Bears4Ever_34

I knew they had been bad, but not this bad. Guess Dave Toub was really a genius after all.. Joe D will be out of a job at the end of the year if this keeps up.

If you can sub one of Chris Conte/Major Wright for Tillman at the safety position, that's a win in my book. Safety is a weak spot on this defense.

To be honest, I don't think Urlacher would have made a bit of difference. The issue doesn't appear to be leadership, the issues are getting off blocks and getting to the quarterback. I'm all for going to some 3-4 if that's what it takes to get pressure. Put Washington and or McCellin at OLB, and let them rush the QB. Keep the 1 gap responsibilities so you don't have to screw around with what the D-Line is doing every play, or if you wait until the offseason, maybe drafting a true NT is something that should be considered if they want to go with the 2 gap scheme.

Shea is over matched out there. He's just weak at the point of attack. Can't get off a block, can't defend the run, and doesn't have the elite pass rushing skills to compensate for his weaknesses. He may be playing out of position, or he may just be plain bad. I think the team might just be at a point now where they'll need to start getting creative to salvage a bad defense. I don't know if it's possible or practical to start changing your defense in the middle of the season, but whatever they are doing now, isn't going to work in the long run. Without a pass rush, you have very little to no chance of winning a Superbowl.

Same thing as the other thread. This is a discussion about what you've seen from the defense through the first quarter of the NFL season, what you like, what you don't like, etc.. 2013 Bears defense (4 games) Total Defense: 21st (384 yds/gm) PPG: 26th (28.5) Yards per play: 28th (6.1) 3rd down percentage: 11th (40%) Sacks: 30th (6) TD's: 1st (3) 2012 Bears defense (16 games) Total Defense: 5th (315.6 yds/gm) PPG: 3rd 17.3 ppg Yards per play: 4th (4.9) 3rd down percentage: 6th (36%) Sacks: 8th (41) TD's: 1st (9) The Good: - The turnovers are still coming - They are doing a better job at getting off the field on 3rd down, compared to the first couple games. Still not as good as they were last year. The Bad: - Outside of the turnovers, they have been pretty much all bad at everything else. They are giving up points and yards at a higher clip than they ever have in recent memory. - Only 1 sack from a defensive lineman. - Giving up big plays in the run/pass game - The tackling has been noticeably worse - Gap integrity is as poor as I've seen Thoughts: - On a scale of 1-10, my panic meter is about a 7 for this defense. There is a lot more to be worried about on the defensive side of the ball than on offense. A poor defensive line will make for a bad defense more often than not, and we are certainly seeing that right now. The safety play has also been horrendous. - Mel Tucker might not be very good. The fact that the defensive line has not performed well up to this point, with the same players, makes you wonder about how good Rod Mareneli may have been.

A quarter of the season is already over. Lets take a look at the offensive and defensive statistics through the first 4 games of the season. I'll split the offense and defense into two threads so this post doesn't get too crazy long. First, we'll take a look at the offense as a whole, and then the QB play. *Please note that this discussion is about what you have seen through 4 games, what you like, what you don't like etc.. 2013 Bears (4 games) Total Offense (Yards/Game): 12th (352.2 yds/gm) PPG: 3rd (31.8 ppg) Yards per play: 12th (5.6) 1st downs per game: 21st (18.5) 3rd down percentage: 21st (35%) Penalties: 26th (which is good) (15) Turnovers: 5th (+5) Rush Yards/Game: 16th (111.5) Yards/Rush: 9th (4.5) Now lets compare these statistics to last year's club.. Granted this is 16 games compared to 4. 2012 Bears (16 games) Total Offense: 28th (310.6 yds/gm) PPG: 16th (23.4 ppg) Yards per play: 28th (5.0) 1st downs per game: 24th (18.2) 3rd down percentage: 22nd (36%) Penalties: 16th Turnovers: 2nd (+20) Let's take a look at the QB play, and where Cutler ranks among his peers and his past history.. QB Rating: 18th (85.1) TD passes: 3rd (tied with 3 others) INT: 4th (tied with 2 others) 6 Completion percentage: 10th (64.2%) Yards per game: 19th 252.5 yds/gm Sacks: 4th (6) QB hits: 16th (20) - Right now he's playing slightly above his career avg QB rating of 84.1 - His completion % is at the highest of his career - The interception % of 4.1 is the 2nd worst of his career since his 1st season here when it was 4.7% - He's averaging the 2nd most yards/gm of his career since 07 - He's been hit and sacked less than at any point in his Bears career The Good: - I like the fact that the quarterback protection is clearly better - I like the fact that the Bears are one of the most disciplined offenses in football, as far as penalties go. Very few pre-snap penalties is refreshing. - They are actually getting a play called in on time! - The ball distribution is miles better than last year with Marshall. Jeffery and Bennett have both stepped up. The Bad: - Despite being 3rd in ppg, had it not been for the early defensive Td's in the first 3 games, and the garbage time TD's in the 4th quarter of the Lions game, the offense hasn't really done a great job of generating points on their own. At least not to my expectations. - The Quarterback play hasn't been thaaaat much of an improvement, yet. The 4th quarter thing is great, but he was doing that last year. The mechanical flaws have been kept in check until yesterday, and the interception % is way too high again. Even higher than last year. Again, it's only been 4 games, but this is by far thee biggest concern I've ever had with Cutler, and it doesn't seem like it's getting any better. The total implosion games are the ones that Trestman has to be able to get through to Cutler on. Overall thoughts: - The offense, in general, has been a mixed bag of good and bad. They are still far away from being among the elite, but it is early. They are very much an old school west coast offense. Not as much innovation as I thought I'd see, but maybe that's still coming. - Teams now have tape on Trestman. We've already begun to see the adjustments defenses have made against the Bears in the last two games. Both Detroit and Pittsburgh sat on the short routes all game long, and dared Cutler to beat them with the deep ball. How will Trestman adjust to this? - I am surprised we haven't seen more no-huddle. We seem to be more of a ball-control offense rather than one that likes to control the tempo. - The run game has been generating at least one big explosive play a game, but where are the stretch zone plays? I thought this was a staple for any West Coast offense? Forte needs to be given more opportunities to run outside as opposed to between the tackles. - I don't understand why Joe Anderson and Marquess Wilson haven't been given opportunities to make plays on offense. As much as the addition of Bennett has helped, they still could use more weapons out there catching passes from Cutler so the bracket coverage on Marshall isn't as effective.

Melton has always been underrated as a run defender. However, Reggie Bush probably gashes us whether he was playing or not. If there's anything I'm noticing differently from the defense of last year and this year is gap integrity. The tackling has also been noticeably worse.

Whatever.. I don't believe it, but even if it's true, and Mel Tucker's calls are identical to what they ran before, well, then that's just idiotic on his part. Tucker, that is.

Score not indicative of how badly they were beat. The two biggest reasons why they lost were Cutler's turnovers and the defenses inability to contain Reggie Bush. Reminded me of when Javid Best did the same thing a few years ago. You have to make the Lions one dimensional, and they didn't. Thankfully this only counts as one loss, but with New Orleans coming up next week, things could start to get testy for this team as they move forward.

Jay Clutchler, too little too late?

I was just starting to turn the corner on Cutler before this game. It's always been a consistency thing with him, and I don't see that ever changing. It is hard to trust a quarterback who turns the ball over as much as he does.

If they don't score here, I'd consider throwing the white flag. Get everybody out of this disaster, healthy.

Just stand there, Jay. God damn..

It's just one of those typical Cutler games I guess.. He overthrew that by a mile.

2 consecutive stops on defense, finally. The "O" can score 7 here anytime now

Again.. They needed a touchdown on that drive. Settling for FG's is not going to get it done. That's poor execution in the redzone.

The breaks have not gone our way today, and we are paying for it. The offense looks like the same offense as last year, except we aren't giving up as many sacks or killing ourselves with pre-snap penalties. I don't care that we've scored 3 times on defense this year, they are noticeably a worse defense all together. I don't know if it is a good thing there is another half to play, but there is still time to get back into this game if we can strike early.

This game has validated each and every one of my concerns about the Bears so far. Detroit looking like a superior team right now.

Not looking good.

Running Forte up the middle isn't working. Stop doing it.

Loved that drive by the offense. Brilliant.

Good job by the defense forcing a FG after the turnover. Offense needs to regroup and start moving the ball again like on the first drive. The Lions are going to score, but the defense needs to limit the TD's and turn them into FG's.

Both Joe Anderson and Marquess Wilson are inactive... Ugh.. I don't get why only 3 WR's.

I'm expecting a shoot out. Right now, I don't know yet if the Bears can win a game like that without the help from the defense. I think it will come down to whoever wins the turnover battle.

I don't think it's something to be too worried about yet unless it keeps up over the course of the next few weeks, but it's worth pointing out. Personally, I'd still like to see what Joe Anderson and Marquess Wilson (If he ever is activated) have to offer in the passing game. The more weapons out there for Cutler to throw to, the better.