Bears play the blame game

One of several problems facing the Bears defense is a chicken-and-egg conundrum.

Does the lack of a pass rush (no sacks in two games) create susceptibility in the secondary, or does the lack of tight coverage by the secondary allow the quarterback to get rid of the ball before the pass rush can get home?

Starting cornerback Kyle Fuller lost fourth-quarter reps Sunday when he was benched in favor of backup Terrance Mitchell.

Coach John Fox didn't characterize it as a benching of Fuller, and he was right — it was more like a benching of Fuller and Alan Ball, the other starting cornerback.

Fuller's play has been less than adequate. He was beaten for 2 of Larry Fitzgerald's 3 touchdowns and also had a 42-yard pass interference penalty. Ball had a 38-yard pass-interference penalty.

“I don't know if it was a matter of one particular player sitting down,” Fox said. “We actually had the guy (Mitchell) playing for Alan Ball as well. It's just a matter of keeping guys fresh and putting a guy in that's earned the right to do that.

“Like our whole football team, we need to improve (at cornerback). I don't know if I can isolate the fact that we're 0-2 to one position. I think as a football team we need to execute and play better, and we have to coach and prepare them better.”

Not in a rush:

No Bear has a sack this season, although outside linebackers Pernell McPhee and Jared Allen at least spent some time in the vicinity of Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer on Sunday.

McPhee was credited with 3 quarterback pressures, while Allen had 2, in addition to his interception of a screen pass. Allen believes the rush is close but says it's a fine line.

“It's a difference between a guy (in coverage) being in the right spot where maybe (the quarterback) has to pump that ball one more time, and that's a sack vs. a quarterback hit,” Allen said. “It's getting off the ball (just) that much quicker.”

The bigger problem is getting a win.

“I'm more worried about getting the 'W' before I'll worry about how many sacks we get,” Allen said. “But we've got to pick (up) our rush tempo. We've got to get off the field on third down.”

The Bears have allowed opponents to convert 57.9 percent of their third-down situations, which ranks 31st out of 32 teams.

The blame game:

On the play that led to Jay Cutler's hamstring injury — the interception return for a touchdown by Arizona safety Tony Jefferson — Bears coach John Fox said there was plenty of blame to go around.

The ball was behind tight end Martellus Bennett, who hesitated before continuing his crossing route.

“We probably could have put them in a better position coaching-wise,” Fox said. “We didn't execute as well as we need to. I'm not into blaming one guy. Football's 11 guys doing stuff.”

Bennett suggested it was a situation where he and Cutler simply interpreted the situation differently.

“It's an option route,” he said, “so I may feel something that Jay sees different on the play.”

Lots of laundry:

There were a lot of reasons for the 170 yards in penalties that the Bears racked up on Sunday, tying a franchise record set on Nov. 26, 1944, against the Philadelphia Eagles.

“Maybe not as good of technique, maybe not as good of focus, maybe not as good of execution,” coach John Fox said. “They typically lead to penalties, whether they're pass interference penalties, false start penalties, holding penalties.

“Downfield pass interference is more of a field-position changing type of penalty unlike a lot of (the other) penalties.”

Of the Bears' 14 infractions, the 2 pass interference penalties accounted for 80 yards.