Noots’ Notes-Game 16: 37-23 Win at Detroit (holiday edition)

By
Michael Nudo

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The Bears (7-9) flexed their offensive muscles en route to a second consecutive win to end the season. The Lions stayed close throughout the game, led by Daunte Culpepper’s passing and some shoddy defense.

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OFFENSE

QB: Jay Cutler (22-36-276, 4 TD) was brilliant. He had few mistakes, and put up super numbers in spite of a few drops. It was a refreshing relief to see Cutler hit on 4 red zone touchdowns versus 0 interceptions. This is the guy they thought they were getting. He had 8 touchdowns against 1 interception over the last two games. His season-ending flourish allowed him to finish with more touchdowns (27) than interceptions (26). GRADE: A

RB: Matt Forte (16/101, 3-23) had one of his best games of the season. He broke off a 53-yard run over left tackle. Forte broke a few tackles as well. However, he struggled in pass protection at times, leading to some crushing hits on Cutler. Kahlil Bell (11/44) provided steady relief for Forte and had a few strong runs up the middle. Jason McKie proved that he could miss a pass protection assignment as well. GRADE: B-

REC: Tight Ends were very involved on Sunday. Greg Olsen (5-94, TD) had one of his best games as a Bear. He was able to get open for big chunks of yardage on numerous occasions. He made an excellent catch on his 7-yard touchdown reception. Desmond Clark (2-7, TD) added a touchdown to end his season. Devin Hester (3-75) returned to action and provided some big plays for the offense, in spite of dropping a deep over-the-shoulder bomb up the right sideline from Cutler. Devin Aromashodu (5-46, 2 TD) hauled in two touchdown passes and could have had a third when he let a rope from Cutler ricochet off him in the end zone. Earl Bennett also chipped in 3 grabs for 27 yards. GRADE: B

OL: The majority of the pressure on Cutler was due to poor pickups by Bear running backs. Run blocking was solid, with good push coming from all. The unit seems to have come together since Chris Williams moved to the left tackle and Kevin Shaffer was inserted on the right side. The ground game was very effective with 28 carries for 150 yards (5.4 ypc). There were mistakes, where Frank Omiyale had two false starts and Olin Kreutz was caught holding. Overall, the pluses far outweighed the minuses. GRADE: B

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DEFENSE

DL:  Defensive end Alex Brown had a sack to finish the season with six. He also drew a holding penalty. Brown was suckered once on a reverse. Mark Anderson and Gaines Adams played on the other side. Anderson had a sack and Adams had a hit on Culpepper. Anderson missed a sack that Brown later picked up. Anthony Adams and Tommie Harris didn’t put up big statistical numbers, but were very active, getting tackles for losses. Jarron Gilbert played some tackle but was not a factor. The pass rush was a bit inconsistent and run defending (25/100) was weak at times. GRADE: C

LB: Lance Briggs had 12 tackles to lead the team but I couldn’t really remember him being much of a factor. I distinctly recall him and his linebacking cohorts getting blocked on a play over right tackle in the early going for a nice chunk of yardage. He dropped his head and fell down to miss a tackle on Felton that went for over 20 yards. Hunter Hillenmeyer had his legs cut out from under him on a sweep. Isn’t that illegal outside the tackle box? Jamar Williams made an excellent tackle, sniffing out a screen for a loss. But he made a less than half-hearted effort to hold up Bryant Johnson at the line of scrimmage on Johnson’s touchdown. Nick Roach made a nice stop on a reverse. He suffered an injury before halftime. GRADE: C

SEC: Zack Bowman picked off his sixth pass of the season. That’s a pretty good number for a first-year starter. He was later beaten for a touchdown in the right corner of the end zone by Calvin Johnson. It looked like the Lions may have gotten away with offensive interference on that one. Nathan Vasher started at the other cornerback with Corey Graham playing nickel. Josh Bullocks was late getting over on the touchdown pass to Bryant Johnson. Safety Craig Steltz dropped a potential interception late in the contest. Kevin Payne missed a tackle in coverage. The secondary has been banged up, and it showed. Daunte Culpepper, who had only 1 touchdown against 5 interceptions going into Sunday, finished 23-34-262, 2 TDs and 1 INT. GRADE: D

Special Teams

Robbie Gould hit all 3 of his field goals and had good kickoff depth. Brad Maynard didn’t show much leg on several kicks that he should have kicked deep. Devin Hester returned both kickoffs and punts. He broke off a 44-yard kickoff return, but his other efforts and decisions were very pedestrian. In kick coverage, Tim Shaw put an exclamation point on his time as a Bear, collecting 5 tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He was a difference-maker. Adrian Peterson was whistled for holding. GRADE: B+

COACHING

Leave it to the Lions to make the Bears’ coaching look like they knew what they were doing. However, it’s clear the defense is lacking, especially when you see a previously inept Lions’ offense put up respectable numbers. And yes, yet another quarterback was able to complete a high percentage of passes (68%) against the Bears’ soft coverage schemes. GRADE: C

Noots’ Nut Crackers
Delmas on Bell
Graham on Northcutt

Nudo’s Kudos
Cutler
Aromashodu
Shaw
Olsen

Horns
Lovie Smith

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Posted: 01|4|10 at 12:21 am. Filed under: Game Summary.

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