Grading the Monday Night Miracle Bears
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by user BU ICEMAN
There isn't a football fan in the country now that isn't in a state of shock after watching last night's MNF game between the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals. I never thought I'd ever say this, but I agree with Sean Salisbury, this game is a blessing for the Bears because now their aura of invincibility is shattered and will further motivate them.
Although I'm still in a state of shock, I've had the night to sleep on it and try to figure out just what in the Sam Hell happened last night. I've broken down the Bears into their large units: Offense, Defense, Special Teams; and given them grades for each half and an overall grade for the game. Coaches are included with their respective units.
Let's start with the bad first...
OFFENSE- Simply put, the Bears offense was offensive. That's offensive as in "uh-fensive," not "aw-fensive." Grossman was gross, man; singlehandedly responsible for six turnovers (4 INTs, 2 Fs). However, I'm not willing to put all the blame on Grossman; Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner deserves to be flogged for his play selection last night. Apparently Ron Turner and the rest of the staff forgot that you should establish the run first before you start chucking the ball all over the field. Grossman's most successful passing plays this year have been off of play-action. To have effective play action, you have to run the ball effectively (Not like Arizona's Edgerrin James last night; you need quality, not just quantity). Even though the Bears were down early, there was still plenty of time to run the ball. After the turnovers, simple high-percentage plays should've been called, not down the field crapshoots.
Grades: 1st Half: F
2nd Half: F-
Overall: F-
DEFENSE- This was the impetus for grading on each half. The defense was awful in the first half, but downright outrageous (in a good way, for the most part)in the second half. Credit goes to the Arizona coaching staff for their play calling in the first half. Use of the shotgun and short, simple, high percentage passes that gained 5-10 yards, didn't allow the Bears time for a pass rush or a lot of pressure on QB Matt Leinart. Defensive Coordinator Ron Rivera used too much zone coverage and the Arizona WRs did a good job finding the holes and sitting down. Then, the Bears missed a lot of tackles, reminiscent of the Minnesota Vikings game earlier in the season (also on the road). Then the second half started and it was a different defense on the field, helped a lot by poor play calling by Arizona. Bears MLB Brian Urlacher played like a man possessed. The Bears' defense first score came when the Arizona RT paid more attention to Urlacher than DE Mark Anderson who ran unabated (the new NFL buzzword) to Leinart's blindside causing a fumble and FS Mike Brown's yearly tradition of a defensive TD. Arizona stubbornly continued to try and run HB Edgerrin James up the gut, in an attempt to keep the clock running. I've already agreed with Sean Salisbury, and now I'm going to agree with Joe Theismann, Arizona should've kept passing. Brian Urlacher and SLB Hunter Hillenmeyer teamed up to strip James leading to CB Charles Tillman's fumble recovery for a TD. Where they lose points in the second half comes from Urlacher. Huh? You say? Read his lips after PR Devin Hester's punt return TD, "We've got them now." Overconfident now, then they let Leinart pass his way into FG range, totally unacceptable. Their run defense was incredible, but the pass defense was vulnerable all game. This should not be overlooked in the coaches' evaluations of the game.
Grades: 1st Half: C-
2nd Half: A-
Overall: B
SPECIAL TEAMS- Not much to really cover in the first half, they didn't have much to do with Neil Rackers' first miss in the game and had no opportunities for punt returns because the Arizona offense got the ball in good field position and didn't have to punt often. If they did, it was a fair catch or couple yards. As for all the kick returns, WR/KR Rashied Davis got the ball out to the 20, but nothing more. PR/KR Devin Hester's lone kick return in the second half was the same. As for the second half, PR Devin Hester's game-winning punt return was a thing of beauty. Does John Madden still not want to have Hester back there in the 4th Quarter? Where the Bears special teams lose points is their coverage on the kickoff after the punt return. They allowed Arizona to run the ball back to the 40 yard line, which gave them great field position to get into FG range. K Robbie Gould continued his streak with a FG and had decent length on his kickoffs.
Grades: 1st Half: C
2nd Half: A-
Overall: B+
The Bears are lucky to have their BYE week coming up. They'll need the extra time to really examine what went wrong.
