Overkill: Munnerlyn Calls Out Coaching on Bears' Final Drive

[TylerDurden]

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Captain-Munnerlyn-frustrated-with-defensive-calls-on-final-drive.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Captain Munnerlyn didn’t name Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott but he didn’t have to when he was sharing his frustration with the game-winning drive by the Chicago Bears on Sunday at Soldier Field.

The Panthers were clinging to a two-point lead with 2:27 remaining when the Bears took over on their own 22-yard line with one timeout left. Bears quarterback Jay Cutler proceeded to dump off a pass to running back Matt Forte for four yards and then complete five of his next six throws. Four went to Brandon Marshall and one to Earl Bennett on essentially the same play. Marshall, on the outside, and Bennett, in the slot, ran double slant routes.

Against the Panthers’ Cover Four look with outside cornerback Josh Norman playing off coverage, it was as easy as pitch-and-catch for Cutler and Marshall. The Bears drove downfield with ease to set up for Robbie Gould’s 41-yard field goal as time expired and a 23-22 victory.

“They did the same play at the end, I think four or five times in a row and they got the win,” Munnerlyn said. “I just play the defense they call but you gotta switch it up. I felt like Jay Cutler, he knew what we were in. So he knew the weakness of the defense and they attacked it.

“I wish it was Cover 2. We played a Cover 4 look. They kind of ran double slants on my side and forced me to squeeze No. 2 and … (Norman) can’t play that. You tell a guy to jump that and if he jumps that and Brandon Marshall does a double move, it’s a touchdown. We’ve just got to do better. Even though coach gave us that call, we’ve got to execute. We tried and we fell short.”

Cutler concurred.

“They were playing one coverage and we just kept hitting them and hitting them and hitting them,” he said. “That’s pretty much it.”

It’s been a season of shortcoming to this point for Carolina. The Panthers are 1-6 and five of the losses have been by six points or less.

Proud of Munny, but he shouldn't have backed off at the end with the "we still have to execute." You're not going to execute anything playing quarters against slants. I wish they would have completely rebelled and called their own play in the huddle.

And for JR, I have no idea how even with the most level-headed approach, that you let Rivera make it through the season.

[therealmjl]

Nice. Someone had to say something.

[Chaos]

lol, Munny got chewed out during the game on camera - it was hilarious.

After the timeout, watching Rivera count the players on the field then point at Capt: "You're eleven! YOU'RE FUGGING ELEVEN!!"

[SCP]

Frustrating as hell watching teams out coach us every week.

[Darth Biscuit]

lol, Munny got chewed out during the game on camera - it was hilarious.

After the timeout, watching Rivera count the players on the field then point at Capt: "You're eleven! YOU'RE FUGGING ELEVEN!!"

I saw that too, but that TO didn't hurt us... better safe than sorry in that situation as a I believe (I'd have to go back and look) that a 12 man penalty would have resulted in a 1st down.

[ReadyorNot]

Payback to Rivera from getting his ass chewed out. But still, Rivera deserves to be called out.

[Rubi]

We lose these close games because of our coaching. It's the deciding factor. You have to manage the game properly in the final minutes...

Piss poor going on 2 years now.

[PghPanther]

the good captain should have considered that the defense would not have to even been in that situation if...............the offense in their final drive would have had the right coaching strategy.................

Chud blew it..................again.

Here is the deal.............you have the ball and are moving down the field clicking off the time with just a field goal to win.........so what do most teams do?

The work on 1st downs and take the clock down to a few seconds and then kick the field goal to win with time running out..........this works fine when you are moving the ball with confidence like we were doing......

So we get in field goal terrritory and instead of trying to reach the first down marker with a play at 2nd and 8 we have to passing plays attempting to score a touchdown? Why??? ..................

[Dorian Gray]

Munnerlyn's obviously right. The defense itself has had plenty of blown situations this year, but I'm not putting that last drive on the players. If your coaches are so lazy and uninspired that they run the SAME EXACT COVERAGE over and over despite getting chewed up, there's really nothing you can do. When Cutler even says it was easy and they knew what we were doing, the players can't win in that environment. You're setting your own guys up to lose.

[Floppin]

“They threw the same pass play all the way down the field,” Panthers safety Charles Godfrey said, via Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer. “It wasn’t nothing they were doing. It was what we were in, the coverage we were in. That was a great play for that coverage. And they just ran that play all the way down the field.

Godfrey said the same thing.

[CBDellinger]

Yup, the staff has definitely lost the team... it's over.

[rayzor]

what's funny is that fox did that to us in the playoff game against 'zona.

thy kept on abusing the fact that we weren't making any adjustments.

the problem here is that rivera made adjustments late in the game that cost us the game. fox didn't make adjustments until it was waaaaayyyyy too late and that was on the rare occasion that he actually made an adjustment.

i tell you i'm tired of piss poor coaching and that's all we've had for the better part of a decade.

[Actionman0z]

Ballsy move coming from a guy who can't count to 11 or 12. Anyone could see what they were doing. Its a tough loss to one of the best teams record wise in the NFC, with a really good defense. If we score Touchdowns it does not matter, the game is out of reach for them. If we sustain a drive longer than 3 and out and a 6 yard punt, we're talking about a different game. There are tons of reasons we are 1-6. We are what we are, and its painful to watch, because the team is trying so hard to win. I have mad respect for Greg Hardy, with that interview he did after the game. Brutal.

[CardiacCats]

Well he's right