Play of Bears’ defense play not up to snuff
While the defense played well enough for the Bears to win at least twice early in the current five-game losing streak, that group has lately been more a part the problem than the solution.
The defense has allowed 8 touchdowns in the past two games, a 38-14 loss at home to the Seahawks, followed by a 35-21 defeat in Green Bay. That’s the same number of TDs they allowed in the previous six games combined. In just two weeks the Bears have plummeted from No. 9 in points allowed to a tie for 17th.
“The last two weeks, with 38 and 35 points, that’s not going to win very many games, I don’t care who’s playing quarterback for you,” middle linebacker Brian Urlacher said. “You can say we did our job, (but) we won’t say we did.
“We haven’t gotten any takeaways in two weeks. (Actually, they had 1 against Seattle.) We haven’t gotten pressure on the quarterback (2 sacks in the last two games). You’re not going to win a lot of games doing that. So at times we’ve held up our end of the bargain; at times we haven’t. We’ve got to help out our offense more.”
Not surprisingly, the turnover drought has coincided with the longest losing streak in the Lovie Smith era. The Bears have a total of 5 takeaways in the last five games. In the previous four games, they had 15 takeaways.
A new low:
Never before in Lovie Smith’s eight seasons as head coach had the Bears lost five straight games in a season — until now.
“You’re right, it’s new,” Smith said of the current drought. “But I guess if you stay in this game long enough you’re going to have a chance to witness most things.
“We didn’t handle it as well ... we didn’t have the results we wanted. But everything you go through, I believe it helps you later on down the line. For us, hopefully, if we’re in this situation again, we’ll be able to handle it a little bit better.”
Smith said he hasn’t detected any lack of effort from his players during the slump, although Sunday’s game could be an accurate barometer of whether this team has continued to work hard or is just mailing it in.
“I still saw some good things (during the slump),” Smith said. “Primarily just how the guys came out each day and practiced and tried to get it right the next week.”
The Bears had two four-game losing streaks in 2004 (Year 1 of Smith’s tenure) when they finished 5-11. They also lost four straight in 2009 during a 7-9 season.
Injury report:
Running back Marion Barber (calf) was the only Bear who didn’t practice Friday, and he’s listed as “doubtful,” and not expected to play Sunday.
Linebackers Brian Urlacher (knee) and Lance Briggs (ankle) were both limited, but both are expected to play. Urlacher is questionable, while Briggs is probable.
Tight end Kellen Davis (ill), wide receiver Devin Hester (ankle), linebacker Nick Roach (shin), guard Chris Spencer (back) and defensive end Corey Wootton all practiced without limitations and were listed as “probable.”