Bears Blitz

“Some marry the first information they receive and turn what comes later into their concubine. Since deceit is always first to arrive, there is no room left for truth.”—Baltasar Gracián

Last week, some players, along with some teams, had tough weeks. As is the case in the NFL, the next week provides an opportunity to right the ship, to show the league that the previous game wasn’t an indication of things to come.

We all know the Carolina Panthers must improve, the Arizona Cardinals must find their offensive flair, the Houston Texans are soft (everyone except Matt “I love me some Texans” Bowen), but here are other examples:

Jake Long, OT, Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins’ tackle Jake Long looks to rebound from a bit of a rough opener.

Playing against John Abraham of the Atlanta Falcons is no easy order, but Long had some very embarrassing plays on tape. Getting flattened on your back is humbling, especially when you hold a 50-pound or more advantage. Long never looked comfortable in his stance throughout the entire game, and the Dolphins’ offense never had a rhythm.

This is a big week for Long, who has to face Dwight Freeney of the Colts, but at least he gets a home game, and the snap count will return in his favor.

Miami Offense

The Dolphins look slow on offense. They look like a team that can’t make a big play unless they create it by deception.

Chad Pennington has to be perfect with every throw, and last year he was usually perfect. However, when the Dolphins face teams with great team speed on defense, their lack of explosive players at wide receiver and quarterback is revealed and magnified.

I know Ronnie Brown is perceived to be a top-10 back, and I even made him an almost blue in my recent blue-chip survey, but last year, he gained fewer than 50 yards rushing in nine games, and on tape in Atlanta, he didn’t look explosive or display the big-play potential the Dolphins badly need. In fact, Ricky Williams looks like the best back on the team.

The Fins are good on defense, but they need help from their offense, specifically the running game, to win playing their 2008 style.

Jay Cutler and the Bears’ Offense

I thought Mike Martz did a wonderful job on Monday’s NFL Network Total Access breaking down Jay Cutler’s four interceptions against Green Bay. Clearly, Cutler is responsible for the mistakes, but he had very little help from his offensive teammates.

When Green Bay Packers’ corner back Charles Woodson was able to take the Bears’ tight end Greg Olsen out of the game, this forced the Bears to look for alternate options in the offense.

The Packers went nickel to the Bears’ two-tight end set, treating Olsen like a wide receiver (which he essentially is) and taking away the normal advantage the Bears gain from that formation.

Added to this problem was that the Packers could play run defense with their nickel front, which kept the Bears from getting into any rhythm. The Packers basically took the Bears’ two best players out of the game and dared the other players to beat them.

Take Matt Forte and Greg Olsen away from Cutler and see what’s left—that approach will be the defensive style every opponent will feature, assuming they have players who can match up.

The Steelers have those kinds of players, so it’s time for the younger Bears players to show up and perform. The Bears have some players who showed flashes of being able to handle that role, but clearly weren’t ready for the prime time.

They need to be ready this week.

DeMarcus Ware and the Cowboys’ Pass Rush

DeMarcus Ware hopes to be very active when the Dallas Cowboys play the New York Giants this weekend.

Last Sunday, Ware faced a very good left tackle in Tampa Bay’s Donald Penn and was shut down, not recording any sacks (by the way, one more outing like that and Penn will be a blue player.) Tampa Bay Bucs’ quarterback Byron Leftwich went back to pass 41 times and wasn’t sacked once by the Cowboys.

This weekend, Ware and the ‘Boys face the Giants, a team they recorded eight sacks against last season, stinging the Giants’ offensive line with bad memories for years to come.

So that makes the matchup even more compelling as the Giants will remember that game vividly and the Cowboys have been asked all week by the media, “Where are the sacks?”

Frank Gore and the 49ers’ Run Game

Sunday was a great day for the San Fransisco 49ers, beating the NFC champs on their home field and showing the NFL they have a real defense. The 49ers won the game averaging less than one yard per carry, and for a team that wants to run the ball this season, that’s not acceptable.

This week, playing at home against the Seattle Seahawks, the 49ers need to establish their style. They need to prove they can be an effective running team because they will not be able to win games in the NFL averaging less than one yard per attempt.

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