The Story
Jay Cutler threw four interceptions and the Bears turned the ball over six times whilst dropping a 17-14 decision to the Washington Redskins on Sunday afternoon. With its second straight loss, Chicago drops to 4-3 on the year and will enjoy their week off before traveling to Toronto for a Week 9 matchup with Buffalo.
Is Jay Okay?
Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall was almost the Bears' leading receiver. Should I leave it at that?
It may have looked as if Cutler and Hall previously practiced some of those interceptions, but believe it or not, Cutler was trying to throw to the blue jerseys.
The quarterback reknowned for his physical toughness has experienced two poor performances since his return from the concussion experienced back on October 3rd, and both have been dismal to put it lightly. Not that Chicago's receivers weren't to blame for some of the miscues, but it's Cutler that ultimately tells the ball where to go, and he looked off target on several throws.
The media doesn't seem to be talking too much about his concussion anymore, but should the incident three weeks ago take part of the blame?
I say yes. Not to say that Jay looked like a shoo-in for the 2010 Pro Bowl before he hit the ground nine times against New York, but since then, he just hasn't looked the same. His passes are more off target, his reads are noticeably weaker and his decision making skills are looking slightly faded. I'm no doctor, but any injury revolving around the head is one that I would assume has long term side effects.
Offensive Line Woes Yet Again
Cutler hit the turf four times on the afternoon but, after seeing previous performances this season, it looked like a strong outing. But in all seriousness, when it came down to crunch time, the line proved capable of defending #6. In the last Bears' attempt to try for a score, desperate pass rush met a wall of determined Bears, and that's something positive to take away from this one.
Chicago only managed 66 yards on the ground, but then again the Bears only ran the ball 16 times (one of those being from Jay's sneak). When they chose to run, the line helped with providing the gaps, but Mike Martz never chose to establish a continued presence for the run game.
Blame It On the Coaches?
To begin with, Martz decided to go with only 15 rushes in 60 offensive plays. A lopsided ratio like that, and we've seen it in the majority of games this year, has proven time and time again that this Bears' offense is too predictable to work the right way. If Martz refuses to run the ball and Lovie refuses to make him, this Bears' offense will continue to have the most predictable gameplan of any NFL team. Sometimes I wonder if upcoming opponents even need to have film sessions.
Meanwhile, head coach Lovie Smith admitted in a media conference Monday that he should have thrown the challenge flag after Cutler's fumble from the one yard line. We all know, but it was still nice to hear the coach own up to his own failures.
Obviously Smith should've chucked that red flag onto the field the moment the referees pointed the other way, but we're not all perfect. My issue is that this team already has too many other problems--decision making from a 7th year head coach should not be one of them. And, just before that play, Smith decided to challenge the ruling that Earl Bennett's 48 yard catch and run didn't result in a score. Upon video review, Bennett's knee could be found anywhere but the endzone. Smith used the first challenge when he shouldn't have and he didn't use the second one when he should have--does that make sense?
Butterfingers
The most troubling statistic to me in this one is that Chicago turned the ball over 6 times (four interceptions, 2 fumbles). As a team that prides themselves on turnovers, this was considerably disturbing because perhaps the Bears need to worry more about themselves than their opponents.
Turnovers are such an integral part to football and, when you have six of them, you most likely will come up short. Although Chicago managed to force Washington to cough it up three times, offensive sloppiness cost this team a win.
Although only two of the six were because of fumbles, those are still two mistakes that should not be. Can you imagine how many games a team would win if they never turned the ball over? Enough to get them into the playoffs, that's for sure.
Looking Ahead to Buffalo
Two weeks from now, Chicago takes its act across the Northern border, into Toronto, for a Week 9 matchup with Buffalo. The Bills, the last winless team in the NFL, seek their first 'W' of the season against a Chicago team that will be coming fresh off a bye week.
Sure, their record couldn't be worse. But considering Miami, Green Bay, New England, Baltimore and the New York Jets were 5 of their 6 opponents, I'd say it's possible that their record is a little misleading.
On offense, Bills' QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has completed 63.3% of his passes this year for 969 yards, 11 TDs and 4 INTs that adds up to be a 102.0 passer rating. RB Fred Jackson only has 233 yards on the ground this season, but that's still a 4.2 average YPC. Through the air, receiver Steve Johnson has caught 25 balls for 372 yards with 5 touchdowns. Buffalo also boasts a capable receiver in Lee Evans, who's caught for 286 yards and 4 scores through the air.
Defensively, Buffalo doesn't impose very many real problems for the Bears, so I think this can be a way for Chicago to get some offensive swagger back. Buffalo may have some highlights on the offensive side of the ball, but that shouldn't be enough to get past a Bears' defense that has performed well the majority of the year.
In all three phases, I expect to see Chicago show Canadian fans how NFL football is really played.
*Preliminary Prediction: Bears 27, Bills 16
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*My official predictions are released on Thursdays
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