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Biggs: 10 thoughts after Bears' loss to Vikings
5. By my tracking, defensive tackle Jay Ratliff was last on the field with 12:04 remaining in the fourth quarter when the Vikings ran a first-down play from their own 47-yard line. The Vikings ran 39 plays, including snaps with penalties, the rest of the way but Ratliff was an onlooker as the Bears created a “pitch count” for him. Playing in his first game in more than 12 months, the team wanted him around 20 snaps and I tallied up 23 for him during the game.
“There was a snap count,” Ratliff said. “It felt good to be back. We were trying to be smart about it and not just throw me out there and take all of the reps but try to monitor them and just go from there. It definitely felt good. I am ready to move on to the next (game).”
You can bet Ratliff is very much looking forward to what is next, a clash with his former team -- the Cowboys -- on Dec. 9 at Soldier Field. Ratliff parted with the Cowboys under tense circumstances and he’d surely like nothing better than to deal their playoff aspirations a blow while working to showcase himself for the Bears and 30 other teams when looking ahead to 2014. Ratliff, who was credited with one assisted tackle in press box statistics, will be a free agent at the end of the season.
6. There is no way to feel good about the Bears’ defensive effort after Adrian Peterson rolled up 211 yards and rookie wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson scored on a 33-yard carry. But I thought incremental improvements were made over the lousy effort the week before in St. Louis when much-less-heralded backs Zac Stacy and Benny Cunningham steamrolled the Bears. Peterson was bottled up at times but the Vikings gave him a career-high 35 carries and he showed why he was the league’s MVP a year ago.
The pass rush had a spark, especially in the first half when Christian Ponder was knocked out with a concussion, and the Vikings converted only 4 of 17 third-down attempts. Now, Minnesota had scoring drives of 90, 81, 89 and 79 yards and that’s not acceptable. Creating turnovers remains a problem and Khaseem Greene’s pick of a bobbled pass to tight end Rhett Ellison (on what should have been a touchdown) was the only takeaway.
More: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...oughts-chicago-bears-20131202,0,3264897.story
5. By my tracking, defensive tackle Jay Ratliff was last on the field with 12:04 remaining in the fourth quarter when the Vikings ran a first-down play from their own 47-yard line. The Vikings ran 39 plays, including snaps with penalties, the rest of the way but Ratliff was an onlooker as the Bears created a “pitch count” for him. Playing in his first game in more than 12 months, the team wanted him around 20 snaps and I tallied up 23 for him during the game.
“There was a snap count,” Ratliff said. “It felt good to be back. We were trying to be smart about it and not just throw me out there and take all of the reps but try to monitor them and just go from there. It definitely felt good. I am ready to move on to the next (game).”
You can bet Ratliff is very much looking forward to what is next, a clash with his former team -- the Cowboys -- on Dec. 9 at Soldier Field. Ratliff parted with the Cowboys under tense circumstances and he’d surely like nothing better than to deal their playoff aspirations a blow while working to showcase himself for the Bears and 30 other teams when looking ahead to 2014. Ratliff, who was credited with one assisted tackle in press box statistics, will be a free agent at the end of the season.
6. There is no way to feel good about the Bears’ defensive effort after Adrian Peterson rolled up 211 yards and rookie wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson scored on a 33-yard carry. But I thought incremental improvements were made over the lousy effort the week before in St. Louis when much-less-heralded backs Zac Stacy and Benny Cunningham steamrolled the Bears. Peterson was bottled up at times but the Vikings gave him a career-high 35 carries and he showed why he was the league’s MVP a year ago.
The pass rush had a spark, especially in the first half when Christian Ponder was knocked out with a concussion, and the Vikings converted only 4 of 17 third-down attempts. Now, Minnesota had scoring drives of 90, 81, 89 and 79 yards and that’s not acceptable. Creating turnovers remains a problem and Khaseem Greene’s pick of a bobbled pass to tight end Rhett Ellison (on what should have been a touchdown) was the only takeaway.
More: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...oughts-chicago-bears-20131202,0,3264897.story
