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All statistics and snap counts are taken directly from the NFL's Game Statistic and Information System.
How many points did the Chicago Bears give up?
Oh, thanks Tom and Gisele...
Just to clarify, the Bears D allowed 44 points and the New England Patriots returned a Jay Cutler fumble to account for the other score. That fumble return for a TD happened after Chicago's defense gave up 31 points, but somehow Cutler was still getting his share of blame after the game.
Jay also threw a Hail-Mary type pick at the end of the first half. The game's situation called for him to take an unlikely shot into the end zone, which resulted in his second turnover and no doubt will add to the 'Cutler turns it over and the Bears lose' narrative. But come on, the Pats didn't punt until 4:21 remained in the third quarter. The Bears have a lot of problems.
Jay wasn't necessarily sharp in the first half, 7 of 13 (53.8%), 66 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int, for a 61.7 passer rating while being sacked twice, but to put the blame for the sputtering offense solely on him is just silly. Cutler ended up completing 20 of 30 for 227 yards, 3 TDs and 1 Int for a 108.6 passer rating. He gave way to Jimmy Clausen in the 4th quarter for their final 9 offensive plays, and Clausen went 1 of 6 for 22 yards.
Guard Matt Slauson was the only Bears lineman to not play all 69 snaps, he left the game after 53 plays with a pectoral injury. Back up OL/TE Eben Britton saw his snap count go up to 24 while he filled in.
Wide out Alshon Jeffery only missed one snap while WR Brandon Marshall only missed 7. Although "that one play" he sat out was all anyone wanted to talk about. Jeffery caught 5 for 59 and a tuddy on his 8 targets and Marshall caught 3 of the 10 balls thrown his way for 35 yards. Josh Morgan and Santonio Holmes played 24 and 37 snaps respectively, while not being targeted once.
Tight end Martellus Bennett played 78% of the snaps (54/69) catching 6 of 7 thrown at him for 95 yards and a TD. Dante Rosario caught 1 of 2 for 6 yards on his 23 offensive snaps. Rosario added 16 special teams snaps.
Head coach Marc Trestman made a concerted effort to get Matt Forte involved, by calling 5 straight running plays to start the game. He finished with 114 yards on 19 carries and 6 receptions (8 targets), 54 yards and a TD. Rookie running back Ka'Deem Carey played the 13 plays that Forte didn't, and he had 33 yards on 6 attempts.
You may look at the 384 yards the Bears' offense put up and assume it was mostly done in garbage time, but when has a Bill Belichick coached team ever laid down? He coaches to score on every possession and to shut down an opposition until the final whistle is blown. There may have been a few dump-offs open underneath for the Bears, but the Pats were still playing football.
New England won the time of possession 32:43 to 27:17. They bested the Bears in 3rd down conversion rate, 7-11 (64%) to 4-11 (36%) and they racked up 487 yards of total offense.
Chicago was penalized 5 times to New England's 7, so the Bears had that going for them...
Defensively the Bears had almost no pass rush until Brady left for back up Jimmy Garopollo. Then it was Lamarr Houston getting the rare sack/dance/knee injury trifecta. He also had 4 tackles, 2 tackles for loss (TFL) while playing 54/73 snaps (74%). The other starting defensive end, Jared Allen, played 58 snaps making 5 total tackles. Willie Young was again the 3rd DE and he played 60% of the snaps (44/73) while making 3 tackles.
The defensive tackle rotation went like this; Stephen Paea (2 tackles) played 54 snaps, Jeramiah Ratliff (7 tackles) had 46, Will Sutton (2 tackles, 1 TFL) had 25 and Ego Fergusson (3 tackles) had 13.
Undrafted linebacker Christian Jones was only one of two Bears that played all 73 defensive snaps. He had 9 total tackles and Chicago's only pass defense on the day. I'll repeat that one again. The Bears' only pass defense on the day.
Tom Brady missed on 5 of his 35 passes and Garopollo completed all 3 of his.
Middle linebacker D.J. Williams led the Bears in tackles with 10 in his 64 snaps. Shea McClellin made 7 total tackles including a TFL in his 52 plays. Darryl Sharpton left with a hamstring injury after making 4 tackles in 11 plays on D, with another 10 snaps in the 3rd phase.
Safety Ryan Mundy was the other Bear to play every snap on D, he had 9 total tackles. The other starter at safety, Chris Conte, left with an apparent leg injury after 48 snaps. He had 8 tackles before his exit. Brock Vereen played 23 snaps on D and another 21 on special teams. He had a tackle on defense, and a tackle and an assist on special teams.
Corner Tim Jennings missed one snap, and he made 4 tackles. Kyle Fuller's hip pointer got the best of him and he only made it through 21 plays before leaving with 4 tackles. Rookie Al Louis-Jean was the first corner off the bench and he filled in for 51 plays making 5 tackles. Sherrick McManis didn't see the field on defense, but he made 1 special teams tackle on his 20 3rd phase snaps. Demontre Hurst was in on 21 snaps at nickel and he didn't register a stat.
Kick returner Chris Williams returned 5 kicks for an 18.8 yard average. Punter Pat O'Donnell had a booming 61 yard punt that helped his net average reach 47.3 on his 4 punts. Cornelius Washington led the Bears with 23 special team snaps.
Your thoughts on the numbers this week?