NFC Tidbits: Bears Are In Serious Trouble
By Ted Sevransky
Teddy spends every Sunday typing furiously at his laptop as he watches the games, giving you the key info that the box scores and game recaps simply don’t have. This week: NFC tidbits from around the league from Week 9.
Chicago Bears
Defensively, the Bears are falling apart. They allowed 10 first downs on their first 14 defensive snaps. The pass rush isn't there and these linebackers are routinely out of position.
Defensive tackle Tommy Harris got ejected on the first drive for throwing a punch and he can’t be replaced on this defensive front. Charles Tillman limped off the field after getting burned repeatedly in the secondary and safety Al Afalava hurt his shoulder, giving them cluster injury concerns in the secondary.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Rookie QB Josh Freeman made some nice throws under pressure; keeping his cool in the pocket and keeping his eyes downfield. He also made his fair share of rookie mistakes -- fumbling a snap deep in his own territory, throwing an ugly underthrown interception into coverage, holding the ball too long and staring down his receivers.
But with the game on the line in the fourth quarter, Freeman looked like a savvy pro, guiding his team down the field for the game winning touchdown.
This defense is a busted coverage waiting to happen. Even when the Bucs are in a conservative zone, they’re still allowing wide open receivers running downfield.
Arizona Cardinals
Beanie Wells is finally giving Arizona some sort of a physical presence in the running game and some balance in the offense. Tim Hightower, too, is gaining yards in chunks early against the Bears defense.
Four touchdowns on their first four drives of the game and 20 first downs before halftime gives us a clear indication of how good the Cardinals can be if they have a legitimate running game to couple with Kurt Warner’s strong arm.
Atlanta Falcons
This is a smart football team - they do a lot of little things right. And while the defense remains suspect, this offense is dynamite - good balance, good line play, a good quarterback and lots of big-play weapons to throw to. Atlanta is very much an ‘over’ team these days.
The club’s pass rush is tremendous, sacking Jason Campbell five times before halftime, but this run defense got gashed and the play in the secondary is problematic when they don't get to the quarterback.
Detroit Lions
The offensive line gave Matthew Stafford time to throw early and the results were night and day from games where Stafford has been under pressure. Detroit raced out to a 17-0 lead with Stafford looking comfortable in the pocket.
But as soon as the Seahawks woke up, we saw five Stafford interceptions, two punts and a single field goal on Detroit's remaining drives. Stafford has yet to throw a touchdown pass after halftime this year.
This defense isn't getting any better - no pressure up front, no solid coverage in the secondary, no pass rush, no ability to stop the run, no penetration from the line. On Seattle's first touchdown drive, the Lions didn't force a single incompletion on eight pass attempts and they forced only four incompletions on 24 pass attempts for the entire first half.
Washington Redskins
Critical penalties continue to haunt this team. Albert Haynesworth jumped offside on fourth down in the red zone, setting up Atlanta's first score. The Skins had another offside penalty on fourth down on the very next drive -- instead of receiving a punt, they gave the Falcons a free first down.
Against a three man pass rush, the offensive line allowed a quick sack on a crucial third down play; just an awful effort from the front five. Then, under duress, Campbell threw a pick six that deflected off the arms of his tight end on a 2nd and 22 pass attempt.
They showed better effort in the second half, but there really aren’t many positives to write about this team these days.
New Orleans Saints
Only six turnovers in their first five games, but we've seen this offense commit a dozen turnovers in their last three weeks. The entire offense was stymied early here, gaining a season low 90 yards of total offense in the first half prior to the two minute drill.
This team looked flat and out of sync, much like it did in the first half at Miami. We saw lots of dropped passes and missed assignments, both in blocking schemes and defensively.
But once New Orleans got its running game going in the second half, the offense wa unstoppable. The defense scored on a late fumble recovery here, its seventh defensive TD of the year.
Seattle Seahawks
One thing is clear -- the Seahawks have no business laying 10 points to anybody, despite covering this pointspread on an interception return touchdown with 22 seconds to play.
At least this home crowd makes a difference. There are more false starts charged to the visitors here than any other venue over the last five years. But the Seahawks have been outscored 31-0 in the first quarter of their last two home games.
This offensive line is so bad that the passing game is nothing but dink and dunk. Only two of Matt Hasselbeck’s career-high 39 completions were longer than 15 yards.
Jim Mora Jr. is starting to be a 'go-for-it’ kind of coach. He went for it on fourth down from Seattle territory early and was stuffed. Then he went for it again on fourth down, eschewing the field goal in an effort to put the Lions away in the fourth quarter. In both instances, kicking would have been the much safer way to go.