Game Comments: Bears at Eagles

Offense

1. The Bears came out trying to run the ball and got nowhere against the Eagles defense that was physical at the point of attack.  Eventually the Bears started throwing the ball but that made them one dimensional.
2. The Eagles blitzed frequently, leaving the Bears receivers in man-to-man coverage.  This is pretty much the way to beat the Bears, especially with Cutler at quarterback, if you’ve got the defensive backs to handle it.  The only way to beat this type of coverage is to throw with anticipation to a receiver coming-out of his break, something Cutler is and always will be totally incapable of doing.
3. The Bears offensive line struggled to protect Jay Cutler.  It doesn’t help, as mentioned above, that the whole world knew they were going to pass for most of the game.  The Eagles had a particular habit of pressing the line of scrimmage on third down that cause problems in protection.  They failed to block well enough in the run game to get Matt Forte going.
4. Cutler never saw double coverage he didn’t like and it was at least as apparent in this game as its ever been.  Like clock work the Eagles doubled Brandon Marshall on third down and Cutler tried to force it to him anyway.
5. Cutler spent a good part of this night holding the ball too long, as well.
6. Martellus Bennett had a nice game.  As color man Cris Collinsworth pointed out early on, Bennett on the Eagles linebackers was a match up that the Bears obviously  liked.

Defense

1. The Eagles mixed it up and both ran and passed the ball well against the Bears defense.  The Bears played it straight most of the time but tried the occasional blitz on third down.
2. The Bears got good pressure on Foles and actually got some sacks against the Eagles offense.  But Foles frequently foiled them with his mobility outside the pocket.
3. Nick Foles makes the Eagles offense run.  He’s mobile outside the pocket, thus extending plays, and he throws accurately on the run.  You can see why the Eagles are so tough to stop.
4. The run defense was pretty bad again.  Ironically, the defensive line stood tough and the Eagles didn’t make much up the middle.  But they ran well at the edges as both Lance Briggs and James Anderson played the run poorly.
5. Other than the defensive line, the Bears got out-physicaled all over the field.  There were bodies with Bears jerseys on the ground everywhere on virtually every play.
6. After a couple good weeks, poor tacking once again reared its ugly head.  Back to the drawing board.
7. Chris Conte had another rough game and so did Major Wright.  The Eagles did a good job of taking advantage of them with tight end Brent Celek.
8. The Eagles saw how well the Browns did with it last week and frequently went to the screen game with a great deal of success.  The Bears didn’t fix it in time to save them this week.
9. The defense was on the field an awful lot this game thanks to quite a bit of offensive ineptitude.  That, along with the quick pace of the Eagles offense definitely tired them out.

Miscellaneous

1. Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth were excellent.  All the major points were hit and Collinsworth was his usual sharp self, pointing out little useful aspects of the game as they presented themselves.
2. Special reams were bad.  Devin Hester’s fumble along with some inept punting by Brad Maynard were major contributors to the 21 point hole the Bears found themselves in after only one quarter of play.
3. The Bears had a number of drops that can’t be allowed to happen.  Bennet and Marshall were guilty.  The penalties weren’t outrageous on either side.
4. Hester’s aforementioned fumble was very damaging.  Cutler didn’t throw many interceptions in the portion of the game that mattered, mostly because the offense couldn’t stay on the field.  Jonathan Bostic got a fumble recovery on a nice strip by Tim Jennings.
5. The Bears just plain got out-physicaled this game. The Eagles were both stronger and quicker.  Even more, they came out and they executed.  The Bears did not.  The offense almost never stayed on the field long enough to give the defense any kind of a break and they never had a chance.  This was a shameful, shameful performance.