Chicago Bears Sackwatch 2011; Week 5 vs. Detroit Lions

Disgust.  That word sums up my feeling as the Monday Night Game wore on.  I usually try and keep an even keel when I write, but this week some anger came out.  The pass protection continues to be problematic, and something has to be done.  I'm OK with the growing pains of J'Marcus Webb and once he returns, with Gabe Carimi.  But Frank Omiyale should never line up at tackle again.  But on the bright side...  Look who's Sackwatch series now has a sponsor!

The stat sheet says that Jay Cutler was sacked 3 times, but we all know it was worse than that.  Penalties saved the Sackwatch from being any longer this week, and since the premise of this post is to keep track of how the pass protection is doing in relation to the terrible 2010 season, I'll only dissect the 3 actual sacks.  To check out Dominique's grades for the o-line click here.

Sack 16 - 1st Quarter 5:40 - Cliff Avril
This was the facemask sack by Avril that gave the Bears a 1st down and continued the drive that ended embarrassingly with the timeout, the short yardage fail, then the stupid Lovie challenge.  Sad.  But back to the sack, Avril beat Omiyale on an inside move, coming back under Omiyale.  Matt Spaeth was lined up next to Omiyale and Avril was in the Wide 9 technique.  Spaeth didn't chip and Omiyale was in catch up mode from the snap.  It was a 5 step drop by Cutler and Avril showed good awareness on the play.

Sack 17 - 4th Quarter 12:52 - Willie Young
Willie Young got to Cutler on a 3rd and 18.  This was such a deflating sack.  Cutler was in the shotgun and Young was real wide ready to rush the passer.  On the snap he ran right past Omiyale.  He didn't have a chance.  Matt Forte was on the left side and he released that direction, and there was no one to chip or help Omiyale.  Chris Williams allowed his guy to get too much penetration on the play also.

Sack 18 - 4th Quarter 7:39 - Lawrence Jackson
On a 1st and 10 Cutler was dropped for a 0 yard loss.  Come on Mr. Stat Man, you couldn't credit him for a gain of an inch and a scramble run?  This sack was Webb's responsibility.  Defensive end Jackson was again real wide, and he ran right around Webb, Cutler tried stepping up, but Jackson relentlessly chased Jay down.  This was a 7 step drop and once again there was no chip or help for the Bears tackles.

If you look purely at the stats you may not realize how good a game Jay Cutler had.  Under constant pressure he was able to shift around the pocket to find throwing lanes.  I don't remember one forced pass all night.  He was 28/38 for 249 yards and a TD.  The good news is the Bears are still below last years record sack pace, the bad news is Gate 68 is still employed.

Sackwatch after 5 games
2010 - 21
2011 - 18