It's only preseason, but Bears' OL a concern

**Riczaj01** · 08-11-2012, 12:13 PM

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bears

It's only preseason, but Bears' OL a concern

August, 10, 2012 Aug 10
5:41
PM CT

By Michael C. Wright | ESPNChicago.com

The Bears' new system was supposed to help the OL, but that wasn't on display Thursday.

Daylight closed quickly for the backs and time to sit in the pocket waned for the quarterbacks, who were hit a combined six times Thursday night in the Chicago Bears' 31-3 preseason-opening loss to the Denver Broncos.

This couldn't be the new O-line friendly system the club raved about executing all offseason.

"Running game wise, offensively we weren't able to establish anything and the protection wasn't good," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "We're not ready for prime time yet, but we'll hit the practice field as soon as we can and start making the necessary improvement."

That's imperative with the regular-season opener against the Indianapolis Colts fast approaching and training camp practice time dwindling. The Bears travel back to Bourbonnais and hit the field on Saturday to try to correct the many mistakes made against the Broncos in preparation for their Aug. 18 contest against the Washington Redskins.

A quick look at just the first half of Thursday's game reveals quite a bit in terms of where the Bears stand on the offensive line. While it's important to note the Broncos finished the 2011 season tied 10th in sacks, led by Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil, it's also worth mentioning the team actually finished 20th in total defense and 22nd against the run, allowing an average of 126.3 yards per game.

So while protection issues against the Broncos could be expected, Chicago's inability to run the ball wasn't.

The Bears ran eight times in the first half for 11 yards, gaining just 41 yards total as the offensive line allowed three sacks. Chicago's vanilla approach and lack of an offensive game plan likely contributed to the club's ineffectiveness on offense. But the players wouldn't use that as an excuse for the unit's overall lack of production.

"The other team probably did the same thing," said right guard Lance Louis. "We still want to come out and whatever plays they call, we want to execute them."

Left guard Chris Spencer acknowledged that the lack of a game plan "definitely makes a difference," but added "we've still got to go out and execute what's called."

"We don't really game plan in the preseason, so we're really just doing the stuff we've been doing in training camp," Spencer said.
"Still we've got to do a better job of executing what's called anyway, regardless of what the game plan says."

It's likely that offensive coordinator Mike Tice feels the same way. But he wasn't available for comment after Thursday night's game.

Quarterback Jason Campbell, who was sacked once filling in for starter Jay Cutler, managed to complete 4 of 5 for 13 yards in three offensive series, but was under duress on some of his throws.

"We've been flip-flopping guys (on the offensive line) a little bit to try and find the group," Campbell said. "Those guys are working their butts off in practice trying to get better. It wasn't a showing we would like to come out and have. But we'll just continue to grow and continue to move forward."

On the positive side -- although it's still somewhat negative -- the Bears moved backward because of penalties on the offensive line just three times throughout the game. Officials flagged left tackle J'Marcus Webb and guards Edwin Williams and Louis once each for false start penalties.

Webb, who is battling Chris Williams for the starting job at left tackle, played well into the fourth quarter. Williams saw extensive action, too. Smith identified Webb and Williams as "some players we thought needed reps, we needed to see" in explaining why the club gave them extended playing time.

"I've got to get better with knowing situations, and getting better with the camaraderie of my fellow linemen," said Webb, who committed an NFL-high 15 penalties in 2011. "I think it was a time to get better. I'm a young player, and if the team needs me to stay in then I will."

Naturally, Game 1 of the preseason shouldn't bring about panic. But at the same time, the Bears failed to assuage their most pressing concern entering the 2012 season.

In former offensive coordinator Mike Martz's scheme, the Bears gave up 49 sacks (fifth-most in the NFL) in 2011. So the prevailing thought all offseason was that the offensive line would perform better in Tice's system, which emphasizes the running game and protecting the quarterback.

It hasn't just yet.

"As a line, we definitely want to see this tape, just look at it. Next game, everybody wants to make a big jump; come out and play great," Louis said. "We've got some things to work on, but we'll get better from here. We're going to be alright."

**JustAnotherBearsFan99** · 08-11-2012, 03:22 PM

"We've been flip-flopping guys (on the offensive line) a little bit to try and find the group,"
.

An NFL offensive like is really 5 people working as 1. Five moving pieces that work with the precision of a fine Swiss watch. At this point, you need to set your linemen and let them get timing/chemistry that they desperately need before the season begins. This is critical. The train is leaving the station now. Too late to be flip flopping people into new positions.

While the practices at camp are important, we're at the point where actual game reps (pre-season) are as precious as gold. This oline needs a lot of work in the pre-season games (I loved the fact they gave Webb and Spencer extra work Thursday. That was just smart coaching by Tice). Work their butts off rep after rep, snap after snap until they get better. They HAVE to get better.

**Blue Horse-shoe** · 08-11-2012, 06:42 PM

I want to see passion / anger outta some of these guys , when they play. I wanna see guys who have 'something in them' when they get challenged by these coaches , get pizzed and just go cattywumpas on their opponent every week like the guy is trying to steal their livelihood ( which in a way ... they are ).

But some of these guys don't seem to show much of that from what I've seen .How many times do guys need to be yelled at ? How long is it supposed to take ?

**Dagan81** · 08-11-2012, 07:02 PM

Originally Posted by Blue Horse-shoe

I want to see passion / anger outta some of these guys , when they play. I wanna see guys who have 'something in them' when they get challenged by these coaches , get pizzed and just go cattywumpas on their opponent every week like the guy is trying to steal their livelihood ( which in a way ... they are ).

But some of these guys don't seem to show much of that from what I've seen .How many times do guys need to be yelled at ? How long is it supposed to take ?

Showing aggression is key essential for the offensive line, but since when did yelling, cussing, screaming, and embarrassing players individually do anything other than cower down players? I'm not one to coddle anyone, but I do see the good virtues behind positive reinforcement.

**Blue Horse-shoe** · 08-11-2012, 07:40 PM

Originally Posted by Dagan81

Showing aggression is key essential for the offensive line, but since when did yelling, cussing, screaming, and embarrassing players individually do anything other than cower down players? I'm not one to coddle anyone, but I do see the good virtues behind positive reinforcement.

I see good from BOTH cuz I've experienced both. But I can say unequivocally, that the kicks in the pants always did more to get me right than the positive stuff did. Hopefully, Tice can figure out how to strike the right balance, but it's starts with the military model - tear em down then build em back up. It works with most ... and the washouts ? C'est la vie.

**Dagan81** · 08-11-2012, 08:29 PM

Originally Posted by Blue Horse-shoe

I see good from BOTH cuz I've experienced both. But I can say unequivocally, that the kicks in the pants always did more to get me right than the positive stuff did. Hopefully, Tice can figure out how to strike the right balance, but it's starts with the military model - tear em down then build em back up. It works with most ... and the washouts ? C'est la vie.

See, I usually look at it from the Tony Dungy model of molding football players. Unlike you, I never player played a down of football outside of the backyard (I was a marching band junky in both high school and college), so I can't be 100% sure of anything that I say being correct, but as I see it, Dungy was able to have success with both the Colts and the Buccaneers using the method I mentioned above. Did it work? Well, Dungy won countless divisional titles and a Super Bowl over us seven years ago, so it apparently didn't hurt his cause.

The same thing has worked to some degree with Lovie Smith in my opinion. While Lovie has not been anywhere near as successful as his mentor Tony Dungy was, he did get us to the Super Bowl in '06-'07 and has won two other divisional titles, including another berth in the 2010 NFC Championship Game. While I would say there is more militarism going on with Lovie than with Dungy simply because you have guys like Tice and Marinelli running the show in their respective areas, the mood is much mellower at a Lovie Smith practice than, say, it is at a Giants or Patriots practice.

I look at it this way, Blue: the old militaristic way of coaching died probably twenty years ago in the sports world with Bob Knight while he was coaching basketball at Indiana. After the 1993 season, Knight found it difficult to recruit the kind of play he wanted at Indiana and, for that matter, at Texas Tech, because players had evolved into the age of Dr. Spock methodology of "spare the rod and spoil the child" child-rearing. In college football, this happened with Woody Hayes starting around 1976 when Bo Schembechler started coming into the state of Ohio and cherry-picking players that, for twenty-five years, would have been recruited by Hayes to play football at Ohio State. And, you could also make the case that Mike Ditka lost his players after the incident in 1992 where he grabbed Jim Harbaugh by the face mask and yanked him around for audibling and throwing an interception. Players started not responding to that kind of behavior at least twenty years ago, and possibly as far back as the late 1970s. So while I do agree that a swift kick in the ass every once in a while is what a player needs to get motivated, I also know that the militaristic culture that existed in sports a long time has long since passed, and we are well into another era of handling both student and professional athletes.

**Blue Horse-shoe** · 08-11-2012, 09:08 PM

Well I was just trying to think of something that might help and it obviously shows that I don't have the answer. But I do know one thing though :

If the guy was any good , he'd actually BE good. ALL of the time not just SOME of the time.

**soulman** · 08-12-2012, 05:29 AM

Well they definitely need to find some "attitude" between now and the Indy game but most importantly Tice needs to set the line and work the five who'll be starting.

99 is right. It's like ballroom dancing or synchronized swimming. Those five guys need to perform as one. Gotta know what you're partner is gonna do just as much as you need to know what you're gonna do in any given situation and they're along way from being there. All the talent in the world won't make them a good line if they don't coordinate what they're doing.

I just keep coming up with the same solution. Get this LT competition over with this week and set the line. Based on what I've seen so far it's pretty much tweedle dee (CWill) and tweedle dum (Webb with an emphasis on the dum...b) and neither has stepped up to the plate any better than the other. So unless CWill has one hellacious week and earns a start next weekend then just leave Webb there and put CWill back at LG where he belongs and start coaching the hell out of Brown as the swing OT.

If we're gonna play our 5 best then CWill shouldn't be sitting.

**Dagan81** · 08-12-2012, 10:04 AM

Originally Posted by soulman

Well they definitely need to find some "attitude" between now and the Indy game but most importantly Tice needs to set the line and work the five who'll be starting.

99 is right. It's like ballroom dancing or synchronized swimming. Those five guys need to perform as one. Gotta know what you're partner is gonna do just as much as you need to know what you're gonna do in any given situation and they're along way from being there. All the talent in the world won't make them a good line if they don't coordinate what they're doing.

I just keep coming up with the same solution. Get this LT competition over with this week and set the line. Based on what I've seen so far it's pretty much tweedle dee (CWill) and tweedle dum (Webb with an emphasis on the dum...b) and neither has stepped up to the plate any better than the other. So unless CWill has one hellacious week and earns a start next weekend then just leave Webb there and put CWill back at LG where he belongs and start coaching the hell out of Brown as the swing OT.

If we're gonna play our 5 best then CWill shouldn't be sitting.

I would like to think that Martz...excuse me, Tice...would see it that way, but apparently, he's hell bent on working the offensive line to the bone in every possible fashion until the bitter end of training camp just like he's done over the past two seasons. What did we experience the past two years with the offensive line as a result? BAD LINE PLAY!!! And it's because they don't have enough time to either acquaint or re-aquaint themselves with each other in order to work harmoniously. If Chris Williams starts at LT this coming week and plays well, does that mean that he gets another chance to prove his worth, or will Tice and Holt once again pull him aside and reinstall Webb just because of Tice's big ego? That's when you'll have to tune in next week for the next exciting episode of "As the Line Turns: Bears Edition."

**MPBears68** · 08-12-2012, 11:35 AM

Originally Posted by soulman

Well they definitely need to find some "attitude" between now and the Indy game but most importantly Tice needs to set the line and work the five who'll be starting.

99 is right. It's like ballroom dancing or synchronized swimming. Those five guys need to perform as one. Gotta know what you're partner is gonna do just as much as you need to know what you're gonna do in any given situation and they're along way from being there. All the talent in the world won't make them a good line if they don't coordinate what they're doing.

I just keep coming up with the same solution. Get this LT competition over with this week and set the line. Based on what I've seen so far it's pretty much tweedle dee (CWill) and tweedle dum (Webb with an emphasis on the dum...b) and neither has stepped up to the plate any better than the other. So unless CWill has one hellacious week and earns a start next weekend then just leave Webb there and put CWill back at LG where he belongs and start coaching the hell out of Brown as the swing OT.

If we're gonna play our 5 best then CWill shouldn't be sitting.

Great post Soul (and Dags above). I realize Emery couldn't "fix" everything this offseason and did a helluva job accomplishing as much as he did. But man the OL follies every year is getting old. I don't know if moving CW back to LT is a true "2nd look", meant merely to light a fire under Webb (he will probably use it to just roast hot dogs and smores), or an attempt to prepare CW to man the swing role from the bench. Whatever it is, and I agree that the latter motivation is no bueno, there's little doubt in my mind as well that our BEST 5 starting lineup from L to R is:

Webb -- CWill -- Garza --Louis -- Carimi

That was especially evident after Spencer blew chunks playing LG last week. He was clearly the worst performer of our "returning starters" from last year. If CW is the best LG we have (over Rachal and Spencer), and he definitely seems to be, then bite the bullet, leave him there, and whip Webb like a galley slave the rest of PS @ LT. That's the best lineup we got fellas.

I know Tice is nervous about not having a dedicated reserve/swing OT outside of an UDFA rookie, but there doesn't seem to be any other choice unless some team cuts a serviceable and uninjured vet (fat chance). Who did we have in that role last year--Frank OMG? Could James Brown be significantly worse if called upon in a pinch? At least JB is raw and (hopefully) has substantial upside. FO was at his ceiling...which was barely above his floor. Hoping Tice sees and accepts this. Hope he sets the OL as above no later than between the next 2 PS games.

BTW, how many OLmen do we typically keep on the final roster...8 or 9?

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