Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
The Chicago Bears sleepwalked through another game with an awful effort out of the gates in their 31-15 loss to the New Orleans Saints. It was another total team loss as there were major gaffes in all phases. Let’s hit the notebook and see the unhappy notes I took:
The Bears committed a penalty on their opening kick return, which pinned them inside their 10 yard line. I just cannot comprehend how they continue to commit penalties on special teams. But the best was yet to come.
Jay Cutler waited all the way until the third play of the game to throw his first interception of the night on an errant throw toward Martellus Bennett that was tipped and picked off.
Jay Cutler’s passer rating at one point in the second quarter hit epic levels:
The Bears attempted a fake punt. That’s cool, right? Two problems. One, they were about a yard short. Two, they only had 10 men on the field. Seriously? Yes, seriously.
The Bears ran just 58 offensive plays and gained just 258 yards against a Saints defense that was giving up almost 400 yards per game.
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The Bears allowed a season high 7 sacks against Rob Ryan’s blitzing defense. The last time the Bears line performed as poorly was back in 2012.
The Saints were just 4/11 on third down conversions. But that’s double the Bears’ 2/12 third down conversion rate.
The Bears had 51 rushing yards, 56 gross passing yards and 54 yards in penalties in the first half. You wanted balance??? You got it!
The Bears were 100% in Red Zone Efficiency. The problem? They only made it the Red Zone twice.
The Bears committed 9 penalties for 74 yards.
Jay Cutler’s 3 interceptions moved him into the league lead with 18 on the season, surpassing rookie Blake Bortles. With Bortles questionable to play this week, Cutler could lock up the INT title with another “strong” showing against the Lions.
Marquess Wilson scored his first career touchdown. In Brandon Marshall’s absence, Wilson had 3 catches on 5 targets for a whopping 16 yards. Isn’t he supposed to be the “stretch the field” guy?
Alshon Jeffery and Martellus Bennett led the Bears with 4 catches each. Yup, 4 each. Jeffery did add a garbage time TD.
Rookie punter Pat O’Donnell had a nice game with 6 punts averaging nearly 50 yards each. It’s come to this. We’re singling out the punter for a good job.
The Bears held Jimmy Graham to just 87 yards and 0 TD’s. Fellow tight end Josh Hill had 2 TD catches.
Willie Young had another sack, adding to his team-leading 9.5 on the season. It looks like Young was one of the few good pickups of the offseason.
On the other hand, Jared Allen had a surefire sack up just whiffed on Drew Brees. It looks like Allen streak of double digit sack seasons will come to an end. He’s got 5 sacks with just two games to go.
Christian Jones led the Bears with 13 tackles. We need to see more of this kid and less Shea McClellin, who had just 3 tackles.
Over 10,000 tickets went unused last night. Maybe the McCaskeys will get the message?