By George Ofman
If the Bears have proven anything after four games, it’s that they’re 3-1, still a mystery, a bit lucky and perhaps, a bit overrated.
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Deception works for magicians, not football teams.
If scoring 48 points against the Lions is a measuring stick, the Bears best find a longer stick. Better yet, they might find answers to a big problem.
It’s called big plays . . . not theirs, but the oppositions’.
When a rookie quarterback on a bad team engineers of drives of 72, 73 and 95 yards, someone has to take notice. When that same quarterback throws 18 passes of 10 or more yards, someone has to be responsible. This would be the head coach who happens to be the defensive coordinator of a team that allowed nearly enough acreage to declare a state park. Whether Lovie Smith also is in charge of dumb penalties is a matter pending.
He’s not in charge of injuries and right now the Bears have enough to demand health insurance reform.
The bottom line is the record, and 3-1 is better than 2-2 or 1-3. You don’t get style points for advancing to the playoffs.
But the road the Bears are traveling on looks eerily like any Chicago street come April.
Potholes have been known to cause detours and damage. Right now, the Bears’ secondary has potholes.
So does the offensive line. Let’s just say the Bears are lucky Jay Cutler doesn’t have a stretcher with his name stenciled on it waiting on the sidelines. Offensive line coach Harry Heistand calls his weighty group “a work in progress.” Let’s hope Cutler doesn’t have to pay for this progress.
It’s great to have Johnny Knox run 102 yards on a kickoff return. And it’s beneficial for Danieal Manning and Earl Bennett to more than adequately replace an injured Devin Hester on punt returns. It’s vital to have Matt Forte break runs of 61 and 37 yards even if the rest of his jaunts were too short to garner a sweat. It’s crucial to win the turnover battle. And to have field position handed to you as if it was a winning lottery ticket doesn’t hurt.
But these are the Lions, not the Steelers or Seahawks or Packers . . . or anyone else left on the Bears schedule save for the Lions one more time.
The bye week couldn’t come at a better time, not just for the ailing to heal but for the coaching staff to re-evaluate even if the record says 3-1.
Can you cover up the cover 2? Maybe the Bears should hire an interior decorator to give it a better look. Matthew Stafford had no problem dissecting this defense. He would have thrown for well over 300 yards had it not been for an injury. Neither did Seahawks backup Seneca Wallace. How do you think Matt Ryan might fare? He’s followed on the schedule by Carson Palmer.
This is not to suggest the Bears won’t beat the Falcons and Bengals, though both are road games. The Bears are blitzing as if it’s 6 a.m. and Walmart just put iPhones on sale. The rush is relentless.
And it’s not to deem a disaster this defense that is supposed to allow quarterbacks to fatten stats. But the Bears do not possess Pro Bowl defenders at corner or safety. And, in the first half against the Lions, they were left looking like yesterday morning’s toast next to cold coffee.
It’s just that we’ve seen this before, namely last season. And if I recollect correctly, the Bears finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs.
History bears reviewing, not repeating.
At least the Bears defense adjusted for a less-than-mediocre first half by putting a halt to the Lions long marches down the field. Perhaps this had to do with what a seething Lovie Smith told his team at halftime. “He was hot,” said Adawale Ogunleye.
The Bears are hot when you consider they’ve won three in a row. Now they get an extra week to rest, rejuvenate and consider how to score first, something they have yet to do this season.
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George Ofman, an original member of The Score and a veteran of NPR, has covered more than 3,500 sporting events over the course of his career. Comments welcome.
Posted on October 4, 2009