Tag: Jay Cutler

Foreign Perspective – Chicago Bears – Week One 2014


In this ‘essay-like’ series under the name ‘Foreign Perspective’ – I’m trying to elaborate on views of a European, when seeing traditional American news or results. This includes, but is not limited to, potential political topics. My main focus, however, is the Chicago Bears – an American Football team that I love. How do I see the recent news and results lining up? Do I even understand this sporting mentality? Find out in the Essay Series ‘Foreign Perspective – Chicago Bears’.

On Sunday September 7th, the Chicago Bears opened their NFL Regular Season (2014/2015) against the AFC East Buffalo Bills. At Soldier Field, expectations were big – seeing as the Bears have been stellar against the Bills at home, and generally in the opening game. However, the Bears proved that this year won’t be as good as most people expected. I, perhaps infamously, predicted a 12-4 season – I drank the kool-aid, and believed the hype. But the Bears ultimately fell to the Buffalo Bills 23-20. Now, I have a couple of notes and views on the game. This week’s Bears Essay is entitled: The Good, The Bad and The Inexcusable.

Most of the things we saw at Soldier Field were bad, but it’s important to remember that it didn’t start that way. The Bears opened the season by forcing the Buffalo Bills 3-and-out. The Defense we wanted to see. When the Bears got the ball, they were fast and furious – an on-point Jay Cutler led the Bears down the field, and finished it off with a Touchdown to Martellus Bennett – a Tight End who had a big role to play in the opening week. It all went downhill from there.

Did the Bears think it was an easy win? Well, the game proved to be a trap-game. E.J. Manuel took his team down the field, by exploiting the Bears’ defensive holes – using Robert Woods to perfection, for one. The Bears let the Bills take an easy Touchdown. Tied at 7-7, I wasn’t panicking – not at all. But then the Bears offense made the same mistake that the defense did – thinking it was too easy? Sure, maybe. Hubris? Definitely. Trying that flea-flicker was obnoxious – and the playcalling was essentially terrible following the opening Touchdown-drive.

The Bills quickly went up 17-7, and the Bears were booed going into the half. And Cutler’s first interception of the season, directly led to a C.J. Spiller Touchdown. What happened during that play? I think Martellus Bennett was running a hitch-route, but failed to turn around and catch the ball Cutler was throwing – a missed play by Bennett. These missed plays continued, as Cutler was unable to lead the Bears back to a win. It wasn’t made easy for him, though – as Garza, Slauson, Morgan, Jeffery and Marshall all had injuries during the game.

Now, Martellus Bennett is not the bad, the good or the inexcusable. He had an average day, and his performance had both plusses and minusses at the end of the day. The Good was Matt Forte. He ended up with a total yardage of 169 yards – and was the one positive aspect of a game, wherein I expected very little from Forte following a mixed pre-season.

I label Jared Allen as ‘the bad’. But in reality, the defensive line should be labeled so. Jared Allen was particularly disappointing – and maybe both Allen and, the new Packer, Peppers are over-the-hill. As for the inexcusable? Jay Cutler. He did okay early in the game, and I don’t blame him for the first interception. But he did hold onto the ball too long, he did make two throws that easily could’ve been picked. And his second interception forced me to label him as inexcusable.He’s got his big deal, he’s got the big receivers – his type of coach. He didn’t take home the win – and he has no excuses when he throws directly to Kyle Williams. Throw it away, Jay.

Next week the Bears face the San Francisco 49ers, and they look good – like I expected – but it’s probably the best chance the Bears have had of pulling off an upset in San Francisco in a long time – with the defensive lack of health and new stadium in mind.

Go Bears.

Pre-Season Notes – Chicago Bears – Game 2


In continuing with the tradition mentioned last week, today I will give out scores for specific performances and note standouts. Yesterday the Bears hosted a Pre-Season game against the Jacksonville Jaguars [which resulted in a 20-19 Bears win] – and that’s the focus of today’s post. First of all, here are the scores for the specific players I’m watching this year [note the overall score for the player in brackets].

  • #25 – Ka’Deem Carey: 3+ points, 2- points; Average Performance – [2 points].
  • #12 – David Fales: No Participation – [-1 point].
  • #95 – Ego Ferguson: 0+ points, 1- point; Below Average Performance – [0 points].
  • #45 – Brock Vereen: 1+ point, 1- point; Average Performance – [0 points].
  • #93 – Will Sutton: 0+ points, 1- point; Below Average Performance – [0 points].
  • #23 – Kyle Fuller: Early Injury, no notes – [4 points].
  • #16 – Pat O’Donnell: 3+ points, 0- points; Above Average Performance – [3 points].
  • #36 – Jordan Lynch: No Participation notes – [2 points].
  • #57 – Jon Bostic: 2+ points, 0- points; Above Average Performance – [-2 points].
  • #50 – Shea McClellin: 1+ point, 0- point; Average Performance – [-4 points].

Moving on now to standouts. Onca again our Special Teams performed poorly, and actually I only saw Pat O’Donnell as a positive experience. Offensively, though, we saw some nice things on the field. Jay Cutler, and his O-Line, was amazing – and he felt so comfortable. Honestly, if he performs like this in the regular season, we’ll have a great season. As for the 2nd and 3rd strings? Well, I soured somewhat on Jimmy Clausen – but not due to him performing badly; actually, Jordan Palmer was just that good. Defensively, I loved what I saw from Stephen Paea and ‘Peanut’. For the second week in a row, I loved what I saw from Trevor Scott – he’s a lock for the 53 man squad. Finally, the interception from C.J. Wilson needs to be noticed. Nice job, young man.

Rookie of the Game: Pat O’Donnell, Punter.

Player of the Game: Jordan Palmer, Quarterback.

 

Pre-Season Notes – Chicago Bears – Game 1

Last year I made it a tradition for me to watch the Chicago Bears Pre-Season games in their entirety, compile notes – note standouts and specific performances. I’m not too certain, though, whether I’ve ever released those notes. This year I am releasing them, though, and it all began yesterday when the Philadelphia Eagles took on my Chicago Bears at Soldier Field for the opening Pre-Season Game.

For this year’s Pre-Season I’ve chosen to keep an eye on the following list of players; and each player will score points based on his performances each week:

  • #25 – Running Back – Ka’Deem Carey – Rookie.
  • #12 – Quarterback – David Fales – Rookie.
  • #95 – Defensive Tackle – Ego Ferguson – Rookie.
  • #45 – Safety – Brock Vereen – Rookie.
  • #93 – Defensive Tackle – Will Sutton – Rookie.
  • #23 – Cornerback – Kyle Fuller – Rookie.
  • #16 – Punter/Holder – Pat O’Donnell – Rookie.
  • #36 – Running Back/Quarterback – Jordan Lynch – Rookie.
  • #57 – Linebacker – Jon Bostic – Second Year.
  • #50 – Linebacker/Defensive End – Shea McClellin – Third Year.

Before rating these specific performances of note, I’ve compiled a list of standouts from the game – which cannot include the players above. In a game where very few Special Team highlights for the Bears were noted, I’ve decided to gloss over that section – and in stead, first look at the defensive standouts. Safety Ryan Mundy and cornerback Sherrick McManis both picked off Nick Foles, and are obvious standouts defensively. Second year Linebacker Khaseem Greene outplayed every 2nd & 3rd string linebacker in the game, and hopefully he can continue to get better – and maybe even battle for a spot with the 1st string. Undrafted rookie cornerback Al Louis-Jean also managed to get a pick, and showed solid movement on the interception itself. Jeremy ‘Jay’ Ratliff also performed well in the game, provided good pressure. My premier defensive standout, however, was defensive end Trevor Scott. He showed an ability to pressure the Quarterback, and was solid on all the snaps he played.

Offensively we have a lot of people to note as well, first and foremost we have our Franchise Quarterback – Jay Cutler. After a poor opening drive, he came back on his second and final – and led his team back in the redzone, and then to the endzone. Cutler managed to find Alshon Jeffery, Brandon Marshall, Dante Rosario and Zach Miller – the latter two being premier offensive standouts. Look out Martellus Bennett. I also have two standouts for the 3rd stringers. First and foremost, former CFL Wide Receiver and Punt Returner Chris Williams performed well, and even had a 70+ yards Touchdown to cap off his night. Finally, I must congratulate 3rd string Quarterback Jimmy Clausen – he’s managed to perform at a level that exceeded that of 2nd stringer Jordan Palmer.

Now we move on to the specific ratings.

  • #25 – Ka’Deem Carey: 2+ points, 1- point; Average Performance; Game 1 Score: 1 point.
  • #12 – David Fales: 1+ point, 2- points; Below Average Performance; Game 1 Score: Negative 1 point.
  • #95 – Ego Ferguson: 3+ points, 2- points; Average Performance; Game 1 Score: 1 point.
  • #45 – Brock Vereen: 2+ points, 2-points; Average Performance; Game 1 Score: 0 points.
  • #93 – Will Sutton: 1+ point, 1- point; Average Performance; Game 1 Score: o points.
  • #23 – Kyle Fuller: 4+ points, 0- points; Above Average Performance; Game 1 Score: 4 points.
  • #16 – Pat O’Donnell: 1+ point, 1- point; Below Average Performance; Game 1 Score: 0 points.
  • #36 – Jordan Lynch: 3+ points, 1- point; Above Average Performance; Game 1 Score: 2 points.
  • #57 – Jon Bostic: 0+ points, 4- points; Below Average Performance; Game 1 Score: Negative 4 points.
  • #50 – Shea McClellin: 1+ point, 5- points; Below Average Performance; Game 1 Score: Negative 4 points.

Rookie of the Game: Kyle Fuller, Cornerback.

Player of the Game: Zach Miller, Tight End.