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In week one the Chicago Bears gave up zero sacks and the excitement reverberated through all of Bear snation. In week two they allowed one sack, week three it was up to two, and week four it was three. If this continues the Bears will allow four in week five, and I don't even want to think what week 16 holds in store for the Sackwatch.
Hopefully they tighten things up moving forward.
Let's see where we stand through four weeks.
Sackwatch after 4 games
2010 - 18 (Martzfense)
2011 - 15 (Martzfense)
2012 - 13 (Mike Tice O)
2013 - 6 (TCO)
Yeah the Bears gave up three sacks to the Lions, but it could be worse (see 2010).
Sack 4 - 2nd Quarter 4:58 Stephen Tulloch
Matt Forte was just stuffed on 1st down setting up this 2nd and 12 play. The Lions show six men on the line of scrimmage, and they end up dropping two of them off on the snap, while blitzing a linebacker. That left it five on five, and since the late blitz came to the Bears right side, the Lions had Chicago out-manned. Luckily for the Bears, they left Matt Forte in to pass block, unlucky for Jay Cutler, Forte missed his block.
Lions LB Stephen Tulloch flashed B gap (between RG Kyle Long and RT Jordan Mills), before coming back in through the A gap (between Long and center Roberto Garza). Forte set up to stop Tulloch's initial progress, and couldn't recover in time to stop his move back inside.
It was a good play design by the Lions, to get a 3 on 2, but the Bears were prepared with Forte. This was just a heady move by Tulloch to pick up the sack, but since Forte over-committed, I'll have to pin this sack on him.
Sack 5 - 2nd Quarter 2:00 Ndamukong Suh
The Bears came out in a shotgun on 3rd and 4, following the 2-minute warning, then Suh happened. The Bears drafted Kyle Long with the thought that he would have to deal with Ndamukong Suh two times a year, and on this play Suh got the better of Long.
Suh simply out-leveraged Long, by getting under his pads. Long tried to anchor, but once he was too high, he was toast. Long isn't the first offensive lineman Suh overpowered and he won't be the last.
Sack 6 - 3rd Quarter :27 Ndamukong Suh
This was a momentum killer, as this series immediately followed Major Wright's interception of Matt Stafford. The Bears were still in striking distance, and this sack/strip touchdown was a back breaker. Kudos to the Bears for still fighting, but this TD ended up being the deciding points.
I'll start right off and agree with Jay Cutler, who took the blame for this sack. He holds the ball too long, and doesn't sense the pressure coming from his right. I'm not giving Jay a pass, but when a team is in comeback mode, you often see a QB hold it a bit too long, just waiting for a receiver to break free.
This looked to be a planned stunt by the Lions, since both Detroit DTs looped around the DEs to their outside. Nick Fairley, who ended up scoring the TD, executed the same stunt, but Chicago LG Matt Slauson was able to stay with him. Fairley isn't as quick as Suh, and Suh kept his loop tighter while scraping the back of the left defensive end. That in essence, set up a pick on Long, and Long was caught up in the wash. Garza, who was the free man on the play, wasn't able to cut off Suh before he got to his QB. But the ball should have been out at that point.
Ndamukong Suh is just a big, strong, fast man, and from time to time, he's gonna get his.
Sackwatch Totals after 4 Games
Sacks Happen - 1
Jay Cutler - 1
Matt Slauson - 1
Kyle Long - 1
Matt Forte - 1
Martellus Bennett - 1
What do you guys think about the Bears pass protection after four weeks?