As I watched the Bears defense get torn apart during the first half of their victory over the Lions, I was surprised at how often Zack Bowman was 'covering' Calvin Johnson. I had no idea why Lovie wasn't blanketing Johnson with Charles Tillman plus help. If you read my last post, you could tell I assumed it was a given that the defensive game plan would be to shut down what is obviously the Lions most dangerous weapon. Given the Bears strong run defense and weakness in coverage, it just seemed obvious. Yet, there I was, watching Johnson torch our defense to the tune of 119 yards in the first half.
Fortunately Lovie made the necessary adjustments at half time and basically shut down the Lions offense. For the second half, Tillman was covering Calvin Johnson, limiting him to 14 yards. If I'm not mistaken Chicago used more nickel packages and allowed Daniel Manning to help Tillman in coverage. After putting up 21 points in the first half, Detroit failed to reach the endzone in the second. On one of their rare visits to Chicago territory they scored their only second half points on a 35-yard field goal by Jason Hanson. It was good to see a significant defensive adjustment that worked out, but one can't help but question the original game plan.
The Bears' defensive line did their part applying constant pressure to total 5 sacks, 7 tackles for loss, and 9 interceptions. As I predicted, good line play lead to a convincing victory for Chicago. However, due largely to Matt Forte's first strong performance of the season, Jay Cutler did not have a yardage total near what I expected. Cutler did have a solid game, however, with 2 TDs and no interceptions.
Chicago is now 3-1 and moved into second place in the division before their bye week.
I agree with you here. Why not come into the game with that game plan ahead of time... instead of waiting until halftime to try and recover. It does seem a little obvious and i think they knew what needed to be done. I think it was good to see Cutler play a good mistake free game. That is encouraging. I think he will keep getting better in the system as the year continues. I had the bears missing the playoffs in my predictions, but i think they could make a run at the Vikes if they can stay healthy. I think they also have a chance of beating someone out for a wild card spot if they can't win the division.
ReplyDeleteExactly. If everyone sitting at home on their couches new the best game plan was to stop Johnson, why didn't the coaches?
ReplyDeleteMinnesota is still the class of the division, but their schedule will give the Bears a chance to make a late season push.