Rozner: Bears' offense failing to deliver

There was a formula.

There really was a formula and it actually made some sense.

In order to go from 8 wins and home in January, the Bears needed to improve just a little on defense to get to 10 wins and the playoffs, riding the high-powered offense to happy Mondays.

So let's start with the good news.

The Bears have moved up from dead last in rushing defense last year to 16th this season - going into Monday's action - at 116 yards per game.

The Bears have moved up from 30th in total yards allowed last year to 17th this season and 362 yards per game.

And the Bears have moved up from 25th in third-down percentage last year to 16th this season at 43 percent.

That was the plan. Go from terrible to mediocre on defense and that ought to be enough to win more games.

Well, at least statistically the defense has improved. Granted, injuries have really hurt and when you have Danny McCray lined up against Greg Olsen in man coverage with the game on the line, the statistical improvement doesn't matter all that much.

It's also worth noting that the Bears have faced one good quarterback through five games, and those numbers figure to get worse with games coming up against Matt Ryan, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers in the next four games.

Now, let's move on to the bad news.

The offense that was supposed to outscore opponents and put teams away with the game on the line has failed to do that against Buffalo and Carolina, two winnable games that easily could have left the Bears with a 4-1 record.

Against Buffalo, the Bears walked down the field in the final four minutes with a chance to tie or win. After a second-and-1 from the Buffalo 19, Jay Cutler threw incomplete deep to Brandon Marshall and incomplete short to Santonio Holmes.

They couldn't get a yard to continue that drive and settled for the field goal. They got a single first down in overtime and lost on a field goal.

The Bears were in complete control of Sunday's game at Carolina and up 21-7 late in the first half when Martellus Bennett missed a block downfield on a long Matt Forte screen and run.

Still, first down on the Panthers' 24 and the Bears come away with no points. Instead of a touchdown and game over, Carolina walked down the field and scored just before half, a quick 14-point swing.

The Panthers adjusted and shut the Bears down the rest of the way, especially on third down. Rather than take what the defense would give, Cutler forced a ball over the middle for an interception with the Bears up 3 and time winding down.

But some of that is on Marc Trestman, who neither forced the Panthers back into man coverage with different looks, nor did anything to counter the Carolina run blitz.

You either commit to the run or you don't, and the Bears did not in the second half Sunday. There was definitely a loss of confidence, and that's due in part to the missed blocks of high-maintenance wide receivers and tight ends.

There were at least four plays that would have gone for big yardage, maybe even touchdowns, if receivers had simply made their blocks when perhaps they were thinking about a lack of targets or production.

If that's unfair, then make the blocks and no one has to wonder about why they were missed.

It's been mistakes little and big, like not getting to the first-down marker on a route and turning the ball over twice in the final six minutes.

Add it up and the Bears have failed to win the games they had to have to make the first half a success. It doesn't mean it's over, not by a long stretch, but the high-powered offense just hasn't materialized and the play-calling hasn't helped.

So go ahead and blame Mel Tucker, but so far the defense hasn't been the problem.

• Hear Barry Rozner on WSCR 670-AM and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.