Month: December 2013

Adam L. Jahns speculates that defensive coordinator Mel Tucker may be on the hot seat:

“The number of injuries and the caliber of players lost to them have been colossal detriments, causing Tucker to change his practices so the rookies get more instruction and work on fundamentals. And it’s not as though Tucker can race out on the field, get in position, fill gaps and make tackles himself.

“With the defense due for a makeover because of all the expiring contracts, Tucker might get a second chance to really put his stamp on the defense by abandoning all things Lovie.”

I have liked Tucker ever since I watched a fundamentally sound Jaguars defense make the Bears work for every yard last year (until they finally wore down after being hung out to dry by an incompetent offense).  But there’s no denying that performances like Sunday’s shine him and the entire defensive coaching staff in a bad light.  The only rookie on that field was Jonathan Bostic at middle linebacker and he (relatively speaking) didn’t play that badly.  It was the veterans, who were supposed to carry this defense, who let him down.

Tucker catered to those veterans by keeping the defensive scheme from last year, including the language, intact. Those veterans have now, in my opinion, lost the right to such consideration.

My suggestion would be that if Tucker is going to lose his job, that he lose it in his own way, not compromising for a bunch of players who have done nothing but disappoint.   The Bears should give Tucker a fair opportunity to succeed by implementing the defensive scheme that he prefers and the one that he feels most comfortable running in the off-season, not what they think will make the Bears defensive players comfortable.  Perhaps something a little less comfortable will cause them to concentrate a little better on what they are doing out on the field.

Rich Campbell at the Chicago Tribune quotes Bears tight end Martellus Bennett during his visit on WSCR radio yesterday:

“You have 53 guys … doing everything they can and staying after work … whether it’s film, you know, doing everything they can. So for anyone to say they weren’t ready or they were not prepared … is an idiot. …Our coaches do a great job putting us in position to make plays.”

Have it your own way, Martellus.  Everyone was fully prepared and the team is just that bad.

The truth is that the Bears weren’t prepared for what they saw – not schematically, but mentally and physically.  The Eagles came out and punched them in the mouth and the team was simply unable to respond.

Marc Trestman, despite a lot of experience coaching pro football, is learn gin on the job to be an NFL head coach.  I’m not entirely sure what was learned here but I hope it was something that will prevent this from happening again.  Because you can’t just sit back and accept that “it was one of those games”.  If you do, there will be a lot more of them.

Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune speculates on the future contract talks involving quarterback Jay Cutler:

“The general manager has intimated if the club uses the franchise tag to secure Cutler from reaching the open market, it will be to buy time to complete a multi-year contract because the one-year hit of $16 million against the salary cap and the prospect of facing the same situation again in 2015 isn’t appealing.

“That does not mean a long-term contract will not average $16 million per season — or possibly more — for Cutler. The quarterbacks of the NFC clubs doing their best to back right out of the playoff race might see to that. All Cutler’s agent, Bus Cook, has to do is point to the flimsy postseason resumes of the Lions’ Matthew Stafford and the Cowboys’ Tony Romo and ask what differentiates them from his client? Not much.

“Extensions for Stafford and Romo for the season were great developments for Cutler. Both were responsible for bad interceptions at the end of losses last weekend that greatly damaged the playoff hopes of their respective teams.”

“Romo’s contract, which was added six years, included $55 million guaranteed with an average annual salary of $18 million and netted him $28.5 million in the first year of the deal with $54 million paid over the first three years. Romo is 1-3 in four playoff starts with his last appearance after the 2009 season. Cook would be foolish not to use that as a starting point for contract talks.”

And perhaps the Bears would be fools to repeat the costly mistakes that other franchises have committed.  Just an alternative thought…

Cutler is a wonderful athletic talent.  And, yes, the market will set his value, especially if the Bears don’t franchise him.  But I’m not so sure that the league isn’t getting a bit smarter about how they spend their cash and cap.  The free agent market last year wasn’t exactly a great place to be for mediocre to better than average free agents, the class I’d put Cutler in.  I’m by no means convinced that Cutler’s value outside of Chicago is that high.  It will be interesting if the Bears find ourselves in a position to find out.

Ed Sherman at the Chicago Tribune quoting announcer Al Michaels:

“During the week, you hear all these experts say, ‘The key to winning the game is sealing the edge.’ Are you crazy? There are 400 keys to a game. Yet we’ve created a cottage industry with guys yelling about ‘sealing the edge.’ But hey, people watch it.”

Guilty.

Another answer that I agree with as Brad Biggs responds to a fan question for the Chicago Tribune:

“Is there any chance we could see Rex Ryan as defensive coordinator next year if the Jets let him go? Mel Tucker doesn’t seem to be able to adjust his scheme to what he has to work with. And we can see what change a coordinator can make by just looking at the Saints with Rob Ryan and Cowboys. – Sid, Sebastian, Fla.

“I wrote in last week’s mailbag that I believe Tucker will return to the Bears in 2014. Tucker has tried a variety of wrinkles within the defense this season, some more successful than others. What he has to work with right now is a defense that has been diminished by injuries to all three levels. Your flip side of your Saints/Cowboys analogy hasn’t worked so well. Dallas has been horrendous on defense this season with Monte Kiffin replacing Rob Ryan in Dallas.”

As fascinating as a Rex Ryan hire would be, I whole heartedly agree with Biggs that Mel Tucker has done a nice job as defensive coordinator.  For one thing, he’s (apparently) a stable personality where as Ryan, as entertaining as he is, would rarely be characterized that way.  Yes, Ryan is brilliant but the Bears are probably about to get a lot younger on defense and I’m not so sure he’s the right fit for such a situation.

Tucker’s defenses have not always fixed apparent problems as quickly as I’d like.  But that’s because I’m a critic and things are always a lot easier when you don’t have to actually do anything to solve the problems.

The Bears have for the most part fixed many of the problems that they’ve had with gap integrity.  Its pretty easy to be blocked out of a play when you are running laterally and many problems shedding blocks result.  The rookie linebackers both are very slowly showing the ability to better diagnose game situations resulting in better, downhill play.  These things don’t happen over night.  But they are happening and an under rated Tucker and his staff deserve credit for much of the improvement.

 

Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune answers your questions:

“With Lance Briggs coming back will it be enough to turn things around on defense so the Bears are a Super Bowl contender? — @skinny2354 from Twitter

“No one thought the Giants would be a Super Bowl contender when they lost four games at midseason in 2011 to fall to 6-6. But they won three of their final four regular-season games to sneak into the playoffs and from there they ran the table. That team had a very strong pass rush that was a big factor in the postseason run. Briggs’ return isn’t going to necessarily help the Bears start wreaking havoc on opposing quarterbacks. Briggs’ presence will make the defense better but he can’t make up for the loss of Henry Melton and Charles Tillman. It’s going to be difficult for the Bears to play playoff-caliber defense against a high-powered offense, in my opinion. But like I said, few thought that Giants team was going anywhere.”

My first instinct when reading inquiries like this is to treat them with contempt.  I’ve been virtually ignoring the playoff possibilities for this team because logically, the Bears can do almost no damage in the playoffs if they get there.  I’ve hardly even thought about it.

The run defense has been a mess and the Bears just aren’t strong enough at the line of scrimmage.  You need only look at the St. Louis Rams game last month to see the problem.  The Bears were dominated by an admittedly very under rated defensive front.  Have you seen the San Fransisco 49ers defense?  Have you heard the noise up in that dome in Seattle?  As strong as that Rams front is, these teams field even better players.  Can the Bears win games against those teams?  Absolutely no way.

How bad do my instincts tell me this situation is?  Let’s put it this way.  I dislike the Lions right now with a passion.  They’re dirty, undisciplined and, not unrelated, their head coach and their defensive coordinator are both punks.  But I also know that if they play to the level of their ability, they are the only team in the NFC North with the talent up front to compete with the big boys.  Even I will admit that January could be a lot more exciting with them in the contests.

Bottom line, if I followed my instincts, I wouldn’t even bother to watch the games anymore.  But I do watch the games.  I watch becauseI love to think about how the Bears have arisen to meet the challenges of the week before and to see what new challenges will arise to meet in the coming week. I love to think, week to week, about how the Bears have improved, two steps forward, one step back.  I watch because, well, when you think about it, you never know…

The Bears do have a healthy offensive line and have been trying all season to do creative things things to apply leverage that will give them an edge over brute strength.  And with their skill position players, they do have the potential to score points in bunches.

Yes, they are missing Tillman and Melton.  Tillman is really irreplaceable but both Tim Jennings and Zack Bowman have stepped it up in recent weeks and they haven’t done badly.  And though the defensive line will not be a strength, it has stabilized considerably with the addition of Jeremiah Ratliff.  

Arguably safety is still a minor weakness but the addition of Briggs could very well stabilize the last major defensive issue.  The linebacker position has been without question the beating heart of the Bears defense for many years and Briggs will not only bring his ability to make plays but he’ll almost certainly provide some stability playing next to rookie Jon Bostic and his addition might even help cover for some remaining deficiencies there.

The Bears still have to play virtually perfect, mistake-free football.  No penalties, no drops and, especially, no turnovers.  But, if the defense peaks and comes together to play its best football right now, at the most important time of the year…

Is it possible that the Bears could end up in the Super Bowl?  Looking around at the rest of the NFC, it’s a totally ridiculous question.  But there’s always hope.  And hope leads to thoughts and thoughts lead to possibilities.  And anything is possible if your put your mind to it.

Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune quotes Michael Bush on his late touchdown Sunday.  Cleveland was out of timeouts and the Bears could have run the clock out if he’d gone down short of the end zone:

“‘The line did a great job of blocking and I saw a little crease on the linebacker and I was going to score regardless,’ Bush said. ‘I know that I probably needed to go down, the smart play would have been go down and take a knee. But my plays are limited. I am going to take advantage of the opportunities I have.'”

I was working under the assumption that Bush didn’t go down because he didn’t think of it.  This quote seems to contradict that.

I understand Bush’s situation.  He’s stuck as the backup to Matt Forte and he gets limited touches per game.  He doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to score.  But having said that, no one can be too pleased with the “me first” attitude that this action engenders.

Offense

1. The Browns came out pretty much playing the pass though they did regularly bring a guy down into the box late just before the snap.  The Bears started out running Forte at them but when they saw the last minute adjustments they went to the passing game and the Browns stopped bring the extra man down as often.
2. The Bears protection was pretty good.  In response the Browns started to blitz occasionally in the second quarter and that got more pressure on quarterback Jay Cutler.  That pressure got worse in the second half and, partly as a consequence of that, the Bears offense stalled more often.
3. Cutler did not have a particularly good day as he struggled with his accuracy.  He looked a bit rusty.
4. The Bears once again failed too often in the redone, getting three points in their first two trips.
5. I thought Matt Forte deserved special mention.  He did a pretty good job of making yardage on his own this game.  Michael Bush also looked good and took advantage of his opportunities.
6. It was very, very evident early on that Cutler had decided to target Brandon Marshall rather than spread the ball around evenly.  Even when he threw to Alshon Jeffery on the fourth quarter touchdown, Jeffery was double covered.  No sane coach could look at that and like what he saw, particularly after watching Josh McCown execute the offense the way its supposed to be executed to some weeks now.  You have to wonder what Marc Trestman’s thoughts were and what effect those thoughts may or may not have about Cutler’s fate with the Bears in the offseason.

Defense

1. The Bears played the Browns straight up according to the personnel they put on the field and it didn’t seem to me like they emphasized stopping either the run or the pass.  The Browns mixed it up and this matchup looked pretty straight forward for most of the game with nothing fancy.
2. Surprisingly the Bears didn’t seem to concentrate particularly on Josh Gordon.  The Browns used him and the other wide receivers more to clear out the Bears defense and take them deep, settling for throwing underneath.
3. The Browns also threw a number of screens with quite a bit success.  The Bears are going to have to spend some of their week this week cleaning that up.
4. I thought the Bears got good pressure on Jason Campbell but he was getting rid of the ball underneath just in time to avoid the sack.
5. I think the Bears defense did much better against the run today.  Instead of playing laterally, the linebackers were diagnosing the plays and playing down hill, filling gaps.  Tacking generally wasn’t bad.
6. Having said that, obviously the Bears didn’t get the message that the wildcat was a fad in that it doesn’t work anymore.
7. Having slammed Cutler for his accuracy, let’s not forget former Bears Jason Campbell who was out of sync with his receivers all day.
8. With a 14 point lead and less than two minutes left in a prevent defense, how do you let Josh Gordon get behind you?  For heaven’s sake.

Miscellaneous

1. The FOX crew was made up of of Thom Brennaman, Brian Billick and Laura Okmin.  All did an average to below average job which stood in stark contrast to some of the excellent crews the bears have been drawing this season.
2. The Bears are back to committing too many penalties.  It started with a delay of game penalty early in the first quarter and continued to burn them to a more or lesser extent throughout the game.  Particularly egregious was a series near the end of the second quarter where the Bears went from fourth and inches to a field goal attempt on a illegal motion call.  The successful field goal was then taken off of the board because of a holding call on Corey Wooton and the Bears punted.  The teams were well match din this respect as the Browns had their fair share of penalties as well with a couple pass interference calls in the fourth quarter being particularly damaging.
3. Cleveland had a number of drops that hurt them.  The Bears were considerably cleaner.  Brandon Marshall arguably dropped a ball that he should have had on a deep ball near the Cleveland goal line but he was double covered and he may have been hit early.
4. I thought the special teams were pretty good today.  Devin Hester ripped off some good returns.
5. Turnovers were huge in this game as both quarterbacks threw two interceptions, both throwing one pick six.  One of Cutler’s was in the end zone in the first quarter.  Martellus Bennett had a fumble which was returned for six points.  Both teams missed opportunities from more turnovers. Very sloppy on both sides.
6. All week I really gave the “quarterback controversy” that wasn’t a controversy very little attention.  The Bears had made up their minds and as far as I was concerned, all debate was irrelevant after that.  Besides, I figured the Bears were OK with either quarterback.  But now I have to wonder.  Take those Cutler interceptions out of the game and  would this contest have even been even close in the fourth quarter?

It was a lazy (and very early) morning after reviewing the recording of the Bears game.   That is, until Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune popped this eye opener into his article this morning (the emphasis is mine):

“If [Josh] McCown can be plugged into [Bears head coach Marc] Trestman‘s system and perform like this, who’s to say the Bears won’t opt to bring him back and draft a player for the quarterback whisperer to get his hands on? It would likely be a much cheaper option than re-signing [injured starting quarterback Jay] Cutler.

“One general manager texted during halftime Monday night and predicted just that — the Bears will look to re-sign McCown and draft a quarterback.“

I suppose you always take what league sources say with a grain of salt because they all have their own motives for feeding quotes to the press.  But this one strikes too close to home to be dismissed.  This anonymous general manager is echoing what many, if not most, Bears fans are thinking.

Cutler has a lot of talent.  But he has a lot of limitations and the Bears offense will always be limited with him at quarterback as well.  As has been documented over and over again, the Bears will likely have to take a big cap hit to keep him once he hits the open market.

It won’t be Teddy Bridgewater but the Bears could reach for a mighty good late first round/early second round-type quarterback from where they’ll probably be drafting.  And it looks like they’ve finally got the kind of coaching staff that could develop him.  Indeed, why else would you choose to go in the direction of a quarterback-freindly offensive head coach in the first place?

No matter the motives behind the comment, the GM is right.  The Bears have been setting themselves up in order to be capable of drafting and developing a quarterback from the moment Trestman was hired.  Economically and strategically it makes a lot of sense and they could very well go in this direction.