No running game, schedule work against Chicago. Matt Bowen
If there was a Chicago Bears bandwagon after the team’s comeback wins over Pittsburgh and Seattle, no one is driving it right now. It’s parked, sitting abandoned on the side of the road somewhere along the Eisenhower Expressway in Chicago.
Two straight losses. One, in Atlanta, where turnovers and multiple plays left on the field ended with the Bears on the cusp of reaching the end zone — without a running game to work with.
The second, an embarrassing loss in Cincinnati, where the only thing missing was a Chad Ochocinco samba dance after a touchdown. I wrote earlier this week that it was the worst performance by a Chicago defense under Lovie Smith, and I still feel that way. Matt Forte? Six carries for 24 yards.
A buddy called during the first quarter and told me that if the game were at Soldier Field, he would be in the car at that moment — headed home.
Is it time to panic in Chicago and move on to the Blackhawks, or Derrick Rose and the Bulls? I don’t think so, not yet. But this season is teetering on the verge of collapse — because after this week, it isn’t going to get any easier.
The Bears host Cleveland and that circus act at Soldier on Sunday. A win, you would think, but after that, the schedule isn’t as pretty. Let’s check out the month of November, when football seasons are basically won or lost in this league.
Nov. 8: vs. Arizona (4-2)
Nov. 12: at San Fran (3-3)
Nov. 22: vs. Philly (4-2)
Nov. 29: at Minnesota (6-1)
Only one divisional opponent in Minnesota, but three of the four November games are against NFC opponents. And when you think about this team as a possible wild card, those games are huge when we start to scramble playoff hopefuls come the end of December.
But does the schedule even matter for a team that’s now struggling on both sides of the football?
On offense, the Bears rank 21st in total yards at 312.2 per game, but what’s alarming for a Bears football team is the rushing aspect of this offense. Chicago is currently sitting at 29th in the league, averaging just over 80 yards a game, with Forte’s yard-per-carry average at 3.5. That’s not good enough, but we all know where this discussion is leading — and that’s to Jay Cutler.
Cutler is good, very good. He has the tools and now a new contract and control of this huddle for the foreseeable future. But where are the results, right? He does force passes, he does let his emotions direct his play at times, and he seems to try and win games with his arm — no matter the circumstances. And yes, that has to change, just as this entire offense has to change to play to the strengths of both Forte and Cutler. The running game is, well, a joke, and that is one of the main reasons this team is forced to put the game plan in Cutler’s lap in every crucial situation. But even the best quarterbacks need some help. Right now, the Bears aren’t efficient enough up front to run the Power O, or even the Lead Open. They need to become more creative. Use Forte as a single back, spread the field and operate like an offense in a nickel situation — because that’s what the Bears are in 2009.
They aren’t a power running team, despite the history of this franchise, and until they understand that and adjust to cater to their offensive players, we can expect more of the same.
And on defense, which has head coach Lovie Smith on the hook, it comes down to execution and accountability. As our own Brad Biggs reported, Tommie Harris has already been shown the bench, and the Cover 2, well, it isn’t going anywhere. But the players in that system have to make plays that change games, protect leads and do what’s required in this defensive scheme — force turnovers. Right now, the Bears are minus-5 in turnover ratio, which is unacceptable for a Lovie Smith defense, or a Tampa 2 defense in general. This scheme is designed to create turnovers, with an emphasis on scoring.
Some think it’s time to shut down the scheme, but all you have to do is look to Buffalo, which runs the Tampa 2, to see the recent results — 10 turnovers in the past two games.
Maybe by writing this I’m offering too much hope, or beating on issues that have already existed. But to count out a 3-3 team, with a possibility to get back in the NFC North race with a win on Sunday and a Packers victory over Minnesota, isn’t right.
Yes, the Bears are still in it — but they’re hanging on. Right?
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Like JP just stated, the o-line is the big issue right now. They can't excute the plays because the o-line can't properly block for them. i think the defense is struggling becuase of the injuries to the LB position and the lack of leadership/direction from those injuries.
The Bears play Arizona on Nov. 8 by the way.
I agree with the criticism of the rushing offense (obviously, it's hard not to). Open it up; this is NOT a power team. Stop calling gap rushes and leads that go nowhere. Forte needs to be moved around. They need to employ more screens, and different screens. Why not give the wildcat more consideration, even if it's just 4 - 6 plays per game? Hester, Knox and Forte and/or Wolfe in the wildcat? Give it a try, be creative. Remember: the definiton of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. With all that said, I will NOT comment on the defense...because, with few exceptions, I have yet to see a Bears defense on the field.
The truth about the Bears is they are just not elite along the offensive or defensive lines. That is the key to winning and making deep playoff runs in the NFL. As far as the cover 2 goes, it only works if you have the personel up the middle to run it. And right now the Bears don't.
I have the same feelings about the running game. Go to 3 WRs the whole game and run out of those sets. The power attack is gone with our sluggish o-line.
Wait, what? Who is going to write off a .500 team in October? This is a straw man article.
I propose that the Bears are suffering from a Cutler kool aid hang over combined with the realities that get lost in the wash as long as you are a storied franchise. The Bears don't have to actually have a great running game or defense to be magically anointed with both-- each and every off season. You don't ever want reality to step on a more palatable image, I guess.
Everybody pumped up Matt Forte all of off season despite the fact that he didn't manage even 4.0 yards a carry last year. That was Kyle Orton's fault, of course, because everybody loaded the box blah blah blah, and Cutler was going to fix that. Forte's real strength and impact was as a receiver, but all you had to do is watch film on Cutler to understand that he'd probably rather get castrated than dump a ball to a RB or anybody close-- unless his TE is lingering five yards out and at at least double covered on 3rd and 7. Angelo took away Forte's strength the moment he traded the future for the golden armed gun slinger, but nobody wanted to look at that. Its the square peg in a round hole phenomenon at its finest, and it doesn't stop with Forte. Chicago's receivers don't match Cutler's strengths (digs, hooks, outs), and the Bears O-line has proved that Cutler still doesn't have the poise to make much use of his incredible tools. You've got a 'franchise' QB who requires a significant rebuilding process in order to give him the tools he needs for success, and the the Bears invited him not to change a thing in his game by extending him for absolutely no coherent reason. How and why Jay Cutler should magically transcend all this, I don't know. If I was Jay Cutler, I'd stick with being Jay Cutler. I has been a very lucrative path for him.
As for the defense, they are exactly what everybody should have thought they are-- In decline, and not much better statistically in 2008 than Cutler's old team in 2008. They have been shaky at best for a couple of years, and mediocre-to- worse defenses wilt under the pressure of ill timed turnovers, which came with the Cutler package, and momentum shifts. Yet somehow, Jay Cutler was going to fix all this, just like he fixed it in Denver...
If I was a Bears fan, I'd be calling for Angelo's head. Its his job to do this simple kind of math...no matter what revisionist history fest the NFL media chooses to feed its self with. Jay Cutler has consistently been Jay Cutler all the way back to his first start at Vanderbilt. He wows everybody with his talent, yet elevates nobody.
Matt,
I am 42 years old and as i was watching this game I was having a flashback of my childhood, sitting on the coach with my dad, watching him be disappointed in the Bears. I realized that all for a brief blip in the screen in the mid 80's, the Bears Administration seems content to take our money and then either field a team that has no motivation or a mediocre team! I am with your buddy, i would have been out the door and sorely disappointed that my hard earned cash went to pay for that game! They don't have to win all the time, but it seems like we get rid of players that improve somewhere else and we get players who are better before they get here.
Paul
Check the "one" vs. "won" thing. (sorry, can't help it)
I do think it's important to maintain perspective, namely that we're 3-3 and it's not even November yet...the season is FAR from over.
However, barring some dramatic changes, the outlook is not too promising.
I think the greatest thing that we're missing at this point is both literal and emotional leadership on the defensive side of the ball. Does anybody here think a blow-out like this would have happened with an Urlacher and/or Mike Brown in the line-up?
Maybe, but at least not to that disheartening extent.
I do agree that the Bears need to be more creative, too--an occasional trick play/fake, just to shake things up and power shift the momentum in our favor.
But the Wildcat is NOT the answer. The Wildcat is brilliant--for Miami. Why? Because Miami is a POWER running team, with a capable o-line and the appropriate backs to pull it off. That's why it's so successful in Miami, but little more than a gimmick just about anywhere else.
If a team like, say, Dallas, tried the Wildcat, they could probably do it effectively. Chicago? Not so much. You need a line and big push up front and backs who will get you hard yards.
Some of my solutions:
I think the Bears need to get Forte more involved in the passing game. That's what made him so effective last year--the dual threat quality. Even split him wide on short goal line situations.
Bring Dez Clark back in on the line, as he's a better blocker. Split Olsen out more. Attack the middle of the field w/ the TEs more.
Use Garret Wolfe interspersed throughout the game--not in the dumb, predictable "this is Garret Wolfe's series, no matter what the down, distance or play call" sort of way they have been. He should be a scalpel, not a broadsword.
And for God's sake, never, ever, ever, run him between the tackles again.
With all their speed, Bears need to spread the opposing defenses out--try combos of Knox/Hester/Wolfe on reverses and end-arounds, etc.
Use more no huddle, and more play action passes.
My 3 cents.
Bear down, goddammmit.
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Oct 28, 2009
01:18 PM
Omiyale needs to be out of the line up. I know that Beekman is too light to be effective against the Vikings, but right now "Big Frank" is just not doing anything but looking around and falling down.