by Rickhouse on December 2 at 8:41PM
Then it all started crumbling down. It’s no real secret why the Bears lost this game: they couldn’t stop the run, dropped too many passes, and committed too many dumb penalties.
Allowing Derrick Ward a career high 154 yards is just not acceptable in a must-win game for a defense as proud as this one. It’s not like they were going against Tiki Barber today. The most frustrating part is the defense actually played one of their best games all year, but it just wasn’t enough. Usually when you cause four turnovers, get a couple of sacks, and allow only 21 points, it’s good enough to win, but the Bears couldn’t hold the Giants to field goals and it hurt them.
Like the defense's inability to stop the run, the Bears dropped passes are just getting out of hand at this point. Rex played better in the second half then his numbers indicated, but dropped passes kept killing drives, especially the final one. Hester’s drop of a sure touchdown in the first half hurt as well, but it would have been nice to see them go back to him again on an actual route, not just a screen.
I know I always defend Rex, but even the playa haters have to admit he played real good today. Imagine what he’d be able to do if the Bears could actually run the ball, maybe this team’s biggest flaw all season. Even I don’t want Rex to be throwing the ball 46 times, which is especially shocking when you consider they were winning the entire game. Adrian Peterson is nothing more then a third running back, and the Bears need to make sure that’s what he is next year. Part of it is the offensive line, which is what I think the Bears primary draft focus should be, but Peterson just doesn’t have the talent.
Basically, this a backbreaking defeat in every way. The Bears seemed to outplay the Giants throughout, but just couldn’t hang on for what would have been a pivotal win. I still maintain a 9-7 will make the playoffs in the NFC (which looks like a lock now), but the Bears will be hard pressed to be the one to grab it now. But hey, at least Illinois is going to the Rose Bowl! More on that later, I suppose.
|
What a tough loss that was..I thought for sure after the first drive the Bears may start to resemble something similar to last year and Manning was handing the game to them on a silver platter. Agree completely with your points on Grossman...he played a decent game and made some great passes throughout. His only downfall is what to do when the pocket collapses, especially with Umenyiora and Strahan. If he could just learn to step up in the pocket instead of going backwards, he probably would have had a near perfect game (of course for his standards). Unfortunately, the defense simply disappeared and never stopped the run. Oh well.