Not Enough Fingers To Point

Games like this past Sunday's Bears-Seahawks game are a glaring example of why I hate what they are passing off as NFL Football these days. Gone are the days of established powerhouse franchises who built their rosters through the draft year in and year out, and would thus reel off multiple division championships and playoff runs. In it's place, we have a giant collection teams that are so interchangeable, that it's impossible to tell what teams are good, and which teams are bad. The Bears-Seahawks game is a prime example. On paper, the Bears should have mopped the floor with them. Instead, we got the disaster we got, which has generated the same old questions we've had about the Bears to go along with a bitter taste that only Pete "Teaching Moment" Carroll can provide...

My problems with the entire NFL are the subject for another post at another time however. For now lets focus on what's happening with the Chicago Bears. Overall, and I really don't think it's an exaggeration to say this, everything they did was awful.

Offense : Well, I honestly can't think of one thing this unit did positively, can you? The return of Jay Cutler, meant the return of reckless Martz play calling despite Cutler continuing to look a little "foggy", and an Offensive Line that was abysmal. 6 more sacks added to the tab for this O-Line, which despite another reshuffle of personnel, still managed to look like they've never played football before. I honestly think that if you were to put Madden 2011 on autopilot, the computer's O-Line would be better at picking up (OBVIOUS) blitzes than the Bears O-Line.

As far as Cutler is concerned, he isn't blameless, but still it's hard to come down on him. Cutler has not only displayed toughness but loyalty as well throughout this weird season. He's certainly not throwing Martz under the bus. He seems to still be buying into what Martz wants the Bears offense to do. Still, it's pretty damn obvious he's running for his life, and despite his best efforts still lets his mechanics slip in the redzone. Also, the Bears offensive hasn't converted a third down since the 2nd quarter of the PACKER GAME. Yeah....the Packer game.... 

Defense : What a letdown this unit was after last week. They let a guy who ate himself out of the league three season ago in Mike Williams have 10 catches for 123 yards! They saw Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett run for 111 yards and two Touchdowns collectively. They also managed to look like they've never tackled anyone before, with so many "Ole's" the only thing Bear defenders were missing was a Matador outfit.

Oh and in case you were wondering, ZERO sacks, ZERO interceptions, ZERO Fumbles Recoveries. That is flat out unacceptable, especially when you run the Tampa 2 which is specifically designed to get sacks, picks, and fumbles.

Special Teams : OK they were something that could be considered a positive. They could have been the great spot if they were to have avoided the holding penalty on the would-be Danieal Manning kick return TD in the 4th quarter. Still, after not kicking to him the whole game, the Seahawks for some reason punted to Hester in the 4th quarter, and he made them pay.

Where do we go from here? :  What the Bears have to overcome, is not something I believe can be fixed personnel wise. They're stuck with this sorry sack of crap for an Offensive Line, and they're also stuck with Martz as their play-caller.

I'm not enough of a football genius to come up with plays they should call, but I've seen enough to know that football always comes down to blocking and tackling. Know when the blitz is coming offensively and check to the appropriate hot-route. Understand that while the Tampa 2 doesn't call for you to make the tackle, it does call for you to hold the ball carrier up, while your defensive teammates come to strip the ball.

Simple concepts really, but as we often say here in WhiteyLand, "Simple is not the same thing as Easy". Whether or not the Bears can understand the difference is up to them.