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Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Some teams find a way to win no matter what, the Bears are the opposite of those teams. This year they have lost close games due to dropped passes, incompetent play-calling, ultra-conservative coaching, questionable refs, defensive mistakes in the secondary, special teams miscues…
The list is long and undistinguished, but Sunday they found yet another way to lose a close game. With a four-point lead and less than five minutes to go, they had four crucial penalties on the last two drives of the game.
Two pass interference calls allowed the Lions to drive down the field to score a touchdown and take a 20-17 lead with just over two minutes to go. Quarterback Matt Barkley took over from his own 25-yard line with plenty of time left and three timeouts.
Barkley led the Bears down the field and twice got within the Lions 20-yard-line, only to see both long pass plays called back due to holding calls on consecutive plays. So instead of first down inside the Lions twenty-yard line, Barkley faced a 1st & 30 from his own 37-yard-line.
To Barkley’s credit, he still almost got it done, setting the Bears up with a 4th & 11 from the Lions 44. Of course, Josh Bellamy dropped a catchable pass on 4th down to seal the 20-17 Lions win.
Barkley played another solid game and the only mistake he made on the final drive was choosing to trust Bellamy on 4th down. I’ll cover Barkley’s performance in more detail below as well as the positive and negative takeaways from the Bears 10th loss of the season.
Bears Takeaways: Week 14
1.) Matt Barkley can’t catch a break
Matt Barkley deserves to be 3-0 as an NFL starter. The fact that he’s 1-2 is due mostly to circumstances beyond his control. Enough has been said about the wide receiver drops that cost Barkley a win in his first start against the Titans, but Sunday it was a combination of the offensive line, another Bellamy drop, and the referees that did him in.
Barkley took over from his 25-yard line with a little over two minutes left on the clock and three timeouts. He calmly led the Bears into Lions territory and threw not one, but two accurate passes to get the Bears inside the Lions twenty yard line, easy range for a game-tying field goal (even for Barth).
Unfortunately for Barkley, the refs called a hold on both long pass plays. I’m not saying that there wasn’t any holding, but much more egregious holds went uncalled for most of the game (on both sides). It seemed like nit-picking after how the game was called for the first three-quarters plus.
Even worse, Barkley bounced back from the two holding calls with an accurate out route, that could have been caught if the Bears receiver, Deonte Thompson, wasn’t mugged by Lions corner Nevin Lawson. It went uncalled, which was ridiculous after the two less obvious pass interference calls on Bears corners during the Lions game-winning drive.
Barkley has played surprisingly well in his three starts. Well enough that he could easily be 3-0 and one of the best stories in a Bears season lacking many good ones. It’s hard not to feel bad for Barkley as it took him four seasons to get a chance to start an NFL game only to be let down by incompetence all around him.
On the bright side, unless the Bears brass is blind (a possibility), Barkley should get a legitimate chance to be the Bears starting QB in 2017.
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2.) Jordan Howard is the Bears running back of the future
Howard continues to produce when given enough touches, though the Bears are still winless when Howard doesn’t get twenty carries and undefeated when he does. If I keep writing it every week, maybe eventually John Fox will hear about it.
Howard got just 13 carries, despite averaging 6.6 yards per carry on the day. On the season Howard is averaging 4.988 yards per carry. He’s just a good run away from averaging five yards per carry, which would make him the first rookie since Walter Payton in 1977 to average five-plus yards per carry.
Howard is the Bears best offensive weapon but for some reason, the Bears coaching staff hasn’t realized it yet. He should be getting twenty-plus touches every week, but the Bears keep trying to work Jeremy Langford (3.4 ypc) and Ka’Deem Carey (4.0 ypc) into the game. Maybe the Bears coaches are trying to lose to help their draft position?
With a solid and improving offensive line and a workhorse running back in Howard, the Bears at least have a couple parts of their offense in place for 2017. Now all they need is a quarterback, a tight end, and a couple reliable wide receivers.
Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
3.) The Bears corners may be small, but played big Sunday
Once starting corner Tracy Porter left the game due to illness, the Bears had Bryce Callahan (5’10) and Cra’von LeBlanc (5’9) playing corner on the outside. I’m pretty sure that is the shortest first string corner combo in the league.
Despite both player’s lack of height, they played pretty well verse the Lions on Sunday. They were far from perfect with a couple crucial pass interferences calls on the Lions last drive, but overall played better than expected for undersized, undrafted free agents from the last two drafts.
Callahan had two key pass break ups, one on third and short and the other in the end zone which knocked the ball up in the air for Demontre Hurst to intercept. When on the field, Callahan has arguably been the Bears best corner this year. The problem is that his combination of aggressive playing style and small stature has put him on the sidelines with an injury almost as often as he’s available to play.
LeBlanc, signed off the Patriots after final cuts, led the team with four pass breakups despite spending most of the game matched up against Anquan Boldin, one of the strongest wide receivers in the league who had a three-inch, 40-pound size advantage. LeBlanc made one of the most important plays in the game, reading an out route by Boldin and taking an interception back for a touchdown, giving the Bears a 17-13 lead late in the fourth quarter.
Over the last two seasons, Callahan has proven that he can play in the league and has the potential to be an above-average slot corner if he can stay healthy. LeBlanc has been making plays in practice since the day the Bears signed him off the Patriots scrap heap. He’s reportedly the practice leader in interceptions by a wide margin and is starting to look more comfortable in actual games as well.
Next year the Bears will be looking for both an established corner and possibly a high draft pick at the position as well. It would be a huge risk going into the season with two sub-six-foot, injury-prone corners as starters outside, but Callahan and LeBlanc could still be important contributors next season.
The Bears still have former first-round pick Kyle Fuller and a couple of tall young corners in Deiondre Hall and Jonathan Banks, any of which would give the Bears a corner with prototype size, but Callahan and LeBlanc were the best two corners on the field for the Bears Sunday and both should be key parts of the secondary in 2017.
4.) Leonard Floyd is a force to be reckoned with
Floyd was good last week in his first game back from a concussion, but he was a beast this week against the Lions. He led the team with a season-high nine QB pressures. Floyd wasn’t able to convert any of those pressure into sacks, but came close so many times on Sunday. Once Floyd gets a little stronger, some of those pressures will turn into sacks. He could have easily had three or four against the Lions and has gotten better at getting to the QB every week.
Floyd already has seven sacks, despite missing three full games and being a part-time player early in the season. He could finish his rookie season with double-digit sacks if his strong play continues.
Imagining a stronger, healthier, more polished Floyd in 2017 is exciting. The sky is the limit for Floyd and with a potentially strong defense around him, he could end up with a sack per game type season as soon as next year.
Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
5.) Bears offensive line is making significant strides
One of the main bright spots in an awful Bears season is the play of the offensive line.
The addition of Josh Sitton, the continued improvement of Charles Leno Jr, the Pro Bowl caliber play of Kyle Long (when healthy), and the emergence of rookie Cody Whitehair, gives the Bears four above-average offensive lineman next year.
After a year of playing together, the o-line should be even stronger next season, especially if Leno Jr and Whitehair continue to improve.
Whitehair was named one the NFL’s top-ten players in week 14 by ProFootball Focus with an impressive 87.4 grade, the highest on offense for the Bears. Both Sitton (80.1) and Leno Jr (77.8) were among the Bear’s top five offensive grades as well.
The o-line could use an upgrade for Bobby Massie at right tackle, but they have four solid pieces in place for the future and could become one of the better units in the league next year (if they can stay healthy).
6.) Nick Kwiatkoski is earning snaps next season
The injury to ILB Danny Trevathan and suspension of ILB Jerrell Freeman has opened up playing time for rookie Nick Kwiatkoski. The former 4th round pick has started the last two weeks and looked like a future impact player at ILB verse the Lions.
I was a big fan of the Kwiatkoski pick and think his physical playing style is exactly what the Bears need inside. He made his share of mistakes on Sunday, but also flashed plenty of potential to be a force against the run.
Kwiatkoski led the team with eight total tackles and also added a sack. He was the Bears highest graded player overall (88.6) according to Pro Football Focus. Kwiatkoski has the speed to make big plays sideline-to-sideline, the strength to be an impact hitter inside, and the instincts to be in the right place consistently. There were multiple plays where
There were multiple plays where Kwiatkoski and Floyd converged on the ball carrier to make a stop near the line of scrimmage. Those plays were a glimpse of the Bears potential future.
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7.) The safety position needs another overhaul
The Bears got strong performances from the defensive line, most of the linebackers (cmon Timu!), and the cornerbacks, but the safeties were a weak link again. The safeties have been so bad that the Bears benched Adrain Amos, their best safety last season, for rookie Deon Bush. It made no difference though and Amos was re-inserted into the lineup to start the second half.
Amos took the place of Harold Jones-Quartey who was clearly the Bears worst defensive player on the field. He gave up both of the Lions biggest plays on the day. A bomb to Marvin Jones, who HJQ allowed to get behind him, and a touchdown to Anquan Boldin after HJQ fell down.
The Bears blitzed more than they had all season on Sunday and almost sacked Stafford multiple times, but Stafford was able to get out of trouble by finding whoever HJQ was trying to cover. I noted four plays where Stafford escaped blitz pressure by completing a pass to HJQ’s man.
HJQ’s inability to cover ruined what should have been an effective blitz package by defensive coordinator Vic Fangio on Sunday. It’s surprising that HJQ is even in the lineup, being less than two years removed from DII Findlay College, but with how poorly he’s played this season he clearly doesn’t deserve to be starting for the Bears anymore. Unfortunately, the Bears are so weak at safety that they may not have a better option on the roster the last few weeks of the season.
Rookie Deon Bush wasn’t much better this week either. The 4th round pick looked tentative on the field, letting plays come to him instead of aggressively attacking like he was known for in college. On Matt Stafford’s game-winning TD scramble, Bush had a clear shot at Stafford a few yards from the goal-line but hesitated, let Stafford come to him, and then missed the tackle which allowed him to score.
The Bears other options are Chris Prosinski, who isn’t good, and Demontre Hurst, who at least has some potential. None of the Bears five safeties have played well enough to earn a starting job next year and it’s looking like the Bears need to completely overhaul the position again.
Every offseason the Bears seem to be in the same spot with their safeties. It’s about time they allocate significant resources to the position instead of trying to get lucky with over the hill veterans (Antrel Rolle) or multiple late round draft picks.
8.) Akiem Hicks is playing like a Pro Bowl DE
The Bears front four continued its strong play of late, despite giving up 114 rushing yards to a team missing it’s top two running backs. They only gave up 28 rushing yards in the first half, but once they lost NT Eddie Goldman to another ankle injury they were undermanned and wore down in the second half.
The one d-linemen who played well all game was Akiem Hicks. He’s been a steal for the Bears after signing for just $5M per season. Hicks has been a force against both the run (six tackles Sunday) and the pass (seven sacks on the year).
With Hicks signed for just one more season, the Bears should do whatever it takes to extend Hicks and build around a potentially explosive combo of Hicks and Goldman. Adding another DE to the rotation this offseason and the potential of Jonathan Bullard and Cornelius Washington could give the Bears a legitImate top-ten defensive line in 2017.
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9.) Tight end Daniel Brown looks like a keeper
The loss of tight end Zach Miller seemed like it would be the end of any usefulness from the Bears tight end position, but Daniel Brown has stepped up to become a viable building block for the future at the position.
The former wide receiver from James Madison has quickly become a key part of the Bears passing game. In his third start, Brown had a team-leading six catches for 42 yards and is becoming one of Matt Barkley’s most reliable targets.
Brown has a very similar skill-set as Zach Miller and has the potential to become a dangerous receiving option. So far he’s run mostly short in and out routes, but to truly develop as a receiving threat Brown will need to be effective in the seam as well like Miller was.
The last few games should give the Bears a better idea of what Brown can become next season. He’s clearly passed the more heralded Ben Braunecker as the Bears tight end of the future.
Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
10.) Josh Bellamy isn’t an NFL receiver
How is it possible that a player who has played football his whole life still doesn’t know how to catch a football correctly? On my JV football team in high school there was player who jumped whenever the ball came to him whether he needed to or not. He was made fun of for it mercilessly.
Even JV quality high school football players knew that was fundamentally wrong, but somehow Josh Bellamy has an NFL job at receiver even though he is still catching the ball like a bad high school football player.
Bellamy had two more big drops this week. One of a deep third-down pass on an impressive throw from a harried Matt Barkley and the other with the game on the line crucial 4th & 11 during the Bears final drive. If Bellamy catches the ball that hit him in the shoulder, the Bears are in field goal range and probably (who knows with Barth) send the game to overtime.
The Bears are battered at the receiver position and don’t have many other options, but if Bellamy keeps dropping important passes than either the Bears need to find another option or Barkley needs to avoid throwing to Bellamy in clutch situations.
In Bellamy’s defense, he did make a couple of nice catches on Sunday (3-45), but his awful hands and amateurish tendency to jump when the ball is headed his way are costing the Bears games. In the grand scheme of things, it’s better the Bears lose to improve their draft slot, but Barkley and Bellamy’s teammates deserve better.
11.) Not all the Bears young players are showing signs of promise
As good as ILB Nick Kwiatkoski played, his partner at ILB John Timu was awful on Sunday. Timo showed some potential in a brief audition late last season, but on Sunday looked slow and tentative.
Timu is never going to be an asset in pass coverage, but he was one of the Bears best run stoppers last year. He’s got natural football instincts which usually puts him in the right place against the run and he has the strength to shed blocks and make stops.
Against the Lions, Timu was not only bad against the pass but was also a non-factor against the run. It looks like Timu just doesn’t have enough speed to make plays on the edges and if he can’t shed blockers consistently, he’s not going to have much value between the tackles either.
Timu was a key factor in one of the Bears most embarrassing defensive plays of the season when QB Matt Stafford scrambled for a seven-yard, game-winning touchdown run. Timu had a clear shot at Stafford a few yards from the goal-line, but somehow missed him and missed badly.
Timu needs to play well whenever he’s given a chance if he wants to be part of the Bears ILB group next year. If he plays like he did against the Lions, Timu won’t be on the roster much longer.
Another player who had a clear shot on Stafford’s scramble was safety Deon Bush. He was drafted due to his potential as a big-hitting safety. When a slowish QB like Stafford can scramble between the hashes and make an in-the-box safety like Bush miss badly, it doesn’t bode well for Bush’s ability to play well at the NFL level.
Bush also missed what should have been an easy open field tackle on ancient WR Anquan Boldin and was a step or two late in coverage all game. It’s depressing that the Bears passed on QB Dak Prescott in the 4th round to draft Bush and if he doesn’t play better the last three weeks, the Bears may have nothing to show for the selection in 2017.
12.) The referees were worse than usual
I mentioned the suspect refereeing at the top of the post, but there were even more plays that showed the refs incompetence on Sunday. The consecutive questionable holding calls, missed pass interference on Lions corner Nevin Lawson, and two Bears PI calls on the Lions game-winning drive have been mentioned often, but the refs screwed up plenty of calls on both sides on Sunday.
The Bears corners got away with a few clear pass interference penalties earlier in the game, but the Lions offensive line got away with at least five blatant holds that I noted in my review of the tape. OLBs Leonard Floyd and Pernell McPhee were each held twice on infractions right in front of a referee and Willie Young also taken down on a play that the Lions converted a third and long.
I know that some degree of holding occurs on almost every passing play, but there were at least five holds committed by the Lions o-line that were way worse than the two called on the Bears on their last drive. If the refs are going to let 0-lineman get away with minor holding infractions all game, then they can’t start calling a different game the last two minutes. It’s amateurish and showed even more incompetence than usual for the beleaguered NFL ref crew.
Random Notes:
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