Bears Blitz

Published by Bear Heiser on October 27, 2014
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

Who would have thought the Chicago Bears would leave Foxborough in worse shape than they arrived?

Sunday’s 51-23 loss to the New England Patriots is jaw-dropping. But it’s the way in which the Bears lost that makes the jaw drop most.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw for 354 yards and five touchdowns. Tight end Rob Gronkowski caught all nine of his targets for 149 yards and three touchdowns. The Bears defense had no answer for the Patriots’ dynamic duo. Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was responsible for two more turnovers, giving him 12 in eight games. Wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffrey struggled to get separation against a physical Patriots secondary.

“I think everyone’s surprised,” Cutler said of the loss. “You don’t expect to go out and get beat like that.”

The Bears were embarrassed on the field in just about every way. It was a total team failure. Cutler and the Bears offense started the game by putting zero points up the first quarter—for the second straight week, mind you. This allowed Brady and the Patriots offense to march up and down the field at will on the Bears defense, putting the game out of reach before fans could get out of their seats for a $12 beer.

The coaches failed the players and the players failed the coaches. But we should not be surprised by what we saw from the Bears on Sunday. It could have been predicted by looking at trends in recent games.

Last week’s loss to the Miami Dolphins is a great example. The Bears offense failed to get going in the first quarter, which is what led to a double-digit deficit at halftime. Mel Tucker’s defense had no answer for Dolphins tight end Charles Clay, which, very predictably, is what happened against Gronkowski.

If you’re looking for someone to blame, you probably should start looking for “someones” to blame, because the blame for Sunday’s loss and the Bears’ 3-5 start goes up and down the hallways of Halas Hall.

“The only positive side of a butt-kicking like this is there are going to be a lot of glaring things on film we can improve on,” Jared Allen said. “The ones that are tough are when you play really well and still lose. At least in this one, we flat-out got it handed to us.”

Allen’s synopsis of the Bears’ loss is exactly how every single member of the Bears organization needs to look at it. The bye week is coming at the perfect time for this Bears team. 

Marshall agrees. 

We know we are a good football team. We just haven’t played like that the last couple weeks…The Patriots had a great day today. They are a good football team and you can’t make mistakes like we did today. We have a [bye] week to look at what we are doing and how we can get better.

The receiver’s sentiment on the bye week needs to be shared across the board. There’s not one area in which the Bears need to improve more than another, aside from Matt Forte. Patriots coach Bill Belichick called Forte one of the best running backs in the NFL, and he’s the only positive thing the Bears offense has to show for itself, as evidenced by the record he set Sunday.

This is a critical time for the Bears.

General manager Phil Emery and head coach Marc Trestman need to spend the next seven to 10 days trying to figure out exactly how this team can stop repeating past failures. The same failures Marshall spoke of after the Dolphins loss.

“We make the same mistakes,” Marshall said. “Same mistakes. Same mistakes. We’ve got to protect the football. We’ve got to execute the game plan. We’ve got to adjust when things don’t go as we saw on film.”

Diving into the “failures” a bit deeper: It’s the turnovers on offense, the lack of in-game adjustments, a full-scale inability to cover the middle of the field on defense, receivers who aren’t using their size to capitalize on potential mismatches. 

And that’s just the half of it. The failures extend to the coaching staff, too, and you have to wonder how bad things will have to get before we start hearing whispers about coaches losing jobs. It’s hard to think Tucker is safe after the ease with which Brady moved the Patriots offense Sunday.

Again, though, it was a total team failure. After the game, Cutler had some somewhat insightful comments about how the Bears need to re-evaluate some things during the bye:

We’re gonna take some time off, obviously, with the bye week, come in tomorrow and watch some film,” Cutler said. “And collectively, as a whole, we just have to decide how we want to end this year and how we want to do in this second half. Do we want to just pack it in and hover around .500, maybe a little bit below? Or do we want to use the talent in that locker room and try to make a run for this?

If the Bears are to make a run “at this,” as Cutler suggests, it has to start with him. A quarterback who makes $100-plus million needs to be the catalyst behind whatever changes or improvements are to be made during the bye week. Leadership or the lack thereof has been a big talking point around this team. If guys like Cutler and Allen can lead reform during the bye week, maybe this team can return to the field with a new look, a new attitude.

“We are going to certainly assess all three phases of our football team and our personnel,” Trestman said. “(I’ll) talk to Phil (Emery) about it, obviously, and we will go from there.”

Emery and Trestman (along with everyone else) know the Bears have enough talent on the roster to be considered a Super Bowl contender. Unfortunately, though, Chicago’s plethora of talent has performed in the most underwhelming of ways. And the coaching staff has looked completely and utterly clueless when it comes to righting the ship.

In order for the Bears turn the season around, a number of things need to happen. Here’s a sampling of what needs to change: Cutler needs to commit fewer turnovers; Trestman needs to do a better job of game planning and making in-game adjustments; Marshall and Jeffery need to find another gear and get back to being the NFL’s best receiving duo; Tucker needs to figure out how to get a more consistent pass rush, and he also needs to figure out how to protect the middle of the field. Finally, the Bears need to find some renewed health, both mentally and physically. 

Left tackle Jermon Bushrod acknowledged the need to remain positive despite the team’s recent struggles:

You have to fight to be as positive as possible. You have to because if you don’t, if you’re thinking and having bad thoughts every single day then it’s going to affect the way that you prepare. It’s going to ­affect your visions. It’s going to affect everything. We just have to stick together. We have to continue to work.

T-minus 13 days until the Bears kick off against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football in Week 10. Despite what we saw from the Bears on Sunday, the bye week can do wonderful things for a team that’s hurting. Changes will be made before the Bears take the field next, you can be sure of that. Whether it be a different group of linebackers in the starting lineup, a new No. 3 wide receiver on the field (maybe Marquess Wilson, who is eligible to return from injured reserve after the bye) or even a new defensive coordinator, changes will be made.

Trestman told his team at halftime that what happened in the first half is “inexcusable” and to use the second half to “define ourselves.” “Inexcusable” is how most would characterize the first half of the Bears’ season. And “define ourselves” should be a team theme in the second half.

The Bears’ embattled head coach would be wise to remind his team of this before they go their separate ways, for now.

All quotes were transcribed from the postgame transcripts. Stats came via ESPN.com box score.

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