Chicago Bears Week 4: Takeaways
5.) At least the run defense was solid…
The Bears held Green Bay to 56 rushing yards which is the lowest total the Bears have given up in a long time. Unfortunately when you give up 38 points, holding an opponent to under 100 yards is a pretty empty achievement. The Bears kept focusing on stopping the run, while Rodgers picked them apart all game. I don’t mean to harp on Mel Tucker’s incompetence, actually I do… Tucker was terrible today.
6.) Speaking of terrible, Isaiah Frey should be released
Randall Cobb is a tough match-up, but Frey was beat repeatedly, missed multiple tackles including a sack on Rodgers, and often looked lost in coverage. Frey played over half of the Bears defensive snaps last year, how does he not know his defensive responsibilities? Frey was bad last year and the Bears already cut him once this year… he has had plenty of chances to prove himself and all that he’s proved is that he’s not an NFL caliber corner. Demontre Hurst, who had a strong preseason, deserves a shot in the slot next week. Hurst can’t possibly be worse than Frey, can he?
8.) Martellus Bennett is playing like an All-Pro
I brought up Bennett’s tendency to start strong for the first 3 weeks of the season and then disappear in my post last week, but Bennett was the Bears best receiver again this week with 9 catches for 134 yards and he came about an inch away from a touchdown at the end of the 1st half. I’ve said it a couple times already, but I think the Black Unicorn is on his way to the Pro Bowl this year.
9.) Special Teams still suck
For the 2nd week in a row the Bears special teams unit made 1 good play, this time a blocked field goal by Willie Young, but multiple bad ones. The worst play was the defensive holding on a FG, which I still don’t understand how that is even possible? They couldn’t manage to get the ball past the 20 on any kick returns and gave up a longish return to the Packers that gave them the ball at their own 38 yard line. They also failed to capitalize on a bold onside kick call that may have been the best onside kick Robbie Gould has ever executed (not saying much). Most fans will focus on the defense and probably Jay Cutler as the Bears biggest problems, but the special teams unit has been brutal all season and isn’t showing any signs of improvement.
10.) Aaron Rodgers is Chris Conte’s worst nightmare
Conte is never great, but he is never worse than when he’s playing against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. Rodgers just seems to know exactly how to fool Conte whenever he needs to. It’s gotten to the point that the Bears would be better off just benching Conte against the Packers. Conte finished with a team low -2.7 grade from Pro Football Focus and I thought it would be worse than that. There was the long pass to the TE on the Packers first drive that Conte didn’t react to until it was way too late, or the play where Randall Cobb broke Conte’s ankles before catching an easy 3 yard TD pass, or twice when Cobb was running after the catch and Conte missed the tackle, or… I could go on for awhile. Frey was bad, but Conte was worse as he always seems to be when the Bears play the Packers. If the Bears haven’t found a legitimate safety by the next time they play the Packers, the Bears should just sit Conte and give Vereen a chance. He literally can’t be any worse than Conte has been vs the Pack the last few years.
11.) The offensive game plan was excellent
I thought this might have been Trestman’s best offensive game plan all season. For the first time this season the Bears made an effort to run the ball and did it well. The offensive line did a good job opening holes and both Forte and Carey ran the ball with authority. On the day the Bears ran for 235 total yards which is more than the last three games combined (192) and averaged 5.7 yards per carry. I liked the rest of the game plan as well. The Bears racked up 496 total yards and had the ball for almost 13 more minutes than Green Bay. Also, the fake end around / TD pass to Jeffrey was the best Bears play I’ve seen this season.
12.) Aaron Rodgers made one of the best throws I have ever seen
I usually focus my takeaways on the Bears, but Aaron Rodgers made a throw yesterday that deserves some praise. On 3rd & 7 from the Bears 34 yard line, Rodgers was pressured for one of the few times all game. The Bears blitzed both Jon Bostic and Isaiah Frey who got both arms on Rodgers but couldn’t bring him down. After Rodgers eluded Frey he avoided Trevor Scott, Jared Allen’s replacement, and then got submarined by Lamarr Houston while throwing the ball across his body. Despite getting his legs taken out while he was throwing, Rodgers threw a 40 yard strike to rookie Davante Adams in the corner of the end zone. A holding penalty ended up negating the play, but it was awesome. My explanation doesn’t do it justice, so just check out the clip below. It’s one of the top 5 QB throws I’ve ever seen.