I'm a big defender of Lovie Smith. Have been for years. Very little of the stuff he gets blamed for is actually his fault, but this game....oh this game, Lovie f*&ked up royally. You do not go for it in field goal range (TO DETERMINE A TWO SCORE GAME, MIND YOU) on 4th down in the first fucking quarter. You do not pucker up and play prevent offense AND defense with a four point lead against a scrambling QB. You do not continually play two deep safety when your team CANNOT stop a running QB or the runningback. They were f&king running goddamn stunts to collapse the middle against a QB who WANTS to get outside the pocket! HE'S A F*&KING MIDGET ROOKIE FOR F*&K'S SAKE.
Sorry, that one's on Lovie. Tice called a brilliant game up till they got the 14-10 lead and then he puckered. The defense puckered all game long. It was obvious the front four wasn't getting any penetration and Lovie/Marinelli didn't dial up anything extra, and they continually gave Wilson the edge as though Urlacher could run him down like he would have seven years ago. Just pathetic.
The Packers now move back into first place at 8-4, with the head to head tiebreaker, and I don't see the New York Giants coming along to knock them back down. You had a rookie QB at his own 1 yard line at home in December, and you couldn't make a fucking play. There's very little reason to think this team's going to be able to contain Kaepernick, Wilson, RGIII, or Rodgers at this point. This was a costly one, folks, far more than the Texans or 49ers games. Utterly pathetic.
The Good:
Brandon Marshall: If it weren't for him this game would've been over before it started. He kept the chains moving, came up with the miracle ball to send it to overtime, and was generally the only receiver who did more damage against the Seahawks than the Bears.
Jay Cutler: He was utterly amazing today against one of the NFL's best pass defenses, and he couldn't find anyone other than Marshall to help him out. Earl Bennett dropped what may have been the best throw of Jay's career, and the game went away from them after that.
The Offensive Line: Cutler was untouched all game long, and they eventually got the run game going late. Terrible to see an effort like this wasted.
The Bad:
Lovie Smith: You do not pass on a double-digit lead at home over one of the NFL's best defenses. YOU DON'T DO IT. F*&KING FUCK, LOVIE. I just can't add anything more. I realize that there were numerous opportunities afterward, and that nothing in the first quarter "loses" a game, but you don't take points off the board. It's that simple. If you're at the 34 yard line and go for it, you're showing faith in both your offense and your defense. If you're already in chip shot range, you're just letting fucking emotion cloud your judgement.
Brian Urlacher: He was old, slow, and exposed the entire fourth quarter. I hate to say it, but Cam Newton, Kaepernick, and now Wilson should have it drilled into their heads by now that the "don't worry, Brian will run them down" approach to mobile QBs needs to go.
Earl Bennett: I'm aware that he had a TD and it sucks that he left with a concussion, but you can't drop that ball. Inexcusable. Absolutely pathetic that no one outside of Brandon Marshall can step up. This entire receiving corps has regressed from last year outside of Marshall, and they were shitty to begin with.
That's it for now. Another one where the meatballs can have their day, because every overblown, overrated meatball explanation for Lovie Smith being a bad head coach showed up today, and while it doesn't define a career, it fucked his team hard today.
13 comments:
Spot on. You made every point. Lovie has no feel for the game as it unfolds. Too slow to adjust, too predictable yet untimely on the rare aggressive occasions.
What's worst is that we DON'T need Urlacher to play spy anymore. Briggs, Moore, Wright, and Hayden are all fast enough to contain mobile QBs (ESPECIALLY Wilson). Granted, having McClellin play spy wasn't a bad idea, but Lovie/Marinelli should've blitzed him every now and then and let someone else play contain. When you let a rookie play QB spy on every play.........well you saw the results.
I am not a meatball. I repeat. I am not a meatball.
I am not shocked at the outcome. I saw this coming the minute last week's game ended. The Seahawks always give the Bears problems.
I have zero faith in the Bears getting at least two more wins this season. That's all they need but I don't see it. I'd like to be wrong.
You don't think they'll beat the Lions, Vikings or Cardinals? Two teams they've already beaten and a team starting Ryan Lindley? A team with zero pass protection against this pass rush?
You are a meatball. Repeat, you are a meatball.
That's our Fro, Erik. Fro is our resident leader of all things pessimist. I think the Bears will make the playoffs, although the division will come down to that game at Soldier on the 16th, but this game and the 49ers game have shaken my faith on their capability to do much In said playoffs. Anything can happen once you get in, but my confidence is shaken.
No, I don't think the Bears have at least two wins left in them and I'll tell you why.
1. Vikings - They are not very happy right now and haven't won in a little while.
2. Cardinals - The Bears, historically (even in 2006), have had a horrible time with this team. I know that what happened years ago isn't relevant but it is a trend.
3. Packers - They are 1-9 in their last ten games and that one win was on a Monday night where the refs helped the Bears. Aaron Rodgers owns them.
4. Lions - They barely beat them the first time around and this game is on the road.
If you want to rebuttal, feel free.
Not to be a dick, but you DO go for it with one yard to go on your opponent's 14. The idiot move is to kick the field goal. Lovie made the right call, the team just didn't pick up the yard.
You have to in that situation. You won't get that many opportunities to throw up points against a great defense. What do you think would have changed? Okay, so the Bears go up 10-0. After that they score a TD. Then Seattle does the same damn thing and ties us 17-17 with 20 seconds left. So the Bears just take a damn knee when they get it back and the SAME. THING. HAPPENS.
The Bears have Michael Bush, he barely ever fails to get a yard. "Taking the points" is a terrible strategy, and the result of the game actually belabors this point. Hate on lovie if you want, I guess, but the only reason the Bears lost is the final two drives. Had the defense contained Russell once you'd be lauding them, just like you did against Detroit, when this strategy worked.
I will say that the failure to contain Wilson in the pocket was ridiculous. Everyone ran straight up the middle. It was unbelievable.
I will agree that it's not the primary reason they lost, but I don't agree with forgoeing a two score lead at any point at home against a good defense. In a scoreless game, or a situation like the difference between 13 or 17-0 it makes sense, but the best strategy there is to take the double digit lead.
That said, the Bears will make the playoffs and anything can happen once they're there. I haven't lost faith in Lovie. Just didn't like the call.
I agreed with it against Jacksonville bc it was the difference between a 6-3 lead or a 10-3 lead. I was mad about Not going for it against Detroit because there's virtually no difference between 13-0 and 10-0, but there's a huge one between 17-0 and 10-0. There's a big difference between 10-0 and 7-0.
And yeah, the overwhelming failure of the game was the defense, but that falls on the coaching staff to an extent as well. They were playing far too vanilla and soft underneath, and then collapsing the middle on defense when they needed to contain the edge.
I'm also not happy that they didn't even try to get in FG range on their last drive on 3rd and 15.
It's in the FTR, but essentially, in the first quarter there is no difference between being up 7-0 and pinning Seattle at their own 14 against the Bear defense and being up 10-0 and giving Seattle the ball between the 20 or 25. 10-0 changes nothing that happened in this game. 14-0 wins the game for the Bears. Not to mention, how many times does Bush fail to get a yard? The Bears have been nailing these yard-to-go situations with him all year.
I will rebuttal.
Being unhappy doesn't win you football games. I don't imagine the Jaguars, Chiefs, or Browns are especially happy, it doesn't make them win. The Bears kicked the shit out of the Vikings once and they'll do it again.
They barely beat the Lions by the score, but that game was never close. The Lions find failure in the most surprising places. If they don't get beat, they often find a way to lose on their own.
"What happened years ago isn't relevant," more or less hits the nail on the head. You can't just say "It doesn't matter because it was a long time ago, but I'm trying to make a shitty, pessimistic point so I'm accepting it anyway."
The only game I think they're probably going to lose is Green Bay, but the odds of them not even getting two more are more or less nonexistent.
Oh Erik, don't argue with Fro. It goes nowhere. I'll just direct you to his website www.firedustybaker2.wordpress.com and you can go see what you're up against. For your sanity, stop now.
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