Posts Tagged ‘Lovie Smith’

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Tough loss

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

Well that has to be the ugliest game I’ve seen the offense played since well… last week. Was hoping for more a little effort by Martz and the offensive line to actually run the ball. What a truly disgusting day to be a Bears fan. Not going to lie… I was really depressed and angry after that loss. Just seeing the Packers just tear apart the Bears was so disheartening. I guess that’s what it’s like having an actual General Manager that know what he’s doing. Talking to you Jerry. Take a notice from the Packers. They actually know how to draft and know what their team needs are. I can go on and on about how Jerry can’t draft and his inability to dress the offensive line properly, but that would be to easy…

The Bears offense pretty much sputtered throughout the game. Having some signs of hope, then those were wiped away by stupid penalties. Looking at you Frank Omiyale. So far you are two for two this year with games that you have stupid penalties. Keep it up and I’m sure you’ll break some type of record. Martz sure as heck didn’t help the Bears by giving the ball to Forte nine times! Oh yeah we’ll definitely run the ball more this week! Get out of here with that nonsense. It was worse this week! Can’t tell you how upset I am for wasting Forte’s skills and talents. It’s almost like they want to depreciate his value so they don’t have to pay him at all when they resign him. Mike Martz is destroying Jay Cutler and Matt Forte’s career one play at a time. There’s no denying it. It’s pretty evident from the past two weeks. Only bright spot of the offense was Dane Sanzenbacher recording his second touchdown of his NFL career.

The defense started of sluggish, letting the Packers stomp down the field on their first possession. They were able to stop them for a while but later in the second half the Packers just continued to run the ball down the Bears throat. They did cause a few turnovers, one of the few bright spots of the day for the defense. I was truly hoping for a complete smack down on the Packers courtesy of the defense, but that didn’t really happen. Brian Urlacher looks like a second year player again. He’s flying all over the field. Hopefully people wake up and realize that he’s a tremendous player and deserves to be voted into the Pro-Bowl.

Oh.. and how about the special teams play where Knox ran it back for a TD… That would of been awesome if it wasn’t called back eh? Makes me sick to my stomach that it was called back.

GammaBears

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Quick rundown/aftermath of Sunday’s game

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

Game was very ugly right after the Bears scored their first touchdown. It went down hill from there. Bears offense was clearly hurting without Roy Williams, Marion Barber and Lance Louis. It didn’t help that Jay’s go to guy, Earl Bennett went out to what appears to be a rib injury. Also didn’t help when Gabe Carimi went out as well. It was just ugly all over, except for Matt Forte and Dane Sanzenbacher. Dane recorded his first touchdown, the only touchdown for the Bears and Matt forte pretty much was the entire offense… It’s a bit reminiscent of how Walter Payton was the offense for the Bears for pretty much his entire career.

Probably didn’t help that the offense line gave up 5 sacks in the fourth and Jay Cutler was kicked in the throat in the third quarter. It was just a bad day for the offense period…

The defense clearly missed Chris Harris after Major Wright and Chris Conte were beat for a game changing long bomb from Brees. They gave up a lot of third down conversions which pretty much infuriated my dad and myself. Run defense was OK, certainly didn’t look to spectacular. The pass defense never really took control of the game away from Brees.

Really hope Jay, Wright, Carimi and Bennett is okay. Think those are the only ones who went down Sunday.

Oh… I would like to have a word with Martz and Lovie… Why in the heck did you keep Jay in the game with no chance of winning? You could of ended his season and possibly his career.

GammaBears

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Hunter Hillenmeyer’s letter to the Tribune – A Must Read -

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011

Grateful Hillenmeyer uncertain about his future
February 28, 2011 1:53 PM
By Brad Biggs

His release earlier Monday from the Chicago Bears did not come as a surprise to Hunter Hillenmeyer.

Off the record, the veteran linebacker said months ago that he expected the club to release him after the season. That’s what happened when he was included in a news release along with defensive tackle Tommie Harris and offensive tackle Kevin Shaffer.

Hillenmeyer was placed on injured reserve after Week 1 with concussion symptoms related to a head injury he suffered in preseason. Hillenmeyer has not passed a team physical yet and if head injuries lead to the end of his career, it will be interesting to see if he pursues the base salary of $1.8 million he had remaining on his contract for the 2011 season.

In an email to the Tribune, Hillenmeyer said, “I have nothing but the utmost respect for the Bears organization. I do not leave this franchise bitter or feeling slighted by anyone in the building. In truth, I’ve known this day was coming since I landed on IR back in September.

In that conversation with Lovie (Smith), he acknowledged that having been made aware of my history, and the number of concussions I had sustained on his watch, that he could not be a part of forcing me back out on the field.

“While at the time I was frustrated with such an abrupt end to my season, I have sought out and continue to seek the medical opinions of the best doctors in country as it relates to brain health and concussions. I am yet to find one that thinks it is a good idea to continue playing football. In hindsight, that makes me grateful that Lovie cared enough about me specifically, but really any player, to take that decision away as it pertains to a medical issue.

“Barring some unforeseen turn of events, I don’t think there was a set of circumstances where I would have been cleared to play next season anyway. The more we pull back the curtain on the long-term effects of head injury, the scarier it gets for players in my position, who have multiple diagnosed concussions and countless more ‘dings’ and headaches.

On one hand, I feel lucky to have been relatively candid about my symptoms compared to some colleagues who do everything they can to conceal their struggles. I can only thank the Bears organization, from the trainers and the doctors up to Lovie and Jerry (Angelo), for trying to be proactive in the way concussions are handled. On the other hand, any player who tells you they aren’t affected by the tragic stories like Dave Duerson’s, that seem to be popping up all too often, are lying.

“I’d like to thank coach (Bob) Babich, my linebacker coach for most of my eight years here, for playing as integral a role as anyone in my development as a player. It’s been an honor to play for such a professional staff and with such outstanding teammates. We had a very special group in our linebacker room. While I was always like Ringo of the Beatles, next to such a talented pair, I think we have had the best and deepest linebacking corps in the NFL for a long time. As long as Lance (Briggs) and Brian (Urlacher) are out there together, expect the Bear’s defense to remain elite.

“While I won’t be filing any retirement papers tomorrow, if I’ve played my last football game, I’m glad it was with the Bears. Even though I was drafted elsewhere, I have absolutely loved my time as Bear. I love the city, I love the culture; the fans here make it especially easy to feel very at home in Chicago. I think guys like me who spend all of their career here don’t realize how good they’ve got it. It’s been a great ride nonetheless.”

Source: Chicago Breaking Sports – Hunter Hillenmeyer’s Letter to the Tribune

I will always have the utmost respect for Hunter Hillenmeyer. I don’t know where he’ll end up, but if he ends up retiring I would love to see him on the Bears coaching staff one of these days. He is easily one of the smartest players in the league and I always enjoyed watching him play. He was definitely a steal and I’m glad that the Packers cut him.

Final Stats with the Bears
Tackles: 382
Sacks. 7
Interceptions: 2
Pass Deflections: 12
Forced Fumbles: 7

So long Hunter, hope to see you soon with the Bears again.
GammaBears
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Bears defeat the Jets in a shootout

Monday, December 27th, 2010

That was one helluva game yesterday. Don’t think I’ve seen a shootout like that in a while. Both defenses had their problems, thankfully the Bears defense made some half time adjustments. Same goes for the offense. I think this season the Bears have made some of the best half time adjustments I’ve ever seen. If you haven’t heard, the Bears and Packers game time has been changed to 3:15 CST kick off time. I’m assuming it’s because it would reel in more viewers and more money. Plus it could be the rival game of the decade, the Bears have a chance to keep the Packers out of the playoffs. Lovie Smith said he already decided to start everyone no matter what… So hopefully it should be a great game in the Bears favor. Anyway, onto the breakdown of the Jets game.

The Bears offense struggled some, but not a lot in the second half. When the third quarter started, someone turned on a switch and it became a shootout. Not something anyone was expecting to happen, especially me. Jay Cutlers only really had two bad plays I can think of right now. One was the pick six and the other was when he decided to hold onto the ball and get sacked. He didn’t do that again in the game and I’m pretty sure Martz chewed him out for holding onto the ball instead of throwing it away. Jay Cutler had four touchdowns on the day though, three passing and one rushing. Don’t think I’ve ever seen him spot on with the ball that way before, and he is now 21-0 when he has a QB rating of over 100. I will give credit to the receivers for not dropping any passes and going for the ball. Johnny Knox had a great day, hauling in two key touchdowns. Hester also had a receiving touchdown as well. It was very comforting that the Bears receivers were able to do whatever they wanted against the Jets vaunted defensive backs. Matt Forte had a great day receiving and running the ball. From what I remember, he became the first running back this season to break the 100 yard mark on the ground against the Jets this season. It was great seeing him run for that touchdown with the help of the offensive line and Greg Olsen. Speaking of the offensive line, they played great out there, besides the few penalties here and there. I was impressed with the way they played against one of the top defenses in the league. Easily their best game of the season in my opinion

The Defense struggled a lot throughout the game. The Jets unfortunately got into a rhythm and just drove down the field like they were a tank. Thankfully they were able to make some halftime adjustments and put a stop to the Jets offense. They were still able to run the ball efficiently through three quarters. They weren’t really able to stop the Jets passing game, up until Chris Harris intercepted Sanchez that sealed the game. I think the Jets took a note from the Patriots and the way they exploited the Bears defense. I just hope that Lovie and company really adjust the way they are playing now. Everyone the Bears are going to face in the playoffs will be looking at the Patriots game and the Jets game for ways to exploit the Bears defense. Even though they were giving up a lot of first downs, they did stop them eventually. If they hadn’t of made some adjustments and had some luck gone their way, this would be a totally different blog entry.

The Special Teams had a great day against the Jets. They were giving the Bears offense great field position the whole game thanks to the threat of Devin Hester. I wish they kicked to him all day, but the few times they did kick to Hester, he almost ran it back for a touchdown. I really hope the Packers didn’t learn their lesson when they kicked to him last time. Robbie Gould had a rare miss that could of affected the outcome of the game in the Jets favor, thankfully it didn’t and the good guys won. I don’t expect it to really affect him much and he will continue to be the same accurate kicker that we all know and cheer for. Brad Maynard had a good game, and had some luck when the ball hit the Jets defender on the last punt of the game. If that didn’t happen I think things would be a lot different right now… Anyway, great win. Bear Down!

GammaBears

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Another team falls to the Patriots

Monday, December 13th, 2010

Add the Bears to the list that fell to the Patriots. Don’t know what was worse in that game, the weather, the calls, or the Bears. After thinking about that, it was a combination of all three. It was easily the most ugliest game since the Giants game earlier in the year. It was so bad it set a record for the Bears. The Bears have never given up 33 points before halftime, and that’s saying a lot because there were some really bad Bears teams in the past. Thankfully the defense showed up in the second half and held them to three points.

It was a pretty depressing game, I stopped paying attention around the fourth quarter and helped with the Christmas tree. The defense looked horrible in the first half, and was getting picked apart on the ground and the air. They had the Patriots stopped so many times, then bam they give up a huge third and long. It was like watching a car accident about to happen and you can’t do anything about it. They just ran over the Bears and kept driving. I don’t think the Cover-2 helped the Bears much yesterday, and I doubt that Lovie will change his game plan going into the remaining games of the season.

The offense didn’t do any better than the defense. Coughing up the ball and throwing interceptions didn’t help. The run game wasn’t there and the line barely blocked long enough for Jay Cutler to take three steps back and avoid tacklers. There were several times where he ran for his life for first downs. It didn’t help that the refs blew that fumble call that resulted in a Patriots touchdown. It was just bad overall for the offense, I’m just glad that they scored points and didn’t go down without a fight.

One way to look at this loss, the Bears are still in first place after the Packers fell to the Detroit Lions. Thank you Detroit for putting up a fight and not giving up.

Oh and someone needs to replace the equipment manager for the Bears. Charles Tillman continues to slip and fall when in coverage. From what I remember Tillman slipped on the Branch touchdown at the end of the first half. He’s been doing this all season long and its frustrating that he keeps on giving up big plays because he slips.

GammaBears

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Bears win five in a row!

Monday, December 6th, 2010

Unfortunately I was not able to watch the game due to scheduling conflicts. So my prediction was completely off, but to my defense I thought the team that kicked the snot out of the Eagles would show up. After seeing replays and listening to interviews it seems that the Bears defense gave up two huge plays before the second half. They missed tackles and just didn’t do what they are capable of doing.

From what I saw, the Bears offense was pretty solid. Jay had a touchdown pass, and no interceptions. Which is a huge win for him if he plays mistake free football. Something that we have been looking for some time. Earl Bennett had a great game. He had 5 third down conversions from what I heard and he had a career day as well. He had some huge plays when he broke off tackles like a certain running back. Chester Taylor and Matt Forte had a good day running the ball. Both had touchdowns and anytime both the number one and two running backs have touchdowns, it’s a good day.

Devin Hester almost ran one back, but he was taken down by the punter. If Craig Steltz had picked up the punter with a good block he would of just strolled into the end zone. Oh, I almost forgot. Lovie Smith showed a lot of emotion during half time from what I heard. I would love to hear what he said and if he put in a few curse words. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him angry on the sidelines or in a interview but whatever he did sure helped. They held the Lions to under 50 yards in the second half I believe. Half times adjustments are always a key in winning a game. I’m just glad they were able to do it and not lose to the Detroit Lions.

GammaBears

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Impressive win puts Bears on top with Green Bay

Monday, November 15th, 2010

The Bears took down the old man and the Vikings and it was beautiful.It was pretty much Favre’s last game at Soldier Field and it will be remembered for years to come. Three interceptions and a forced fumble is a nice way to go for Favre =).

As I said above, the Bears intercepted the old man three times and made him cough up the ball. The defense were on fire, they held the Vikings to 1-9 on third down. Would have to say that’s one of the best games the defense has had all year. They weren’t able to sack Favre a lot, but they were able to get enough pressure in the backfield to stop a few runs and cause bad passes. I might as well throw a shout out to special teams. Devin Hester looked amazing out there. I don’t think I’ve seen him break so many tackles in one game. I was hoping he would run one back to throw that in the Vikings’ face. The only problem I had with special teams was Brad Maynard. He had maybe one or two good punts but the wrest were just horrid. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. Whether it’s an injury or he’s just getting old, he’s lost a quite a few yards.

The offense looked pretty solid throughout the whole game. Converting third downs is always fun to watch. Johnny Knox played extremely well and didn’t give up on throws. He was constantly going after the ball and that is a major plus in the passing game. Earl Bennett also had an outstanding game as well. He caught a lot of key passes to keep the drives alive. The same goes for Devin Hester. The catch and run for the touchdown was probably the best I’ve seen from him since he started to play wide out for the Bears. The offensive line played extremely well. They only gave up one sack and gave Cutler plenty of time to throw in the pocket. Matt Forte and Chester Taylor ran the ball well. Of course they could of done better, but the line still has it’s faults.

There’s two players who seem to get flagged for every game now. Frank Omiyale and future Hall of Famer in my book, Olin Kreutz. I think this is his second consecutive game he’s been flagged, but this is like Frank’s fifth game. It’s highly unproductive and it kills drives. Other than Cutler’s interceptions, penalties, the Bears offense played extremely well.

Grades:

Offense: A

Defense: A+

Special Teams: A

GammaBears

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Bears win in Toronto

Monday, November 8th, 2010

The Bears ended the two game losing streak against a very good win-less Bills team. For the past few weeks the Bills have barely lost games, two of those came in overtime.

The Bears offense struggled at times throughout the game and it really surprised me. Especially when running the ball against the worst run defense in the league. But hey, at least the Bears won. That’s all that matters right now. A win is a win.

The passing game just seemed a little off throughout the game, but Jay Cutler did not throw an interception. It wasn’t his greatest performance but he got the job done. I think the Mike Martz offense is a bit more complicated than people think. Jay Cutler is a pretty smart guy and he’s still struggling with it. Earl Bennett had a good game yesterday. He caught his first touchdown of the season. Greg Olsen also reeled in a touchdown as well.

The running game wasn’t real pretty. The Bears ran the balls the four times in their first two possessions. Matt Forte rushed for 49 yards on 14 carries. He didn’t really play an excellent game but he did have a key play when scored the two point conversion late in the fourth quarter. Chester Taylor scored his first touchdown of the year and the line actually blocked for him It was the first time all year I think the Bears have scored from the goal line.

The defense struggled some, but as usual they came up big when they were able to create turnovers. Israel Idonije played extremely well throughout the game. He blocked an extra point and registered half a sack. The blocked extra point was key in the game and it was the kickers first blocked extra point in his career. Leave it to a Bear to create a stat like that. If you have ever noticed, Israel actually resembles a Bear. He his tall, full of muscles and has a pretty cool beard. Tim Jennings came up big in the game by intercepting Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Bears would score a touchdown from that turnover. Chris Harris also caused a key turnover by sealing the game with an interception. Seeing Chris intercept Fitzpatrick reminded me of his days in 2005-2006.

Overall the Bears defense played a good game besides getting burned a few times. Can’t help but wonder why Lovie kept calling plays on defense where the CB’s were lined up about 5-10 yards from the line of scrimmage instead of having them bump the receivers. I personally don’t like seeing that type of coverage because the QB can easily pick the defense apart with short slant routes that go for 5-7 yards.

Grades:
Offense: B+
Defense: A
Special Teams: B

GammaBears

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Who’s To Blame?

Tuesday, October 26th, 2010

GammaBears does a great job with this blog. However, once in a while someone makes a stellar, well-written post on the form. Dancinbear made such a post today. Read it, and argue if you can. We have criticized Lovie heavily over the past couple of years, as has many, but Dancinbear points the finger somewhere else.

In my opinion it’s important to support and strengthen those components of the team that demonstrate consistency and progress and growth. I believe Lovie and his coaching staff should be supported, and recognized for their abilities and accomplishments.

Lovie has done an outstanding job with the defense, considering the D struggled mightily last year. He has assembled a staff that seems very capable of making timely adjustments, and showing innovation. He led the Bears to a recent Super Bowl, and in my opinion, has demonstrated quiet strength and Dungy-like integrity and consistency. He’s not perfect, but there has to be some value in showing loyalty that extends beyond a single season.

On the other hand, the Bears’ front office has failed miserably in personnel management. You can’t blame Lovie for bad draft selections, free agency decisions, or cutting proven players. The GM has left Lovie and the Bears offense with the worst O-line in the NFL. Throughout the 2009 season we all knew the Bears’ O-line was the area of greatest need, and we’ve waited patiently for some improvement through the draft, free-agency, or trade. Nothing has happened.

We’ve seen popular and capable defensive players released (Brown & Anderson), and inept free-agent defensive players signed (Grant), yet the O-line remains untouched and miserable. The college draft should have focused on repairing, building, and strengthening our greatest weakness…….the offensive line. Instead, someone in the front office seemed to be hoping and praying for an unlikely miracle. Rather than strengthening our O-line, we are risking severe injury to perhaps the best QB in Bears’ history, we’re wasting the talents of two excellent running backs, we’re failing to capitalize on the fastest wide receiver corp in the NFL, and we’re frustrating the best offensive coordinator in football.

Don’t blame Martz, don’t blame the defense, don’t blame special teams, don’t blame the running backs, don’t blame the QB, and DON’T BLAME LOVIE. We have a great coach, but he needs an offensive line. It’s up to the General Manager to provide players, and our GM has either been sleeping through the last few seasons, or he’s convinced the O-line is an unnecessary luxury.

If the GM fires, releases, drafts, or signs any coach or player, before revamping the offensive line, he will make the team worse, not better. I suggest the most essential first step in rebuilding the offensive line is to replace the General Manager. Everything else will improve as a result.

Please, will someone wake up the folks in the front office??

You can read the full blog post here – Da Bear Cast – Chicago Bears Podcast Forum

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Another Ugly Loss

Monday, October 25th, 2010

Another ugly loss was handed to the Bears yesterday after the defense gave the offense ample opportunities to score. The Bears defense turned the ball over multiple times and held McNabb to only 17 points. Then of course Jay Cutler throws four interceptions in one half and you know the rest of the story. The defense played amazing, easily their best game of the year. Too bad it was over shadowed by the offense’s constant mistakes.

I think Lovie made a big mistake as well by not challenging Jay Cutlers touchdown. The ball clearly broke the plane. Turned out to be just another Lovie mistake. Don’t know how many bad challenges or non-challenges he has done so far. The folks in the box and Lovie need to be on the same page.

One of my major concerns going into the bye week is Forte’s ability to hold onto the ball. His rookie season he had one fumble and it was an iffy call too. Since his rookie season he’s had 9 fumbles, and 5 of those were lost. They really need to work on it during the bye week and get some ball control.

There was some improvement by the offensive line yesterday. After giving up some early sacks they were able to give Jay Cutler some time to throw the ball and some lanes for Chester Taylor and Matt Forte to run through. They just need to stop committing dumb penalties, such as holding and false starts.

Grades

Offense: D-

Defense: A

Special Teams: B

GammaBears

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