Packers' Rodgers must be licking his chops for Bears' D
How many quarterbacks have to light up the Bears' defense like a Roman candle before someone realizes there is a problem?
During Monday's news conference, coach Lovie Smith said, "We tweak our defense each week, and it's not like we play the same call each play. We'll always tweak it."
Well, by all means, let the tweaking begin.
Sunday's passive performance allowed yet another quarterback to have a milestone performance against the Bears. Kerry Collins' passer rating of 108.7 was almost 36 points higher than his 72.9 rating for the season coming into the game. He was sacked just once while throwing 41 passes, 30 of which were completed.
And the Titans came into that game ranked 29th in the NFL in passing yards, with no marquee receivers.
That was just the latest in what has already become a long line of productive outings for opposing quarterbacks, none of whom are likely to end up in the Hall of Fame.
The Lions' Dan Orlovsky threw for a career-best 292 yards while completing 28 of 47 passes. A week before that, the Vikings' Gus Frerotte racked up a season-best 298 passing yards, completed 25 of 40 including 2 TD tosses, although he was intercepted four times. A week earlier, Falcons rookie Matt Ryan had a career-best 301-yard passing day and completed 22 of 30 passes with 1 TD. He was neither sacked nor intercepted.
And no one can forget Week 3, when Brian Griese chucked it 67 times, completing 38 for 407 yards and 2 touchdowns without being sacked.
Clearly there is a problem, and it doesn't figure to get any better Sunday in Green Bay against the Packers' Aaron Rodgers, whose passer rating of 93.3 is higher than any of the quarterbacks who have previously shredded the Bears.
Rodgers' primary targets, wide receivers Greg Jennings and Donald Driver, form the most talented tandem the Bears have faced this season.
For the Bears, the two most notable defensive deficiencies have been lack of pressure on the quarterback and soft coverage.
Through nine games, it is obvious there are not any elite pass rushers on the Bears' roster, since no one has more than 3 sacks.
A key to the Bears' defense is getting pressure with just the front four, but that has yet to happen this season, and there's no reason to expect that it will.
Defensive coordinator Bob Babich and Smith, who is heavily involved in the defense, have to provide pass-rush assistance to an overpaid and underachieving defensive line.
Blitzes by linebackers Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher aren't the answer. They have only a half-sack between them and a combined 1 quarterback hurry.
And there should be an Amber Alert out for backup defensive end Mark Anderson, who had 12 sacks as a rookie in 2006 and 5 last season but none this year.
Last I checked, using cornerbacks and safeties in the pass rush was legal.
If nothing else, that might at least get a cornerback in the vicinity of the line of scrimmage, where one might, oh, I don't know, maybe bump a receiver.
An effective jam at the line has been known to disrupt those quick, short passes thrown after a three-step drop. And it's those short drops are the reason the Bears' linemen can't get to the quarterback, or so they say.
If the Bears take away the short stuff and force longer passes or even disrupt the timing of the shorter ones, it might give the pass rush enough time to get to the quarterback.
Just a thought, since the other stuff doesn't seem to be working very well.