Bears/Falcons disaster postgame thread

[SportsWorld]

i really hate losing. everything about a bears loss bothers me. the entire week that follows. can't even go to Tribune sports without something about it. can't turn on espn1000 without hearing Waddle/Silvy or Carmen/Yurko/Harry talking about it.

I'm pretty much the same way although I can get over it within 2 days. But the night of a loss or the day after, I can't turn on ESPN or any local sports show.

[NoSkyy]

I think we can all legitimately just agree that if we can get an offensive line and our running game going with the return of Brian Urlacher and the hopeful development of the secondary(god, I hope so. Afalava, Manning, and Payne could be a good rotation) we'll be in really good shape.

I think another really interesting thing in the game that was pointed out was the passer rating for the right side was like 100 something(Bowman's side) and the passer rating for Tillman's side was like 43. Tillman is EXTRA good.

[NoSkyy]

By far the most interesting stat: Forte was hit in the backfield 40% of the time in the game.

That sucks.

[IbreakNeckZ101]

This loss really hurts.. it just solidifies we cannot be quality teams because we choke hard when the game counts... Cutler's 2nd interception really turned the game around.. i think i can point to that when everything just turned upside down.. Forte's two fumbles in the redzone was pathetic.. i don't give a damn if our O-lIne is that bad.. you shouldn't fumble it twice in a row near the goal line

[CjayC]

Cutler in general, wasn't the Cutler that I wasn't used to seeing.

He had some other "off" throws other than the 2nd INT. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt, as the offensive line gives him enough time to "barely" get off a pass.

I think the Bears are an above-average to even good NFL team. Its pretty promising that when we lose, its not the other team just plain out playing us. We beat ourselves in the mental game. If we can minimize mental errors we'll be a good team. Little things like Briggs deciding he wanted to run back the fumble instead of falling on it make a difference. I know he wants to make a play, but you have to have faith in the offense, and take a backseat sometimes.

Johnny Knox looks great. Now if only our line could buy some time, so that Cutler can make that pass to Knox and won't always have to look to his first progression reads.

[Balance-a-Bull]

SO far I haven't admitted Forte is off. Now I will.

Prior to this he looked tired but nothing that made me concerned. Now I think the lack of production is getting to his head. I usually won't get down on someone for a missed reception, mistakes happen, even in the open back field, but one thing that caught my eye was Forte looking ahead before the catch. A technical mistake he usually doesn't make. It leads me to believe he's getting hit more, getting hit harder, and getting hit squared up. Last year when he would catch the ball or shake and shimmy, he would make a last move to avoid the direct contact, this year he doesn't seem to have that.

Now I know some of you won't like this, might even call it an excuse for Forte.

I'm blaming the O-line. Yes, I am. Still.

In order for Forte to work his vision, there needs to be movement and blocking. On sideline flanks and the screen we liked to run last year, Forte would easily get 4-5-6 yards. This year he's lucky to shake a defender to get back to the line of scrimmage and everytime he gets the ball in the open field it seems like there are 3 defenders ready to square him up. Where is the guard block? Where is my TE lead blocker? How come the corner is making the tackle?

We need a legit LG.. its nice to have Dez back but we need to replace him with someone who can block.. and the CB should either be 8 yards downfield or on the ground by the time FOrte gets to the sideline on those screens.

I know I know, right now your saying..."what about the CONSECUTIVE fumbles!!!" I know.

He knew it was wrong, we knew it was wrong, the coaches knew it was wrong. I bet thats something the coaches mention and Forte never hears about it again. Just one of those things that doesn't need to be discussed. If you saw the post game interview Forte was very generous with his answers except on one question. Yup, the fumble question. His reply was stern, stiff and you could tell he obviously wanted to move on to the next question.

In Forte's defense, one of the fumbles was Bear style smash fumble. Prop him up, push back and hold while another teammate makes the pop hit. Both fumbles his ball handling technique was correct, both hands on the football and arms covering to protect, so I don't think there's much he can do to correct things. Poop happens. The guy has one fumble in like 500 carries then coughs up two. Go figure. He gets a pass unless he starts dropping on a regular occasion.

So I ask again, patience with Forte.

We had a good blocking TE that we never used and just released( Micheal Gaines).

Although he was touted a great blocking TE, we failed to utilize him in obvious running downs to see if he can make a difference.

What did we Gain(e) by releasing him , when it should have been someone else.

[Howling Mad]

Where is my TE lead blocker? How come the corner is making the tackle?

We need a legit LG.. its nice to have Dez back but we need to replace him with someone who can block..

We had a good blocking TE that we never used and just released( Micheal Gaines).

Although he was touted a great blocking TE, we failed to utilize him in obvious running downs to see if he can make a difference.

What did we Gain(e) by releasing him , when it should have been someone else.

To elaborate...

When Clark returned our running game picked up. With Olsen/Davis there is absolutely no blocking, takes some of our options away. We sometimes drop the TE back in the FB position, from there the TE needs to be able to lead the block and make the catch out of the backfield ala bootleg. With Clark we have a legit block/catch threat. Clark is old and a FA soon, we need to replace him with solid block/catch guy. Offensively, that's key .