Bears @ Seahawks : Postgame thoughts

[Chewie]

Very random hits after watching the game. BTW, what does it say about me that I was watching the second half of a Bears preseason game over Phelps winning his last gold medal ?

- First a rant. Someone has to explain to me - real slow-like - why Grossman plays a quarter and a half and Orton plays only half a quarter when we're still trying to figure out which should win the job. Do I need to see Hanie - who I like but has NO chance of actually winning the starting job - for a full half ?? Let the two guys who are actually in contention for the job develop a rhythm at least. We're exactly where we DON'T want to be after 2 preseason games - with neither QB establishing himself as the starter.
- Speaking of the QB battle...Grossman had no time to even look for his receivers thanks to the lack of protection and Orton had a couple good connections late to Lloyd. Like I said, though, can't say one was considerably better than the other.
- First team defense looked better this time around. Good QB pressure and secondary was lively for the most part.
- Somebody tackle Forsett....anyone....please. That guy was a beast for the Seahawks returning kicks and rushing the ball. 15 carries for 136 yards? Yow! Drafted 233rd overall this year. Nice pick.
- Grossman bleeding from the bridge of his nose after 3 plays. Awesome.
- First string o-line just abused by the Seahawks. Saw that St. Clair and Tait in particular were beaten.
- Doesn't help matters that Forte whiffed on a blitz pick-up. This was supposed to be one of his strengths. I will say I saw him pick up two blitzes effectively later on.
- Wolfe needs a hole to do anything - he's not the kind of guy to make something out of nothing. You breathe on him and he goes down. A wimpy arm tackle is all it takes. Showed nothing this game.
- Israel Idonije starts for resting Tommie Harris and looks good in the process. Good QB pressure.
- Rookie Marcus Harrison looked good in spurts, too. I don't think we'll be missing Tank.
- Didn't see Dvoracek but if he can return healthy I'd say we're pretty darn set at DT between Harris, Adams, Idonije, Harrison, and Dvoracek. Talk about depth.
- Desmond Clark goes down with a knee injury early. My guess is they'll call it a sprain until he can get an MRI.
- Hard not to like rookie TE Kellen Davis (3/55/1). I've forgotten about the loss of John Gilmore already. He'll come in handy if the Desmond Clark injury turns out to be serious.
- Words you don't want to hear...."Devin Hester slow to get up". He was fine, though...
- The more I see of McClover, Rod Wilson, and Roach on special teams and defense, the less I think Okwo (who DID play but you'd be hard pressed to prove it) will make the team despite being our 3rd rd pick in '07.
- Sight seen: 2yd pass by Grossman on 3rd and 5. I've lived this before.
- Brandon Lloyd. Nice game! 4 catches for 37 yds - 2 of which were of the highlight variety. Saw him playing special teams as well. He should make the team (and start?)
- We don't like to pass over the middle, do we? Never seen so many sideline passes in my life.
- Hey, look! Penalties on every kick and punt. FUN! Love the preseason.
- Hey, look! Seahawks cheerleaders! Mmmmm.....
- Looks like I'll have to take my negative comments about Bennett as a lousy choice for returner back as he brought back a long punt return for a TD. He looked much more comfortable there. He did drop a pass on the first series, though.
- Sight seen: Wolfe returning a kick. Why not ?
- Who are these receivers for Seattle? I didn't recognize a single name and given that I play fantasy football and am required by law to know this kind of thing I can only assume all their guys are dinged up.
- Our 2 minute drill at the end of the 1st half ended up OK but I have to laugh at how typical it is for the Bears to run draws on 2 of the first 3 plays with 1:50 left deep in their own territory. Most teams try to set themselves up for a TD in that situation. The Bears try to set themselves up for a 50yd FG.
- I don't like this trend of wearing the caps inside-out like they do on the sidelines (for both teams). Just makes you look stupid. Reminds me of the dumb fad of keeping the tag on the caps. Just wear them like a normal human being, guys.
- In my next life, I want to have Mark Anderson's body.
- I've said this before but if Dan Bazuin doesn't watch out, rookie Ervin Baldwin is going to come in and take his job as backup DE. Being a 2nd rd pick last yr is the best thing Bazuin has going for him.
- Hanie was so-so this time around. Terrible pick in his own territory but redeemed himself with the TD to Davis.
- Steltz got his chance to play big minutes. Wasn't pretty. Find Forsett, tackle Forsett, Craig.
- If you exclude the 4th quarter muck, it was 16 points scored by the Bears defense+special teams and 3 for the Bears offense. Just brutal.
- Finally, idiotic of Lovie at the end of regulation to be happy with a 46yd FG attempt for Gould when he had plenty of time to move it closer. Is Gould THAT automatic from 46, Lovie? Clearly not given the miss. And, yes, these were my thoughts before he missed it!

And that's all I have to say about that.

[WEFFPIM]

Can't say I watched...any of this game, but the fact that it appears that the Bears won't be picking a starting QB after this game is really, really bad.

[Friend_Of_Haley]

- Finally, idiotic of Lovie at the end of regulation to be happy with a 46yd FG attempt for Gould when he had plenty of time to move it closer. Is Gould THAT automatic from 46, Lovie? Clearly not given the miss. And, yes, these were my thoughts before he missed it!

That was my initial reaction too, but then I thought about it. Its preseason and you are trying to get guys experience in different scenarios. We know Gould can knock down 40 yard field goals. Let's give him a chance in an actual game situation to try the harder stuff.

[Chewie]

Can't say I watched...any of this game, but the fact that it appears that the Bears won't be picking a starting QB after this game is really, really bad.

Why watch when I can summarize for you?

I can't see that there's any way they can pick a QB after this game. They've seriously got to sit Hanie for at least 3 quarters next game and let Orton and Grossman duke it out.

[Chewie]

- Finally, idiotic of Lovie at the end of regulation to be happy with a 46yd FG attempt for Gould when he had plenty of time to move it closer. Is Gould THAT automatic from 46, Lovie? Clearly not given the miss. And, yes, these were my thoughts before he missed it!

That was my initial reaction too, but then I thought about it. Its preseason and you are trying to get guys experience in different scenarios. We know Gould can knock down 40 yard field goals. Let's give him a chance in an actual game situation to try the harder stuff.

If that was Lovie's thinking then I can get behind that. I just don't know if that was the case as I could see him pulling the same safe BS in the regular season.

[CBS7]

- First a rant. Someone has to explain to me - real slow-like - why Grossman plays a quarter and a half and Orton plays only half a quarter when we're still trying to figure out which should win the job. Do I need to see Hanie - who I like but has NO chance of actually winning the starting job - for a full half ?? Let the two guys who are actually in contention for the job develop a rhythm at least. We're exactly where we DON'T want to be after 2 preseason games - with neither QB establishing himself as the starter.

This is a huge deal. I mean seriously, I've been wondering the same thing.

Play Grossman a half and Orton another half, or a quarter and a half each, or something, but don't let Haine play so much.

[NLK]

Great Review with Rants and Raves Chewie!
I thought I was going to listen to the game on the way back from Hershey Park, but I had more fun listening to music and other random thngs.

I think we should all be concerned with how the Coaching Staff is going about this QB duel. It should be all open thing if you ask me (between Rex, Kyle, and Caleb). But based on Rex's playing time, it seems like the staff has already made a decision: Kyle Orton. They spared him minimum time (to keep him free from Injury), forced Rex to make things happen and make a showing to prove to them that they're wrong on the choosing. Alas, he didn't (due to a lot of pass play calls) Seriously, WTF is Ron Turner doing upstairs calling the plays he has. RUN THE M.F. BALL IDIOT! To me, it seemed like they're not allowing Forte more of a chance to get into some rhythm with the O-Line. Thats really worrisome, imo. Get him lathered up a bit, otherwise, with a pathetic passing game, not having a running game, we'll be lucky to see this team 5 games.

Earl Bennett??? Seriously? Doing his impression of Devin Hester? Whatever, Defense and S/T are the only hope for putting up points. I don't usually use the preseason has indicator of how a season goes, but this team is not giving us any hope or any impression of doing better than last season. I say we'll be lucky if we get 5 games at this point. I hope the staff hasn't settled on just Kyle as the starting QB, they need to use next week's game, nationally televised, as their true indicator. If Caleb Hanie seems to be the poised guy, then they should acknowledge that. Pro-football is a game, but its also a business. Lovie/Angelo et. al should know this, and not be in this feel good crap when it comes to deciding who starts a QB. Pick the best guy to give the team a chance to win, not to someone who has less of chance to blow the game.

[NoSkyy]

Two things:

Worst O-Line I've seen in a while

And

Worst Coaching I've seen in a while.

Seriously Lovie, you couldn't move it 7 yards in 30 seconds(with timeouts and multiple downs0 for Gould to MAKE SURE you get the win? Seriously

[batman_crip14]

i don't know if anyone caught this but i was watching game highlights on espn, and they started off with Grossman as they're main topic to talk about and then first thing they show is him getting sacked and then next was the sack which lead to the almost pic6. Then they showed Orton coming in and gunning passes of at least 12yards and that nice pass to Llyod. I mean Grossman didn't have a pretty game and neither did Orton, but to show nothing positive of Grossman is kinda annoying but i guess its been like this since he got here.

Orton should get this next game and Grossman should get this last game and lets see how the battle comes to an end because played a quarter 1/2 aint doing anyone help, especially the fans at home.

[Chewie]

i don't know if anyone caught this but i was watching game highlights on espn, and they started off with Grossman as they're main topic to talk about and then first thing they show is him getting sacked and then next was the sack which lead to the almost pic6. Then they showed Orton coming in and gunning passes of at least 12yards and that nice pass to Llyod. I mean Grossman didn't have a pretty game and neither did Orton, but to show nothing positive of Grossman is kinda annoying but i guess its been like this since he got here.

Orton should get this next game and Grossman should get this last game and lets see how the battle comes to an end because played a quarter 1/2 aint doing anyone help, especially the fans at home.

Well, the 4th game of the preseason is usually just used to avoid injuries to the starters so rest assured this thing will be settled between the end of the 3rd game and then (IMO). We absolutely need to see both QBs more next week to make a fair judgment.

[chitownsports4ever]

As I said while I was watching this one is all on Lovie .They came out straight throwing the football instead of running trying to boost Rex and it backfired .

1-10-CHI 20 (15:00) 8-R.Grossman pass short left to 82-G.Olsen to CHI 24 for 4 yards (56-L.Hill).
2-6-CHI 24 (14:17) 8-R.Grossman pass incomplete short left to 85-E.Bennett.
3-6-CHI 24 (14:13) 8-R.Grossman sacked at CHI 15 for -9 yards (56-L.Hill).

as opposed to the week before

1-10-CHI 22 (6:09) 18-K.Orton pass short middle to 22-M.Forte to CHI 26 for 4 yards (56-D.Johnson).
2-6-CHI 26 (5:41) 22-M.Forte right tackle to CHI 35 for 9 yards (44-J.Page, 49-B.Pollard).
1-10-CHI 35 (5:05) 22-M.Forte right guard to CHI 39 for 4 yards (95-R.Edwards).

I though Orton played well in the shotgun which he basically was in the entire time .I wish they wouldve had Forte in there on a couple of those draws and little dump offs.

We know the line is a pieced together and they still seemed determined to pass on too many possessions.I saw very few screens when the week before there seemed to be an attempt every possession.They never attempted anything early to put themselves in good position on third down. Some of those plays didnt seem to me to be plays designed to with a gameplan in mind but just some of Rexy's favs that got tossed out there .

[Howling Mad]

Chewie, nice postgame thoughts. Agreed on most of it...

Forte did miss on several blocking assignments, but he had several nice ones. His size allows him to be a versatile blocker, on LB, DB, and lineman effectively. He just doesn't go for the chop block, the guy puts in some elbow grease into it. He so hard-nosed, I love it.

I've expressed my liking for Bazuin, but besides the end zone close out, that led to an interception, he was blocked out, and forced out of position on the majority of plays. Booo.
On that same thought, Brown is looking real real good. My bad Alex. You are, without question, the starter.

[remembering that several no names have made spectacular highlight reel catches]Kellen Davis looked good. Everything you could want from a catching TD. Size, speed, explosiveness and big play ability.

Lloyd, yay!

Chitown, you make a great point, I kinda had similar thoughts. I was also trying to imagine Forte on those out/screen passes. Also, not surprised about Orton being comfortable in the gun. Thats all he pretty much ran at Purdue. I'm a believer in Orton and I think he can be a decent QB who lives off the short pass.

[emperorjones]

Great Postgame thoughts Chewie - much more enjoyable than the actual game.

[Madheki]

News papers still judge grossman regardless of the horrendous job by the O-line. I'm not an apologist but that is extremely unfair.

[Cliff Levingston]

News papers still judge grossman regardless of the horrendous job by the O-line. I'm not an apologist but that is extremely unfair.

It's cause he's a nice scapegoat and usual punching bag. Give us Tom Brady and he won't do much with this O-line and receiving targets. That's not saying Grossman is any good but the deck will be heavily stacked against any QB that goes under center for us.

This game was the usual Bears' song and dance; defense and special teams giving us things to be happy about while the offense, regardless of who's out there, sucks. Cliff Levingston is convinced that the coaching is more to blame for the poor offense now and over the years than anything due to a comment made by Orton at halftime. Cannellis asked him how he thought the offense did and he said "we did pretty well. We were able to move the ball into field goal range." Really? Field goal range is considered "good?" Cliff Levingston thinks getting touchdowns is a good thing, getting field goals is "meh, it could be worse."

[The Sheik]

I just saw that Kellen Davis catch....best non Hester play I have seen from the bears in quite sometime. Has Earl Bennett done anything on offense? What about Monk and Baldwin?

Anyway I like the prospect of Olsen and Davis as the future at TE. We just need to draft O line in the first round from here on out.

I feel so dumb for us having drafted Williams. Otah, Alberts...anyone would have been better. I guess worst case scenario(if he stays healthy) he can be a useful LG. I just dont see him playing LT.

[Chewie]

Has Earl Bennett done anything on offense?

Dropped passes. He needs to crank it up next week if he wants to see some PT outside of special teams.

What about Monk and Baldwin?

Monk dropped a long pass from Hanie at the end of the first game. In fairness to Monk, it hit him in a bad place....right in the hands! Didn't see him even get in the game vs the Seahawks but I easily could have missed it with all the personnel shuffle. I've liked what I've seen out of Baldwin. Like I said in the recap, Bazuin should be looking over his shoulder at him.