When Jay Cutler got injured, we as Bear fans had to understand and accept that if the Bears were going to win enough games to make the playoffs, those wins would have to be reached on an ugly path. Ugly is not the same as sloppy however. Ugly we can take. Unprepared? Unfocused? Undisciplined? That is unacceptable under any circumstances.
I'm not going to pile on Caleb Hanie, even though there's plenty to pile on. His inconsistency is to be expected, even though he missed a wide open touchdown pass to Earl Bennett, and made some other decisions that make you rip your hair out. This was a team effort, in terms of failure. Here's my blame list :
Offense : Some idiot blogger predicted earlier in the week said that the Bears needed to run the ball really well and not let Hanie throw more than 25 passes. The Bears ran for 93 total yards, and Hanie had 24 pass attempts. So I was a little off in my prediction....sorry.
In terms of play calling, Mike Martz was actually balanced, calling 24 runs and 24 passes on the day. Still the offensive line could do nothing against the Chiefs. Nothing. The O-line was consistently held up at the point of attack, couldn't stretch any of their zone block runs or their Power-O attempts and while Hanie deserves much of the blame on the 7 sacks allowed, it was still obvious that they couldn't pass protect to save their lives/season.
Many people will say that Matt Forte's injury had a lot to do with the lack of a running game, and to a degree I'd agree with that. Still, this is still the Kansas City Chiefs and their 22nd ranked run defense. It's plenty possible to run on them no matter who you have in the backfield.
Oh and don't think I'm going to forget about Roy Williams either! I had a bad feeling he was going to do something stupid to cost the Bears a win this season, and today was the day. His crucial drop at the goal line in the fourth quarter off a well thrown Hanie pass deflected into the arms of (not that one) Jon McGraw, costing the Bears a touchdown. Williams continues to show that at best he's a tease, and at most blunt, he's a BUM. Remember when Martz said Williams could have 80 catches this season? I'll never forget it, and neither should you.
Defense : Very disappointed in this group, and it has very little to do with the Hail Mary the Chiefs scored their lone touchdown at the end of the first half. Brian Urlacher did what he was supposed to do on that play, by knocking the ball down. It was just bad luck that Dexter McCluster was there to catch the knockdown. Those things happen in a game. Not much you can do about it.
What really vexed me was the consistent way that Tyler Palko, repeat, TYLER FREAKING PALKO was able to move the ball! Palko had that little checkdown throw to the left flat open all day, and he took advantage.
When Palko wasn't killing the Bears underneath, the Chiefs were running the ball successfully relying on draw plays. The Chiefs were 7-20 on third down conversions which added up to a 32:42 Time Of Possession advantage over the Bears.
Simply put, the Bears defense could not get off the field. While they generated some pressure in the first half, the pass rush was held in check only tallying 2 sacks on the day. There was plenty made during the broadcast about the tackling skills of safeties Craig Steltz and Chris Conte. Here's the thing about that : the Front 7 are not supposed to let those running plays reach the safeties in the first place. The linebackers were invisible. Charles Tillman and Tim Jennings on the other hand, played well.
Special Teams : Don't get to say this often, but bad. Devin Hester mishandled a lot of punts. Robbie Gould missed a 41 yard field goal, and they even drew some awful penalties as well. For a team that's in a position of having to rely on Special Teams for points, they picked a bad time to not know what they're doing.
Where Do We Go From Here ? The good news is that the Giants, Falcons, Cowboys, and the Lions lost too. The bad news is that the Bears not only failed to take advantage in the standings, but now have to withstand another key injury to a superstar in Matt Forte's Grade 2 MCL sprain. In case you were wondering, that's the exact same injury Cutler had in the NFC Championship Game. How come nobody is questioning Forte's toughness like they did Cutler?
Obvious double standards aside, the Bears actually have me worried about playing Jesus-err Tim Tebow and the red hot Denver Broncos next week. Don't get me wrong, I'm still far from a Tebow believer. Very far actually.
I'm concerned about the defense now. The Bears just made Tyler Palko look like Boomer Esiason. It would be just like this Bears team to be unable to stop The Option or the Zone Read that Denver is running because their quarterback is so awful he can't run anything else.
Then again, this Bears team is full of surprises. They've had their backs to the wall once already this season and responded. That was when they were just bad at football. This time they're both bad and unhealthy.
Once again, get well soon Jay...
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