On the Offensive, Or Lack Thereof

Instead of serving up a longwinded rant about last night’s poor showing from the Bears, I’m going to sum up my frustrations in a single question, that you can discuss if you want or not:

Can the Bears be truly competitive with this offense?

Sure, they went to the Conference Championship, but is there any doubt that their offense was merely around for the ride? Indeed, many of their wins could have easily gone the other way. Game 1 against the Lions, where Detroit really basically won, but Calvin Johnson’s touchdown catch was overturned (God bless the Process!). Their 20-17 win over the Packers early in the season — without Devin Hester’s 70 yard punt return for a touchdown, the Bears don’t win that game. Add in a couple other close matches against the Bills, Lions and Eagles and you could have easily had a team with a record closer to 9-7 or even the reverse of that, instead of the Division winning 11-5 they actually posted.

The Bears have long fancied themselves a defensive team. But this is an offense that inspires very little confidence that they are capable of bailing the team out, that they are capable of putting up points against good teams. To be fair, the Bears line looked better last night. But I don’t think I can remember the last time I saw the Bears convert on third down. I don’t remember the last time the Bears seemed dominant the the red zone.

But most of all, I don’t remember the last time the Bears offense has gone above and beyond when it really mattered, made a big play in a game situation. That’s what the good teams do. If the Packers are behind, Aaron Rodgers and co. are capable of doing something that seems impossible; same with the Patriots and the Eagles. If we want to be really competitive, especially in the post-season, I think we’ll have to get better in this area.

OK, I guess this was a rant, then.

Re: Last Night’s Bears Game

Cheers for the Bears’ preseason opener:

— Kahlil Bell, for his 73 yards on 13 rushes. With Marion Barber and Matt Forte (and our starting-to-creak veteran, Chester Taylor), it seems we have some depth in the running game.

— Mike Holmes, for that interception late in the game.

— The defense in general, for keeping Buffalo to a measly three points (a feat in any game, preseason or otherwise).

Jeers for the Bears’ preseason opener:

— Robbie Gould, for his flubbed field goals. Though in all fairness, I’d be surprised if he pulls any 34 yarders during the regular season.

— Mike Martz, for his dumb offense and his insistence that it works. Ten points in a preseason game wouldn’t worry me if that wasn’t sort of how the 2010 regular season went, too. Maybe it’s the players who can’t adapt. But maybe if your players aren’t getting it, you need to adapt your offense to your players’ skills.

— The field, for not being turf.

Da Bears

Da Bears playin’ kickball? Billy Corgan eatin’ dinner? 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/celebrity/aboutlastnight/chi-sighting-bears-brian-urlacher-greg-olsen-matt-forte-kickball-20110711,0,1925755.story