About
I am a multimedia nut, journalism, photography, videography, radio broadcasting and production. I’ve done it all, but I love to write and have a lot to say. I live in the Chicagoland area now and have always had an extreme love and passion for the Chicago Bears
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Written by Brett Solesky
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Wednesday, 04 November 2009 03:43 |
 I slacked last week and didn't review the Bears, Bengals game because I couldn't stomach watching that game again. I know it was probably the game I should have reviewed and paid attention to the most given the outcome. However it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Bears just physically got their butts kicked. When that happens there's not much to glean from the video other than to say there was a total team break down in that game.
This week the Bears played their second ugly game in a row against the hapless one victory Cleveland Browns. Thanks for five Browns turnovers the score of the game was no where near indicative of what actually happened. What happened was pretty ugly and I'll be watching the tape to see what needs to improve if the Bears are to have any hope against teams that will be fighting for their playoff lives the next few weeks.
Bears out on defense:
Browns go straight to the run on first and ten and completely mash forward on their four yard gain. The Browns' offensive line completely overpowers the defensive front four. It's a complete and thorough domination at the point of attack. The only thing that keeps this play from being more than a gain of four yards is Danieal Manning reading the run, and coming up into the box at the last second and penetrating the open gap and wrapping up Lewis after a gain of four. This play looks like more of the same from last week, the Bears just got their butts kicked up front.
The next run play is a play you don't have much success with against the Bears. Pull the guard and try to run away from the Bears' speedy defense. The Bears have some of the quickest DTs and LBs in the game and they always flow rather well to the ball. Plus Chicago DEs are two of the best in the league at holding contain and forcing things back to the inside to swallow up the play. Defense does just that on this play a scant gain of two. Third and four Idonijae with some pressure up the middle on this pass play gets a hand in the QBs face incomplete pass fourth down and a punt.
Three out on offense Bears back on defense:
Browns out of the wild cat formation with Cribbs taking the direct snap faking the hand off and then trying to get blocking, and he gets snowed under and goes nowhere. Bad pass by Anderson incomplete third down upcoming. Tommie Harris double teamed on this pass rush, Al Afalava on the blitz tips the ball pass incomplete another three and out.
Trading three and outs to start the game, Bears come back out on defense:
 Play action pass to the FB, Nick Roach with coverage in the flat makes the tackle. Browns trying to go outside on the Bears again on this running play it gets strung out and stuffed up. Why take the 245-pound Lewis and run him east and west against this defense is beyond me. Third and six, Wildcat Cribbs again on the direct snap carry trying to get outside and the Bears are there.
Three consecutive three downs and out offensive drives for the Browns, a combination of poor execution and poor play calling. Running wide is running into the strength of this defense, the speed of the defense is what the Bears thrive on. Bears put together a small drive and get a Robbie Gould field goal to take the lead and never look back. First and ten Danieal Manning makes a big play on a diving interception, just one hell of an athletic play in coverage for Manning. One of the best plays of his career which leads to his best day as a safety for the Bears.
Bears in the red zone unable to punch it in for six, field goal makes it 6-0 Bears:
Browns do the smart thing and run at the Bears, Al Afalava who is quietly have as good of a season as Mike Brown has had the last few years, makes the tackle. Second and five for the Browns they run the ball at the Bears and O-Gun breaks contain leaving a big outside cut back lane over the gap he's supposed to be manning. Gain of four on the play another solid tackle by Nick Roach, Roach makes plays anywhere on the field you put him. Again no contain by the DE as the OT seals off the inside part of the line and Lewis breaks it outside for a gain of nine yards. Pathetic that this happened to the Bears there shouldn't this type of containment lost on this play. O-Gun really needs to step up his game in a bad way. O-Gun appears to be sealing his fate as a player who will no longer be on the roster in 2010 as John St. Clair is taking him to task. Another decent gain on the run by Lewis. Lewis fumbles on the next play and the Bears recover.
Bears kick yet another field goal after that turnover, three trips into the red-zone and only nine points to show for it. Back out on defense with 8:27 remaining in the second quarter:
Lewis runs outside again poor play calling against the Bears especially given their problems covering the gaps last week. Benson would suck players into one gap and then bounce it to day light. The Browns instead are going outside on every play and giving the Bears a chance to pursue which is the strength of the defense. Hand off up the middle for a gain of five yards, you can see how major the difference is when the Browns run up the middle and right at the Bears' front seven.
Tommie Harris breaks through cleanly on third and three and should have gotten a sack. Instead Harris doesn't bother to try and wrap and just sort of runs into Anderson. Anderson bounces of and is able to throw the ball away. Good pressure here by Tommie Harris, he easily beat Steinbach in a one on one blocking situation. Three and out Browns to punt.
Bears score to go up 16-0 and are back out on defense again with 1:54 left in the first half:
Browns go max protect keep in six and the Bears rush only three, dropping Idonijae into a short zone about six yards behind the LOS. Pass is complete for a gain of about nine. Third and one now wild cat formation from the Browns fake the run inside and run outside with Cribbs and pick up a few yards. First down play action Anderson throws deep off of his first read and overthrows the receiver. Alex Brown cleanly beats All-Pro LT Joe Thomas on a dip and go speed rush to the outside and gets the sack with the help of a blitz from Hunter Hillenmeyer. One of the most impressive pass rush moves I've seen from Brown in a long time. It's hard to criticize Brown though he tries on every play and never quits. Wildcat formation gains some yards as the Browns begin to attack the Bears fast pursuit with a lot of cut blocking. The best way to cut off pursuit, start cut blocking the players in front of you. That ends the first half.
First half review the Browns victimized themselves with a lot of stupid play calling. Running to the outside and into the strength of the Bears' run defense rather than pounding the Bears up the middle. Why the Browns try to use the 245-pound Jamal Lewis as an outside runner instead of pounding it up between the tackles is beyond me. Best way to beat the Bears, run the ball AT THEM. Derek Anderson is just a god awful QB but the play calling leaves a lot to be desired.
Browns first run of the second half is a gain of 13-yards by Jamal Lewis. He bangs ahead right up the middle past O-Gun and Marcus Harrison. Double team block on Tommie Harris and bad support at the POA by Hunter Hillenmeyer allowed Lewis to get free.
Lewis again up the middle right at the Bears and he's gaining some big yards here. Cleveland has good field position here thanks to Brad Maynard's 12-yard shank punt which gives them field position at the Chicago 30 yard line. The Browns are pounding the ball straight ahead now running right at Hunter Hillenmeyer. They are having a lot better success with this than they had in the first half. Wow this play is really something that should have absolutely been called a holding. I should mention who the hold was against but no one is going to give him any credit from here on out. Suffice to say he had his best game in a long time against the Browns. Another good run up the middle as Lewis gets down to the one yard line.
 First and goal and the Bears' defense gets a nice defensive stand here on the goal line for one play. They absolute sledge hammer Jamal Lewis and drop him short of the goal line. Great play here, it's too bad they weren't able to keep the Browns out altogether on this drive. Tommie Harris was the player who got down the line and actually made this play. He totally hammers Lewis down short of the goal line with some help from his teammates. QB sneak Anderson at 6-6 gets the ball to break the plain. Not much the Bears can do he just barely had to reach out to make this play with his height. Overall though the weakness in this drive as at the MIKE position.
Browns get pinned deep on the start of this drive and get good breathing room on the first play. The run up the middle gets the most success off of a major pancake block on Anthony Adams by Joe Thomas. Adams gets folded in half into the sod, complete obliteration. There's a quick combo block on Tommie Harris that moves him out of the hole but as soon as the center releases Harris regains himself and makes a decent effort in pursuit. It took the combo block on Harris for this play to happen. The Browns run at Hillenmeyer again and he is obliterated out of the hole and by running at him the Browns get another big gain on the ground. Play action fake pass to the FB and the FB completely drops the pass. Sucks when Anderson actually makes a decent throw the receiver drops it.
Hunter Hillemeyer is better right now at blitzing in pass rush mode than he is in run support. Hillenmeyer gets good pressure on the blitz and gets a good hit on the QB forcing the incompletion. Fourth down the Browns are forced to punt from deep in their own territory.
Bears up 23-6 now with 1:28 left in the third quarter:
Browns try to run at the Bears' eight man front. Bears have a stout eight men across the line and Al Afalava is up on the LOS in run support. This would be the best time to audible if you're Cleveland, instead the run right at the formation and get no yards because they don't have enough blockers. A quick pass out to Chancey Stuckey who makes his cover man miss and picks up the first down on the play. Another quick pass that negates the pass rush. The Browns aren't doing a lot of passes not giving the Bears a lot of pass rush opportunities. On first down Alex Brown gets good pressure on Anderson who steps up and finds Cribbs in the flat. Brown is actually getting decent pressure when he has the chance to even though he's been lined up against Joe Thomas all day.
Wildcat formation again Cribbs hands off to Jamal Lewis Harris gets penetration between the two O-Lineman but as she shifts his weight and balance they're able to shove him off balance. I think this shows that Harris still has some of a burst just not all of it. He is able to split the double team and get penetration it's just enough of a double team block and Harris having to shift his momentum that causes him to go down. If he kept a level angle of pursuit instead of having to change direction and shift his momentum he might actually make this tackle.
Wildcat again with Cribbs getting the carry, and he gets a couple yards but the Bears get good penetration and fight off their blocks well. Notably Nick Roach who makes the tackle and the fumble and just misses recovering the fumble. Third and two and Tommie Harris gets a good inside penetration move and makes the tackle on the back after only a gain of one yard line. This has been by far Tommie Harris' best game of the season, you wouldn't believe it unless you sit and watched the tape again but Harris looks good right now. I am surprised at how well he's playing especially since he's attacking the Browns left side of their line where Steinbach and Thomas their two best O-Linemen line up. The hard inside move by Harris was impressive because he has to go to the other side of the center to make this play.
Fourth down and one and the Browns go with a play action pass that goes incomplete to the TE. Why they didn't try to just muscle it forward for the one yard is beyond me. Instead it's incomplete with great coverage on the TE by safety Al Afalava.
Cutler gets picked off and the Bears come out on defense, the Browns get a big pass to which the rookie Massaquoi promptly fumbles the ball and the Bears take over off of the turnover. Bears get down to the one yard line and are unable to punch it in in four downs. Cleveland takes over the ball on their own one yard line and the Bears' defense comes back out on the field.
Bears nearly get a safety on this first running play. Tommie Harris is frustrating the hell out of Joe Thomas right now. Thomas reaches out and pulls Harris down by the shoulder pad for a hold that was hard to see and missed. I'd love to sit here and say Tommie Harris played like crap today, but I have to give him his due for this game. Hopefully he keeps it up the rest of the season. Mark Anderson however is the one who makes the play the way he attacks the inside shoulder of the TE. Hard to believe Anderson makes this play as well. Haven't seen him in there much today but he did make the most of the plays he was in there.
 Tommie Harris again fighting through the double team to attack the gap the RB was running at. He was double teamed the whole way but was still able to run right at the gap. This type of disruption is invaluable again I hope Harris can keep it up. Anthony Adams is the one who gets the penetration that keeps the Browns pinned pretty deep and forces them into a third and long. Mark Anderson again fighting to the inside gets the penetration and gets the tackle on Jamal Lewis what a play by Anderson for him to fight off the block and make the tackle. Three consecutive plays for Mark Anderson, I'm not exactly sure how many plays he was in the game, but for the three plays he was in the game, he gets good run defense and then a GREAT pass rush. He speed rushes right around Joe Thomas like he's not even there. He beats Thomas like a rented mule and forces the throw that's picked off by Charles Tillman and returned for the touchdown. Impressive to see this from Anderson hope this continues too the more he gets in the game.
Defense as a whole is playing a pretty good game, surprisingly I didn't see this the first time around, but they did come to play today. There were some shaky moments but overall they stepped up their game today.
With the Bears up 30-6 after the Tillman touchdown their last drive starts:
A defense that is pretty relaxed at this point takes the field. You can tell they're taking it easy and going through the motions with such a big lead so late in the game. Pass complete to Massaquoi near a first down. Quick slant miscommunication by the Browns on offense. Pass incomplete. Pass dropped by the TE on this play, no real effort on the pass rush fourth and one upcoming.
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