Air's sucked out of Bears' once high-flying passing attack

As much as the Bears would love to rely on Matt Forte down the homestretch, they know the passing game will have to perform much better than it has in the past month if they are to have a chance to reach the postseason.

Not once if the past five weeks have the Bears gained more than 166 yards through the air. They've plummeted to 21st in passing yards after ranking 11th after seven games.

"Obviously in this kind of weather, being able to run the football is critical," offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. "But you still have to score points, and to do that you have to make plays in the passing game."

Those have been rare in recent weeks.

Devin Hester's 65-yard TD catch and run against the Vikings and Rashied Davis' 36-yard pickup when it was too late in the blowout loss to the Packers were the Bears' only two pass plays of 30 yards or more in five November games.

And what makes that lack of production even more disturbing is the fact that two of those five games were against the Lions and Rams, who are last and second to last, respectively, in average gain allowed per pass play. In those same five games, the Bears had only four additional pass plays of 20 yards or more.

A lack of continuity is one reason for November's diminishing production. In the first game of the month, Orton suffered a sprained ankle at the end of the first half. Rex Grossman played the next six quarters, and Orton has struggled in the three games since returning.

"It just comes down to us making plays when we get the opportunity," said wide receiver Brandon Lloyd. "We're having some success in the run game, and we're moving the ball that way, but we just weren't able to step up in the pass game and make plays when we needed to."

Lloyd is a prime example of that. He missed five games with a sprained knee and has been an afterthought in the three games since returning, with a total of 4 catches for 44 yards.

Rashied Davis has exactly 1 catch in each of the past four games. Davis and Lloyd, along with Devin Hester, have suffered from tight, man-to-man press coverage ever since the Titans and Packers exposed the Bears' weakness to that type of defense.

Turner has taken the first step to recovery in recognizing that the passing game has a problem.

"We just haven't connected," he admitted. "We haven't been in sync as much as we were earlier in the year. Teams are coming up and playing more man-to-man, pressing. That disrupts the timing a little bit, so you don't have the timed throws, but that also gives you opportunities to make big plays, and we've had some opportunities to make big plays that we just haven't hit yet."

Because Hester, Lloyd and Davis all lack size and bulk, press coverage against them has been effective, but Turner points out that it can offer opportunities.

"It's a matter of time," Turner said. "We hit one or two of them, and the confidence is there, and then you start hitting them. When teams come up and press us, we like that; we feel that gives us a chance to make some plays.

"Obviously, we've got to execute better. We've got to take advantage of it better than we have, but I think that will come."

Marty Booker doesn't have any catches in the past five games, but he's missed the last two with a knee injury. Even tight ends Greg Olsen and Desmond Clark have seen their once-impressive numbers shrink. Olsen has just 1 catch for 7 yards in the past two games, while Clark has 10 receptions in the past four games, but they've produced only 63 yards.

The top four wide receivers and top two tight ends combined for a grand total of 1 touchdown over the five November games, when the Bears went 2-3, with the only victories over the 0-12 Lions and the 2-10 Rams.

"We've gotten some different looks, starting with that Green Bay game," Olsen said. "When me and Dez were out there together, they were guarding us more with corners instead of linebackers and safeties. But that's just adjustments you've got to make, and you still have got to get open regardless of who's guarding you, and you've got to make plays when the ball comes."

That's easier said than done, especially for the Bears' passing game the past five weeks.

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