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No need to tamper with winning formula
No need to tamper with winning formula
Bears not dominant, but they're good enough to be 3-0
by mike mulligan
While the Bears spent a day off recovering from the shock of their unbeaten start, it's important to point out there are only results in the NFL. As strange and baffling as some of the national experts might find the Bears' results, the team nonetheless remains perfect.
Written off after a winless preseason that triggered a mass retreat from the fan base, the Bears have turned the conversation away from job security and unemployment benefits to appreciation of newfound accountability and coaching adjustments.
The question that isn't answered is whether the Bears are legitimate contenders or lucky pretenders. You can understand the confusion, given the fact the Bears have trailed in every game, have beaten no opponent by more than a touchdown and needed a fourth-quarter score to secure their success in each game.
Doubters say the Bears' real gift seems to be staying close and waiting for their opponents to self-destruct. What exactly is wrong with that tactic?
''We didn't play our best game, and we won,'' quarterback Jay Cutler said of the victory Monday against the Green Bay Packers.
The same statement could have been made after victories the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys.
To a man, the Bears were adamant in the locker room late Monday that they hadn't accomplished anything, that the season was still in its infancy and that there was plenty of room for improvement. That's classic football-speak from a team that seems to grasp the opportunity in front it. Since the playoffs were expanded to 12 teams in 1990, 78 percent of the teams that have started 3-0 have made the postseason.
Still, the Bears' caution after three consecutive victories strikes an interesting contrast to their smugness after winning the season opener on referee decision that opened up the exciting world of ''process of catch'' to Bears fans.
Middle linebacker Brian Urlacher, who has revived his career after missing all but the first half of the first game of last season, said he rather would have an ugly victory than an ugly loss.
''We are what we are,'' Urlacher said. ''We know what we are. We play hard for four quarters every time. We may not win every game, but we're going to give it all we've got. It may not be pretty. People can think what they want to, but we're going to play hard.''
The Bears have done it on offense, defense and special teams, but it is the improvement and development of Cutler that offers the most hope. He played his worst game of the season against the Packers, but he was still good enough to direct a victory. And his performance the week before against the Cowboys led general manager Jerry Angelo to tell WBBM-AM (780) that Cutler had improved ''enormously'' from one season to the next. Cutler took seven consecutive hits in that game before Bears coaches bailed him out with in-game adjustments.
''He's fighting for his life, but then to watch him settle down -- really the whole offense, coaches making great game adjustments -- to watch us make plays and then gain the confidence you needed to in terms of doing the things we did the rest of the game, it's very, very difficult to do on the road,'' Angelo said. ''I have never seen anything like it in all the years I have been watching football. You might see that at home, but you don't see it on the road.''
The Bears have busted their guts for the entirety of three games. The difference this time, as opposed to recent seasons, is that jobs once awarded in perpetuity suddenly have to be earned and justified. No longer are draft picks guaranteed spots, and Marcus Harrison, Devin Aromashodu, Tommie Harris and Zack Bowman have been benched when their performance was deemed not good enough.
Nobody seems certain exactly why the Bears decided to keep Harris off the 45-man active roster Monday, but if it was because of performance alone --one tackle in two games -- you have to wonder if they can rehabilitate him. You almost would prefer an antler-clashing spat with a coach or teammate to the fact the guy simply is deemed to be underperforming.
The New York Giants are up next for the Bears. On Sunday, they were the victims of a 29-10 home loss to the Tennessee Titans in which they imploded with dumb penalties and even dumber mistakes. They seem like perfect victims for the Bears' winning formula.
That game is followed by a visit to the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers are a bad team, and coach John Fox seems to be among those on the hot seat. His contract expires at the end of the season, but he might be gone before then.
It wasn't too long ago that the Bears were in the same position. Now fans are plotting victories and imagining extended winning streaks.
BEARS SCHEDULE
9/19 at Cowboys W, 27-20
Mon. Packers W, 20-17
Sun. at Giants 7:20
10/10 at Panthers Noon
10/17 Seahawks Noon
10/24 Redskins Noon
11/7 at Bills Noon
11/14 Vikings Noon
11/18 at Dolphins 7:20
11/28 Eagles Noon
12/5 at Lions Noon
12/12 Patriots Noon
12/20 at Vikings 7:30
12/26 Jets Noon 1/2 at Packers Noon
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Even at 3-0, Bears say there's room for improvement
By Bob LeGere |
Maybe the most encouraging aspect of the Bears' statement-making victory over the Green Bay Packers on Monday night was that the winners weren't really impressed with their performance.
The Bears feel like they can perform a lot better than they did in the 20-17 victory.
"I didn't play very well," Jay Cutler said after completing 16 of 27 passes for 221 yards, 1 TD, 1 pick and a passer rating of 82.5.
"I thought we were out of sync. I missed some throws that I should have made. We needed to make some plays, and we didn't make them. Offensively, we've got to get a lot better. I need to get a lot better."
Bottom line, the Bears made enough plays to remain undefeated, the only NFC team that can say that. And, despite a game he wasn't satisfied with, Cutler owns a 109.7 passer rating through three games, even though he saw his four-game streak of plus-100 passer ratings come to an end.
Cutler praised the Bears' defense for keeping the team in the game as the offense struggled in the early going and failed to score until less than a minute remained in the first half.
But the consensus on the defensive side of the ball is that the defense, too, could have played much better.
"We didn't play good at times, but we played good enough to win," said linebacker Brian Urlacher, whose forced fumble late in the fourth quarter set the Bears up for Robbie Gould's game-winning field goal.
"It was big," Urlacher said of the turnover, which helped make up for allowing the Packers to roll up 379 total yards offense.
"I always say yards don't matter to us. We like to keep them to a minimum, but yards don't really matter; points matter, take-aways and sacks (matter).
"We didn't get any sacks again, but we got take-aways when we needed them."
Monday night was the Bears' second straight game without a sack. They have allowed the Dallas Cowboys' Tony Romo and the Packers' Aaron Rodgers, in back-to-back weeks, to throw a total of 96 passes for 690 yards without being sacked.
"We need to be able to get the quarterback down," coach Lovie Smith said. "But Aaron Rodgers is a good player. It's hard to get him down.
"We kept the ball in front of us for the most part most of the game and came through with a big takeaway at the end, which we needed."
For the second straight week, the Bears did not establish a presence in the run game, following up a 38-yard rushing effort against the Cowboys with a 77-yard total against Green Bay.
And 37 of those yards came on three scrambles by Cutler, who was the game's leading rusher.
"Running-game-wise we didn't do as much as we would like, but some nights the run just doesn't work," Smith said. "You have to rely on the pass, and of course we did that."
Even with all the Bears' imperfections Monday, the sum effort still added up to another victory.
"We didn't play our best game and we won," Cutler said. "That's got to be a good sign."
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A "Mass retreat from the fan base"? Shit... I'm a Packer fan, and there is NO WAY that I believe Bears fans "retreated". They may have revolted, or any number of other things, but retreat? No..., not even Grizz. Any Bear fan that did needs to turn in his jersey.
And secondly, unlike the author, I sure hope the Bears coaching crew don't believe this is a "winning formula". The 2nd half of the season foretells a lot of disappointment if they do. Glad to see the players realizing they are heading in the right direction, and not sufficiently there to consider this a winning formula.
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Originally Posted by
loki520 
A "Mass retreat from the fan base"? Shit... I'm a Packer fan, and there is NO WAY that I believe Bears fans "retreated". They may have revolted, or any number of other things, but retreat? No..., not even Grizz. Any Bear fan that did needs to turn in his jersey.
And secondly, unlike the author, I sure hope the Bears coaching crew don't believe this is a "winning formula". The 2nd half of the season foretells a lot of disappointment if they do. Glad to see the players realizing they are heading in the right direction, and not sufficiently there to consider this a winning formula.
like all fanbases, you do have a certain "bandwagon" fans, who do jump ship whenever you lose, and jump back when win- though'old school" teams like pitts, bears giants,packers etc do have less of this than many others( dallas,pat's etc)..
And you also have a certain segment that are miserable all the time and actually do enjoy the losses and revel in negativity- heck look at some of the posters that 3 weeks ago posting here alot about how bad we are and how we will suck and not even win 4 games and the preseason proves this blah.blah- have either dissapeared or barely posting when we go 3-0..that's not a coincidence.
And not sure about what does/constitute a "winning formula" that mulligan was talking about, but the team under Lovie IS defined, by allowing plays in front, and slowly squeezing the team and getting turnovers from these short plays with strips and INT, playing way above Average Special teams both to score td's and field position and block kicks..and Now this year a real "O" and real scheme
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I thought he summed up what he felt the winning formula was. Stay close and wait for the other team to self implode.
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Originally Posted by
The Benjamin I thought he summed up what he felt the winning formula was. Stay close and wait for the other team to self implode.
don't think any team wants to 'stay close", all 32 teams want to have large leads, that isn't any teams "formula".. yes making the other team implode a basis of the cover-2, by allowing short passes the "D" can "T-up" and really hit hard and go for strips/INT's- and when we are getting them , we are a top 5 "D"( 2005/2006 and now). it also limits teasm like the packers from the signature big plays down field and forces them to become one demensional and not get the YAC they are used to, which again is exactly what we saw this week with packers only getting 1 , 20+ play And having INT's and fumbles.. and same last week to dallas, which again had the INT's and fumbles as the kept them in front and hitting.. it adds up as the game goes on.
And one last thing about monday's game, really ticks me off the stupid 'well look at all the penalties" nonsense- most were because bear players HAD BEATEn their men, so needed to resort to the penalty to avoid sacks/catches.. and hate it more when see posters saying 'well they will not do that again".. GUESS WHO THE MOST PENALIZED TEAM IN LEAGUE WAS IN 2009?..
yes the packers!.. so its not suprising they had alot of penalties , its been their modus operendi for awhile..
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Originally Posted by
dabears54 GUESS WHO THE MOST PENALIZED TEAM IN LEAGUE WAS IN 2009?..
yes the packers!.. so its not suprising they had alot of penalties , its been their modus operendi for awhile..
And yet they still managed to finish 11-5 and make the playoffs...imagine that.
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Originally Posted by
Jimmors And yet they still managed to finish 11-5 and make the playoffs...imagine that.
means last year they could overcome the penalties.
not sure what their record in 2009 has to do with being the most penalized team in 2009.. so them having alot of penalties in our game, just "normal" for them though...and a continued trend from last year
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Originally Posted by
dabears54
And you also have a certain segment that are miserable all the time and actually do enjoy the losses and revel in negativity- heck look at some of the posters that 3 weeks ago posting here alot about how bad we are and how we will suck and not even win 4 games and the preseason proves this blah.blah- have either dissapeared or barely posting when we go 3-0..that's not a coincidence.
i think that happens when people get so used to the losing that there is no hope and all they expect. I know this first hand I have allot of lion fans as friends lol
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Originally Posted by
motownbear i think that happens when people get so used to the losing that there is no hope and all they expect. I know this first hand I have allot of lion fans as friends lol
Oh no doubt motown!.. its like still Stuck in the 90's of the wanny/mmc era and can't get away from it and the complaining.. have never understood it, but it sure exists,, like like the Silly "bears are cheap" nonsense they hold on to with a death grip, despite it not being true for a decade now.
Just when things change, you have to adjust to the actual situation, instead of clinging with the GI JOE grip to these old wives tales and old misery, and silly hating.. but some just can't seem to do it, imo
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