By Jim Coffman
So many lowlights to choose from, so little inclination to spend a ton of time breaking down another typically crushing Bears loss – but break it down I shall.
Bears bubble screens must die. Hey Ron Turner, it was clear in the Philadelphia game that other teams have figured these plays out. Your team lines up two receivers out wide to the same side, they don’t immediately rush out into a pattern and opposing defensive backs crash in and take guys down for losses no matter how quickly Jay Cutler gets the ball out there. And I know it was Devin Hester catching these little disasters against the Eagles and Earl Bennett who made the catch and lost several yards in the first offensive series versus the Vikings Sunday, but that wasn’t enough of a change now was it?
|
Instead, after linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer ended the first Minnesota possession by standing up running back Adrian Peterson and then beautifully stripping the ball, the inept offense couldn’t give the ball back to the home team quickly enough. And then Brad Maynard shanked the punt, so the Bears didn’t even enjoy a significant field position shift. Yikes.
After the Bears defense rose up again and forced a three-and-out, Hester made his presence felt by dropping the ensuing kick. He managed to recover his muff but the tone was set. And sure enough, we were then treated to another audaciously inept offensive series. At least the capper to this one was unique. On third-and-two, the Bears apparently turned to defensive tackle Anthony Adams to provide some extra power off tackle. When a team loads up at tight end with a player who doesn’t have a receiver’s number, the first thing he always has to do is report to the referee. Surely the Bears never ran this play in practice without reminding Adams that first he had to report. So of course he didn’t report and the flag flew. And Forte came up short anyway.
Maynard followed this up with another not-great punt but caught a huge break when the ball rolled almost 20 yards before going out of bounds inside the five. At that point did anyone else think to themselves “Oh great, so now when the Vikings go down and score it will be an especially demoralizing 95-plus yard drive rather than a garden variety 70-something-yarder?”
And sure enough they did. The Bears actually managed to respond with a score of their own, the Vikings did the same to re-take the lead and then the turnovers started. And there was no way the Bears were going to overcome turnovers against this team.
Skipping way ahead, the Bears called it a game midway through the third quarter when they declined to go for it on fourth-and-a-foot while trailing by three scores. At that point it was too bad someone couldn’t have just thrown in a towel.
Favre Frolics
For a long time the secret to beating Brett Favre – something that Lovie Smith’s teams did regularly when Favre was still in Green Bay earlier this decade – was to simply catch the interceptions. The quarterback could always be counted on to throw three or four possible picks and if defenders could hang onto at least a couple of them, their team had a great chance to win. Corralling passes that often resembled 90-mile-per-hour fastballs was clearly easier said than done but still, the opportunities were there.
The opportunities haven’t been there this season. Favre completed 22 of 25 passes in a Viking dismantling of Seattle the Sunday before this one and it was just the latest chapter in a half-season-plus of amazingly accurate passing. He never did rear back and try to gun the ball through triple coverage against the Bears, and really, he hasn’t done it all season.
So let’s not hear any more of the ridiculous yammering about how Favre somehow betrayed Green Bay. Despite his leading the Packers to the 2007-08 NFC championship game, the team decided Aaron Rodgers deserved a chance behind center in the fall of ’08. Not surprisingly, Favre balked and a trade to the Jets ensued. He dithered and dawdled at various times during the next year-plus, doing terrible damage to the credibility of retirees everywhere, but he eventually ended up with the team that was the by-far best fit. It was also the by-far most talented team in the NFC (the Saints’ defense isn’t close to as good). And wouldn’t you like to be a Vikings fan now.
Bears Big Picture
Watching defensive backs Al Afalava and Danieal Manning never quite cover anyone throughout an entire 60-minute game Sunday reminded us again of Jerry Angelo’s biggest off-season failing: the absolutely incomprehensible decision to not pursue an experienced safety in free agency. Former Pro-Bowlers Darren Sharper and Brian Dawkins were out there, ready to go, and the Bears, who remain double-digit millions under the salary cap this season, had the money to sign them. Instead they went to the Saints and the Broncos, respectively, revitalizing what will be playoff teams.
The Vikings have been built largely through the draft but when they had the chance to sign difference-making free agents and other players whose original teams didn’t value them enough, they moved swiftly. The guys who made their good lines great, offensive guard Steve Hutchinson and defensive end Jared Allen, both arrived in such a fashion. And then there was that quarterback.
Broadcast Bits
Analyst Troy Aikman didn’t spare Lovie’s feelings, that’s for sure. He called him out for the dim-witted replay challenge in the first half that had absolutely no chance of overturning Knox’s kick-off return fumble. And then in the second half he took the coach to task for trying to hide the failings of his defense. He noted “the Bears defense simply hasn’t played well against any good offensive teams.” Play-by-play man Joe Buck struggled at times. At the start of the second half he spoke of the Vikings “accepting” a false start penalty, apparently forgetting that team’s don’t have a choice in that situation. But overall, Buck is awfully good at this stuff. His talk show is more than a small stretch but the man can call the action.
Hawks High
Don’t say the Hawks finished their road trip with two straight losses. They finished with a loss and an overtime decision – and that is a significant distinction. After winning the first four games of their annual late November trek west but then falling 3-0 to the Anaheim Ducks the day after Thanksgiving, the Hawks refused to be outscored during regulation against the Los Angeles Kings late the next night. They also held on throughout the extra five-minute period that ended with the teams still tied at one. The shootout did not go well (the Kings won it 2-0) but the performance that would have been good enough for a tie in the first 80 or so years of NHL competition earned the Hawks a standings point. And a point on the road, especially at the end of a long stretch away from home, is big.
That was especially the case after it seemed as though the Hawks were on their way to another shutout loss. They had trailed by a goal for a long stretch and hadn’t scored for more than 100 minutes overall before captain Jonathan Toews finally broke through and knocked in an equalizer near the third period’s halfway mark. The Blackhawks poured in the goals during huge victories over Calgary, Edmonton and, most impressively, the Sharks during the trip. But it was the single goals at Vancouver (a 1-0 win) and Los Angeles that might have been the biggest tallies of all.
So the Hawks notched nine out of a possible 12 points during the two weeks worth of action. The long and winding season has a whole lot more winding to do. But so far for the division-leading team that has now put a solid half-dozen points between itself and the injury-riddled (a.k.a. old) Red Wings, so good.
–
Jim Coffman rounds up the sports weekend in this space every Monday. He welcomes your comments.
Posted on November 30, 2009