Post by motm on Dec 24, 2016 20:06:31 GMT -6
When digging through the layers of issues affecting the Bears, be careful to differentiate between legitimate progress that offers hope for the future and more of the same, which has had the franchise in a downward spiral for much of the last decade.
You cannot make a judgment at the end of this ruinous year without considering the myriad factors that have them here, one loss away from the worst 16-game season in franchise history. But after the Redskins, with their playoff hopes wobbling following an uninspired effort on Monday night, came in on a short week and throttled the Bears 41-21 Saturday at Soldier Field with an announced attendance of 39,837, it's fair to wonder if the defensive progress that has been trumpeted is everything the Bears would like you to believe.
A week after surrendering 451 yards and a back-breaking 60-yard bomb to Jordy Nelson with less than 30 seconds to play, the Bears (3-12) were smoked by the Redskins, who were without tight end Jordan Reed, one of Kirk Cousins' top targets.
Washington (8-6-1) rolled up 478 yards of offense with 208 rushing yards. The Bears have surrendered more than 200 rushing yards in back-to-back games for the first time since the 2013 season. Before that, you have to go all the way back to the Abe Gibron era and 1973 to find a defense that was shredded like that in consecutive weeks.
DeSean Jackson had five receptions for 114 yards and could have gone over 200 if Cousins hadn't overshot him a couple of times. Pierre Garcon had 94 yards and Mack Brown ripped off a 61-yard touchdown when all the Redskins were trying to do was run out the clock. The Bears allowed four rushing touchdowns for just the second time since 1997. The pass rush that has been successful at times this season was nonexistent.
"I think a lot of it is who you're playing," coach John Fox said about his defense, which has allowed 929 yards the last two weeks. "How you execute, the matchups you have ... You're going to run into those type of games."
The Bears were without nose tackle Eddie Goldman, who became the 19th player to be placed on injured reserve, but he has appeared in only six games. Inside linebacker Jerrell Freeman returned from his four-game suspension for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing drugs and was credited with a team-high nine tackles. But Freeman has contributed to exactly zero takeaways, and you shouldn't forget that when framing his overall value to the defense.
This was the eighth game the defense has failed to record a takeaway. The Bears have 10 takeaways for the season to rank 32nd. Unless they force seven turnovers Sunday at Minnesota, the Bears will set a franchise record for futility in creating takeaways after getting only 17 last season. Does anyone have the number for Lovie Smith in Champaign? Maybe when he's done recruiting he can pick up a consulting gig with his former team.
Yes, the Bears need upgrades throughout the secondary and have to find players with better ball skills as they have only seven interceptions, which ranks 31st ahead of only the Jaguars. But let's not overlook the fact the defense has created only three takeaways by fumble. That's probably a lack of awareness to go for the strip, a lack of brute force and plain bad bounces when the ball hits the ground.
"We were going to try to keep them off the field," Fox said. "With five giveaways to none, that kind of spoiled that plan. That has nothing to do with effort."
In the big picture, injuries are a major storyline for this season and simply cannot be overlooked. The organization needs to take a look at them in a comprehensive review of what went wrong. It's also worth noting they've had youth on the field with inexperienced players pressed into action at all levels of the defense. But something more has to explain how the Bears have only 27 takeaways in their last 31 games. This isn't a rut, it's a consistent pattern that should no longer be acceptable.
They talked about being No. 7 in the league in total defense two weeks ago, but they're trending in the wrong direction. The worst mistake the Bears can make when this season ends is a misevaluation in a desperate search for positives. They need to at least ask themselves if the defense has fooled them.
Link: www.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/ct-bears-defense-evaluation-biggs-spt-1225-20161224-column.html
