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How can the Bears regain momentum against the Steelers?
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Even with Troy Polamalu out the Steelers D presents
a daunting challenge.
Sunday night was more than just a loss to the Packers. With the season ending injury to Brian Urlacher, Patrick Mannelly's direct snap gaff, Lovie Smith's poor challenges and time management, and the disastrous performance of Jay Cutler it was a blow to the hype and aura surrounding all aspects of the 2009 Chicago Bears.
And the road to recovery is not an easy one with the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers on their way into town. So how will each phase of this team regain their mojo in order to avoid the dreaded 0-2 start?
Coaching - Unfortunately for Lovie Smith the poor play of Jay Cutler and two lost challenges overshadowed a strong debut as the defensive play caller.
Poor timeout usage and unnecessary challenges have seemingly been a hallmark of Lovie's coaching tenure. That's actually why it was so surprising to see Lovie just under the NFL average in challenges won according to NBC. Lovie must not needlessly throw away timeouts and challenges against Pittsburgh because the game will likely come down to the wire.
Along with keeping his defense on track Lovie also needs to reach out to his franchise quarterback. Jay Cutler's demonstrative attitude on the field in Green Bay, fairly or not, put questions about his leadership ability back front and center. Lovie will need to calm and focus his quarterback, until the Bears win and those same actions are seen as passionate leadership.
Special Teams - While Patrick Mannelly's brain cramp late against the Packers was a terrible mistake it was far from the only imperfection in the Bears' normally stellar special teams in Green Bay.
Neither of the Bears return units played particularly well. While teams will still remember Hester's long punt return against Denver in the preseason for a few more week, if he can't find more room in the regular season soon opponents will start to pass it off as a fluke.
And while Danieal Manning's performance on defense will be more important this week, excellent field position thanks to a few strong kickoff returns would really help against last year’s #1 defense.
The kickoff coverage also left a lot to be desired Sunday night. Jordy Nelson consistently made it out past the 20 without being slowed and then slipped and slithered his way out near or past the 30 thanks to some poor tackling.
Everything needs to go right when facing a team as talented as the Steelers. No mistakes and better execution overall.
Defense - Urlacher's injury and the way the game ended have distracted from an otherwise outstanding defensive performance. While Adewale Ogunleye was the one credited with two sacks, both he and Alex Brown were hassling Aaron Rodgers all night and the Packer running game was non-existent.
Both of those things will need to be repeated if the Bears are going to have a chance in their home opener. While the Steelers are no longer particularly effective running the football they are committed to it. With the speed of Willy Parker and Rashard Mendenhall the front 7 for the Bears can’t afford to get sloppy.
The passing game is actually where the Bears could miss Urlacher the most. His 31 pass deflections the past two years are as many as or better than many defensive backs and his speed getting down the middle of the field took a lot of pressure off the safeties.
To make up for that loss the defensive line needs to pick up right where it left off against a below average offensive line. The added challenge against Pittsburgh is getting Roethlisberger to the ground once you get to him, he is lethal outside the pocket so missed sacks could be devastating.
Expect to see more of Danieal Manning and Zack Bowman this week, especially after Nathan Vasher and Kevin Payne combined to let Greg Jennings free for the winning touchdown. Manning had a huge sack and safety coming off the edge in a nickel situation last week and it wouldn't be surprising to see Lovie Smith go to that again to create a big play.
Offense - Not sure what was the worst part of the Bears offensive performance in Green Bay: the play calling (did Ron Turner forget about Matt Forte), the pass blocking (Frank Omiyale if you are looking for your dignity please see Cullen Jenkins), or Jay Cutler's decision making (it would've made Rex Grossman proud).
The two simplest things to improve this coming week would to be getting the ball to Matt Forte earlier and more consistently along with benching Frank Omiyale in favor of Josh Beekman.
While helpful those are both significantly less important than getting Jay Cutler straightened out.
Ron Turner could kill two birds with one stone by increasing Forte’s involvement in the passing game. During most of the Packers game the Bears kept tight ends and running backs in to help with blitz pick-ups and limited Cutler's options downfield. By slipping Forte into the flat for some swing passes Turner can get his quarterback in rhythm and get his best offensive player the ball in space.
But balance in the Bears attack will be essential.
The Steelers haven't allowed a 100 yard rusher in 19 games and with Cutler the temptation will be there to go pass heavy. Lovie and Co. need to stick to the run to keep the Steelers defense honest and Cutler away from turnovers, he has only 9 interception free games over the last two seasons.
Finally if there is a week to pull out the bag of tricks this might be it. Personally I'd love to see a Hester to Knox reverse or maybe a throwback pass to Cutler. The Bears need to do something to get their mojo back and shaking things up a bit might be their best bet.
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