2-7-DET 21 (Q3, 3:37) J.Clausen pass short left to D.Rosario to DET 20 for 1 yard (J.Ihedigbo).
For the second time in a row, the Bears don’t actually give the ball to the Lions, getting a gift on a roughing the punter call. They get a free 15 yards, and with the ball on the 21 they try a screen to TE Dante Rosario. Clausen is under duress yet again, but gets the ball away accurately. There should definitely be a penalty on #74 Jermon Bushrod for ineligible receiver downfield, but it doesn’t really matter because Garza can’t make his block and it ends up as a gain of only one and a third down.
3-6-DET 20 (Q3, 2:51) (Shotgun) J.Clausen pass deep right to A.Jeffery for 20 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
This is beatiful from Clausen. He started off the second half really well. I think it’s a tad underthrown, but the CB isn’t even looking for the ball and he’s throwing to Jeffery, so that’s not a big deal. Jeffery uses his big body to elevate and make the catch for the TD. Great throw, nice catch, TD.
1-10-CHI 27 (Q4, 11:02) (Shotgun) J.Clausen pass short right to J.Morgan to CHI 25 for -2 yards (D.Carey).
This is a quick bubble screen to Josh Morgan and Carey snuffs it out immediately. The Bears ran a lot of screens in this game, and not many were successful.
2-12-CHI 25 (Q4, 10:27) J.Clausen pass short right to M.Wilson to CHI 41 for 16 yards (G.Quin).
This is yet another nice throw by Clausen. Wilson is running a crossing route and Clausen is out on a bootleg. When the talk about a QB “throwing across his body” this is what they me. It’s a very difficult throw to make because you momentum is carrying you in the wrong direction, and Clausen does a great job with this throw.
2-11-CHI 40 (Q4, 9:19) (Shotgun) J.Clausen pass short left to M.Forte to CHI 44 for 4 yards (D.Carey).
Yet another screen pass. Nice placement by Clausen.
3-7-CHI 44 (Q4, 8:34) (Shotgun) J.Clausen pass incomplete short left to A.Jeffery (R.Mathis) [N.Suh].
Very poor decision by Clausen on third down. Jeffery is blanketed by Mathis. I’m not sure what he sees in the route. It’s his first read and he just locked onto it. He should at least move to the bottom of the screen. Nobody is really open, but this is a risky throw and I don’t like the decision. This play also marked a kind of turning point for Clausen in the game. Up until now, he was making solid decisions and nice throws in the second half, and if almost felt as if the Bears were going to win the game. After this play, he only completed one pass.
2-8-CHI 20 (Q4, 6:27) (Shotgun) J.Clausen pass incomplete short right to M.Wilson.
This is pretty similar to Clausen’s third pass of the game, and it’s the same result. He leads the receiver too far. This time he doesn’t have another option who is wide open though.
3-8-CHI 20 (Q4, 6:22) (Shotgun) J.Clausen sacked at CHI 18 for -2 yards (N.Suh).
The Lions do a great job defending this play. The pass rush gets pressure quickly, and I don’t really get the route combination that Jeffery and Marshall (the two players closest to the OL on the bunch side of the formation) run. It looks like a levels concept but they end up really close to each other so it’s completely ineffective. Anyway, Clausen doesn’t have any open receivers and he eats a sack, which was probably the correct move in this scenario.
1-10-CHI 21 (Q4, 2:30) (Shotgun) J.Clausen pass short right to M.Wilson pushed ob at CHI 28 for 7 yards (D.Slay).
The Bears are now in a two minute drill and they need a TD to win the game. They start off the drive with a quick out to Wilson. Solid play by Clausen.
2-3-CHI 28 (Q4, 2:26) (Shotgun) J.Clausen scrambles right end to CHI 30 for 2 yards (E.Ansah).
On this play, Clausen locks his eyes on the right side of the field after he steps up to avoid pressure. He sees nothing and decides to run with it, sliding after only two yards. If he had looked to his left, he would have seen his TE wide open in the flat, with no one within 15 yards. That would have been an easy first down conversion and out of bounds, but instead Clausen only got 2 yards. This would have been a lot worse than the pass, but he got bailed out by the fact that Ansah hit him while he was sliding, which drew a 15 yard penalty and also stopped the clock. It worked out in the end, but looking to his left and hitting the TE would have been a better decision.
1-10-CHI 45 (Q4, 2:18) (Shotgun) J.Clausen pass incomplete short right.
On this play, Clausen has nobody open and the Lions collapse the pocket. Clausen is able to escape, and get to the sideline. I like the fact that he continues to look downfield. However, no one comes open and he makes a smart play by throwing the ball away instead of running out of bounds and losing about 5 yards.
2-10-CHI 45 (Q4, 2:10) (Shotgun) J.Clausen pass incomplete short right to A.Jeffery (D.Slay).
This is a quick out to Jeffery and he drops it. Bears receivers certainly had problems with drops in this game.
3-10-CHI 45 (Q4, 2:06) (Shotgun) J.Clausen pass incomplete short left to A.Jeffery.
This is another slant, and it’s another good throw, and it’s another drop by Jeffery. Clausen’s receivers were not giving him help on the day.
4-10-CHI 45 (Q4, 2:02) (Shotgun) J.Clausen pass deep left intended for A.Jeffery INTERCEPTED by G.Quin at DET 25. G.Quin ran ob at DET 25 for no gain.
This is a fourth and 10 play and it’s the Bears’ last shot. There’s not really much you can do here, and the Bears run three vertical routes. All are well covered, and Clausen chooses his biggest playmaker, Jeffery. It’s not a great throw and Jeffery doesn’t really have a chance at this one. It’s just a desperation heave, and it’s picked off. Clausen didn’t make a good throw, but he didn’t have many options either.
Clausen did not have a great game, but it went a lot better than I expected it to. He made quick decisions and threw the ball well. In the game, he was streaky. He started off slow, then picked it up toward the end of the first half and in the 3rd quarter. In the 4th, however, he fell apart and could not sustain a drive to score and win the game.
I’m still not entirely sure why the Bears decided to start Clausen in this game anyway, because I believe Jay Cutler is a much better QB. However, in this game Clausen proved that while he may not be starter quality, but that he can be a reasonable backup. He certainly could have been a lot worse.
Unfortunately for Clausen, he sustained a concussion on that scramble where he was hit late by Ansah at the end of the game. The Bears have shut him down for the rest of the season. However, on the bright side, I think that Clausen showed that while he might not be a starter in the NFL anytime soon, he has decent potential as a backup QB who can step in and play alright when your starter gets injured.
