| I had a bad feeling that it was just a matter of time before the Bears coaches had a direct negative effect on the team. Unfortunately, they waited until playing the Packers for first place to unleash their full ineptitude yet again. In the first game of the season, the Bears played an ultra-conservative, and highly ineffective, offense in their loss to the Ravens. I had hoped the Bears coaches would have burned that game plan, never to be used again. Instead, they dusted it off and used it to the full extent of its ineffectiveness against the Packers. The opening of the game looked good for the Bears. Anthony Thomas was gaining yards, and the short passing game was clicking along, leading the Bears to 2 Paul Edinger field goals and a 6-0 lead. Then things changed. Darren Sharper began spending time at the defensive line, and in the Bears backfield, as the Packers ran successful stunts and run blitzes to halt the Bears running game. A good coaching staff would have looked at this and made adjustments in order to take advantage of the area of the field Sharper was vacating. The Bear coaching staff instead continued to think it a good idea to run Anthony Thomas into 8 man defensive fronts, resulting in the Bear offense grinding to a halt. Favre was not as sharp |
as he could be, though he did complete a couple of nice touchdown throws. The one to Schroeder was vintage Favre, as he patiently patted the ball and waited for his opening. The Bears defense helped out by not applying any pressure to Favre, while still allowing Schroeder to get behind their 7 pass defenders. However, the Bear defense tightened up later, preventing Favre from putting the game out of reach. With the game at 20-12, the Bears with the football, and the clock at 4 minutes, things looked to be heading into overtime for the 3rd week in a row. Alas, it was not to be. All game long, the Bears had opportunities to throw the ball to stretch the Packer defense. Instead, they ran into 8 man fronts, and threw 3-7 yard passes underneath, playing right into the Packers defensive strengths. Why? Was it because Jim Miller's injury was worse than we were told, preventing him from throwing deep? If so, why was Shane Matthews not used? Or was the Bear coaching staff simply not up to the task of making the proper adjutments? I think it was a combination of both. Miller has audible options available to him, but never changed a play to take advantage of Sharper playing up like a linebacker. I think it was because he knew he couldn't get the ball deep. He was even leaving short |
passes at his receiver's feet. The final death blow coming with less than a minute to go, and the Bears with a 4th and 4. James Allen got himself isolated on a linebacker, with nothing between him and the goal line. Miller's pass was short, and behind Allen, allowing the game to end on a whimper instead of an over time bang. The final 2 minutes of the game displayed poor clock management and inept play calling, compounded with a complete lack of execution. The Bears offense buried itself for the 3rd week in a row, but could not pull out any magic this time. They left themselves the chance at the end, but could not even complete a 7 yard out when it mattered most. The Bears now continue their quest against NFC Central Division opponents, including the December 9 rematch at Lambeau. If they are actually going to be successful, they need to ensure that game has as much meaning as the one this this past Sunday. Fortunately for them, they travel to Tampa Bay this week to face a team with an offense which has as many, if not more, question marks than their own. If they let this game be a field goal battle, they will lose, as Grammatica has been more consistent, especially on long kicks, than Edinger. I will go out on a limb and expect an actual Bear touchdown. Bears 13 Bucs 12 |