It would be one thing if they just weren’t very good. Or if the other team was simply better. But to give away games in which you have the lead? The. Worst. You have leads two weeks in a row and can’t find the killer instinct to finish? Sickening.

Let’s start with Charles Tillman. He had another great game. A pass defended on 3rd & 10, yet another forced fumble and then the play on Stovall at the end of the game. On that play he was beaten yet recovered to pop the ball loose for an incompletion. And then. The flag that changed it all. Replays show he came in solely to help after Trueblood was swinging wildly. But the refs need to pick through those scrums and restore order–not players. It was a terrible call, but Tillman knows better. And that’s not why they lost.

Why did they lose?

• Brutal on 3rd down
• More head-scratching play calls. Draw on 3rd & 2? Hasn’t Ron Turner seen the new Warren Sapp commercial?
• Continuing with the dumb penalties, including “The Olin Kreutz Weekly” and Jamar Williams taunting
• Unable to capitalize on tremendous field position
• The continued inability of Kyle Orton to throw accurately downfield, or to the flats for that matter
• Shabby (to be polite) pass-blocking
• Zero sacks and not enough pressure on Griese

There were plenty of things to get excited about during the game. Brandon Lloyd, Lance Briggs, Tillman before the flag, Alex Brown, Matt Forte and Danieal Manning to name a few. But too many mistakes and penalties in one of the most sickening losses in memory.