Chicago Bears: Chicago Loses At Home To Seattle Seahawks, Who Is To Blame?
I'm Bob Warja and I approve this slideshow.
So the Seattle Seahawks, win-less on the road and 2-2 on the season, come into Soldier Field against a 4-1 Bears team, knowing that they cannot stop the pass and that Jay Cutler is back at QB. Sounds like a recipe for a rout for the Bears, right?
Wrong.
The Bears fell to 4-2 losing at home to Seattle 23-20. A key missed field goal ended up being the difference, though it was a 54 yard attempt, and probably should not have even been attempted, to be fair.
Look, for all of its intricacies and statistics, football is a simple game really. Mainly, it comes down to the fact that the team that controls the line of scrimmage usually wins the game.
So there it is in a nutshell, Bears fans. The Seahawks controlled the line, even when the end result wasn't a sack on Jay Cutler. The Bears fine radio analyst and former offensive lineman Tom Thayer said it best: one of his keys to the game was that the Bears needed to play disciplined on the line of scrimmage and that simply did not happen.
Too bad Thayer can't still play, this team could use him.
Hey, all is not lost as the Bears still lead the division and even though they lost a game that looked to be a sure win on paper, they just need to regroup, put it behind them and get after it next week against Washington.
Meanwhile, let's take a look at why the Bears lost this game before we look ahead to next week's match-up.
Bears Offense 0--12 On Third Down
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Third down conversions continue to haunt the Bears offense. Even though they had a nice fourth down conversion late in the game, going to the line 12 times on third down and failing to convert each and every time is a recipe for disaster.
The Bears continue to experience difficulty in the red zone regardless of down. The Bears were 1-3 in the red zone while the Seahawks were perfect in two tries.
By making 7-16 on their third downs, Seattle also controlled the time of possession on the day by about nine minutes.
You're not going to win many games this way.
Julius Peppers Is a Non-Factor
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Rookie Russell Okung handled Peppers with help, though he was good against him even when he went one on one with the Bears veteran pass rusher.
It figures that other teams draft an O-lineman and they get a guy like Okung while the Bears first round pick is Chirs Williams. Ouch.
To be fair to Peppers, the pass rush was spotty all day by everyone, not just the big man. Where was Israel Idonoje and his three sacks today?
Give credit to the Seahawks O-line, they need their job. Hasselbeck got rid of the ball quickly, too, and that helped as well.
But whenever you can basically neutralize Peppers, you are going to be successful against the Bears. He is the straw that stirs the Bears defense.
Pass Protection Breaks Down at Key Times — Cutler Sacked Six Times
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The Bears pass protection schemes were questionable at times, as Mike Martz shunned the extra protection in favor of additional wide receiver sets, leaving the linemen exposed to the edge rush.
Jay Cutler, coming off a concussion, was taken to the ground six times, including once for a safety that was almost a touchdown for Seattle but Cutler recovered his own fumble in the end zone.
The offensive line did not open holes for Matt Forte either, as he rushed eight times for 11 yards. In fact, the Bears ran the ball only 14 times all day. So the pass protection was key and while there were times when Cutler had some time to throw, the receivers weren't open then.
Though Cutler finished with almost 300 yards passing, he had a QB rating of only 69.4 even with no interceptions.
The pass protection wasn't always to blame, as the receivers often seemed to run bad routes, but Cutler completed less than 50 percent of his pass attempts against a Seattle secondary that had been exposed as porous all season.
Frank Omiyale is simply not a starting lineman on a contending team, though the Bears really have no choice.
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Bears Run The Ball Only 14 Times
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Following a week that netted the Bears their most rushing yardage in 20 years, they were unable to penetrate the Seahawks run defense except for one good rush by Cutler and only really good run by Chester Taylor.
As expected, Seattle was very stingy against the run, as they have been all season, though the Bears did not try to establish the run.
While the Bears ended up averaging a very respectable 4.4 yards per carry, Matt Forte was held to just 11 yards on eight carries and Mike Martz decided to run the ball only 14 times all game.
Chester Taylor had success but they gave him the ball only four times. His 7.8 average was bolstered by a 24 yard run. On his other runs he averaged only a little more than two yards per carry.
In all, if you take away the two best runs, one each by by Cutler and Taylor, the Bears averaged just 1.8 yard per attempt.
Now, those runs do count, so maybe the play calling is to blame, but then again, how can you blame Martz for throwing the ball against a team like Seattle which hasn't stopped the pass all season?
Still, with your QB coming off a concussion and pass protection lacking, perhaps a few more rushing attempts might have worn down the Seattle defense a bit.
Bears Defense Have No Take-Aways
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The key to the Bears defense is stripping the ball from their opponents and forcing the other team's offense to turn the ball over.
That didn't happen on Sunday and it led, in part, to the loss.
The Seahawks had no fumbles or interceptions. While Matt Hasselbeck reminds nobody of Tom Brady, he was efficient and got rid of the ball quickly. In fact, the Seattle offense had a very good tempo for much of the game.
The Bears had no sacks and were credited with only one QB hit officially.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks had no take-aways either, but they did sack Cutler six times, one for a safety and hit him nine times in total.
After a three sack performance versus Carlina last week, Idonije had only two tackles, none solo on the day.
Marshawn Lynch & Mike Williams Make Solid Impressions For Seattle
6 of 7The Seahawks picked up Marshawn Lynch from Buffalo during their bye week and wasted no time in getting him on the field and he was generally productive. While he averaged only 2.6 yards per carry, he rushed the ball 17 times and ate up the clock. He also caught three passes and scored a touchdown.
Justin Forsett was very good for Seattle on the ground as he gained 67 yards on 10 attempts but it was Lynch who was the work horse, helping to tire out the Bears defense.
Meanwhile, Matt Hasselbeck was able to take advantage of a height mismatch using Mike Williams effectively. Williams, the 6'5" former Lions receiver, caught 10 passes for 123 yards after catching only 11 passes in his previous four games combined.
Matt Hasselbeck Gets Rid Of The Ball Quickly
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Matt Hasselbeck came into this game with a very poor performance this season but he was crisp and efficient on the day and helped establish a quick tempo that had the Bears defense on their heels.
He wasn't sacked and was hit only one time all game. He finished 25/40 for 242 yards, with one TD and no interceptions.
He utilized the mismatch between Mike Williams and the much shorter Bears defenders very well. In short, he used his veteran experience to pick apart the Bears and while he wasn't great or flashy, he got the job done.
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