Bears Blitz

Published by Eric Phillips on July 18, 2009
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

We should start calling the secondary, the primary.

Why, you ask?

Simple, its the primary target for every opponent we are going to face this season, as it should be.

The Bears have some questions, an understatement of course. But there is no questioning the porosity of our “secondary”.

I really hope that a miracle took place over the off-season. Because the “secondary” was beat up all season long, last year. It seems pretty obvious nothing was done to change it either. Plugging in players here, swapping players there, is that the plan?

I cannot be upset with how this off-season has played out. It has been one of the best since I have been a fan. But if I had to be concerned about anything at this point, it would be our primary, I mean secondary.

People are pin-pointing our WR’s as the main concern. Well with all the spot light on Jay Cutler, the next question is, where does he go with the ball? Good question. That remains to be seen. BUT, I am not as concerned with this group of “un-proven WR’s” than I am of the, “proven secondary” players.

The wideouts are a concern, there is no doubt about that. But realistically, we have some decent players back there with limitless potential. But the positive on that matter is, if I had to choose five guys in the league to throw to these “un-proven” wides, on there would be my man, Jay Cutler.  

But what still remains to this day, without a solidified solution, is our “secondary”. I think of all the inside slants, toss up balls and over the middle looks from opposing quarterbacks. They all exposed us for the lousy overall defensive unit we were.

We stopped the run! Well of course we did, we had seven to eight guys in the box that couldn’t get out of position, meaning, the backfield. So we were able to sit and wait for the runner to come to us, and just swallow him. Not too difficult, if you really look at the tape.

The reason we didn’t end up in the playoffs, was due to the secondary. I don’t mean the whole season played out the way it did because of the secondary; I just think the most important game of the season was lost due to simply being over-matched by a certain top flight WR, Andre Johnson.

As this was much of the problem against anyone last year with a mediocre passing attack. (Packers, Vikings, Falcons, Tampa Bay, Texans and Tennessee)

So this begs the question. What will become of this primary, sorry, secondary unit?

They have Nathan Vasher and Charles Tillman. Great, I love them. I love them when they play football like Nathan Vasher and Charles Tillman. Not Trumaine McBride and Marcus Hamilton.

Kevin Payne, love him. Mostly when he somehow intercepts a pass or lays a smackdown on opposing players. But with that, once again comes doubt, he is one of the worst tackling safetys in the league, consistently.

He rarely finds it resourceful to use his hands and arms to wrap up a player, versus trying to make an impact play all the time. The last guy in the defense always comes storming in there like he’s trying to knock down a door, once again versus making the easy arm tackle.

Poor tackling all last season was a killer. The small runs turned big, the quick passes turned large. It was actually kind of hard to watch, knowing what was coming.

Will Craig Steltz be the man? I sure hope so. Because if he is as lost as I think he will be, we might as well have a bullpen for our FS position.

We have such a strong front four and top end linebackers. It’s saddening to know that their insurance is in the hands of Kevin “please dont throw it near me” Payne and Craig “I love my hair” Steltz.

I have high hopes for this Bears team. I’m sure most of the navy blue and orange disciples do too.

But what if our “secondary” turns “primary”, are we safe?