Bears Notes: Trestman Sheds Light On Cutler's INTs
By Dan Durkin-
(CBS) With a day to review the film and process everything that transpired on the field yesterday during the Bears' disappointing loss to the Buffalo Bills, Chicago coach Marc Trestman took the podium and addressed the media. Here are some of the highlight's from his Monday press conference.
Cutler's first interception
With 5:50 remaining in the first half, the Bears had the ball on first-and-10 at their own 43-yard line, trailing 10-7, when quarterback Jay Cutler threw his first interception. As tight end Martellus Bennett ran a vertical route up the seam, Cutler threw a pass that made it seem like he expected Bennett to come back to the ball on a curl or at least peek back for the ball. He did neither, and Bills cornerback Corey Graham undercut the route for the pick.
"We called a fake 'razor' (wide receiver) screen," Trestman said. "Jay reset, he went inside-out and he didn't see the corner melting inside. I think Marty came out and said he could've peeked a little bit earlier for the ball. Jay let it go a little early, there was a little bit of pressure inside to his right and the corner (ex-Bear Corey Graham) did a nice job, he made a nice play on it. He (Martellus) is supposed to stay vertical all the way, he felt he should've looked a little quicker, that's how he responded in the meeting today."
Graham returned the ball 40 yards to the Bears' 15-yard line, and an illegal use of the hands penalty was called on Chicago receiver Alshon Jeffery on the return, which set the Bills up first-and-goal from the 7-yard line. Right after, the Bills ran a swap boot play, and Bears linebacker Lance Briggs bit on the play fake, leaving running back C.J. Spiller wide open in the flats for a pitch-and-catch touchdown.
Cutler's second interception
With 8:01 remaining in the game and the score tied 17-17, the Bears faced a third-and-1 at the Bills' 34-yard line. The Bears called a bootleg with Cutler, who rolled to his right and made the critical mistake of throwing the ball late, back across his body into the middle of the field and into the waiting arms of Bills defensive tackle Kyle Williams. Compounding problems, wide receiver Santonio Holmes misunderstood the call and blocked instead of clearing out. It was perhaps the biggest play of the game.
"We were going to go for it on fourth down, we were in a four-down situation right there," Trestman said. "We tried to get it to the perimeter and make something happen, and we didn't get it done. So, anytime you're in a position to run or throw, just take care of the football. As I said, Jay spoke out immediately and said, 'I gotta do a better job, I just gotta throw it away.' In that situation, it's just a matter of throwing it away."
Given the game situation and his nine years of NFL experience, these are simply plays that Cutler can't continue to make. This play cost the Bears a situation to keep a drive alive and potentially took points off the board. Trestman doesn't believe it's too late to coach decisions like this out of Cutler.
"He lost himself for a minute and made a decision that I know we've seen other great quarterbacks make, and he's certainly made it there," Trestman said. "As I said today, he's taken accountability for that, responsibility for that decision."
Taking accountability is one thing. Proving that decisions like this are isolated and can be used as a learning experience is another. While not of the same magnitude, this play resembled the decision Brett Favre made in the 2009 NFC Championship game that perhaps cost the Vikings a berth in the Super Bowl in an eventual loss to the Saints. Cutler shares Favre's gunslinger mentality, but he doesn't have the Super Bowl ring to match.
Defending zone read
Trestman equated the three explosive plays the Bears gave up on the zone read to being as damaging as the three turnovers. Despite the fact that the observable data overwhelmingly shows the Bears consistently have busted assignments with zone read, Trestman is optimistic the Bears coaches and players will correct it.
"We've just got to continue to work on our rules and guys stay disciplined in their rules," Trestman said. "There is somebody for the back, there is somebody for the quarterback on each of those plays. A lot of them are based on formations and on demeanor of the back as he works into the line of scrimmage, and we just got to get better at it. We've got the guys to fix it. We see the light. Certainly with the amount of read zone we saw yesterday, there was certain reason to believe it can be fixed. But it's got to be fixed on every play, we can't be inconsistent. We've got to have consistency in that area and that's what we're going to continue to work to as we move through the season."
With upcoming games against the likes of Colin Kaepernick, Geno Smith and Cam Newton, the Bears have no option but to get it fixed, otherwise it will be another disappointing season for the run defense.
Injury updates
Regarding the status of Brandon Marshall (right ankle), Matt Slauson (left ankle), Roberto Garza (right ankle) and Alshon Jeffery (right hamstring), Trestman had no update other than it was an ongoing evaluation today and into tomorrow and would give an update once better information is available. Losing four crucial starters on the offense for any period of time will challenge the depth of the roster.
Dan Durkin covers the Bears for CBSChicago.com and is a frequent contributor to 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter at @djdurkin.