was in the grasp. Benson sweep for minus two yards. Why does Turner want to stretch the field east-west with Benson? He’s a north-south runner, and not a very good one to say the least. Benson is hit for a loss of two yards on second down. Offensive line getting pushed up-field early. Griese in shotgun. Third and long and throws away. Shaun Rogers blows by Fred Miller on the play. Intentional grounding on the play. Troy Walters fair catch at Detroit 35.

Analysis: Wow. The Bears offensive line is looking awful. And Ron Turner is calling himself a real doozy so far. Bears haven’t gotten a first down in six plays. Will Martz finally get the passing game going for Detroit? Chicago’s offense looks no better with Griese than with Grossman right now. It all falls on the terrible job being done by the offensive line.

Lions: Kitna’s dump pass to Tatum Bell is dropped. Nice upfield pressure by Bears’ front four. False start on Detroit. Ugly start to this game all-around. Kitna is sacked by Ogunleye. Detroit’s offensive line is looking as bad as the Bears. Chicago’s front four responding early and dominating the line of scrimmage. Kitna fake draw to Bell looks like a busted play. Kitna for a yard. Hester return from the 32 to the 45 of Chicago. Beautiful spin move by Hester turns nothing into something.

Analysis: Looks like even Mike Martz can be a Ron Turner once in while. In defense of both offensive coordinators thus far, the offensive lines have been atrocious. Detroit needs to get Kitna in the gun and spread the ball over the field. The Lions are not taking advantage of the Bears injuries. The incomplete pass to Furrey shows that Detroit can pass all over the Bears. The Lions will need to go gun for Kitna to get enough time though.

Bears: Griese’s three yard pass to Berrian is complete. That pass hung too long. Don’t like the play call. Griese looks confused on second and seven and throws the ball to no one. Chicago with seven total yards on eight offensive plays. Unreal. 3rd and 7 — Griese pass to Berrian is dropped. What is that four drops in two games for Berrian in the last five quarters. Berrian was supposed to be a Pro-Bowl receiver this year; he’s looking like a bum lately. Maynard punt to Lions eight.

Analysis: It clearly isn’t just Rex Grossman here fellas. Bears offense, in general, stinks.

Lions: Kevin Jones run for three yards. Kitna play-action pass to Mike Furrey for a quick strike and a third and short. Nice misdirection. Detroit looks lethargic. Third and two — Kitna hits Roy Williams on a short pass for a first down. Urlacher with the tackle. Danieal Manning defending Roy Williams. Detroit needs to exploit this. First and 10 — Jones run for a yard. Another tackle by McGowan, the Week One goat. 2nd and 10 — Kitna roll-out pass to Jones is complete for a gain of three yards. Detroit penalty for ineligible man down field. Penalty is declined. The Lions offensive line has been abysmal. Third and 9 — Kitna is sacked again by Tommie Harris. However, offsides on Alex Brown. Looks like the refs missed a holding on that play. Ogunleye was getting held under the shoulder pads. Sideline warning against the Bears. Give me a break. Third and 4 now — Kitna gets time and hits Williams for a first down at the Lions 49-yard line. Beautiful catch. Tatum Bell run for five yards. Hard hit by Urlacher. Bell run for a first down to the Bears 34-yard line. George Foster ate up Urlacher on the block. This guy still can’t get off the block. Pitch to Jones, who is eaten alive by Urlacher. Nice bounceback play. Holding on Detroit. This game has been rough to watch. It’s such a nice day. Maybe I should just go outside! 1st and 10 from Bears 45 — Kitna pass to Furrey for eight yards. Second and 12 — Lions hit Troy Walters on a slant for a first down. Kitna taking advantage of zone. 1st and 10 from 15 — Tatum Bell run for five yards. End of first quarter. Lions 3, Bears 0.

Second Quarter

Analysis: Lions offensive line doing a better job in the latter stages of this drive. Detroit should be up 10-0 here early in the second quarter. An anemic and ugly first quarter all-around. Detroit is getting into some rhythm. Chicago’s front four keeping Bears in it. The offense has been offensive, beginning up front with a very disappointing offensive line. Chicago yet to pick up a first down in three drives. Rex is on the sidelines knowing that it’s not just him. A familiar sight — Bears defense on the field for way too long, offense not on it.

Lions: Tatum Bell second-down run for four yards. Creates a short 3rd and 1 at the Bears 5. Detroit with 40-plus yards rushing. Chicago with minus-three. 3rd and 1 –Tatum Bell picks up the first down and then fumbles. Recovered by Chicago. The ref was very uncertain with that call, signaling that Bell was down and then giving the Bears the ball on the recovery. Ogunleye gets unsportsmanklike conduct penalty for removing helmet while arguing with ref.

Analysis: How much money do NFL refs make per game? These guys looked very poor on that call and the Kitna fumble earlier. Chicago’s defense saves the day yet again. The front four has been excellent. Ogunleye is really active. Chicago backed up deep in its territory. Expect Turner to go conservative on first and second down. Can the offensive line open up a hole?

Bears: Cedric Benson run for two yards. Had the outside but went down once again on initial contact. 2nd and 8 — Griese swing pass to Benson for two yards. Got to hate Ron Turner. 3rd and 6 from own 6 — Griese hits Berrian for a first down. Berrian fumbles the ball after hitting the ground. Get this guy some Stick-em. Bears first first down of game. Griese quick out to Muhsin Muhammad for seven yards. 2nd and 3 — Griese in shot gun. Two-yard pass to Desmond Clark. This is just embarrassing. Throw the ball somewhat down the field. 3rd and 1 — do you smell a Benson stuff? Pitch to Benson who gets the first down but is hammered by Ernie Sims. Benson fumbles once again but the ball goes out of bounds. Benson is not tough. Wow. Jerry Angelo screwed up trading Thomas Jones. 1st and 10 from 25 — Lions blitz the Bears and Griese throws away. Ernie Sims again all over the field. Bears offensive line yet again confused and ineffective. 2nd and 10 — Griese in gun and a delay of game. A comedy of errors. Bears offensive line is so bad that Turner has to go shotgun. 2nd and 15 — Griese badly underthrows Mark Bradley. 3rd and 15 — Griese is sacked by Shaun Rogers. The offensive line yet again implodes. Maynard punt to Troy Walters, who returns inside Bears territory. A horse collar on rookie Corey Graham. The third 15-yard penalty against the Bears this game.

Analysis: Bears offensive line is too old and getting destroyed by a defense that gave up 56 points last week. Bears are very undisciplined and looking like a team that’s falling apart with all of these penalties. From Super Bowl finalist to NFL Draft Lottery?

Lions: Detroit slant pass to Mike Furrey is caught inside the Bears 15 for a first down. Jones run for two yards. Kitna’s pass to McDonald is incomplete. 3rd and 9 from 13 — Ogunleye with another sack. No one even touched him on the Detroit offensive line. Just poor blocking all around on both sides of the ball. Hanson field goal from 39-yards is blocked. The Bears have blocked another one.

Analysis: This is sad. The Bears defense holds again and blocks their third field goal of the season. And Lovie is clapping on the sidelines. It’s time for Lovie to start chewing out the offense. A decimated defense is keeping them alive against a Detroit offense that is not converting on big plays. If this was Dallas, the Bears are down either 21 or 24-0. It’s clear that the Bears are not playoff contenders this year. The offense is just too brutal. Danieal Manning with block.

Bears: Garrett Wolfe run for one yard on first down. Good call Turner! Give the ball to a kid with one career carry when your offense is sputtering. Griese play action pass hits Berrian for 20 yards. Griese hits Berrian on a slant for 13 yards and a first down. Finally some rhythm. Hester in the game. Griese’s dump off on first down to Jason McKie is incomplete. 2nd and 10 from Detroit 30 — Screen pass to Hester for two yards. I hate Ron Turner. He’s run this play for Hester since the preseason and it has yet to work. Turner needs to go. 3rd and 7 — Griese pass to Desmond Clark for a first down inside the 20 yard line. It’s about time they go to Clark, the most underrated player on the Bears. Quick decision by Griese. Wolfe run for two yards. Benson once again knocked out of the game by a hard Sims tackle? Benson is a chump with no heart. 2nd and 8 — Wolfe is eaten up for a loss of one. Let’s run Wolfe to the short side of the field Turner, you jackass. 3rd and 9 — Griese touchdown pass to Muhsin Muhammad. Bears 7, Lions 3.

Analysis: Griese did a nice job on that drive, making quick decisions. He is more stable than Grossman in terms of quickly getting the ball out of his hands. With that said, this is the Lions, far from an elite team in the NFC. The Bears are struggling and are not a contender at this point. Chicago doesn’t have a running game. The Bears should look into signing Corey Dillon. Benson is not reliable. He can’t even finish games. While the Bears have the lead, Chicago is losing out here in the long run. Bears with their third touchdown of the season in four games. How many touchdowns did Carson Palmer have a couple of weeks ago? Oh yeah, six.

Lions: Calhoun hit hard by Brendon Ayanbadeyjo. T.V. timeout. First and 10 from Lions 16 — Kitna pass to Kevin Jones for a gain of about five. Kevin Jones nearly fumbles on hand off and is hit for no gain. Kitna in gun and hits Roy Williams for four yards, who cowers up a yard before the sticks and is drilled by a bevy of Bears, including Urlacher. Hester time with momentum swinging? Nope. Lions swarm him up and Bears 39. Nice coverage.

Analysis: Bears defense really stepping up with all of these injuries. Chicago with momentum. Now can they do something here and put this game away.

Bears: Griese pass to Rashied Davis for seven yards and two-minute warning. Still no Benson. Bears have no faith in this kid. But that’s what you get when anointing Benson as the starting running back when he didn’t earn it. Lovie deserves this for such blind faith in a jerk like Benson. Chicago needs to go up 14-3 here as they receive the ball first in the second half. A score could deflate Detroit, which should have about 21 points if not for their own mistakes. Griese throw to Berrian for a first down at the Lions 46. Griese dump off to Adrian Peterson for nine yards. Chicago timeout. 2nd and 1 from 36 — Griese’s pass to Muhammad is too high. 3rd and 1 — Griese quarterback sneak for a first down. Griese dump to Muhammad for 11 yards and a first down. Need to go out of bounds on that play Moose. Clock running…Griese hits Clark for a yard. Clock stops with 40 seconds. Griese pass to Davis for about eight yards. Looks like hit out of bounds by Detroit. Yep. First and goal Bears from Detroit six yard line. Griese is intercepted in the end zone. Threw off his back foot and into pressure. That was a Rex Grossman throw there. Fernando Bryant with the pick.

Analysis: Story of the Bears season in terms of offensive woes. When having an opportunity to extend a lead, Bears turn the ball over. Now Detroit with momentum going into second half. Bad play by Griese reveals that he lacks Grossman’s arm strength.

Detroit: First and 10 from one yard line is held up. Booth review of interception and T.V. timeout. 29 seconds left. Play stands. Tatum Bell run for three yards. Offsides on Alex Brown on the play. Second such call against him today. Detroit knee. Halftime. Bears 7, Lions 3.

Halftime Analysis: Pretty ugly and sloppy all-around. Bears offense finally gets going and then is once again unable to establish some distance. Both teams have been pretty poor in terms of decision making and turnovers. Bears may win these games against the Lions and the Chiefs. However, if this was the Cowboys or another elite team, Chicago would be down 21-7 or something similar to that score. Chicago’s defense keeps the Bears in the game along with Detroit turnovers and foolishness. Both offensive lines have been awful. Bears receive first in second half. Time to take a quick shower and wash off the stink from that snoozer of a first half. Oh yeah. Cedric Benson is a dog. He’s worse than Curtis Enis.

Bears: Brian Baldinger hits it on the head. The Bears do not have the explosive offense to get back to the Super Bowl. Detroit kicks to Hester who is swarmed at the 21-yard line. Do the Bears keep this a 7-3 game or actually put some distance here? Benson back in the game and runs for four yards on first down. Oh my goodness. Benson runs for 16 yards on second and five. John Tait is down on the play and now up. Rookie safety Kevin Payne is out of the game for Chicago. Wolfe led the Bears with three rushing yards on three carries in the first half. How bad is that? John “The Touchdown Maker” St. Clair in the game for Tait. Benson run for two yards on first down. 2nd and 9 from Bears 41. Griese pass is knocked down at the line of scrimmage. 3rd and 9 — Griese strike to tight end John Gilmore is dropped at the sticks. Yet another dropped pass. Maynard punt to Troy Walters at 15.

Analysis: The problem with Benson, Turner and the Bears offense is fully evident on last drive. They can’t seize any momentum from a big play. Benson runs for 16 yards and then falls down on initial contact on next play. Griese has ball batted down, and then Gilmore drops a pass. This offense has been atrocious in the fundamentals in the first four games of the season. Chicago is letting Detroit hang in here. That could be a bad sign!

Detroit: Kitna is sacked by Mark Anderson, who forces a fumble that is recovered by McGowan. Bears ball at Lions 12.

Analysis: Defense does it again. Chicago is wasting a superb defense with this embarrassment of an offense. If the Bears don’t get a touchdown here, someone needs to be made a sacrificial lamb and shipped out of town. How about Benson?

Bears: Benson run for two yards. Griese throws behind Muhammad who drops the second-down pass. Third and 8 — Griese in gun and his pass bounces off Berrian, leading to an Ernie Sims interception. Bears second turnover inside the red zone today.

Analysis: Has there ever been as offensively inept franchise as the Chicago Bears? The defense basically creates a touchdown for the offense, and three points are not even had. Wow. What is Berrian’s problem this year? That ball was in his chest.

Lions: First and 10 from own nine yard line — Kevin Jones runs for 21 yards. First and 10 from 30 — Jones loses a yard on first down. My fault on Berrian there. Griese threw behind him. Ogunleye wraps up Jones for nothing. This is the best game Ogunleye has had in a very long time. Third and 12 — Kitna scrambles and hits Roy Williams who ran backwards and lost the first down after catching it behind the sticks. What a dumb play! How bad are both offenses in terms of fundamental football? Rod Marinelli to challenge the play. T.V. timeout. Can’t wait for this game to be over. Play stands. Fourth down for Detroit, which loses a timeout. Nick Harris punt to Devin Hester, who returns for 20 yards to the Bears 40.

Analysis: This game has been brutal. With that said, why do teams punt to Hester? He’s the only guy the Bears have in terms of generating points. Remember Robbie Gould. This guy isn’t getting a chance this year to even do anything because of the poor offense. How long do the Bears let Detroit hang in here. A touchdown will put this game away. Give credit to Chicago’s defense. They’re winning this game.

Bears: Benson run for eight yards on first down. 2nd and 2 — Benson run for five yards and first down at Detroit 49. Griese throws the ball into the dirt after trying to go deep. Nothing there and the protection eventually broke down. 2nd and 10 from shotgun — Adrian Peterson run for six yards. Big third down here. 3rd and 3 — Griese to Berrian for a first down inside the Lions 30. Offsides on Detroit on play. First down Chicago. Benson run for nothing on first down. Shaun Cody with tackle. 2nd and 8 from Detroit 25 — Timeout by Chicago is overturned. False start on McKie. 2nd adn 13 from 30 — Griese old-school scramble for seven yards. 3rd and 7 — Griese is destroyed and sacked. Offensive line falls apart again. Robbie Gould field goal from 49 yards is good. Chicago 10, Lions 3.

Analysis: Have you ever seen an offense that sputters once it gets to a certain point? One thing is for certain when the Bears enter deep into an opponent’s territory — a touchdown is 99.9% not going to happen.

Lions: Bears special teams stopped Lions returner just sort of the 20 yard line. 1st and 10 from 19 — Kitna’s play-action pass is nearly intercepted by Urlacher. Jamar Williams knocked it down. Kitna dumps to Shaun McDonald for about six yards. Chicago’s defense has held Detroit to under 100 yards passing. Mike Martz looks very confused on the sidelines. Kitna is sacked on third down by Mark Anderson, his second of the game. A Hester return would put this game away. Just missed it. Hester returns the ball from Chicago 30 to Lions 40. Hester was one move away from a touchdown. Hester penalized five yards for spiking the ball.

Analysis: Chicago’s front four on defense is playing a superb game and Hester is amazing. Too bad their efforts will be wasted this year by an awful offense.

Bears: Griese dump off to Benson for seven yards. Griese quick strike to Muhsin Muhmmad for a first down. Benson run for five yards. 2nd and 5 from Detroit 27 — Benson is swallowed up by Kenoy Kennedy. Benson a little better in the second half. Still with only 48 yards. 3rd and 4 — Adrian Peterson tackled on a sweep after a one-yard gain. Very conservative call. Turner content with a field goal and making a two possession game. Gould from 41 yards is good. Chicago 13, Lions 3.

Analysis: Don’t normally like third-down conservatism but Turner made the right decision to take a field goal and make two-possession game. With that said, Chicago once again turns great field position into bare minimum. Pretty sad.

Lions: Brandon Middleton returns the ball to Detroit 30. Martz has called a poor game, even though the offensive line hasn’t allowed much. Kitna hits Sean McHugh for a first down to the Bears 47. Roughing the passer on Chicago’s Anthony Adams on end of play. Stupid penalty. Kitna to Shaun McDonald for another first down, this time to Bears 11 yard line. Kitna dumps to Tatum Bell to the Bears 3-yard line. End of quarter. Bears 13, Lions 3.

Analysis: Here come the Lions. What took them so long to play hurry up game? Kitna finally getting into rhythm. Chicago’s offense is going to need to get a touchdown in the fourth if the Bears expect to win.

Fourth Quarter

Lions: Kitna touchdown pass to Shaun McDonald. Bears 13, Lions 10.

Analysis: Lions march 70 yards on four plays. Drive aided and abetted by another stupid personal penalty. Chicago has given up its one defensive touchdown of the game. If the Bears give up another one, the team most likely loses. Does anyone out there have faith in the Bears offense scoring a touchdown? Detroit got into a nice rhythm on that drive. Maybe Martz can start doing something.

Bears: Lions kick high pop up and Hester returns to 27-yard line. Griese to Benson for seven yards. Personal foul on Fernando Bryant with late hit at the end of the play. Questionable call. Griese to Benson for five yards. 2nd and 6 from Lions 46 — a familiar site, Benson is hit at the line of scrimmage. The Bears are averaging 11 points a game. 3rd and 3 — Griese is intercepted and the pick is returned by Keith Smith for a 63-yard touchdown. Terrible throw by Griese. Lions 17, Bears 13.

Analysis: Awful decision by Griese. That was a Grossman-esque decision. Hope the media is as rough on Griese as they are on Grossman. Once again, the Bears have chances in third quarter to put this game away, settle for field goals and now Detroit takes the lead after hanging in. This is the problem with Lovie Smith’s philosophy. He thinks you can win games without having any offense. There’s no accountability on offense.

Bears: Devin Hester returns the kick 97-yards for a touchdown. This kid is un-fucking believable. Excuse the language, but there’s no other way to say it. Bears 20, Lions 17.

Analysis: Why do teams kick the ball to this kid? You are better kicking the ball out of bounds at the 40-yard line and letting the Bears offense bumble up the great field position. Hester is the only offense that Chicago has. How stupid are these teams? How many times has Hester done this in less than two years! He’s had 8 touchdown returns in 24 career games. The fact that Turner hasn’t been able to incorporate Hester in Chicago’s offense is reflective of just how bad of a job he is doing as Offensive Coordinator.

Lions: Brandon Middleton is clobbered by Rod Wilson at the 20-yard line. Tommie Harris lined up in neutral zone. Do the Bears’ defensive linemen have any concept of the neutral zone?1st and 5 from 25 — Jones is stuffed by Urlacher. False start on Detroit. Play negated on Tommie Harris encroachment. Back to 2nd and 5 from 25 — Kitna avoids Hillenmeyer blitz and hits Roy Williams for a six-yard gain and a first down. Kitna overthrows McDonald deep down field. First time that Detroit tried to take advantage of Chicago secondary all day. Illegal contact on the play by Ricky Manning Jr. results in Lions first down. 1st and 10 from Detroit 37 — Kitna big pass over the middle to Mike Furrey, who takes the ball 48 yards inside the Chicago 20-yard line. 1st and 10 from 14 — Kitna is sacked for a loss of one. Second down and 11 from 15 — Pass to Troy Walters in the end zone is ruled incomplete. However, it will be overturned and called a touchdown. Walters dragged his left foot for a touchdown. T.V. timeout and ruling coming. The call is reversed. Touchdown Detroit. Lions 24, Bears 20.

Analysis: Detroit has finally gotten into an offensive rhythm as Chicago’s front four has tired after dominant first three quarters. Detroit has already scored 21 points in the first five minutes of the first quarter. Mike Martz has finally taken advantage of the Bears depleted secondary. What took him so long? Middle of Chicago’s defense was exposed on that drive during Furrey big gainer, just like what Dallas did last week.

Bears: Lions squib-kick to Hester, who still returns the ball to the 4o yard line. However, he fumbles and the ball goes out of bounds at the 30 yard line. Got lucky again. Detroit should still just kick the ball out of bounds. Griese dump pass to Benson for two yards. Aren’t you sick and tired of that play Bears fans. Griese overthrows Cedric Benson on second down. How conservative can this get? Ron Turner is a bum. 3rd and 7 — Griese in shotgun and is sacked. What a shock. The offensive line falls apart again. Maynard punt to Detroit 30.

Analysis: What a response by the Bears offense. Just pathetic. Turner’s a dog and this offensive line looks like it needs to be rebuilt in the offseason. Chicago also needs a running back and quarterback. Other than that, they look good.

Lions: Tatum Bell run for eight yards. Hunter Hillenmeyer jumps offside on second down for automatic first down. This Bears defense is starting to press as it knows that it has to win this game. Chicago’s defense is making a lot of bonehead mistakes. Bell hit by Brandon McGowan. Ogunleye just misses the sack and Kitna hits Furrey to the Bears 29. End around to Shaun McDonald for eight yards. Urlacher with a nice tackle from behind, but the Bears defense has been on the field way too long this season. First down run by fullback Bradley, who’s a 300-lb. fullback. Yikes. Kevin Jones run to the Bears nine yard line on first down. Chicago’s front four has been worn out. 2nd and 2 — Kitna quick pass to Roy Williams for a first down is fumbled out of bounds. Roy Williams may be a talented receiver but he’s not that smart of a ballplayer. Another dumb play. These refs are clueless. Yes, sir it is first and goal. When the team with the ball gets past the first-down marker, it is a first down. Detroit ready to put this game away. Kevin Jones touchdown run and jumps into the crowd. Hanson’s PAT is blocked by who else but Idonije (got to love that guy). Lions 30, Bears 20.

Analysis: Lions have scored 28 points in the fourth quarter. Chicago’s defense has been on the field way too long in not only this game but everyone this season. Another great Bears defensive effort through three quarters is wasted by an offense that should have put the game away but had two interceptions within the 20 yard line and settled for two field goals in the third.

Bears: Rod Marinelli should be fired if Detroit squib kicks to Hester. Kick it out of bounds. The Bears can’t do anything on offense from the 40. Ball is squibbed to 12 and Hester returns to the 27. Poor kid. Hester is wasting away because of this brutal offense. Griese dump off to Adrian Peterson over the middle of the field for eight yards. Griese hits Muhammad for seven yards and a first down. 3:03 remaining. Griese dump off to Adrian Peterson for 12 yards and a first down. Clock still running. Griese hits Rashied Davis for 11 yards and a first down. A Lions player is down on the field, stopping the play. Fernando Bryant is the injured Detroit Lion. Now on his feet and walking back to the bench. Chicago needs to take a shot down the field. Dinking and dunking is fine and dandy, but it doesn’t lead to touchdowns. Griese to Davis for seven yards. Tackled inbounds and the clock runs. Griese to Berrian for a first-down at the 18-yard line. 2 minute warning. Shaun Cody ridiculously jumps offsides. First and five from 15 — Griese terrible throw on first down is incomplete in the end zone. Griese has looked terrible in the second half. Griese to Rashied Davis for a first down to the six yard line. Clock running. This is sad. Griese’s pass is deflected and caught by Roberto Garza,who runs and fumbles the ball. Detroit recovers, but this play should be illegal if ruled a fumble. Illegal touching penalty is declined and Detroit gets a touchback. That was sad yet funny at the same time, kind of reflective of how quickly the Bears have fallen. Play is being reviewed. Hold on. Upon review, it turns out that Griese’s play was ruled a fumble, meaning that Garza couldn’t advance. Bears retain the ball at the 13. A very lucky break. Griese hits Clark to the three yard line and the Bears burn a timeout, now meaning that Chicago has to score here and recover an onside kick. 3rd and Goal from Three and Turner has Griese throw a floater in the corner of the end zone. Terrible call. Pass is broken up. Robbie Gould field goal from 21 yards is good and then negated by offsides on Detroit. Replay of fourth down. Bears offense out. 4th and Goal from half yard line. Griese touchdown pass to Desmond Clark. Lions 30, Bears 27.

Analysis: This is as ugly of a game that’s been seen in Chicago in a long time. How poorly disciplined are both of these teams? Chicago worked the middle of the field the whole drive, rather than using the sidelines or going deep. Turner needs to be gone after this game.

Lions: Onside kick is recovered by the Lions Casey Fitzsimmons and returned for a touchdown. The Bears didn’t deserve to even have a chance here. This is a team that is falling apart. And now the refs will review this play again. This has been the most discombobulated officiating effort that I’ve ever seen. These guys have been clueless and confused since the game started. The touchdown stands. Lions 37, Bears 27.

Analysis: Let’s get this over with. 34 points for the Lions in the fourth quarter.

Bears: Lions yet again squib and Hester returns to the 31-yard line. Offsides on Detroit. This is just brutal. Griese is sacked, and the Bears take a timeout. This fourth quarter has been more than an hour. Griese over the middle to Clark. The Bears take another timeout. Still don’t take a shot down field. Griese over the middle to Berrian. Delay of game on the defense stops the clock. Yet another dumb play. Griese is fittingly sacked again by Jared DeVries. Game over. Lions 37, Bears 27.

No need to analyze at this point after that garbage game and professional bull riding now on FOX. Never before has a 37-27 game been so excruciating. But who cares? Everyone in fickle Chicago now cares about the crappy Cubs, who backed their ways in the playoffs thanks to the stumbling and bumbling Milwaukee Brewers. When it comes to ineptitude in professional sports, Chicago is tops.

NFL Week Four: Chicago Bears—Detroit Lions Analysis

Brian Griese in at Quarterback but Will It Matter with Chicago’s Dinged-up Defense?

OK, this is what everyone has wanted in Chicago for such a long time. Brian Griese will officially replace Rex Grossman at quarterback this afternoon as the Chicago Bears travel to play the Detroit Lions.

Can the Bears offense finally get going after putting together a lousy two touchdowns in three games this year?

While Griese will be a much better game manager than Grossman, remember that Ron Turner still runs the show, Cedric Benson is still the running back and the offensive line can’t pick up a blitz. The lion’s share of the scrutiny now falls on Turner and everyone else on the offense with Grossman sent to the sidelines with ball cap on head and clipboard in hand. Detroit gave up 50-plus points to the Eagles last week, and now’s the time for the Bears offense to get healthy if it is ever going to do so.

With that said, this game is going to be about the Bears defense, which could very well be missing both of its starting cornerbacks in Peanut Tillman and Nathan Vasher while going up against a Mike Martz pass-happy offense. Expect Jon Kitna to throw the ball more than 50 times today, with most of those throws coming out of a shotgun set. In addition to dangerous threats Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson (who is questionable), the Lions have unheralded receivers in Shaun McDonald and Mike Furrey to use at the team’s wishes.

Detroit wins this game 31-20 as the Chicago offense looks a little better (but is still nothing special) and the defense struggles to contain the Lions passing attack in wake of all its injuries.

Rex on the Bench!

Lovie and Company Didn’t Have to Let It Come to This for Rex Grossman!

The Rex Grossman era is officially over in Chicago after Lovie Smith’s announcement today that backup quarterback Brian Griese will replace Grossman as the starter this week at the Detroit Lions.

What once seemed so promising, the Grossman era was marked by tremendous lows during the last 12 months, from Rex’s five turnovers against the Arizona Cardinals on MNF last year to his zero quarterback rating against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field weeks later to his two interceptions in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl XLI defeat at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts to his eerily similar performance against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night.

Smith has finally given in to the calls to bench Grossman and go with Griese; however, did it have to get this ugly?

Grossman is obviously not the guy for the Bears. He lets one mistake snowball into others and has fundamental and mental breakdowns way too often. This was apparent many times throughout the second half of last season and is even more so now, especially with it clear that many teammates have lost all confidence in Grossman.

With that said, Grossman has been handcuffed by a coaching staff in Smith and Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner whom both expressed their faith in him but did not game plan to his strengths.

Grossman has always been a guy who liked to throw the ball down field. In fact, a deep downfield completion for Grossman early in the game often was a sign of good things to come.

But as the media scrutiny of Grossman grew last year, intensified after his disappointing performance in the Super Bowl and carried over into the off-season and the first three weeks of 2007, Smith and Turner continually and unsuccessfully tried to make Rex a game manager.

They treated Grossman with kid-gloves, trying to minimize mistakes and then throwing all the pressure on him when the Bears fell behind in games and needed to score, as Chicago’s recent losses to New England, Indianapolis, San Diego and Dallas revealed.

Grossman naturally pressed in those situations and made mistakes. The furor from fans only grew and eventually boiled over to the ugly scene on Sunday night.

Despite the fact that the Cowboys physically dominated the Bears in all facets of the game and that Grossman kept Chicago alive with a gutsy scoring drive in the third quarter on Sunday night, the fans began the Griese chants after his first pick in the fourth quarter, a terrible throw into triple coverage that resulted in an Anthony Henry touchdown.

When Grossman later looked the ball into the hands of Cowboys safety Roy Williams, it became evident that Rex was done. Walking off the field with head down and confidence shattered, Grossman had officially been defeated by the endless and now out-of-hand scrutiny. Smith officially cemented Grossman’s fate with the franchise this afternoon.

In the process, Grossman has become a much sympathetic figure and symbol of an inept franchise that can’t develop quarterbacks. The treatment of Grossman has been downright embarrassing this season. Grossman is not the reason the Bears are 1-2.

It’s not Rex’s fault that the offensive line has looked old and can’t pick up a blitz to save its life.

It’s not Rex’s fault that Thomas Jones was traded in the offseason, thus clearing the path for an undeserving Cedric Benson who has been an absolute dog.

It’s not Rex’s fault that Ron Turner, who has transformed Grossman from a borderline cocky gunslinger into a shaken and ineffective player, remains a recycled and awfully inconsistent Offensive Coordinator.

It’s not Rex’s fault that his receivers are dropping passes and breaking off routes at times.

It’s not Rex’s fault that tight end Desmond Clark is rarely being used.

It’s not Rex’s fault that he plays for a Head Coach who thinks he will get a defensive or special teams touchdown each week, thus allowing him to employ an offensive philosophy of playing not to lose rather than playing to win.

While Grossman has a lot of flaws, he’s not alone on the Bears.

Ultimately, this benching is the best thing for Grossman, who needs to leave Chicago and go somewhere else where he can regain his confidence and eventually develop back to a starting quarterback. Here’s hoping that Grossman returns to Chicago one day with Smith still coaching the Bears, throws the ball all over the field and leads his new team to victory.

Furthermore, without Grossman on the field, it will become apparent that the Bears have a lot of other problems. Brian Griese is a decent quarterback, but he’d better hope that Benson gets his act together, the offensive line corrects its problems, and the receivers start holding onto balls.

If they don’t, Griese will be left out to the wolves like Grossman thus far this year. With this benching, maybe irrational people will realize that the problems are not just with Rex.

While it is easy to put all the blame on Grossman (who hasn’t been guilty of this at one point), it’s embarrassing how the Chicago organization, fans and media have respectively mishandled, blamed and targeted him this season.

In all honesty, Grossman is one of the better quarterbacks that the Bears have had in years (a sad testimonial to a franchise that’s been around since the 1920s). He has done some very good things, but was obviously doomed by more bad plays.

With that said, the outcry against Grossman shouldn’t be this bad. It’s amazing how Rex Grossman is the root of all evil while Smith, Turner, Benson, the offensive line and others have avoided such scrutiny.

In fact, all of these figures should be thanking the scapegoat Grossman, who has made all of their lives a whole lot easier as he is the whipping boy, regardless of how everyone else performs.

Dallas Cowboys 34, Chicago Bears 10

Bears Beaten in All Facets of the Game by the Cowboys on Sunday Night!

On October 1st, 2006, the Chicago Bears hosted the defending NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks in a showdown on Sunday Night Football. In simple terms, the Bears dominated Seattle that night and laid claim to being the supreme team in the NFC. Rex Grossman flung the ball all over the field during his hot start to 2006, Tommie Harris picked up from a Minnesota game in which he forced a game-changing fumble by absolutely dominating Seattle, and cornerback Ricky Manning Jr. had two big interceptions as the Bears went on to rout the Seahawks and go 4-0 on the season.

Last night, a similar scene played out at Soldier Field. A dominant performance occurred, and a new team laid claim to NFC supremacy. In simple terms, the Dallas Cowboys came into Chicago and beat up the Bears. Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo proved that he’s legit by making the Bears defense (one of the best in the game) look like putty in his hands. Controversial wideout Terrell Owens and solid tight end Jason Whitten controlled the middle of the field against the Bears while Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett picked apart the gap between the linebackers and the defensive backs in the Chicago zone.

On the other side of the ball, the Cowboys defense rebounded from a slow start and blitzed the hell out of Grossman. Combo defensive end/linebacker DeMarcus Ware proved to be the best defensive player on the field, blowing by John Tait several times and sacking Grossman, who had three interceptions on the night but was not to blame for the loss. Chicago’s wide receivers, primarily Bernard Berrian, dropped several big passes while running back Cedric Benson ran for a pathetic 46 yards on 16 carries. Chicago had opportunities early in the game to take a big lead, but failed to convert.

Special teams were no different than the respective offenses and defenses of the Cowboys and Bears. Dallas was excellent in covering Chicago superstar Devin Hester, who muffed a punt and kickoff return, and essentially threw the Bears around the field. Chicago also tried an ill-conceived fake field goal late in the first half that had no chance to develop and ultimately symbolized a lack of faith in the offense’s ability to make big plays. With the exception of another field goal block by underrated, backup defensive tackle Israel Idonije, the Bears were dominated in this phase of the game.

As for the old ball coaches, Cowboys Head Coach Wade Phillips was animated on the sideline all night long while Lovie Smith looked dazed and confused as a 17-10 game at the end of three quarters exploded into a 34-10 deficit within the early minutes of the fourth quarter. In short terms, the Cowboys looked like NFC contenders while the Bears looked like pretenders during an old-fashioned butt whipping.

Grading Sunday Night’s Performances

Tony Romo A+: Romo came into a hostile environment against the best defense in the NFC and absolutely controlled the game from the second quarter on. Chicago kept blitzing, and Romo kept moving out of the pocket, firing strikes to Whitten and Owens as the Bears cornerbacks could not lock them down for more than a couple of seconds. Romo played an absolute brilliant game, making all of the hype surrounding him somewhat justified. Romo looked like the real deal, remaining poised, in control and confident after struggling to get his rhythm down in the first quarter. Very few quarterbacks have been able to play around with the aggressive Bears defense in the past couple of years like Romo did on Sunday night.

Rex Grossman C-: Idiot Bears fans and writers in the media with big-time agendas are naturally focusing on Grossman’s errors in this game ahead of the fact that the Bears flat out stunk all-around last night. Rex had a nice first half, and Ron Turner did a decent job early of getting him into a rhythm. However, the Bears did not let Grossman take a chance early in the game and go for a bomb which could of been big for his confidence. Frankly, Grossman’s receivers failed him last night. Moose Muhammad broke off a route, leading to an interception deep in Dallas territory, and Bernard Berrian dropped what would have been a likely touchdown in addition to muffing several other passes.

Grossman kept the Bears in the game in the third quarter after Dallas took a 10-3 lead early in the third. Grossman’s scramble on a third and long, and subsequent gutsy dive for a first down re-energized the Bears and the crowd. Grossman then responded with strikes to Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen before Benson pounded it in for a touchdown. Give credit to Grossman on that drive for leading the Bears down field and put the blame on the Bears defense for not being able to seize the momentum on the following drive and Benson for fumbling on the next Chicago offensive touchdown.

Grossman, of course, fell apart at the worst time of the game in the fourth quarter as Dallas began to pull away; thus making him the scapegoat yet again. His two fourth-quarter interceptions were breakdowns in fundamentals; something that Rex does way too much. Grossman threw off his back feet into triple coverage after the Cowboys took a 20-10 lead, and Anthony Henry (or is that Kelvin Hayden) returned it for a touchdown. Grossman then locked on a receiver late in the fourth quarter, and Roy Williams read his eyes from the get-go and made the pick.

Grossman’s two interceptions in the fourth quarter further reveal several things. Grossman is not the guy for the Bears, who have mismanaged him during the last half of last season and thus far this year. Grossman continues to let one mental gaffe or physical mistake snowball into others.

With that said, Grossman has not been put in a good position by Turner since his struggles in Arizona last year. Turner has tied Grossman’s arms behind his back and taken away the deep ball for him, especially this season. Rather, he wants Rex to be a game manager. And when the Bears can’t convert early opportunities (whether it’s in the Super Bowl, the season opener against San Diego, or Sunday against Dallas) and then let teams hang around and take leads, requiring the Bears offense to step up, the onus unfairly falls on Grossman. When handcuffed all game and then  expected to be gunslinger after developing no rhythm, Grossman obviously presses in those situations.

Grossman is not the guy for the Bears because he isn’t currently mentally tough enough to lead the team. His confidence is broken by the scrutiny and lack of responsibility behind center. Yet when Grossman came to Chicago, he was a very confident player. He has lost that swagger in the last year because his Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator continue to say that he’s the guy and yet don’t let him do much on the field. Grossman doesn’t deserve all the scrutiny that he gets. The Bears have sold him down the river and made him the scapegoat for the team’s problems, which include a very overrated Head Coach in Smith and a recycled Offensive Coordinator in Turner who is as inconsistent as they come.

With that said, Bears fans and the media should be ashamed of how Grossman has been treated. It’s gone way over the line. This guy is blamed for everything while a piece of garbage like Benson gets away with disappearing in games. At least, Grossman has had flashes of dominance and earned his spot. Benson hasn’t. Here’s hoping that Grossman can find a new team next year that will let him play and that Rex comes back to Chicago one day and buries the Bears and the city. It would only be fair, as Grossman is a whipping boy.

Sure Grossman has tons of faults, but so do a lot of players and coaches on the Bears. It is time to put Grossman on the bench and let him leave after the season, simply because his teammates are losing faith and could let that affect their play all season. With that said, Brian Griese may not have as much success with Turner (who needs to go) calling plays.

Sure, it’s easy to get down on Rex Grossman and jump on the bandwagon against him, but this kid isn’t the reason the Bears are 1-2. It’s a dumb coaching staff that puts all the pressure on the defense to be perfect and focuses on the offense not losing the game rather than it winning the game.

Marion Barber A: Barber was a shit-kicker in the second half, running over any Bear that got in his way, from Adam Archuleta to Brian Urlacher. While Romo had the Bears chasing him all around the field throughout the second half, Barber was a perfect compliment as the Cowboys established their dominance.

Cedric Benson F: Benson showed flashes early, running for 18 yards on his first two carries. With that said, he reverted to the Cedric Benson that everyone hates, getting hit and falling down. At one point, he had 13 carries for 38 yards. That’s 11 carries for 20 yards after his first two runs of the game. Benson’s fumble in the third quarter was the turning point of the game. Naturally, Benson did not play another down the rest of the game.

While the focus is all on Rex, why isn’t Benson getting scrutinized? This guy has no heart and has inexplicably disappeared from two of the Bears’ last three big games (the Super Bowl and last night). Benson should be thanking Grossman each week. With all the scrutiny on Grossman, Benson continues to get away with being a dog and a pouting prick. Jerry Angelo’s decision to trade Thomas Jones (the rock who stabilized Grossman) and hand the reins to the spoiled brat Benson is the real reason why the Bears are no longer Super Bowl contenders and the way it looks, no longer playoff contenders.

Terrell Owens A-: As much of a jerk this guy is, Owens had a huge second half. Owens’ four catches for 70 yards on the first drive of the second half was also a big statement for the Cowboys coming out of halftime.

Bernard Berrian F: Had a lot of catches, but three big drops failed Grossman and stalled promising Chicago drives.

Dallas Offensive Line A-: Penalties on Flozell Adams are the only thing holding the Cowboys back from a better grade. Great blitz pickups and control of the Chicago front four. Could teach the Bears offensive line a few things about picking up a blitz.

Chicago Offensive Line F: Considered a strength at the start of the season, the offensive line has been brutal this year and yet hasn’t gotten enough blame, which unfortunately all falls to Rex anyways. Tait was abused by Ware, and the line has been missing blitzes since Shaun Phillips destroyed Grossman in Week One. Olin Kreutz continued to show that he’s an insufferable jerk when things are going bad when he got a 15-yard personal foul late in the game.

Tight Ends A+: Whitten was phenomenal and shows the value of throwing to the tight end. Clark and Olsen looked like a nice tandem on Chicago’s second-half scoring drive, yet the question remains: why isn’t Turner getting the ball to these guys more?

Chicago Defense D: Chicago had a nice start in the first quarter but was dominated from the second quarter through the rest of the game. The Bears broke down in the fundamentals in the second half, with Adam Archuleta and Brian Urlacher both trying to run guys over and knock them out rather than wrapping up. Chicago’s defense was due for such an effort, as its been on the field way too long this season. Romo played with them throughout the second half.

Chicago’s defense looks tired and is decimated by injuries. And it’s only been three weaks! This strength of the Bears could become very ordinary soon with all the injuries and pressure being put on them to not only force turnovers but to also score touchdowns.

Chicago Coaching F: Lovie Smith doesn’t do anything on the sidelines and is not a very good coach. He continues to think that the Bears can win by having a very conservative offense and praying that the defense or special teams will get a score each week. Lovie got rid of Ron Rivera after last year; can he do the same to Turner now?

It’s time for Lovie Smith to do something. It’s time to go to Griese (just because he’s losing his team with the internal and external doubts about Grossman). In reality, Grossman hasn’t been the problem this year. It’s been the coaching, beginning with Turner and ending with Smith, who is too laid back and selling Grossman down the river. The “great” Lovie Smith could very well be coaching a 4-12 team this season because he refuses to ever change things. 

Possession by Possession Analysis of the Cowboys-Bears Game

Live Blog of Dallas Versus Chicago

First Quarter

Chicago to receive and Dallas kicks the ball out of bounds. Good field possession at 40. Let’s see what Ron Turner and Rex Grossman have in store tonight.

Bears: Bomb on first down? Nope. Cedric Benson run for six yards. Benson run for 12 yards and a first down. Turner looks like he will let the running game open the pass. Grossman fires a strike to Bernard Berrian, who drops the pass. 2nd and 10 — Sweep by Adrian Peterson for a short gain. Third down and time for the Bears to utilize the tight ends. 3rd and 8 — Grossman in shotgun. Hit as he throws as the pass is incomplete. Maynard punts into the end zone.

Analysis: Drive stalls on Berrian drop. Don’t like the fact that Turner is going to make this a running game. Chicago needs to attack Dallas with the passing game. Nice start for Benson. Why does Turner pitch to Peterson on second down? Questionable call. Bears defense versus Cowboys offense set to begin.

Cowboys: Romo sacked on first down by Mark Anderson for a loss of 11 yards. Julius Jones for a couple of yards. Hit hard by Adam Archuleta. Chicago should bring the pressure here on third and long, and see if they can force a Romo interception. 3rd and 19 — Romo to Terrell Owens for about 17 yards. Late blitz by the Bears. Dallas will punt out of bounds if smart. Nice punt to the sidelines by McBriar. Hester return for two yards before going out of bounds.

Analysis: Great start by Chicago’s defense. They need to bring the pressure against Romo all night. Expect the Bears to pound with Benson on first down. If Turner had guts, he’d go for the homerun ball to Berrian.

Chicago: Grossman quick hit to Berrian for 11 yards and a first down. Benson run for a yard. Hester in and used as a decoy. Turner doesn’t understand that he hasn’t struck any fear into opponents with Hester on offense yet. 2nd and 9 — Benson run for two yards. Another third and long here. It’s time to get Desmond Clark or Muhsin Muhammad the ball. Bears in shotgun again. Grossman delivers a nice throw to Berrian for a 17-yard gain and a first down. Give credit to Turner for going shotgun thus far on third downs. Grossman play-fake, and the pass is low to Muhammad. Dallas had some decent pressure. Grossman didn’t step into that throw. 2nd and 10 — Neutral zone infraction caused the offense to jump. 2nd and 5 at Dallas 43 — Benson short run for two yards. Benson has followed big run with two runs for nothing. Big third down here. Bears have been on the field longer and are establishing a time-of-possession game here. Grossman fires quick slant to Berrian for a first down. Nice job by the Bears of getting Berrian going early. Now let’s get the tight ends going. Benson run for seven yards on a fake to Hester. 5-yard Dallas facemask at the end of the play. Hester lined up as a receiver here on 1st and 10 from 21 — Benson hit for a loss of a yard. Grossman short strike to tight end Greg Olsen (first NFL reception) to make it a more manageable third down. Nice throw into tight corridors by Grossman. Third and 4 — Grossman under center, fires quick strike to Muhsin Muhammad for a first and goal. Turner doing a nice job of a quick hitting attack. Possession at six minutes here. Benson runs to the two-yard line for second down. Benson stuffed on second down run. Third and goal — playaction fake to Desmond Clark? Big play here. Bears need a touchdown not a field goal. Grossman roll out and throws the ball out of the end zone. Smart decision. Poor play call with six Dallas defensive backs. What is it with NFL teams wanting to throw the ball when at the two-yard line. Robbie Gould field goal of 20-yards is good. Bears 3, Cowboys 0.

Analysis: Bears needed a touchdown on that drive after having the ball for seven minutes. Good playcalling thus far bogged down at the end of that drive on third down. At least, this is becoming a game in which the Bears offense is staying on the field. Still need to get in the end zone after drives like that. Grossman sharp thus far.

Cowboys: Gould kicks the ball out of bounds. Dallas to have ball at 40. Good field possession for Cowboys. Watch Dallas try to stretch the middle of the field here to T.O. on first down. Nope. Julius Jones run for eight yards on first down. Tackle by Charles Tillman. Romo in gun. False start on T.O. What a shame! 2nd and 8 from 42 — False start on Flozell Adams. 2nd and 13 from 38 — Why are Bears in nickel? Romo under center here. Jones stuffed for a gain of nothing. Tackle by Hunter Hillenmeyer, Brian Urlacher and Archuleta. 3rd and 15 — Romo’s pass off Crayton’s hand is picked off by Archuleta. Bears showed blitz with Ricky Manning Jr. but dropped off.

Analysis: Cowboys shooting themselves in the foot early here with penalties and a pass that should have been caught. Would like the Bears to get a bit more aggressive and go after Romo rather than letting him sit in the pocket. Good field position for the Bears. Chicago needs to be up 10-0 after this drive, no ifs, ands or butts, or the first quarter will be considered a waste. Don’t let Dallas hang in here. Time for the offense to get in the end zone.

Bears: Grossman hits Berrian for a gain of 13 yards to the Cowboys 35. Cedric Benson run for three yards to the 32. End of first quarter.

Analysis: Bears dominating time of possession and game. Only lead 3-0. With that said, the offense is doing a much better job and not letting the defense have to spend all game on the field thus far. This could be a big thing to watch later in the game. Chicago needs a touchdown on this drive. Need to be up two scores at the end of this possession and not let Dallas hang in.

Bears: Grossman is picked off by Anthony Henry to start the quarter. Muhammad stopped the route. Cowboys ball around their own 30.

Analysis: Don’t hang that INT on Grossman. Like the Berrian interception in San Diego, it looks like a receiver broke off a route.

Cowboys: Marion Barber stuffed by Hillenmeyer on first down. Romo dump to Jones in the backfield. Urlacher missed tackle. Looks to be illegal block in the back on Dallas and is. Bears catch a break. Must wrap up. 2nd and 20 from Dallas 24 — Barber stuffed by Lance Briggs for a gain of nothing. 3rd and long for Dallas — Romo in gun. Short pass to Crayton. Tackle by Manning Jr. and Briggs. Punt coming. Dallas hasn’t been on the field at all tonight. Hester muffs the punt but falls on it. Mark Bradley just missed blocking the punt. Bears ball at their 21.

Analysis: How did Bradley miss that? And how did McBriar get that nice of a punt off? Anyways, Bears are dominating this game, but it is very disturbing that it’s only 3-0 right now. Time to get in the end zone. Turner is calling a nice game thus far but can this offense punch it in? Bears need to execute in Dallas territory.

Bears: 1st and 10 from 23 — Benson dancing too much…loses four yards on a play in which there wasn’t much to begin with. Still need to move forward rather than sideways. 2nd and 14 — Conservative draw to Benson for a gain of about five yards. A long third down here, key for Grossman to not force anything. 3rd and 8 — Grossman in gun, goes under center, throws a floater off his back foot to Rashied Davis. Pass incomplete. Maynard punting from just outside Chicago 10 — Nice punt to Cowboys 31, Crayton fair catch.

Analysis: Poor footwork by Grossman on that play. Davis had a chance to catch it. More alarming, Bears controlling the game and yet only lead 3-0. Very reminiscent of first halves against San Diego and Kansas City. This team needs to take a chance deep down field on offense. Dallas should be down at least 10-0 but is one big play away from taking the lead in a game in which the offense has done nothing.

Cowboys: Romo strike to Jason Whitten for a gain of 34 yards. Bears brought the pressure there and Romo avoided. 1st and 10 from Bears 35 — Romo pass to Terrell Owens for 10 yards and a first down. Chicago needs to be more aggressive on defense. Owens dropped a slant pass. Offensive pass interference on Owens. 1st and 20 from 35 yard line — Whitten wide open again behind the Bears defense after some pressure. Nice blitz pickup by Dallas. Urlacher couldn’t get off Gurode block and still struggles getting off blocks in general. Romo pass to Whitten in the back of the end zone is incomplete. Dallas starting to get a nice offensive flow. 2nd and 10 from 12 — Romo quick slant to Fasano is dropped. Dallas should have scored there. Cowboys tight ends giving the Bears a lot of trouble. 3rd and 10 — Romo pass to Crayton is incomplete. Chicago holds on nice coverage by Peanut Tillman. Nick Folk field goal from 30 yards is good. Bears 3, Cowboys 3

Analysis: Dallas starting to find something with its tight ends, who are getting behind Bears linebackers. Romo and Fasano should have connected for a touchdown. Chicago not getting much of a pass rush from front four. May need to bring some more blitzes. In general, they should be sending more guys in at Romo. This game is very alarming. It’s 3-3 and the Bears have dominated for the most part. Romo showing very nice poise in the pocket.

Bears: Hester return to the 18-yard line. Another T.V. timeout. Big drive for the Bears on offense. Need to score here. Momentum is swinging. Benson run for six yards wiped out by Desmond Clark holding. 1st and 19 from Bears 9 — No turnovers please. Benson rush for three yards. Juking too much rather than hitting the hole (even though there wasn’t one there); 2nd and 16 — Grossman is sacked by DeMarcus Ware, who blew by John Tait. 3rd and 23 from 4 — run with Adrian Peterson. No shock. Turner has no confidence in Grossman this deep in Bears territory. Maynard in back of end zone needs a big punt. Punt to Bears 48, Crayton return to 45.

Analysis: Great field position for Dallas. Chicago offense stalling like in games past after early momentum. Bears defense facing yet another tough task.

Cowboys: Briggs and Anderson brought the heat and just missed the sack. Urlacher gets the sack. That’s what Chicago needs to do. Bring the blitz and go after Romo. 2nd and 18 — Romo incomplete pass. 3rd and 18 — Dallas averaging 16 yards to go on 3rd down. Screen pass to Julius Jones for about 15 yards at least swings the field position game. Bears timeout.

Analysis: Big blitz by Bears holds down Dallas here. Yet again, Bears need to do something here on offense. A nice drive to end the half (five minutes left) would be nice. Looks like Dallas is going for it on 4th and 3 — may try to draw Bears offsides. Romo hits Owens for a first down. Darwin Walker’s inability to get off the field leads Cowboys to go for it. Romo to Whitten for first down at Bears 12. Nice blitz pickup on previous blay (Gurode got Briggs). Jones run for three yards, nice stop by Manning Jr. 2nd and 8 from Bears 9: Romo pass to Fasano for three yards, tackle by Nathan Vasher. 3rd and 4 — Romo in gun: Crayton drops touchdown pass, wide open, reminiscent of Jackie Smith in the Super Bowl. Folk 23-yard field goal is blocked by Idonije. Archuleta returns to Dallas 46 yard line.

Analysis: Another block by the Bears special teams. Unbelievable. Three blocks in three games. Dallas decision to go for it on fourth down earlier at Bears 43 shows that Dallas and other teams don’t worry about where the Bears have the ball on offense. In other words, they’re not too concerned about what the Bears can do on offense. Chicago holds again with backs against the wall. Chicago could realistically be down 14-3 at this point. This game is like Kansas City in the second half. Cowboys are now blowing chances. Chicago needs to score a touchdown to end the half. Dallas receives first in the second half.

Bears: Grossman play action pass to Desmond Clark down the middle is low and incomplete. Bad throw by Grossman. Good call by Turner, trying to turn special teams stop into chance for a big hit. Two minute warning. 2nd and 10 — Grossman quick hit to Berrian for 13 yards. 1st and 10 — Grossman beautiful pump fake and throw to Berrian at the 10 yard line is dropped. Let the ball hit him in the chest rather than getting hands on it first to bring into chest. 2nd and 10 — Nice blitz by Dallas. Grossman throws the ball into the ground. Bad pickup by the Bears on Ware. 3rd and 10 — Grossman calls timeout. Grossman quick strike to Berrian is incomplete. Gould will try a 53-yard field goal. If he misses here, this will give Dallas a chance to score at end of half and could swing the momentum. Bears run a fake and it’s incomplete. Play never developed. Desmond Clark didn’t get off the line quick enough for Gould to throw the ball. Dallas with good field position at 35.

Analysis: As John Madden said, that play didn’t have a chance. More importantly, fake shows the Bears don’t have confidence in offense and are trying to pull all of the tricks out of the bag here in a big game. Chicago should have scored on that drive but Berrian’s drop looms large.

Dallas: Romo pass to T.O. is dropped yet again. Draw to Barber. Stopped by Briggs. Holding on Dallas makes it 2nd and 20 from 25 with 59 seconds — Romo pass to Owens is incomplete. If Bears can hold here and use last timeout, they will set up a Hester return. Huge play. Barber draw for about 10 yards. Bears to use last timeout, setting up Hester possibility. McBriar should punt out of bounds but doesn’t. Hester fair catch at 29 yard line.

Analysis: Why are they punting to Hester?

Bears: Grossman to Desmond Clark for seven yards. Nice job by Clark of getting out of bounds. Horse collar on Roy Williams adds 15-yards to the end of the play. Chicago should take a shot down field here and try to get a late score. Grossman forced pass to Muhammad is incomplete. Why is Chicago trying to work the middle of the field with no timeouts? Grossman dump pass to Peterson, tackled inbounds. Grossman spikes the ball on third down with six seconds left. Grossman got sacked by Ware. Holding on offense. Bears timekeeper ran off the clock. John Tait has been abused by DeMarcus Ware.

Analysis: Terrible coaching by the Bears here and the Bears get away with cheating by timekeeper. Just awful all around there. Dallas got screwed on that play. Bears are lucky to be tied. Chicago 3, Dallas 3.

Halftime Analysis: Missed opportunities sum up this first half. Bears should have scored early but settled for a field goal, and then turned it deep in Dallas territory. Romo missed Fasano on touchdown. Crayton dropped a T.D. pass. Berrian dropped a possible T.D.

Even more worrisome, Chicago’s clock-management and play calling at the end of the half was awful. Bad first half for Tait, and Grossman couldn’t avoid the rush on the last play. Chicago survives because of dirty timekeeping. This game is eerily similar to San Diego and Kansas City games. Expect the Cowboys to take this game in the second half. Chicago offense sustaining no rhythm once again; Turner’s called a decent first half but the Bears did not capitalize when they had the opportunity early in the game. Dallas can use the tight ends in the middle of the field, and it looks like the Bears defense will once again have to save the day. Grossman’s been OK but needs to be better. Chicago’s coaching staff doesn’t have the confidence to do much on offense. If the Bears staff has such little faith in Grossman, why is he out there?

Third Quarter

Cowboys: Kickoff is botched by Dallas and goes out of bounds deep in Dallas territory. Romo to Crayton for seven yards. Romo good mobility on second down, hits T.O. for first down. Lance Briggs out with groin injury. Julius Jones run for three yards. Romo pass to Whitten is dropped. Another drop, but the tight end was open once again in the middle of the field. 3rd and 7 from Dallas 38 — Romo pass to Owens for first down. Nice presence in pocket by Romo. This game is slipping away from Chicago. 1st and 10 for Dallas at Bears 35. Romo again alludes pressure and hits Owens in the middle of the field to the Bears nine yard line. Julius Jones first and goal run to the three yard line. 2nd and Goal — Romo play action pass to Whitten for a touchdown. Cowboys 10, Bears 3.

Analysis: Romo is playing an excellent game against Chicago pressure. Bears defense is once being asked to do too much. Even more alarming, Briggs out and Ogunleye hurt on that drive. Injuries could take a toll on this unit this season. Dallas is really beating Chicago in the middle of the field, thanks in large part to Romo’s scrambling ability. Chicago offense must respond, which is asking a lot from a unit with one offensive touchdown in 10 quarters this season. Dallas may have taken this game, and Romo has been impressive. Owens with four catches for 70 yards on that drive.

Bears: Hester muffs kickoff and returns to the 14-yard line. False start on Muhammad. Benson run for five yards to get back to original line of scrimmage. Grossman throws out of bounds, nice protection by Dallas defense. Fans booing Grossman but that was good coverage and a smart decision to throw out of bounds. Grossman steps up in the pocket and runs and dives for first down. First time in his career that Grossman has made a play with his legs. Chicago’s offensive line is getting dominated tonight. 1st and 10 from 26 — Grossman hits Clark for a big gain to the Dallas 21. Roy Williams tried to knock him down rather than wrapping up Clark. Finally getting Clark the ball (his second reception). 52-yard gainer there by Clark. Grossman to Olsen down to the one yard line. Nice job. First and goal from one — Benson touchdown run. Bears 10, Cowboys 10.

Analysis: Great bounce back drive. Grossman big scramble seems to have gotten him going. Give Grossman credit there. He maintained that drive with a smart run on third down. For Grossman’s critics, anyone who has watched him the first three games can say that he has been better in the pocket this season. In other words, he’s not as much of a statue as he was last year, and is moving around. With that said, Chicago’s offensive line is struggling once again with the blitz. This is where the Bears miss a strong blocking back like Jones as Benson can’t do it. Time for the defense to respond.

Cowboys: Tyson Thompson return to about the Dallas 25. Holding will bring it back half the distance to the goal. If Chicago can create a turnover here, game could change. But Romo and Owens have a nice rhythm. T.V. timeout. Romo throw to Whitten for about five yards. Grossman’s career rushing stats 42 carries for 58 yards. Romo’s pass on second down is incomplete. 3rd and 4 — huge play: Romo to Barber for first down. Looks to be a flag on this play. Holding on Dallas. Bring it back half the distance. Vasher down on the play. Yet another injury to the defense? T.V. timeout. Vasher walking off the field. Looks like a groin injury. Manning Jr. in the game. 3rd and 11 from Dallas 8 — Romo to Owens for a big gain of 35 yards. Sam Hurd destroyed Archuleta with a nasty block. Romo is controlling this game in the pocket. 1st and 10 from Dallas 43 — Romo slings it to Hurd for a 25-yard gain and a first down. Hurd was wide open. Cowboys finding gap in Bears zone once again. First and 10 — Romo’s pass to Owens is broken up by Tillman. Romo avoids yet another sack. Romo quick hit to Crayton for ten yards and a first down. 1st and 10 deep in Bears territory. Timeout Dallas. As much as Romo is a ham and been built up way too quickly by the media, he’s playing an excellent game against a strong defense that is starting to look tired. 1st and 10 from Bears 22 — Barber run for about five yards. 2nd and 6 — Barber tough run for about five yards. Just short of a first down. Very tough run. The Bears defense looks a step slow. Injuries and the fact that they’ve been on the field so much is starting to catch up on them. Third and one — Barber picks up first down. This is a big drive by the Cowboys. Great response to Bears touchdown. First and Goal from 10 — Romo pass to Barber out of backfield for a touchdown. Missed tackles by Manning Jr. and Archuleta results in touchdown. Cowboys 17, Bears 10.

Analysis: Cowboys huge drive and response. That’s a drive that could define not only a game but also a season.

Bears: Grossman pass to Benson for eight yards after Hester return to Bears 35. Benson run for a first down. However, he fumbled it and Roy Williams recovered. Play to be reviewed? Ball looks like it was out. Yet another big turnover by the Bears offense? Chicago’s defense looks tired and Dallas could put the game away here. Yet again, Chicago’s defense will be put in another tough position. Play stands. Benson fumbled it.

Analysis: Benson is not the guy at running back. Two fumbles in three games this season. Bears have 9 turnovers in three games. Defense once again put in terrible position. Dallas should put this game away right here.

Dallas: Romo pass to Jones for a first down at Bears 32. End of quarter. Cowboys 17, Bears 10.

Fourth Quarter

Dallas: Romo pass to Whitten in the end zone is incomplete. 2nd and 10 from 32 — Encroachment on Tommie Harris. Julius Jones run to the Bears 4. Another penalty on Dallas. Holding brings the play back. 1st and 10 from 30 — Romo avoids another sack and hits Jason Whitten for 10 yards and a first down. 1st and 10 — Urlacher blitz and sack. Romo nearly got out of his grasp. Chicago doing a poor job of tackling. 2nd and 20 from 31 — Barber run for about five yards. 3rd and 15 — Watch the middle of the field; pass to Owens is incomplete. Tillman stepped in front and nearly picked off. Another Chicago blitz. 4th and 15 — 44 yard field goal is good. Cowboys 20, Bears 10.

Analysis: Cowboys looking good. Bears are tired but hanging in. With that said, this game is over.

Bears: Hester fumbles on kickoff, Brandon Ayanbadejo recovers. Grossman’s pass is intercepted by Anthony Henry and returned for a touchdown. Cowboys 27, Bears 10.

Analysis: Bears fans are literally starting the Griese chants. Poor decision by Grossman, which has been his calling card in his career. Does Lovie go to Griese? You can feel a season slipping away here. Dallas is becoming the top team in the NFC and the Bears are taking a step back. If Grossman returns on this drive, he needs to lead Chicago to a touchdown. Another interception here could mean the end of his career as a Bear.

Bears: Hester is eaten alive inside the 10 yard line. The Bears are falling apart here, physically and mentally. They are beaten tonight. Going into commerical, Al Michaels slings a cheap shot at Donovan McNabb, saying that Grossman will get 100X the criticism this week that McNabb will receive.

Analysis: That wasn’t necessary, Michaels.

Bears: Grossman pass to Berrian for a first down. Berrian drops a pass from Grossman. 2nd and 10 from 15 — pass to Adrian Peterson for 7 yards. 3rd and 3 — Peterson run for a first down. Grossman pass to Muhammad for a first down. Grossman sails a pass out of bounds on first down. Peterson wrapped up. Where’s Benson right now? This is supposed to be your franchise back. 3rd and 10 — Grossman sacked. 15-yard facemask on Olin Kreutz. The offensive line looks old and awful. Penalty declined. Maynard punt to Crayton. Holding on Dallas.

Analysis: Madden hit it on the head. Grossman’s inability to scramble for the most part is what differentiates him from Romo. Dallas has dominated this game with an impressive showing. The Cowboys have won this game on both lines and thanks to Romo’s ability to move in the pocket.

Dallas: Barber run for about five yards. Time to run the clock out. Barber another strong run. Bears tackling has been pretty bad tonight. They need to regroup this week and focus on wrapping up players. Tommie Harris is down on the field. Yet another T.V. timeout. Barber run. He’s stuffed at the line, but picked up first down. Barber run for a couple of yards. Barber run for a first down and a horse collar on Charles Tillman (play not called). 1st and 10 at Dallas 45 — Barber 54-yard run to the Bears one-yard line. Barber has been a stud in the second half. Urlacher stuffs Barber but fails to wrap up. Luckily, Barber stuffed short of end zone. Barber touchdown run. Archuleta missed tackle. Went high instead of hitting him low. Cowboys 34, Bears 10.

Analysis: This is getting embarrassing, but Dallas has shown a lot tonight. Just a dominant performance in all three phases of the game. Barber has had a great second half, and Chicago’s tackling has been terrible.

Bears: Danieal Manning return to the 47-yard line. Grossman is picked by Roy Williams, who read his eyes and took the pick. Grossman got locked on Muhammad on that play.

Analysis: Three interceptions for Grossman tonight. This is the beginning of the end of his career as a Bear. He needs a change of scenery. There’s too much scrutiny on Grossman. In his defense, the whole Chicago team has been bad tonight. This game wasn’t lost by Grossman but a whole team. Chicago was outplayed and outcoached tonight. Lovie and his staff face the biggest test of their careers during this week. How do they get a defeated team to bounce back? How do they respond to all these injuries? And do they finally pull the plug on Grossman?

Cowboys: Cowboys mop-ups are in. Two short Dallas runs, and the two-minute warning. Brad Johnson is the quarterback. Tyson Thompson run. Cowboys to punt. McBriar punts out of bounds.

Bears: Grossman back out. Peterson run for eight yards. Peterson run for two yards and this game is over. Cowboys 34, Bears 10.

Analysis: Give Dallas credit tonight. The Cowboys came into Soldier Field and dominated at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The Cowboys also were spectacular on special teams. After getting a lot of hype for his success last season, Romo had the best performance of his young career. His ability to avoid the Chicago rush was phenomenal, and he controlled the game in the second half. Terrell Owens had a very strong night, and Dallas Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett exposed the middle of the field against Chicago’s defense all game long.

The only things that may hold Dallas back in the long run this season are penalties and its defense. However, the Cowboys were much more aggressive tonight with the blitz and should continue to play a similar scheme throughout the year. The Cowboys need to be more disciplined, but are clearly the best team in the NFC at this point after three games.

For the Bears, all the blame will unfairly go to Grossman tonight, even though the whole team and coaching staff was awful. Grossman’s interceptions didn’t lose the game; the game was lost before his two picks in the fourth quarter. However, the INTs do reveal that Grossman doesn’t have what it takes to lead you back from big deficits. Chicago had early opportunities tonight but let Dallas hang in after a dominant first quarter. It’s also further clear that Cedric Benson is not the man, and that Ron Turner has been an absolute dog this season.

Chicago broke down in the fundamentals in tackling tonight as well. Defensively, the Bears were a step slow in the second half. After being on the field for too long in the first two games of the season, the Bears defense couldn’t maintain another Herculean effort. And injuries are starting to take a toll on this team, once again symbolizing how tough it is to get back to the Super Bowl.

This game probably signals the end of Grossman as the quarterback of the future for the Bears. He may still start but this is the type of game that will begin cementing the fact within the organization that he’s not the guy for the long term. Now the questions will start falling on Lovie Smith and his coaching abilities. Will he finally make a change at the QB position? The Bears haven’t been able to game plan around Grossman all year. Also, how does Smith get the Bears to regroup?

This game also falls on Jerry Angelo. The Thomas Jones trade was bad in March and is even worse right now. Why Benson was anointed the starter (just because he was a first-round pick) is a joke, and Ced once again disappeared from the game after his third-quarter fumble (similar to the Super Bowl). All in all, the Bears were exposed tonight in every facet of the game. How they respond will be key to where this season goes from here?

Once again, the offense failed to establish any consistent rhythm, and turnovers (4 more tonight) and dropped passes were huge. Chicago’s offensive line is really looking old thus far this season, and is unable to pick up the blitz. The Bears don’t have a solid back to take the pressure off Grossman (as Benson is clearly not the guy). Rex continues to show that one mental gaffe or physical mistake can result in a downfall of mistakes. It’s getting clear (if it hasn’t been already) that Grossman’s teammates and coaches don’t have confidence in him and are letting this affect their play.

Defensively, the Bears were aggressive but couldn’t get to Tony Romo, who proved elusive and controlled the game from the second quarter on. Fundamentally, the Bears were very poor when tackling. How many times did Bears players make initial contact only to let Romo, Barber or someone else bounce off and get more yards? The front line was contained by the Cowboys offensive line, which did a phenomenal job against the blitz unlike its Chicago counterparts. The Bears defense is a unit that has been on the field way too long this season. While keeping the game close in the first half, the Bears defense couldn’t do it in the second half. Romo, Garrett, Owens and Whitten killed the Bears in the middle of the field all night long.

All in all, it was a game that a usually dominant Bears defense (which is being decimated by injuries), a dormant offense, a sloppy special teams, and a unimpressive coaching staff would like to forget. But will Chicago be able to forget a game in which the Cowboys came into their house and totally dominated?

NFL Week Three: Dallas Cowboys-Chicago Bears Analysis

PREVIEW OF COWBOYS-BEARS TILT ON SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

Nearly a year ago, the Chicago Bears destroyed the Seattle Seahawks at Soldier Field in front of a national audience on Sunday Night Football, establishing themselves as the elite team in the National Football Conference. The Bears did so in that game by opening up the playbook and letting quarterback Rex Grossman play. Grossman responded with one of his best efforts last season, earning player of the game honors and being unfortunately compared to Brett Favre by John Madden at one point. Of course, Grossman would throw up a stinker in Arizona a few weeks later on Monday Night Football and become the much-aligned question mark during the Bears run to Super Bowl XLI.

As the Bears prepare to take on the undefeated Dallas Cowboys tonight on SNF, the local media has been describing this game as Grossman’s last stand: either Grossman plays well, gets the offense going and helps lead the Bears to a big victory or he stinks up the joint and basically secures the ascension of Brian Griese to the number-one quarterback spot. Whether the Bears as an organization feels this way remains to be seen, but all the blame should not be placed on Rex.

Through two games, Grossman has been made a game manager by Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner, who has not shown the ability to consistently game plan around this kid since midway through last season. Barring two bad and inexcusable interceptions during an ugly second half last week in a 20-10 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs, Grossman was decent, given what he was given by Turner. Unfortunately, Turner has not let Grossman get into a rhythm yet this season. With the exception of Sun-Times Columnist Carol Slezak, few others in the media have pitted the blame on the Bears weak offensive start to Turner’s conservative playcalling. Rather, once again, all the negative press has gone to Grossman, the media whipping boy.

With that said, it’s time for Ron Turner to step up tonight (much easier said than done) and let Grossman play against a very suspect Cowboys defense in which points can be had. Let Grossman go deep and challenge the Cowboys. Get Grossman into an early rhythm by hitting tight end Desmond Clark and rookie Greg Olsen, who will be making his NFL debut. Utilize Bernard Berrian as a deep threat and get the ball to possession receiver Muhsin Mohammed. Take the good with the bad with Rex, and give the kid a fighting chance to do something.

While everyone is putting this game on Rex, it really should be on Turner, who has been as bad as John Shoop at the start of this season.

Keys to the Game

Turner’s Playcalling: Conservative or Aggressive? Turner needs to come out with the idea of Grossman getting into a nice passing rhythm rather than focusing on letting unproven and unimpressive running back Cedric Benson pounding it out to open up the pass. Turner can do so by utilizing the most underrated player on the offense, Clark. Turner needs to show some variety in his playcalling and stop going to the well too many times with the same play (i.e. the halfback dump-off pass, which was used too many times last week against the Chiefs). Turner should let Grossman go for a homerun ball early in the game and see if he can get his quarterback off to a confident start. In summary, be aggressive rather than conversative. Call plays to win the game rather to not lose it. Get the passing game on track and use it to set up the running game.

Turnovers: Chicago’s offense has six turnovers in the first two games this season and has been unable to keep the defense off the field for the most part. Benson (one fumble thus far) and Adrian Peterson (two fumbles, one lost) need to secure the football much closer to their bodies. Chicago can obviously not afford dumb interceptions from Grossman and thus put the Bears defense with its back against its own end zone, which has been an alarming scene thus far in 2007.

Pressure Tony Romo: Unlike Grossman, Romo is a media darling. Why? Because he did a nice job last year, is accessible and says all the right things to them! While off to a good start this season, Romo has not faced a defense like the Bears. Like Turner, Defensive Coordinator Bob Babich has to have his most aggressive game plan of the season. Chicago needs to bring the heat to Romo early and often and rattle the young quarterback with a blitzing scheme featuring Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs or maybe even a defensive back like Ricky Manning Jr. Romo has been anointed by the media as the greatest thing since sliced bread during his short career as a starter, and it’s time for the Bears to show tonight that this kid has a long way to go. Put this dorky white guy to the turf all night and knock him out of the game.

Get Physical with Terrell Owens: For as much of a self-promoter and alleged stud Owens is, the Bears can get his head by being physical. One of the most overrated players in the history of the game, Owens does not like to run over the middle and will put the ball on the ground when hit. Peanut Tillman figures to get much of the duty against Owens, but the Bears should use new addition Adam Archuleta to shadow Owens as well.

Overall: The Bears offense is going to have to do something tonight, beginning with Turner and Grossman, and limit turnovers. Luckily, they’re going up against a Dallas defense that is nothing special. If aggressive, the Bears can put up some points tonight. But will Turner let Grossman and his offensive mates do so?

The Bears defense can hold down the Cowboys offense; however, if it has to be on the field all game and play with a short field because of offensive turnovers, the Cowboys will get their points. Both sides of the ball need to be really physical tonight and make plays, as Dallas will avoid Devin Hester at all costs. Expect the Bears defense to be really physical and go after Romo and Owens, both overrated, ESPN darlings whom can be taken out of the game.

Prediction: It’s time for Chicago to reestablish itself this week as the class of a very weak NFC (Green Bay is 3-0 for God’s sake). If Turner comes out aggressive and lets Grossman play, the Bears will win this game 27-10. If he comes out like the last two weeks and banks the game on the defense or special teams, the Bears will lose a similar game to the opening week loss in San Diego by the score of 19-10.

After two less-than-stellar, offensive efforts to open the season, the Bears offense will come out tonight looking to be aggressors rather than participants in the game. Chicago gets the win by double figures as a hungry defense dominates (eating up Romo and Owens) and the Bears offense gets healthy for at least one game.