Post by riczaj01 on Oct 4, 2016 5:19:02 GMT -6
www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-10-thoughts-bears-lions-biggs-20161003-story.html
1. Jimmy Johnson was five days ahead of the official hiring in January 2013 when he announced on Twitter that Marc Trestman would be the Bears’ next coach. Now, Johnson says Jay Cutler, the quarterback Trestman was hired to fix and didn’t, is likely done playing for the Bears.
During halftime, the Fox analyst cited the leadership difference between fill-in Brian Hoyer and Cutler in suggesting the Bears will not return to Cutler when his injured right thumb is healed. He said Hoyer was “auditioning” for the job.
“I think there is a good chance Jay Cutler has seen his last snap as a Bear,” Johnson said.
2. That was an impressive outing by Jordan Howard, the fifth-round pick from Indiana, as he became the Bears’ fourth rookie back to top 100 yards in his first NFL start since 1960 anyway. Howard gained 111 yards on 23 carries and joined Matt Forte, Anthony Thomas and James Allen as backs to hit triple-digits in their first start. See the chart below.
3. How about that stuff by linebacker John Timu at the goalline? If you’re looking for big plays that made a difference, that is one. The Bears were leading 7-3 when the Lions took the opening kickoff of the third quarter and went 12 plays to the 1-yard line where they had third-and-goal.
Detroit brought in running back Zach Zenner and what makes this interesting to me is Timu was able to diagnose a play going to a back that was yet to carry the ball this season. Timu blitzed and crossed the line of scrimmage just after the ball was snapped to quarterback Matthew Stafford. I asked him if he was guessing the snap count and he said no.
4. A week after Logan Paulsen was on the field for only 10 snaps in the loss at Dallas, the Bears got a lot of use out of the backup tight end and that led to a lot of variety in the personnel groupings for offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains. I tracked the personnel groupings and in the non-kneel down plays (including those with penalties), I had Zach Miller on the field for 51 of 67 snaps and Paulsen in action for 44 of 67 snaps.
5. You felt like the Bears were turning the corner this season on special teams with a young roster, something that can be challenging to do, and then they make a mess of the end of the game by allowing Andre Roberts to return a punt 85 yards for a touchdown. Fortunately, the Bears corralled the ensuing onside kick effort but the punt return was bad.
6. In my Bear Essentials column on Sunday, I wrote about how the team was making a youth movement in the secondary and it’s really not something that’s been done by choice. Those young players looked good. It was a really lousy effort by Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, but part of that is the defense playing well against him. Bryce Callahan was really physical with Golden Tate, who wound up eventually being benched. Tate knows all the tricks of the trade to get open and is a very physical player. Callahan matched that and more and that was really good to see. Jacoby Glenn was in the right place at the right time when Stafford and Tate had a mixup at the end of the second quarter. That’s kind of been the book on Glenn, who has logged more playing time than any cornerback but Tracy Porter so far.
7. The offensive line looked good again and you felt better about how that unit pass blocked a week ago at Dallas. But you have to reserve judgment a little when you consider the Lions are bad on defense and were lacking their only true edge rushing threat in Ziggy Ansah, out with a high ankle sprain. Yes, I know Kerry Hyder has five sacks for the Lions but he’s more of a high-effort guy than a threat off the edge. The good thing is the Colts, who the Bears will face on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium, only have seven sacks and Erik Walden, the former Packer, has four of them. This might represent a nice stretch in the schedule for the offensive line to grow without having to face a menacing threat. Last week, Dallas’ leading career sacker coming into the game was Orlando Scandrick. He’s got 10 1/2 and he missed the game with a hamstring injury.
8. As much as the Bears would love to see it, the NFL is no doubt hoping the Colts do not look jet lagged on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium. The NFL is pushing the envelope hard in London and the Colts played there Sunday, losing to the Jaguars. They are the first team to play overseas and not have a bye the following week. The Colts made the 3,987-mile flight from London to Indianapolis and they will begin preparation for the Bears. Reports are the Colts preferred not to have a week off so early in the season. They got their wish as their bye comes in Week 10. What we don’t know is how that trip will affect the players. The Colts left on Thursday evening and practiced in London on Saturday in advance of the game, a 30-27 win for the Jaguars. They arrived back in Indianapolis before they would have had they been playing on Sunday night somewhere else. They probably made it home earlier than they would have had they played a road game on the West coast. We’ll see how they look early this coming Sunday.
9. Back to Eddie Royal. That was a nasty route he ran on his 64-yard reception. Royal faked an out route after about 9 yards and then turned it upfield on a shake route. He shook Lions cornerback Quandre Diggs in a big way. It’s a route you see more often in the red zone by tight ends. Tony Gonzalez ran it really well in his prime. It’s hard to pull off when the middle of the field is closed but Royal has the quickness to really sell it. That was fun to watch and in the first four games of this season we’ve seen why the Bears guaranteed Royal $10 million in his three-year contract. He’s got 18 catches for 241 yards. Royal had 18 catches for 120 yards through the first four games last season.
10. The Bears are surely hoping it’s nothing serious for wide receiver Kevin White, who left the game in the fourth quarter with a sprained ankle. White hobbled off after a 1-yard reception and coach John Fox said afterward there wasn’t an update. Brian Hoyer targeted White 23 times in the last two games and he’s had 12 catches for 117 yards, showing signs of coming to life. His development is paramount for the franchise this season so any missed time will be a real blow although I think Cameron Meredith offers some upside as a fill-in.
I didn't copy/past the entire article, feel free to head to the website to read everything.
1. Jimmy Johnson was five days ahead of the official hiring in January 2013 when he announced on Twitter that Marc Trestman would be the Bears’ next coach. Now, Johnson says Jay Cutler, the quarterback Trestman was hired to fix and didn’t, is likely done playing for the Bears.
During halftime, the Fox analyst cited the leadership difference between fill-in Brian Hoyer and Cutler in suggesting the Bears will not return to Cutler when his injured right thumb is healed. He said Hoyer was “auditioning” for the job.
“I think there is a good chance Jay Cutler has seen his last snap as a Bear,” Johnson said.
2. That was an impressive outing by Jordan Howard, the fifth-round pick from Indiana, as he became the Bears’ fourth rookie back to top 100 yards in his first NFL start since 1960 anyway. Howard gained 111 yards on 23 carries and joined Matt Forte, Anthony Thomas and James Allen as backs to hit triple-digits in their first start. See the chart below.
3. How about that stuff by linebacker John Timu at the goalline? If you’re looking for big plays that made a difference, that is one. The Bears were leading 7-3 when the Lions took the opening kickoff of the third quarter and went 12 plays to the 1-yard line where they had third-and-goal.
Detroit brought in running back Zach Zenner and what makes this interesting to me is Timu was able to diagnose a play going to a back that was yet to carry the ball this season. Timu blitzed and crossed the line of scrimmage just after the ball was snapped to quarterback Matthew Stafford. I asked him if he was guessing the snap count and he said no.
4. A week after Logan Paulsen was on the field for only 10 snaps in the loss at Dallas, the Bears got a lot of use out of the backup tight end and that led to a lot of variety in the personnel groupings for offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains. I tracked the personnel groupings and in the non-kneel down plays (including those with penalties), I had Zach Miller on the field for 51 of 67 snaps and Paulsen in action for 44 of 67 snaps.
5. You felt like the Bears were turning the corner this season on special teams with a young roster, something that can be challenging to do, and then they make a mess of the end of the game by allowing Andre Roberts to return a punt 85 yards for a touchdown. Fortunately, the Bears corralled the ensuing onside kick effort but the punt return was bad.
6. In my Bear Essentials column on Sunday, I wrote about how the team was making a youth movement in the secondary and it’s really not something that’s been done by choice. Those young players looked good. It was a really lousy effort by Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, but part of that is the defense playing well against him. Bryce Callahan was really physical with Golden Tate, who wound up eventually being benched. Tate knows all the tricks of the trade to get open and is a very physical player. Callahan matched that and more and that was really good to see. Jacoby Glenn was in the right place at the right time when Stafford and Tate had a mixup at the end of the second quarter. That’s kind of been the book on Glenn, who has logged more playing time than any cornerback but Tracy Porter so far.
7. The offensive line looked good again and you felt better about how that unit pass blocked a week ago at Dallas. But you have to reserve judgment a little when you consider the Lions are bad on defense and were lacking their only true edge rushing threat in Ziggy Ansah, out with a high ankle sprain. Yes, I know Kerry Hyder has five sacks for the Lions but he’s more of a high-effort guy than a threat off the edge. The good thing is the Colts, who the Bears will face on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium, only have seven sacks and Erik Walden, the former Packer, has four of them. This might represent a nice stretch in the schedule for the offensive line to grow without having to face a menacing threat. Last week, Dallas’ leading career sacker coming into the game was Orlando Scandrick. He’s got 10 1/2 and he missed the game with a hamstring injury.
8. As much as the Bears would love to see it, the NFL is no doubt hoping the Colts do not look jet lagged on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium. The NFL is pushing the envelope hard in London and the Colts played there Sunday, losing to the Jaguars. They are the first team to play overseas and not have a bye the following week. The Colts made the 3,987-mile flight from London to Indianapolis and they will begin preparation for the Bears. Reports are the Colts preferred not to have a week off so early in the season. They got their wish as their bye comes in Week 10. What we don’t know is how that trip will affect the players. The Colts left on Thursday evening and practiced in London on Saturday in advance of the game, a 30-27 win for the Jaguars. They arrived back in Indianapolis before they would have had they been playing on Sunday night somewhere else. They probably made it home earlier than they would have had they played a road game on the West coast. We’ll see how they look early this coming Sunday.
9. Back to Eddie Royal. That was a nasty route he ran on his 64-yard reception. Royal faked an out route after about 9 yards and then turned it upfield on a shake route. He shook Lions cornerback Quandre Diggs in a big way. It’s a route you see more often in the red zone by tight ends. Tony Gonzalez ran it really well in his prime. It’s hard to pull off when the middle of the field is closed but Royal has the quickness to really sell it. That was fun to watch and in the first four games of this season we’ve seen why the Bears guaranteed Royal $10 million in his three-year contract. He’s got 18 catches for 241 yards. Royal had 18 catches for 120 yards through the first four games last season.
10. The Bears are surely hoping it’s nothing serious for wide receiver Kevin White, who left the game in the fourth quarter with a sprained ankle. White hobbled off after a 1-yard reception and coach John Fox said afterward there wasn’t an update. Brian Hoyer targeted White 23 times in the last two games and he’s had 12 catches for 117 yards, showing signs of coming to life. His development is paramount for the franchise this season so any missed time will be a real blow although I think Cameron Meredith offers some upside as a fill-in.
I didn't copy/past the entire article, feel free to head to the website to read everything.
