Offense looks to get in gear vs. Lions

Today is a good day for the Bears' anemic offense to get well.

The NFC North throwdown with the Lions presents an ideal opportunity for the offense to regroup under new starting quarterback Brian Griese and help out its battered teammates on the other side of the ball.

Detroit's defense can be abused. Statistically at least, it's the worst the Bears have faced this season. The Lions are No. 30 in total yards allowed, No. 31 in passing yards allowed and No. 28 in points allowed.

That should make it easier for the offense to do some of the many things necessary to change its status as one of the league's most inept units.

"The whole thing's going to start with being able to run the football first, as we always do," offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. "If we can do that, that will set up everything else. You won't see drastic changes in what we're going to do."

The team that "gets off the bus running the football" has, so far this season, run likes it has been hit by a bus.

The Bears are averaging 87 rushing yards a game, 33 less than last season. But they should have more success against a Lions defense that is 23rd in rushing yards allowed and permitted 173 last week against the Eagles in a 56-21 loss.

Although Cedric Benson was given the featured gig this season, he hasn't done much to justify the confidence the Bears have shown in him, averaging 3.2 yards per carry. After his second lost fumble of the season last week, Benson was replaced by Adrian Peterson in the fourth quarter.

The backup might see more action than usual if a strained calf is fully functional by game time. Peterson was able to make it through a full practice Friday for the first time this week.

But, lip service aside, it's in the passing game where the Lions are especially susceptible, and Griese is determined to direct a more productive aerial operation.

"I think we have talent on offense," he said. "I think we have the ability to score points, and we will score points. I'm going to work as hard as I can to allow us to be in the right position to get our team in a position to make plays."

But it's going to take a lot more than a quarterback change to get the offense going.

"There are a lot of things we're doing wrong offensively right now," coach Lovie Smith said. "We need everyone to pick up the pace, and hopefully all of that will add up to better play on that side of the football."

Griese and Turner need to get former go-to guy Muhsin Muhammad more involved than he has been so far, catching just 4 passes for 36 yards.

Muhammad agrees with Griese's assessment that the offense needs to reach a level of proficiency where it can be considered an equal partner with the defense and special teams in the Bears' success.

"I think changing the offensive mind-set is important," Muhammad said. "We've kind of been the weaker phase. Everybody's holding their breath to see what kind of offense is going to be generated each game."

Most important, Griese and the offense need to stem the tide of turnovers (an NFL-high 11) that have contributed to the Bears having the second-worst turnover differential in the league at minus-6.

That, more than anything, has contributed to an inconsistent attack and helped cost Rex Grossman his starting job.

"Every time we do something good, we follow it up with something negative to hurt us," Turner said. "We haven't been able to put back-to-back drives together, and it's (because of) us.

"It's us hurting ourselves with missed assignments, turnovers, dropped passes, whatever. It's all the way across the board, all positions, bad calls. So it's myself included. It's all of us not really allowing us a chance to get in sync."

If the offense can't get it going against the Lions, it might not be able to get it going against anyone.