BEARS WEEK 6 REVIEW

Critics will point to his 2 picks and fumble.

This implies that disliking turnovers is somehow subjective, a matter of taste for ‘critics.’ But turnovers are objectively bad, and the interception where he threw late and across his body is precisely the kind of play that he is in there to avoid! Anything that puts this defense on the field more than it should is not enabling victory, and in terms of performance, works to undermine any other positives. Sorry, playing good enough to lose by three doesn’t impress me. Call me a critic, if you must.

That being said, any team that can’t force Tavaris Jackson into a turnover and gives up that many rushing yards, well, they’re not going to have a good season, no matter who’s quarterbacking.

What I’m saying is–and this was especially true for Grossman–is that “critics” will tend to emphasize the bad and not the good.

I’m not sure I’m properly reading into your comment. Are you stating that because Griese had a few turnovers the Bears D’ was on the field more and hence lost the ballgame? That they lost by 3 is surely not Griese’s fault.

People miss Mike Brown. I’d even take Mike Green right now.

Tavaris Jackson isn’t a rookie.

I agree that Griese is showing why he gives the Bears a little better chance of winning games, BUT, as PV pointed out, the turnovers continue. Those things may not be that big of a deal to you, Zoner, but I guarantee you they’re driving Lovie crazy. Also, keep in mind the Vikings secondary is one of the worst in football, so factoring that part of things into the equation, it’s not too surprising that Griese had a big day.

Not sure how you can look at the remaining opponents on the Bears schedule and say they’re mostly “average” teams. The Eagles, Giants and Saints are all pretty good teams who’ve been inconsistent. However, each of those teams has a lot of talent. The Vikings are considered by many to be a below average NFL team and yet they came into Soldier Field and ran the ball down the Bears throats.

“Tavaris Jackson isn’t a rookie.” Basically he is.

Eagles, Saints and Giants may have some names, but like the Bears, they are guilty of playing some bad football this year. As the season progresses that may change. They are “all pretty good teams who’ve been inconsistent.”–making them rather average.

Turnovers drive any coach crazy. But Griese’s picks came in the second half when they were behind. He gave the D a chance to win but they did not reciprocate.

The game should have been over when the Minnesota d-back dropped a sure interception late in the fourth quarter, allowing the Bears to score. But I’ll give credit to Greasy. He didn’t give up, and proved that the Bears actually have a *gasp* deep threat! There should be at LEAST two or three scripted plays where Greecee throws a bomb and lets Hester run under it. Hester, by the way, is rapidly becoming the best ko/punt returner of all time. Why any team kicks anywhere near him is crazy. Nonetheless, the Bears are not a good team. The dominating defense has vanished. Maybe they really do miss Rivera? Seeing them in last place makes this season even more sweet. The arrogance of their fans (as I’ve witnessed many, many times) seems to be waining (judging by how many people left the game with 4 minutes left). The NFC nort is up for grabs, and the Bears by far have the shortest arms. FIRE MILLEN MANG! 3-2 LIONS IS A MIRAGE!

Yeah, and basically Grossman was a rookie last year too. (rolling eyes)

The NFC is filled with inconsistent teams. That’s why the conference is a joke now. Too bad the Bears aren’t taking advantage of that this season like they did last year.

BTW, Matty, I’d love to see your thoughts on Hester at this point in his career. He compares favorably to possibly being one of the greatest return men in history…especially if he continues on this pace. I haven’t done the research, but I’d love to know what the life expectancy of return men are in the NFL. My perception is they’re fairly short. Certainly Devin can’t stay THIS fast and elusive for too long, could he? The man is just amazing when he touches the football.

And I’ll say this again for the umpteenth time, WHY would any opponent of the Bears kick the ball to this guy? How many times does the man have to score for teams to just stop punting him the ball???

One more thing before I go. Did our esteemed blogger notice that Mr. Archuletta was benched for the entire 2nd half of the Bears game this week? I know he’s got a broken hand, but that guy couldn’t cover me.

Which loyal “Zoner Sports” reader predicted his quick demise again?

I did not notice that it was the whole second half. But Archuleta blew the coverage on the 60-yarder to Williamson. That also may have put some doubt in the Bears about just stacking the box. I believe it was indeed valued reader dhaab that predicted that. =0p

It’s a good point about returners. You have to wonder about that because it does seem like they come and go rather quickly. Dante Hall comes to mind. While he’s still playing, I can’t remember him making any big return plays lately and he is now a Ram.

That would be a killer piece for SI or Real Sports.

Why anyone kicks it to him is a mystery. And how he keeps scoring TDs is insane too. I would say there can only be a few others ahead of him, if any, at this point in the team photo for best returners ever. I’m definitely going to look into it.

The Bears are gonna sneak into the playoffs at 9-7. Rex comes in after Griese sprains his knee in week 14. The Bears get healthy- everyone is 100 besides for the guys lost for the year- and they just kill everyone. I see this happening.

The Bears aren’t dead yet.

Hester is the best ever and will be in the HOF.

HOF? Possible. But I’m guessing he’d need to blow away all the current KR records, and continue to add some conventional offensive numbers as well. I can’t think of any pure kick returners that are in the hall that don’t have any accompanying accomplishments. Does anyone have any names?

I think the biggest factor this year is that the Bears D isn’t able to protect the secondary like they did last year. Double team Harris and Urlacher and force Briggs to overpursue and thus you have serious matchup issues that any team can contend with in the run game. In August, Chris Harris was easy to depart with depth in the secondary, now he’s sorely missed, especially in the run. Manning and McGowan have serious problems just tackling someone let alone in coverage. There were a couple of nice passes dropped by the Vikings receivers as well in between coverage on slants.

I also give credit to Childress in terms of schemes in the game. Childress had no reason to panic and force his rookie quarterback to play catch up in the passing game with the score at 14 all until late in the third quarter. Had the Bears been able to put a couple drives together with a touchdown or a couple of field goals later in the second quarter, the Vikings may have been forced to put the ball in the air more. With the Vikings ahead for the second half, it made his decision easy to keep the running game going. With a 7.2 average on the ground and the Bears unable to stop Peterson and Taylor, there was no real need to throw the football. Still, he kept the Bears at bay with a few play action passes mixed in to keep them steady in the secondary. In essence, Childress probably figured he could wear down the Bears defense and the clock with the running game and let Longwell win it late (which he did). It was nice to see the Griese and the Bears offense make it more interesting late in the game.

The sad point is that the Bears only 2 wins came against two of the teams the Vikings lost to this year. Its hard to imagine, but this time the defense let them down.

Manning and McGowan have serious problems just tackling someone let alone in coverage.

Amen to that.