Chicago Sports Liveblog

Play-by-play of the Bears-Ravens snow bowl from a guy who’s been getting a little lazy

Current drive

I didn’t write a post about the picks because I figured everyone would be picking the Ravens. I was wrong. One guy, the Sporting News’ Steve Greenberg, believes in the Bears. Even the local folk have no faith, saying the Ravens’ pursuit of a playoff spot engenders more desire than the Bears’ pursuit of, uh, I guess .500.

The Bears arrived late last night to a closed BWI, and that was after having to return to Halas Hall late Friday night after a plane had mechanical failures. The amount of snow they’re getting in Baltimore, which is why they haven’t already kicked off, is large even by Chicago standards. For a region of the country that closes schools for 36 degrees and wintry mix, this is a considerable problem.

Anyway, the Bears are tired, they’re playing out the string, the stadium may be only partially filled and snow will be everywhere. Um, yeah, this should be some high-class football. Oh, and inmates helped clear the snow, so look out for hidden shivs in the snowpiles.

But according to weather reports it should all be over by kickoff and be right around or just above freezing. So maybe look for some of that snow to melt, then refreeze into ice. Fun times around the nation’s capital!

Football at 3:15 CST.

FIRST QUARTER

Well, in the time it took me to drive up from Urbana, Brittany Murphy died, boxer and Domer Tom Zbikowski gets the start for the Ravens and Joshua Cribbs has become the NFL’s new Devin Hester while Devin Aromashodu tries to become the Bears’ new Devin Hester.

Wobbly kick takes Danieal Manning to the right side, he gets to the 20, tries to go back toward the middle of the field to get more but gets less, dropped at the 19. Screen left to Earl Bennett and he has blockers, gets teh first down and isn’t run out of bounds until he’s a yard shy of midfield. It worked so well that Cutler goes quick-out right to Aromashodu, but he only gets a pair because he has no blockers and couldn’t make anyone miss. Blitz comes and Cutler throws it out of bounds. Cutler throws to a leaping Dominique Foxworth and Foxworth is tackled a yard shy of midfield by Johnny Knox. That’s 23 picks on the season. Replay shows Foxworth just abused Aromashodu on the slant coming off the left side.

Joe Flacco skips a pass to the right side, then Ray Rice has a hole on the left side of the line and gets eight yards. The line goes right and Rice cuts back left on the counter and has plenty of open field. He finally gets dragged down from behind by Al Afalava inside the 15. Rice then gets a yard to the 13. The Bears just overstacked the box on that counter play and pursued to the right and he countered left. Flacco hits Todd Heap on a deep slant left in the front of the end zone and Corey Graham was just overmatched there. PAT good.

Ravens 7, Bears 0, 11:59 left in the 1st quarter

Kick goes deep this time and Manning fields it at the 2 on the right hashes, spins out of a tackle or two at the 20 and drags a few guys until he’s finally brought down at the 39. Forte gets three off right guard. Three on a stretch play left and then five up the middle and Forte has himself one of those fancy first downs. Cutler then gets another first down, hitting Knox on a deep hitch to the left side at the 35. Forte up the middle for eight and it looks like he’s actually getting some blocking. He then sidesteps left in the backfield and dives forward for a pair of yards and it appears that it will be a first down. Forte up the middle for not much, maybe as many as two. Two it is, and on 2nd and 8, Forte goes in motion split out wide right, they try to run the wideout screen to him and it loses a yard. Damn Bennett instilling confidence in Ron Turner. Cutler has no one to throw to so he dumps off to Olsen, who can’t win the race up the middle to the markers and gets dropped a yard shy. The Bears go for it on 4th and 1 and Forte converts up the middle. From the 14, Cutler play fakes to Forte and tries to dump off to Jason McKie coming out of the backfield, doesn’t get enough air under it, defensive end Jarret Johnson tips it up in the air, comes down with the interception at the 18 and Jay Cutler just absolutely stinks.

Deep slant right gets a first down to the 35, then Ray Rice, lined up off right end, goes left on an end around and isn’t brought down until the Bears’ 38. Flacco hits Derrick Mason for another first down but offsetting penalties make us have to do this again. Play fake and Flacco has all the time in the world, hits Heap squaring out left for a first down inside the 20, they go no-huddle so Lovie Smith doesn’t have a chance to challenge (he would have won I think) and Rice gets eight up the middle. Rice again and he gets the first down to the 7. Fade right to Heap and he’s behind a pair of defenders, the pass hits him in stride and the Ravens are up two touchdowns. PAT good.

Ravens 14, Bears 0, 2:20 left in the 1st quarter

If you have Todd Heap and are playing against Jay Cutler in your fantasy league, good on ya… Also, every Kay Jewelers commercial inspires murderous anger in me, but none more than this one. The person who posted that on YouTube hit the nail on the head: “‘I’m right here… and I always will be&#133′ said the murderer as he murdered everyone in the log cabin.” Short kick fielded by Rashied Davis at the 15 and he gets leveled at the 25. Looked like it hurt. Forte sweeps right but cuts back toward the middle as he reaches the end of the offensive line and ends up getting five. Then he gets nothing up the middle. Three-step drop and Cutler hits Aromashodu on a hitch to the right side for the first down. Incomplete pass, Forte then gets four up the middle and that’s the quarter.

Ravens 14, Bears 0

SECOND QUARTER

From the 42, Cutler rolls right out of a blitz and hits Johnny Knox rolling right with him for the first down to the 49. Bears go no-huddle and Forte gets three up the middle into Ravens territory. Swing pass left to Aromashodu and it bounces off his hands. Bears fever: I caught it, have you? Cutler drops back and the pocket immediately collapses on him, but he sees it and sprints forward and has plenty of space in front of him. He gets the first plus a bunch and slides down at the Ravens’ 35. Forte then gets nothing up the middle. Pocket again collapses, Cutler again steps up and runs for a first down. This time, however, he gets just enough for the first down to the 25. Forte has a small hole up the middle and shoots through it, gets tripped up after about five but keeps his balance until he has the first down at the 15. Forte goes left behind a couple of pulling guards, has nothing there, reverses field to the right, makes a cut at the numbers and gets six or seven. Kahlil Bell in for Forte and gets dropped up the middle just shy of the first down. Bell on a stretch play right sees a hole and gets the first to the 4. Bell again, this time for two up the middle. Cutler tries to hit Bennett on a quick-out right in the front of the end zone but leads him too much, 3rd and goal from the 1½. The Ravens don’t like what they see and call their first timeout with 8:53 left in the half. The Bears have had the ball for the past 8 minutes, 27 seconds. This can only mean a turnover here. Brian Billick suggests a play fake would be good here, the Bears don’t heed his suggestion and Forte goes up the middle for maybe a half yard. Bears go for it on 4th and goal. Bears call timeout with 8:09 left. Billick says the Ravens will be caught off guard by a play fake. You know, because they have no grasp of basic football strategy. Greg Olsen split wide and Cutler overthrows the fade to him. Gotta love the nine-minute drives that end in no points. Ravens ball at their 1.

Ravens start falsely, lose a half yard. Flacco sneaks forward for two yards. Handoff to the upback, Le’Ron McClain, and he gets stuffed for no gain on the right side of the line. Rice loses a yard up the middle, Israel Idonije was just waiting for him. Bennett fields the punt at the Ravens’ 48 up the middle, has room to run on his right, finds a lane and shoots up the right sideline, shakes off a few tacklers and dives to the pylon for the touchdown. PAT is good.

Ravens 14, Bears 7, 5:45 left in the half

Kick broken out to the left sideline by Lardarius Webb and he isn’t brought down until the Ravens’ 40. Make it the 42, from where a screen left to Rice only gets two. Heap squares out from right end and Flacco hits him for about five or six. Empty backfield and Flacco hits Demetrius Williams squaring in from the left side at the Bears’ 40 for a first down. Flacco lined up wide left, direct snap to Troy Smith and he fakes the handoff McClain and runs around right end for eight. Smith lines up again in the shotgun and the Bears take a timeout with 3:08 left. Flacco back under center, drops back and has all freaking day, finally finding Derrick Mason in the cushion of the cover-2 up the left sideline to the 16. Smith back in and he goes a yard up the middle. Flacco and Mason run the pump-fake-and-fade to the right side of the end zone and it’s just too far for Mason to make the catch and keep both feet in bounds. Flacco then has no one open, scrambles forward, takes a left turn after about five yards and sprints to the sideline so he doesn’t get hurt. Field goal attempt to come after ads for the warning. The Bears need to put together a 2-minute drill because the Ravens get the ball to start the 3rd quarter and the Bears have shown no ability to stop them from scoring. Never mind. Bad snap and Billy Cundiff pushes it wide right, Bears’ ball at their 20 with 1:49 left.

Ravens blow up the screen set-up so Cutler throws it at Forte’s feet, 2nd and 10. Draw to Forte, he bounces it out right and stiff-arms a would-be tackler to get out of bounds for a gain of five, stopping the clock with 1:38 left. Cutler scrambles out of pressure and scampers out of bounds after a gain of one and Billick criticizes him for stopping the clock. Never mind that Ray Lewis was bearing down on him and quarterbacks are trained not to draw that kind of contact. They’re also criticizing Forte for getting out of bounds on second down. You know, because you don’t want to stop the clock while you’re running a 2-minute drill. Punt goes to the 40, return dropped at the 42.

Two passes get a first down, then Rice is dropped shy of getting out of bounds for no gain, but doesn’t get chastised for trying to get out of bounds. Call it a loss of one. Ravens call a timeout, then Flacco hits Rice over the middle for nine and the Ravens call their final timeout with :35 left. Swing pass right and Rice breaks up the right sideline for a huge chunk of yards but Michael Oher was lined up in an illegal formation, 3rd and 6 from the Bears’ 41. Flacco goes deep for Mason and he can’t adjust to make the catch in the front of the end zone. Punt goes out of bounds but Kellen Davis ran into the kicker, 4th and 1. Never mind, the Ravens decline the penalty, Bears’ ball at the 12.

Knee.

Halftime: Ravens 14, Bears 7

Halftime thoughts: Cutler maybe could have slid down in bounds, but Forte should have gotten out of bounds because the Bears have to think about scoring with 1:49 and two timeouts (maybe one, not sure) and the ball on the 20. Criticizing Forte for going out of bounds is tantamount to saying the Bears have no chance of getting into field goal range there, and that’s just not true. Otherwise, as happened last week, the Bears came out getting their butts whupped and turned it around and are within a score. Still don’t think they’ll win, but hey, at least it’s a possibility.

THIRD QUARTER

Webb goes to the right sideline, then angles back toward the middle to get to the 35. Flacco to Mason on the right side gets a first down plus a couple. Rice gets three to midfield and Adewale Ogunleye is rolling around on the ground, stopping the clock with 13:59 left in the third. Ogunleye limps off the field with his left sock rolled down. Bears stack the box and Rice runs a stretch right, tries to cut it back left where Nick Roach is waiting for him and drops him for a loss of one or two. Bears show blitz, back out of it, Flacco hits Demetrius Williams on the left sideline in the cover-2 cushion at the Bears’ 32 for the first down. Perfectly arced right into Williams’ hands. Flacco then goes to the end zone for Williams on the left side, Charles Tillman mis-times his jump, landing before the ball gets there, and Williams leaps and makes the catch in the end zone. PAT is good.

Ravens 21, Bears 7, 12:24 left in the 3rd quarter

Johnny Knox returns it to the 30, but as he’s trying to stop and start to avoid a tackle, the ball gets knocked loose and lands in the hands of a Ravens coverage guy at the 29.

Troy Smith takes the shotgun snap, throws it to Flacco who was split out wide right but behind him, then Flacco goes deep to the end zone and overthrows his man. Run up the middle gets one. Flacco then hits Mason over the middle for the first down as the Bears fail to get off the field on 3rd and long for the billionth time this season. No huddle and Rice gets dropped for no gain on a stretch play right. A blitzing Hunter Hillenmeyer gets blocked beyond the target, and Flacco fires to Mason on the 1 at the left sideline, Mason twists his body to cross the infinitely long goal line and the PAT is good. Thom Brennaman points out that the Bears have given up 14 points this half and Jay Cutler has yet to line up under center.

Ravens 28, Bears 7, 10:20 left in the 3rd quarter

Per Brad Biggs’ Twitter, Ogunleye’s return questionable with a lower leg injury. Love the NFL’s endless fountain of information. Manning back in on kick returns and he gets to the 33 but the Bears are at the 9 due to holding or block in the back or some such that Fox didn’t feel it was necessary to show us. Cutler checks down to Forte for no gain, then gets stripped on an off-tackle right and the Ravens recover. Unsportsmanlike conduct backs them up.

Rice has nothing on a stretch play left and is dropped for a loss of two to the 25. He gets three going off left tackle to bring up 3rd and 9 from the 22. Flacco throws a go-and-get-it ball up the right sideline for either Mason or Williams, but neither is close. Fortunately for Flacco, neither is any Bears player. Cundiff splits the uprights on the 40-yarder.

Ravens 31, Bears 7, 7:55 left in the 3rd quarter

Manning takes it from the 10 on the left side and heads straight upfield for 15 yards. Cutler scrambles out of pressure to the right and then throws it away. Cutler then tries to swing it to Bennett on the right side but leads him by too much and it bounces incomplete. Cutler flushed, scrambles right and is dropped a yard shy of the line of scrimmage. Punt to the 30 and return covered up at the 33.

Make it the 32, from where Rice gets a pair up the middle. Rice gets four off left tackle. Flacco has Mason standing by himself at the sticks on the right side, hits him and Mason gets to across midfield before running out of bounds. Rice for a pair to the Bears’ 44 or so. Checkdown to Rice gets a pair more. Flacco rolls right, Idonije gets held trying to break free, Flacco throws it away so the Bears decline the penalty and the Ravens will punt. It goes out of bounds at the 13.

Bell up the middle for a pair. Cutler hits Bennett on the right side at the 35 for the first down. Cutler then overthrows Olsen in the right flat. He just overthrew the ball on a two-yard throw to the right side as Billick and Brennaman are commenting on how many draft picks and how much money the Bears poured into him. Jeff George’s name comes up shortly after Cutler overthrows Bell in the left flat. There he was pressured, but if you can’t check down under pressure then you arent’ a good quarterback. Cutler then throws to the Ravens’ bench and the Bears will punt. Punt goes to the 25, Chris Carr breaks it from the middle to the left side and isn’t dragged down until about midfield.

Brennaman said the knee-jerk reaction in Chicago is to blame the playcalling and the offensive coordinator, not Cutler. We’ve been blaming the offensive coordinator since 2005, and also in the mid-90s when he was the offensive coordinator the first time around. Rice gets a pair, then Nick Roach strips Flacco, but Willis McGahee picks it up and is run out of bounds at the 39 for a loss of 11. Checkdown to McGahee gets 10 and the Ravens will punt as the first play of the fourth quarter.

Ravens 31, Bears 7

FOURTH QUARTER

Punt out of bounds at the 21, Corey Graham just missed blocking it.

Cutler is 9-for-22 in this game. Now he’s sacked for a loss of three. Cutler then skips a pass to Olsen squaring out on the right side, and Desmond Clark had a handful of face mask. The Ravens decline the penalty, 3rd and 13. Inside handoff to Forte not only gets three, but indicates that the Bears don’t give a toss about playing football anymore. Punt goes to the 26, return goes to the 29 before Tim Shaw levels a nasty hit and does a little dance. Take your victories where you can find them, I guess.

Flacco tries to check down to McGahee under pressure and overthrows him. McGahee loses two up the middle and the clock will run under 13:00 before the next snap. Please keep the clock moving. McGahee doesn’t listen to me, dropping a checkdown pass rather than getting leveled. Punt goes to the 35, Bennett tries to make something happen, finally gets dropped at… the 35 with 12:31 to go.

Forte breaks off left tackle for nine yards and the clock keeps moving. From the 45, Forte stuffed for no gain. Cutler goes up the right sideline for Aromashodu, who turns and tries to make the leaping catch and it bounces off his hands, clock stops at 11:08 and Maynard’s punt caught fairly at the 15 with 10:59 to go.

McGahee up the middle for a few, McClain up the middle for a few more and those two “few”s add up to a first down. Flacco is then sacked for a loss of 11 back to the 18. McGahee gets a yard. This is what I like to see, clock running down. McGahee makes a nifty one-handed catch, but he’s three yards behind the line of scrimmage and gets a whopping two or three yards. He caught the ball, though, which means that the clock keeps running and I’m happy. Bennett takes the punt at the 35 and returns it to midfield with 7:23 left.

Pass up the right sideline incomplete, then to Knox in the right flat gets three yards. They’re calling it four, but Cutler, as he slides to his left, leads a squaring-in Aromashodu by too much and Dominique Foxworth picks it off for Cutler’s third of the day and Foxworth’s second.

Troy Smith in for Flacco for good now, and a handoff to McGahee gets a yard. Smith passes to the left side and Bowman bats it away to stop the clock. Smith then scrambles forward but is dropped shy of the marker, 4th and 2 with the clock moving under 5:15 before the punt. It takes Bennett inside the 10, where he fields it and tries to return it to the right sideline and is run out of bounds at the 15.

Make it the 17, from where Caleb Hanie hits Knox for three in the left flat. The Ravens get their fourth pick, but sadly this doesn’t add to Cutler’s NFL lead. Hanie led Knox by too much, it bounced off his hands and into the hands of Frank Walker, who draws a 15-yard penalty by chucking the ball downfield in celebration.

Smith hits a receiver for nine on a slant right, then a handoff to McClain gets nothing. Another handoff gets nothing and that’s the warning. Smith takes a shot to the end zone and Bowman makes a sliding interception, returning it somewhere.

So the Bears have one more chance with 1:49 left. Bell takes it on a counter left and gets a first down to the 41, then gets stood up for a gain of one or two up the middle. Hanie hits Rashied Davis for four, then Davis drops it on the left sideline. With :19 left, the Bears go for it and Davis drops it again. The Ravens will kneel with :14 left.