EP Chicago: Bears’ Defense Does Its Part While Offense Raises Concerns Against Detroit

By Micky Shaked

Last week I talked a rather boisterous talk on behalf of the Bears’ defense, comparing them to the 2005 unit that was one of the best defenses in the NFL over the last 20 years. On Monday night, those Bears walked that walk against a potent Detroit Lions offense on Monday Night Football.

A few numbers that stand out from last night’s game:

•           Detroit did not record a first down until the final minutes of the first half
•           The Lions did not convert a third down until midway through the third quarter
•           The Bears forced three turnovers in the red zone
•           Detroit’s first and only points came with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter
•           Before this Monday Night Football contest, the Lions were scoring 25.4 points a game, good for tenth best in the league.

(AP Photo/Kichiro Sato)

One could go on and on waxing poetic about how Charles Tillman and Chris Conte shut down Calvin Johnson, how Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher covered the field with a rookie’s fervor, or how the front four kept Matthew Stafford in constant fear the entire night. One could certainly do all of that.

But this cautious optimist noticed some developments in the offense that brought a very full glass a few millimeters closer to half empty.

First off, the 2011 season flashed before my eyes when the NFL’s one-man bounty system, Ndamukong Suh, body slammed Jay Cutler into the ground. Watching Cutler writhe in pain, all I could think about was which independent hockey league team I would have to adopt as my own until Derrick Rose’s triumphant return to the hardwood.

The fact that people were doubting Cutler’s toughness before this game is absurd in and of itself. As retribution, those same people should either walk around with half-smoked cigarettes in their mouths or write him a letter of apology. While I was truly concerned with his ineffectiveness throughout the entire game, and his stats suggest that his performance was well below par, seeing Cutler come back into the game after missing just one play was a huge sigh of relief. No offense to Jason Campbell.

Though Matt Forte was a few yards shy of a triple-digit rushing night, he went through spells of very unproductive running. Take away his 39-yard scamper that set up Chicago’s only touchdown in the first quarter and Forte accumulated just 57 yards on 21 attempts, 16 of which went for three yards or less. To be fair, he repeatedly met the first defender at or near the line of scrimmage so a good portion of the blame belongs to the offensive line, an offensive line that was penalized six times. Cutler has shown that he can bail out the offense with his arm and his legs on third and long, but has yet to throw more than two touchdowns this season and is averaging just 226 yards passing per game.

This offense does not get its strength from the pass, nor should it expect the defense to pitch a shutout deep into the fourth quarter.

In order for Chicago to be effective against the better defenses on their remaining schedule (Houston, San Francisco, Minnesota twice, Seattle and Arizona), they will need to establish an effective rushing attack.

Forte’s body of work precedes him, as does his contract. That does not preclude Mike Tice from ‘politely’ asking him to pick up the pace. The offensive line, however, deserves to be spanked with a fraternity paddle until they submit to playing at a level that the stats suggest they are: top ten in rushing yards per game and yards per carry.  A closer look shows that the Bears have failed to break 100 yards rushing as a team twice while averaging 30 carries per game, and are 16^th in the league with 38 rushing first downs.

If Chicago plans on maintaining this gift of an early division lead that Green Bay hand-wrapped for them, they need to run more effectively because the Packers are regaining their stellar form with every passing week.