Adjust the players' attitudes ... not the defensive scheme

Do not blame the scheme.

The Bears are not getting out-schemed.

They are getting out-hustled, out-toughed, outhit, outworked, out-talented and out-desired.

When defensive linemen and linebackers can't get off blocks, it has nothing to do with scheme.

When tentative and skittish cornerbacks allow too much cushion to receivers with pedestrian speed and then miss the tackle after giving up the catch, that isn't scheme either.

Do not blame the Cover-2 defense, which the Bears only employ about 30-35 percent of the time, anyway. The Colts also favor the Cover-2, and they're No. 9 in passing yards allowed. So do the Bills, and they're No. 13. The Bears are 30th.

Blame the players. Seven of 11 defensive starters have contracts that average at least several million dollars per year, most of which have been negotiated fairly recently.

Anyone who sees the same effort and passion from this group that was there in 2005 and 2006 - before many of them got the really big money - is looking at a mirage.

It has been said that getting to the quarterback is all about "want to." The Bears need to get some of that.

They have slipped all the way to No. 30 in sack percentage. Even if they were playing two-hand touch, the Bears wouldn't have sacked Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was so unscathed Sunday that he only showered after the game out of habit.

Since early in the first quarter of the 4-point victory over the winless Lions, Bears opponents have dropped back to pass 116 times. In that time, as a team, the Bears have 1 more sack than you do.

That's right, 1 sack in 116 chances.

Even more disturbing last week was the way the front seven was manhandled in the running game, an area in which it had excelled up to that point.

"I would say we in general, as a defense, got pushed around," coordinator Bob Babich said after the Packers ran wild. "Any time you give up 200 (rushing) yards, that's more than just the line. The defense is a unit, and everyone has to play better."

But everyone isn't getting a chance.

Tackle Anthony Adams, who started eight games last season, has been inactive the past three games and seven of 10 this season. He averaged better than 5 tackles a game last season, even when he wasn't starting. No Bears defensive lineman is averaging even 4 this season.

If Corey Graham is good enough to play half the snaps in a platoon system with starter Nate Vasher, he should start, finish and take every snap in between, since he's more physical and a better tackler. Use Vasher in nickel if you have to justify his contract.

The Bears are not a better defense with strongside linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer on the bench. Nick Roach may be the better athlete, but Hillenmeyer is the better player. Roach is faster, but Hillenmeyer is better when it comes to being in the right place at the right time.

Something has to change when a defense of multimillionaires is No. 19 in total yards allowed and No. 21 in points allowed.

It's not the scheme; it's the players and the attitudes that need adjusting.

rlegere@dailyherald.com

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