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Imrem: These Bears are a fine mess

The NFL should fine Bill Belichick for fibbing to the public.

The New England Patriots' head coach was asked on a conference call Sunday for his impressions of the Bears.

“They're an explosive offensive team,” Belichick said. “Got a lot of big-play players … a lot of guys that can hurt you and hurt you in a hurry.”

The transcript of Belichick's media session arrived to Soldier Field by email at about halftime of the Dophins' 27-14 victory over the Bears.

Maybe — probably — Belichick hadn't seen the first half in which the Bears were held scoreless and trailed by 2 touchdowns.

Maybe Belichick was going on reputation because the Bears are reputed to be able to score at will against even the best NFL defenses.

Then again, maybe Belichick simply was refraining from poking a stick at sleeping Bears as the Patriots prepare to face them next Sunday in New England.

Regardless, the Bears' offense stunk up the lakefront against the Dolphins, whose defense is good but not exactly as good as, say, the Kansas City Royals' outfield.

Jay Cutler said when asked what the Bears' offense has to improve, “There's a lot of things.”

Cutler proceeded to rattle off protecting the football, converting third downs, getting in a rhythm, getting running back Matt Forte going earlier, playing clean football for four quarters ...

In other words, not “a lot of things” but everything.

To his credit, Cutler included himself as a culprit and why wouldn't he?

Cutler threw an interception to set up a Miami touchdown and his fumble set up a Miami field goal.

Dolphins safety Reshad Jones made the interception and said, “After watching film all week we saw (Cutler) was looking at his receivers and never looking off. I tried to take advantage of that and it paid off.”

The Dolphins drove a total of 25 yards for the 10 points off Cutler's turnovers. Not only is the Bears' offense not scoring at a rapid rate, it contributed to Miami's output.

Whatever Cutler and head coach Marc Trestman see while breaking down game tape, the fact will remain that the Bears' presumed mean, mean scoring machine is supposed to outscore opponents, hasn't often enough this season and didn't come close to doing so against Miami.

Trestman is a registered guru of offense, but Dolphins' head coach Joe Philbin and offensive coordinator Bill Lazor looked like the only gurus in the building on this day.

Philbin's job seems to be in jeopardy more often than not and Lazor is a 42-year-old in his first season as an NFL coordinator.

Yet the Dolphins put up 33 points on the Patriots in their season opener, so it'll be interesting to see how many points the Bears score against the Patriots next week.

Well, maybe that comparison doesn't matter. We already know that the Dolphins had edges straight up against the Bears of 24-14 in first downs, 393-224 in total yards, 0-3 in turnovers and 37:21-22:39 in time of possession.

“Totally disappointing,” Trestman said of being shut out in the first half. “We couldn't get any continuity going with our plays. Collectively we didn't execute in the manner we're capable of.”

Trestman made a point of pointing out that the Bears had a good week of practice. A cynic might suggest that if a team practices well and plays poorly, maybe it should practice poorly to play better.

Wide receiver Brandon Marshall said, “We make the same mistakes. Same mistakes. Same mistakes. What did we put up? Fourteen points? That's unacceptable. That's unacceptable.”

Take Bill Belichick's fine money for fibbing and give it to Brandon Marshall for telling the truth.

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