I’m going to go out on a limb here and minimize the Urlacher effect. There are a lot of things that are different that are having a huge impact on our play.
1) We have a brand new defensive staff. You can keep the system as familiar as you can, but there is always going to be some confusion, because the head is not the same head the body is used to being led by.
2) We are not just missing Urlacher. Roach was an underrated part of our D. With his and Url’s departure we lost 2/3 of the starting LB core. Do we really think these guys are not in their gap because Urlacher is not calling the defense?
3) Julius Peppers, Henry Melton and Charles Tillman were all banged up in the pre-season. That’s a ton of talent that didn’t get much work. Peppers is getting better, Tillman is getting worse and Melton is out for the season. I’m thinking Tillman needs to sit a week to get healthy, as he has always been a liability in coverage when healthy and has made his mark with great tackling and turnovers. Tillman with a bad wheel is going to require a lot of safety help which opens things up elsewhere. While Peppers is getting up to speed WTF is McClellin? I’ve seen him games, but his impact has been negative so far. DL needs to step up.
4) Brian Urlacher. He may be missed on adjustments and audibles that we’ll never know the truth on. I’m sure there has been some. But, I am also sure that Briggs is experienced and capable enough to fill the void. That being said, I believe it to be a positive that Url is gone.
There are simply too many variables to give one person that much credit for success and/or failure.