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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Monday, 19 October 2009 15:19 |
 It's hard to imagine given the outcome of the game but from the looks of it last night the Chicago Bears gave their best defensive effort of the season. Sadly it was a wasted effort as the offense had multiple mistakes at the most inopportune times. Going forward though knowing that the Bears can put together this type of defensive effort, hopefully is a sign that they can consistently put together an effort like this on a weekly basis.
If the Bears can come out and play like this on defense the way they did, they will put themselves squarely in the playoff hunt again this season.
Bears start the game on defense:
Falcons drop back to pass on the very first play and Matt Ryan tries to wing it down the middle of the defense into the weak spot of the Cover-2. He throws a bullet to Tony Gonzales that sails over his head. Of note though is the way that Nick Roach got back down the middle of the field in coverage the way he did. This is just one small play that may seem insignificant but really demonstrates how well of a player Roach is. He's fast enough and good enough in his zone coverage that he can get back there and be in position to make a play. Overall on this play the Bears were right on top of Gonzales out of the gate.
Nick Roach can play down hill too, on this run play he attacks Michael Turner and pops him. This play is made by the fact that the D-Line so thoroughly holds up at the POA allowing Roach to step into the open hole and make the tackle. Marcus Harrison and Anthony Adams are key on this play as they hold up and even get a push back on this play. Roach takes care of the rest and the Bears swarm to the ball there after.
Bears show the typical all out blitz look on third down, and they bring it. They bring a ton of pressure, Lance Briggs comes free hard charging on the out gets his arms up into the throwing lane and causes the incompletion off of the tipped ball.
After Cutler's first INT Bears back out on defense
Falcons try to run out of the I-formation they double team both DTs, Marcus Harris is the POA man and Nick Roach comes up and pops the ball carrier again. Another nice tackle made by Nick Roach yet again, I think he's easily put himself in position to be the starter going forward. Don't care when Hillenmeyer comes back, Roach attacks the line way better than Hunter.
Bears drop into a zone on this pass play from the Falcons, good coverage down the field in this zone and they dump it off to the back. Tillman breaks on the pass and steps up and makes a solid tackle on the 'back out of the of the backfield. Third down upcoming, Falcons out of the shot gun try to run a little crosser route by getting the receiver out in front of Zack Bowman. Pass is complete but Bowman is right there on top the receiver for the tackle. At least a yard short of the first down.
Bears back out on defense again with zero points on the board by the offense 0-0 score.
 Play action by the Falcons holds the LBs, but the coverage is good enough that the Falcons take the underneath dump off route yet again. Charles Tillman steps up and makes the tackle with Briggs' quick assistance. Almost a replay of an earlier tackle by these two. Falcons on second and seven show complete run package to which the Bears immediately bring nine up into the box. They try to block Alex Brown with the TE, which is never the way to go period. I don't care how good of a blocker your TE is, Brown is going to win that match up every day of the week. His penetration immediately forces it all back to the middle where every one else just attacks and gang tackles the RB. Marcus Harrison had a big hand in this play too with the way he pushes the pile back and gets into the mix of this tackle. He really gets good movement and leverage laterally which only makes Alex Brown's and the LB's job easier when it comes to stuffing this run up.
It's play like this that makes it easy to see why Jerry Angelo only looks at what a DE can do on third down. You can clearly see that the Bears do a hell of a lot to get you into third and long situations on a pretty consistent basis with the way they stop the run.
Marcus Harrison isn't getting as much credit this season as he should and this play shows that he is making plays, but not anything that really shows up on the stat sheet.
Third and ten yet again and the Bears drop into a good zone after showing blitz. Good pressure up the middle from Idonijae and a bit of pressure the outside from Brown. It seems that there was just enough pressure on Ryan for him to not be able to set his feet and get all of his arm into the throw. The pass sails incomplete on the play and the Bears roll out with another three and out. Defense on top of it, too bad the offense is unable to put points on the board.
Bears finally get points on the board lead now 7-0, should have been 14-0 but Cutler's red zone INT
So the Falcons run a delay hand off on first down, Falcons get their best blocking of the day, but even that only gets them a few yards on the play. Over all the Bears are showing good team strength at the POA and Roach comes up and makes the tackle. Bears off-sides second down. Can't see what in the hell happens on this run play, the damn production truck is too busy focused on Chris and Al. The play goes for a first down though, the first one the Falcons have made to this point in the game. Play called back on a holding call by the Falcons. Second and 11 and the Falcons complete one on a skinny post to Tony Gonzales with Charles Tillman on the coverage. Gain of 11 for the Falcons? I have no idea in hell they got a first down off of this play, it's clearly a bad spot for the Bears. Gonzales was stopped at least a yard short of the first down, yet somehow they gave him the first down. Go figure.
Falcons run the ball and the Bears completely stuff it up, Anthony Adams ferociously driving the blockers back into the RB. Tiniosamoa makes a big hit which forces a fumble that Lance Briggs should be diving on, instead he's trying to scoop and score and misses it and Ryan falls on it for the Falcons. Second and 16 for the Falcons, they try another pass down the middle to Gonzales and Danieal Manning gets a hand on it and breaks it up. Nearly had a pick but excellent coverage in the secondary yet again. Roach with the coverage down the middle of the zone on that play, good play by Roach again down the seam. Third and 16 Falcons drop back to pass, the pass rush is eh....decent I mean it starts to cave in around Ryan as he throws, but he overthrows his intended receiver on the play. Kevin Payne with good coverage over the top on this play.
Bears back on defense after Cutler throws his second pick
Falcons a quick toss out to Jerrius Norwood...major crack back seal block by the TE. He totally catches the DE off guard, can't see the number on who it is. Gain for seven for the back on the carry, Kevin Payne on the tackle. Fake toss and then a hand off up the middle a sort of miss direction play with some trap blocking going on up front. Norwood again springs free for a nice gain, Falcons start running the ball better here with a little more creativity.
Bears blow a coverage alignment here off of no-huddle by the Falcons. Roddy White is left all alone with only two DBs in coverage and they run a screen to him and he takes it 40 yards for a touchdown.
Tie game now 7-7 Bears come back on defense after the offense punts again.
Play action fake Falcons have made their adjustment and are now attacking the Bears in coverage better. Nice completion here the Bears have no pass rush nor any chance to stop it. Another toss to Norwood who gets good blocking on his way to the outside, Bears getting caught up in trying to creep inside to tight to stop the between the tackles run. Falcons creating spacing by getting sweeps to the outside and good blocking in the process. Bears losing the chess match right now.
 Damn it on the next play Tommie Harris beats his man into the gap and gets penetration, unfortunately he isn't able to maintain his leverage all the way through the play and gets buried on the play. You see Harris beat the gap and make the play but he gets shoved from behind as he lunges for the ball carrier and it's enough to bury him to the turf. The lunge tackle at the ball carrier just throws him completely off balance and makes it easier for the guard to throw him to the turf. It looks a lot worse than it is but it's one of those plays where Tommie gets beat and gets criticized for it.
Bears all out of sorts on this no-huddle action. Nick Roach is lost trying to make the defensive signal calls and it shows. The players aren't even ready for the snap of the ball because they have no idea what they're doing. Falcons just moving the ball at will right now because the Bears are so thrown off by the no-huddle. Back slips out of the backfield and gets the quick pass. Turns up field for another good gain of about eight, and the Bears are just powerless to adjust to it right now.
Michael Turner set wide in the formation catches a little underneath route again the Bears aren't in position to make the play. The blitz is completely negated by the quickness of this pass play and the Falcons are in the best rhythm they have been in all game. Ryan protected again does another check down route underneath for a completion and a moderate game. Second and short one of the DTs gets completely knocked over and blown back on the running play. He's completely toppled over pancake block style. I have no idea who it is whether it's Adams, Harris or Harrison. I know it's not Idonijae because I'm able to pick him up on the other side. Either way it's bad run defense and the Falcons continue their march.
Ryan pretends to do a QB sneak and then stands up and fires to the wide open RBs who get good yards with a blocker in front. Ryan rolls out buys a little time but the Bears aren't getting a lick of pass pressure, complete for a touchdown called because of a holding call on the dirty birds. Pass to Roddy White with only a four man rush...underneath little pass lay just short and efficient. Alex Brown off-sides. Bears out of Cover-2 again no pass rush a quick underneath pass play and the Bears tackle it after a moderate efficient gain. Empty backfield no pass rush touchdown pass to Tony Gonzales 14-7 Falcons at the half.
Bears out on defense for the first time of the second half.
Play action pass by Ryan fools no one O-Gun gets a bit of pressure and Ryan has to throw incomplete. Even Tommie Harris helped to get some slight pressure on this play. Not a bad pass rush here between O-Gun and Tommie. Bears fake blitz and don't come check down route well covered by the Bears tackle made right after the catch. Third and long upcoming as the Bears blitz and get good pressure, Ryan sails his pass and it's picked off by Zack Bowman. Bowman fumbles and the ball squirts back a ways and the Bears are lucky to recover.
Bears still unable to score 14-7 Atlanta leads
First down run Tommie Harris gets good penetration and leverage against the guard. He helps to slow the play immensely allowing the LBs to step up and make the play. This is one of those plays that doesn't show up on the stat sheet that Harris makes. Bears go off-sides on the next play still second down upcoming. Another quick underneath throw trying to negate the coverage and the pressure hits the receiver right in the hands and he drops it. Bears come with a heavy blitz on third and five and get good pressure forcing Ryan to throw early and incomplete.
Bears back on defense after Forte has his two fumbles on the goal line.
O-Gun takes the wrong gap and the play goes opposite of the gap he takes and goes for a nice run for hte Falcons to get them out of trouble. Bears get great lateral pursuit on this run play stringing it out and then stuffing it up on first and ten. Ryan on a designed roll out away from pressure hit Roddy White for a first down. Ryan gets flushed from the pocket and picks up positive yards with his feet. Falcons again try to run wide on the Bears and the speed of the defense attacks the play well. Bears are starting to look a little tired on this series as the Falcons just chip away with play after play for positive yards.
 Third and three empty backfield quick check down pass completion for yet another first down for the Falcons. Designed roll out pass Bears get good pressure and Ryan just throws it away. Empty backfield again a pass underneath that gets the Falcons another first down. Turner tries the off-tackle play the Bears pursue well and drop him pretty quickly after that. The Bears are being absolutely nickel and dimed to death in this game. It's just constant short simple passes that the Bears seem to have no answer for and it is now putting the Falcons in good scoring position on these drives as well as eating up the clock.
Pass over the middle to the TE Gonzales is broken up nicely by Al Afalava. No pass pressure on the play Ryan just throws it to a receiver that's covered and the Bears are fortunate Afalava is there to break it up. Bears have 12 men on the field on the punt, which leads to an automatic first down and a game changing drive for the Falcons. Play action pass a little bit of pressure that's mostly picked up Ryan steps up and fires a pass, it bounces off the receivers hands and is picked off.
Bears on offense drive down and tie the game up at 14-14.
Reverse wish bone formation with two FBs in the back field a run play a little off-tackle play coming at the Bears. Jamar Williams chases it down and makes the tackle after a gain of four. Second and six Bears show blitz, Ryan audiblizes to a fake toss play action. Rolls out and O-Gun gives chase, good coverage down the field and Ryan throws it away, third and six.
The most critical third down try of the game for the Falcons, the Bears absolutely need a stop here. From the shot gun the Bears blitz. They're not even set on the defensive line, it's as if they don't know what the defensive call or alignment is, and the Falcons ARE NOT going out of the no huddle. The lineman aren't even in their stances when the ball is snapped. They don't even show an effort in rushing the QB. The lineman are already set into their pass blocks on this play before the rush even happens. No one is rushing at the snap of the ball on this critical third down play. I have no idea what the hell just happened on this play. The Falcson DID NOT go no huddle so there was no excuse for the players not to be set and ready to go.
Falcons on first and ten out of the straight I-formation two TE, one receiver set another little Iso-zone block play and Turner has no where to go really. Alex Brown closes down hard on the inside gets a near tackle on him. This slows him up enough so that the rest of the defense can make the tackle.
Second and nine off-set I straight drop by Ryan, complete to Tony Gonzales. Both TEs ran underneath crossing routes and the zone coverage was confused on who to cover and covered no one. Gonzales hauls in the pass and gets it down inside the ten first and goal for the Falcons.
First and goal play action fake and Ryan rolls out and find no one open. Great coverage by the Bears here as Ryan has to throw the ball away.
Second and goal I have no idea in hell where Adewale Ogunleye was going on this play. For some reason he bites on a play action fake that doesn't exist. He goes after Ryan rather than going after the RB who is the ball carrier. By not staying in his gap and chasing the QB it leaves the wide open hole that Turner runs through for the touchdown. I don't know what Ogunleye was thinking on this play but it completely negates the two plays where he was left unblocked and made his two sacks in the Lions game two weeks ago. Total brain fart mental error costs the Bears a touchdown, if Ogunleye doesn't bite on this play he makes the tackle for a loss and the Falcons face third and goal. Instead Turner runs right by him and in for the touchdown.
Yet another mental mistake that really costs the Bears today it's almost as if the bye week made this team more stupid.
 Final analysis on the defense, they played good for the most part, save for the mental break down portions of the game that led directly to Atlanta touchdowns. This is why the Bears hover around not making the playoffs because of mental errors on both offense and defense and we saw plenty of that today. From simple fundamental issues with Ogunleye to not being able to handle the no-huddle offense the Falcons suddenly switched to. There is no excuse for these types of breakdowns to occur. Even with Roach being a first time starter and QB of the defense there should have been more help from the veterans in making the adjustments and the alignment calls.
Lance Briggs should have done more to help out because he knows this defense just as well as Urlacher does. The level of confusion on defense was inexcusable and it completely ruined what was otherwise a pretty solid effort on defense. The Bears completely out played the Falcons, but they totally pissed the game away with inexcusable mental break downs and mistakes.
Every team gets a mulligan a season and I hope this is the Bears' mulligan and that they prove that can play with any level of talent on the field in the coming weeks. They don't need to put together a perfect game to win every week, they just need to put together a consistent effort, and play smart sound football The talent is there to play with anyone if they just go out and execute.
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