Chicago Bears Week 7: Takeaways
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Chris Conte: I think Conte is the worst starting safety in the NFL. He’s consistently beat in coverage and instead of attempting to tackle opposing runners, he tries to be Charles Tillman and strip the ball. He’s no Charles Tillman. When he attempts to strip the ball, Conte ends up getting carried for 3-5 extra yards. It’s embarrassing. I can’t even rationally discuss the touchdown play that Tillman misjudged and Conte watched from the ground after trying to draw an interference call? I hope that is what he was doing and he didn’t actually fall down after a little shove from 5’11, 181 pound Aldrick Robinson. Pathetic.
Matt Forte: The silver lining of Cutler’s injury is that the Bears should finally give Forte the 20+ touches he deserves. He again proved his value this week scoring 3 touchdowns for the first time in his career and averaging 5.7 YPC and 9 YPR. Forte will have to carry the load while Cutler is out and I think he will prove up to the task.
O-line: The Bears gave up 3 sacks for the first time all season. Rookies Kyle Long & Jordan Mills both gave up their first sacks of the year and Roberto Garza gave up the 3rd during what was statistically his worst game all season according to PFF (-2.1). While I’m on the topic of bad individual performances, Jordan Mills graded out as by far the worst o-lineman of the game by giving up the aforementioned sack and 6 QB hurries for a (-4.5) grade. It wasn’t as bad as Mills performance against the Lions (-7), but it was his 6th negative grade in a row and is starting to be a problem. As of now, Josh McCown’s back-up is Jordan Palmer, so Mills and the rest of the o-line need to get their act together during the bye week.
Devin Hester: How nice was it to see Hester take one to the house again? I knew it had been awhile, but no idea he hadn’t had a TD return since 2011. Was it just me though or did Hester look slower than his blockers?
Refs: I try not to be the guy who complains about the refs, but it seemed to me that the Bears got jobbed by the refs Sunday. From my vantage point, no one was off-sides on the Gould onside kick, there was a missed fumble call on the Redskins first drive of the game, an uncalled hold on a crucial 3rd down during the redskins game wining drive, and a couple of questionable uncalled PIs and late hits. It’s possible my emotions got the best of me or the shots for every McCown completion warped my judgment, but I have to go by what my game notes tell me. I’ll give it a closer look when I watch the game film tonight and will retract if necessary.