BEARS Hand PACKERS First Defeat, 27-20

by Adam T on Oct 8, 2007 12:46 AM CDT

So there I am at 11:50 PM standing in the airport fuming that my parents couldn't find somebody else to pick them up. As we are leaving I get a phone call from the wife asking if I saw any of the game at the airport and if I was going to watch it when I got home. I said no and Hell Yes. She told me to wake her when I finished watching. That meant we either won or they walloped us. I get home and the Pack were running all over us and I thought the worse...

DAMN!, that felt good. Putting a stop to an undefeated Packer team and stopping the Favre ass kissing (Ok, that will never happen) is better than sex.

It was good to see the D get back to their old selves in time to win this game. The second half the Packers had 1 first down until their last drive.

Big time game ball to Charles Tillman. If not for him the Bears could have easily been down 21-0 by half time.

Urlacher had an int, Brandon McGowan ended the game on an int and Ayanbadejo/Maynard combined on a fumble in between. Lance Briggs had 16 tackles.

The offense unfortunately doesn't have so many good points. It was nice to actually see Hester, Olsen, Wolfe and Bradley get on the field, albeit some more than others. Griese played a decent game. He will get better, but he over threw a lot of passes and again had an INT in the red zone. Some of that will go away, but that is what you get with him. Griese did spread it around, but only the two tight ends and Peterson had more than one catch.

I am more worried about the run game, Benson was horrible. I know firmly believe he has no desire to be in there. It was cemented for me when he was running up the sideline on one of his few positive plays and instead of lowering his shoulders, punishing a defender and picking up a few more yards he steps out a good 2 yards before the defender would have gotten to him. Start Peterson, it at least looks like he is trying out here.

The Bears now are only 2 games out of the division. With Minnesota in town next week and a tough Washington team in Green Bay the Bears could find themselves one game out.

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Benson

Deserves to be called out on that play. If I'm not mistaken he ran out before the 1st down marker.

by PopeFlick on Oct 8, 2007 12:56 AM CDT reply actions

cedric benson

looks more and more like ricky williams every frickin' game. all the talent in the world with no desire to be out there anymore. i really really miss thomas jones :(

i would say start someone else, but even though adrian peterson may be trying out there, he doesn't look much better. is there anyone we can pick up, anyone at all?

by lopey986 on Oct 8, 2007 3:26 AM CDT reply actions

benson

you all are watching a different game than I am.

benson ran hard all night, and was huge in that last drive.

benson was far from awful; his overall numbers were not good, but that is what happens when you get hit behind the line of scrimmage (by multiple players) on almost every carry.

very few running backs would be getting more done with the bears' horrendous run blocking.

i am continually amazed at the benson bashing around here, while people are silent about how bad the offensive line has been on running plays.

and griese did not throw a pick in the red zone. the bears were on the green bay 39 and griese threw into the red zone and got picked. it isn't like the bear's were already in the red zone.

visit the mindful mission.

by big_lowitzki on Oct 8, 2007 7:11 AM CDT reply actions

limited

I saw limited portions of this game due to work and a lack of TIVO but, from what I saw, I also could not say Benson was awful. I actually thought this was a bit of a turnaround game for him and, yes, the o-line. He showed much more patience and made at least three positive gains on running plays where the hole failed to open up. The most telling part of his game (for me at least) was the pic on chicagosports.com of him on the field celebrating with Brandon McGowan. For all the talk of a guy that isn't part of the team, that says quite a bit.
Speaking of McGowan, now I understand why we let Chris Harris go. That kid is going to be a fine player in this league. I saw him fill the hole and save us from touchdown runs twice and again I saw very little of the game. He seemed to have a nice feel for the safety position. Briggs was also pretty beastly out there last night. He was all over the place.
Probably the most hopeful aspect of the game was Turner finally involving Hester and Olsen. What the f@#k took so long? I was getting sick of fake end arounds. Seeing that crushing block Hester threw in the first half just cemented the fact that he deserves to be in the game more. And, as for Olsen, there's no question that he should receive maximum playing time.
Good game, Bears. Thank you for showing a pulse. Let's beat up on the Vikes and Detroit and see if we can't sneak into the playoffs with our starters back.

by cookding @ Windy City Gridiron on Oct 8, 2007 7:30 AM CDT up reply actions

Stacking it up ...

I agree with Big Low, sort of. For the first half Benson looked like he was running downhill, especially on the 1st TD scoring drive. But the Pack D on many occasions just stacked the box with 9 (looked like 15 at times) and dared us to pass it over them. We have to complete a few passes downfield in order for the run to open up. Defenses have no reason to fear our passing attack unless we complete a couple of medium-range pops. Griese was much better last night, but we're still going to have to do more with our passing attack in order for the run to happen at all. If that happens, that's when we'll really see what Benson is made of.

I wouldn't ever go out to hurt anybody deliberately - unless it was, you know, important, like a league game or something. - Dick Butkus

by iowaBear on Oct 8, 2007 8:48 AM CDT up reply actions

Agree...

Yea - that is true. It is a combination of a bad offensive line and teams stacking the line of scrimmage.

visit the mindful mission.

by big_lowitzki on Oct 8, 2007 8:56 AM CDT up reply actions

agreed

the line did better against the pass rush last night, but again, they were pretty terrible at run-blocking. we are consistently losing the battle in the trenches when benson runs, largely due to teams stacking the line, and our line playing poorly. thank god turner finally used the TEs last night. we're going to need a decent mid-range passing game to give benson any chance to have a good running game. considering how stout the vikings are against the run, i actually hope we throw it a ton next week...lot of 2 TE sets and 7-12 yard passing plays.

by guy incognito on Oct 8, 2007 11:22 AM CDT up reply actions

exactly

we need to be using the tight end on seams and deep ins to get the field opened up a bit.

by mike b on Oct 8, 2007 11:51 AM CDT up reply actions

good job Bears

I was really rooting for you guys, way to come back.

by Terry @ Windy City Gridiron on Oct 8, 2007 7:26 AM CDT reply actions

Of course

you were; you want your team to be atop the NFC.

by cookding @ Windy City Gridiron on Oct 8, 2007 7:31 AM CDT up reply actions

Hunter Hillenmeyer

Had a quote coming back from a commercial game "We've played lights out at the beginning of games and then fall off at the end. Our goal tonight is finishing." That's been entirely too true. However, last night was the opposite. They didn't start well and then picked it up as the game went on. Now they need to put a complete game together. It'd be nice.

by Arbusto on Oct 8, 2007 7:41 AM CDT reply actions

Second Half Defense - Benson

I hope the defensive play we saw in the second half is the defense we see the rest of the season. They played up to their hype and potential in the second half. Anthony Adams played great.

Benson inconsistent. One play he keeps his pad level low and run like a power back is supposed to, and then the next play he runs all tippy toe and dances around too much. Plus, I believe he misses a whole lot of cut back opportunities.

by phastphil on Oct 8, 2007 9:09 AM CDT reply actions

Our defense has been

so banged up and has started so many different players it would have been naive to think there wouldn't have been some breakdowns. The new guys are getting back into the groove and the hurt ones are coming back.

by Adam T on Oct 8, 2007 10:46 AM CDT up reply actions