Bears Blitz

Published by Bear Heiser on October 29, 2014
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

The loss of Lamarr Houston couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Chicago Bears. With the highly priced starting defensive end now shelved for the season with a torn ACL, the Bears must scramble together a new rotation of linemen before they take the field against the Green Bay Packers in 12 days.

Currently sitting at 3-5 with the bye week upon them, the Bears’ season thus far consists of eight different chapters, one more unpredictable than the next. The latest chapter was written Sunday, when the Bears traveled to New England to get their clocks cleaned by the Tom Brady-led New England Patriots.

Brady and the Patriots offense had the Bears defense in a submission hold by halftime. There was nothing to be done, other than allow the clock to strike zero. The game was far out of reach by the fourth quarter, when the Patriots gave Brady some well-earned rest and sent rookie Jimmy Garoppolo out to lead the offense.

On the fifth snap Garoppolo took, like a bat out of hell, Houston flew into the backfield to bring down the quarterback out of Eastern Illinois.

Houston celebrated like it was his first sack, because it was. He hadn’t sacked a quarterback all season long for the Bears until that point. All in one motion, after bringing down the rookie, Houston went into full celebration mode, tearing his ACL in the process. Even the good plays end badly for the 2014 Bears.

After signing a five-year, $35 million contract with $15 million guaranteed in March. Houston stepped into the Bears’ starting lineup and was disappointing from the start. As the criticism started to pile on Houston and this struggling Bears team, the defensive end took to Twitter and told fair-weather fans to “eat dirt” (via Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com.

Let’s just say that Houston is not a fan favorite, and fans might not at all be sad to see him go. ChicagoFootball.com asked readers if they wanted Houston on the Bears’ 2015 roster, 58 percent of the 518 who voted said they did not want Houston back next season.

While it likely doesn’t matter to fans at this stage, Houston did feel remorse for this transgression. Emery spoke about Houston during a Monday press conference:

He’s come into all of our offices and apologized for his error. But ultimately the team paid a price. And at the end of the day, Lamarr paid a bigger price. He lost the season. … Lamarr had built up some frustration from not having a sack yet. We were very pleased with his play against the run and he led our team in hits on the quarterback, but he hadn’t had a sack.

Obviously, that’s a big stat in the NFL. It’s awfully big for a free agent coming in. When he got his first sack, he let out all of his frustrations and ultimately paid a price for it.

While one season is lost, another is hanging on by a thread; and that’s exactly where the Bears find themselves now. When Emery was asked about the Bears’ identity, he said, “Physical up front.”

Emery didn’t specify which front he was referring to, but both fronts now will be significantly less physical without Houston and starting left guard Matt Slauson. Defensive coordinator Mel Tucker really has his work cut out for him now.

The loss of Houston comes at a time when the Bears are in the midst of an identity crisis. What’s one more obstacle to overcome, though, right? Houston has played more defensive snaps than anyone not in the secondary. His 405 snaps (79.6 percent of total snaps) played rank third on the team, behind cornerback Tim Jennings and safety Ryan Mundy.

Despite only the one sack, Houston led the Bears in total quarterback disruptions, according to STATS. That’s a lot of quarterback pressure to have to replace. Willie Young and his team-leading seven sacks fall second to Houston on the list, with 14.5 total disruptions. You can find the entire list of disruptions below, courtesy of Adam Hoge of The Game 87.7 FM:

Young is the guy who most likely will replace Houston in the starting lineup. The former Detroit Lion has played 334 snaps this season, racking up 18 solo tackles to go along with the fifth-most sacks in the NFL.

When the Bears signed Young to a three-year, $9 million contract in the offseason, the idea was for him to start opposite Houston on the defensive line. But then the team signed Jared Allen, who was plugged into the starting lineup, pushing Young to the Bears’ third pass-rusher.

“When Jared came in, he never flinched,” Trestman said of Young via Rich Campbell the Chicago Tribune. “He really embraced the opportunity to play with Jared and learn from Jared. He has been all about team.”

Despite the unfortunate circumstance, patience has paid off for Young, who now finds himself in the role once thought to be his. Replacing Houston doesn’t just stop at Young, though. Houston has averaged roughly 51 snaps per game, while Young is right around 42. The Bears now need to find a rotation of players to take Young’s 42 snaps.

Emery didn’t give any insight into the team’s thinking when he addressed the media Monday. So it’s really anyone’s guess at this stage. The most obvious (and immediate) solution would be to give Trevor Scott the lion’s share of the unclaimed snaps, with rookies Will Sutton and Ego Ferguson taking the rest.

Scott has only played eight defensive snaps this season, all of which came in the Bears’ Week 4 loss to the Green Bay Packers. He played in 55 snaps last season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he didn’t make much of an impact, as he was a non-factor after Week 7. The last time Scott saw significant action on defense was 2012, when he played 289 snaps in 14 games for the New England Patriots.

After Sunday’s loss to the Patriots, Allen, who has just 1.5 sacks on the season, told reporters that he was going to have to “find half a step” during the bye week. He said this before it was known that Houston no longer would be lining up his opposite.

With this new news, Allen might want to up that estimate from a half-step to two full steps, because Scott is not going to generate the volume of quarterback pressure the Bears are looking for. Michael David Smith, managing editor of Pro Football Talk, made mention of how the high-salaried players haven’t produced thus far: 

Tucker also will have to figure out what to do when the Bears go into nickel formation. Houston spent a lot of time rushing from the inside, between Young, Jeremiah Ratliff and Allen. That’s where you’ll likely see Sutton and Ferguson.

Both rookies have been average or better at times this season. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) rates Sutton with a negative mark through eight games.

The most snaps Sutton has played all season came Week 4 against Green Bay, where the Arizona State product racked up five tackles and two quarterback hurries playing in 73 percent of the snaps. Sutton has better pass-rushing skills, but it’s been Ferguson who has the better results.

The Bears’ second-round pick out of LSU has two sacks and three batted passes this season. Ferguson has played far fewer snaps than Sutton, but that could change now that both players likely will be given opportunities to fill Houston’s shoes.

Any way you look at Houston’s injury and what the Bears do to replace him, there will need to be a few guys who can step up and be an adequate run-blocker and an above-average pass-rusher. Young, Scott, Sutton, Ferguson and maybe even a free agent off the street, all of them need to return off the bye week with a renewed focus for their new roles, whatever those roles might be.

The Bears defense will not be able to stop teams like New England from scoring 50-plus points if the defensive line cannot get pressure on the quarterback.

There isn’t enough talent in the middle of the field to hold up when the quarterback has time to read the field. Rob Gronkowski’s three touchdowns on nine catches is a pretty good example. Brady wasn’t sacked once Sunday. The only sack was Houston’s, and it sacked his season.

Luckily, the Bears still have over 10 days to figure out how to move forward.

All quotes transcribed from audio files and press conference transcripts. Stats provided by Pro Football Focus (subscription required, for some), unless otherwise noted.

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