The Story
Jay Cutler was back at it under center after missing last week's start, but it wasn't enough, as the Bears dropped a 23-20 decision at home to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon. With the loss, the Bears drop to 4-2 on the 2010 campaign with one more home game before their bye week.
The Good
My favorite part of Sunday's game was whenever Chicago's special teams unit came onto the field; after all, that was the only part of the gameplan that seemed to work. Coming into this matchup, Seattle's return men were reasons for concern, but the Bears managed to hold Seahawks PR Golden Tate to negative yardage on four opportunities and they held KR Leon Washington to the equivalent of a little more than a touchback (21.8 avg) on four tries.
Although Bears KR Danieal Manning had a long kickoff return for a score nullified by a holding call, PR Devin Hester did what he does best and returned one for 6 points, penalty-free, that brought the game back within reach; it was the 13th time in his young career, already matching the NFL record.
Bears K Robbie Gould missed a try from 54 yards out, but he hit from 24 and 34 yards to finish 2 for 3 on the afternoon. To mirror a good performance, Bears P Brad Maynard booted three punts inside the twenty.
Although the receiving core didn't perform well enough to win, three Bears (Devin Aromashodu, Johnny Knox and Earl Bennett) managed receptions of more than 30 yards, and Knox caught for a career high 120 yards on the day.
The Bad
The entire offense and defense deserves to be talked about in this section, but I want to specifically focus on the linebackers and safeties, mostly because this is their first subpar performance of the season. Based on Seattle's offensive weapons, or lack thereof, I expected the nasty Bears' D to be licking their chops to get at QB Matt Hasselbeck, but instead they fought for a close loss.
The line failed to establish any pass rush whatsoever and the defensive backs allowed big plays via the pass and the run; Seahawks RBs Justin Forsett and Marshawn Lynch combined for 111 yards out of the backfield and WRs Mike Williams and Deon Butler for 170 yards through the air.
There were no sacks, interceptions or fumble recoveries on the afternoon for the Chicago D', and considering head coach Lovie Smith prides his team on takeaways, that statistic disturbs me the most.
The Ugly
Twice I've had a section of my review titled "The Ugly" and twice the offensive line has made their way on it...noticing a trend?
This line (which is the fourth different starting lineup in six games this year) allowed Cutler to be taken down six times by a Seattle defense that hasn't boasted many sacks this season. The worst part is that they weren't getting taken advantage of up front very often; the sacks were a result of mixed blitz schemes outside the range of the Bears' tackles. So that means that Chicago not only can't pass protect straight up the gut, they also can't defend edge rushers--so what are they there for?
Welcome Back Jay?
Call it strange, but I am tempted to say that the time I most appreciated Cutler was when I saw Todd Collins under center against Carolina. Chicago has certainly had it's rough times with Jay in almost a year and a half in a Bears' uniform, but Collins' performance might've made Coach Smith consider putting the waterboy in as quarterback.
So after seeing how low things can get at the quarterback position, the Bears welcomed back the concussed Cutler against a defense he should've opened wide up. Instead, he completed only 17 passes in 39 attempts for 290 yards and a dismal 69.4 QB rating. If the openings aren't there, they're not there--but the trouble is that there were plenty of missed opportunities and failed conversions--not because of the line, not because of the receivers, but because of poor decisions from the quarterback.
So was this an 'off game' or the start of a decline?
Interesting Stats
1) In 21 games with Chicago, Cutler has already been sacked more times than in three years in a Broncos uniform.
2) In their lasted 40 attempts, Chicago has managed just 3 third down conversions.
3) Offensive coordinator Mike Martz chose 41 pass plays and 12 rushes this week with Cutler back in the mix. He only selected 19 passes against 42 rushes last week with Collins under center.
Looking Ahead to Next Week
Next Sunday, the Bears look to retain their one game lead in the North in a Week 7 matchup with the Washington Redskins (3-3) in the friendly confines of Soldier Field.
Washington is coming off a 27-24 loss to Indianapolis last week. I don't know how many agree with this, but to me, a close loss to Indy is still a moral victory in some sense.
The biggest news in Washington's offseason was the aquisition of long time Eagle's quarterback Donovan McNabb. This year, McNabb has completed 125 of 215 passes (58.1%) for 1,561 yards with 5 TDs, 5 INTs and a passer rating of 78.8%.
Despite mediocre stats, McNabb knows how to handle football games and find open receivers as well as anybody. And he isn't the only weapon for the Redskins, as RB Ryan Torain has rushed for 256 yards and 4.2 ypc. Through the air, Washington boasts Santana Moss, who has already caught for 485 yards in just 6 games. And, as veterans usually do, McNabb has found a way to mix other receivers in the offensive gameplan, which of course will make Chicago's D' have a much harder afternoon.
On defense, safety LaRon Landry has made 48 tackles, 15 assists and 1 sack this year and looks to continue against a troubled offense in Chicago. The Bears will also have to focus on linebacker London Fletcher, who has registered 37 tackles, 23 assists and 1.5 sacks.
Last week, Chicago lost a game they most certainly should have won, but I am willing to call this a temporary slip up if they show up against a much more dangerous team in Washington. For all the negative air around this team, I believe they boast more than enough talent to be a playoff contender, but it all happens by winning the games you should. The biggest obstacle is that Chicago's offensive line has been a very noticeable kryptonite, and I expect Washington to trouble Cutler's composure in the pocket as well as all the other teams have done.
*Preliminary Prediction: Redskins 24, Bears 20
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*My official predictions are released on Thursdays
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