It seemed that the Eagles secondary was playing without their big brother yesterday.
Asante Samuel was missed in a major way. Just like Michael Vick brings big plays, confidence and swagger to the offense, Samuel brings the same thing to the defense. They were playing like their big brother was missing yesterday.
Jay Cutler was throwing the ball with confidence and daring yesterday. There’s no way in the world he can do that with Samuel out there.
Cutler threw for 4 touchdowns without any interceptions. I thought the Bears did a good job of attacking the Eagles cornerbacks by trying to get the ball into the hands of their wide receivers and challenging the defensive backs to make tackles in the open field.
I know the Soldier’s Field turf was loose and sloppy but the secondary looked scared and uncertain. You’ve got to read your keys, which requires you to believe what see, then you attack the play. You can’t be careful and still be successful in the NFL.
Defensive backs will be beaten at times, but so what, they’ve got to forget it. On the next play the defensive back must read their keys, believe what they see and move appropriately. It takes swagger to get back out there after getting beat on a route, then play with confidence.
I was concerned about Joselio Hanson at the left cornerback spot because he’s not very quick or athletic for a cornerback. If he can’t jam a receiver at the line, then he can’t cover anybody. He does his best work when rolled up in the receiver’s face in the slot.
The Eagles took him out and put rookie Trevard Lindley in there. The kid was playing scared just like the rest of the secondary.
Quintin Mikell was covering Earl Bennett on an out route, but he took his eyes off of him and let Cutler throw a ball late. Normally when an out route is thrown late, it’s picked off and run back for a touchdown.
Mikell looked slow-footed and unsure of himself. I would have taken him out of the game. He couldn’t make a tackle in the open field to save his life. You can’t play safety in the National Football League if you can’t tackle.
Dimitri Patterson waited for the ball on that Cutler touchdown pass to Greg Olsen. You can’t wait for the football, you must be aggressive. Patterson was patting his glove like he was playing centerfield in the Major Leagues. You’ve got to go get the football or at least stop the other guy from getting it.
Rookie Nate Allen took some bad angles while in pursuit of a few ball carriers. He was playing better before he was hurt. His confidence doesn’t seem to be high. On the first touchdown pass to Bennett, Allen saw the play but didn’t react to what he saw. He seemed to be frozen as the play took place.
They need Samuel back there making big plays and talking confidently.
YES! Asante was missed dearly yesterday…hope he comes back soon…the defense is not the same without him! Parker was also missed, but Graham didnt play too bad…
Definite issues with both Safeties who started out the season playing pretty well but are recently starting to struggle.I would like to see Coleman out there in replacement of Mickell or Allen at times.
I think they should just keep J Hanson in on the Slot which he handles pretty well, Lindley was up and down and made some nice plays and looked lost on others which is expected for a rookie seeing some of his 1st extended action..
Did anyone in the Secondary put longer cleats on for they were falling over themselves all game long it appeared. Are the coaches, equipment manager and players on top of this ????
Having solid footing and traction is really a no-brainer and the Eagles never seemed to adjust
How many passing TD’s has this Eagle Defense and Secondary given up now.. It’s got to be a pretty high # and they are making too many average QB’s/WR’s make it look too easy (Collins & Britt)
and now Cutler & Bennett in yesterdays game…
I do think the Def/Line really missed J Parker as well, B Graham played well in spurts but is not an everydown DE at this stage of his career, D Tapp was a little on the quiet side yesterday as was T Laws
The LB’s misses many tackles as well, Bradley and Sims ended up with a lot, but it was downfield
The Bears ran a total of 53 plays for a total of 350 yards which averages about 6.6 Yards per play which is hard to overcome… Lots of big plays all game long by the Bears Passing,Rusghing and even Cutler had a couple of big scrambles for key 1st Downs.. The Eagles as a Team were not ready to play and coach with the same urgency,energy that the Bears had ..
The drop-off behind Asante is quite evident. Injuries dictate who goes to the playoffs and beyond. Playing in the NFL is a war of attrition.
Also, people complain about Stewart Bradley. They seem to forget what it was like before Bradley. Last year, our best middle linebacker was Jeremiah Trotter. Jeremiah could never cover when he was at his best. Bradley hasn’t fully recovered from his injury, but he’s still a cut above anything we’ve had in years.
There’s no way in hell that Cutler and the Bears have anywhere near that same performance with Asante in there. I was breaking down what was happening to our team to my wife like you just did G. That’s what, 5 years in a row the Bears beat us? And each year we’ve got a key injury the week or two before we play them. The Bears are lucky and their smug fans don’t realize that. I WISH and HOPE and PRAY we play them in the playoffs with Asante, cuz they will get absolutely destroyed.
I don’t know how you go into the season with Hobbs and Hanson as your #2 and #3 CBs and think that your pass D will be any good.
Drummer, com’on man
When we talk about Stewart Bradley it’s not to compare him to an over the hill Jeremiah Trotter. If that’s the comparison then o k….
But I’ll tell you what…Stewart Bradley wouldn’t make it on the field if you compare him to the young Jeremiah Trotter and that’s what we’re measuring.
Stewart Bradley is not an intimidating force in the running game or passing game.
He’s servicable…average at best.
If we can get a faster more intimidating linebacker for the middle, this defense would be a serious force.
offensive line, middle linebacker, top flight corner to groom, a force in the safety position, a suicide maniac on special teams and a good return man.
If those players are addressed this off season, this team will be a dynasty. Hopefully we can get Asante healthy and cover our holes while getting a few breaks in the playoffs this year but I have a feeling we can get the few spots addressed next season that we’ll eventually win it all.
“Bradley is just the best of a bunch of average to below LBs”. That’s it. He doesn’t nothing great and only a few things well. Nothing special at all.
Songs
I disagree. Before his injury, Bradley played very well. The game has changed since Trotter played. It’s a passing game now. When Trotter was in his hey day, his primary responsibility was to stop the run.
To Songs,
You forgot about the slow white TE B Celek also (who probably had his best game of the season yesterday) but the TE position needs upgrading.
I’ve said for 2 years that Bradley needs to go back and play OLB and play closer to the line of scrimmage and concentrate on the stopping the run,getting into the backfield and getting to the QB..
He is not very good in Pass Coverage and I still say he is not a 3 Down/every down LB.
Paul
What about the triple coverage pick?
drummerwinslow says:
November 29, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Vinnie/Paul
Both you and Paul said that Vick made a bad read and threw into triple coverage on the interception. Turns out the pass was intended for Maclin.
How did you guys arrive at the conclusion that a tipped pass was thrown into triple coverage. Guesswork, wishful thinking or just hate?
Vinnie, you’ve gone on record about your dislike for Vick as a QB. I can respect that and I understand your biased posts, but Paul, you “act” one way, and feel another.
You try to hide it, but your words betray you. Just man up and say you don’t like Vick. There’s no shame in being you.
Saying the DBs played Scared is a bit much. They were overmatched but I firmly believe that was the coaches fault. The Bears ran slant after slant with success, and the coaches didn’t make a change until they zoned up and Hanson tipped that pass that should have been intercepted late in the 3rd or 4th qtr. Dimitri Patterson making that play across the field was not a scared player play. As for Bradley, he’s just not athletic enough, remember those passes in the Arizona playoff game, he was healthy. Celek is just slow (point blank), and his blocking is average at best. Has nothing to do with race. I would put one of those young fast LBs in there on definite passing downs.
Cutler only completed 14 passes. Just 14. The tackling was poor and the run game made everything possible. Forte had an 8.2 yard average, and Chicago’s offensive line was plowing over our secondary. They weren’t running past them. They were popping the heck out of them. That first power sweep to the left laid the foundation. Mikell (I believe) got laid out and that set the tone. He didn’t want anything to do with tackling after that.
Paul
I’ve posted numerous times, but you refuse to respond. I’ve never know you to do that.
With your knack for creative writing, you might have a career as a novelist.
I haven’t seen a “Student Body Left” like that in a very long time.
I wish the Eagles had a power game like that.
D-Jax was double covered on the slant with the CB a step behind him and a Safety out in front of him, add the fact the LB was dropping in pass coverag, D-jhax had 3 Bera Defenser withing 5 feet of him at the Goal line on a pass that should never have been thrown by VIck and turned the game back into the Bears Favor in which they never looked back.. So I stand by my original statement that Vick should have never thrown that ball whether it was deflected or not for he was not open with 3 Defenders close by which should mean another Receiver was most likely open or at least on 1 on 1 coverage … A bad read and pass by VIck, I will continue to call them as I see them…
The pass was to Maclin, not Jackson. Didn’t you watch the video, as you suggested I do?
Paul,
I know that your TV shows more than others, but check this out:
“The game turned on a play which occurred in the red zone with the Birds about to take the lead. Michael Vick attempted a pass down the middle to JEREMY MACLIN who was running an inside route. The pass had no chance of getting there because the Bears inside pass rushers got penetration deep in the backfield and in Vick’s face.”
Paul
Whether Jackson was being covered by the entire defense, the pass was to Maclin.
Doesn’t your “video” show that?
How is it that you know where a tipped passed is intended to go? Don’t the direction, velocity and trajectory change once it’s tipped?
Should Vick have thrown the TD to Celek?
Would Celek have caught the pass if it were tipped?
Would it have even gone toward Celek if it were tipped?
Paul
You’re blinded by hate. At least Vinnie admits it. You, on the other hand, pretend.
It’s awfully quiet.
i’ve been noticed this drum
i just try to ignore pman and his silly lil tricks
like notice before every vick game we r playing a beat up d and horrible d
kolb starts vs niners and all week all i heard about was this terriffic d we were facing lol u woulda though singletary was playing
the int was certainly huge did it cost us the game ? possibly
was it vicks first loss yes
will we rebound yes
if we play bears tomar at soldier field what will the line read
eagles -3.5 bears
i hope we have to play bears post season i pray we do
PW
I like our chances in a rematch.
As for Paul, he thinks he’s fooling people, but his words betray him. I don’t why he won’t post his true thoughts. He thinks he can dance around how he feels with hollow words, but they don’t pass the litmus test. That’s why I save his over-the-top posts. This is the first time he’s ever gone into hiding, that I’m aware of.
hahahahahah hiding
come out osama man lol
PW
Paul “scolded” me and Scorp for bringing up Kolb’s name in a discussion earlier this week. We weren’t even talking about Kolb. We were talking about how certain fans and media treat Vick and Kolb differently.
Then, Paul turns around yesterday and invokes a Vick/Kolb comparison.
If you give them enough rope, they’ll hang themselves.
PW
LOL!!!
It’s okay, Paul. You’re an Eagles fan, so I won’t “dog you out.” I’m done with it.
I just hope you take a more objective outlook or be like Vinnie and admit your hate.
yes drum givem an inch they take a yard
givem a rope he wanna be a cowboy
every d we play from now on stinks
every team we play we should scr 40 on
i pretty much summed up pmans next few post saving u 2000 words
on a serious note
seems like d5 is here all over again
it only took 1 loss to see lol
PW
I agree. Did you see the new thread? It’s great.
these same few ppl were ok with 7-9 as a record so long as kolb qb’d
these same ppl made their predicitons and had eagles missing playoffs because of the young team blah blah
now look we r 7-4 1st place of the division and we lost a game
its the qb fault lmao
now who knows if kolb qb’d what our record would be but if we were 5-6 these same ppl that bash vick would be makin a million excuses as to y we r 5-6 o line andy special teams the d blah blah blah and they to take the cake they always say
it doesnt matter who the qb is they werent gonna win lmao
well mr pman u said it doesnt matter who the qb is and this isnt a playoff team
so maybe the qb does matter
Nate Allen and Q Mikell have taken turns getting steamrolled this year. Coleman came in and knocked out players. He plays football. Get one of the Softy brothers out of the secondary.
I can’t blame the linebackers. They were using state of the art cloaking technology. That’s why I could not see them make a single impact play.
Get Lindley some more reps at CB. He ran down deven hester on one of those kick returns. You won’t see that often. Hanson. Ask reno mahe for some career advice.
The Bears defense averaged giving up 14.6 points a game.
The Eagles offense scored almost double that.
The defense gave up big plays. Forte? He looks like Gale Sayers everytime he plays the Eagles. That means the linebackers are too slow.
Drummer, you’re wrong again.
Trotter was a 3 down linebacker before the knee tear and operation in washington.
Before that he was a force with our defense and commanded respect in his space with many tackels behind the line of scrimmage. That production have never been replaced.
When was Stewart Bradley very good?
Every year after he was signed the media wrote that this could be his break out year, then he gets the major injury. He never showed what people claimed he’d possibly be. Never.
Again, he’s not a force in the middle,,,Stewart Bradley is just servicable and do not scare anyone. When offensive scheme to go in your direction that alone tells us, they do not respect his ability to make a play, on the contrary by going in his direction assures them a play can be made.
I have looke at him carefully and teams target Bradley as a weakness in our defense. Fokua plays down hill and would probably command the middle better than stewart.
How long will we wait for this guy Stewart Bradley to be a top middle linebacker in the game?
Don’t forget, Riley Cooper is too slow and not durable. Akers is old. That pretty much covers all of them. Celek is too slow as well and cannot block.
Oh, and Coach Andy is fat, I almost forgot that one. Howie is not a football guy and J Banner is the antichrist.
To Drummer,
It was indeed MAclin who was the intended receiver on the INT that Vick threw that was the game changing play in my opinion.It was a poor decision for Maclin was covered inside and out and had a LB dropping in Covering placing 3 Bear Defenders within 5 feet of him and should have never been thrown
To Songs,
Bradley will never be a TOP MLB in the NFL, He’s average and about middle of the pack in the NFC
behind LB’s like P Willis, J Vilma, B Urlacher, EJ Henderson,J Beason, D Conner,A Barnett,B Rudd..
and even some converted MLB’s who now play ILB in the 3-4 scheme like L Fletcher,B James,
K Brookings
Bradley is solid player, good lockeroom guy and all-around good athlete, but it’s a stretch to ever say that he is a legitimate Pro-Bowl candidate
Paulman…the problem is Stewart Bradley is not better than any of the Backers you just named. That alone says he’s not good enough.
How many times we read in the paper..”Is this Bradley’s break out year?”.
He is what he is. Better than the garbage we had before him once the Trotter, Emmons, were let go to get lucrative deals.
Because Bradley is servicable and an upgrade from thw corps of the last 3 to 4 years, you guys accept is mediocrity.
He have a stud of a defensive lineman in Dixon in front of him yet he still is not making plays.
We need to improve that spot and I’m still not sold on Nate Allen….He’s soft too.