Olson: Smith, Bears are in trouble
CHICAGO – At least Tommie Harris came out swinging.
Of course, the Bears’ defensive tackle was ejected after the fourth play of the game for punching Arizona guard Deuce Lutui. The rest of the Bears’ defense might as well have followed him to the showers for all the fight they put up in the Bears’ 41-21 loss at Soldier Field on Sunday.
There are trends emerging with this team that hint that an 8-8 finish might be an accomplishment, not a disappointment this season.
And there are bad signs for coach Lovie Smith.
Smith calls the plays for the Bears’ defense. And his defense has allowed 31 points in the first half two of the past three weeks. The team almost never comes out ready to play, as opponents have outscored them, 59-20, in the first quarter.
Although his players are losing their cool, and punching opponents, Smith seems as calm and out of touch as ever.
After the booing was over and an embarrassing home loss was done, Smith offered a lot of the same, all-is-well platitudes.
“You look at reality,” Smith said. “It’s a game, and we’re 4-4, that’s all you can look at. We haven’t played our division, the defending champs in our division.
“We have a lot of important football games coming up. You’re disappointed [for] a day, which we are, but then you move forward.”
With a game Thursday night in San Francisco looming, at least the Bears don’t have much time to dwell on Sunday’s stinker.
A stinker in which they were gashed for 320 first-half yards by quarterback Kurt Warner and the Cardinals offense.
The Bears allowed points on each of the first six Cardinals possessions Sunday. Warner had five TD passes, just like Carson Palmer did two weeks ago for the Cincinnati Bengals.
So why is the Bears defense getting its tail kicked on the field with alarming regularity?
“I know that is a pretty simplified answer to your question, but you have to get off the field after third down,” Smith said.
The Bears’ problem on defense runs deeper, and anyone who has suffered through the past three weeks of games can see it.
Yes, Arizona was 8 for 8 on third down conversions before they had to settle for a field goal on a drive in the third quarter.
But the Cardinals had 21 first-half first downs, and only six of them came after third down plays.
Bears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye saw that reality, even if his coach didn’t.
“We didn’t stop them on first down, second down,” Ogunleye said. “Let’s be honest we weren’t stopping anybody in the first half, any down.”
Honesty is refreshing, isn’t it? Here’s more: When the Bears defense comes out flat and allows four touchdowns in a row, that’s not just bad play. That’s bad coaching.
The Bears have sustained some injuries, including the loss of middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. But they are not so depleted that they should be this bad.
At Cincinnati and again Sunday, they have been unready. And it is the coaches’ job to get them ready.
The major difference between this loss and the game at Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago was that the Bears showed some life this time. The defense got fired up after a big interception by Zackary Bowman set up a touchdown to make it 34-21.
The fans, who spent most of the game booing, actually started cheering. The Bears defensive line pressured Warner on the Cardinals next possession, forced a couple of incompletions and then stopped Arizona on third and 25 by holding them inches short of the first-down marker.
The way the Bears were gouged Sunday, that was the equivalent of a goal-line stand.
“For about five minutes there in that game, we actually believed that we could win,” Bears defensive end Alex Brown said, “and we played like that. Why the hell can’t we do that from the first play? That’s what we’ve got to figure out.”
Brown blamed the players.
Others, such as quarterback Jay Cutler, were less definitive about whether the team has a leadership problem.
“I don’t know,” Cutler said. “We’ll see.”
The next eight games will be telling indeed. If the team quits, we’ll have our answer.
• Eric Olson is the Northwest Herald’s sports editor. Reach him at 815-526-4554, or e-mail eolson@nwherald.com.
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