Tough home loss...hard to swallow...nevertheless, next up is 'da Bears. This is another "no worries" game for me personally, like the Pats/Raiders games, I had absolutely no concerns about losing going into those games...I say we win the next 2 at minimum. Cutler's good, but prone to poor decisions and mistakes...can we capitalize on pressure? I think we match up well on both sides of the ball in this game. Their top 4 targets are all tough...but I think the pressure will minimize their impact. I think Forte will only get about 50 yards rushing. Any thoughts? Edit: Mods please change title to "Week 7 Opponent: Chicago Bears"
I disagree. As well as I thought we matched up against Green Bay, I think we're equally as poorly matched up with Chicago. I think their defense is much better than people give them credit for. It's not good by any stretch but they're at least causing TOs. Fuller is awesome and probably the clubhouse leader for DROY. Hopefully Briggs and DJ Williams are back because the 3 young LBs they played today looked incredibly fast against ATL. They were physical too. Where we can have success against Chicago? Running the ball and attacking their safeties in coverage with backs and tight ends...guys like Miller, Clay, and Landry could all have nice games. We have to get pressure on Cutler. And we have to get pressure on him early. Get him rattled. If not, we stand littlen chance IMO. They're massive at the recieved position. And with Slausen, Garza, and potentially Bushrod back, it bodes well for their run game. Forte is dangerous as a reciever. Has more 100 games than Wallace this year...1...but still.
Thoughts: 1. Tough matchup with their twin tower receivers Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery. For starters, Marshall is an emotional player and this is the first time he gets to play his old team the Dolphins. He will be up for this game. Secondly, one weakness we have seen in Brent Grimes is he can be beaten by unusually big receivers. Those two qualify. Finnegan is even weaker toward size. 2. Matt Forte matches up well against Miami in the passing game, and Miami may still have a weakness there. 3. The thing Miami does on defense that has been effective against guys like Tom Brady, Derek Carr and yes even to some extent Aaron Rodgers? Might not work as well on THIS quarterback. That is pressure. Jay Cutler seems to weirdly thrive on pressure, to get amped up as he's hit more. He's literally got a 110 passer rating on plays under pressure which is something I've never seen before. While that is likely a temporary blip, he's still always seemed to handle pressure in stride. 4. All that said, there may be something about Bill Lazor's offense that just stumps the Bears defense, like what happened against the Patriots and Raiders. So that would have to be our hope.
I expect another loss by our coaching staff. I think Brandon Marshall comes out looking to score at least 3 TDs.
I'll be watching at Soldier Field. I just kept telling myself I'd be OK losing as long as we were walking away 3-3, but it looks like that won't be the case.
Its gonna be tough to win. Our CBs play 7 yards off ..... they have huge recievers.....Matt Forte is a complete weapon. We can run the ball on them....and Cutler is prone to being a bone head. But ...zero faith we should win. Which means they will go to Chicago and win by 14. There by getting us all excited. Then we win against Jacksonville....before crapping the bed again against San Diego....and we wish wash all they way to a 9-7 season missing the playoffs.....
Probably will miss most of this game...and I'm not even mad. I wouldn't be surprised if they won...only to then blow any goodwill yet again by letting the Jaguars get their first win to copy that Beat the Bengals/lose to winless Bucs thing from 2013.
It's a game where all signs point to a loss, there's only one thing that will get us up to playing at a high level, if Tannehill makes plays on his own
The biggest thing that makes me not worry about this game, is that Cutler isn't afraid to throw it out there and let his receivers go get it, and he has a tendency to under-throw it...we have guys who have shown in the past they can take advantage of this if the ball isn't placed perfectly. He's going to have to be VERY sharp to make a livin' off that stuff. I say we get at least 3 picks enroute to a blowout. Edit: His big throw to Jeffery this last game was well underthrown, with busted coverage, else that would have been an easy pick. It was the same type of underthrow that has resulted in several picks for RT.
Yeah might as well forfeit the game, forfeit the season too lol. Ever hear the term, never get too down after a loss?
Meh...not worried. The best thing the Bears offense does, with any consistency, is run blocking...I like our match-up there. Their defense is average at best, decent against the run, bad against the pass...both areas we match-up well at. And their STs are even worse than ours.
I don't see how we match up well, at all. Their bad against the pass, our pass offense sucks. What is a good match up?
Doubt they will blow us out. This should be a decent game. Tannehill has to play mistake free football. Our D has to make plays. Its as simple as that.
Tannehill found another level of slowing the game down in the 2nd half, he did some things that were not the norm for him, that 2nd half bought him next week.
The Dolphins play well when the expectations against them are low and when they play as a big underdog. Expect Miami to run the ball well and stop the run well. Cutler will make his mistakes and Miami may surprise. That's the nature of this team.
I will be up around Chicago for a wedding this weekend so needless to say I will be attending the game. God I hope their 2 stud Wrs don't make fools out of our midget corners.
We don't have anybody to bring down their receivers. Grimes trying to tackle Marshall is going to be comical.
I am also flying in for the game. Two questions for the board. 1. If anyone has a beat on 1-3 tickets for the game, let me know. Tickets on Stubhub are outrageous. 2. Anyone have any idea what the pre-game/tailgate scene is like for visiting fans? We wont have a car, so we are contemplating just going down to the stadium with sandwiches and beers. Are there any good bars near Soldier field? Thanks in advance.
Looks like the opening line is Chicago -3.0 (-125). It suggests to me that their power ratings don't necessarily indicate a particularly disadvantageous personnel matchup for Miami, nor do they indicate an advantageous one. But the line is going to move at least to -3.5, IMO.
One place we have a great matchup is Wake against Jordan Mills, one of the worst pass blocking RTs in the league.
It would not surprise me if the power ratings and analytics suggest that the Bears have a very broad-based personnel advantage against Miami, but that Cameron Wake versus Jordan Mills alone mitigates it.
I'm not as upset over the recent loss. The team is talented enough to hang with anyone. There simply isn't the comfort or the familiarity with the passing game we need right now. We'll probably win despite the low morale at the moment.
Damn I wish I could be at this game. Chicago is such an amazing City. If you ever get lucky enough to stay inside the loop..so many great restaurants..bars..I love Chicago
That TD to Landry IIRC...he had to adjust, slither, and move up in the pocket, and did some pump-fakes in the process. Very great play.
Cutler is running more this year so we will have to continue to contain, Marshall is overrated..wish we had dion Jordan to match up with Bennett. I look forward to see if Ryan connects the 2nd half to the game this week, i really look forward to watching our defense play, especially Jenkins and misi.
IMO, even if Wake needs a break for a few plays, Shelby has enough pass rush skill to get past Mills as well.
I can see us getting to Cutler but I can also see Forte and the screen game being effective all game against us.
thats not true nappy, I was just thinking out loud, my own personal way of evaluating him.. I started that game thread for the packers and in it I said that I thought Tannehill would play well and we would win the game, well I think I was half right, we deserved to win that game, and Tannehill 2nd half was good enough to continue with the evaluation of whether he's the franchise.