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| The Bears easily beat Arizona, but they'll need a lot of help this Sunday to make the playoffs. (US Presswire) |
To borrow a phrase from another road trip to the desert in the past, the Bears were who we thought they were in Sunday's 28-13 win over Arizona.
They did nothing on offense to show they have improved their passing game sufficiently to win a playoff game, and may not have enough working efficiently to go into Detroit and win next week. They beat up on another weak team using an opportunistic defense which they had already proven they could do earlier in the season.
With RB Matt Forte (ankle) and S Chris Conte (hamstring) suffering injuries, their depth was further depleted.
A beat-up team struggles along, but they're only a win against Detroit and a Packer win over Minnesota from prolonging their season, if not Lovie Smith's tenure as head coach.
Offense: C-
It would be easy to slap another D or F grade on the offense after the slow start, but they went without committing a turnover and QB Jay Cutler avoided another silly mistake that would have added to the trend that had been plaguing him. With only 146 passing yards by Cutler, the Bears can't put up numbers like that this coming Sunday at Detroit, but they could get away with it against Arizona and knew it. The running game made it a worthwhile offensive effort as the O-line paved the way for 152 total yards, including 88 from Forte. But they can't even enjoy this much since Forte sprained his right ankle once again. Previous game's grade: D-
Defense: A
Arizona's offense poses no threat to anyone, and the quarterbacks they used were challenged to complete consecutive passes to their own receivers. Nevertheless, the Bears defense produced three turnovers, scored twice, and came away with its best game of the year against the run (29 yards). They basically did what they had to do. Julius Peppers had three sacks as he fattened up his stats against a rookie tackle, but no one is about to complain considering he's been double- or triple-teamed much of the year and has sacrificed his own stats to play within the scheme. The Bears defense held the Cardinals without an offensive touchdown. Other rush men like Israel Idonije and Shea McClellin had big days to make up for the absence of injured Henry Melton. Previous game's grade: C+
Special teams: D
The only good aspects of this effort for Dave Toub's squad was the punting of Adam Podlesh and his coverage -- particularly Zack Bowman -- and also the way Charles Tillman snuffed out a fake field goal. Olindo Mare had a chip-shot field goal blocked and returned for a TD, Devin Hester refused to come up and field short punts so he put his blockers in danger of touching the ball time after time. It resulted in a muffed punt that bounced up and hit D.J. Moore, one that could have been very costly. And Hester also pulled another wrong-way run that pinned the offense back inside the 5. Previous game's grade: A-
They did nothing on offense to show they have improved their passing game sufficiently to win a playoff game, and may not have enough working efficiently to go into Detroit and win next week. They beat up on another weak team using an opportunistic defense which they had already proven they could do earlier in the season.
With RB Matt Forte (ankle) and S Chris Conte (hamstring) suffering injuries, their depth was further depleted.
A beat-up team struggles along, but they're only a win against Detroit and a Packer win over Minnesota from prolonging their season, if not Lovie Smith's tenure as head coach.
Offense: C-
It would be easy to slap another D or F grade on the offense after the slow start, but they went without committing a turnover and QB Jay Cutler avoided another silly mistake that would have added to the trend that had been plaguing him. With only 146 passing yards by Cutler, the Bears can't put up numbers like that this coming Sunday at Detroit, but they could get away with it against Arizona and knew it. The running game made it a worthwhile offensive effort as the O-line paved the way for 152 total yards, including 88 from Forte. But they can't even enjoy this much since Forte sprained his right ankle once again. Previous game's grade: D-
Defense: A
Arizona's offense poses no threat to anyone, and the quarterbacks they used were challenged to complete consecutive passes to their own receivers. Nevertheless, the Bears defense produced three turnovers, scored twice, and came away with its best game of the year against the run (29 yards). They basically did what they had to do. Julius Peppers had three sacks as he fattened up his stats against a rookie tackle, but no one is about to complain considering he's been double- or triple-teamed much of the year and has sacrificed his own stats to play within the scheme. The Bears defense held the Cardinals without an offensive touchdown. Other rush men like Israel Idonije and Shea McClellin had big days to make up for the absence of injured Henry Melton. Previous game's grade: C+
Special teams: D
The only good aspects of this effort for Dave Toub's squad was the punting of Adam Podlesh and his coverage -- particularly Zack Bowman -- and also the way Charles Tillman snuffed out a fake field goal. Olindo Mare had a chip-shot field goal blocked and returned for a TD, Devin Hester refused to come up and field short punts so he put his blockers in danger of touching the ball time after time. It resulted in a muffed punt that bounced up and hit D.J. Moore, one that could have been very costly. And Hester also pulled another wrong-way run that pinned the offense back inside the 5. Previous game's grade: A-
Coaching: C+
Lovie Smith wasted a timeout just before halftime with a silly replay challenge that had no chance of succeeding, but the offense bailed him out by driving 80 yards for a TD and a 21-6 lead with no timeouts. Offensive coordinator Mike Tice had his shuffled-and-reshuffled offensive line prepared for a lot of blitzes, but the Cardinals avoided that much of the day -- which explains why Arizona has won only five games. Still, the Bears were going against one of the league's worst run defenses and they came out passing? That one needs an explanation. Defensively, Rod Marinelli was aggressive against a rookie QB much like he should have been in the loss to Seattle and Russell Wilson. Cardinals QB Ryan Lindley met with disguised coverages and occasional blitzes early, then committed the big mistakes against Peppers and the pass rush. Previous game's grade: D
Follow Bears reporter Gene Chamberlain on Twitter @CBSBears.
