GM Angelo less than enamored with defensive underachievement

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Even before Sunday's 37-3 loss to the Packers, Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said he was disappointed with the team's defense.

Allowing the Packers to rush for 200 yards and throw for 227 didn't end the debate on whether the defensive failures are more the fault of a weak pass rush or soft coverage, but Angelo said blame has to go to both.

"They're intertwined. You can't separate coverage from the rush," Angelo said. "They go hand in hand, I don't care what scheme you play. You can play man-to-man, you can play Cover 3, you can play Cover 2, you can play corner coverage. Anybody would realize that. Every defense has a strength and a weakness, that's a matter of fact, as well. The key is obviously is what you decide to run vs. what they're doing. So sometimes you have to give (the offense) credit; they've had a good call and executed it well."

After investing heavily across the board in a veteran group on defense, the Bears nevertheless went into Sunday's game against the Packers at Lambeau Field ranked 30th in pass yards allowed, 29th in sack percentage and 17th in total yards allowed. The numbers won't be any prettier this week, as the Packers averaged 5.3 yards per rush against a Bears defense that had been allowing just 3.1.

Angelo admitted there are individuals on the highly paid defense who have underachieved all season, but he's holding out hope that some of the team's bigger stars and more highly paid players return to form. That will have to wait until Sunday in St. Louis against the Rams.

"There have been players that we've seen play better, and we know can play better," Angelo said. "I'm hopeful that they're going to get themselves going and playing to expectations."

What has especially disappointed Angelo is the defense's inability to hold late leads earlier in the season against the Panthers, Bucs and Falcons, all three of which resulted in losses by a total of just 8 points.

"When you look at our (earlier) losses," Angelo said, "they've come in the waning moments of the game when teams have been able to make big plays. At that point, it's incumbent on the defense to stop them. We've done some real good things on defense, too, but unfortunately the things that stand out are the things that maybe you're not doing as consistently well."

But he said there hasn't been any particular position responsible for the demise of a group that was one of the NFL's best in 2006 and retains almost all of the major players.

Angelo cited the defense's work on third downs (No. 5 in the NFL) and points allowed (tied for 15th). But both those numbers took hits Sunday, as the Packers converted 7 of 14 third-down attempts, the highest percentage the Bears have allowed all season.