Last night's game between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears was probably the most important game the Bears have played in the last 3-4 years since their Super Bowl run. If they wanted to be taken seriously, they needed to win this game. Luckily for them, the Packers left their team discipline in Green Bay.
The Bears did some things well, and still need work on alot of other things, mainly their offensive line. I think the unit is still improving, but they need to start playing well at the beginning of games. Each of the last two weeks the Bears' O-line has gotten off to slow starts, and allowed several hits and sacks on quarterback Jay Cutler early in the first quarter. They do make adjustments, and figure out how to block, but they can't get off to slow starts every week. Eventually they will play against a team that will make them pay for those early mistakes.
Cutler didn't play as well as I predicted he would. He finished with 221 yards passing, 1 TD (should have been two, if Desmond Clark would have made a fourth and goal catch with nobody near him). Cutler was bailed out of several bad plays by even worse blunders by the Packers. Twice the Packers intercepted Cutler, only to have those interceptions taken away by penalties. These plays happened at critical times in the fourth quarter too (one on the Bears' drive to tie the game, the other on the Bears' game-winning drive). The thing that drives me nuts about Cutler is that he has all of the tools, and just when it seems like he is figuring things out, he makes three ill-advised throws off his back foot, while trying to lead his team on a game winning drive. He did look tremendous at times. He made a couple of throws to Johnny Knox downfield that were big time throws, and on the final drive, he made a throw on 2nd and 20 yards to go to Greg Olsen that only a handfull of NFL quarterbacks can make. His decision making needs to get better still, but overall through three games, I think Cutler has carried himself well, and is doing a pretty good job of leading the offense.
There were two parts of last night's game that excited me about the Bears' season going forward. One was Devin Hester. I said each of the last two weeks that Hester was just aching to bring one back, and last night he finally did. He almost had two punt return TDs, but was tackled by the punter after a 28 yard return in the third quarter. Then in the fourth quarter, he finally brought one all the way back for a 62 yard punt return TD. Aside from that, he only made 1 reception for 16 yards, although he did impress me with a catch he made in the back of the endzone that was clearly out of bounds, but was still a great catch between two defenders. The Bears might need to throw him the ball more on deep routes. Johnny Knox and 4 receptions for 94 yards, which is a very good yards per catch average. He continues to impress me as a young receiver. Eventually he'll find the endzone more, but I like the direction he's heading.
The best part of last night's game to me was the play of Julius Peppers. Peppers didn't record a sack, which I had predicted he would, although he got very close a couple of times, and might have gotten one had it not been for the constant holding penalties on the Packers' O-line. Peppers was a monster in the run game, as usual. His dominance forced the Packers into a number of false start and holding penalties, which made it difficult for them to convert their drives into points. I was pleased with the fact that the Bears held the highest scoring team in the NFL to 17 points. Peppers also made a big impact on special teams by blocking a field goal attempt that would have given the Packers a 13-7 lead after an eight minute drive to open the second half. The Bears' defense struggled on third down, and Aaron Rodgers (who is a fantastic QB, but extremely cocky) absolutely shredded the Bears' secondary last night. Still, the defense found a way to hold the Packers to fewer points, which is the object of the game after all.
The Bears need to work on open field tackling. Last night was the worst display of tackling by the entire defense I've seen in years. It's one thing to give up yards on a catch, or a well blocked run play, but to give up extra yards because you don't wrap up the ball carrier is not acceptable on a top level defense. If the Bears are going to be a top level defense, they need to address their tackling this week.
To me, the largest contributing factor to the Bears' victory last night was that the Packers were totally undisciplined. They outgained the Bears by over 100 yards, had the ball for 11 more minutes than the Bears did, and lost the game because of their franchise record 18 penalties for 152 yards. That is more than most teams have in a month. I know the crowd was loud last night, but teams practice for that. There were multiple false start penalties, multiple holding penalties, and more importantly, several personal foul penalties that took key plays away from the Packers (one TD and two interceptions being taken away from the Packers because of holding, pass interference, and roughing the passer penalties). They also had a personal foul late hit on Matt Forte on the Bears' game tying drive. The Packers probably win this game if they cut down on their stupid penalties.
A win is a win in the NFL, and the Bears should be happy with the victory. Not many people are giving the Bears any respect, but the fact remains that the Bears are one of only three teams remaining with an undefeated record in the NFL. The next 4 games are extremely important for the Chicago Bears (at NY Giants, at Carolina Panthers, vs. Seattle Seahawks, vs. Washington Redskins). On paper, these are all games the Bears should have a great chance to win. With their schedule getting much tougher in the second half, racking up as many wins early is a must if this team wants to fulfill their playoff hopes.
I'll have another post up in the next couple of days previewing the Bears' next game, a Sunday night game at the Meadowlands against the New York Giants. Feel free to leave any comments if you wish. Thanks for reading.
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