Sunday, Dec. 12, 2010
8:41 PM
By John Mullin
CSNChicago.com
The Bears will be looking for positives in a 36-7 loss to perhaps the NFLs best team. It will be a difficult search. New England dominated the game from the second series and never let the Bears develop momentum or production on offense, defense or special teams.
Quarterback F
Jay Cutler provided a fitting cap to a dismal game with a high-school-grade pass to a New England DB in the end zone in the fourth quarter. He lost the ball inside the Chicago 10 with a fumble on a sack and finished 12-for-26 passing for 152 yards, two interceptions and a 32.9 rating, his second-lowest as a Bear.
Running backs F
Chester Taylor scored on a one-yard run and Matt Forte turned in a 30-yard reception. But Bears backs totaled 26 rushing yards on 12 carries and were able to add just 44 receiving yards catching three of the eight passes thrown to them.
NFL
Receivers F
Footing was a problem but Patriot receivers were able to pick up substantial yards after catches and the Bears were not. Johnny Knox lost a fumble that was returned for a TD and only Earl Bennett (17.7) and Devin Aromashodu (16 yards, one catch) averaged as much as nine yards per catch.
Offensive line D-
New England sacked Cutler twice and got three other hits on him as protection was not as much a problem as receivers getting open and Cutler getting the ball out of his hands quickly. The Bears went with packages including three tight ends and unbalanced lines but failed miserably to control the line of scrimmage in a game that needed to be kept out of Tom Bradys hands.
Defensive line D
Israel Idonije shared a sack of Tom Brady in the first quarter. Julius Peppers sacked Brady in the third quarter and deflected two passes, and Anthony Adams took Brady down late in the fourth quarter. But against a very good New England offensive line the Bears could sustain no consistent pressure, particularly on third-and-long situations, and failed to control the line of scrimmage to blunt the Patriots on the ground.
Linebackers D
Brian Urlacher got a piece of a Brady sack but was out-positioned by TE Rob Gronkowski for a New England TD in the first quarter. Urlacher was credited with a game-high 11 tackles, three for loss and three passes broken up.
Secondary F-
Blown coverage accounted for a 59-yard Deion Branch TD catch just before halftime and Brady had no trouble picking the secondary apart for 369 yards, with Branch totaling 151 yards and Wes Welker 115, both with eight catches. Receivers were able to add substantial yardage after catches and the Patriots converted 12 of 19 third downs, many of longer than 10 yards.
Special teams C-
Danieal Manning and Devin Hester combined for 6 kickoff returns averaging 36 yards and Hester added a 17-yard punt return, only one of which (Hesters 61-yard KOR) the offense was able to turn into points. Conditions limited Brad Maynard top a net of 23.6 yards on 5 punts. Coverage units allowed the Patriots to return 2 punts for an average of 21.5 yards and benefit from field position that the Bears could not afford to allow.
Coaching I
Incomplete because execution in offense and defense was so poor as to make evaluating game plans virtually impossible. The Bears werent ready to play but the fault for too much lay with the players, not with coaching.
John "Moon" Mullin is CSNChicago.com's Bears Insider, and appears regularly on Bears Postgame Live and Chicago Tribune Live. Follow Moon on Twitter for up-to-the-minute Bears information.