4 Things to Keep in Mind

The most infuriating part of last night's game is we could have easily won it without AR had we had a backup QB that could complete more than a 10 yard pass.

I thought the run game performed admirably, even without Lang...and the defense, while they had their gaffes, were left on the field a long time because of the offense.

I know we've all said if AR goes down, we're not going anywhere anyway, but I think that's an oversimplification. You are never going to have a backup QB equal to your starter, but there is a minimum talent level required, and I don't think Seneca Wallace has it at this late stage in his career. We could have won that game with Matt Flynn or Josh McClown.

Some act like we're the 2011 Colts. We're not doomed, far from it. I think Wallace will be a lot better if gets practice reps and there's a game plan for him. He needs to get his timing down with receivers and the OL and McCarthy needs to learn more about his limitations. Jon Gruden said it last night, the back up QBs don't get very many practice reps, the starting QB barely gets enough reps to get it down. I think we saw a lot of rust from Wallace and him being unprepared. 

Flynn looked like crap in the 2010 loss to the Lions when AR got concussed and then played significantly better the following week vs NEP - full week of practice and game plan for his strengths.

That said, I don't think Wallace is the answer if they need someone for the next 3+ weeks.

History with MM and Capers is also on the side in that they rarely play a bad game then follow it up with another. IF they get CMIII this week, I expect a pissed off defense and for that unit to play far better then last night.

The Bears back up QB also had 2 full weeks to prepare for GB. Wallace will have a full week of practice. I can't see him playing any worse.

Eagles at home.

@ the Giants.

Vikings at home.

IF AR is out those 3 games, I don't think winning 2 of those 3 is that crazy.

Bigger problem last night I thought was Capers abondoning the blitz after getting burned on the TD pass to Marshall. That was a fluke, and more pressure from more places would have kept McKown from looking like Peyton Manning.

We can win with Wallace and a good running game.

I am more worried about the defense. WTF. 9 minute 90+ yard drives. Doesn't matter who you QB is if he is on the sidelines.

He did lose Mulumba and Neal clearly wasn't 100%. That limits a lot of what he could do scheme wise I think. You also have to give credit to McCown, he stood tall even when there was pressure. He threw a great game.

The bigger concern was the CBs getting tossed around by those WRs. Why did Capers have them pressing? Having them play Man Off, maybe 5 yards back would have limited the bubble screens and would have prevented those WRs from using their strength at the line. That was the failure on Capers part.

If AR is out 3 weeks, and even if we only win 1 of the next 3 we are still 6-5 heading to Detroit.

We should also get Matthews and Cobb back.   The division is still ours to have.  But we probably just lost a shot at a bye in the playoffs.

MM needs to get the team out of the 'funk' and just play.

I was not impressed by Wallace.    I don't think he has the arm strength and throws some low passes.  Two were tipped.

TT blew it from that perspective.

Actually I don't like the bye week off.....just keep playing like in 2010....no week off, no "getting rusty".  They can do this.            and where is the crying smiley??  Because I'm just sick over A-12's injury.  

no "getting rusty"

 

Watzat?

Yep. Need that unit to pick up the slack but I'm not sold on them doing so

Getting CM back next week is not going to cure all our ills in the back 40.  He'll hopefully add some pressure but if McNoun can do what he did vs them, I shudder to think what Chipper and Folds will do to them.  I have little faith in Taco keeping pace.

Ritchie Incognito is their bye-week event planner.

Actually getting the pass rush back WILL be a cure all for the defensive issues from last night. That was the only problem. McCown had zero pressure on him and he was able to cleanly get the ball where it needed to go. CM3 would have been the difference for the D last night. The Bears had faith their Tackles could handle 1on1's with the OLBs so they allowed the interior to focus on Daniels/Raji. They didn't have to keep Forte in either which meant the Packers had to account for another receiver and couldn't double any of the WRs. CM3 also does really well at securing the edge, which is where the Bears gashed us in the running game. 

There was some pass rush. The TD pass was after being hit by Neal. And there were other times when he was forced to throw it away. Like the play in the EZ that might have been grounding.

Saying there was zero pass rush and that was the whole problem is not quite true.

The problem was they didn't have enough pass rush

they didn't cover well in the secondary

they didn't tackle well

so in short, they didn't really do a good job at much of anything

Getting CM back does not necessarily mean getting the pass rush back.  IF he plays, how effective will he be?  What about the other walking wounded that need to produce, i.e. Perry, Neal, Malumba?  Not buying it.  Even a 100% CM with little help does NOT solve all the DB's problems.

We had 1 sack and 3 hits. McCown stayed pretty clean. We did have 11 hurries which is good, but 6 of those 11 came from Mike Neal, 2 coming from Jolly, and Hawk, Daniels, and Mulumba each registering 1. So Nate Palmer, BJ Raji, Datone Jones, Brad Jones, Jamari Lattimore, and Ryan Pickett got absolutely not pressure at all. What do those numbers tell me? Guys were close to getting pressure, but couldn't finish. So yeah I guess you're right in saying there was "some" pass rush, but that was the biggest problem of the night. McCown had no fear, he stepped up and delivered the ball where it needed to go cleanly and efficiently. Compare it to the Bears pass rush who registered only 10 hurries, 0 hits, but 5 sacks. That's the issue.  Chicago pressured AND finished. 

Coming off a knee or leg injury, perhaps that's a concern. But please, this was a thumb. Not only that, it also gave him 4 weeks to heal his hamstring. He should not only be effective but have complete fresh legs.

On both TD passes McCown through, he was hit both times and knocked down. We'll never know but you do have to wonder what a healthy CMIII does on both those plays. A fraction of a second sooner and on one Neal gets the sack. With CMIII's motor does he get the sack? sack and a strip fumble (he did that twice in Cincy)?

I think a lot of that difference, the 50% and the 9% finishing, has to do with the Bears QB getting 2 weeks to prepare and having better arm strength. Wallace didn't have a very quick release at all and some of his sacks were after scrambling and indecision.

11 hurries for GB vs 10 hurries for the Bears sounds about right. 

The Packers did have some pass rush.

Getting Clay back takes pressure off everyone else. The QBs won't be as comfortable and will hurry throws, there will be more 1 on 1 opportunities for Daniels, Raji, Neal, Palmer, etc., RBs will be kept in more often to double Clay meaning 1 fewer receiver to account for, DBs won't have to cover as long, etc. He's a difference maker, that's why they pay him so much money. A couple weeks ago people were hailing our CBs as one of the best and deepest groups in the NFL, now they're a problem that even a pass rush can't fix? Not buying. We still have some of the best CBs in the NFL and when we get our top 5 pass rusher back, they will look even better. 

The fallacy in that argument rests in the assumption that getting CM back = getting the pass rush back.  Considering he WILL be less than 100% and that every other OLB on the roster is banged up, that's a lot to heap on any one player.  I don't care how much money he makes, they need improvement from more than just him.

And we were talking about NEXT week vs. Philly and their chipper offense.  They have been up and down this year but the secondary we saw last night is something it would seem they could take advantage of.

Which means he'll have a club and can't grab/tackle with that hand.  How is that close to 100%?  But that's the beside the real point.  Even at a 100%, they need more improvement from the pass rush than just getting CM back.

CM3 had the pin(s) removed yesterday and was on the sideline last night, that is all we know about his status. 

Trestman totally outcoached Fat Mike.

Trestman outcoached Capers. 

Don't feed the troll.

It's not like GB lost it's pass rush without CMIII while he was out. Quite the opposite. They are 12th in the NFL in sacks and that's without Perry and without CMIII for multiple weeks. They have gotten decent pressure from Hawk, Daniels, Lattimore.

 

Which means he'll have a club and can't grab/tackle with that hand

I have read nothing that he will require a club upon returning. The issue of the club was he would need that if GB thought he would just play through it for 4 weeks. The fracture is now healed and thus the reason he was able to have pins removed. If it was not, he'd still have them. At the time the pins are removed, the fracture is now healed. Maybe a soft cast, but no one has reported he'll have to play with a club.

Another thing to keep in mind, 4 of our last 5 draft picks didn't play. And at two different vital spots where we were glaringly deficient- pass rush and pass protection.

CM3 will be playing with some type of cast/club/protection on his hand if he plays this weekend. After that who knows...

Taco Wallace was particularly bad.  I know RTFB is worked for much of the game, but he needs to be able to hit the occasional pass.  I hope with a week of practice with the starting unit, perhaps there can be some semblance of a passing game to balance out the run game. 

That being said, the offense had a dominating performance from the running game and they still lost.  Defensively, the middle of the field was a playground for a back up QB.  Pass rush was weak and our corners cannot cover good receivers for that long if the pass rush isn't a threat.  Hawk was ****, again.  It's nice that the media likes to talk about his renaissance (they also referred to McCown as the "young" Bears backup QB, so doing research isn't nearly as important as a good story) , but I've really only seen about 6 quarters of good football from our middle linebacker.  DOM CAPERS is still brilliant, but no excuses for that drive to end the game.  Over and over again was what looked like a fairly easy completion to the wide receiver.  I know they need bodies to come back, but for the first time in a long time, the Bears made better adjustments than the Pack, and is showed in the 4th quarter. 

Wallace has been released by the Browns, Saints, and 49ers within the last year, other than being PC what is your proof that's Wallace is a serviceable QB?

My four things consist of the number of times our little turd-licker DerpChicago showed up after just the previous four games.

1.  Here's a list of all of his posts after the first time GB played CHI last season:

https://packers.timesfour.com/advancedSearch?searching=true&type=everything&searcher.requiredWords=&searcher.exactPhrase=&searcher.optionalWords=&searcher.notWords=&searcher.postedAfter.dateString=9%2F14%2F2012&searcher.postedBefore.dateString=9%2F19%2F2012&searcher.users=330620847532848788&searchPagination.sort=SCORE

2. And here are his contributions after the second game of last season:

https://packers.timesfour.com/advancedSearch?searching=true&type=everything&searcher.requiredWords=&searcher.exactPhrase=&searcher.optionalWords=&searcher.notWords=&searcher.postedAfter.dateString=12%2F17%2F2012&searcher.postedBefore.dateString=12%2F21%2F2012&searcher.users=330620847532848788&searchPagination.sort=SCORE

Very courageous.  He's pretty stand-up, isn't he?

Moving back to 2011:

3. Here's the derp following the first game from that season:

https://packers.timesfour.com/advancedSearch?searching=true&type=everything&searcher.requiredWords=&searcher.exactPhrase=&searcher.optionalWords=&searcher.notWords=&searcher.postedAfter.dateString=9%2F26%2F2011&searcher.postedBefore.dateString=9%2F30%2F2011&searcher.users=330620847532848788&searchPagination.sort=SCORE

4.  And here are the posts after the second game:

https://packers.timesfour.com/advancedSearch?searching=true&type=everything&searcher.requiredWords=&searcher.exactPhrase=&searcher.optionalWords=&searcher.notWords=&searcher.postedAfter.dateString=12%2F26%2F2011&searcher.postedBefore.dateString=12%2F30%2F2011&searcher.users=330620847532848788&searchPagination.sort=SCORE

Now run along, little butt nugget.

Yep the bears are a hell of a team.  With beating the packers I would put the bears as a shoe in for the lombardi trophy. T hey are a finely tuned machine.

This. IMHO the Pack wins even after AR12 goes down if the D played like they had the previous several weeks. Unfortunately the D overall had a very bad game. They let Forte get like 125 rushing yards, and both HAwk and Burnett had a chance to tackle him for a loss on the 4th and inches play but failed. Many of the D players had piss poor games last night, for whatever reason.

In a nutshell, there was a let down from quite a few players overall, after they realized AR12 was out. Except for Lacy and Starks and a few really good run blocks by the OL (their pass pro though was pretty bad) everyone else seemed to suffer a let down. At least thats how I see it.

@zachkruse2

And, if they had run it when they were inside the 10 instead of Wallace throwing and settling for a FG.

1-6-CHI 6(9:28) 44-J.Starks right end to CHI 5 for 1 yard (26-T.Jennings).
2-5-CHI 5(8:55) (Shotgun) 9-S.Wallace pass incomplete short middle to 87-J.Nelson.
3-5-CHI 5(8:52) (Shotgun) 9-S.Wallace pass incomplete short right to 81-A.Quarless.

4-5 Crosby FG to make it 20-17

Or, if they had run it (twice if needed) when down 24-20 and had a 3rd and 3 at the CHI 40...

3-3-CHI 40(10:19) (Shotgun) 9-S.Wallace sacked at CHI 45 for -5 yards (99-S.McClellin).
4-8-CHI 45(9:56) 8-T.Masthay punts 34 yards to CHI 11, Center-61-B.Goode, fair catch by 23-D.Hester.

After this we all know what happened.

Every Bear fan last night...