Four ways to fix the season: Salvage job starts here, now
Date with Browns is no cure-all; secondary, running game need jolt
The Bears are finished in everyone's mind but their own. A dreadful defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals is sure to awaken self-doubt and invite a collapse of confidence, but the perfect elixir comes in the form of the Cleveland Browns, who turn up Sunday at Soldier Field.
It's a short-term solution, of course, but incremental steps are what's best at this point. First comes a Browns team so bad that the Bears are 13½-point favorites despite the embarrassment in Cincinnati.
(Tom Cruze/Sun-Times)
After the Browns come the Arizona Cardinals, a team that features a better offense than the Bengals but must play the Bears at Soldier Field. Hopes of a long-term turnaround seem dim after the way the Bears were beaten, but one victory can lead to another.
Winning is the ultimate salve, but the loss in Cincinnati is a bad omen. The idea now is to retain self-certainty, pride and character and not allow one botched game to ruin a season. To that end, there are some things the Bears must do immediately to give themselves a chance at righting the ship:
There have been plenty of warnings that this was a major problem, but they hadn't been heeded entering Sunday. Now it's time to do something about the wretched secondary play. Believe it or not, the Bears were better on defense under Bob Babich last year than they have been with Lovie Smith calling the plays. The reason is a complete breakdown in the playmaking ability of the secondary. The safeties seem to have hit a wall -- from Kevin Payne to Al Afalava to Danieal Manning -- and the cornerbacks aren't much better. Charles Tillman is a proven professional, but Zack Bowman has been more fallacy than truth. Nathan Vasher might get a look at free safety. What about Corey Graham? Whither Craig Steltz? Do any of these guys have an idea of what they're doing? If it takes personnel changes, fine. If it takes scheme alteration, so be it. Scrap the cover-2 on third down if it means getting guys up on receivers, jamming at the line and jumping routes. There isn't much aggression in the secondary, especially on third down. Could it be that playing guys 30 yards deep is putting them on their heels instead of getting them going downhill with a head of steam?
Lost in the blowout was a decent day by running back Matt Forte. He averaged 4.0 yards per carry against the Bengals -- of course, he carried the ball only six times, including four on the first possession. If you study the statistics from his only NFL season last year, you discover Forte fell off toward the end of the year when fullback Jason McKie wasn't around because of a quadriceps injury. Forte, who averaged 3.9 yards per carry for the season, had just 3.3, 3.1, 3.2 and 3.8 yards per carry respectively in the final four games. Forte needs blocking, and he's not getting it from the offensive line or anywhere else. Running Forte behind McKie, along with the return of tight end Desmond Clark to the starting lineup, would be a boost for Forte. Greg Olsen doesn't have to be benched if getting him the ball is part of the agenda. Just line him up in the slot or spread him out as a wide receiver to get better blocking elsewhere.
Entering the season, there were three things that opposing scouts liked about the Bears: Jay Cutler, special teams and the defensive front seven. The Bears have been inconsistent in those areas with the exception of special teams. Cutler has been forced to do too much and seems to press at times. The front seven lost Brian Urlacher (wrist) and Pisa Tinoisamoa (knee) from the linebacker corps, and tackle Tommie Harris' status is uncertain. The Harris soap opera has made for great reading, but it was irrelevant against the Bengals. It is imperative that the defensive line carry this team for a while. Ends Adewale Ogunleye and Alex Brown, along with rush specialists Mark Anderson and Gaines Adams, need to make immediate contributions. Cutler has to be more consistent, and the special teams, which will be challenged by the Browns' Joshua Cribbs, need to remain influential in the field-position battle.
Both play-callers, Smith on defense and Ron Turner on offense, need to determine if there have been any signature moments from their side of the ball and simply call similar plays again. Does Smith have a favorite blitzer in Danieal Manning? Set him loose. Does Turner need to start Johnny Knox over Earl Bennett and feature the rookie? Do it. At this point, the Bears should have an identity, and they need to play to that identity. Find something you do well and continue to do it. Defensively, the Bears need to get more out of Harris, perhaps by playing him less. They need to give more repetitions to Adams and see what he can do. At 3-3, the team is in the same position it was at this time last year, but the arrow seems pointed down just because of the expectations created by Cutler's presence. Forget that and try to stay the course and develop consistency. Playing at home will help. Playing the Browns will help more. Failure, like success in the NFL, can be a temporary thing.
Mike Mulligan and Sun-Times colleague Brian Hanley host ''The Mully and Hanley Show'' from 5 to 9 a.m. weekdays on WSCR-AM (670).