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Chicago Bears Note Of The Week: The Sky's The Limit
Monday, September 20, 2004 - Adam Hurder |
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As Bears fans, how are we to reconcile a home loss to Detroit last week with a road victory at Green Bay in Week 2? Perhaps the Packers were looking past the Bears to their September 26th showdown with Indianapolis. More likely, Green Bay had a letdown after beating the defending NFC Champion Carolina Panthers in Week 1 on Monday Night Football. Still, Lovie Smith is now 1-0 against the Packers. (Dick Jauron was 2-8 over five seasons, while Dave Wannstedt managed a record of 1-11.) The hidden truth in Sunday’s victory is that the Bears aren’t a truly bad team. They’re just inconsistent, as are most young teams that are installing new schemes on both sides of the ball.
Offensively, the Bears’ line seems to have solidified after only two weeks together. Even though the Packers probably won’t finish within the top half of the league in run defense this year, the Bears still managed quite a feat at Lambeau Field. Green Bay’s linebackers are quick and athletic, but the O-line still managed to get blocks at the second level for big gains between the tackles. Best of all, Thomas Jones showed everyone once and for all what a breakaway tailback looks like. Jones has the quickness in the secondary to make the safety miss, which is something that’s been missing in Chicago since the days of Neal Anderson.
Rex Grossman looked like a different player starting his first game at Lambeau. The quickly improving youngster looked unfazed against constant pass rush pressure and an above average Packers secondary. Best of all, Grossman showed his versatility by exhibiting touch (on two first quarter completions for first downs) and a rocket arm (on several crossing patterns). He also showed off his slender new physique by running for a first down late in the game.
Other individuals stood out as well, including RT John Tait. While he missed a pass block on a crucial third down in the fourth quarter (which nearly resulted in a Grossman fumble), Tait was largely responsible for most of Thomas Jones’ big gains on the ground. The Bears, by design, are creating running room between Tait and the RG by pulling LG Ruben Brown into the hole. Tait seals the DE to the outside, while Brown comes through and leads the RB up into the hole. On plays designed to go to the left, Tait holds his block longer than most linemen, which allows Thomas Jones to cut back to the right. The result is a developing Bears’ ground game that could save what looked like a potentially weak offense.
Defensively, the speed of the Bears’ linebackers was once again on display. While Urlacher and Briggs still have trouble beating blocks, both players are dominant tacklers in space. With Alfonso Boone likely to miss time with ligament damage to his knee, the defense will need the linebacking corps to step up more than ever. With Tank Johnson the likely starter alongside Tommie Harris in Week 3, the Bears will be committing a cardinal sin: starting two rookies at DT. The upside will be two quick tackles up front to contain Minnesota’s mobile QB, Daunte Culpepper. However, the Vikings O-line is enormous, and the Bears’ linemen will likely be swallowed up at the point of attack. Enter Urlacher, Briggs, and to a lesser extent Joe Odom, who will all have to make tackles in the hole.
Most importantly on Sunday, the Bears’ D showed its ability to force turnovers and score. Lovie Smith preaches turnovers and defensive scores more than anything else, and it looks like the team has already caught on. Not surprisingly, it only took two weeks, which makes Dick Jauron and Greg Blache’s vanilla defense seem more and more ridiculous by the day. The Bears had the personnel all along to execute an aggressive defensive game-plan, and Smith and Ron Rivera are doing an excellent job at getting the most out of their athletic defenders.
In Week 3, the Vikings will test a Chicago secondary that looked vulnerable at times against both the Packers and the Lions. Charles Tillman will get another crack at Randy Moss, while R.W. McQuarters will be matched up most of the day on former Bear WR Marcus Robinson. The Bears will have to score more than 21 points to beat Minnesota, but this week’s victory over Green Bay makes anything seem possible at this point. Even if the Bears return to their Week 1 form, it’s now clear that their new offensive and defensive strategies have the team headed in the right direction. Consistency will be the next step, but beating the Packers and Vikings on the road -- in back-to-back games -- is a tall order.
Still, it only took Lovie Smith two games to achieve his first stated goal as the team’s new Head Coach: to beat Green Bay. It makes you wonder what else the Bears’ new leader can do.
Adam Hurder, pioneer of the 20 Yard Penalty, is a Columnist for SportsFiends.com. Readers of his articles should feel free to submit any questions and/or comments to ahurder@sportsfiends.com.
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