Bears-Packers: Chicago Falls to the Pack

The Bears fall prey to a frustrated Pack and go down big.

This game represented the way the analysts and pundits predicted the season would go prior to Week One: Green Bay dominating and the Bears floundering.

Ryan Grant finally broke out of his shell and performed like the back the Packers are paying him to be.

The Packers deserve credit for attacking what was the strength of the Bears defense; the ground game. I was expecting Aaron Rodgers to come out throwing the ball, exploiting the holes in the Bears secondary.

More effective than the Packers running game was the way in which they countered the Bears two-tight-end set. Playing lots of Nickel coverages seemed to take Orton even further out of rhythm.

Kyle Orton made his first start since injuring his ankle against the Lions a few weeks ago and looked rusty. He was more than a little hindered with the ankle.

Orton was never a mobile quarterback, but losing any and all mobility in the pocket is death for the man under center.

The play calling of Ron Turner and Lovie Smith needs to be called into question as the Bears clearly saw that Orton was struggling and moved away from the running game which was about the only thing the Bears had going for them Sunday.

Clock management was also a problem as the first half was coming to a close and gave even more momentum to the Packers at a time when the Bears were struggling to even get first downs.

I understand the mentality of wanting to go deep to Hester to help light a fire under your team, but even banged up, the Packers boast one of the best secondaries in the NFL, and a rusty Kyle Orton just wasn’t in the position to get the ball where it needed to be most of the game.  

Once again, the Bears' defense allowed a team to move up and down the field and score. Only this time, the Packers did it through the air and on the ground.

In previous weeks, the Bears D have used their run defense as a crutch to make up for their pass defense. I’m curious to see how they respond this week.

One thing is for sure, we need them hungry when the Bears head into St. Louis next week.  

The Good: Matt Forte. Though the Bears moved away from the running game early when they did run the ball it was pretty effective.

The Bad: Defense. The defense gets the all around thumbs down this week as both phases of the defense were dominated.

The Ugly: Inaccurate Orton. Showing rust Orton overthrew many a receiver and his ankle limited his already limited mobility in the pocket all day. Nothing full week of practice won’t cure but it showed against the Pack.

The Difference:  The Packers Nickel package. With their starting middle line backer out the Packers played two LB’s and 5 defensive backs most of the game. Orton looked confused as he went through his progressions.

Five Questions

Will Lovie have to bench a few players on defense to make a point?

Why wasn’t Grossman put in earlier when the game was out of reach?

Will Orton get the same amount of criticism for the loss as Grossman got against the Titans?

If a tree falls in the woods, is Tommie Harris around to make excuses for it?

Should Rex Grossman have started this game?