Bears Blitz

Published by Bryan Dietzler on December 14, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

The Bears loss to the Patriots was crushing for both Bears fans and players.  The way that the Patriots beat the Bears this past Sunday was definitely something that no one really expected out of a Chicago Bears team that had won five straight and had been doing very well on both sides of the ball.  This loss was a let down, but it wasn’t deflating and shouldn’t derail the Bears from the ultimate goal of making the playoffs.

The coaching staff will play a big role in helping this team get over the loss that they suffered and will get them focused for their next game on Monday night against the Vikings.  All they have to do is remind the players that they need to beat the Vikings because it’s a division win, and the better their division record is the better chance they will have of getting into the playoffs.

Still, there are deeper issues with this team on both sides of the ball that they will need to correct before their game against the Vikings.  One of the biggest issues is the fact that the Bears defense doesn’t seem to be able to get to the quarterback as much as they should and, therefore, opposing quarterbacks are able to complete passes against Chicago’s cover two defense.

This then allows opposing offenses to exploit the holes in the Bear’s defense, completing passes and picking up extra yards after the catch.  As we saw on Sunday against the Patriots, there were many cracks to exploit in the Bear’s defense. Through the use of precision passing, quarterback Tom Brady was able to get some of his passes in tight spaces to where only his receive could catch the ball.

That precision kept the Bears defenders from knocking passes away or making an interception.  Thanks to the speed of the Patriots receivers, they were also able to run through creases in the Bear’s defense and gain some long yardage.  Poor tackling (similar to what the Bears had in the first half of their game against Detroit) allowed the Patriots to gain long stretches of yardage after the catch.

One other thing that hurt the Bears on Sunday was their inability to break free of or work around blocks.  The Patriots did a clinic on blocking Sunday, and each and every one of their offensive players blocked very well taking key Bears defenders out of the play at times.  With that kind of blocking, the Bears defense was not able to make plays and the Patriots won the game.

You can’t blame the loss on the defense, however.  It was a team effort and the offense didn’t do its part to help control the ball and the clock while keeping the Patriots offense off the field to give the Bears a rest.

Turnovers didn’t help matters much for the Bears, as they had a total of four on the afternoon.  These turnovers took away any chance that the Bears had to even up the game and put them in a deeper hole than they started out the game in.  Turnovers and mistakes against a Bill Belichick coached team will cost you dearly, and it cost the Bears dearly.

The Bears need to take the lessons from this loss and remember them throughout the next three games of their season.  They cannot afford to do the same things in future games that they did in this game on Sunday.  The NFC North crown is within their reach, and if they can play better and not make bad mistakes, they will win it and get into the playoffs where they could do some real damage.

Writer’s Note: The Bears can clinch a playoff berth this weekend if they beat the Minnesota Vikings and if the Green Bay Packers lose to the New England Patriots.

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