Coach Lovie Smith identified November as a target month. This one did not end exactly as he or the Bears would have liked.
The Bears finished the month 2-2, failing to score more than 13 points in three of their four games and closing a grueling three-game spin through the Northeast with a disappointing 17-13 loss to the New England Patriots, who have allowed only one of their 11 opponents to score more than 17 points.
Whether it was a half-full or half-empty game is in the eye of the beholder. Rex Grossman threw three interceptions, all to cornerback Asante Samuel, and lost a fumbled snap. But the Bears ran for 153 yards on the NFL’s No. 2 rushing defense. They gave up 269 passing yards to three-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady. But that was without their No. 1 nickelback, and they lost starting safety Todd Johnson to injury early in the game.
“We had opportunities,” Smith said. “Offensively it’s tough to win when you have four turnovers. It’s as simple as that.” Unsurprisingly perhaps, a game between the NFL’s best defensive teams was dominated early by turnovers and impact plays.
10 key plays:
1. After Charles Tillman came within inches of blocking a New England punt, Samuel jumped a quick slant from Grossman toward Muhsin Muhammad and intercepted the pass to give New England the ball at the Bears’ 39.
2. Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson delivered a huge hit right on the ball before tight end Ben Watson could secure it, and the ball popped high in the air and down into the arms of Tillman.
3. Robbie Gould converted a field goal from 40 yards but blocker Alfonso Boone was flagged for a false start. Moved back to 45 yards, Gould’s second attempt, with a lower trajectory, was blocked by defensive end Richard Seymour.
4. Lance Briggs stood up Laurence Maroney, then ripped the ball out to give the Bears the ball at their 15 in the first quarter.
5. In the third quarter, Grossman threw behind his intended target and had his second pass intercepted by Samuel.
6. Johnson fought through a double team and got late pressure on Tom Brady, whose pass to Troy Brown was deflected by Danieal Manning and intercepted by Tillman, his second pick on a deflection, to give the ball to the Bears at their 47.
7. Cedric Benson powered into the end zone behind left guard Ruben Brown and tackle John Tait to tie the game at 10-10 on the second play of the fourth quarter.
8. A 40-yard completion on third down from Brady to Ben Watson, however, took the momentum back as Manning and Chris Harris left the tight end alone downfield.
9. Manning knocked the ball out of Corey Dillon’s hands and Alex Brown recovered at the Bears’ 22-yard line with 1:52 to go, taking off what could have been three points after a New England field goal try and giving the Bears offense more time to mount a comeback.
10. On the first play, with Rashied Davis against single coverage in the deep middle, Grossman was intercepted for the third time by Samuel at the New England 38 to end the Bears’ chances.
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PATRIOT AX: SOMEONE SHOULD BE ON CHOPPING BLOCK
We asked Bag Boy to give us footnotes on the key details from Sunday’s game. Here’s what came out from behind the brown bag.
FACT: The Patriots persevered despite five turnovers against the Bears (9-2), who had allowed the fewest points in the NFL going into the game with 120. New England was the second stingiest with 131.
FOOTNOTE: You don’t get five takeaways and lose. You just don’t. Not unless you give the ball away four times. I think what this is saying is if Rex Grossman had done nothing other than one of three options–1) Hand off the ball to Thomas Jones 2) Hand off the ball to Cedric Benson or 3) Take the snap and curl up in a fetal position–the Bears would have had a better shot at pulling off this one.
FACT: Asante Samuel caught all three of Grossman’s interceptions.
FOOTNOTE: Here’s my prescription for the Bears. Make a point to never throw to Samuel’s side ever again in life. Then, sign him when he becomes a free agent.
FACT: Samuel said, “They like to go deep and it was something we were expecting.”
FOOTNOTE: No lie, I was thinking just before that last Bears drive, “They should go deep because that will be their best chance to catch the Patriots off guard.” But we have long established that I’m an idiot and you should know better than to listen to me, Lovie Smith.
FACT: Robbie Gould missed a field goal attempt for the first time in 25 tries this year when defensive end Richard Seymour deflected the 45-yard try.
FOOTNOTE: You could consider that a bad omen for this game if you want to. I’ll stick with the four turnovers as worse luck.
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Up next:
Vikings at Bears: Noon Sunday, Fox
The Vikings figure they’re still in the thick of the playoff race in the faltering NFC. They also think they should have beaten the Bears in Week 3.
