Bears4Ever_34

Looks like it's going to be a shoot out. Neither defense seems interested in eliminating the big plays.

Or rather move him to his actual position at LB instead of pretending he's a DE. Oops.. The Bears don't run a 3-4.

Not sure which team has the worst defense.

That amazing Giants offense just ran all over the Bears there.. literally.. This team has some serious issues on both sides of the ball. A team that averaged 56 yards rushing per game already has 56 yards before the 1st quarter is over.

Stupid ass play calling and a dumb ass decision to go for it on 4th down. Take the points! And stop running Matt Forte up the middle!

Lets hope the Bears don't allow another receiver to burn them for over 150 yards tonight. Cruz scares the hell out of me against this defense.

This is a team the Bears should handle. If they struggle, and or lose this game, it's going to be chaos in Chicago for the next week.

The biggest problem I've had with Cutler and the offense is that too much is being done late in games after they have fallen behind enough to where the opposing defense is comfortable enough to sit back and give you meaningless stat padding yardage. Specifically in the last two games where about half their offense came in the 4th quarter. Cutler has looked better, I'll give him that, but he's still the same guy he's always been. He'll have 3 or 4 games where he'll look like an All Pro, but he'll have 3 or 4 awful games that leave you feeling sick when the game is over. With Jay it's all about managing those bad games and making sure it doesn't become a total implosion like the Lions game. That's Trestman's job. That is what he is here for. They definitely need to start getting things in gear here as we approach the halfway point of the season. The more games you play the more tape there is for teams to look at. Trestman is suppose to be the offensive genius, but he's left a lot to be desired. I don't expect them to look like an elite offense right now, but I do expect better results than I've seen so far this year early in games. That's where the game planning comes into play. That's on Trestman.

The Browns are supposedly shopping him for whatever reason. I understood dealing Richardson for a draft pick because of the position he plays, but Gordon is your star 22 year old WR who's probably going to be better than anything you get for him in return. They're asking for a 2nd round draft pick, but likely will only get a 3rd. You already know I'm going to ask it. Would you give up a 3rd round pick for someone like Gordon? Yeah, the likelihood of the Bears being interested is about slim and none. If they are going to make deals, you'd sooner guess it's for a position of greater need like DT, but the question at hand is would YOU do it? I haven't made up my mind yet. I want to say yes, but I also see all the reasons why they shouldn't do it. Pro's: - Adds an element to the offense they don't currently have, which is the speed and homerun hitting ability. - He fits right along with Marshall and Jeffery in terms of physique, but brings the speed that those two don't have. 6'3 225 with 4.3 speed. They would easily have the most physically imposing group of WR's in the league, as well as a top 3 core overall. - He's only 22, so he's practically about as young as any other potential draft pick - He makes your offense better and less predictable Con's: - More of a luxury at this point than a true need. - Marshall might go nuts if he sees even less targets. - You don't know what you have yet in Marquess Wilson potentially filling this void. - Future cap considerations. Lots and lots of money would need to be spent on the WR position to secure these guys.

A month means he could be coming back right around that Bears game. I want to see the Bears beat GB with him playing, because it'll be a good way to know how we stack up against them in the future.

You can guess what the 1st round pick is going to be for next year. DT

You can call it something else, but it was another poor performance. They were bad, and this defense as a whole has been pretty damn awful for the majority of the year, would you not agree? I'm not letting the offense off the hook either, as stated in my previous posts. They share a huge chunk of blame in this game as well, but at least what they're doing seems fixable. I'm not sure this defense can get much better. Age and attrition seems to have finally caught up with them.

They were getting absolutely torched on first down the entire game. They couldn't get off the field because every 1st down play was a gain of 7-8 yards. Not to mention the brain dead back to back plays by Briggs and Wooton jumping offsides on a 4th and 1 at a crucial time in the game. They were bad. You are right about the offense though. 10 points, at home through 3 quarters? That is exactly what I am talking about. If you are looking for a silver lining, Alshon Jeffery looks like he's about to unleash himself on this league.

The Bears got beat by a better team for the 2nd consecutive week. The offense will have a humongous burden to carry the rest of the season because this defense is shit rotten awful. I am getting sick of this "suck for 3 quarters and be good for 1" offense that I've seen for 5 games now. It took them an entire half to realize Rob Ryan likes to blitz. Where the freak are the screen passes? Cutler had a very nice bounce back performance but he was getting absolutely zero help from his offensive line or his offensive coordinator.

Yeah, I'm going to agree with Jason about the 40%. There's almost no way.. Cutler self-hurries himself a lot, which they may or may not count against him. I don't know. They gave up 3 sacks last week against the Lions but I'm pretty sure every single one of them were coverage sacks.

Seems like everytime Alshon Jeffery has a big game Marshall is depressed about not getting the ball enough. He had 14 targets last week, so it's not like he isn't getting opportunities.

I'd like to see him get a shot here at OLB, but that doesn't appear to be in the cards right now. He's not a defensive end, so if the Bears keep trying to make him one, they might as well trade him for a draft pick and get something out of it.

I knew they had been bad, but not this bad. Guess Dave Toub was really a genius after all.. Joe D will be out of a job at the end of the year if this keeps up.

If you can sub one of Chris Conte/Major Wright for Tillman at the safety position, that's a win in my book. Safety is a weak spot on this defense.

To be honest, I don't think Urlacher would have made a bit of difference. The issue doesn't appear to be leadership, the issues are getting off blocks and getting to the quarterback. I'm all for going to some 3-4 if that's what it takes to get pressure. Put Washington and or McCellin at OLB, and let them rush the QB. Keep the 1 gap responsibilities so you don't have to screw around with what the D-Line is doing every play, or if you wait until the offseason, maybe drafting a true NT is something that should be considered if they want to go with the 2 gap scheme.

Shea is over matched out there. He's just weak at the point of attack. Can't get off a block, can't defend the run, and doesn't have the elite pass rushing skills to compensate for his weaknesses. He may be playing out of position, or he may just be plain bad. I think the team might just be at a point now where they'll need to start getting creative to salvage a bad defense. I don't know if it's possible or practical to start changing your defense in the middle of the season, but whatever they are doing now, isn't going to work in the long run. Without a pass rush, you have very little to no chance of winning a Superbowl.

Same thing as the other thread. This is a discussion about what you've seen from the defense through the first quarter of the NFL season, what you like, what you don't like, etc.. 2013 Bears defense (4 games) Total Defense: 21st (384 yds/gm) PPG: 26th (28.5) Yards per play: 28th (6.1) 3rd down percentage: 11th (40%) Sacks: 30th (6) TD's: 1st (3) 2012 Bears defense (16 games) Total Defense: 5th (315.6 yds/gm) PPG: 3rd 17.3 ppg Yards per play: 4th (4.9) 3rd down percentage: 6th (36%) Sacks: 8th (41) TD's: 1st (9) The Good: - The turnovers are still coming - They are doing a better job at getting off the field on 3rd down, compared to the first couple games. Still not as good as they were last year. The Bad: - Outside of the turnovers, they have been pretty much all bad at everything else. They are giving up points and yards at a higher clip than they ever have in recent memory. - Only 1 sack from a defensive lineman. - Giving up big plays in the run/pass game - The tackling has been noticeably worse - Gap integrity is as poor as I've seen Thoughts: - On a scale of 1-10, my panic meter is about a 7 for this defense. There is a lot more to be worried about on the defensive side of the ball than on offense. A poor defensive line will make for a bad defense more often than not, and we are certainly seeing that right now. The safety play has also been horrendous. - Mel Tucker might not be very good. The fact that the defensive line has not performed well up to this point, with the same players, makes you wonder about how good Rod Mareneli may have been.

A quarter of the season is already over. Lets take a look at the offensive and defensive statistics through the first 4 games of the season. I'll split the offense and defense into two threads so this post doesn't get too crazy long. First, we'll take a look at the offense as a whole, and then the QB play. *Please note that this discussion is about what you have seen through 4 games, what you like, what you don't like etc.. 2013 Bears (4 games) Total Offense (Yards/Game): 12th (352.2 yds/gm) PPG: 3rd (31.8 ppg) Yards per play: 12th (5.6) 1st downs per game: 21st (18.5) 3rd down percentage: 21st (35%) Penalties: 26th (which is good) (15) Turnovers: 5th (+5) Rush Yards/Game: 16th (111.5) Yards/Rush: 9th (4.5) Now lets compare these statistics to last year's club.. Granted this is 16 games compared to 4. 2012 Bears (16 games) Total Offense: 28th (310.6 yds/gm) PPG: 16th (23.4 ppg) Yards per play: 28th (5.0) 1st downs per game: 24th (18.2) 3rd down percentage: 22nd (36%) Penalties: 16th Turnovers: 2nd (+20) Let's take a look at the QB play, and where Cutler ranks among his peers and his past history.. QB Rating: 18th (85.1) TD passes: 3rd (tied with 3 others) INT: 4th (tied with 2 others) 6 Completion percentage: 10th (64.2%) Yards per game: 19th 252.5 yds/gm Sacks: 4th (6) QB hits: 16th (20) - Right now he's playing slightly above his career avg QB rating of 84.1 - His completion % is at the highest of his career - The interception % of 4.1 is the 2nd worst of his career since his 1st season here when it was 4.7% - He's averaging the 2nd most yards/gm of his career since 07 - He's been hit and sacked less than at any point in his Bears career The Good: - I like the fact that the quarterback protection is clearly better - I like the fact that the Bears are one of the most disciplined offenses in football, as far as penalties go. Very few pre-snap penalties is refreshing. - They are actually getting a play called in on time! - The ball distribution is miles better than last year with Marshall. Jeffery and Bennett have both stepped up. The Bad: - Despite being 3rd in ppg, had it not been for the early defensive Td's in the first 3 games, and the garbage time TD's in the 4th quarter of the Lions game, the offense hasn't really done a great job of generating points on their own. At least not to my expectations. - The Quarterback play hasn't been thaaaat much of an improvement, yet. The 4th quarter thing is great, but he was doing that last year. The mechanical flaws have been kept in check until yesterday, and the interception % is way too high again. Even higher than last year. Again, it's only been 4 games, but this is by far thee biggest concern I've ever had with Cutler, and it doesn't seem like it's getting any better. The total implosion games are the ones that Trestman has to be able to get through to Cutler on. Overall thoughts: - The offense, in general, has been a mixed bag of good and bad. They are still far away from being among the elite, but it is early. They are very much an old school west coast offense. Not as much innovation as I thought I'd see, but maybe that's still coming. - Teams now have tape on Trestman. We've already begun to see the adjustments defenses have made against the Bears in the last two games. Both Detroit and Pittsburgh sat on the short routes all game long, and dared Cutler to beat them with the deep ball. How will Trestman adjust to this? - I am surprised we haven't seen more no-huddle. We seem to be more of a ball-control offense rather than one that likes to control the tempo. - The run game has been generating at least one big explosive play a game, but where are the stretch zone plays? I thought this was a staple for any West Coast offense? Forte needs to be given more opportunities to run outside as opposed to between the tackles. - I don't understand why Joe Anderson and Marquess Wilson haven't been given opportunities to make plays on offense. As much as the addition of Bennett has helped, they still could use more weapons out there catching passes from Cutler so the bracket coverage on Marshall isn't as effective.

Melton has always been underrated as a run defender. However, Reggie Bush probably gashes us whether he was playing or not. If there's anything I'm noticing differently from the defense of last year and this year is gap integrity. The tackling has also been noticeably worse.

Whatever.. I don't believe it, but even if it's true, and Mel Tucker's calls are identical to what they ran before, well, then that's just idiotic on his part. Tucker, that is.