Noots’ Notes Game 8: 41-21 Loss to Arizona
Noots’ Notes-Game 8: 41-21 Loss to Arizona
By
Michael Nudo
The Bears (4-4) plummeted back to Earth with a disappointing 41-21 drubbing at the hands of Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals. The Bears’ defense could not stop the Cardinals in the first half, surrendering a 31-7 lead that proved insurmountable.
The Cardinals had a fun time at the expense of the Bears on Sunday (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast).
OFFENSE
Quarterback
Jay Cutler (29-47-369, 3 TD, INT, 3/17) played well in spite of trailing in score for the entire game. He had one bad interception very late in the contest, when the game was clearly over. Cutler connected for three touchdowns with tight end Greg Olsen. He also spread the ball around well to wide receivers Devin Hester and Earl Bennett as well as hitting Matt Forte for big chunks of yardage underneath. He’s still holding the ball too long on occasion and did miss Desmond Clark on a skinny post, but we’re going to have to forgive a few mistakes when there are 47 passing attempts. It wasn’t because of Cutler that the Bears were in such a bad position. I also can’t blame him for throwing a piston when there was a no call when Olsen was tackled before the ball arrived on a critical pass attempt. GRADE: A-
Running Backs
Matt Forte (5/33, 6-74) didn’t get much of an opportunity to be a running threat. He was an excellent receiver, picking up huge chunks of yardage on screens and dump offs. Garrett Wolfe suffered an injury and didn’t return in the second half. Adrian Peterson saw some action in garbage time and had a couple of decent carries. Jason McKie played some at fullback but wasn’t much of a factor considering there were only 7 running plays for the backs. Pass protection from this group was much better than in previous weeks. GRADE: B
Receivers
Devin Hester (6-94) and Earl Bennett (7-93) had good games. Hester ran under a sweet 42-yard bomb from Cutler up the right sideline in the early going. His only miscue was a deflected pass he let slip through his hands. Bennett made people miss to pick up big chunks of yardage on short passes and screens. Johnny Knox (4-30) dropped a deep pass that was thrown a bit short. Greg Olsen (5-71, 3 TDs) finally looked like the player many were hoping he’d be. He continually found his way open in the middle of the end zone for touchdown grabs. Desmond Clark (1-7) dropped a short pass for a potential first down. The receivers played well overall, and they too did a better job of helping out in pass protection. GRADE: B+
Offensive Line
It’s tough to make excuses for these guys when they’re committing false start penalties in front of their home crowd. The blocking overall was better for run and pass. Chris Williams made some good blocks on screen plays. Olin Kreutz had a false start and a holding penalty go against him. How does a center have a false start? A few of the sacks on Cutler were because the ball was held too long. Williams and Garza got beaten a few times in protection as well. GRADE: C-
DEFENSE
Defensive Line
Tommie Harris was freed up on a blitz and put a hit on Warner (22-31-261, 5 TD) in the early going. He was soon ejected for punching an opponent. Harris took offense when a lineman lay on top of him when he had fallen. That is how the game is played. It went downhill from there. Apart from Alex Brown (2 sacks, 2 FF) having his way with former Bear Mike Gandy, there wasn’t much pressure outside of an occasional push from Adewale Ogunleye. Run stopping was minimal, as the Cardinals ran for 182 easy yards against the soft Bear defense. GRADE: F+
Linebackers
Did any of these guys play? Hunter Hillenmeyer had 11 of the least memorable tackles on record. Lance Briggs was very quiet. Nick Roach disappeared. They were picked apart via the pass and on the ground. It was a real horror show out there. GRADE: F
Secondary
The entire secondary should be sent back to tackling school. Charles Tillman left the game with a shoulder injury. Before he left, Larry Fitzgerald put on a clinic against him. Tillman and Danieal Manning took turns trying to tackle receivers and rushers by the head and shoulders, giving up costly yardage and touchdowns because of shoddy technique. Al Afalava, who also left with an injury, dropped his head and missed a tackle. Zack Bowman had the lone defensive highlight with an interception. He was beaten repeatedly as well. The entire secondary seems to have an issue with preventing third down conversions. The Cardinals were 6 for 6 on third down in the first half. GRADE: F
Special Teams
Robbie Gould had a long field goal blocked at the end of the first half that was returned far enough to set up a Cardinals field goal. There were plenty of penalties to go around in the return game. Coverage was decent. Punter Brad Maynard had a below average performance. GRADE: D
Coaching
Defensive Coordinator/Head Coach Lovie Smith still cannot properly scheme a defense. There is no sense in blitzing the efficient Warner if the corners are going to play 8 or more yards deep. A typical example was a 3rd and 5 screen pass that was completed against defenders who were 8 yards deep and in a heavy back pedal. The Bears also received what they deserved at the end of the first half. What is the sense in kicking a long field goal when you’re down 28-7? They had the time outs to try to convert 4th down. The offense, which certainly wasn’t good enough to earn a pass, gets a small pardon because of the incredible hole the defense put them in. The penalties on the line are not forgivable. Harris’ ejection is an example of what happens when a team is lacking discipline and is spinning out of control. GRADE: F
Noots’ Nut Crackers
Shaw on Breaston
Dansby on Forte
Payne on Hightower
Nudo’s Kudos
Cutler
Olsen
Hester
Bennett
Horns
Harris
Lovie Smith
November 9th, 2009 at 2:57 am
You are too kind to them. Or maybe you’re just too jaded. It was garbage. There was derisive applause when they finally held them to a field goal and more when the finally made them punt. Cards were 8 for 8 on 3rd down until they finally took their foot of the Bear’s throat in the 3rd quarter.
Just garbage. Clearly the coaching staff has lost this team. Time for Lovie to write his ‘thank you and goodnight’ speech. I hear the D coordinator for the Vikings could be a good replacement
November 9th, 2009 at 3:22 am
WE don’t need another D coordinator coming into be HC, please. There needs to be an offensive mastermind who knows how to use the speed and arm of Cutler. It sickens me to see the CBs playing so far off the WRs. Easy pickens when you are a good O.
November 9th, 2009 at 4:15 am
Nooter, love you notes, but don’t love this team right now. A truly pathetic effort by this gutless defense. Lovie simply must be removed, he is embarrasing the whole city of Chicago with is soft play. I’ve never seen a soft Chicago Bears team, even when we were bad at least we hit people.
November 9th, 2009 at 5:54 am
This was the lowest point I have seen this team during the Lovie years. I was watching on the Fox channel featuring this game and THEN they changed to the Packer/Buccaneer game. I eventually found the game on the speciality football channels I pay for but the high def. version on Fox was scrapped in MID GAME!! Why?Because the Bears were so bad. I have never seen a game scrapped before to be replaced by another so this speaks volumes of the derision held by Troy Aikman who correctly pointed out that he thought high school games were held on Friday night.I do not blame the fans for booing. They are fed up with this crap and the endless phrases excusing the bad play like “We will go on from there”.Thanks,again for your balanced assessment and glad to see you gave a good review to Jay ,whose task was unenviable. Cheers.Leigh Smith—long-time Bears fan from Canada.
November 10th, 2009 at 3:28 am
I agree with you it is time for Lovie to move on. Not much hope left for the rest of the season. Maybe more losses will bring on new coaching staff for 2010.