Noots’ Notes Game 9: 10-6 Loss at San Francisco
Noots’ Notes-Game 9: 10-6 Loss at San Francisco
By
Michael Nudo
The Bears (4-5) self-destructed in a Thursday night match with the San Francisco 49ers. Although the defense did their best to keep them in the game, the offensive turnovers and continuous miscues were too much to overcome.
A picture says a thousand words (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez).
OFFENSE
Quarterback
Jay Cutler (29-52-307, 5 INTs, 1/2) continually threw interceptions to negate the good plays he was making. His first red zone interception was into heavy coverage and should have been thrown away. Instead, we’re watching a defensive tackle running with the ball. It wasn’t his fault that Devin Hester fell down on a route, leading to one of those picks. It didn’t help that his center had trouble getting the ball back to him at points higher than his shoelaces. Five picks is nearly impossible to overcome. This was a debacle of Rex Grossman-like proportions. The Niners could have had two or three more. There are no excuses for him. GRADE: D-
Running Backs
Matt Forte (20/41, 8-120) was able to pick up huge chunks of yardage on screen passes. However, Forte is leaving yardage on the field when he runs. He’s not seeing cutbacks just off tackle. He’s cutting back when there’s nothing there. He’s not pressing the perimeter on the stretch. It’s not pretty. Fullback Jason McKie was in there more to help block but he wasn’t a factor. GRADE: C-
Receivers
Devin Hester (7-48) ran a string of truly awful plays together, where he had a false start, was whistled for holding, and then fell down on a route that led to a pick. Earl Bennett (3-27) had a few nice catches but still hasn’t found the end zone. Johnny Knox and Devin Aromashodu each caught passes. Greg Olsen (7-75) had a few key receptions early and a nice third down conversion late. He also was blown up on a running play. Cutler is holding the ball a long time back there. Is anybody getting open? GRADE: D
Offensive Line
No sacks allowed in 52 attempts. Wow. Let’s be real here. Chris Williams was trucked in the early going. He had a roughness penalty late. Josh Beekman made some nice downfield blocks, especially on screens. But he was beaten by Justin Smith late and replaced by Frank Omiyale. Olin Kreutz made some decent downfield blocks as well, especially on screens. He still can’t shotgun snap. Roberto Garza was flagged for holding at the end. Looked like a bad call. Orlando Pace isn’t slowing pass rushers very much. He was knocked silly and had to be replaced by Kevin Shaffer. Protection was better, but run blocking and penalties cost this group and the team. GRADE: D
DEFENSE
Defensive Line
Tommie Harris (3 tackles, sack, 2 TFL) finally showed up. Well, it’s game 9. He was awake enough to get a sack when the outside pressure pushed the quarterback into the middle. He held up better on the run as well. Harris was offsides once. Adewale Ogunleye (5 tackles) was a factor against the run, but went offsides to negate an interception. Ogunleye and Alex Brown were working on backup tackles and didn’t get a sack. They were getting help, and that may have led to the sacks by Harris and Marcus Harrison (sack, TFL). Harrison was trapped on Frank Gore’s touchdown run. Mark Anderson made a few plays but wasn’t a big factor. GRADE: C+
Linebackers
Nick Roach (4 tackles, PD) deflected a pass on a blitz. He had to leave the game after a collision with Vernon Davis left him incapacitated (he wasn’t wearing a cup). Lance Briggs (12 tackles) and Hunter Hillenmeyer (8 tackles) played well. Briggs was a force against the run. Hillenmeyer was a little too deep on a few of the coverages. They prevented Gore from beating them. GRADE: B
Secondary
Zack Bowman (1 tackle, INT) made an interception and then left with an abdominal injury. Charles Tillman (4 tackles, TFL, FF) forced a fumble but the Bears weren’t able to recover it. He stopped Gore for a loss of 2 yards on a swing pass. Tillman and Danieal Manning (8 tackles) took turns tackling too high. Corey Graham (2 tackles) saw some action when Bowman went out. Josh Bullocks started for the injured Al Afalava but only had two tackles. Coverage was better, but tackling was still poor. GRADE: B
Special Teams
Robbie Gould connected on field goals from 50 and 38 yards. His kickoffs were decent. Brad Maynard put 2 of his 4 kicks down inside the 20-yard line. Coverage on punts and kickoffs was solid. Kick and punt returns were poor. The Bears averaged only 14 yards per 3 kickoff returns. Hester was bottled up returning punts (2 for 4 yards). Adrian Peterson was flagged for an illegal block in the back. GRADE: C+
Coaching
The way teams are selling out to rush Cutler, it’s no wonder the screens are there. Psst…hey Ron, ya think the draw might be there as well? You are allowed to use the draw in times other than the two minute drill at the end of the first half. Delay of game on the offense at the end of the first half? Delay of game on a field goal of 45 yards, meaning that you have to go back and try again from 50? Too many penalties. Bad tackling form. How do you rein in your quarterback so he doesn’t lose the game, without messing him up? I don’t know, but then, I’m not paid to coach him. There’s lots of folks over there who are. Somebody needs to do that, because Cutler looks like a rookie out there. They turned it over 5 times and still had a shot to win. So how do you measure this Bears team? San Francisco is not a good football team. They’re just a little better than the Bears. That says it all. GRADE: D-
Noots’ Nut Crackers
Davis on Roach
Nudo’s Kudos
Tommie Harris
Robbie Gould
Lance Briggs
Horns
Coaching staff
Jay Cutler
November 13th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Turner has absolutely no imagination. Prior to the first interception,he had Forte run twice into the middle.Of course,like the many times he has tried this in other games,he got nowhere. There are teams that actually use speed to the outside—fake to the middle then run around the end—stuff like that. The 49s were doing well with outside runs and short shovel passes. Never seen Cutler do one.Adrian Peterson would have done well on that or even Forte. Didnt seem him Cutler run much either.So much for his mobility but maybe he had no choice. I said before ,he should do no harm.Throw the damn thing away or take the sack.In any case,in short yardage over middle which is where the pass was called ,it was intercepted as it was later. Guess where an open player on the last interception was? In the left end zone.Was that a Turner call??
This team ,with all its penalties,has actually gotten worse as the season goes on.I blame Lovie and Turner but not Marinelli. Cheers.Leigh .
November 16th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Noots, if you had to say what kind of blocking scheme we use, how would you describe it?
November 19th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
The Ray McDonald Express blew right threw Williams Station.
Good to see you last Thursday, Nooter.
November 20th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Good to see you too, Mel.
Erie, the kind of blocking scheme? I would describe it most as “over matched.”