BEARS: GAME 1 BREAKDOWN
A road loss to one of the NFL’s best teams is nothing to lose sleep over. But how you lose can definitely create cause for concern.
I still don’t understand why the Bears do not run the ball off tackle. Tait and Miller are acknowledged as two of the better run blockers in the game. Yet the Bears continue to plow up the middle. I would love to see what Benson can do in some open space. I’m guessing he would too. With the exception of one excellent power run, Benson looked like former Bear Neal Anderson at the end of his career–receive the handoff, put head down and plow for a couple yards.
Ron Turner’s gameplan was a little too cautious. Where was Hester? I saw him on the offense for only one play. I expected to at least see him as a decoy in the backfield. And I hoped to see him on some slants or quick screens and an end around or two. Instead he was a complete non-factor.
Grossman continued to give fans some reasons to doubt his ability to take this team all the way. His passing was crisp. But he had another goofy fumble and on two of the sacks it looked as if he was suffering from temporary blindness. He still shows little to no instinct in the pocket and looks clumsy trying to rollout away from pressure.
Mike Brown came back and was laying big hits on both Tomlinson and receivers. He had a nice pick and then got hurt yet again. It looks as if we’ll see a lot of Danieal Manning coming up. Manning may be improved, but it’s an obvious downgrade at that position.
On the plus side:
Bernard Berrian looked like he is the complete package. He made some nice catches in traffic and made some yards after the catch. He’s so much more than just a downfield option.
Adam Archuleta had a great first game. He was awesome against the run, going cross field in pursuit to make tackles. His pass coverage was solid from what I could tell.
The defensive line looks fierce. Dvoracek and Walker looked excellent and Ogunleye and Anderson recorded sacks. You saw all 6 of the linemen in the backfield at one time or another.
Hunter Hillenmayer–or Hillen Huntmayer as Troy Aikman referred to him once had a killer game. He’s not as big or fast as Urlacher or Briggs, but he make A LOT of plays on that defense.
