Chicago Bears Beat Minnesota Vikings 48-41 | Defensive Issues Remain for Lovie Smith
It was a win, but I would feel comfortable saying that it was not good win. There were certainly bright spots for the Bears this afternoon in Soldier Field, special teams, turnovers and offense all generated scoring chances and points. The defense did, also, finish the game. Things that were off beat and players needed to step up for the Bears to have the complete game they were looking for after a disappointing loss to the Falcons last week, and they did. Orton had a breakout game, the special teams scored twice and there were 4 interceptions.
“Kaner, with all the positives, what’s the problem?†41 is the number that’s a problem. How do you let a team who turns the ball over 6 times still score 41 points? The Bears got a W and that was on account of a great team effort, the defense however did not impress consistently. To give up 7 scoring drives and 439 yards of total offense, you should lose that football game. But the Vikings beat them to the punch making mistake after mistake.
It was hot and cold all day for the defense. While the Bears stole 4 interceptions from Gus, they gave up two touchdowns and 298 yards, too. If Frerotte could have avoided forcing the ball a few times and communicated with his receivers to avoid mistakes, a few of those turnovers would have been avoided. Fantasy owners of Adrian Peterson had a banner day. Going into the day, I knew that I was playing an owner of Peterson in one league, I knew that he would put up some points but I thought that the Bears would be able to at least slow him down. Not the case, he ran wild on 22 touches for 121 yards and 2 TDs. He put up 24 fantasy points, it was killing me (luckily I went point for point with him enjoying Steven Jackson on my roster) I’m rambling, but what I’m saying is that to win in the NFL you can’t expect to rely on mistakes made by quarterbacks and hit home runs on special teams. It’s a recipe for a lucky year, not a good one.
Consider this, if the Bears’ punt in the 2nd quarter had not taken a funny bounce off of the turf and hit the arm of Charles Gordon, then jumped into the endzone, we would be discussing another Bears’ letdown right now. Ryan Longwell’s fifth extra point would have tied the game with 3 minutes remaining. People are now grumbling, thinking, “Yeah, but the ball did take that bounce and the Bears made a play on it. Who cares about the what ifs?†Fair enough, and in football a win is a win, that’s what matters. We have to know, though, that if this team expects to win games consistently, this defense has to step up, with consistency. No team in the NFL can rely on the mistakes of another squad to be the determining factor in their games.
Kyle Orton and the offense have realized this, stepping up in big situations, taking advantage of mistakes but not relying on them. When the Minnesota defense started to slow down Matt Forte, Orton showed arm strength, accuracy and vision hitting 7 receivers twice or more. He totaled for 283 yards and two TDs, giving his team enough scoring chances to stay ahead of the consistent surges of the Vikings. He did it the week before in Atlanta and has proven he can hold up his end of the deal. In this case, though, his end of the deal is really only 49%.
The other 51% percent belongs to the other side of the ball, the supposed Monsters of the Midway, who have been picked apart, fallen asleep on the job and let games get away from them.
The defensive line has done an okay job to this point. They have gotten to quarterbacks enough and stepped up huge in certain situations – picking off Brian Griese, the goal line stand against Philly, Tommie Harris’s 4th quarter sack today. My only issue is that they have not been consistent enough against the run, shutting down the running game of the Bucs and Falcons but giving up some big games to Jonathan Stewart and Adrian Peterson. Tough to tackle backs prove too much for the front four.
Then, you look at the linebacking corps, they are certainly highly paid and have been somewhat disappointing, Briggs and Urlacher both have their share of tackles but Urlacher does not have one sack and has only 2 tackles for a loss. Briggs only has a sack. They do make tackles when they have the chance, and certainly, they clog things up. Yes, Urlacher is a leader. And of course, they provide a huge threat. They are not making plays consistently enough in late game situations, though. Plays to sew up the corps of that defense, to solidify their tough as nails reputation. And what do they have to show for it? Some great moments but a whole lot of “coulda, woulda, shoulda†thanks to blown opportunities.
The secondary is a love/hate thing. They have given up yards like crazy and when backs get into space they can blow up for long runs due to poor tackling, like today. They, do, however have games where they embarrass QBs and get 4 interceptions, like today. But they let up too soon and have given up major yards late in games, while mediocre QBs pick them apart. Yes, you can point to injury but you need to adjust if that’s a problem and other members of the defense need to step up to hide the weaknesses caused by injury.
All in all, today was a good day, the Bears scrape out a big conference win and continue to show that they have a number of good things going. The pieces are falling into place, and they have their destiny in their own hands. They need to take control of that though and start playing consistently to be considered successful, just because we had such low expectations at the beginning of the year does not mean that Bears fans should ignore the consistent problems the defense is having. You can’t count on teams losing games to get you into the playoffs and with what this team has shown so far, they don’t have to. They have the talent, the confidence is growing and they stay in games, it’s a matter of consistent execution. Lovie needs to remind this defense that they are the ones who win championships and anything short of a championship that isn’t a success. Close only counts in hand grenades and horseshoes, folks.
[tags]chicago bears, minnesota vikings, nfl, football[/tags]
Tags: Adrian Peterson, Brian Urlacher, Chicago Bears, Gus Frerotte, Lance Briggs, Minnesota Vikings
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