How Bears' defense suffered its sad fall from grace
The numbers tell a sad story about the Bears' defense.
It is No. 27 in passing yards, No. 28 in rushing yards and No. 29 in total yards allowed this season.
And it's not just the disappointing fall from grace of a once-feared unit; it's the manner in which it's been gashed.
Big plays have destroyed a defense that was considered elite as recently as last season, when the Bears were No. 2 in rushing yards, No. 4 in points and No. 9 in total yards allowed.
The 23-14 loss to the Lions provided a snapshot of the season. Of the 395 total yards the Bears allowed, 204 came on three plays — runs of 88 and 43 yards by Jahvid Best and the 73-yard Matthew Stafford-to-Calvin Johnson TD pass.
“That hasn't happened around here in a long time — big plays like that,” seven-time Pro Bowl middle linebacker Brian Urlacher said. “We're steady. We don't give up a lot of big plays. We make teams grind it out; long drives to score on us. It hasn't worked out that way this year for some reason. We've made some mistakes and some mental errors and allowed teams to have big plays on us.”
The Bears have not allowed a run and a pass at least 73 yards in the same game since at least 1950. They haven't allowed a pass and a run that long in a season since 1999.
“We played hard, we just didn't play smart,” Urlacher said. “That's all there was to it. We're in position to make a lot of plays, we're just not making them.”
Outside linebacker Lance Briggs, a six-time Pro Bowl selection actually said he was encouraged by some of what he saw in the film review of the Lions game.
“We did a lot of great things,” Briggs said. “We're a lot closer to playing the solid defense that we want to play than the big plays might have shown. We gave up a couple of big plays that cost us the game. (But) looking over film, we did a lot of good things.
“What bugs me is (when) you defend the run well most of the game and you give up two or three big runs that you shouldn't. There are simple solutions.”
The Bears believe they have answers for the questions that are being asked as a result of their defensive transgressions.
“The key is just being disciplined,” Briggs said. “When we're in eight-man fronts get in the gaps; and get back and protect on play-actions and get a good pass rush.”
Urlacher says there is a level of trust that has been lacking in a five-week stretch in which the defense has allowed at least 382 yards in every game.
“It's fixable,” Urlacher said. “We have the players to (run) our defense. The mental errors and the mistakes are killing us right now. We've got to fix them. It's been five weeks now, and every week we just keep getting gashed. We've got to quit doing it.”
Their solutions will be put to the test Sunday night against the NFC's leading rusher, the Vikings' Adrian Peterson, who has 498 yards and 6 touchdowns on the ground. If the Bears are as undisciplined Sunday night in their gaps as they have been the first five weeks, Peterson will make them pay.
“We can't do that anymore,” Urlacher said. “We've just got to stay in our gaps and trust that everyone else is going to be in theirs. It's a trust thing. You have to trust the guy (next to you) is going to be in his gap. Now, it's getting to the point where you run to your gap and you're looking, you're getting ‘headsy,' looking around to see where the ball carrier is, and then he cuts back in your gap. It's a trust issue with us and being disciplined and trusting other guys are going to be in their gaps. That's what it comes down to right now for us.”
Follow Bob's Bears reports via Twitter @BobLeGere and check out our Bear Essentials blog at dailyherald.com.