Bears Come Off Bye Week Banged Up

By Brett | Permalink | No Comments | October 24th, 2006 | Trackback

Coming off their comeback victory over the Cardinals last week, the Bears went into their bye week at 6-0. In spite of Rex Grossman’s hideous performance in that game, their offense still ranks near the top of the heap, and their defense has looked dominant on all but a few series this year. With home games coming up against San Francisco and Miami, all signs point to the Bears going in to the second half of the season at 8-0.

However, there are some reasons for concern in Chicago, most notably the loss of SS Mike Brown, who is regarding by teammates as the heart and soul of the defens to a season-ending foot injury. In addition to Brown, the Bears have a few other defensive contributors injured right now — DE Adewale Ogunleye, SS Chris Harris, and nickel CB Ricky Manning Jr. (who could also be facing a league suspension).

Our thoughts on what the Bears need to do to continue their early season success, after the jump.

Get the running going
The Bears are a run-first offense. At least they should be. It’s tough to question Ron Turner’s play-calling, given how many points the offense has been scoring, but against the Cardinals nine of the first ten plays were passes. That’s inexusably poor balance, regardless of the fact that they got down early. Establishing a more effective ground game will take some of the pressure off of Rex Grossman, who has been inconsistent as best when opposing defenses have been able to key on the passing game. For the Bears offense to be effective moving forward, they have to create more balance.

Get Cedric Benson involved early in games
If the Bears are going to get the running game going, they’re going to need to start calling Cedric Benson’s number a little bit more. Thomas Jones is a good back, but Benson’s physical, downhill running style makes him a better fit for the offense. Jones has been dancing too much this year, and hasn’t been hitting the hole with the same authority he did last year. Against the Cardinals, he looked flat footed. Benson brings a different dynamic to the offense. True his 3.1 yards-per-carry avergage is pretty bad, but Benson is the kind of back that needs the ball 20-25 times a game to really be effective. He’s the kind of back that can wear down a defense and pick up big chunks of yardage in the 2nd half. As long as Jones is healthy, he’ll most likely remain the starter, but the Bears should be looking to put the ball in Benson’s hands 12-15 times a game.

Someone needs to step on defense
The biggest impact of Mike Brown’s injury won’t be felt in either the pass defense or in how the team defends the run. Brown isn’t really a great pass defender to begin with, and reserves Todd Johnson, Chris Harris, and Brandon McGowan are all solid against the run. Losing Brown leaves the Bears with serious leadership defecit on defense, though, particularly in the secondary. With a rookie starting at free safety, someone will need to step up and provide the leadership and communication that Brown brings to the table.

Don’t believe the hype
The Bears have played their best ball over the last two years when they’ve had something to prove. As soon as the national media gets on their nuts, they come out and play like shit. Even though they’re going to be favored in the majority of games they play this year, they need to continue to approach each game as if they’re the underdog. If they don’t we may see more teams like Arizona beat their ass.

Home » NFL News, Da' Bears