Bears-Jaguars First Half Thoughts

4:05pm: As the teams kickoff, I still have the Packers-Colts game on the television. Just a few minutes earlier, the Colts took a 22-21 lead on a short field goal. Almost simultaneously, the Eagles lost in Pittsburgh on a game-ending field goal. It’s early in the season, but the Packers and Eagles are near locks to compete for a playoff spot with the Bears. It’s a good start to the day, even if Green Bay does eek out the win in Indianapolis.

First Quarter

Jags Opening Drive

- I was down on Tim Jennings in a big way during the 2010 season, something that culminated in a big way when he was dominated by the Packers big receivers in the NFC Championship Game. If you can stomach watching a replay of that game, Aaron Rodgers only threw at Jennings on the Packers first touchdown drive. Since they only had two scoring drives, I was particularly unhappy with Jennings after the game. He’s just a different player now. He has always been tough and a strong tackler. But he’s playing more aggressively and we’re reaping the benefits. Here, he closed down the Jacksonville drive with a patented great tackle in the open field.

Bears First Drive

-         - Garza, what was that snap? And Jay, I thought we were done with those throws.

Jags Second Drive

-          - Drafting a quarterback in the first round isn’t a bad idea when you need a quarterback. But drafting a bad quarterback in the first round is a bad idea. Blaine Gabbert missed an open receiver badly on first down, putting his team in a third-and-9 situation in which Maurice Jones-Drew turned his head to find the defenders prior to catching a dump off pass. To be sure, MJD should be blamed for failing to catch the ball. But it’s the kind of play that happens more frequently on third-and-9 where the back needs to make a big play after catching the ball than on third-and-3 where he can catch the ball in first-down position.

-        -  Major Wright has really come into his own this year. He struggled with injuries and positioning over his first couple of seasons, but his positioning has been fantastic this year. He’s athletic enough that he’s been able to make a number of plays with the most athletic being the fifth interception of Tony Romo last week when he undercut a fly route on the outside. He made a nice stick in the whole here.

Bears Second Drive

-         - “Marshall replaced by Dane Sanzenbacher” – the biggest downgrade in Bears WR history. The offensive line was tremendous for this entire possession, opening gaping holes for both Matt Forte and Michael Bush.

-         - Cutler made a number of nice throws, highlighted by an excellent slant to Brandon Marshall tucked into a tight window. Marshall appeared to hurt his hand on the play but returned.

-         - Kellen Davis made amends for his token drop on the first play to make two nice catch-and-runs.

-         - Alshon Jeffery made a really athletic grab on a back shoulder fade, but only managed to get one foot down inbounds. Regardless, it’s an encouraging play. He looks really locked in already.

-        -  Robbie Gould is such a treat.

Jags Third Drive

-        -  Major Wright again.

-        -  But Tim Jennings! This is why I can’t praise you. Blackmon just needed to be stopped. Even if he fell forward, he would have been short of the first down. Third-and-13 conversions can’t happen.

-         - I was knocking DJ Moore after his miserable first half in Dallas. But that was a man’s play taking MJD on head-to-head. Great stop.

-         - After a great pass to Blackmon in the soft spot of the Bears’ zone to convert on a third-and-14, Gabbert missed horribly on a slant on the next play. So many ugly throws.

-         - Excellent tackle by Peanut Tillman to cut down MJD on an off tackle run setting up another third-and-long. - Yet again, the Bears pass rush is nowhere to be found and Marcedes Lewis has enough time and space to bobble Gabbert’s throw en route to a conversion.

-         - Mason Crosby, that was ugly. 2-3 Packers with losses to Indy and Seattle? Weird.

-          - Gabbert went right back to Lewis in man coverage against Nick Roach. Terrible throw in a good matchup. He followed with an even worse throw that only could have been caught by Bears S Chris Conte. Then a three-yard pass on third-and 15? That may have been Gabbert’s best drive of the season and he made at least three bad plays. Yikes.

-         - At this point, it’s worth noting that the Jacksonville offensive line has completely shut down the Bears pass rush. I don’t believe that Gabbert has been touched yet.

Bears Third Drive

-         - I sure did enjoy listening to Tony Siragusa talk about having soaking wet pads on when it’s hot.

-         - Jeffery made an easy catch on the outside, made much easier by getting big separation on a curl.

-         - Forte running really strong.

-          The commentators missed why Jeffery got called for pass interference when he pushed off of Rasean Mathis before Cutler threw the pass. Unnecessary play by Jeffery and he rightly got burned for it.

-         - Adam Podlesh doesn’t have a big leg: he is routinely near the back of the pack in punting average. But he has tremendous control of his punts. He punts are rarely returned at all. Punting for the opponent’s 40-yard-line, Podlesh is as good as they come. His hanging punt that bounced at the 5 and was downed by Eric Weems at the 3 was a beauty. I’d be stunned if Jacksonville does anything other than a three-and-out, playing conservatively deep in their own end.

Jags Fourth Drive

-         - Up the gut, quick out, Gabbert throws it to…nobody at all.

-         - Still no push rush from the Bears, although both throws were very quick.

-          - But Bryan Anger, holy cow! What a kick! It didn’t just cover 63 yards: he put it within three yards of the sideline too. I instinctively put my hands up to signal touchdown on any punt to Devin Hester that went that far, but to Jacksonville’s credit, they held their lanes wonderfully and forced Hester into 50 yards of lateral running. Really excellent special teams play.

Bears Fourth Drive

-         - After a first down play run into a blitz, Brandon Marshall ran a great seven route to make for a manageable third down. Excellent route. Jay needed Marshall to get open early and he did so.

-         - Then Marshall looked totally disinterested on a third down underthrown wheel. Had Marshall turned a step or two earlier, he easily could have sealed off the corner and picked up 20. The timing may have been off. But it seemed that Marshall ran the play as if he assumed the ball wasn’t coming his way. That doesn’t fly.

Jags Fifth Drive

-         - MJD has gotten acquainted with the tackling ability of the Chicago defensive backs. Great tackling by Tillman and Conte.

-         - And the pass rush shows up. On Gabbert’s second down pass to Blackmon, Julius Peppers licked Gabbert right after he got the ball away. After a QB sneak conversion on third-and-short, Izzy Idonije earned a great hold.

-         - Gabbert’s throwing is weak enough that a anything-and-20 should be insurmountable. But…

-         - Tillman has to know where his help is on that second down catch.

-         - Then a nice throw by Gabbert to Cecil Shorts earns a nice conversion.

-         - I’m souring on Tim Jennings again…

-         - At the two-minute warning, I took a look at Jacksonville’s third down conversions on their first scoring drive. They converted when needing 12, 14, and 8. On this current drive, they’ve converted when needing 7 as well.

-         - Finally! Corey Wootton! He’s having a great year. I guess he just needs his knees and then he can play.

Bears Fifth Drive

-         - After a completely unnecessary hold by Gabe Carimi, Cutler makes a nice toss to Marshall to get 15 yards back.

-         - But Devin Hester’s grab on third-and-5 was one of his best catches. The ball was thrown just a bit behind him and he fought through Mathis to make the play, then get five extra yards. Great effort from Hester.

-         - Good choice by Jay to throw a second down check down at Forte’s shoes. No reason to burn the last timeout for a two-yard gain.

-         - And then that happened. Burning the last timeout after the incompletion? What in the world? Taking the delay of game penalty would have been preferable.

-         - Then Sanzenbacher breaks up a pass to Marshall. Sheesh.

Overall Thoughts on the Half

Gross. Easily the worst half of football from the Bears this season. At least they were playing the Packers in Green Bay during that Week 2 debacle. The defensive line needs to step up their play. And the passing attack needs to compliment the running game better.