Bears: Not much to say

There's not much to say after a game like that. The game pretty much went as expected. I thought it could have been a lot worse. The Vikings just more pulled away rather than sprinted ahead like the Cardinal and Bengal games. I struggle to watch the game flipping to Cinderella Man during commercials. Maybe I'm just hoping that this one time former playoff contender can resurrect itself at some point, well not this season.

• Stopping the Run. For the most part the Bears stopped AP. He went for 85 yards on 25 carries for an average of 3.4 yards, 1 TD and 2 Fumbles. That's actually, the same average as Forte. On the other hand we traded that for Brett Favre going 32 of 48 for 392 yards and 3 TDs. But the main goal this week was to stop AP and it appears for the most part he was and that's gotta count for something right?
• 3rd Down. 3rd Down was a killer though. The Vikings converted 12 out of 18 3rd downs. It seemed whenever they needed it Favre always found one of his receivers to convert. For the most part the Bears played well on 1st and 2nd downs but had trouble on 3rd down.
• Offense. The offense seemed like a non-factor. In fact, I'm struggling to remember an offensive play in the 2nd half. The Bears went for -3 offensive yard in the 2nd half. Definitely a forgettable half.

Rerun

I wish I was talking about Rerun from What's Happening!!. I'm wondering if I should have been watching The Departed or Goodfellas, excellent Scorsese films that were on Sunday night. Don't get me wrong, I love watching the Bears even in defeat. However I feel like I've seen this game before, just. Follow me if you will through Goodfellas and 4 of the Bears losses (GB, ATL, SF, PHI) this season. The Bears open poorly get beat on both sides of the ball. Henry gets a job at the Cab stand misses school and gets beat by his dad. The Bears put together a few long drives to get back in the game. Scorsese uses a couple long shots to introduce you to Henry's adult mob life, the most famous of which goes through the Copacabana. The Bears momentum fades and the Bears do what they can to stay alive. Cutler does his best Joe Pesci impression unleashing a tantrum as NBC goes to break. Henry gets sent to jail starts to deal drugs to get through it. The Bears' opponents take back the lead late. Henry starts seeing helicopters and gets arrest for dealing drugs. Cutler frantically leads the Bears on a 2 minute drill but flushes the Bears hopes down the drain when he gets intercepted. Henry frantically gets home to get the drugs he left before he was arrested but finds that Karen has flushed the drugs down the toilet. The Bears lose another close one and will now probably watch the post-season on tv like schmucks like everyone else. Henry enters the witness protection program and now lives like a schmuck like everyone else.

Cutler. This was actually the first game since Green Bay I thought Jay was off. In other high turnover games, I thought Cutler's interceptions were more a product of unfortunate circumstances and the reality of playing 3 TDs down. I felt Cutler kind of lost his edge. He wasn't forcing many balls, as a result many of the passes were Orton dump downs. He also missed on balls to open Olson, Hester, and Knox.

Red Zone. The key to this season is probably in the Red Zone. With better play in the red zone, the Bears, probably defeat the Falcons, Packers, Niners, and Eagles. Twice the Bears were in the red zone in the first half and only came out with a field goal.

Defense. I thought the defense played reasonably well. Its not the defense that wouldn't allow more than 20 points, but its also not the same defense that we saw against the Bengals and the Cards. You can tell the Bears miss that inside stabilizing force of Brown and Urlacher. I thought that Alex Brown and Marcus Harrison showed great recognition, complete blowing up a couple screen passes. Charles Tillman showed why he is the best at causing fumbles. I'm actually going to name it a Tillman any time a corner causes a fumble on a slant route just after the ball is caught. It also appears that Bowman can grow into his role. I think they just need to stop switching the DBs positions and start to develop some players in one role.

Turner. I've defended Turner in the past, because you can't always blame the coordinator for the miscues of the players. However, I thought there were a few instances were I would have called things differently. First of, after the success of the screen pass last week, why didn't he call a screen pass to Forte until 11 mins left in the 4th quarter. Second, that wide receiver screen has got to go, especially on long yardage situations. Third, a straight run play up the gut on 1st and 20?

At the end of the day... One of my favorite overused expressions in sports, but at the end of the day this loss likely ends whatever was left of the Bears season. So why play? To show improvement. I doesn't even matter in draft position because we don't have 1st or 2nd round picks. If I was Lovie, I'd say just go out and have fun. There's no pressure to make the playoffs because its so unlikely that it will happen. Just play free, get some hits, and score some TDs.

Improvement

So the narrative that began in the 2nd quarter and has continued in the 3rd quarter of the season is what is going to happen next year. I was mostly on board with that narrative after last week's lost to San Francisco. That is, until I saw that the Bears at 4-5 still have a chance at the playoffs with the Wild Card leaders only at 5-4. There are 5 teams between the Bears and a spot. I still think this team will not make it, but its something to think about.

I also think there were some encouraging signs from Thursday's game, of course anything would mostly be encouraging after the Cardinal's game. But I'll start with the bad.

• The Bad. Penalties and Turnovers absolute killed the Bears. Offensive mistakes lost a very winnable game. The Bears finished with 10 penalties for 75 yards along with 5 interceptions. Many of the holding, false start, and unsportsmanlike conduct are mental errors and should be fixable. I'm going to blame half (2.5) of the interceptions on Cutler. The interceptions at the goal line were dumb and the interception where the ref got in the way he probably should have seen. Hester falling on the turf and the DB knocking down Kellen Davis are ones I'm not going to blame him for.
• The Good. The defense after the Cardinals disaster played well only giving up 10 points and 216 yards. The D-line looked a lot better, I'm particularly remembering a Tommie Harris run stop behind the line and a number of times Alex Smith was under pressure.
• The Encouraging. Despite the turnover problems, the offense was still able to move the ball with 350 total yards. The offensive line seems to be giving Cutler a little more time and those screen plays to Forte have looked great. Might there be a link between those two? I've already said that the defense looked better last week and the special teams have been pretty solid, save for a couple awful looking returns.

Looking ahead this week's Sunday night game is looking pivotal if the Bears want to sneak into the playoffs. The Eagles along with the Packers (who we play in Week 14) are both ahead of us in the wild card. I know it's been looking gloomy but if somehow this team puts together a solid game (with both offense and defense playing decently) against the Eagles, we would be a step closer to NFL relevance.

Well that was horrible

Last week I said that this team was middling and that it would have to prove itself over the course of the next 4 weeks or so. Well I hope that wasn't our answer. Halfway through the season and we are right where we started, record-wise. Perception-wise we have been through a half season of football if you just compare the questions this team faced 9 weeks ago. Heck, just a few weeks ago the questions centered around getting Cutler more time to and Forte more space to run. Now the defense has collapsed against two opponents. I mean utterly collapsed. You can't get much worse than 0 defensive stops in the 1st half. There's just no way our offense can keep pace with that. There's a whole lot of negatives out there, so lets look at the silver lining.

• O-line looked decent. The offense line actually looked okay giving Jay a reasonable amount of time to pass. I don't know how much of that was due to Arizona being up by 20 points or what, but in the pass we couldn't even defend against a 4 man rush.
• The D played better in the 2nd half. Again, I don't know how much that had to do with the offense Arizona was running, but they couldn't stop anything in the first half. For that mini-comeback stretch, our D actually look like it should.

I'd say the most depressing thing about the past few weeks, the thing that's affected this team's fans the most, is the entertainment value of these games. This game and the Cincinnati game were horrible to watch for obvious reasons and the Browns game was equally as boring as it was frustrating. At least the 1st quarter of the season featured some action and exciting finishes.

Review: Dexter

I've been looking to add a review post each week, but up to now have been unable to (thanks Veto Session). For my first review, I'll look at Dexter which I only recently started watching. Dexter is probably, other than 30 Rock, the show I most look forward to. For those of you who have never seen Dexter, Dexter is a serial killer who works for Miami Metro and kills killers who have gotten away. The series in its 4th season I believe. This season is premised by the question: Can Dexter continue his ways while being married with kids? To assist in this question this year's serial killer counterpart is the Trinity Killer, who has successfully killed without being caught for 30 years. The standard spoiler alert applies.

• Who? Since I started watching, the main question I have is who is going to find out who Dexter really is? So far everyone who has learned his identity is dead. But he has stuck to the code and never killed a non-killer who has learned his identity. My theory is that this season will be different. I think Deb will find out who Dexter is. She already is investigating Harry's (Dexter's father) former informants (and lovers which include Dexter's real mom). She knows that somebody took Lundy's stuff after he was killed. She is also starting to deteriorate after Lundy's death. I don't know what Dexter will do if she finds out, but the Trinity killer reenacts his family's deaths and I wonder if the same theme will play in Dexter.
• The Code. Another theme throughout the series is how closely Dexter follows Harry's Code. Everytime Dexter has deviated from the code he has learned to regret it. But he we are again, Harry is warning Dexter about juggling his family, his job, and his obsession, but Dexter thinks he can control all three. It will be interesting to see if Dexter or Harry is right.
• Secrets. I read in a review somewhere that Dexter is really not about killing, but about secrets. I buy that Dexter is about keeping secrets and how to hide a dark side. Harry has said about the Code, that it will keep him alive. Dexter isn't killing as some morality play. He is killing in order to control his urges and following the code to insure that he can survive. Part of that survival is keeping his secret.
• Why I Enjoy. The storyline is the backbone of what makes this series enjoyable. It presses on in each episode and makes you look forward to the next episode and the conclusion of the season. Overall, it makes me wonder how all of these side plots will converge in the conclusion. Another interesting aspect throughout the series has been the duality in Dexter between his public persona and his blood hungry inner self. The show relates that relationship to how everyone puts on a different face in public, because Dexter puts on a show for everyone else. Only his victims know Dexter for what he really is. I think they are touching on that a bit this year with Dexter's problems with Rita and how she feels he is being disingenuous. I also like how the show makes you understand Dexter. Part of the reason the show did not seem attractive to me at first was that I didn't think that I could feel sympathy and watch a serial killer. I felt it would be a dark CSI. Dexter in the show is really guy with normal problems that are complicated with an obsession to kill.
• Negatives. I few things irritate me about the show. The music, while usually great sometimes gets in the way, especially when they play Dexter's theme. I've just heard that song too many times. The Trinity Killer. Did Lundy really never notice that the Trinity Killer always kills mothers and fathers with two kids? I made the connection that it was a family of four 2 or 3 episodes before Dexter? Was that really a big revelation? I am also always a bit aggravated that things always work out for Dexter. They don't always at first, but they do in the end. At the end of the 2nd season, Doakes found out who Dexter was and Dexter had a problem, he couldn't kill Doakes because it didn't fit with the Code. But he got lucky and Lila did it for him and Doakes was framed as the Bay City butcher. Also, Dexter left blood at the scene where George King was killed, but they never found it. He also has found a reason to kill everyone who has found out.

Overall, Dexter is a great show. For a while I believed that you watch comedies on TV and dramas on the big screen, but Dexter has changed my thoughts on that. It is a series that you'll watch and talk about the next day.

Middling

This week's Bears review is going to be about the bottom line, because reading reviews and hearing comments you would have thought we lost the game. Bottom line: The Bears won the game and are now 4-3. Was it a spectacular dominating performance? No, but remember this is a team that plays to the competition. Was it a win? Yes. Does the NFL judge based on the quality of a win? No. I was planning on doing some kind of quarter review after Week 4 or after Week 9, but this seems like a good point seeing as how the doubters are rampant and the teams only get tougher (Cards, Niners, Eagles, Vikes). So I'll say it was a win. Did we struggle in the Red Zone? Yes. Did the Defense play well after looking like they were going through a scrimmage last week? Yes. Do I wish we played better? Yes. Did we win? Yes. Part of being a good team is beating the teams you are supposed to beat and the Bears took care of business. All the rest, well that's to prove for next week.

• The Basics. Wins against the Steelers, Seahawks, Lions, and Browns. Losses to the Packers, Falcons, and Bengals. So I'll say 1 quality win and 1 utter defeat. Losses to the Packers and Falcons were by about a touchdown. Against the Packers, Steelers, Seahawks and Falcons the Bears have shown they can play to the competition, whether that be up or down.
• The Passing. In my view, this has the potential to be a very good offense, maybe this year, maybe next year but there is potential. Cutler has thrown 11 TDs and 11 INTs for an average of around 240 yards per game and a passer rating of 80.8. Not to impressive, but with more protection I think he could start to pick apart defenses. The receivers as I have said many times are better than advertised, thanks in part to Cutler. While Knox, Devin, Earl, Olsen, and Dez have made some spectacular catches, Jay made it possible. With the time he has to throw, he has been as good as I thought. If Kyle Orton was back there would he do the same, no. Don't get me wrong I like Kyle and always thought he was miscast here due to his rookie year, but he has had much more time this year than in past years. Does Kyle make some of those crucial 3rd Downs or make a quality pass while getting blown up? I think not.
• The Running. I saved the O-line part mostly for here, because this is the biggest hole in the team thus far. The O-line has struggle with rushing and passing. Forte did break free for 90 yards and 2 TDs, but still too many times he has looked like Anthony Thomas running into the offensive line at the line of scrimmage. It doesn't get much better when they provide pass protection either. If Jay had more time, just think of how dynamic the passing game could be (I'm aware I titled this section Running.) The fact remains that the Bears have been a running team traditionally and I believe you must have a strong running game to be a good team. How else are you going to put teams away with a lead?
• The D. Fairly decent. The strongest position is Linebacker which is also the most injured. Hunter provided some stability this week and Lance Briggs is the MVP of the D if not the team. The line has provided some pressure, but not as much as necessary. The also need to try and stop the runner at the point of attack. The secondary is young, but I think it has some potential. Danieal Manning had a good game against the Browns. Bowman I think has played decent. He's gotten burned a few times, but generally keeps things in front of him.
• Special Teams. Special Teams is generally pretty solid with a couple glaring missteps (Mannely's audible and Maynard's punts this week). Gould, Maynard, Hester, Manning, Knox, and company are usually pretty good.
• Solid. The linebacking and receiving corps, special teams, and the quarterback have been solid. Also, in general the 2nd halves of games have been better as well.
• Needs some polish. When my junior coach cut me from the basketball team, he told me along with the others that we need some more polish. So the following areas need some polish: O-line, D-line, the running backs, and the secondary. 1st halves and red zone scoring also need to improve.

Overall, its not time to panic we have a team that has shown thus far that it can stay in games against some of the best teams. Whether or not that continues is another story. The word to describe this team: Middling. A team that can look great some halves and look like the Browns in others. If the Bears can perform more consistently, they have a chance. And not like the Bulls have a chance. Because lets face it, it will probably be the Celtics v. Lakers. In the NFL, with parity the way it is, a key injury here, a nice run of wins there can make a season and produce a title.