Pompei: Observations From Bears-Eagles
By Dan Pompei--
(CBS) If there is any solace to take from the Bears' 29-14 loss to the Eagles, it's that it can't get much worse. It has to get better. At some point. Right?
Here are my observations:
1. Jay Cutler is an 11-year veteran. He has to take care of the football like one. He had two turnovers Monday.
2. If Cutler's hand was injured, he shouldn't have been trying to be a hero and risk hurting his team.
3. I thought Eagles rookie quarterback Carson Wentz was going to be pretty good before the game. In fact, I wrote this for Bleacher Report before the game. Now I think I was underrating him.
4. If you had to guess if the Eagles quarterback or the Bears quarterback was playing in his second start, you would have guessed the Bears quarterback. Wentz was more poised, made better decisions and had better fundamentals.
5. In Week 1, the captain QB shows up the young receiver who runs the wrong route. In Week 2, the captain LB, who's injured, shows up the QB for throwing an interception. This isn't my definition of good leadership.
6. The Bears at times made the Eagles pass rush look like the Texans pass rush.
7. The Bears haven't been as committed to the run as expected. Through two games, they have run the ball 41 percent of the time. Some of that has been because they have been playing catch-up. But even in the first half, they have run it only 38 percent of the time. They need to run it more.
8. Alshon Jeffery is almost as good at drawing pass interference penalties as he is at catching contested passes.
9. If the jump ball is the play you are most confident in, it doesn't say very much about everything else on offense.
10. I thought pass rush was the Bears' biggest need last offseason. And pass rush might be the Bears' biggest need next offseason.
11. Bryce Callahan plays with a nice blend of athleticism and instincts. He should develop into a fine nickel corner.
12. A punt return for a touchdown is a huge play — except when you are down by 22 late in the fourth quarter.
13. If Brian Hoyer needs to replace Cutler, he would be put in a really difficult spot given how discombobulated the Bears offense is right now.
14. Which also reminds me: A lot of what we saw was out of Cutler's control.
Dan Pompei has been covering the NFL since 1985 and is a regular contributor to 670 The Score and a host on 670's Bears pregame show. He writes for Bleacher Report and theathletic.com. You can follow him on Twitter @Dan Pompei.
