Jump to content

Thoughts and Observations: Week 3 [Steelers]


WindyCity

Recommended Posts

Short week so no 2nd viewing chance this week. I re watched a little bit last night when SNF got bad, but this is a very first glance look.

 

-The pass rush is not pretty, but it is effective. Big Ben was off his mark all day and I think a big part of that is the significant amount of push that the Bears get up the middle on all passing downs. It doesn't look pretty because no one is quick swimming into the backfield for a clean sack. But both Hicks and Goldman consistently drive their man straight back into the QB. I rarely see either get stopped on the line, they are always moving the pocket back. I think this led to Ben air mailing a number of throws.

 

-Good to see Bullard make some plays against the run. I hope he is getting healthy and we can see him make more and more plays.

 

-I give Unrien a ton of crap, but the dude is having an nice year and is a big part of the elite run defense that the Bears are playing.

 

-Leonard Floyd has not been the dynamic sack artist we were hoping to start the season, but he continues to flash, but not finish. I had notes that 2-3 times in the 2nd half he had fairly clean shots at Big Ben and could not finish the play. His run defense has been really good and other than a really bad mismatch last game his coverage has been impressive. I would like to see him start to develop 1 move he can consistently use. The inside counter works well for him and he got Villenauva on his skates a couple times with the 1 arm bull rush.

 

-McPhee and Young with sacks was very positive as I think that will help get Floyd going. Floyd draws more pass blocking attention and TE/RB help, so the guy across from him needs to have some production to make that less effective. McPhee particularly getting more snaps and rounding into shape is important.

 

-There is a drop off from Kwaitowski to Jones. I never feel like Jones is as instinctive as the other guys. He is big and athletic, but I rarely see him win quickly with a great read and first step. He was solid however and this is the one position where the depth does not worry me.

 

-Trevathan looks healthier and healthier every week and looked good in coverage again. He really is an impressive LB with his ability to cover, but also play the run physically. I also think the experience of calling the defense will be huge as I do not know if Freeman is guaranteed to be back next season.

 

-While the early returns are that Marcus Cooper can play, the early returns from Quentin Demps have not been as positive and now he is injured. I expected more from Demps, but I have not seen the plays in coverage that I was hoping for. Demps just does not seem to be in a position to make a ton of plays. He is a step behind or cannot make the play in run support.

 

-Eddie Jackson seems like a legit keeper. Fangio was using him a ton to cover TEs 1 on 1 in man and he essentially erased Jesse James, until Kyle Fuller actually erased him. I love instant return on draft picks.

 

-The combined day for the CBs was exceptional in my opinion against an elite offense. Marcus Cooper targeted 9 times and gave up 1, 10 yard catch. Kyle Fuller gave up more yards, but did a pretty nice job against the best WR in the league. Add in that Fuller had 2 PD and absolutely destroyed a TE and it was a pretty good day. Amukamara has 2 nice PD and I told my buddy who I was watching the game with that I could not remember a game where the Bears CBs contested so many catches. Even Bryce Callahan got involved with the sack FF.

 

-Marcus Cooper with an all time dumbass play, but he has been really solid and looks like a free agency win.

 

-I am not sure what happened to Kyle Fuller, but he came back and looks like he is on a mission, contract year? He has been solid in every game and the Bears getting some value from him would be an awesome win for a team that has not salvaged much from the Emery years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

-What a game from Jordan Howard. I am not sure what to add to the incredibly tough performance he put together. Breaking tackles, great cuts and finishing in the end zone were great to see after a rough start to the season.

 

-Tarik Cohen is special. I love getting special players on day 3 of the draft. It feels like you are stealing. This is back to back years that Pace has found a special talent and instant starter on day 3 of the draft. If he wants to make this a regular thing I would be okay with it.

 

-I hate FBs, but Michael Burton continues to make enough blocks a game to keep him around.

 

-Adam Shaheen 1 catch, 1 yard, 1 TD. It is time to get him more involved in the offense. I know Zach Miller is reliable and productive, but lets start building this guys confidence a little.

 

-I do not have comments for the WR group. I am not sure if they exist. Thompson held the CB on the game winning TD, but I do not care. Good for him not mentally checking out on a game where the QB was scared of his own shadow and giving an effort way down field. After watching Tyrelle Pryor I realize that not all WRs give a real down field effort in the run game.

 

-Kyle Long is so important to what the Bears want to do on offense. His ability to get to the 2nd level simply cannot be over stated. 

 

-Whitehair is better at C and he also does an excellent job of getting to the 2nd level in a position to create the lane. He has to clean up his 1 bad snap a game. I think part of it is the turf, but he needs to get the ball off the ground, even if it is not a pretty snap.

 

-Massie and Leno continue to be solid in pass protection. I know we want to hate them, but look around the league at the number of teams who cannot keep their QB even close to upright. The Bears have a statue and manage to keep him fairly clean.

 

-Mike Glennon is horrendous. His day was as pathetic as you would expect. 101 yards passing, 1 TD and 1 INT, he targeted his WRs 4 times, completed 1 pass to them for 9 yards. Check downs ands screens made up 73 of his 101 yards. On the drive at the end of the game to win it and keep it from going to overtime he almost threw a pick to Mike Mitchell and then checked down on 3rd and 10 so that the Bears could punt the ball back to Pittsburgh. This team is winning despite their QB. This has gotten to the point where it is sad and frustrating to watch. The Steelers were asking to get blown out and the Bears could not oblige because of their QB.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think we saw yesterday what having a Howard/Cohen tandem does to a defense.  Howard just wears on a defense.  Hes the hammer that just keeps hitting you and starts to put you on your heels.  And then the moment they are starting to rock a bit you hit them with Cohen who cant be described is anything less than dynamic.  He is the epitome of a home run threat.  I honestly expect a big play to happen everytime he touches the ball.  

For all the crap our secondary has been given this offseason, they have now effectively shut down 3 of top 5 wrs in the game to start to the year.  A lot of credit has to be given to the front 7 who are just winning the los on every play, but Fuller, Cooper, & Jackson really deserve some love for the work they have done 3 weeks in.

Kyle Long is a man.  Period. End of story he is a difference maker in the OL and the conversation needs to progress from is he one of the best OGs in the game to is he one of the best OL in the game.

Final thoughts Marcus Cooper should have thanked Cohen for bailing him out in OT bc had the Bears lost Cooper is unquestionably the goat.  I hope Jordan Howard gave that ball to Cohen bc Cohen won the game and then Howard cleaned it up.  This is the reason why i had said during the preseason that this wasnt the worst situation to start a rookie qb

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm glad you took a close look at Leonard Floyd to see what is going on with him. I saw him flash 2x during the game once during a stunt where he should have sacked Big Ben. I am overall disappointed in his start to the season. Good to know he is still getting some pressure and having an impact. I agree about his ability to seal the edge his run stopping ability has definitely improved with more size.

Eddie Goldman is another guy who isn't really getting any credit for the amount of push he gets in the pass rush along with the ability to shut down the running game.

Cornerbacks agreed played lights out. Fuller definitely looks healthy and we have 3 very solid CBs who actually make plays on the ball.

 

Overall this defense is looking very good we just need more pass rush, I feel like every fan says that about their defense. 

 

Mike Glennon, I couldn't agree more the guy refuses to throw it deep and threw nearly 2 picks. He is at BEST a neutral force on this team. I think after the Green Bay game we have to consider a change. If we can keep Mitch to under 25 throws a game and run the ball he can really help us. We need to give him the Big Ben treatment and I think he can give us much more than Glennon can.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would like to add that this was not a sustainable win for the Bears. If they play like this most weeks you are going to lose the game.

They needed

-2 Big Special Teams play

-To rush for over 200 yards

-Have the Steelers commit 2 turnovers to offset your own turnovers

-Got nothing from the QB position at all

 

That is not a recipe for winning football.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Superman(DH23) said:

For all the crap our secondary has been given this offseason, they have now effectively shut down 3 of top 5 wrs in the game to start to the year.  A lot of credit has to be given to the front 7 who are just winning the los on every play, but Fuller, Cooper, & Jackson really deserve some love for the work they have done 3 weeks in.

Don't forget Callahan. Overall he has played very well IMO and he actually played more defensive snaps than any other CB last week. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Sugashane said:

Don't forget Callahan. Overall he has played very well IMO and he actually played more defensive snaps than any other CB last week. 

Callahan had a really rough week against the Falcons so i cant really put him at the same level as Fuller & Cooper and what they have done so far this year

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Adam Hoge‏Verified account @AdamHoge  12h12 hours ago

Glennon officially got credit for 101 passing yards, but his completions only traveled a TOTAL of 19 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

Six of Glennon’s 15 completions were BEHIND the line of scrimmage. Another three were AT the line of scrimmage.

In other words, only six of Glennon’s 15 completions were thrown beyond the line of scrimmage.

12 of Glennon’s 15 completions were to RBs. 9 of those were completed either BEHIND or AT the line of scrimmage. Essentially running plays.

Mike Glennon vs Steelers on passes thrown at least 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage: 1-of-4 for 15 “air” yards and 1 INT.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, WindyCity said:

Adam Hoge‏Verified account @AdamHoge  12h12 hours ago

Glennon officially got credit for 101 passing yards, but his completions only traveled a TOTAL of 19 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

Six of Glennon’s 15 completions were BEHIND the line of scrimmage. Another three were AT the line of scrimmage.

In other words, only six of Glennon’s 15 completions were thrown beyond the line of scrimmage.

12 of Glennon’s 15 completions were to RBs. 9 of those were completed either BEHIND or AT the line of scrimmage. Essentially running plays.

Mike Glennon vs Steelers on passes thrown at least 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage: 1-of-4 for 15 “air” yards and 1 INT.

Is Glennon really this bad or does the play calling have something to do with it?  My guess is it's a little bit of both.  Bears are playing it conservative with him.  Evntually they are going to have to open it up or hand over the reigns to Mitchell.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those are astonishing numbers even having watched the game.

 

I'm starting to wonder if this type of hand-held offensive playcalling that limits Glennons exposure to any sort of big play is not them philosophically throwing in the towel with him, and just trying to keep competitive until the right time to play Trubisky comes up. If that's the case, week 5 makes sense.  Gives Glennon a chance to develop into more than expected, and still gives them a good amount of time to prep the rookie.

The other possibility, which I have no evidence for of course, would be that Trubisky is no good or injured and they really do feel like Glennon is better right now. Wow would that be a long fall onto a bike seat eh?

Either way, my own secret hope before the season (Glennon good! Trubisky better! Trade Glennon for 1st round pick to team with hurt QB after week 4) is starting to look pretty (and predictably) insane. I think that scenario also included me winning the lottery somehow. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...