Hanie/Martz Take It On the Chin in Oakland

The Bears found out that life after Jay Cutler (or as I like to call it A.C.) can be rough. They came in riding a five-game winning streak and left with what I can only imagine as "the one that got away."  

With the way the defense played on Sunday, the Bears should have walked out with an easy win. That did not happen.

Caleb Hanie got a rude welcome to the NFL in his first start. Throwing three picks that led to six points. While completing 50 percent of his passes and throwing for 254 yards, it was not all bad after Hanie settled down. He threw two touchdown passes—one to Johnny Knox on third down for a 24-yard score and another to Kellen Davis from 9-yards out.  Hanie also ran five times for 50 yards.

The real killer came in the second quarter with the Bears moving in for a score. The Bears drove down to the 7-yard line when Mike Martz called for a throwback screen pass that was tipped by Aaron Curry and picked by Kamerion Wimbley who took it 83 yards the other way before the saving tackle by Bears right tackle Lance Louis.  

This was at the very least a six point turnaround that ultimately cost the Bears the game. 

This is the NFL. You cannot expect to turn the ball over on three picks and expect to win. Yet the Bears had the chance to do just that thanks to the play of the defense.

Oakland needs to buy their kickers something nice for winning this game for them. Sebastian Janikowski kicked a Raider-record six field goals from 40, 47, 42, 19, 37 and 44 yards out. And punter Shane Lechler had five punts with a 54.6 yard average, including an 80-yarder (60 net) keeping Devin Hester at bay all day.

Game Balls

While I was reluctant to give any out this week with the loss, that would overlook some very good performances so here they are:

Defense

While I realize that this is somewhat general, I thought that breaking the play of each area would be a little much so I am going to sum it into one. The defensive line was a beast. They recorded five sacks and only yielded 73 yards rushing.  

The Raiders were one-for-five in the red zone. All of which were inside the 10-yard line. That is impressive stuff.  While I am sure that the players will say they need to play better they were not put in good positions today.  They also picked off a Carson Palmer pass. The Raiders were just three-for-15 on third downs, another eye popper.

Marion Barber and Matt Forte

The pair combined for 122 yards on 22 carries.  That is a 5.45 average. 

Johnny Knox

Knox had 278 all purpose yards, including four catches for 145 yards and a touchdown. Knox also had 133 return yards with the Raiders too worried about Hester.

While this game played out pretty much the way I expected, with Hanie having a hard time, it was different in the regard of how he had that hard time.  

Bottom line: the Bears coaching staff did not put Hanie in a position to succeed. Mike Martz called a bad game, plan and simple. He gave Hanie too much, too soon and it bit them in the end.  

While I give my kudos to the defense, I also have to give them my apologies as they played good enough to win. Take away the turnovers and they do just that while giving up nine less points at the minimum.  

With all that being said, let's not get out our hooks out just yet. We have to remember this was Hanie's first start, so now that this is out of the way let us regroup and comeback next week against K.C. with a chip on our shoulder. The Bears play better that way anyhow.

Put down the razor blades, pick up a beer—it's only one game.  

Let me know what you think and as always BEAR DOWN!!