jason

Aside from not having the prototypical NT for the 3-4, I don't see why the Bears' personnel isn't a good fit for that scheme anyway. Hunter Hillenmeyer, Lance Briggs, Brian Urlacher, Jamar Williams It's not like the DTs are getting pressure anyway. Do the Bears really need all of'em basically standing there and waiting for the run to come to them?

This is very simple. The Bears had EIGHT DRIVES of less than TEN YARDS. That's just not going to cut it.

Agreed. With four takeaways, the Bears offense has to do more. Incidentally, I don't think the Bears' failure on defense in the second half and overtime have very much to do with fatigue. It's all scheme in my opinion. It takes a lot more effort to react than it does to act. Defense is naturally going to get tired more quickly. The problem is, both teams are tired near the end of the game, and the team that made the adjustment to put on the pressure was the Bucs. The Bears made absolutely no adjustments; otherwise, there's no way Greasy throws 60+ times without being on the IR.

I like Cowher, but for once it'd be nice to have a coach with an offensive background.

That one call sucked for the Bears, but it still comes down to the choke-job from the Bears. The offense was timid, ineffective most of the game, and hardly created any threat. The defense basically made no adjustments and allowed Griese to just step up into the pocket and throw 3 million times, playing that weak ass bend but don't break cover 2. There is no way this game should have come down to that play making any sort of impact. It should have been put away long before then.

Simply put, this is yet another game in which the coaches had a severe impact on the outcome of the game. They timid, no-balls strategies cause and allow complacency, not to mention emboldening the opponent with all sorts of energy and momentum. OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR The offense did better this game, but simply put, Turner has not fully learned his lesson. He still doesn't understand how to call a game, and all too often his calls are predictable. A shotgun pass on third and short is a horrible call, and then to go to the same formation on another third and short is basically telling the opponents, "Hey, we know it didn't work last time, so we'll definitely run in this formation." It just seems like he doesn't really understand how to keep an opponent off balance. Sooner or later Turner has to be held accountable for how bad the offense is. DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR Simply put, there are no adjustments whatsoever. It looks good early on, but eventually the other team finds out how to adjust, and once again hurts the Bears. First of all, the DL needs to mix it up more. When the opponent's QB knows the Bears' DEs will just rush around the edge, it's easy for the OTs to adjust, and it's easy for the QB to step up. Do you think Griese would have had that many attempts if heat was coming up the middle? With a QB like Griese, prone to throw erratically under pressure, it's ridiculously obvious that you have to put heat on him, hit him, and press the WRs. Griese will make mistakes, and for the most part he did. But the last few drives were pathetic, with four man rushes happening over and over, and Griese sitting back hitting guys in stride. Speaking of hitting receivers in stride, can someone tell the DC to STOP THE DAMN SLANT PATTERN?!?! HEAD COACH I don't even want to mention his name. He's liable for the others, and neither the OC nor the DC makes any adjustments. The Bears constantly seem outmatched, and nearly the only time the Bears seem to be ahead of the other team is when the Bears' special teams are involved. If there are not major improvements, this entire staff needs to get the axe.

When is this cover-2 defense ever going to stop the damn slant route?

TURNOVERS!!! BIG F'ING DEAL LOVIE!!! It doesn't matter if your offense can't capitalize. Especially when they throw the deep wheel route to the damn RB. C'mon.

Dude...that WAS NOT on the offensive line. The Bucs brought the house, four DL and three LBs. The RB picked up his responsibility. Orton dodged one guy. That was on Orton for sitting in there too long and not making quick decisions.

Is Orton retarded? There were three WRs, single-coverage, one on one side, two on the other. One safety. The other seven defenders were all in goal-line formation. If they all come blitzting, and you avoid one guy....YOU DO NOT HAVE TIME TO AVOID ANOTHER GUY! THROW THE DAMN BALL OR TUCK AND RUN!!!

If the Bears start off with a WR, ANY WR, it will be a horrible beginning to the draft.

You know, the thing is...Griese sucks. But when you see him move in the pocket like that, and then hit the TE on a deep cross, you have to wonder if he's still better than Orton or Grossman.

Good question TJM. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it will be 25%-30%. Orton will have about 2200 yards total, and Forte will have about 400-500yds.

Gould is awesome. It's just too bad the offense is allergic to the endzone.

OH MY GOD!!! Short yardage needed and Forte gets the ball!?!? Isn't that friggin' genius!!!

If everyone is going to quick hit on this thread, why not just go to the chat room?? Let's go! chatroom!

Looked to me like it hit Dez right in the hands...he just dropped it. Maybe heard some footsteps.

Clark has to make that catch...screwed the team there.

GRIESE SUCKS!!!! hahahaha

I'm only luke-warm on this one. I like the first two picks, but I don't like the English pick. With three good DEs, that is not a need-position right now for the Bears when compared to other positions.

Everyone is hinting around it, but the true key to this game is simple: The offense has to do something. The Bears should not have to rely on the defense holding the opponents under 14 points. The offense needs to be able to put up three or four scoring drives a game, and at least two of those need to be TDs.

NOW YOU'RE TALKING!!! I like this one a lot. First four rounds, first four problem areas addressed.

I think it just comes down to a disagreement about philosophy. I don't care about the choice of play, I think the Bears as currently built, should run, run, run. Just about anything 2nd and short or 3rd and short should be a run to Forte. If Forte gets stoned, then I blame the entire offense, and the offensive line in general. Just a few yards comes down to execution. I still say the FB dive to McKie is stupid. Forte is a faster, more explosive, stronger runner than McKie. The ball should be given to the #1 RB in nearly every situation. McKie is primarily a blocking FB, not a running FB. You say that the defense wouldn't be demoralized, but you know you're simplifying the situation. One first down? No, not demoralizing. But if the Bears' offense does it over and over? You know that kills the other team. The only thing we agree upon is the fact that Orton should make those throws. I don't like the calls, but if those are the calls then Orton has to throw good balls and make completions.

Do I blame the guy? HELL YES I BLAME HIM!!!! He's essentially the epitome of the greed athlete affecting the Bears. The guy was loved in Chicago, made into a #1 WR when he really wasn't one, and he went for the huge money. I know what many will say: "But wouldn't anyone go for a raise? How can you turn it down?" To that I say, it's just not the same. Once you're over a few million, it's all the same. Many people live, with families, on mere fractions of what the guy WAS making, but then he went for the huge money. Would he have received millions from the Bears?! Hell yeah he would have. But the millions weren't enough, he wanted millions and millions more. Greed I tell you. Greed. I hope he sucks, and the rest of his career sucks as long as he's not with the Bears. With that said, the only good thing about the scenario is that he's wasting cap space in Minnesota.

I can't go through play-by-play precisely because I don't have a recording, but the play-by-play on NFL.com has him rushing 14 times in the first half (15 but one was taken away by penalty), and only 23 for the entire game. Let's see... 14 times in the first half...Bears beating the Panthers... 9 times in the second half...Bears barely lose to the Panthers... A short analysis of second half plays that look like they should have been rushing downs: 1) First possession in the second half: 3-3-CHI 44 (12:22) 18-K.Orton pass incomplete short left to 81-R.Davis. (Short yardage and an incompletion to Davis? Hmmmm...) 2) Second possession: 1-1-CAR 1 (9:25) 37-J.McKie up the middle for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN. (Lucky result - that play sucks.) 3) Last possession third quarter: 2-2-CHI 28 (1:29) 18-K.Orton pass incomplete deep right to 80-B.Lloyd. (I agree that 2nd and short is often where the chances are taken, but why do it when the RB is doing really well? Most will tell you about the 2nd and short-go long philosophy, but most will also tell you that there is nothing more demoralizing to a defense than getting trucked on the ground.) 4) The last drive: 2-1- (2:05) (No Huddle, Shotgun) 18-K.Orton pass incomplete short left to 81-R.Davis. (You want to know why it was a bad call?? Just check the previous drive for the same result on nearly the exact same play/results. 2-4-CHI 35 (3:12) (Shotgun) 18-K.Orton pass incomplete deep left to 81-R.Davis. So, I can't rewatch the game, but to me, someone who understands football, and someone who knows that the Bears offensive strength (if any) exists in the running game, those plays don't look good on paper.