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Bears in Five week 11: Disaster in Green Bay
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Ryan Grant and the Packers embarassed the Bears
Sunday’s 37-3 defeated at the hands of the Green Bay Packers may be the worst game under the tenure of Lovie Smith. If not the worst than it certainly ranks right up there with the 41-10 drubbing the Bears received at the hands of the Colts in 2004 during Lovie’s first season as coach.
Now after the Bears elegant demonstration of Murphy’s Law -- everything that could've gone wrong, did -- they find themselves tied with the Packers and Vikings at 5-5 with one game against each remaining. Luckily they catch a break with a game against the hapless St. Louis Rams this week, but that doesn’t fix much from the disaster at Lambeau.
So, even though I’d really prefer to pretend like this game never happened, we look at Bears @ Packers in five:
1) Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse…
With very few exceptions things have not been going particularly well for the Bears defense this season. The string of mediocre quarterbacks that have picked them apart while seemingly never being sacked or hit or even pressured is staggering. Then against the Packers they stopped the one thing they had been doing well, stuffing the run.
Until Sunday Ryan Grant and the Packers running game was stagnant. Grant had only hundred-yard game and hadn’t broken off a run of more than 20 yards since week 1, but the Bears fixed that in a hurry. Now one of the highest paid defenses in football can’t seem to do anything right.
2) So much for that debate
Espn.com NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert has mused that the debate for best QB in the NFC North came down to Aaron Rodgers and our very own Kyle Orton. I think after Sunday’s performance it’s pretty safe to say we have an answer.
Sure, Orton was playing on a bad ankle and really didn’t get much help. But for the first time in weeks he actually faced a defense that offered more resistance than wet tissue paper and the difference was obvious. This is not meant to undercut any of the progress Orton has made this year, just an observation that he's not ready to carry this team on his own.
3) At least some problems are obvious
The one thing Bears fans can take some solace in is that the needs for the Bears are pretty obvious. The lack of a playmaker at wide receiver and any sort of pass rush at defensive end were both painfully on display against the Packers. Those two positions should be on the top of Jerry Angelo’s to-do list this offseason.
Angelo is known for not liking to trade draft picks, but the way he aggressively went after Adewale Ogunleye when Lovie Smith took over the team is the way he needs to go after a #1 WR this offseason. I agree with not paying Bernard Berrian the kind of money he was looking for, but Devin Hester is not ready to be the focal point of the passing game. And speaking of Ogunleye, Angelo will need to find someone to replace him and Mark Anderson this offseason, too. The Bears need 20 to 25 sacks a season out of their DE's, this season they are on pace for 9.
4) Who else could be shown the door?
With the Bears going without a dominant defensive performance since week 5 in Detroit it’s not hard to figure out that some players and coaches won’t be back next year. The most obvious candidate from a coaching standpoint is defensive coordinator Bob Babich, who after two years of slipping performance will likely be shown the door whether the defensive struggles are mainly his fault or not.
From the player side Hunter Hillenmeyer and Mike Brown are likely to find themselves back out on the open market along with Ogunleye and Anderson. It’ll also be interesting to see what sort of interest could be drummed up for Nathan Vasher. The Bears wouldn’t cut Vasher, but with a much cheaper option in Corey Graham already stealing some playing time could they argue with an offer of a 3rd or 4th-round pick?
5) The lone shining star
With another 124 yards of total offense rookie Matt Forte continues to be the focal point of the offense and brightest spot on this team. Watching Cedric Benson struggle at 3.2 yards per carry in Cincinnati only confirms the understanding of just how much trouble this team would be in without Forte.
Now if we could get him some more help. Forte is currently on pace for 400 touches, while he would not break the dreaded “curse of 370” in carries, he’s still going to take a ton of hits this year. The Bears are likely to ride Forte hard down the stretch as their only consistent offensive weapon, but they may be putting his future production at risk because of it.
For more info on the "curse of 370" check out this article and others at Football Outsiders.
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