The Story
I'm not sure if the Bears' offense got an invitation, but I am sure it didn't attend the party. Early offensive troubles up front continued throughout the first half and Jay Cutler was logged for 9 sacks in a 17-3 loss to the New York Giants in New Meadowlands Stadium. With its first lost, Chicago moves to 3-1 on the 2010 campaign, and, although the Bears are still atop the North, Cutler's concussion suffered in the first half leaves reason for concern for the immediate future of this franchise.
Let me first say this: you're not going to win too many games when the offense is harder to find than Waldo. Cutler had more sacks (9) than completions (8). Blame doesn't just go to the line for this terrible effort, however; tight ends didn't make the strong-side strong and Cutler himself failed to react on a few quick openings in the defense. But one of the most important aspects of an offense is third down convertions. The fact that the Bears went 0-13 on third downs proves an atrocious offensive effort with that statistic alone.
And tell me if you've ever heard this before--the running game never got going.
With 59 total yards on the ground, 114 yards through the air (which includes 2 INTs) and having two quarterbacks knocked out of the game, the Bears offense officially gets my vote for Worst Effort (and I've seen some doosies).
I thought the defense performed well enough to win, but the offense's short drives left Urlacher & Company coming onto the field more and more exhausted. And even the highly regarded run defense deteriorated late in the game, giving up 189 rush yards and also the top spot in the category of run defense.
They say defense wins championships, but with those defenses usually comes an offense capable of putting more than three points on the board (and even that field goal was due to a defensive turnover). But all in all, the first fourth of the season still saw a nice looking 3-1 record, and a few upcoming games have W written all over them if Cutler can recover quickly enough.
The Good
Good performances were hard to come by for the Bears in this one, but at least the defense found a way to keep the inept offense in the game through 3 quarters. Julius Peppers created a big play by sacking Giants QB Eli Manning which knocked the ball out and changed the direction of gameplay. Chris Harris also recovered a fumble and Danieal Manning had a team-high 8 tackles.
The Bad
I was tempted to write, "The first 60 minutes of gameplay", but I thought I'd try to sort this thing out the right way. Since there was an unusually abundant amount of problems from the Bears throughout this game, I'll just highlight the ones that stood out the most to me. (Offensive line will be discussed in the next section.)
1) Quarterbacks
----------Obviously most of the trauma from this position was due to a historically poor effort from the offensive line, but you can still attribute some of the pain and suffering to Cutler holding the ball for too long. He had Johnny Knox open on a slant route, to name an example, but opted to check it down in search of a lengthier pass play. Part of playing the quarterback position, especially with a weak offensive line, is having the ability to hit receivers quickly. Cutler had a hard time all night reading and reacting to the situation properly, as illustrated by many missed blitz pickups, three fumbles, open recievers and off target throws (including an interception), especially an underthrown deep ball to Devin Hester along the right sideline. Todd Collins, who replaced Cutler (concussion) after halftime, didn't fare much better as he went 4-11 with 36 yards and an INT. Mix in an atrocious performance by the line and you officially have a recipe for an offensive disaster.
2) Run game
----------As expected by now, Chicago failed to establish any semblance of a run game. Chicago' backs carried 16 times for 59 yards, an average of 3.7 YPC (that includes an 11 yard reverse by Hester). I like to see the YPC at at least 4, and although the Bears weren't far off, they still didn't get close to 100 total ground yards in a game where passing the ball proved to be futile early. They know they need to get the ground game going, and this was the perfect opportunity against a Giants team that was already demolishing them in the pass.
3) Recievers
----------I primarily blame poor quarterback execution on the lack of a passing game. Although Bears' receivers didn't have the greatest day getting open, there were enough opportunities and openings for the quarterback to have dumped it off short. The team leader in catches, Greg Olsen, made 5 grabs, which is much too little for an established passing attack.
4) Special Teams
----------Hester had a bad day returning punts and Manning had a bad day returning kickoffs. Hester managed 6 total yards out of two rare opportunites and Manning had three opportunities but averaged less than 20 yards a return. The brightest spot was kicker Robbie Gould, who converted his only attempt from 40 yards out.
5) Coaching Staff
----------What happened to the in-game adjustments we saw against the Cowboys? What happened to the well executed gameplan we saw against Green Bay? This offensive performance was so bad that the only explanation I'm left to ponder is whether or not offensive coordinator Mike Martz did any homework at all on this Giants' defense.
I stated in previous articles that adjusting to opponents was one of the most prodominate reasons for this team's success. The biggest problem lies in the fact that offensive line coach Mike Tice did adjust his line at many times throughout the game, but still to no avail. When this happens, it is not time to attempt another change on the line but rather different schemes for Cutler and the receivers, and that fault lies on Martz.
The Ugly
I really want to title this section The Hideous or maybe The Atrocious or something along those lines, but I think the way I have it now gets the point across sufficiently enough. The Atrocious for this week...uh, I mean The Ugly, is obviously the offensive line (and that includes blocking tight ends). At least 7 different Bears blockers aloud a rusher to get by them and Bears' quarterbacks were knocked to the turf 10 times on the night, 9 in the first half alone, setting an NFL record for most sacks in a half. Five different Giants' rushers were credited with at least one sack, including 3 from both Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora. With two quarterbacks knocked out of the game, this officially becomes the worst performance I have ever seen from an offensive line and perhaps the worst performance in NFL history.
MVP
As you are about to see from my answer, this article only includes Bears' performers, so I will take Gould on this one. He converted his only attempt from 40 yards out, leaving him responsible for the only Bears' points in the contest.
Looking Ahead to Next Week
In Week 5, Chicago looks to rebound against a winless Panthers team that has seen losses to the Giants, Buccaneers, Bengals and Saints. Although they have no wins in 2010, Carolina has a talented back in DeAngelo Williams that can change the course of a game. Despite his success on the ground, however, he has proven to be no threat in the receiving game, and that's trouble if you also factor in an inexperienced Panthers' receiving core. With rookie QB Jimmie Clausen behind center, expect Chicago to focus defensive schemes heavily on pass rush and either get that sack count higher or force bad throws from an inexperienced quarterback.
Despite the success I predict from the defense, I still won't rest easy with Collins or Caleb Hanie starting at quarterback. Thus, I will reserve my prediction until I know whether or not Cutler plans to make an appearance. But unless kinks on the o-line are taken care of, it might not matter in the long run.
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