I won’t punish you by going over every thing the Bears did wrong on Sunday. I don’t have that much time to write and I already punished myself by watching the game off my DVR after having heard the slaughter on the radio Sunday. Instead, let me explain what you can learn from their 45-10 beatdown at the hands of Carson Palmer, Cedric "holding a grudge" Benson and the Bengals.
-Lovie Smith’s cover two defense is overrated and doesn’t work with the personnel on this team. His defensive scheme requires the four defensive linemen to get pressure on their own, which hasn’t been happening during Smith’s tenure. Without that consistent pressure opposing quarterbacks will be able find receivers in the open parts of the field. What good is a defensive scheme if EVERYONE knows how precisely to attack it week in and week out? Taking over the defensive play-calling isn’t working out exactly as Smith had planned. Scrap the cover two, or at least stop depending on it so much. It simply isn’t working.
-Jay Cutler and Matt Forte aren’t the problem, the offensive line is. Sure, Jay will throw a ball or two into triple coverage, but that’s his style. He’s single-handedly kept the Bears in games they had no business winning, even while working with a receiver corps no one gave any credit. Speaking of which, Devin Hester was one of the lone bright spots against the Bengals, showing true wide receiver ability.
Forte may not be 100%, but he’s still a talented back. The real issue is an offensive line that can’t protect against pressure or open any holes on the ground. Peyton Manning would look mediocre behind this offensive line. He, Tom Brady, Carson Palmer, and even Kyle Orton are behind fantastic offensive lines that give them plenty of time to find open receivers.
Orlando Pace should me moved to right tackle and Chris Williams should switch to left. He’s going to eventually anyway and Pace isn’t helping on the left side. With the money they spent on Frank Omiyale, the Bears may have to give more him time to gel in the position before bringing in Josh Beekman.
-Tommie Harris will never be healthy again. It’s sad but true. After the craziness and contrasting information that came out of the Bears staff this week, Harris said his knee was not the reason he missed Sunday’s game. Pardon? If you’re not injured you should freaking be playing! Chicago needs to make a move in free agency for a defensive tackle (since we don’t have many draft picks) to offset Harris’ lack of production.
-As far as I’m concerned, the entire Bears coaching staff needs to be scrapped. Their schemes are awful, their talent evaluation and development is extremely suspect and their lack of in-game adjustments is simply unacceptable. If it were up to me, I’d fire the staff and bring in a coach with some experience like Jon Gruden or Mike Shanahan. Imagine a Cutler-Shanahan reunion in Chicago with some zone-blocking running plays thrown in. It sounds fantastic doesn’t it? Well it won’t happen (because it would require the Bears to fire Lovie with 2 years left on his contract as well as hiring a head coach with actual head coaching experience), but it’s nice to dream.
Have a good week and a Happy Halloween! Happy Jay Cutler Day!
