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Orton Out, Grossman Finishes - Bears Beat Lions 27-23

After sitting tied a top the NFC North with the Green Bay Packers, the Bears come out of this week with the sole lead, but it didn't come easy.

The overiding subject though is the condition of QB Kyle Orton, who went down at the end of the 1st half.  Next week we play the undefeated Tennessee Titans and are going to need all their starters.

OFFENSE

Quarterbacks:  Kyle Orton played well.  It is a bit hard to judge him with the time he was on the field.  He had the ball in short distances a few times, but he ended with 108 yards on 8 completions.  He had 0 TDs and 0 INTs.  He did have a rushing TD, the first of his career.  But whatever, get better quickly!

Ok, we all knew the worse was in play here, but that didn't happen.  In fact Grossman played an OK game. He threw for 58 yards 1 TD and 1 INT.  The one INT came off a batted ball and I still think may have hit the ground.   The point is he didn't make the big mistake.  He looked pretty comfortable in the pocket even with pressure around, he did make a couple of big throws, but we can't get ahead of ourselves here.  He was just ok, some of that can be chalked up to not having played in a meaningful game since last year and he probably was a bit rusty, but he overthrew a wide open Devin Hester for a TD.  He threw a foot ahead of a few recievers.

Runningback:  Forte started off slow, but finished up with a bang.  His running esentially won this game for us.  He totaled around 40 yards on the game winning drive.  He finished with 126 for a 5.7 average.  He ran hard all game and showed good vision.  He had a number of 9-12 yard runs to fuel the Bears 2nd half offense and really took pressure off of Grossman.

Star-divide

Offensive line:  Big props here.  They looked like the same old lost unit in the first half, but come the second they really started to take over on some drives.  On the Bears final TD drive they pulled Garza in the G Power and ran all over the Lions.  It was good to seem them move the line in our favor.  We don't get that often.

DEFENSE

Again hard to judge.  They gave up 23 points to the Lions and let Orlovsky have his best day as a pro, but those points all came in the 2nd half.  So the defense held the Lions scoreless for 3 quarters.  In the start of the 4th the defense did come alive and really started to get after the Lions.  Tommie Harris started to show why we paid him all that money.  Dvoracek, Idonije, Briggs all had key plays.  WAIT....WE HAD AN URLACHER SITING!!!  I know his coverage skills have him away from the ball a lot, but he finally had a big play gettting through the line and causing a intentional grounding penatly.

Tillman did realtively well on Calvin Johnson.  Johnson did get open a few times, but that is to be expected with a guy of his caliber.  Tlllman had signifcantly less catches and impact in the secon half.  Congrats, to Craig Steltz for getting his first INT on a big time TD saving play.

SPECIAL TEAMS

The Lions did have success on kickoffs, gaining 136 yards on 6 returns, so coverage was a bit lacking.

Hester tried to help give the Lions the game with a fumble.  He also almost broke out for his first TD punt return of the season.  He had the lane, but was brought down by a horse collar tackle.

Brady Maynard played well until the one time we needed a solid punt and he broke out the big 18 (it might have been a 12) yarder.

Robbie Gould was 2/2 on FGs and 3/3 on TDs.

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My Thoughts...

1) Ditch the Cover 2. It doesn’t work, and there are too many spots that it can be exploited. We play better without it.

2) Shit! The Orton injury doesn’t look good. We’ll see…

3) Give Grossman a lot of credit for the way he played. He didn’t really make a huge mistake, and made some nice throws (Davis TD).

4) Matt Forte ROY. What a game. Should have used him more in the first half, but he helped calm the offense and get us rolling in the second.

5) Why do we always start so strong on D, let up and then finish well (sometimes).

6) Finally. Devin Hester needs to figure something out. I don’t care if he doesn’t get TDs on returns, but run up the middle and get to the 30 or so. That fumble really turned around the game IMO.

by Twins Territory on Nov 2, 2008 3:54 PM CST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Orton.

They’re saying now it’s not broken, and it doesn’t look season-ending. That’s better than I feared from his face when he went down.

—d

by itsugly on Nov 2, 2008 3:58 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Really?

Awesome news if true. It reminded me of that Grossman injury against the Rams a few pre-seasons ago.

Where did you see this (just so I can follow it)?

by Twins Territory on Nov 2, 2008 4:00 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

grossman broke his ankle, right?

he was out from mid-august ‘til november or so…if its orton’s ankle (and not his knee) and its not broken, it definitely shouldn’t be season-ending.

by guy incognito on Nov 2, 2008 4:19 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

no defense

will succeed with a piss poor pass rush, which is what the bears have. cover two works fine if you have a pass rush and you bump receivers. no defense will work with the pressure we get right now. none.

by mike b on Nov 2, 2008 4:11 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

yep

we have undersized guys up front. in order for them to succeed, we need to make sure QBs don’t have open receivers on 3 step drops. hence, the need to jam receivers at the line. that would buy our line a little more time to rush the passer. but if we continue giving receivers the cushion we’ve been doing most of the season, qbs will drop back 3 steps and be able to hit open receivers all day.

by guy incognito on Nov 2, 2008 4:21 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

we built a team that

COULD run the cover 2 extrememly well, but will be average or below average in other coverages. imo at least.

by mike b on Nov 2, 2008 4:28 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

ugh

we shoud be “the bears”

by mike b on Nov 2, 2008 4:29 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

You realize this isn't the offseason.

This team has been built for the cover two and have been for the last four years or so. To think that the Bears can adopt a new defensive scheme is laughable. Also, people need to realize that the Cover Two is only their base defense, which means that they play it a large portion of the time, but not all of it. This year they seem to be using it less than in years past, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they are using it only a quarter of the time.

by dakoose on Nov 2, 2008 8:47 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Do you know the Bears blitzed nearly 30 times yesterday?

And, the defense still couldn’t pressure the QB or cover receivers.

The Cover 2 is not the problem… the players are.

I'm not going to even bother trying to update this sig everyday anymore... that's what the standings column on ESPN is for.
Updated on May 25, 2008

by SackMan on Nov 3, 2008 3:32 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

good post, i think you hit it all

some thoughts:

d played a good 3 qts….but that second was apalling.

and hopefully we got this 4th qtr defense with a lead solved to some degree…man i was nervous on those last few drives.

rex missed some deep balls, but id rather see him lay those balls out there… and he had a good chemistry going with kreutz on the snaps. it was interesting to hear the anouncer say that turner said the qb comp was extremely even up until the end… so hard too believe.

lance briggs made a sick play on the TE… so glad hes back.

and to quote snl here….. mike brown your leg again.. really?

we got a win today but at what price.. no more bye weeks….bring on the titans.

by rahulsriram on Nov 2, 2008 3:56 PM CST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Good points...

I think Rex did well, and I thought that Hester overthrow was more because he hasn’t played in so long rather than his ability. He does have a cannon, he just needs to stay calm and use it.

by Twins Territory on Nov 2, 2008 3:58 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

yeah i thought rex handle it well

normally when players dont return to a game they end up not playing the following week… so hopefully rex can get some first team reps this week and keep the offense rolling. same for craig steltz…

i think those deep balls will come in handy if b lloyd comes back as well.

by rahulsriram on Nov 2, 2008 4:09 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Early reports from CSN

Orton’s ankle is not broken. Nice effort from the D in the second half. They seriously need to figure out their issues with pass rush. Forte steps up in whatever spot we need him.

by eternale1 on Nov 2, 2008 4:02 PM CST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Grossman will get killed

by the Titans defense next week

of course so would Orton

Visit The Cub Reporter (thecubreporter.com)

by thecubreporter on Nov 2, 2008 4:06 PM CST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

orton has a better chance

becasue they will respect his passing ability. grossman will get treated like he did in seattle.

by mike b on Nov 2, 2008 4:10 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

hate to admit

But I thought Babich mixed up his blitzes better in the second half and that helped with the pressure. And let’s get that field in good shape for next week as we will need a fast field.

by tfrabotta on Nov 2, 2008 4:11 PM CST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

And, as long as we're fixing things,

Babich should show the defense how to execute.

I'M A MAN! I'M 22!

by ChiFan13 on Nov 2, 2008 4:21 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

meh, who would have thought

halfway during the season you’d have more confidence in the offense, and little in the defense?

2009 Cubs: Well, Seems so far away..

by Chanman25 on Nov 2, 2008 4:22 PM CST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

I have good confidence in both.

If the offense helps us stay above a 3 point lead, the defense is good because they can play goal-line prevent at the end of the game.

Clutch: A measurement of how much better or worse a player does in high leverage situations than he would have done in a context neutral environment. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/glossary/

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Nov 2, 2008 5:21 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

SportsCenter

is saying its a high ankle sprain expected to miss a month.

Which is way better then it looked at first.

"Next year" sucks.

by halfblindcubbiegirl on Nov 2, 2008 6:53 PM CST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

ugh

still sucks. i wanted a healthy squad to take on the titans. i’m awfully nervous about grossman, i love the guy and all and i think the team will probably rally around him more so than in the preseason because they know he is the only option, so maybe it will work out.

by lopey986 on Nov 2, 2008 7:03 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Bears quarterback Kyle Orton was taken from the field on a cart late in the second quarter Sunday, and a source told ESPN’s Michael Smith that a high ankle sprain will sideline him at least a month.

hopefully only a month..

by tfrabotta on Nov 2, 2008 7:06 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

well, that's not THAT bad

considering that everyone seemed to think it was an ACL/MCL injury. this actually reminds me of grossman vs. washington last year – it looked horrible, but ended up only being a knee sprain. anyway, i think rex will do fine (more weapons this year, better line), but the real key to our success will be whether our defense shows up.

by guy incognito on Nov 2, 2008 7:52 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Ok, so one month

That means Rex starts for Titans, @Pack, @Rams, and @Vikings. We win 2 out of 4 and I think we’re still Ok, especially if one of those wins is against the Pack. 7-5 when we get Orton back (if things go well with his re-hab), means we’ve still got a good shot at the playoffs going into the last 4 games.

Just trying to keep the vibe positive here.

I'm not so mean. 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 Nov 2, 2008 9:22 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

seems like with rex coming in and throwing the ball downfield

it pulled the safeties back and our running game improved

His stats are as good as Fields -- that's the sad thing

by Jbasic89 on Nov 2, 2008 8:05 PM CST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

While we won the game,

realize that there is almost nothing good to take away from this game. We played the worst team in the league and hat to fight them to the very last second to win the game. The defense had some big moments but also had some bad ones. If it wasn’t for the poor conditions the Lions could have had an even better first half. That pass to Jonson that Mike Brown picked off was a good one, but Johnson lost his footing, much like Orlovsky did a few times in the first half.
The Bears played an awful team and were expected to and should have played well, and the fact that they ran the ball effectively against such an atrocious unit should not be a reason to celebrate.
Grossman had a touchdown pass and was thrown into the game with minimal preparation, so although he did not play well it’s not as if he was put into an optimal situation.
Lets see how the Bears do against some quality opponents like Tennessee and Green Bay. If Orton is healthy enough to play and we can A)continue to stuff the run and B)throw the ball around a bit we should be in both of those games.

by dakoose on Nov 2, 2008 8:55 PM CST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

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