Are You Ready for Some Football

[Ned]

-J, you saw what I saw. If I wasn't so stunned by what was happening, I too would have screamed at the Bears coaches to do something different on defense.

I read an analysis of the game that Manning was surprised the Bears ran the same defense the whole game. He indeed knew the short passing game would be there and that the run would be effective.

And this is the second time in the last two years the Bears made no adjustments to fix the problem. They should have double-covered Smith last year, for example.

One of the reasons Buddy Ryan was so successful as a defensive coach was he was constantly making adjustments. The opposing offense was constantly off-balance and befuddled. One could not say that about this year's Bears opponents after the first few games. Opponents generally could move the ball. The Bears relied on the turnover to stop offenses.

[pchang]

Last year

Seattle beat Carolina by essentially triple covering Smith.

[Lord Avalon]

Excerpts from Peter King's MMQB:

Quote of the Week II
"When I sit back and think about it, I don't think Bill has any control over how his players act. He can tell them all day long, 'Guys, let's act like we've been there before,' like Marty [Schottenheimer] does with us, but guys can always do whatever they want to do."
-- San Diego running back LaDainian Tomlinson, after smoking the peace pipe with New England coach Bill Belichick at the Pro Bowl. Tomlinson had strongly implied that Belichick ran a classless program after L.T. felt some New England players celebrated too much on the Chargers' field following the Patriots' AFC divisional playoff victory.

Quote of the Week III
"I think he recognizes the issue and he's supportive of what we're going to do. I think he wants to be very active in making sure other people don't make the same mistakes. I was very impressed with him."
-- NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, after meeting San Diego linebacker Shawne Merriman on Friday at the Pro Bowl. Merriman says he wants to be outspoken in trying to help players not make the same mistake he made in testing positive for a steroid last summer. He claims he was not intentionally using steroids, but rather took a supplement not approved by the NFL that had traces of a steroid in it.

Ten Things I Think I Think
5. I think if Bobby Petrino is planning to give Mike Vick the same kind of freedom Peyton Manning has at the line of scrimmage, the coach better be sure that Vick has the nose-to-the-playbook grindstone this winter and spring. If Vick studies the way Petrino demands, then I think it's a good strategy by the rookie coach. Challenge the franchise quarterback, and if he comes through, you're all winners. If he doesn't, then you know you might have to go in a different direction in 2008.

6. I think if you didn't catch the NFL Films highlights of the Super Bowl, you've got to see one thing that was so, so telling. In the fourth quarter, with the Bears trailing by five, and needing a clutch drive to take over the game, a mike caught Thomas Jones imploring Rex Grossman, "C'mon Rex! Make a play!'' And on the next play, Grossman throw badly off his back foot, and his duck was intercepted by Kelvin Hayden and returned for the touchdown that sealed the Chicago defeat. Amazing, dramatic catch by NFL Films.

7. I think for any of you -- us -- feeling the least bit of pity for Rush Limbaugh after his silly remarks about black quarterbacks and the media, we can all now rest easy. The guy's a race-aholic. He injects race where it has no business being injected. The latest, you've probably heard, but here it is, from Limbaugh's radio show last Monday:

"And before we go to the break here, folks, I've got to get something off my chest. You know, the game was the game. And the game was what it was. But I - I can't handle any more press criticism of Rex Grossman. They're writing his name W-R-E-C-K-S. They're just ... worst quarterback ever to play in the Super Bowl. And it's been like this since the Green Bay game -- actually since the Arizona game, a little crescendo of it in the Green Bay game, the last game of the season for the Bears. And it's just unrelenting! It's just -- they're focusing on this guy like they don't focus on anybody!

"And I tell you, I know what it is. The media, the sports media, has got social concerns that they are first and foremost interested in, and they're dumping on this guy -- Rex Grossman -- for one reason, folks, and that's because he is a white quarterback.'' [ ]

Rush, we're dumping on him because, in a five-point game in the fourth quarter, with the Bears in possession of the ball and still with a very good chance to win, he threw two ridiculous passes in the biggest game of his life. Two interceptions. Buried his own team. Had it been McNabb or Brees or Leftwich or Kitna or Daisuke Matsuzaka, we'd have buried them too.

Column starts with his view on Jerry Jones hiring Wade Philips.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/peter_king/02/11/jones/index.html

[Ned]

Yeah, King's got it right on Grossman. Most Bears' fans feel the same way.

[Jaguar]

@ Rush Limbaugh still with his black quarterback thing.

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by Ned
If I wasn't so stunned by what was happening, .

If you had listened to the media and vegas, you wouldn't have been so stunned!

[Imran Siddiqui]

Yep . Instead of complaining about 7.5 line, see why it was that high. Vegas is smarter than the average bear.

And of course Turner called an uber-conservative offensive gameplan. He didn't want Grossman to have to decide the game. The Colts, however, stopped the run and then the Bears were stuck.

As for the defense, that's why Peyton Manning is such a great QB. He'll quickly make adjustments. It was like the Bears D-Coord didn't expect Manning to switch his gameplan so quickly (if that's the case, they don't know Peyton very well).

@ Limbaugh. Down on Grossman because he's a white QB? Yeah, and I bet Peyton has some African blood in him, right?

[pchang]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
As for the defense, that's why Peyton Manning is such a great QB. He'll quickly make adjustments. It was like the Bears D-Coord didn't expect Manning to switch his gameplan so quickly (if that's the case, they don't know Peyton very well).

Last year, Pittsburgh's defense did a pretty good job of confusing Peyton. They made him think they were running an aggressive blitz when they were really running a conservative passing defense. The only thing that shifted the blame from Peyton to "that idiot kicker" was an official on some badass hallucenogenics.

[Jaguar]

The Colts also tried some really bizarre pass protection schemes that totally backfired.

Manning threw for nearly 300 yards that game for 1 TD, 0 INT. (There should have been an interception, but it was wrongly overturned.) That's not a bad game against a quality defense.

Really, I don't know what to think of that game, but in the end I think Colts fans will forget it, Steelers fans will treasure it, and everybody wins.

[-Jrabbit]

The Colts, however, stopped the run and then the Bears were stuck.

Just a quick clarification on this, Imran. The Colts did not stop the run. The Bears stopped themselves. Even without the long gainer, TJones averaged 4/carry. What was it, 119 on 15 carries? Please.

After Benson's two carries -- one a fumble, the other the injury -- they refused to sub Adrian Peterson into the game plan, for reasons still unexplained. Those two carries were the key to keeping the D on the field for virtually the entire second quarter. Those possessions:
3-and-out, 2:00
3-and-out, 2:12
Indy did stop Jones on these two possessions (3 runs, 6 yds). But it was just 16-14. No reason to panic.

3rd qtr possessions
2:03, 4 plays, all passes (one first down)
2:02, 4 plays, incl Jones, 3 runs for 12 yds. (FG)
4th qtr possessions
1:54, 3 plays, incl Jones 1 run for 6 yds (INT-TD)
1:49, 4 plays, incl Jones 1 run for 4 yds (INT)

At this point, the game was over. Jones had 5 runs for 22 yds in those 4 possessions. But there was nothing to back it.

Turner was predictable, and the offense didn't execute. Once Benson went down, their heads were up their collective butts. Their first drive of more than 4 plays was the FG halfway through Q3. Their longest time of possession was 2:22 -- near the end, when they gave it up on downs. Pathetic.

Any offensive execution at all and they make a game of it. Grossman made the big mistakes, sure but predictable play-calling was the root cause. Give credit to the Indy defense; they played well. But at the core of things, the Bears were outcoached.

[Ned]

-J, agreed.

Imran, I agree with -J that the reason for the Bears lousy performance had a lot to do with their coaches. It happened last year as well during the Seattle game. They froze.

But I will also agree that even with the coaches doing the best they could, on this day the Bears still could not win because Rex Grossman was going to stop them one way or another with turnovers.