Thoughts and Observations: Ravens

[WindyCity]

Thought and Observations: Ravens

-This was by a fairly wide margin the most dominant performance we have seen from a Fangio defense. This is closer to what I expected than earlier in the season.

-Kyle Fuller is the most improved Bears and is playing at a Pro Bowl level in the last few weeks. He has been good all season, but yesterday he was flat out dominant and his 3 PD led to the pick 6 and the Ravens kicking a field goal in what looked like an easy TD situation after the bad call on Jones. The really incredible part of his play is how physical he is playing. He destroyed Ben Watson coming up and saved the Bears 4-5 yards and forced a 3rd down. He also made 2-3 more tackles that made me think he was a LB and not a CB. If this continues they need to work to sign him long term.

-Eddie Jackson does not have a pick yet, but his range is something the Bears have not had in a long time. There was a run in the 2nd half where Floyd got widened and it looked like it was going to be an easy 1st down as Collins ran towards the sideline, but then 39 flashes through the screen and pushes him out of bounds to force a 3rd down. What I was sure was going to be a 6-8 yard gain ended up being 3 and the ground covered was insane. The range he showed on the hit on Perrimen that led to Callahan's interception was also awesome to see.

-Good for Adrian Amos he made a nice PD on a short pass to Watson and then turned around and went 90 yards with his first interception. The physical tools have always been there so it will be interesting to see if this builds for him. He does look way better and more comfortable at SS.

-Bryce Callahan has a slower start to the season than I was expecting, but he has really started to look like the dynamic slot CB that we thought he was.

-I didn't see a lot of Prince Amukamara, but I have to assume he was playing well as Wallace did little and Fuller was targeted a lot even when he was dominating his side of the field.

-When Christian Jones does not have to call plays he looks pretty good. The difference between this game and the 2nd half last week was shocking. Jones gets a little lost in coverage from time to time, but he is so physical against the run and is a really good blitzer. Jones should be re-signed as depth and a special team contributor and should be given a chance to replace Freeman when that happens.

-Danny Trevathan has been playing incredible football. Not only does having him call the plays have a huge impact, but he is flying around making plays and his coverage ability is a huge asset.

-Pernell McPhee is really a shadow of what he use to be. Pass protections are focusing on Floyd and the only guy who is taking advantage of that is Hicks. Watch next game how often the TE and RB are set to Floyd's side. The Bears desperately need to get someone who can really attack the right side of the OL.

-Leonard Floyd has another productive game, but did not notch a sack. He drew a hold, had a couple of other rushes that generated pressure. Floyd is still being dropped into coverage a ton and is still not really being turned loose to rush. He has some reps against the run where he was widened and was unable to make the play, but for the most part I have been really happy with his run defense.

-Akiem Hicks is an All Pro.

-Eddie Goldman had a really good game in the middle and continues to be a really good run stuffer. His ability to disengage from a double team and make a play is really something. I think the Bears need to open up contract talks with him now and make sure that he and Hicks are manhandling lines for the next 4 years.

-Jonathan Bullard and Roy Robertson-Harris sighting. Both has decent plays and actually played some snaps. Still no pass rush from Bullard which is frustrating.

 

[WindyCity]

-Dion Sims made 2 catches, one for a TD, but he continued to kind of suck. If the Bears had a negative run you could often find Dion Sims lying on the ground near by. I get that the matchup of Sims on Suggs is not a great one, but he could put in a better effort. I am not sure that he is worth the money he is getting paid if he is going to alternate sucking at either blocking, catching, or both each week.

-The Bears need a little more from Zach Miller. I know the game plan has been turned into a John Fox conservative wet dream, but he needs to be the guy that gets open when the scramble is on. I am not sure if he is seeing a ton of extra attention, but I keep waiting for him to have a 6-7 catch game.

-The Bears are handing the ball too much to Tarik Cohen. I know that when you run the ball 50 times that he needs to get touches, but he is not a traditional RB and I would rather see him playing in the slot and catching passes more often. What happened to the creative split outs and routes that got Cohen open deep against the Falcons and Tampa Bay, Glennon missed both. 14 carries is too much and 1 catch is not enough. The Bears creativity has gone up on trick plays, but has disappeared with Cohen.

-Jordan Howard is the best RB we have watched since Walter Payton. His ability to stay on his feet and maintain balance is incredible.

-Michael Burton with a nice catch and a couple really nice blocks. I hate FBs, but he continues to show his value.

-Tanner Gentry was open on a deep route early and Trubisky over threw him by 10 yards, but after that he was not targeted I am not sure if that was part of the game plan and play calls or whether he was not getting open. Will need to wait for the all 22 tape.

-Was really hoping that Tre McBride would build off an intriguing first game, but he was not targeted. Baltimore has a good secondary, but there has to be more that the Bears can do to get these guys some easy completions and get them going a little.

-Kendall Wright needs more targets, more routes and he needs to be the focal point of the offense, as weird as that sounds. He has been as reliable as he can be in this offense and continues to run good routes, get open and catch the ball. Make sure he is on the field when you need to pass, Sims adds nothing.

-Cody Whitehair either gets the snaps down consistently or he has to be moved to OG next season. You simply cannot have a bad snap a game. More often than not those are huge negative plays or turnovers. The snap that he air mailed that Trubisky picked up at the goal line was an incredibly athletic play by 10 and could have easily been a Baltimore TD. Whitehair is very good still once he is done snapping. His 2nd level work is exceptional, so why not stop making him snap the thing.

-Kyle Long had a strong game in the run game, but he and Massie struggled with some twists and loops. I am not sure what the issue was, sound, scouting, his ankle, but the right side was not a strength in pass pro.

-I do not think this is a game that Bobbie Massie will put on his highlight tape. Anytime that you rush for 200 yards the OL was doing a lot right, but I think he will not grade out well in the pass game. I think the Bears need legit competition at OT next season.

-Charles Leno was steady again. People love to hate him, but the Bears continue to have a ton of success running to the left side and his ability to seal the edge on the outside runs is a big reason for that. I thought he held up well in pass pro against Suggs who will be a HOF player.

-Still too many penalties on the OL.

 

[WindyCity]

-I do not normally do a special teams version of this, but this was such a pathetic performance from special teams that firing Jeff Rogers today would not be out of line.

-The kick return was sloppiness and a unit that is not playing through the whistle.

-The punt return was great design by the Ravens and they isolated and beat up LeBlanc, who was also beat up later on during the overtime punt, but the Bears really got schemed out of the edge there.

-Pat O'Donnell shanking the punt in overtime is maximum Bears.

 

[bamainatlanta]

Ravens offense is horrendous. Not sure this was Fangio or just their ineptitude.

 

[Gustavus Adolphus]

I've been the only one talking about Goldman this season, and he is really pushing the pocket. He's a force in the middle.

 

[legendxofxlink]

Unrein getting hurt opened the door for those 2 to step up. RRH had an easy sack walk right past him because he was ashamed that he went to the ground, got to play to the whistle kid.

 

[legendxofxlink]

Also, props to the WR's. Those guys blocked their asses off. Wright leveled Suggs right when Howard got past him. McBride was punishing DB's and even LB's a couple times when he motioned in. Gentry was strong there as well. I guess that's what having special teams players at WR do for you, they're used to blocking and being gunners.

 

[ruprecht]

The D deserved that win yesterday. Been good all year.

 

[KoreanBear]

Need more slants, curls, or anything short with high completion % to continue building Biscuit's confidence

 

[Ej63090]

Offensive game plan stunk. You don't win many games in spite of your offense.

In reality they put up 17 points and you aren't winning many games with that total.

 

[Gustavus Adolphus]

Loggains hates slant routes.

 

[Bearly]

Agree with all that bur some more notes.

After missing 3 important blocks, I think Sims had a critical success on the Howard 50 yard run.

I think saying Jones gets a little lost in coverage is understating it. I agree he's still got potential that reps may help but his recognition has always been his issue.

I wouldn't put that getting open all on Miller. The game plan along with the 3rd and longs didn't allow any faking or sneaking out, slants on his part and that secondary doesn't give separation on primary assignments unless they miss one like on the Sims TD.

Tanner was open on that bomb but it looked better than it was. I haven't rewatched but to me it looked like Mitch threw it pretty well but Tanner was held up either by interference or good positioning against the sideline by the DB. He had no separation from the DB when the ball landed in front of them. I could be wrong but it looked like that at the time. Penalties made it moot.

The other long ball in Tanner's direction was a throw away. Mitch was told to not take chances and followed orders.

I was disappointed in one play by Bullard where he was on the ground and stopped. If he were more aware, he could have just reached out and tripped flacco fro a sack.

 

[Adipost]

Trubisky bailed Long out on 2 huge plays that he was totally clowned on. I’m not sure what was going on with him. Maybe he’s still nursing the injury from last week, and that was the reason for his hesitation.

 

[Bearly]

Long is toughing it out. That ankle is still an issue. Must have been really f'd up.

 

[JordanHoward24]

Agree with all that bur some more notes.

After missing 3 important blocks, I think Sims had a critical success on the Howard 50 yard run.

I think saying Jones gets a little lost in coverage is understating it. I agree he's still got potential that reps may help but his recognition has always been his issue.

I wouldn't put that not getting open all on Miller. The game plan along with the 3rd and longs didn't allow and faking on his part and that secondary doesn't give separation on primary assignments unless they miss one like on the Sims TD.

Tanner was not open on that bomb but looked like he should have been. I haven't rewatched but to me it looked like Mitch threw it pretty well but Tanner was held up either by interference or good positioning against the sideline by the DB. He had no separation from the DB when the ball landed in front of them. I could be wrong but it looked like that at the time.

I was disappointed in one play by Bullard where he was on the ground and stopped. If he were more aware, he could have just reached out and tripped flacco fro a sack.

That was Robertson-Harris, I know exactly what play you are talking about.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[Hawkeye OG]

The resurgence of Kyle Fuller. Will be interesting to see how Pace handles his contract situation.

 

[iueyedoc]

-Jordan Howard is the best RB we have watched since Walter Payton. His ability to stay on his feet and maintain balance is incredible.

Whoa there, big fella.

Maybe best runner since Payton, maybe. Neal Anderson was pretty damn good. But best RB no. Forte could run, block, and catch. Howard still needs work in the last two areas, and has been abysmal in the last.

 

[Adipost]

Agree with all that bur some more notes.

After missing 3 important blocks, I think Sims had a critical success on the Howard 50 yard run.

I think saying Jones gets a little lost in coverage is understating it. I agree he's still got potential that reps may help but his recognition has always been his issue.

I wouldn't put that not getting open all on Miller. The game plan along with the 3rd and longs didn't allow and faking on his part and that secondary doesn't give separation on primary assignments unless they miss one like on the Sims TD.

Tanner was not open on that bomb but looked like he should have been. I haven't rewatched but to me it looked like Mitch threw it pretty well but Tanner was held up either by interference or good positioning against the sideline by the DB. He had no separation from the DB when the ball landed in front of them. I could be wrong but it looked like that at the time.

The other long ball in Tanner's direction was a throw away. Mitch was told to not take chances and followed orders.

I was disappointed in one play by Bullard where he was on the ground and stopped. If he were more aware, he could have just reached out and tripped flacco fro a sack.

That was CB Jimmy Smith vs. Tanner Gentry in press man coverage. Smith immediately jammed him, and Gentry was slow to break it. That’s a big issue for Gentry according to his scouting report.

 

[iueyedoc]

I've been the only one talking about Goldman this season, and he is really pushing the pocket. He's a force in the middle.

Where is your " I need an apology" thread?

 

[Bearly]

I'm still not sure Forte was better than Anderson who could do all that and get the hard yard when needed.