Bears Blitz

Published by Christopher Murphy on December 29, 2009
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

I simply did not write an article after the Baltimore Ravens 31-7 shellacking of the Chicago Bears last week because I would not know how to put that game into a decent amount of words. 

It was a shellacking…done.

However, the show must go on and although these articles are becoming unbearable to write and extremely repetitive to read I can imagine, we are almost done with this awful season.

The Bears decided to actually win a game Monday night against the Vikings 36-30 in overtime, which either shows the potential the Bears have or just how completely inconsistent the team really is. 

When trying to write an article on the two games, it seems to be more the inconsistency thing.  It should not take 16 weeks for a team to start showing its potential.

Lets go to the headlines.

Jay is Our Quarterback? (Ravens Game)

Jay Cutler had another poor outing against the Ravens going 10-of-27 for 94 yards and three interceptions with a passer rating almost at beer price at 7.9.  To make sure Cutler was not killed and to shut 670 The Score Bears’ fans up about playing him, Caleb Hanie was brought in to throw for a whopping eight yards and an interception.

Cutler threw two interceptions on the Bears’ first two possessions. One of which, however, was an extremely nice play by linebacker Jarret Johnson. 

More importantly, Flacco turned both those turnovers into touchdowns moving easily down the field on the Bears’ defense and beating Corey Graham (something tells me his name will come up in the Vikings game) twice to Todd Heap. 

If Graham can’t guard Heap, I sure hope he isn’t one-on-one with Sidney Rice late in a game…foreshadowing.

After the two interceptions, the Bears moved down the field nicely for 73 yards on 19 plays to the Baltimore 1, but of course, got zero points.  A throw off the back shoulder, a stuff of Matt Forte, and a fade to a tight end later the Bears were still being shut out.

It is truly pathetic that the Bears have to do a fade with their tight end due to the fact none of their receivers are big nor can jump nor know what a fade is.

Devin Hester Who? (Both Games)

Earl Bennett drew the Bears to within 14-7 against the Ravens, giving fans the false hope they so desperately hate, by returning a punt 49 yards for a touchdown midway through the second quarter. That was the Bears only score of the game.  

Against the Vikings, Daniel Manning had three kick returns for 134 yards, including a 59-yard return immediately after the Vikings had tied the game 23-23 setting up a Bears touchdown.  

With Manning returning kicks next to Knox, Bennett returning punts, and both Bennett and Knox along with Aromashodu looking like better receivers, one has to ask themselves where is Devin Hester’s place on this team and why did the Bears pay a kick returner so much money.

Paging Matt Forte…Come In, Matt Forte (Both Games)

Forte had to go against two very good run defenses in the Ravens and Vikings the last two games and his numbers show it rushing for 143 yards on 41 carries combined for 3.48 yards per carry along with two fumbles against the Ravens.

The offensive line seemed to hold up the last two games with the pass rush, allowing just four total sacks, three of which came from defensive linemen, but the Bears have no run game.

It seems to be a combination of Forte being tired in his sophomore season after having a work-filled freshman one and the offensive line.  

Win or Lose the Defense Looks Bad

The Ravens averaged 5.2 yards per play and the Vikings averaged 5.6 yards per play against the Bears.  

In a matter of four quarters, the Vikings and Ravens put up 61 points on the Bears. 

The Ravens used the Bears normal catatonic start to put up 14 in the first quarter, but what is interesting is both teams (the Vikings and Ravens) completely dominated in the second halves of both games, making it seem as though the Bears are easy to adjust to.

This of course points to good coaching on the sidelines opposite of the Bears. 

The defensive line is simply not getting it done. The Bears’ defensive line needed an extra quarter against the Vikings to get their first two sacks in the two-game span. 

The Bears did hold Adrian Peterson in check and by check I mean 94 yards on 24 carries, however, Ray Rice ran for 87 yards on just 16 carries against them.

The passing defense wasn’t much better with the Bears secondary dropping like flies causing Josh Bullocks and Adam Archuletta…I mean, Craig Steltz to play more.

Because of there being little pressure on the opposing quarterbacks, Joe Flacco and Brett Favre had field days with the Bears going 47-of-69 passing for 555 yards along with six touchdowns and no interceptions.

I’ll give one thing to Hunter Hillenmeyer, however, he knows how to take the ball away from Adrian Peterson as he did for the third time this season in overtime Monday night. 

Lovie, What Are You Staring At?

Most people wonder if Lovie Smith’s microphone is even functional, but before the Bears give him the axe, which would result in a Grinch-like smirk on the tan face of Dave Kaplan, here are some things to look at.  

The Bears had just four penalties for 40 yards combined in the games against the Ravens and Vikings after 13 penalties for 109 yards against the Green Bay Packers.

Unfortunately for Smith, that is the only positive factor that has come up since the rumors of his job security being in jeopardy. The other side of the spectrum, however, does not paint a good picture of the coaching staff of the Bears.  

Before the Ravens’ second touchdown in the first quarter, tight end Heap caught a 20-yard pass at the Bears’ 18. It appeared that Heap only got one foot inbounds. But the Bears did not challenge the call. The Ravens raced up to the line and snapped the ball.

This, of course, after Smith used a timeout against the Packers only to lose another timeout challenging Greg Olsen’s drop on the previous play.

Bears opponents have scored first in 11 of 15 games this season, and the Bears have been outscored 93-33 in the first quarter this year.

The Bears do not seem ready to play until they are down by two scores.

Each catch Devin Aromashodu makes calls into question why he wasn’t on the team earlier in the season especially with Cutler talking about him so much.

Finally, Bears’ players are talking to the enemy, the media, about how ridiculous it is for players to be switching positions so much along with missing former Bears players and coaches who were let go, not re-signed, or just not on the team including Thomas Jones, Ron Rivera, Chris Harris, Mike Brown, Ruben Brown, and John Tait.  

A coach cannot allow players to tell reporters how much they miss players and coaches on other teams or question coaching maneuvers.

The Positive

Against the Detroit Lions in the season finale of this horrible television show, the Bears will go for its second winning streak of the season…two.

Read more Chicago Bears news on BleacherReport.com