As someone with no life during the week (not even kidding or being hard on myself, I'm pretty strict on the partying during the week, don't want to do anything really stupid at work because I'm exhausting myself with other things that are ultimately frivilous), I'm going to combine two of my favorite type of review styles into one review, although the two will be kept separate as well.
The first part is a good, bad, and ugly type of thing, and yeah, I'm going to make those the three things. The first thing being something that caught me as being especially good, the second will be something that caught my eye as being especially bad, and the third being something that caught my eye as something that was just ugly, maybe it worked out, but it wasn't pretty. The second part is me grading the different aspects. Passing offense (which will be split between skill positions and blocking), running offense (split the same way), passing defense (split between QB pressure and secondary play), rush defense (not split), and then special teams, split between kicking and returning.
So, first for the good. I'm going to go with Brandon Marshall. After a tough game against the Raiders in week 3 of the preseason and some comments that raised eyebrows (as I said then and continue to say, the comments were totally blown out of proportion by the media). Marshall looked great, coming up big when it mattered the most, and finishing with 104 yards on 8 receptions, mixing it up between short yardage catches and longer receptions.
Now for the bad. I am going to go with the defense in the first half. They're lucky to have gotten out of that half with only giving up 14 points. They were very lucky to get that second Tillman interception. Either way, the tackling was the worst part of it. Even though they held the running game of the Bengals down pretty well, there were still several runs where they allowed the Bengals to get extra yards by not finishing their tackles, not getting over to help teammates complete tackles, and going too high on tackles. The fundamentals were just terrible with their tackling in that first half. Also, while AJ Green is a Pro Bowl wide receiver for a reason, and while I understand that Tillman was sick, the defense on Green still looked bad. Other players didn't step up to help out Tillman, and Green had a monster first half, better than just a Pro Bowl wide receiver first half.
Now, the ugly. I'm going to go with the offensive line for the game. They did some things very good and other things not so well. The pass protection was surprisingly good. I expected a sack or two of Cutler, but the Bengals and their great defensive line didn't sack him once. At the same time there was the run blocking, which was not so good. The Bears running backs both averaged under 3 yards per carry for the game. I'll cut them some slack since they were going against the best defensive line in the league while at the same time starting two guys playing in their first regular season NFL game. Again, they did play above what I thought they would, but I didn't expect it to be pretty, and it still wasn't pretty.
Now for the grades.
Passing Offense
Skill Positions - B+
Very good for the most part. There were a few drops in there, which took the grade down a bit. Also, the Cutler interception knocks the grade down a bit as well. The totals were not gaudy, but it did get the job done very effectively. One thing that actually brought the grade up a bit was that Cutler did a much better job at distributing the ball to different players than he did last year. I'm not one of the people that was going after him for going to Marshall too much last year, because if it's effective, keep doing it, and nobody was taking Marshall out of games last year. Still, Jeffery had 5 catches for 42 yards, Martellus Bennett had 3 catches for 49 yards and a touchdown (great catch on the touchdown as well, extra props for that), and Matt Forte had 4 catches for 41 yards. As the season continues, I expect to see the ratio go up and down.
Blocking - A-
Very good for the most part. Cutler still got hit a few times, and some of his not being sacked had to do with him getting rid of the ball especially fast, but it was still very good.
Running Offense
Skill Positions - C+
I didn't think the running backs were especially bad yesterday. They didn't average even 3 yards per carry, but they were often making a lot out of what they were given. It wasn't a great effort, barely above average by the grade I gave them, but they were getting more than they should have, or losing less than they should have a fair amount of times. Also, when it mattered the most in the game they were coming through. Matt Forte, turning that run outside on that 4th and short play, Michael Bush getting some big runs to help the Bears get a first down and keep the clock running. Again, they were not great, but they did make some things happen, especially when it mattered most.
Blocking - C-
I would have gone lower, but I took The Situation into thought and realized how he's fallen off the face of the planet since Jersey Shore ended. I also took the game situation into account. Like I brought up in the whole ugly paragraph, the Bears were going up against a great front four, and a great front 7 at that. The Bears were starting 2 rookies, both on the same side of the line. The Bears were only returning one player who even played on the team last year (as far as the starters go). Still, where you have struggling running backs, you have an offensive line that is not performing. Most running backs are a product of their offensive line. John Jurkovic even goes as far as to say that outside of Brown, Sayers, Payton, and Sanders, all of the running backs have been the same. I'm sure there's plenty of hyperbole there, but that's a guy who played on the defensive line, and I'm sure he's more looking to make a point when he says that. In this case, the line still did not do a great job in run blocking.
Passing Defense
Secondary - B-
If this was based on the first half it would have been an entire letter lower, maybe even a D+. Like I mentioned above, they allowed Green to go crazy in the first half, not just put up Pro Bowl numbers, but absolutely destroy them. They were not covering him well or helping out the very sick Charles Tillman. They were not tackling him once he had the ball. It seemed rare that they even tried to wrap him up on tackles, much less actually wrap him up. In the second half though it was much different. They were able to make Green look like a #2 or #3 receiver and were able to make Dalton look very average. It was almost a complete 180. They tackled well, getting lower and wrapping up, making sure the tackles were completed. In the end they actually wound up dong rather well. Not quite good, but as a whole I'd say it was a solid performance. Both halves almost even each other out. I'd give the edge to the second half since, I mean, they're still Pro Bowlers (Dalton and Green), and Dalton was held under 300 yards and threw just as many interceptions as he did touchdowns.
QB Pressure - C-
I was tempted to go D+ here, but they did get a sack, so I'll stay away from the D range. There was some solid play from McClellin in getting hurries and getting there first on that sack from him and Paea. Speaking of Paea, him and Wootton did get in there on occasion. Peppers might as well have not even played, he was invisible. The linebackers were not getting QB pressure either, and as a whole, they were leaving the secondary out on an island a bit (another reason for the secondary being in the B range in the end). This was probably the worst performance that I've seen from the Bears on the defensive line since the 2011 season, a season where the pressure was so bad that they went with McClellin instead of fixing the offensive line in the 2012 draft. Either way, it was pretty bad for almost the entire game.
Running Defense
A - This could not have been much better. In fact, the only way it could have been better is if they had gotten lower and wrapped up better on several tackles in the first half. Still, they held the Redskins to 63 yards on the ground on 21 carries. An average of exactly 3 yards per carry. If you take out the one Jones run, which wasn't really a traditional run play, it was 49 yards on 20 carries, less than 2.5 yards per carry. Green-Ellis, a running back who has seen a couple of 1,000 yard seasons and a couple seasons averaging over 4 yards per carry, was held to under 2 yards per carry, getting 25 yards on 14 carries. Sure, it wasn't perfect, but the last time I saw perfect run defense, it was the Packers holding Barry Sanders to negative yardage in the earlier part of the 90's. Everyone knew that was pretty much a fluke, even then. The run defense earned a very solid A here.
Special Teams
Kicking - B+
If Robbie Gould were the only person whose foot was making contact with the ball, then it would be an A+. Gould set a Bears and Soldier Field record with his 58 yard field goal, one where he still had room to spare after it went through. I didn't keep count, but he didn't allow a single kickoff return, you don't have to count to know that. Podlesh wasn't necessarily bad either. He put 3 inside the 20 and had a solid average. However, that being nothing special, and him being a little flat on a couple and allowing a couple of good returns (although one was called back due to a penalty that may not have made much of a difference). Sure, the coverage has to be better, but I do keep the coverage in mind when it comes to kickoffs and punts. It was still good though, many more positives than negtives.
Returns - B-
Hester had a very good 31 yard kickoff return, but at the same time his punt returns were very ineffective, returning the ball twice for a grand total of 0 yards, gaining and losing 3 yards. There isn't a whole lot more to say. Hester didn't get the best chances on his punt returns, so it's not like he was especially bad, he just didn't make something out of nothing.
Now, for a special bonus, I will always include what I feel is the play of the game. This is one that may or may not have saved the game for the Bears. If it hadn't been made it certainly would have given the Bengals a chance to take the lead at the end though. This was a play that was all head, even to the point of where the head took over at a time when heart would have hurt the team. I'm talking about Jordan Mills not retaliating to Maualuga's cheap shot that was called for a personal foul near the end of the game. I have no doubt that Maualuga was doing that in an attempt to get Mills to retaliate and stop the clock. Rather that is a good strategy or not is another story, but either way, Mills did not allow for that to happen. I'll send out a mention of Jay Cutler on that, who was right there to make sure Mills didn't do anything stupid.
It was a win, and that was the bottom line. There's a lot of overreaction out there, as expected, but Bears fans have good reason to be happy after beating a legitimate playoff team. Still, the offensive line, while they did play well, is something that we (as fans) need to pump the brakes on a bit. They did well against a great defensive line, but the protection was good, the run blocking was poor. Another thing I'd like to bring up is that Jay Cutler really looked like he took a step forward as a leader. I never thought he was a bad leader or anything, but just nothing special as a leader either. The media obviously had (and may still have) it out for him and tried to make him look as bad as they could, but at the same time, he wasn't anything special as a leader either. Cutler did several things, the Maualuga incident included, that just made him look like a good leader. A win is a win and a win is always a good thing to end up with. Now it's on to week 2.
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