Patriots vs. Bears: 10 Things We Learned About Chicago Against New England
The Bears came into their game on Sunday against the New England Patriots with a five-game winning streak and a continuing ability to win games with a balance on offense and a strong defense.
However, the New England Patriots had a formula for success against the Bears, and Chicago lost big, 36-7.
The Bears ended the game with some questions that need to be answered in order to find out what went wrong, fix it and still get to the playoffs.
Let’s take a look at some of the things that we noticed coming out of Sunday’s game against the Patriots at Soldier Field.
Corey Graham Is a Special Special Teamer
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Corey Graham had a pretty nice game on Sunday downing punts and helping the special teams stay on task in the crazy weather. He’s been very good all season and has relished his role as a special teams player.
It seems like special teams coach Dave Toub turns out these kinds of guys on a regular basis.
Chicago’s Defensive Line Can Be Blown Off the Ball
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We saw this several times during the game on Sunday. The Patriots' offensive line controlled the Bears' defensive line pretty well at times and pushed them around.
The Patriots' offensive line is experienced and one of the more veteran units that this team has faced in 2010. There were several mismatches throughout, and the Bears defense wasn’t able to get enough pressure on quarterback Tom Brady at times.
Coverage Units Continue to Cause the Bears Problems
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We saw the punt and kickoff coverage units suffer some breakdowns in the game this Sunday, allowing the Patriots to get great field position for the most part.
Something has been happening to the coverage units lately (in the last few games) that has been causing them to break down and allow some long returns for other teams. If they don’t get his fixed soon, it could be a messy end to the season for the special teams.
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The Bears Defense Needs to Go Back to the Drawing Board
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Chicago’s defense was crushed by the Patriots offense, getting caught doing exactly what they did to start their game against the Lions.
Tackling was poor, as was where defenders were positioned. There were many times where Bears defenders were caught out of position, allowing New England offensive players to take advantage and gain some significant yards after the catch or handoff.
Bears defenders should get a clinic on tackling and playing defense this week, as they played a horrible game.
The Offense Didn’t Do Its Job
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The Bears offense had been going on long ball-control drives during their five-game winning streak, and in this game it could barely move the ball.
It didn’t appear as if the weather was that big of a factor in making the offense fail on a majority of its drives, and no one offensive player could get much done. Jay Cutler’s three turnovers didn’t help either, as the offense spun its wheels for the majority of the game.
Chicago Can Still Win the NFC North
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Thanks to a win by the Detroit Lions over the Green Bay Packers, the Bears could have gained a significant advantage over the Packers in the NFC North, but they failed to win and gain that advantage.
Chicago can still win the division though, so all is definitely not lost, but had they been able to win this game, they would have put a much bigger cushion between themselves and the Packers and could have closed out the division much sooner than the last game of the season (if it comes to that).
Pass Pressure Is the Key to Any Victory
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You can see what happens when you don’t get enough pass pressure on an opposing quarterback. We saw that on Sunday, as the Bears didn’t get much pass pressure on Brady, and that allowed him to regularly complete passes and move the ball down the field effectively.
Had the Bears been able to get more pass pressure on Brady, New England’s offense wouldn’t have been able to run the tables as much as it did against the Bears, and the game would have been much closer than it was.
Cutler Continues to Make Critical Mistakes
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We saw it in the game on Sunday. Cutler’s two interceptions and one fumble lost cost the Bears three chances to score and gain some momentum in order to at least threaten to beat the Patriots on Sunday.
Cutler has fumbled the ball at critical and inopportune times this season and needs to learn to hold on to ball better. He hasn’t been doing it well at all lately, and his fumbling problems could cost the Bears a critical win in any of the last three games they have remaining on the schedule.
Any Second Half Adjustments Made on Offense Didn’t Work
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If the Bears' coaching staff made or tried to make any halftime adjustments during the game, they didn’t work because the Bears came out in the second half and were pretty flat.
In fact, had it not been for the great field position that was given to the Bears offense on that Devin Hester return, Chicago may not have even scored in the second half.
Nothing that offensive coordinator Mike Martz was calling seemed to work in the second half, and the Bears couldn’t recover and make the game much more respectable.
Devin Hester Is a Difference Maker
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The Bears wouldn’t have scored their only touchdown of the game had it not been for the return that Devin Hester brought back to put the offense in position for that touchdown.
Hester had a couple nice returns in the game despite the conditions and was the best player on the field for the Bears on Sunday.
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