Oxymoron: Frustrating Win

Or at least I THINK that qualifies as an oxymoron. But I digress.

Da Bears were fortunate to win Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. They had a favorable match-up in facing a rookie quarterback, under a rookie head-coach, with a depleted defense, at home. Not a very convincing 34-29 victory.

Matt Forte had himself a day. A career day. He had 25 carries for 205 yards (I know, I can't believe OC Mike Martz even called 25 running plays--31 altogether--or that the first nine plays from scrimmage were run-plays, either). Forte finds himself in elite company with Walter Payton and Gale Sayers as the only Bear to rush for over 200 yards in a single game.

It seems as though Martz had his hand smacked by Lovie's yard-stick after calling 11 and nine run-plays the two weeks prior, respectively. Or maybe o-line coach Mike Tice had a hand in the offensive play-calling. Or maybe, just maybe, Martz actually put his players in a position to succeed this past week.

It's not about balance and chances, but rather HOW you run the ball. It makes a world of difference when you call plays that allow your o-linemen to fire off the ball and that give your ball-carrier a lead-blocker so as to isolate the linebacker, allowing Forte to make one cut and go. Run downhill between the tackles, then open it up and run off-tackle, then open it up further with sweeps. Forte has the ability to gain the corner and then get up-field. It's not the sexiest style of football, but it still feels good winning individual battles and marching down the field. That's what you have to do against an injury-plagued defense. That's what I mean by putting your players in a position to succeed.

With that said, Da Bears won't be able to do that against better defenses. They can't continue to depend on Forte like that every game. Through the first four weeks, Forte accounts for 51.5% of the offense. Just to give you some perspective, accounting for 30% would be a heck of a lot. That's why GM Jerry Angelo should give him a fair contract extension as soon as possible; no Forte, no wins. But that's another post for another time.

Martz had his miscues, though. On third and goal from the four-yard line he called a QB draw. This, after Forte and Barber got them down there on lead-strong and lead-weak rushes. I wish they had a bruising down-hill runner to pick up that tough yardage, don't you, Marion Barber? It's as if University of Miami boosters pay Martz bounties every time Cutler gets destroyed (Offensive genius? I fear not). Even Cutler said that they should put that play on the shelf for a while. Later on, on third and one, Martz called a fake QB sneak/swing pass to Forte, which fooled NOBODY. Luckily, they picked up the first on fourth down with ... um, MARION BARBER.

Then, the collective, pathetic and inexcusable indecisiveness between Lovie and Martz caused Cutler to call a timeout on fourth down. Cutler even mouthed the words "That's embarrassing" on camera. And I concur. I don't even know what there was to think about. You're up a point with less than seven minutes left in a game in which you're lucky to be leading in the first place. Take the field goal and the four-point lead and force rookie QB Cam Newton to drive down the field for a touchdown! (Nice to see that confidence in your defense, Lovie.)

Finally, with just over five minutes remaining, Da Bears DID stop Newton and got the ball back...only, after a 20 yard-run and a 4 yard-run by Forte, Martz dialed up two passing plays which forced them to punt instead of eating clock with successful run-plays. The Panthers KNEW you were going to run and they STILL couldn't stop it, but let's try passing it because your ego won't allow you to chew clock on the ground.

Big picture: Jay Cutler is getting worse. His QB-rating Sunday was just below 48. His internal clock has sped up. He made that admission this past Wednesday. It was evident on Sunday when he felt the non-existent pressure all game, especially on the INT he threw as he rushed his throw and let the ball sail on him. That's the price you pay as a front-office when you don't give your QB the personnel around him necessary to succeed, and in an offensive scheme made to get your QB dominated in the back-field.

The O-line is off the hook ... for this week. Lance "Turn-Style" Louis actually stepped in and stepped up when his name was called to fill in for RG Chris Spencer, who was temporarily sidelined with a hand injury. He then slid over to RT and did a nice job when Frank "Revolving-Door" Omiyale (or "False-Start Frank," if you perfer) was benched at halftime. Louis' performance may have supplanted the job from Omiyale until Gabe Carimi comes back, which unfortunately for Lance, may be this Monday night in Detroit. So, for now, he's Lance "I Can't Let You In" Louis (somehow I feel like that nickname won't stick).

On the other side of the ball, Da Bears gave up 29 points induced by 17 plays of 15 yards or more and 12 of 20 yards or more. I understand the bend, but the break is unacceptable. As always, it starts in the trenches. Cam Newtown dropped back to pass 46 times; he was sacked ZERO times. They didn't even record a Quarterback Hit! Again, unacceptable and downright pathetic. You're not helping your secondary if you're not being disruptive in the back-field and pressuring the opposing quarterback. And help they need.

I can't remember a worse game for Bears' safeties under the Lovie regime than the Wright/Merriwether tandem on the field Sunday. I don't remember how or when, but apparently Major Wright recorded six tackles. It was probably when Carolina WR Steve Smith was busy torching him and Brandon Merriwether for 181 yards. I can see why Patriots' coach Bill Belichick didn't want Merriwether on his already reeling secondary.

Merriweather free-lances way too much in a Cover 2 scheme which requires discipline. He is the very definition of a head-hunter. He actually presses his fists to his chest and leads with the crown of his helmet instead of getting his head across the ball-carrier, wrapping him up and taking him down. Toughness is consistently making textbook tackles in the open-field and breaking up passes in coverage, NOT timing and teeing-off on a defenseless receiver. I'm sure he has already received his FedEx letter with dollar signs indicating just how much will be donated to United Way out of his pay-check.

The bottom line is that this defensive scheme cannot function with shaky coverage and a lack of pressure from the front-four. When they don't get pressure from the front-four, they're forced to blitz which means less players in their coverage zones, less eyes on the QB, and TROUBLE. Furthermore, they can never seem to get home and sack the QB. This has to be the worst blitzing defense in the NFL; they ALWAYS get picked up at the line of scrimmage. Even furthermore, I guess, they blitz on predictable downs, as twice on Sunday they got caught blitzing on screen-plays which went for big chunks of yardage.

Congratulations to Devin Hester on his record-breaking punt return touchdown and his triple somersault. Marion Barber's 340 degreeback-flip? Not so much.

A win is a win, is a win. However, if they play like that this coming Monday night at Ford Field, they'll be 2-3 on the year.


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