Bears Didn't Deserve the Win

Too many things infuriated me as I watched my Chicago Bears lose to the Carolina Panthers Sunday afternoon. The two Greg Olsen fumbles are obvious, the lack of offensive production is just as problematic, but honestly, the offensive play-calling is my real issue with this Bears team. They often fail to put their personnel in the best position to win games.

The short passing game, as frequently as it was implemented, had very little effect on the Panthers defense. The idea behind of throwing a wide receiver screen or a 2 yard stop route is that your wide receiver will make the first tackler miss and then break it for at least a 6 yard gain. Devin Hester is the only possible receiver on the Bears squad that could make that kind of play, and he left the game with injured ribs in the second half. Rashied Davis does not have that kind of speed or the hands to trust. Marty Booker does not have the moves to shake younger and faster DB’s anymore. Mark Bradley would have to play every once in a while so he can show us he can’t do it either. So why would Ron Turner call that type of play for anyone besides Devin Hester? Does he want to get three yards? To lull those cornerbacks closer to the line of scrimmage so they can hit that 25 yard pass that NEVER worked? Every time those plays were run, the Bears receivers were always tackled by the first defender. It never loosened coverage so it never really opened anything downfield. That wasn’t my only issue with Ron Turner’s game plan.

How about that running game? I will go on record as saying I like Matt Forte a lot. He has great vision in the backfield and manages to scoot through holes that Cedric Benson never found. Unfortunately he’s been shackled by these inept play calls. The Bears do nothing but run right up the middle or the A gaps (the spaces on either side of the center), and everyone knows it. The Panthers knew it, so they never had to adjust. Nothing is ever sent to the outside, which is as if the offensive staff is just too stubborn to let the opposing defense change their game plan. These coaches barely amend their play-calling mid-game, and its killing the Bears one game at a time. There’s a very simple philosophy in the NFL: if it works, keep doing it; if it doesn’t, do something else until you can do what you want. The Chicago Bears are the masters if sticking to their awful strategies no matter how little success they meet.

Now let’s focus on the key in-game decision from last Sunday. The Bears are into Carolina territory late in the fourth quarter with a chance to win, and it is first down. They run up the middle for nine yards, leaving them in a fantastic position at second and one. Their next play is an incompletion downfield, which is not an awful call as it should hopefully (but doesn’t) stretch the defense. The next play is what really bothers me, not the fourth and one call that everyone is ornery about.  On third down Ron Turner apparently called a run, but Kyle instead checked to their infamous “immediate throw to a wide receiver who will be tackled by the first man he sees” route. I have two major issues with Kyle’s decision here: the defense hadn’t been suckered in by anything, so any short pass will remain a short pass. The larger problem is who he is throwing to and expects to make a play. It’s mid-thirties possession receiver Marty Booker.

What?

Booker may still have decent hands, but speed and the ability to dodge defenders have never been foremost in his repertoire. If it had been a quick slant route that takes him a few yards in, then we aren’t having the same discussion. However, the play has him just stand there and wait for the football. In this instance, the ball is almost picked off and is an incomplete, leaving the predictable Bears to run up the middle on fourth and one. That play should be stricken from the playbook and reserved for the only offensive playmaker you have in Devin Hester.

These Chicago Bears are the masters of stubborn. This season is hit or miss for Lovie Smith and his coaches.  If they don’t show any ability to adapt to in-game situations, they should be fired like any other staff in the NFL. That sounds easy enough to me.