Well that was fugly. Fans may say a win is a win, but I'm awfully concerned with the results of Sunday's 19-15 win over the Detroit Lions. For a team that completed dominated their opponents statistically, the Bears just barely found a way to win in the final two minutes. Oh yeah, and they almost gave that slim lead up to an offense that hadn't scored or even netted a first down since the second quarter.
Four turnovers kept the Bears from completely blowing the doors off the Lions Sunday at Soldier Field, despite Jay Cutler throwing for 372 yards and two scores. The offense moved the ball well early and often, with only a few miscues from the receivers (mostly Johnny Knox) and one poor decision made by Cutler to throw into triple coverage. Greg Olsen, Matt Forte and Cutler all fumble during the course of the game, killing drives in Detroit territory on a regular basis. What kept the offense going were screens and short passes to the running backs, one of which accounted for Forte's 89-yard touchdown. Forte had 201 all-purpose yards and the final game-winning grab on Sunday, more than making up for his one lost fumble. Cutler showed great mobility in the pocket, evading the rush and gaining first downs. However, taking four sacks and seven hits is unacceptable for the offensive line.
AP Photo
The defense showed up for the most part versus the Lions, keeping Matthew Stafford and the offense in check in the first half, only giving up points after the offense turned it over. Lovie Smith's defense caused three turnovers of their own, including one strip-sack by Julius Peppers that knocked Stafford out of the game with a shoulder injury. Brian Urlacher look four years younger on the day, but made a bone-headed unnecessary roughness penalty after the Peppers sack. In the secondary, the Bears kept Calvin Johnson and the other receivers in check until the Lions' final drive. However, it is after a Lance Briggs-caused turnover that I found the most troubling moment of the day.
Briggs had great penetration on a play deep in Lions territory, knocking the ball loose from back-up Shaun Hill before he could hand it off and giving the Bears possession inside the one yard line down one point. From there the Bears handed off, threw away the ball after a Lion came in unblocked, and then handed it off again. Using the QB sneak from inside the one is football 101, so don't ask me how Mike "Genius" Martz missed that one. After failing to score on three tries, Lovie Smith broke character and decided to go for the touchdown instead of kicking the field goal. Keep in mind the Lions were without their starting QB and hadn't registered a first down in the entire second half. So Martz called yet another run to the right and got stuffed, ending the drive without any points to show for it. If Lovie had lost this game, he would have been grilled on that call. Instead, he'll avoid responsibility and point to the "W" column. For shame.
A lot of individuals are up in arms about the call that essentially ended the game, which was a pass to Calvin Johnson ruled incomplete on the field after the first ref called it a score. From there the booth reviewed the play, which was again ruled incomplete. Now, the play is difficult to describe, but Johnson one-handedly caught a pass deep in the endzone and went to the ground. His butt and legs hit first, then the ball touched the ground second, at which point it either came loose or was let go. Johnson got up and began celebrating, thinking he had scored, and then became furious after the ruling. In the rules, a player must maintain possession of the ball and complete the catch, even in the endzone. Personally, it looked to me as if the ground caused the ball to come out of Johnson's hand, negating the cacth. If he let it go as some people say, then he let it go too early and should really know better. In that situation you can never leave it up to the referees, because bad calls happen. He needed to complete the catch and come up with the ball, pland and simple.
At the end of the day, the Bears had no business winning this game. Fortunately for Lovie, they were playing the Lions, who have no business winning any game. Against the Cowboys, this type of game gets you embarrassed. Let's see if they learn from this putrid performance.
