What a thrilling game that was!  I don’t remember a Phins game in recent memory that was quite so nerve wrecking.  The fact our guys rallied back after being down in the 4th continues to give me hope for a renewed culture and optimism for the future.

At 4-2 and tied atop the AFC East (with the Pats, of course), I believe we’re at a critical point of the season that could now go either way.  The next two games are winnable and need to be won for us to be taken seriously this year. We still don’t much media attention nor are many “experts” taking us seriously.  Beat the Lions and Texans, improve to 6-2, and that’ll change.

Enough about the future, let’s turn the lights off and watch some film from that thrilling Bears victory…

 

HIGHLIGHTS and LOWLIGHTS  FROM THE BEARS GAME

(as usual, keep your sound on)

 

POSITIVES

Let me start with the reason we won this game, and it isn’t about any single player… it’s about our offensive line (can’t believe I just typed that).  After hammering them through my film reviews in recent weeks, this group showed up big time against the #1 ranked defense in the league. I had to watch the film twice to believe it.  Credit also goes to Gore who ran HARD, and Gase for the great scheme. Here are two examples:

 

 

This game was also littered some some impressive individual performances, Like Reshad Jones’ amazing stop on a 4th and 1:

 

Brock Osweiler made some good plays, here is a breakdown of 2 of his best from the game:

 

And we all know how explosive Albert Wilson can be as he took two short completions to the house, including this 75-yarder:

 

Kiko Alonso continues to play well and Raekwon McMillan is showing more positive flashes.  Watch them work together on this nice stop:

 

And speaking of McMillan, watch this EPIC play of his stop on a 3rd and 2:

 

It seems like every week Vincent Taylor makes big plays, although our defensive line struggled this game, here was Taylor on another great effort:

 

Sometimes it’s nice pointing out great plays made that don’t end up on the stat sheet, like this one here by Akeem Spence:

 

Great call by Gase and execution by the offense on this 3rd and 5 “Hitch N Go”:

 

OTHER POSITIVES

  • Nick O’Leary was a HUGE difference maker in this game, and I’m not just talking about his receiving.  His blocking helped more than you noticed on T.V. and having him on the field allowed Gase to utilize different formations.  I hate to say it, but at this point Gesicki should only see the field on passing downs.
  • Jason Sanders is quietly having a very good year.  He still hasn’t missed a field goal (he did miss one extra point), and that kick at the end of overtime was clutch!
  • Adam Gase deserves a lot of praise for this one after coming up with a plan to shut down Mack and that #1 defense

 

NEGATIVES

As a whole, the defense didn’t play real well.  Our defensive line didn’t get enough pressure and we gave up way too many points and yards to an average-at-best offense.  Torry McTyer got burned so bad the coaches brought in Tankersley.

 

Watch how Kiko gets a little lost in zone coverage and gives up the TD:

 

You’re gonna get some “bad” with Brock Osweiler, and here are his two worst throws of the game:

 

Although electric at times, Kenyan Drake really needs to start hitting the hole (like Gore does) and take what the defense gives him:

 

OTHER NEGATIVES

  • We could’ve given up many more points and yards.  See the video below and you’ll notice several blown coverage’s that could’ve been TDs were if not for Trubisky being so poor.  Jones got lucky on several plays as he gambled incorrectly, but Trubisky couldn’t take advantage

 

RANDOMNESS FROM THE GAME

Trubisky and the Bears left several plays and scores out there on the field.  He just doesn’t look like an NFL starter yet:

 

This blown “no call” really pissed me off, especially because it came at such a crucial time:

 

As I mentioned before, O’Leary gives us a new dimension and allows us to utilize more formations, like this one:

 

I’ve been screaming for it, and we finally got it… a QB sneak on 3rd/4th and 1:

 

Watch a scary helmet-to-helmet hit between Kiko Alonso and Jonathan Woodward.  Woodward goes out with a concussion because of this:

 

THIS WEEK VS THE LIONS

On offense:  Our OL must play as good as they did last week and Gase must not ask any more of Osweiler than he did against the Bears.  I really think we may be able to run the ball effectively and we need to do so as much as possible.

On defense: The outcome of this game will rest heavily on getting one key defender back… Bobby McCain.  The Lions have multiple good receivers and we cannot afford Torry McTyer to be guarding any of them. Matthew Stafford will not miss as many plays as Trubisky did and our DL needs to get back to pressuring the QB.

Summary: This is a very winnable game, especially with us having played so well at home lately.  If we can avoid a “hangover” from last week’s overtime thriller, we should come out with a victory.

Phins 28, Lions 20

Fins Up!

 

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