Month: December 2015

Another Challenge for Jay Cutler

Dan Wiederer at the Chicago Tribune takes us through some of the numbers relevant to Sunday’s match up with the Redskins:

“46.6: Jay Cutler’s rating in two career starts against the Redskins, both losses. In 2013, Cutler left a 45-41 loss late in the first half after suffering a torn groin muscle. Cutler also threw a pick six in that game. Three years earlier, he threw four interceptions – all to Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall – in a 17-14 loss at Soldier Field. Cutler’s numbers against the Redskins: 29-for-48, 309 yards, one TD pass, five picks.”

This will be another watershed game for Cutler.

Two games ago on Thanksgiving Cutler took advantage of the opportunity to show critics like myself that he’s a different quarterback this year. Similar to that game, Cutler will be able to show that he can perform in situations this year that he has previously collapsed in. It doesn’t help that he’s coming off of his worst game of the year (18 completions of 31 attempts for 202 yards with a passer rating of 64.2). It was one in which he was more than usually erratic, especially on deeper throws.

Like all Bears fans, I wish him good luck in defeating the demons that have haunted him in days gone by.

For Heaven’s Sake, Jalen Saunders

Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune relays that Bears practice squad wide receiver Jalen Saunders has been suspended for 10 games violating the league’s substance abuse policy:

“Ten-game suspensions come when a player has violated the policy for a fourth time.

“The Bears signed Saunders to the practice squad on Sept. 7 and transferred him to the practice squad/injured list on Oct. 6. The New York Jets drafted him in the fourth round out of Oklahoma last year and he was released just one month into the season. He then spent time with the Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints before the season ended. “

He’s violated the policy four times in just two years? He’s either got a huge drug problem or he’s extremely stupid.  I can’t imagine the Bears keep this guy around.

Bears Fans Appreciate What They See in Jay Cutler and Good Coaching. I Hope.

Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune writes on the problems the Bears face with their available receivers constantly changing week to week:

“‘The word trust comes in,’ [Eddie] Royal said. ‘Sometimes the timing is not going to be there but you still have to play. You have to trust that the guy is going to be in that spot when you throw the ball. Jay [Cutler] has done a great job doing that, knowing where the guy is supposed to be and trusting that he is going to be there because a lot of throws are timing throws.”

He certainly has. And its a very notable improvement.

I have claimed for years that Cutler’s major problem has been that he doesn’t trust anyone. This is particularly damaging when he doesn’t trust his receivers because it prevents him from throwing with anticipation, relying on the receiver to be in the right spot at the right time. It’s one of the major reasons Cutler has developed over time as a “see it, throw it” player who relies on his arm strength to get the ball to a receiver in the short window of time after he is open instead of throwing it before he is open.

But Cutler has been doing considerably better this year in that respect and its one of the major factors in what is turning out to be perhaps his best career year ever.

Biggs continues:

“The [rotating receiver] predicament has made it difficult for opposing defenses to predict how the Bears are going to attack them in the passing game on a weekly basis. It also has prepared the bottom of the roster to contribute, something that should pay off when the group is finally healthy. That’s what the Bears are trusting in.”

It cannot be said enough what a treat Bears fans are being served this year through the results of great coaching that they have been privileged to observe. Top to bottom the Bears are maximizing production at every position week to week, including those that have seen heavy injuries like the offensive line and the wide receiver position.

Coaches have done a wonderful job working around these deficiencies through good game planning.  For instance, an emphasis on quick throws has relieved the pressure on the offensive linemen and the Bears have relied on the tight ends and running backs Matt Forte and Jeremy Langford as receivers more than ever.

But at least as important, players like Marc Mariani who have previously been literally nobodies in the league have been emerging to help the team win games that their talent indicates they shouldn’t even be close in.

This must be what its like to be a Patriots fan every year. Only Bears fans are likely to appreciate it more since they see it so much less. Or at least I hope so.

Martellus Bennett’s Status Probably Not Entirely About His Ribs

Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune answers your questions. This one is about whether tight end Martellus Bennett will be back with the Bears. The answer is telling:

“[Bennett has] been a good player for them and has been highly durable until a recent rib fracture landed him on injured reserve on Tuesday, a day after coach John Fox described him as day-to-day and two days after he finished the game against the 49ers. I’m not dismissing Bennett’s injury but it’s probably a combination of factors that led to the decision.”

The implication is, of course, that it wasn’t just the rib injury.

Who Would Replace Adam Gase? Probably Someone Good.

Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune answers your questions. This one is about whether the Bears will hire within if offensive coordinator Adam Gase leaves to become a head coach:

“If Gase departs, coach John Fox will have to consider what is best for the offense and is the best fit for his staff in 2016. Obviously, the quarterback has a lot to do with that but you can’t let one player dictate what you are going to do. Quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains would seem like a potential candidate. I wouldn’t be surprised if Fox considered former Titans and Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt. We’ll see what happens if Gase is hired as a head coach elsewhere in January.”

A few thoughts here:

  1. Gase is a good offensive coordinator but I feel compelled to point out that statistically the Bears offense isn’t that good. The Bears rank 20th in total offense and 25th in points. They’ve also struggled in the red zone. Don’t get me wrong. Gase has done a good job maximizing the talent he has available with a patchwork offensive line and patchy availability for most of his receivers for most of the year. But if I’m looking for a head coach, those statistics aren’t going to get me or my fan base excited. The favorites for head coaching jobs in November aren’t always the same ones that you see getting interviewed in January.
  2. Dowell Logains was Johnny Manziel‘s quarterbacks coach last year. Enough said.
  3. It seems likely to me at this point that Mike McCoy will be fired in San Diego at the end of the season. Should that happen, I would expect him to be a strong candidate here. Hes worked with Fox before and had enough success to get a head coaching job. He’d be a good choice.
  4. One of the most important jobs of a good head coach is to attract good assistants. It might be the most important job, especially if you are John Fox, who apparently gives his assistants plenty of room to do their jobs. Fox’s recent history has proven that he can do this. I think the odds are good that whoever he hires will be good for the team.

Redskins Cancel Practice Ahead of Bears Game. Good Idea? I Have My Doubts.

Rich Tandler at csnmidatlantic.com reports that the Redskins canceled practice ahead of the Bears game on Sunday:

“‘We’re a little banged up here, obviously, and I thought it was important for our staff to get a good plan together and the players to get an extra day of rest, come back tomorrow with a plan in place and get a good day of practice,’ said [head coach Jay] Gruden.”

On the surface, this sounds like a good idea. But I wonder if it really is.

Most coaches, certainly the recent Bears coaches like Lovie Smith, have preached that injuries are not an excuse for failure. Every team has injuries. The Bears are as banged up as anyone besides the Chargers and yet you hardly ever hear the players even mention it. I have to attribute that in part to Bears head coach John Fox, who undoubtedly let’s it be known that the injuries are irrelevant.

I would argue that Gruden is subconsciously allowing the players to use injuries as an excuse not to succeed in practice. That’s only a very small step from being an excuse not to perform in the games, themselves.  I have to wonder if it’s not best for head coaches to ignore the injuries as they would have the players do.  Indeed, I wonder if it isn’t hypocritical not to.

I’m sure that Gruden is like every other coach and I’m sure he preaches that injuries are no excuse for losing. But action speak louder that words.

Wishing for the Return of Eddie Royal

Rich Campbell at the Chicago Tribune addresses the absence of wide receiver Eddie Royal:

“I get the impression that fans are irritable about Royal (knee) missing five straight games, but if you’re hurt you’re hurt. The Bears didn’t do Royal any public relations favors by listing him as questionable for the 49ers games even though he hasn’t practiced since going down in the Vikings game on Nov. 1, but that’s another matter.”

Most of the fans I know aren’t “irritable”. Most aren’t thinking of Royal at all. But having said that, perhaps they should.

Royal’s absence as a source of problems for the Bears is probably being largely under-estimated. This is partly because the Bears were playing him split out wide. One of the things that Royal said in the offseason that he wanted to do was prove that he could play somewhere other than the slot. But it soon became evident that the slot was where he belongs as his production suffered while the Bears were still feeling their way through the beginning of the year to find out what players could and couldn’t do.

Before he was hurt, the Bears moved Royal back into the slot where he belongs and he was reasonably productive before he got hurt. Royal could be a very important future piece in this offense when he’s healthy. Let’s hope he returns soon.

Bears May Finally Have to Bite the Bullet and Let Bennett Go

[EDIT:  In contrast to what I said below, TE Martellus Bennett was listed on injury report each day last week with designation of full participation.]

Dan Wiederer at the Chicago Tribune reports that tight end Martellus Bennett has been put on injured reserve with damage to his ribs. He wasn’t on the injury report last week despite the claim that it was a hit in the Denver game that caused the problem.

“Head coach John] Fox has made it clear since January that he plans to build around team-first ‘we before me’ players and will be decisive in finding the right character blend for his roster. In that context, it’s hard to envision the Bears keeping Bennett next season, even after his ribs heal.”

martellus-bennettI’ve been predicting for some time that Bennett wouldn’t be with the Bears for long. In fact, I thought he might be traded before the deadline.

It’s obvious that the Bears have been making the most of a bad situation here. They don’t want to just release a Pro Bowl tight end with no compensation but Bennett is making himself untradable. Teams aren’t going to give up anything to acquire a tight end that makes it more and more obvious every day that he has a problem with authority and poor practice habits.

Cover of Bennett’s mixed tape Year of the Orange Dinosaur, released in 2014
Cover of Bennett’s mixed tape Year of the Orange Dinosaur, released in 2014

Bennett lacks focus and drive when he’s not actually on the field during a real game. And even his effort during games has been questioned this year as he sometimes doesn’t fight for 50-50 balls that he used to bring down regularly.

In any case, he shows no signs that he’s willing to go the extra mile that’s needed to make a talented player great. Like the situation with former Bears Brandon Marshall, Bennett looks like he’s going to be another one of those tragic stories of wasted talent that never found it’s way on to a winner. He’s yet another classic example of why, despite the claims of many that talent trumps all, character still matters in sports.

Linebacker Amongst the More Problematic Bears Positions

Mike Mulligan at the Chicago Tribune says that linebacker Shea McClellin doesn’t attack down hill the way that linebackers need to be able to do:

“[T]he interesting statistic is that game statisticians determined that only 15 of his 45 tackles [against the run] came versus runs of fewer than 4 yards. Ten of those 15 tackles were assists, many on short-yardage runs. But only five of his 44 solo tackles came on runs of fewer than 4 yards, including just one tackle for a loss.”

I found the title of this article to be amusing, “Bears can do better than Shea McClellin at inside linebacker”. They can do better virtually everywhere on defense where they are performing reasonably well despite a distinct lack of talent. Linebacker is definitely not an exception.

Neither McClellin nor Christian Jones has the instincts needed to react quickly to what the opponent is doing. And you can’t attack down hill if you are still moving laterally trying to diagnose what’s going on. Their deficiencies are the reason why fellow linebacker Jonathan Anderson has gotten more playing time. Anderson shows up in the backfield to tackle runners for a loss far more than either McClellin or Jones.

It is possible that both McClellin and Jones will develop the instincts needed to play the position given time. But as the season wears on and we don’t see improvement, it’s becoming hard to be patient. Like every other position, it’s going to be interesting to see what the Bears do at linebacker in the offseason.

NFL Draft Order if the Season Ended Today

NFL Media draft analyst Lance Zierlein gives top needs for each team in the order that they would draft if the season ended today. His analysis of the Bears needs at number 15 overall is puzzling:

“Top need: Pass rusher

“Other needs: Quarterback, cornerback, left tackle, wide receiver ”

“Analysis: Chicago has had improved play from Jay Cutler as the season progressed, but after 10 years, he is who he is. The question for Chicago is where it will prioritize quarterback this year — or if it does at all. Wide receiver opposite Alshon Jeffery could be addressed within the first three rounds, but finding a pass rusher should be the Bears’ top priority.”

I’ll leave the Cutler criticism for others to comment upon. But a wide receiver opposite Jeffery? Has last year’s first round draft pick, Kevin White, been kidnapped or something?  Because otherwise, I can’t imagine what Zierlein is thinking.

I also find the need for a left tackle to be off base. Even if you think that Charles Leno doesn’t have a future there – and I think the Bears would disagree – the team still has both Jermon Bushrod and Kyle Long to fill that void. If anything, they have a glut at the position.

This was a mighty sloppy evaluation that obviously wasn’t very well thought out. It’s a living, breathing example of why NFL fans need to be careful about who they listen to when it comes to analysis of any part of the game. Far too frequently, we accept opinions like this without questioning who the analyst is or where they are coming from.

It’s true that if general manager Ryan Pace sees a quarterback that he likes, he has to take him. And the Bears do have a big need at offensive guard, something that somehow got past Zierlein. But otherwise I can’t imagine prioritizing anything other than defense in this draft.