Chicago Bears Fans, Let's R-E-L-A-X!

I’m not one to quote anything coming out of a Green Bay Packer’s mouth, but Chicago Bears fans need to do what he told his Cheesehead fans before they played the Bears last week. The season is still young, and the problems that ail the Bears are not insurmountable.

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The problem the Bears have is in making adjustments. They either have great first halves then have brain farts in the second half (last three games as an example), or they have rough first halves then have good second halves (the first two games).

Everyone wants to pin the fault of breakdowns on something or someone. We have to have a scapegoat, right? It’s all Jay Cutler‘s fault. It’s all Mel Tucker’s fault. It’s all Chris Conte‘s fault. The fact of the matter is that the team as a whole has not played a full 60 minute game consistently.

Talking to reporters after the game, Marc Trestman mirrored that sentiment.

“I think that we’ve struggled at times, and that’s the thing we’ve got to focus on. We’ve had a lot of very consistent moments, and then we’ve gone inconsistent,” coach Marc Trestman said. “We have the last two weeks, certainly in the second half. So it’s something that we’ve got to continue to work on and get better at. We still haven’t put four quarters together. We’ve put some good quarters together, but we haven’t put four quarters together yet.”

Part of the problem is coaching. The staff has had trouble sometimes to make adjustments at halftime. Against the Panthers, the defense did well until the final moments of the first half, when they allowed a way too easy touchdown drive of 75 yards in 1:39. The momentum carried over to the second half when the Panthers went 86 yards in 10 plays and 4:00.

The Panthers were able to find the open man often in the second half, much the same way Rodgers did last week.

“We still haven’t put four quarters together. We’ve put some good quarters together, but we haven’t put four quarters together yet.” -Marc Trestman

Meanwhile, after running out and scoring 21 points, the offense just started to sputter. Matt Forte was running all over the Panthers, but could not find space in the second half.

The Bears are not being completely outplayed in these games. For part of each game, the scores have been close. When it comes down to executing in the clutch, they just haven’t done it.

And that falls on the entire team, from coaches to players.

Where is Lamarr Houston and Jared Allen on defense? Without putting pressure on the quarterback, the open man will be found by good quarterbacks. The only player who is consistently coming with the pressure is Willie Young. Where would the line be without him? Allen and Houston must earn their paychecks and do what they are paid to do, to get in the backfield.

Mel Tucker seems to coach scared. Without the pressure from the line, he needs to blitz more. Perhaps he doesn’t think the blitz can get there in time, because he just isn’t blitzing enough. The defense is playing the run better than last year, but quarterbacks are routinely finding the open man.

Yes, Cutler deserves some blame for the problems on offense. He leads the league in interceptions, yes, but that doesn’t tell the entire story of his season. He ranks

Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

eighth in the league in yards thrown, sixth in completion percentage and third in touchdowns thrown. He also leads in red zone touchdowns. Oh, and about those interceptions, who is he tied with? None other than Andrew Luck, Matt Ryan and Drew Brees. Cutler is a gunslinger, and he will throw picks.

At the beginning of training camp, the coaching staff talked about how Cutler had the freedom of calling plays as he sees on the field. That does not seem to be the case, however. Either he isn’t allowed to change plays, or he is just going with what the coaches are calling.

In the opening week loss to the Buffalo Bills, he threw a key interception on a third-and-one situation deep in Buffalo’s territory. Forte was running circles over the Bills’ defense, especially in the fourth quarter. As soon as Cutler got that play, he should have audibled. Even if Forte doesn’t get the first down, the field goal would have been there, and the last drive the Bears had would have been for the win and not for a tie.

Speaking of play calling, why was Trestman calling for a pass there? He has been making some errors in play calling over his tenure in Chicago so far. He also seems to like to throw Brandon Marshall under the bus as well. Stand up and take responsibility for your decisions.

Then there is the special teams. They gave up a really dumb touchdown against the Panthers on Sunday. In terms of returns, they rank 26th in kickoff return average.

Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Again on Sunday, I saw the returner (this time Chris Williams) take the ball out of the end zone, only to see him get stopped at the ten or fifteen yard line. Can’t the offense start at the 30 once in awhile?

These are things that are fixable. The defense has played better than last year, but that didn’t take much to do. They are getting turnovers again, but need to make the adjustments to keep their momentum in a game going.

Same thing with the offense. Use what is working, and make the adjustments. The other side is making adjustments, so why not you?

Many are crying “The sky is falling!” and want heads to roll RIGHT NOW, but there is still plenty of time left. the schedule is rough right now, but five of their last seven games are at home, including three in a row to start December. Is there a need for adjustments on-field? Yes. Do people need to get fired because of it? No…not yet. Remember, they are still in a three-way tie in the NFC North, just a game behind the Packers.

So please, Bears fans, let’s just R-E-L-A-X right now, and not act like Miami Heat fans.

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Chicago Bears Fans, Let’s R-E-L-A-X!

By Carlos Nazario | Oct 7, 2014