Chicago Bears' Biggest Disappointments at Season's Quarter Mark

Four games down, 12 to remain in the Chicago Bears' season. 

As most of us thought, the Bears are 2-2 through the first four, doing it in a way very few of us thought. 

The Bears were supposed to beat the Buffalo Buffalo in Week 1, lose to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 2, beat the New York Jets in Week 3 and lose to the Green Bay Packers in Week 4. 

There have been highs and lows. 

The highs include a four-touchdown game for Jay Cutler in the Week 2 second-half comeback win over the 49ers, the play of rookie cornerback Kyle Fuller and the Pro Bowl-caliber season tight end Martellus Bennett is having.

The lows include a loss to the Packers where the Bears couldn't get any sort of pass rush on Aaron Rodgers, recording zero quarterback hits in the game, also allowing the Packers go through the entire game without punting the ball. All of the injuries suffered have also been a big downer for this team. 

Anyway, let's not pick on the Bears any more than we have to, so why don't we just move right on to the five biggest disappointments through the quarter mark for the season?

Once you're done reading, if you find yourself wondering why there weren't more defensive items on the list, we all expected the defense to be mediocre at best. You can't be disappointed by the defense if you had low expectations to begin with.

5. Brandon Marshall's Sudden Silence

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Marshall got off to a great start this season, recording 13 catches on 20 targets for 119 yards and four touchdowns in the first two games. His one-handed touchdown grab at the end of the second quarter in San Francisco changed the game, thrusting the Bears to a second-half comeback victory.

But since then, it’s all been downhill. Marshall has caught just three passes on 12 targets for 25 yards and a touchdown in the third and fourth game of the season. He’s refused to speak to the media after both games. If you know anything about Marshall, he loves to talk, talk, talk. So there must be something going on there.

Now, Marshall suffered an ankle injury in the Bears’ Week 1 loss to Buffalo. While he’s played in every game since, he hasn’t been a full participant in practice, and that’s if he even practices at all. Recurring injuries are annoying. For a player like Marshall, who likely would put up a fight if the Bears held him out for a week, the injury isn’t going to get better anytime soon.

Sometimes veteran players who are dealing with injuries can get away with missing practices, but Marshall might not be one of those veterans. Cutler and Marshall had a major miscommunication against the Packers, leading to the quarterback’s second interception, which basically sealed the game for Green Bay.

Clearly, some rust has set in for Marshall, leading to tight end Martellus Bennett being the highest-targeted Bears pass-catcher this season.

Here’s the thing: Marshall still can be effective even with an ankle injury. He was excellent against the 49ers while injured.

Marshall is an emotion guy, and it’s becoming very clear that the bizarre press conference he held leading up to the Jets game has had a lasting effect on the Bears’ top receiver.

You can watch the press conference here, via ChicagoBears.com.

To make a long story short: Marshall was mad at ESPN because they aired an updated version of a 2012 "E:60” special on Marshall’s Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) diagnosis. Marshall claims the updated version wasn't along the lines of what ESPN described to him. Marshall felt misled when ESPN aired it anyway. 

“I refuse to sit back and continue to let ESPN or any other network or outlet exploit my story,” Marshall said, via Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Marshall took to Twitter to speak his mind of the topic. See the tweets here, via AwfulAnnouncing.com

Then there’s the Gloria Allred press conference, where the lawyer drudged up some of Marshall’s previous domestic violence issues with his ex-girlfriend in order to show the public that the NFL has a history of either ignoring these issues or not taking them seriously enough.

"We want the NFL to get it right," Allred said, via ESPN.com. "It's long overdue for the NFL to get it right."

Basically, Marshall was used as an example for the public.

One day later, Marshall held a press conference, where he handed out large legal packets that contained what he called the truth about his really, really ugly relationship with his ex-girlfriend. Marshall just wanted to clear the air but, in doing so, he went on and on about the past for nearly 39 minutes. Marshall came off sounding like a victim, when, in reality, he brought it all on himself.

Marshall’s press conference wasn’t necessary. No one was demanding that Marshall speak publicly. No one even batted an eye after Allred’s press conference that brought up his past. The Twitter reaction pretty much was this: “We’ve known all of this for years. Who cares.”

No one did care. But Marshall felt attacked and thought the best course of action was to defend himself. That was the wrong move. We’ve all applauded Marshall for his transformation from problem child to role model. He’s truly done amazing things with his life in the past few years. But what we saw from Marshall in the press conference wasn’t the Marshall we’ve all come to know and love. We saw the old Marshall. We saw a guy who felt like his back was against the wall and the only thing he would do to combat it was to strike back. The guy we love would have brushed it all off, calling it a learning experience.

Marshall allowed his past to get the best of him, and now it’s getting the best of the Bears.

Now he’s silent both on and off the field.

Then again, Marshall might just be ticked that he's only caught three passes in the past two games. 

The best thing the Bears can do to help Marshall both physically and mentally would be to sit him down for Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers. Marshall is going to want to play, but the Bears simply cannot allow it. The guy clearly could use some R&R. Sometimes you have to do what's best for the player, not what's best for the team.

4. Good Jay, Bad Jay

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

Let’s meet the man we call Good Jay. Good Jay, for the most part, has been a pretty good quarterback through the first four games of the season.

Good Jay rallied the Bears to beat the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football in Week 2 on the road, where Good Jay threw four touchdowns and zero interceptions. Good Jay then took the Bears to New York and beat the Jets on Monday Night Football, where he threw two touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Back-to-back road wins in prime time: Good Jay completed 63.8 percent of his passes for 401 yards with six touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Through the quarter mark of the season, Good Jay has completed a career-high 65.8 percent of his passes and is on pace to throw for 4,000-plus yards, a career-high 40 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Good Jay makes better decisions, has improved mechanics and appears to have matured as a football player.

Now let’s meet Bad Jay.

Bad Jay is the guy who buried a terrible, across-the-body fourth-quarter pass into the belly of Bills defensive tackle Kyle Williams when the Bears had a seven-play driving going and were on their way to putting points on the board. The Bears lost in overtime.

Bad Jay is the guy who, against the Packers when the Bears desperately needed points, forced a pass in to Josh Morgan only to have cornerback Tramon Williams jump the route and deflect the ball to Clay Matthews, who then completed the interception. It was game, set, match after that happened.

Good Jay is the guy we see a solid 80-85 percent of the time. We love Good Jay. Good Jay is worth his $100-plus million contract. Good Jay sports a 41-22 record with the Bears against all teams not named Green Bay.

But when Bad Jay shows up, oh no, watch out. Horrible things are about to happen. Bad Jay is the guy who can’t help but get in his own way anytime he’s close to uncharted levels of success. Bad Jay is 1-9 against Green Bay.

None of this really is new information. Good Jay and Bay Jay have been battling for playing time for nine seasons. Here’s what it boils down to for the Bears: Good Jay can win with Mel Tucker’s horribly inconsistent defense; Bad Jay cannot. The Bears need points on every single possession, sadly.

3. Leaving Points on the Board

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As bad and as inconsistent the Bears defense has been, the offense cannot afford to leave points on the board. It’s happened too many times this season. Long drives are stalling due to turnovers or having to settle for three points.

Here are nine examples:

Week 1 vs. Buffalo Bills—23-20 loss

- Six-play, 58-yard drive in 3:22 stopped by a Brandon Marshall fumble.

- 11-play, 57-yard drive in 5:26 results in a 41-yard field goal.

- Seven-play, 60-yard drive in 3:48 halted by a Jay Cutler interception.

- 12-play, 61-yard drive in 3:32 settling for a 37-yard field goal.

Week 3 vs. New York Jets—27-19 win

- 15-play, 79-yard drive in 4:48 results in 24-yard field goal.

- 12-play, 46-yard drive in 6:42 ends with a 45-yard field goal.

Week 4 vs. Green Bay Packers—37-18 loss

- 13-play, 75-yard drive in 5:10 results in 23-yard field goal.

- Seven-play, 79-yard drive in 1:03 ends with no points.

- Seven-play, 61-yard drive in 3:28 halted by interception.

Chicago nearly had 500 total yards in Sunday’s loss to Green Bay, outgaining the Packers by 138 yards, yet the Bears only scored 17 points.

The Bears will need to get past the Packers in order to win the NFC North. When the two teams face off again later in the season, the Bears need to enter the game with the mindset that every possession must result in seven points because Aaron Rodgers is just that good.

2. Where's the Rush?

Tony Avelar/Associated Press

This is really, really simple. Almost too simple.

To be a great defense, you must have a great pass rush. Where does the Bears pass rush stand? According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), the Bears are 19th-best in the league, if you even can associate the word “best” with being 19th of 32 teams.

Let’s break it down, via PFF

Week 1 vs. Buffalo Bills: 2 QB hits, 1 sack = Loss

Week 2 vs. San Francisco 49ers: 5 QB hits, 4 sacks = Win

Week 3 vs. New York Jets: 8 QB hits, 3 sacks = Win

Week 4 vs. Green Bay Packers: 0 QB hits, 1 sack = Loss

Wins: 13 QB hits, 7 sacks

Losses: 2 QB hits, 2 sacks (one of the sacks came when Aaron Rodgers ran out of bounds about an inch behind the line of scrimmage)

Obviously there is more than one factor that goes into winning and losing. Here’s why this stat matters so much: The Bears' back end cannot hold up if the quarterback has a clean pocket. You saw what Rodgers did to the Bears on Sunday—22-of-28 passing for 302 yards and four touchdowns. Rodgers even said it himself after the game: He “barely got touched,” via Lori Nickel of the Journal Sentinel.

One reason for the struggles is the absence of defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff. He’s missed two-plus games after suffering a concussion against San Francisco, forcing the Bears to play rookies Ego Ferguson and Will Sutton.

Another reason could be Lamarr Houston’s position on the line. He’s started all four games at left defensive end. With Ratliff out and Jared Allen battling an illness, maybe Houston’s 300-pound body would be best-served moving inside to tackle. Hub Arkush of ChicagoFootball.com and Bleacher Report’s Stephen Nelson go into more detail here.

And then there’s defensive coordinator Mel Tucker, who somehow couldn’t string together three consecutive defensive calls that were capable of stopping Rodgers and the Packers, who punted exactly zero times in the game.

1. Injuries

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Health has been a major issue for the 2014 Chicago Bears, much as it was for the 2013 Chicago Bears. The only difference from last year to this year is the Bears, on paper, have the depth to withstand such injuries.

Starting left guard Matt Slauson and center Roberto Garza both suffered ankle injuries in the Week 1 loss to Buffalo and have gone on to miss every game since. Fullback Tony Fiammetta reached an injury settlement with the team before being released due to a hamstring injury.

Rookie Michael Ola, a former Canadian Football League player, took over for Slauson and has done a very good job given the circumstances. Pro Football Focus rates Ola as the fifth-best guard in the league of those who have played at least 75 percent of their team’s snaps. For comparison’s sake, Pro Bowl right guard Kyle Long ranks sixth on that same list.

Veteran Brian de la Puente took over for Garza and, like Ola, has done a great job in the starting lineup. PFF rates de la Puente as the second-best center in the NFL for those who have played at least 75 percent of their team’s snaps.

While the replacements have been more than anyone could ask for, the Bears need Slauson and Garza back. Not having them on the field takes depth off the bench and has forced general manager Phil Emery to get creative when it comes to adding more depth.

Now, the defense has been hit far worse. Starting defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff, defensive end Jared Allen, linebacker Shea McClellin and cornerback Charles Tillman all have missed games through the quarter mark of the season.

Let’s not forget special teams ace and cornerback Sherrick McManis. Losing him has made waves all over the roster.

Ratliff has missed two-plus games with a concussion, which has forced rookie defensive tackles Ego Ferguson and Will Sutton into the lineup prematurely. Both rookies have been learning on the job, recording a combined 12 tackles and two sacks this season. But you could tell they were still rookies in Sunday’s loss to Green Bay.

With Allen sidelined with an illness, one that Jay Glazer of Fox Sports says cost Allen 15 pounds, the Bears defensive line was completely exposed.

Without Ratliff and Allen, the Bears had zero pass rush on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Saying the Bears had zero pass rush is not an exaggeration either.

"I barely got touched, most of the day, which will be nice with a short week coming up,” Rodgers said after the game, via Lori Nickel of the Journal Sentinel.

There were very few expectations of the Bears defense when the season began. Despite the low expectations, touching Rodgers with a pass rush was one of them. The thought entering the season was if Mel Tucker could coach a middle-of-the-road squad, the Bears would have a legitimate shot at winning the NFC North.

Let’s just all agree now: The Bears aren’t winning the NFC North unless those who are injured are able to get back on the field sooner rather than later because the Bears will need to touch Rodgers in order to beat Rodgers.