I rewatched just the offense so I will limit most comments to it. First off Fox out coached Reid. Reid had a commanding lead but when Charles went out of the game his team lost its swagger. Its the coaches job to fix that. Whereas the Bears in a very hostile stadium down 14 rallied to win. This was due to quality coaching and the leadership of Cutler and McPhee. Also on the coaching front Gase designs some very effective run plays even without 3 TE’s.
On the run front anybody who wants to trade or not keep Forte is out of their fucking minds. His ability to read and wait for blocks then burst is top notch. He is a bell weather player. Keep him till he shows he is not. Also using him as a wideout is very clever with all the injuries to the WR’s. Last but not least IMO with Gase this is truly a new Jay Cutler era. Cutler is dancing around the pocket ala Rodgers and making defenses pay big time because of it. He does not have Mariani’s speed down yet to anticipate where to put the ball for him but hopefully we either get the WR’s back or Jay figures it out.
On the negative side the Martysourous looked like the Pussysourous. I do not believe he has what it takes to be the number target because he does not handle contact well. We should keep him because his skill set is rare but Gase needs to know his limitations. We also miss Alshon a lot in the red zone. He also is not perfect but with his big mitts and jump ball skills he is quite a valuable cog in the machine. If Alshon was in this game I do not believe the Bears are trailing by 14 late in the game. Again it cannot be overstated just how good Jay is playing with Gase calling the shots. My brother was right about how Cutler being cautious with his injury might make him a better pocket passer. He seems to be trying to do less and be smarter while playing injured. If Jay can continue to package his smarter play with his arm and experience he can be one dangerous QB.
Right now I see Leno as a decent backup LT maybe LG. He is kind like a smaller version of Bushrod in that he can keep rushers off balance but not really control them. Obviously good oline backups are valuable. Maybe if he can give Bushrod enough time to let his back heal Bushrod could come back fresh at some point and upgrade LT play. In fact if late in the season the Bears have a healthy Bushrod and Kevin White that could really be a boost for the offense and team. Jay made some poor throws especially early but there were also a lot of drops of good throws most notably by Marty.
Jay running for a first down on third down was gutsy and game saving. There was tons to admire about what Jay did in the second half. There was a play in the first TD drive where he bobbed and weaved his way through rushers then delivered a perfect throw for a first down to Meredith that reminded me of Rodgers and Jordy. Two plays later Kyle stones Houston with other big bodies all around him makes a perfect pass to Marty who holds on for another first down. Fortunately, Marty pulled it together in the 4Q maybe feeling some of the teams momentum woke him up. On the play before the amazing throw to Wilson for a TD, Jay makes a pretty good jump ball throw to Khari Lee that Alshon specializes in. The hidden gem in the spectacular TD throw to Marques is that Jay threw the ball in anticipation. When Martz was our OC he stated his concern that Jay would not buy into the “put the ball in the spot that the receiver is going to be” throws that Martz designs. If you want to believe that we are seeing a ‘Phoenix reborn from the ashes” Jay Cutler this season this is a big reason to believe. In reviewing the tape one thing that sticks out is that if this offense faced a less physical secondary than the Chiefs, Jay and his guys would have put up some impressive numbers. Their physicality hindered Marty and the younger wideouts. Every receiver that made catches did so under pressure. Marques, Cameron, Marty all should get some real kudos for making big time catches under duress. Meredith made a great clutch catch with the ball like six inches off the ground then crawls out of bounds. This is truly winning football. On the play that should have been called PI when Wilson got grabbed I believe was another anticipation type pass from Jay. In the second TD series Jay had lots of time to throw. I assume it was a combo of a tired Chiefs D and good blocking. The TD pass to Forte was a QB willing his team to victory. Picks the ball off the ground, defender hanging on his ankles with seconds left on the clock and he tosses a perfect throw to Matt for the game winner. This is the type of money play the best QB’s make. There was some real quarterbacking going on in the 4Q of this game.
A brief word on the defense. Fangio is showing he is one of the best at his craft. McPhee is becoming the defensive leader both in word and deed Vic needs to build a great defense. Add a real cover corner to the mix and he can start to get real clever with how the defense attacks the QB. Also maybe using Acho and Willie Young in tandem on one of the OLB positions might be a winning plan. I kind of wonder if Acho with his enthusiasm and hustle fits at ILB along with Shea. Then if a healthy Willie Young can truly adjust to OLB the pieces of the puzzle might really start to fit together.