Durkin: Impressions from Bears-Panthers
By Dan Durkin-
(CBS) Cliche is the official language of any locker room, especially that of the losing team. Obviously, it's difficult to stand in front of a throng of media members who are asking pointed, probing questions about your job performance that day.
After a deflating 31-24 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, the Bears' locker room was chock full of cliches.
"We are beating ourselves." "We just have to play better." "We didn't get it done."
To be fair, we all use cliches. They're a verbal crutch we lean on from time to time, and I'm about to use one of my own. Yes, there's a lot of football left to be played. However, with nearly a third of the season's games already determined by the scoreboard, some troubling trends are surfacing in all three phases for Chicago.
As opposing defenses become more conservative with their coverages and play more zone, they are challenging the Bears offense to be disciplined. Over the past two weeks, the Bears offense has self-destructed. They've made careless decisions with the football and have had lapses in fundamentals in crucial moments. In fact, over this stretch, they have more second-half turnovers (six if you count turnovers on downs) than points (three).
Early on Sunday, the Panthers chose to play man coverage against the Bears. Wisely, Chicago took what Carolina gave it, utilizing the screen game both with running back Matt Forte and wide receiver Alshon Jeffery.
As the game progressed, the Panthers made defensive adjustments late in the second quarter, resorting to more zone coverages. They successfully clogged passing lanes by dropping seven and eight men into coverage, limiting quarterback Jay Cutler's options. In parallel, the running game dried up. The Bears continued to try and run the inside zone scheme from the pistol, but it wasn't working. Forte had only 14 rushing yards in the second half, and the Bears were unable to control the clock.
The Bears still lack a go-to play in short-yardage situations. In the second half, they converted only one third down and couldn't close out the game, which put the ball back in the hands of the Panthers offense.
Defensively, the Bears have tightened up against the run. Their game plan was to put the ball in the hands of Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and challenge him to beat them from the pocket. For one half, that game plan was effective.
However, once the Panthers went to their up-tempo no-huddle offenses (like the Packers did a week before), they gave the Bears defense trouble. In turn, the Bears resorted to vanilla zone coverages, giving receivers free releases off the line of scrimmage and huge voids between the linebackers and secondary. Over the past two weeks, the Bears have given up 10 explosive passes of 19 or more yards.
Chicago cornerback Kyle Fuller shadowed Kelvin Benjamin everywhere on the field, whether the Bears were in man or zone. While he was targeted numerous times, Fuller held up and limited Benjamin to his lowest output of the season and forced a fumble. However, Fuller is the only player in the secondary who the Bears can play aggressively with, which limits what this team can do with its man concepts. The Bears are primarily a zone coverage team, so when the pass rush doesn't get home, players quickly find the soft spots and get huge chunks of yardage.
Tight end Greg Olsen was a matchup issue for the Bears, who didn't challenge his release off the line of scrimmage. When singled up against Bears safeties, Olsen won at the top of his routes and burned his former team for two touchdowns, one of which was the game-winner.
Save for Pat O'Donnell's strong effort against the Panthers, the special teams were again poor and now have contributed negative plays in every game. From penalties to blocked punts to missed field goals to generating nothing in the return game, the special teams aren't winning the field position game. Heading into Sunday's game, Bears' opponents had the best average starting field position (35-yard line) and the Bears offense was seventh-worst (23-yard line).
Special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis is working with a group of young, inexperienced players, many of who are undrafted rookies. The constant shuffling at the bottom of the roster affects continuity, and it seems as though the early portion of the regular season has effectively become an extended preseason for the Bears special teams units.
Looking ahead, the Bears have matchups with Matt Ryan, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers in three of their next four games. Without a consistent pass rush, these three will dissect a Bears' secondary that looks overmatched to start the season.
Dan Durkin covers the Bears for CBSChicago.com and is a frequent contributor to 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter at @djdurkin.