Offense Not Missing Hester..............

Bears offense doesn't miss Hester

Team better off with speedster focusing on return game

http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/...2/66481971.jpg Devin Hester avoids touching the ball on the return during the fourth quarter against the Raiders. (Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE, US PRESSWIRE / November 27, 2011)

Dan Pompei On the NFL 3:52 p.m. CST, December 3, 2011


In Devin Hester's absence from the offense over the last three games, it has become very apparent the Bears are better when Hester treats special teams like a wife and the offense like a mistress.

There has been talk of Hester returning to a starting job and a prominent role on offense.
Bears fans should hope it is just talk.

Hester can be effective as a supplementary offensive player who plays in the slot in multiple-receiver packages, but the offense is better served with Johnny Knox and Earl Bennett on the field as much as possible, and with Roy Williams getting a fair share of snaps.

And the entire team is better served with Hester conserving his energy for the return game.

Check this out: When Hester was playing offense full-time, he averaged 15 yards on punt returns; since he stopped playing offense full-time, he has been averaging 26.9 yards on punt returns, even though he has been banged up. If you take away his 82-yard touchdown return against the Lions, he's still averaging 17.7 yards per return in his last three games.

As an offensive player, Hester has not been very effective this year. He has caught only 44.9 percent of the passes thrown to him, the lowest percentage on the team according to STATS.

For comparison purposes, Bennett has caught 62.1 percent of the passes thrown to him, Williams has caught 60 percent of the passes thrown to him and Knox has caught 52.8 percent.

Those numbers are influenced some by the kinds of routes each player is asked to run. It figures that Hester and Knox's percentages would be lower than Bennett's. But Hester's percentage is inordinately low. It's almost 10 percentage points lower than it was one year ago (54.8).

At the time of Hester's injury, he had taken more snaps than any other wide receiver on the Bears. He still has the second-most wide receiver snaps and is 43 behind Knox, according to profootballfocus.com.

The Bears have thrown to Hester 49 times this season, making him the second most targeted receiver on the team behind Knox, who has had 53 passes thrown to him.

Any opponent would be more concerned to see some of those passes going to others, and Hester planning his next punt return touchdown celebration.

Numbers games: Give them a hand

Bears receivers have not been as helpful to their quarterbacks as they should have been so far this season.

The Bears have had 23 drops. That's tied for sixth most in the NFL. The Bears have had one drop for every 10.3 passes that STATS defines as "catchable." That puts them at fourth worst in the league.

You might have a hard time guessing who the least reliable receiver has been. It's rookie Dane Sanzenbacher, who was signed in part because he is supposed to have glue fingers.

Sanzenbacher leads the team with six drops, which is tied for ninth most in the NFL. He has dropped 16.7 percent of the passes he could have caught.

Fellow receivers Hester and Williams have four drops apiece, while Knox has three.

Among tight ends, Kellen Davis has two drops and Matt Spaeth one.

Among running backs, Matt Forte, Tyler Clutts and Marion Barber have one apiece.

Comprehend the trend: Red zone defense

The Bears may not own Soldier Field, but they own part of it — the area between their 20-yard line and their goal line.

The Bears have the best red zone defense in the NFL. They have been remarkably resilient and tough when the field is the shortest and the stakes are the highest. It is a testament mostly to the character of the defenders.

Opponents have scored an average of 3.76 points per trip inside the red zone against the Bears. That's the lowest average in the NFL, according to STATS.

A successful offensive play in the NFL usually is defined by an offense gaining at least 40 percent of the yards necessary for a first down on first down; at least 50 percent of the yards necessary for a first down on second down, or a play that results in a first down on third or fourth down.

Against the Bears in the red zone, opponents have had successful plays 31.7 percent of the time — the lowest percentage in the NFL.

The Bears have held opponents to 1.8 yards per play in the red zone, which is the best average in the league. Their opponent passer rating in the red zone is 43.8, also lowest in the NFL.

And inside the 20, the Bears have six interceptions — again, best in the league.

Front-office chess: Linebacker gamble

The Bears quietly made an interesting transaction last week, waiving Brian Iwuh and promoting Patrick Trahan from the practice squad.

The move was prompted when Iwuh pulled a hamstring against the Raiders. He was expected to miss several weeks. Given Iwuh's primary role is as a special-teams player, there is no guarantee that his hamstring would have allowed him to race the length of the field repeatedly, as is required, the rest of the season.

So the Bears moved up Trahan, who is two years younger, faster and has fresh legs. Iwuh is a solid special-teams player, but not a killer.

Where the Bears could miss him is on defense if there is an injury. Iwuh has something none of the Bears' current backup linebackers have — experience on defense. Trahan, Dom DiCicco and Jabara Williams all are first-year players who have yet to be initiated on defense.

If the Bears do lose a starting linebacker, they can always sign a veteran with experience. Maybe someone like Pisa Tinoisamoa.

But they won't be able to go back to Iwuh this season. After having reached an injury settlement with him, the Bears are prohibited from signing him again for 10 weeks.

dpompei@tribune.com

Twitter @danpompei

Copyright © 2011, Chicago Tribune
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Pompeii is only saying what the rest of us have been saying for quite a while now. Take Hester out of the starting lineup as a WR and let him concentrate on how to score on kick and punt returns. As a return man he's a game changer but as a WR he's a mediocre #3 type guy at best. With Bennett moving outside that leaves some room to move Hester into the slot where he could share the spot with Sanz once Sanz learns how to hold onto the ball again. Most of us have always thought that would be a better spot for him to take advantage of mismatches and he wouldn't have the number of snaps or the pressure on him he has at flanker.

The drops thing doesn't surprise anyone since we see it every week. Both QB's would have better stats if these guys held onto the ball. With Knox there's no excuse. He's been around long enough to have fixed that problem and he needs to if he's ever gonna rise above this level. RWill we already know drops more passes than almost anyone in the league so that's no surprise but Sanz is. Hopefully it's just some rookie nerves, lack of focus or a voodoo hex someone put on him. The guy was all hands early on and maded some nice catches but now he's worked himself into the doghouse and he better workout of it soon. He doesn't play ST so the only reason he made the roster was those hands of his.

Bears defense may not rank high in yardage allowed but this shows just how stingy they can be when backed up deep in their own territory. We're at the top of the league in red zone play and if we can eliminate those big plays we can get even tougher to score on. We need them playing stingy ball now that our point production will most likely decline.

I hated to see Iwuh get injured but one of the two PS guys has to show he can step up. We need either Trahan or Williams to prove they're capable of making the team next year and this is where that starts.

I treat my mistress way better than my wife....I knew as soon as I read that I would disagree with the article and stopped reading

this is another situation nick where the posters had it right for years now over what the coaches decided

this article clearly goes into the no f-in shit category. After two seasons the staff should have declared this hester wr experiment a disaster and moved on. But our offense has been suffering for years not adding legit talent to the wrs cause of the hester contract

I disagree; first we haven't had this many decent wr's in years so Hester was necessary to try and make one w/his natural ability. Also, the idea of getting Hester the ball on O makes complete since; the problem is that they don't put him in a place to succeed, the slot. Get him the ball in space, in front of corners and behind lb's and you would see him excell, instead they have him running deep routes.

Letting Hester only touch the ball 3-5 times a game(P/K returns) is dumb, ecspecially when other teams just kick it away from him. Now get him the ball another 3-5 times a game as a slot means he's doubled his chances of breaking the game open for us. But he shouldn't be in the 1 position and targetting him 8-10 times a game is foolhearty b/c he's not a true WR.

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Originally Posted by Nick

I treat my mistress way better than my wife....I knew as soon as I read that I would disagree with the article and stopped reading

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What do you disagree with Nick? The proposition that Hester is and has been misused in trying to make him into a number one receiver just because Jerry Angelo decided to pay him like one? Do you believe Hester should be lineing up as a starter every game or would he be better used in spot play in the slot.

The fact that his return number rise when he's not expected to over 40 snaps per game is undeniable. Devin Hester hurts team as a return specialist. He makes them alter there ST game plans and he breaks their hearts and will with TD's even when they've spent all week figuring out how to stop him. As a returner he's an impact player but not as a WR.

If it's our philosophy to put the guys on the field every down who give us the best chance of winning the game then Devin Hester is not one of those guys. On this team he's a number three WR and return star. That's what he is and there's no shame in that. The guys a HOF kick returner but barely serviceable as an NFL WR. I'm not saying bench him. Just alter the way they use him and it's to everyone's advantage. In the slot he's gonna get some hellacious mistmatches that could mean even more scoring and that's what the offense needs. Better weaponry is the key to that and in the slot Hester is like a big missle that even the threat that your gonna use it makes the other guy blink.

Keep Hester fresh for the return game and play him 20-25 snaps a game in the slot and let's see how that works out.

Ric we didn't have the talent at wr cause they kept shoving Hester out there cause of his contract.

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Originally Posted by motownbear

Ric we didn't have the talent at wr cause they kept shoving Hester out there cause of his contract.

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I agree, that has happened and when he doesn't make that jump then you have to go after the coach whose been charged with developing him or accept the fact that the guy never had it to begin with and you simple made him the highest paid KR/PR in history. The second is alot closer to the truth but somehow Angelo can't bring himself to admit it.

He needs to take those $$$ off the books of the WR account and go out and spend some more money on getting a #1 WR. Not a soul in the world is buying the lame old excuse that Devin Hester is #1 just because he's paid like one. That's ludicrous and if that's how Angelo wants to keep playing it someone should arrange for both he an Martz to share the cab ride to the airport to catch their planes out of town.

Relax fellas I was joking around. I'm much happier to see Knox running fly patterns than DH. He's been given every opportunity to succeed at the position, it kinda blows my mind that he can be great at one of the most difficult aspects of the game and then be way below average at what should be much easier. It's gotta be mental though...it has to be that he can't read a defense and know what to do. Mreturns are instinct and ability, receiving is cerebral and ability