Bears vs. Raiders: 8 Things We Learned from Chicago's 25-20 Loss

It was the Sebastian Janikowski show, as the Raiders kicker was perfect on six field attempts to end the Chicago Bears' winning streak at five.

With the loss, the Bears moved to 7-4 and missed out on an opportunity to pass the Detroit Lions for second place in the NFC North.

The Raiders, meanwhile, are also now 7-4, but they are in first place in the AFC West.

The Bears defense was pretty good, especially in the red zone, but the offense was not quite  as good. QB Caleb Hanie struggled in replacement of Jay Cutler early, though he had a much better second half.

The three interceptions he threw pretty much were the difference in the game. But as usual, I have a few more thoughts, so let's take a look at what stood out for me.

Lovie Smith's Missed Challenge Opportunity

Early on, it wasn't just Caleb Hanie making bad decisions. The decision, or more appropriately the non-decision, late in the first quarter, on a play that should have been challenged, was huge.

As Hanie was scrambling near the sidelines, he fired off a pass, but the officials incorrectly ruled that Hanie was out of bounds.  

Though the replays clearly indicated he was still in bounds when he made the pass attempt, Lovie Smith kept the red flag in his pocket.

It ended up being a loss of eight yards. Even worse, it made the third-down attempt longer, which indirectly led to the second Hanie interception of the quarter.

We all know that Smith hasn't had the greatest success challenging calls, but this was a mistake.

Missed opportunities, especially on the road with an inexperienced quarterback, can come back to haunt a team.

Smith later won a challenge in the fourth quarter.

Caleb Hanie Struggled with Accuracy and Decision Making

In the first quarter, Hanie looked as inexperienced as he is. Unfortunately, he picked up where he left off in the NFC championship game, where he threw two picks that sealed the victory for the Packers.

On Sunday, Hanie forgot that he isn't Jay Cutler, and tried to throw, on the run, but just doesn't have the arm strength to complete that type of pass.

The ball was underthrown and intercepted. It was not just a bad throw, it was a bad decision by the young QB, who should have thrown the ball away.

Then, during the same opening quarter, he floated a ball over the middle, intended for Matt Forte, but the pass was way overthrown and resulted in another interception.

But Hanie showed flashes of being effective, though not often enough.

He runs well, as his 50 yards on five carries will attest. And that long bomb to Johnny Knox was an outstanding throw, as was the resulting TD pass to Kellen Davis.

On the day, Hanie finished 18-of-35 for 254 yards and two TDs to go along with those three interceptions.  The game ended on an intentional grounding call when Hanie didn't spike the ball until after he took a couple steps backward.

Mike Martz Called Too Many Passes at the Wrong Times

When you're starting an inexperienced QB like Hanie, one would expect the offensive coordinator to play it safe and run the ball a lot, with some screen passes thrown in for good measure.

But instead, Mike Martz called for too many passes and two of those passes were picked off by Oakland in the first quarter.

Sure, he was calling quick, short passes, which is not a bad idea. But when you have Matt Forte and a set of questionable receivers with a young QB, I would have called more running plays.

In the end, the play-calling was balanced, but I never felt that Hanie was allowed to establish any rhythm on offense.

But at times, Martz continued to fall in love with the pass even though the running game was going very well.

The Bears started their first possession of the second half with running plays on first and second down, resulting in a first down. But then they passed the ball three straight times, resulting in an incompletion, a sack and a punt on 4th-and-13.

At the end of the first half, instead of running the ball and hoping for a rushing TD or settling for a field goal, the Bears called a screen, and it was intercepted, leading to three points for Oakland.

It seems like the fact that Forte struggled early affected Martz's play-calling. Forte's first three attempts actually lost yardage.

But on the day, Forte finished with 59 yards on 12 carries, for a 4.9-yard average, while Marion Barber had 63 yards in 10 rushes. Including Hanie's rushing, the Bears finished with 172 yards rushing and a 6.4-yard average.

Bears Pass Rush Surprisingly Effective

Entering the game, Oakland had allowed just 15 sacks by opposing defenses. This afternoon, however, the Bears had four sacks.

This is a Bears defense that has struggled with an inconsistent pass rush all year, but this afternoon, Julius Peppers had two sacks while Amobi Okoye and Henry Melton added sacks.

Bears Red Zone Defense Good but Sebastian Janikowski Better

The Raiders were excellent between the 20s, but inside the red zone, they struggled.

The Bears defense came up big, limiting Oakland's offense to field goals in every case. However, Janikowski was up to the task.

The Raiders excellent kicker set a franchise record with six field goals to lead the team to victory.

It was a good day all around for Oakland's kicking game, as punter Shane Lechler boomed a franchise record 80-yard punt in the fourth quarter.

Corey Graham had his third interception in the last three games early in the second quarter.

On the three Bears turnovers, the Raiders were never able to capitalize with a touchdown, but that was enough for Oakland on this day.

Marcel Reece Is Redefining the Fullback Position

Raiders fullback Marcel Reece plays like a tight end or a wide receiver—positions that he played in college.

While NFL purists lament the disappearance of the true fullback position, along comes Reece who is lining up in the backfield and blocking but also catching passes and using his surprising speed to make plays.

Usually, the fullback has historically been played by a big, bruising, power running guy who might get you three yards on third down or block for your lead back, but seldom was a threat catching the ball. 

Reece is big but has good speed and elusiveness. He had five receptions for 92 yards on the day, tying Forte for most catches by either team.

Robbie Gould Joins Janikowski in Putting on a Kicking Clinic

As good as Janikowski was this afternoon, with his franchise-record six field goals, Robbie Gould was just as amazing, albeit in fewer opportunities.

Gould made only two field goals, but both were from 50-plus yards. For the season, Gould is perfect from that distance, going 5-for-5.

Gould hit a 50 and a 53-yard field goal, and the two kickers combined for 255 yards of field goals.

Gould also placed an onside kick perfectly late in the game, and Charles Tillman's hit almost gave the Bears the ball with a chance to win the game. But in the end, the Raiders recovered. But it was a textbook kick by Gould.

No Special Teams Advantage for Bears

The Bears were hoping to win this game based on running the football, playing opportunistic defense and winning the special teams battle.

So let's see here. Running? Check. The Bears had 172 yards rushing on 27 attempts.

Defense? Check. Despite the three interceptions, the Bears did not allow an Oakland TD off of any of those turnovers. Plus, Corey Graham came up with another interception for Chicago.

Special teams? Well, they were good, but not any better than Oakland.

Yes, Gould was perfect in both of his attempts from outside of 50 yards, but the Raiders kicker was pretty awesome himself, with six field goals.

Meanwhile, Oakland's punter Lechler was outstanding. He averaged 54.6 yards per punt.

But the best thing they did was to limit Devin Hester to just seven yards in his two return attempts.

Now, Johnny Knox was terrific returning kicks, with 133 yards on four returns. But Hester was held to an average of 19.5 yards per kick return.

So, even with Knox big day, I wouldn't say they were any better on special teams than Oakland was.