STATISTICAL CHECK-IN

• When is the last time the Bears, six games through a season, had someone in the top ten in the league in passing yards (Cutler-4th), rushing yards (Forte-7th), catches (Forte-1st), receiving yards (Jeffery-T6th), sacks (Willie-1st) and interceptions (Fuller-T1st)? This season may be laden with individual errors but it also has been defined by exceptional individual performances to this point.
• Have you looked at Jay Cutler’s numbers these days? He’s completing 68.1% of his passes for 1,676 yards, 13 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Two of the three quarterbacks ahead of him in yardage have thrown more interceptions and all three have been sacked AT LEAST five times less.
• Through six games the Bears are tenth in the league against the run. Last year they ranked 431st.

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These were Phil Emery’s comments when the Bears signed Willie Young away from the Detroit Lions in March, courtesy of Chris Boden at CSN Chicago:

“Our thoughts about defensive players is to get the toughest, most aggressive, instinctive players that have a little bit of an old-school mentality, a ‘Bear’ mentality, and we certainly feel Willie has those attributes,” said Bears general manager Phil Emery. “(It’s) another positive step in improving our roster to the point where we can contend and win a championship.

“This was important for us to get a second defensive lineman, a quality starter, an opportunity for Willie to grow and for us to grow with him. When we went into free agency we thought if we could find a way to get two starting defensive linemen, we would’ve made forward progress.”

What do you think was the first comment listed below this post?

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This was a win for the maligned, the individuals who have suffered the slings and arrows of fans/media for weeks and in some cases years. Rapid fire recap of a massive, impressive road victory for the Chicago Bears.

• Maligned #1: Mel Tucker. Called his best game as Chicago Bears defensive coordinator and utilized the team’s 5-6-7 options at linebacker expertly. Darryl Sharpton jumped off the screen but the main reason was Tucker putting him in positions to make plays all afternoon long.
• Maligned #2: Joe DeCamillis. While the Twitter terrorists killed Joe D for a blocked extra point (one of the dumbest reactions in many a year) it was Joe D’s punt coverage units brilliantly handling the greatest kick returner that’s ever lived that impressed me. Pat O’Donnell is a weapon.
• Maligned #3: Jared Allen. That was a four-quarter performance from a player who’d been showing up in spurts. Getting into the sack column should be the springboard for the remainder of his 2014 campaign.
• Maligned #4: Jay Cutler. Flawless.

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A NOTE ON STOPPING JULIO JONES

This is what I wrote in yesterday’s game preview:

Do the Bears have any hope of stopping Julio Jones? The answer is unequivocally no. The Falcons line up  Jones everywhere and run him on as creative an array of routes as you’ll see designed for a premier wide receiver. He’ll run a go from one side, a slant from the other and a shallow cross from the slot on three consecutive plays. Will the Bears deploy Kyle Fuller on Jones for the entirety of the game? Doubtful. Jones is too good to isolate in man over the full sixty minutes. I’m having a hard time not envisioning a 10-catch, 140 yard performance.

I’ve thought about this paragraph for a day or so. On the heels of Tim Jennings referring to the defensive approach against Carolina as “vanilla” this is the Sunday for Marc Trestman and Mel Tucker to go Rocky Road…or Rum Raisin…or pick the ice cream flavor of your choice since they are all infinitely less boring than vanilla. How do I mean?

Julio Jones leads the league in catches (40), targets (T-1, 57), yards (552), first downs (28) and plays of 20+ yards (12). This is not a good wide receiver the Bears are facing Sunday. This is, as of this moment, with Calvin Johnson ailing, far and away the best wide receiver in the league.

Can you stop him? Probably not. Can you make his life miserable for sixty minutes and force Matt Ryan to look elsewhere? Absolutely. Remember, I am not an X’s and O’s football writer. There are plenty of people out there to read if that’s what you’re looking for. My belief continues to be football is a sport where coaches put players in positions to make plays and the ones who make them are the ones who are successful. I continue to argue scheme/play-calling is the most overrated aspect of the NFL.

Let me show you, in crude drawings, how I might approach Jones Sunday.

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There are a lot of reasons not to like the Chicago Bears after their disastrous fourth quarter in North Carolina. There are a lot of reasons to think the media/fan negativity is entirely warranted. This team may continue struggling to mount drives. They may continue to make horrible special teams errors. They may continue giving up yardage in huge chunks. So with that…

Why do I like the Chicago Bears this week?

I always like the Chicago Bears.

IN ELEVEN QUESTIONS…

(1) Having seen the success the Panthers had late, will Falcons defensive coordinator Mike Nolan continue his attempts to compensate for his ineffective front four by utilizing extra personnel to pressure Cutler? Against the Giants, this left gaping holes in the middle of the field and Eli Manning dissected the Falcons. Expect Matt Forte to settle underneath the Falcons secondary and provide check downs for Cutler all afternoon.

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(2) Can Desmond Trufant recover from his dismal performance against the Giants with the wide receiver talent increasing Sunday? Trufant is constantly left on an island with receivers, specifically in the red zone. If I am Jay Cutler this is a week to unleash the vertical passing game and allow Marshall and Jeffery to make plays even when they seem to be covered.

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(3) Do the Bears have any hope of stopping Julio Jones? The answer is unequivocally no. The Falcons line up  Jones everywhere and run him on as creative an array of routes as you’ll see designed for a premier wide receiver. He’ll run a go from one side, a slant from the other and a shallow cross from the slot on three consecutive plays. Will the Bears deploy Kyle Fuller on Jones for the entirety of the game? Doubtful. Jones is too good to isolate in man over the full sixty minutes. I’m having a hard time not envisioning a 10-catch, 140 yard performance.

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Sun-Times Bears beat reporter Adam Jahns joins me to take a look at where the entire Bears organization stands five games into the season. We talk struggles on offense, Jared Allen’s inefficiency, Willie Young’s emergence, Kyle Fuller’s rookie campaign, the Brandon Marshall Conundrum and whether the league has simply caught up to Trestman’s system. This is, without question, the best summation of five games you’ll find anywhere.

Administrative Note: I will be recording a podcast with Adam Jahns of the Sun-Times this afternoon to take the pulse of the Bears locker room. The pod will post either evening or tomorrow morning. Felt like the right week to do it.

ATLANTA A ‘MUST WIN’?

The Bears needed 2-2 over this four game stretch. If they’re going to achieve that mark without HAVING to win in New England, Sunday’s game is pivotal. I had penciled in a loss at Atlanta at the start of the season but a win in Carolina. If the Bears leave Georgia victorious the debacle in North Carolina will be a fading memory.

What I like about the game Sunday is Atlanta will score points and most likely plenty of them. The offense, currently under warranted fire, will need to deliver a big performance.

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Apologies for the technical difficulties this morning. Enjoy our new feature.

Embrace the mediocrity, Bears fans.

You might as well do it now, because the Chicago Bears certainly did this week.

Coming off an embarrassing blowout loss at home to their hated division rival, a good team goes out and finds a way to win the following week.  It doesn’t have to be spectacular, but it has to be effective.  Whatever it takes, good teams find a way to get it done.

The Chicago Bears proved this week that they are not a good team.  Instead of finding a way to win by any means necessary, they had a game handed to them and found ways to lose it.  So it’s high time that Bears fans universally acknowledge exactly what their favorite team is: mediocre.

Underachieving

On paper, this should not be the case.   Chicago has the talent to be one of the best offenses in the league, which-coupled with an acceptable defense- should be enough to win a lot of games and propel them to they playoffs.

But games are not won on paper, and the Bears have proven through 5 weeks the peril of preseason paper analysis.  The defense has mostly been about as expected so far, but the offense is not living up to its status as the highest paid unit in the NFL.

Familiar script

Both sides of the ball seem to be plagued by the same dumb mistakes over and over.  A missed assignment here, a lazy effort there, a careless mistake costing the team at the worst possible time.  These same errors keep repeating themselves time and time again, leading to a talented but inconsistent team that is the very definition of mediocre.

Perhaps worst of all is the seeming lack of leadership and attitude emanating from the Bears.  Players don’t seem to care when they mess up, and nobody steps forward in a crisis to stop the bleeding and get things sorted out.

Now perhaps things can get better.  The Bears have Been besieged by injuries so fast this year, and getting healthier should certainly help some.  But all the talent in the world won’t make any difference until this team finds an identity and leaders who can hold them accountable.

Hope is not lost

Bears fans looking for hope need only glance north a few miles to Evanston, where Northwestern’s football team seemed headed for a lost season just two weeks ago before finding an identity , beginning to play with an edge, and reeling off two impressive victories.

It can be done, but the first step is admitting a problem.  Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald did just that before helping turn his team’s season around.  I will be watching Chicago’s leaders-Marc Trestman, Jay Cutler, and Brandon Marshall-very carefully this week to look for similar acknowledgement from them.

It is certainly possible that the Bears scan still turn their season around, but right now I look at them and see a whole bunch of mediocrity.  They will beat some teams based simply on having more talent than them, lose some games they should win, lose to most good teams they face, and end up right around 8-8 again.

Embrace the mediocrity, Bears fans.