Bears' offense culpable too as it looks to correct things

Lost amid the criticism of the Bears' defense have been the offensive failures of the past two games.

The two worst offensive performances of the season, in terms of points and yards, have come in back-to-back losses to Tennessee (21-14) and Green Bay (37-3).

The Bears had just 243 total yards against the Titans and 234 against the Packers. The Bears averaged 333.6 yards in their first eight games.

In the last two games, the offense has converted just 5 of 26 third-down opportunities (19.2 percent) after converting 42.4 percent in the first eight games.

But Sunday's game at St. Louis against the 2-8 Rams provides an ideal bounce-back opportunity for the 5-5 Bears, considering the hosts are a dead-last 32nd in the NFL in yards per pass play and points allowed and 30th in total yards allowed.

"(We) just have to get back to execution," said quarterback Kyle Orton, whose sprained right ankle did not limit him in Wednesday's practice but still is not quite 100 percent.

"We've talked about it all year. We play well when we execute and know what we're doing. This week we're focusing on ourselves. That's what we're going to do as an offense, go back to basics and work on execution."

The Bears' third-down failures often have occurred inside their 20-yard line, forcing the defense to play much of the game on a shorter field. The offense has converted just 1 of 11 third-down opportunities (9 percent) from inside its 20 over the past two games.

"We definitely work on it," offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. "We start that on Wednesday and continue working on it all the way through the week. It's such a crucial part, and we were doing it very well early in the year. The last couple weeks we haven't done very well, and when you're not converting, you're giving the ball back and it takes away your number of snaps."

Turner said the Bears also will focus on getting the ball to the wide receivers, who have caught a total of 9 passes in the past two weeks.

The ground game has been mediocre the past two games with 161 yards on 44 carries for a 3.7-yard average, but the Bears fell so far back so early against the Packers that running the ball was no longer a viable option.

"We can do everything better," center Olin Kreutz said. "So we're going to work on everything, and hopefully we'll improve Sunday."

Clearly the mind-set the Bears developed while averaging 28 points through the first eight games has taken a hit. But Turner is confident he has the right formula for getting the swagger back on offense.

"Prepare the right way, believe in what you do, and believe in yourselves," Turner said. "We know we've done it. We've done it against good defenses this year. We've put points on the board against good teams, and we know we can do it. So it's just a matter of going out, relaxing and focusing.

"That's what I talked to the team about (Wednesday). Focus on yourselves. (Think) 'I've got a job to do; I've got to do my job better.' We all have to go out and prepare, hit the field on Sunday, (with) great preparation, be relaxed and just let it go. Go out there and fly around and have fun."

If the Bears can't have a good time against a Rams defense that allows an average of 31.7 points, they just don't know how to have fun.

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