Gabriel: Bears-Vikings Positives/Negatives
By Greg Gabriel-
(CBS) Let's face it: The Bears were in a must-win situation Sunday. They hadn't won a game at Soldier Field all year, the media was all over the negatives, and deservedly so. The Bears had no one to blame but themselves. They were the ones who dug the hole they were in.
Going into the season, much was expected. Not only was this team expected to be in the playoffs, but many hoped they would make a run at the Super Bowl. That narrative largely ended in the opener, when the Buffalo Bills came into Soldier filed and beat the Bears in overtime.
For the next few weeks, the Bears played fairly well on the road but couldn't put it together at home. Soon, even their road play got ugly with back-to-back trouncings at the hands of the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers.
After the Packers game, both the fans and media were calling for heads. Someone needed to be sacrificed for the lackluster play of this team. Of course, the decision-makers within Halas Hall ignored the criticism and moved forward with business.
During my career in the NFL, I have been in situations like this, so I can fully understand and appreciate what has been going on inside Halas Hall the last few weeks. The best thing the personnel could do was to not read the papers or listen to talk radio. That would only frustrate you more. You have to ignore what is outside the walls and concentrate on the next game. You can't think about the rest of the season or it becomes too much. Just concentrate on the task at hand and beat the Minnesota Vikings.
That seems to be exactly what the Bears did Sunday, as they had their best performance in more than a month and came away with a 21-13 win. Was there some negatives in their win? Sure, but the positives outweighed the negatives and when that happens it usually means a win.
Bears up
There was a lot to like about this game, starting off with the win. The offense moved the ball, and the defense played its best game since the win at Atlanta.
Jay Cutler
While we are all quick to criticize Cutler, he deserves a lot of credit for this win. Throw out the second interception, and his play was outstanding. He completed 31 0f 43 passes for 330 yards and three touchdowns. His scramble and 44-yard scoring pass to Brandon Marshall was one of his best throws all year.
Cutler played a steady game. He made good reads and got the ball out of his hand quickly. Not only was he accurate, but his ball placement was excellent. The other thing I liked about Cutler's play was that he played with some fire for the first time in a while. He showed enthusiasm and looked as if he was having fun.
Matt Forte
If there's an MVP on this team, it's Forte, who has been the most consistent offensive player on this team all year. There has never been a letdown in his play, and he plays at a high level at all times.
On Sunday, Forte carried the ball 26 times for 117 yards and also caught six passes for 58 yards. When a big play was needed, Forte came up with it.
Play-calling
For the most part, I felt the play-calling was the best we have seen all season. There was an excellent mix of run and pass, and it was obvious the plan was for quick passes, as we saw Cutler make a number of quick-release throws.
Some may argue that coach Marc Trestman should have attempted field goals on some fourth-down situations. He instead chose to go either for the first down or touchdown. Those were aggressive calls and can help instill confidence in a team. As we all know, this team has been lacking in the confidence category for much of the season.
While the Bears didn't score on the fourth-and-goal call in the third quarter, you could see the players were all in on the play, as they were on the fourth-down calls.
In games in which poor weather can have an influence, field position always plays a role. In the case of the fourth-and-goal call, even though the Vikings stopped the Bears on the play, they had to begin their drive at their own 1-yard line. That's a tough hole to get out of for any team, and the Vikings only picked up 16 yards on the drive, giving the Bears good field position to begin their next drive.
Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery
The Bears have one of the best receiving duos in the NFL. We saw that game in and game out last year, but we haven't seen much of the same play this season.
On Sunday, both receivers were outstanding, using their size and athleticism to their advantage all day. Jeffery finished with 11 catches for 135 yards and a touchdown, and Marshall and seven receptions for 90 yards and two touchdowns. Going forward, we need to see more of the same.
Defense
As some of you know, I'm a proponent of aggressive defense. Start off with pressure, and keep it going all game. It will lead to mistakes on the quarterback's part.
While the Bears defense still didn't pressure as much as I would like Sunday, they were more creative and aggressive than at any other time this season. The result was two sacks and five hits on quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
Defensive end Jared Allen played his best game since becoming a Bear, with five total tackles, a sack and three hits on the quarterback. Willie Young also got consistent pass rush pressure. The Bears blitzed more often than usual, and that forced Bridgewater to force throws and be off target. Take out the 48-yard fake punt run, and the Bears defense gave up fewer than 200 yards. Do that every week, and you will win a lot of games.
Offensive line
The Bears offensive line played with the same five starters for all of 2013. This year there has been a different starting combination almost every week because of injuries.
The line, as a group, played its best game of the season Sunday. The offense held on to the ball for 38:38 and had 468 total yards, including 138 yards on the ground. The line didn't give up a sack, and for the most part, Cutler had plenty of time to throw.
Bears down
The Bears dug themselves a hole early Sunday, falling behind 10-0. The Vikings took the opening kickoff and marched 39 yards in seven plays that culminated with a 50-yard Blair Walsh field goal.
After the kickoff, the Bears hurt themselves more than anything else, committing three penalties on their opening drive. Still, they were able to pick up 47 yards in 11 plays before the usually reliable Robbie Gould missed a 47-yard field goal to end the drive.
The defense then held Minnesota to a three-and-out, but once again, special teams came up with a bad play.
On fourth-and-2, the Vikings faked the punt and ran for a 48-yard gain. Plays like this aren't ad-libbed; they are practiced. During their tape study of the Bears' punt return unit, the Vikings' special teams coaches saw there was a good opportunity to fake the punt and pick up the first down. Not only did they get the first down, they got a huge gain and scored a touchdown a play later.
The touchdown put the Bears in the 10-0 hole, and if they held true to form from the last two games, this game was going to get ugly. Fortunately for Chicago, it turned the game around.
After the unsteady first quarter play, there wasn't too much to complain about on the Bears' behalf. I didn't like the play calling for the Bears' final drive of the half. They got the ball with 1:05 left to play on their own 26 with a 14-10 lead. With the players the Bears have on offense and one timeout left, there was plenty of time to try and get into field goal range.
The Bears initially chose to run the clock out, but when Forte picked up 15 yards on second down, the strategy changed. The problem was they now had only 15 seconds left on the clock and no timeouts.
On the first-down play, Jay Cutler was short with his throw to Jeffery on a sideline route. Then his scramble and long throw was intercepted, ending any hope of a field goal.
The only other play in the game that I had a real problem with was when Cutler threw his second interception midway through the third quarter. The Bears were in position to get at least a field goal when Cutler threw a mid-range pass toward Marshall. Cutler did a poor job reading the safety, and the ball was intercepted. Fortunately for Chicago, Minnesota got no points from that turnover.
Next week
Next Sunday, Lovie Smith and the Tampa Bay Bucs come to town. It will be interesting to see how the players react and prepare for this game. Smith was well-liked and respected by his players during his nine years as coach of the Bears. My hope is that the players left over from the Smith regime will show that respect by playing as hard as they did Sunday.
Greg Gabriel is a former NFL talent evaluator who has been an on-air contributor for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @greggabe.
