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Refs And Coaches Help bears Beat Vikings

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The Vikings ran on first down, and the fumble at their own 33 led to a bear TD, allowing them to take a 7-3 lead.  Another first-down run that backfired.  When the bears made it 10-3, the Vikings then passed, so of course moved downfield to the bear 16.  Then, as most coaches do when they get deep in the opponent’s territory, they ran on first down, which of course stalled the drive.  They set up for a short, 30-yard field goal.  As I’ve pointed out for years, when kicking short field goals against the bears, a kicker needs to just chip the ball to get height, as you don’t need distance and the bears lead the league in blocking field goals over the past few years (especially with Peppers).  So, what happens?  The bears block the field-goal attempt.  Instead of it being a tie game without a first-down run, the Vikings came away with no points, and the block gave momentum to the bears.

What did the bears do with this momentum?  They drove downfield to the Viking 25.  On Cutler’s pass in the endzone to Marshall, Marshall held the defender off with his arm for a few seconds, then pushed him away as the ball got there.  It was offensive pass interference, but the refs called defensive pass interference, which gave the bears the ball at the one-yardline, where they scored a TD and the 2-point conversion.  As the bears now had an 18-3 “lead,” Ponder, in an effort to cut the gap, forced a pass that was intercepted and returned to the Viking 13, and the bears scored a touchdown.  So, the bad call gave the bears 15 points making the score 25-3, and effectively ended the game.

People said after the game that the Vikings should have run Adrian Peterson more, especially since Percy Harvin missed the game.  Here was my response:

These are the typical writers who don’t understand the game, the same way coaches don’t.  Last year the bears passed a lot in the beginning of the season and were winning a lot of games.  They then lost a game or two, and everyone said they were passing too much and had to start running.  It was fine when they won all those games.  That’s what writers do.  They look at the losing team and say they should have done something different.  If the team passed and lost, they say they should have run.  If they ran and lost, they say they should have passed.

Last week, the bears came out to stop Gore, and Kaepernick passed early and was aggressive and they scored easily.  Had the 49ers run Gore instead of passed, with the bears set up to play the run, the game might have been different (perhaps not a lopsided win).
So, let’s look at this game to see if the writers are correct.  First of all, in typical bear luck, Peterson missed the team bus and had to take a cab to the game.  Leslie Frazier, their coach, was not happy about this, and I believe it was a distraction.  Did it lead to the two fumbles on Peterson running plays?  We’ll never know, but it could have.  The bears admitted after the game they came out in a defense to stop Peterson, so the Vikings should run into a stacked defense?  Had the Vikings had Percy Harvin, this game would have been completely different, as he is their most important player and changes everything.  However, they knew they didn’t have him going in, but still should have passed.  Had they not dropped an easy third-down pass on the first or second drive, they probably score a TD there and the game is different.  They also dropped many more passes, which cost them.  But, let’s look at Peterson’s performance in the first half, which is when the game was on the line before the first-down-run fumble gave the bears a TD and the refs gave the bears 2 TDs, effectively ending the game.
First drive:  Run for 1.
Second drive:  Run for 6.
Third drive:  Run for 1 on first down, fumble, bears eventually get a TD.
Fourth drive:  No carries.
Fifth drive:  Run for 5, 8, and 4. The last run was a first-down run from the bear 16, which stalled the drive and led to a blocked FG attempt.  As I always say, you might get a first down or so by running on first down, but the drive will eventually stall.
Sixth drive:  Run for no gain.
Seventh drive:  1:48 left in half, so the Vikings passed.
At halftime, Peterson had 7 carries for 25 yards, which is less than 3.6 yards/carry.
On the first drive of the second half, when the Vikings were trying to get back in the game, he carried 3 times for 1, 5, and 4.  This meant he now had 10 carries for 35 yards, or an average of 3.5.
So, here is a runner that is distracted by missing the team bus, angering the team, and is averaging 3.5 yards/carry against a team stacked to try to stop him, but the writers feel they should have kept running the ball.  Had the Vikings not dropped many passes, it would have been obvious how much more effective the passing game was, even without Harvin, than the running game.  And, let’s not forget, the Vikings fumbled on two Peterson running plays!

 

Comments

  1. The main point to consider is that the Bears Players Won the Game and any reference to the Refs or Coaches is nothing more than a CHEAP distraction. The Bears went up agaainst one of the most dominant running backs in professional football and held him down and even made him fumble. This is what is commonly referred to as excellent defense. Marshall was also a BEAST against press coverage and caught more balls in a game than some Bears receivers have caught in their careers.
    This was good coaching and a well executed game plan.
    In fact the TV Broadcasters at Fox were so impressed with the dominance of the Bears play that they cancelled their game coverage at half time and switched to cover the Atlanta vs Tampa Game.
    FOX network basically knew at half time of the game that the Bears were going to win. This is even before Larry could even come up with his USUAL line of Bias and discriminatory remarks against the Bears. The Packers are now looking up in the division to the FIRST PLACE BEARS !!!

  2. The Packers are 10-1, and the bears are 7-4, since the refs stole 3 games from the Packers and gave one to the bears. So, who is “looking up” at the other team?!

    • Your distortion of Fact and Absence of Truth are the cornerstones of the irrational conclusions that define your Journalistic Style !!