jason

How is this poor sportsmanship? I'm sick of this touchy-feely BS that everyone always brings up in today's sports world. If the Bears can't stop them - and they can't judging from the last second TD to Branch - then they deserve to take the ass-beating. Don't like it? Stop it. BTW - Where the hell was the safety on that play!?

Was it ever!? Anyone who thought so is smoking crack.

I've typed this five times and I don't know where to start and what to say. What is obvious is that the Bears' offense is not good, the offensive line is still horrendous, and the Bears' defensive scheme is good...as long as it's not against a stud QB like Brady, Manning, Brees, etc. They just sit in there and pick it apart. It still remains, however, that the OL is the weakness. So far Cutler has only had two drop backs where he wasn't IMMEDIATELY under pressure, with the last one being called a "jail break" by the announcers. The Bears have no chance if they can't do something on offense, and since it appears the OL won't be able to protect Cutler, this could be a 50 point game by the time the game is over.

Remember the last really bad weather game for the Bears? Wasn't it that slop-fest against the Steelers? The one where Bettis just ran wild? Yeah, it feels like I'm experiencing deja vu right now.

Don't blame him...blame the cover-2. He has to drop back into an area. He's not covering a single player. It's all based upon him reacting quickly enough to the offensive player being in his zone.

I do NOT like how this is looking. The cover-2 is built to be destroyed by an offense and QB like Brady. The Bears need to get more defensive pressure if they hope to keep this game close.

That sucked. The Pats sent too many and Olsen didn't see the DB blitzing until it was too late. The first two runs for the Bears were promising.

BIG TIME First series stop for the Defense!

HAHAHAHAHAAH!!!! LOVE IT!! Blizzard....helps the Bears!

So turning the Lions into a viable, dangerous, explosive offense is "pretty poor?" Making Jon Kitna a reliable fantasy football star with over 4000yds passing is "pretty poor?" Guiding a Chicago offense to mediocrity while having one of the worst OL's in NFL history is "pretty poor?" While I agree with the rest of your post, I don't know about your analysis of his post-Rams success.

I still contend that Omiyale is worse than Webb. For the sake of argument, however, we'll call it a tie.

The common logic in this is that without stretching the field, the defense can eventually squeeze into a smaller box and make the underneath and intermediate routes more difficult to complete, not to mention making the running game holes open less frequently and for shorter durations. It's actually a pretty sound concept. An offensive team MUST be able to provide the threat of a deep ball at the very least. Right now the Bears have the QB for the deep ball, the WRs for the deep ball, but not the OL for it. Opponents have to know this, but I guess the threat is just enough that they're not completely squeezing in. IF they were, the short routes wouldn't be working as well. It's hard to argue with the production, however slow and arduous it may be. The Bears offense is better overall since the bye because they are more balanced and control the clock some of the time. It's still frustrating as a fan to watch, because I think they are capable of so much more. I think the offensive skill positions are capable of putting up 40+ like the Pats last night. But with the OL flaws - and there is no mistaking that they have gotten ever so slightly better during the season - it's impossible for Martz to truly implement his high octane offense. All Bears fans are happy for wins, but I'm not content yet. I think the glaring holes will get exploited at one point or another, and I hope it isn't a repeat of the year that Steve Smith tore the Bears a new A-hole in the playoffs.

Perhaps getting cut and realizing he's about to be out of football (e.g. Pacman Jones) would be enough motivation.

I EFFING LOATHE COLON COWHERD. He sucks. I don't care what Dilfer says, he's still not as bad as Cowherd.

Remember the ridiculous Seattle and Washington games in which the Bears or their coaching staff did something completely foolish and cost the game? Each of those games should have been guaranteed wins, but something didn't work. It's hard to believe that this team could be sitting in the same spot with only one loss. It's even more difficult to believe that if they had taken care of business with those two games they would probably already have a playoff spot locked up.

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! (as long as the Bears don't have to pick up his contract) If Lovie Smith's friendly approach could win over Albert, that would be a massive improvement at DT over any player on the roster. I'm sick of watching the Bears lose players who go elsewhere and do well with their second chance. I'd love to see it come around the other way for once. It might even rejuvenate or pressure Tommie to start playing like he should. Peppers - Tommie - Albert - Israel That would be the best DL in the NFL.

Martz is calling a brilliant game thus far. -The 1/2 step drop and quick hit to Bennett came out of nowhere. I think the announcer almost swallowed his tongue. -The skinny post to Bennett was great. -The late-developing draw to Taylor was shocking. -The counter-toss was genius...a play that has worked against the Bears numerous times, and for some reason the Bears never really used it. TD Forte.

But he has to call SOME pass plays out of the orthodox formations. When those happen, the OL needs to do something, or Cutler needs to adjust presnap. Your last line is the truth, however. I honestly think that the Bears should be in a max-protect on most pass plays and a jumbo package on most run plays. Who cares if the defense knows what's coming? At a certain point, we have to try and simply outplay the opponent instead of outsmart them. Outsmarting them may work at times, but it far too often leaves the offense vulnerable to a defense that is overall more talented. I guess what I'm trying to say is, the Bears must dictate to the defense what they have to stop instead of the defense dictating what the Bears must do.

Defense looks absolutely flat, and the Lions have the scheme completely figured out. Not a great start.

On the run play, there is nothing Martz could have done. The guys didn't block, period. On the pass play jail break, there has to be an adjustment presnap when the opponent shows a massive blitz. That has very little to do with Martz. If he calls a pass from the snap, and Cutler sees 8 defensive players on the line of scrimmage, then an audible needs to happen.

Big surprise ...the OL sucked on the opening drive.

I'm not absolving Urlacher of blame, but some of it has to be on the safeties. He hasn't been a safety for several years, and he's not quite as fast as he once was. Cover-2 means the safeties are each responsible for their half, which means they meet in the middle. One of them should have been there a little sooner with Urlacher.

I think you are confused about what he means by "exposed." He doesn't mean exposed as in "we will all see the weaknesses of the system." He means exposed as in "someone will exploit the weaknesses of the system." If the Bears' D can look good against the Patriots, then it will be easier to believe wholeheartedly. But right now, I see flaws that will be exposed (the second definition) in the playoffs. For the record, I said the same thing before and during the Super Bowl against Indy. Here's to hoping Dilfer and I are wrong.

duplicate

Don't confuse winning with working. You can drive a mile with a flat tire, but that doesn't make it the best way. Yes, the Bears got the win, but they could have made it much more convincing if they had stuck with the plan from quarters 1-3 instead of playing prevent in the 4th.