3 Changes the Chicago Bears Should Make Coming off the Bye

While the majority of the NFL preps for this week’s slate of games, those on the Chicago Bears’ roster are left to contemplate what remains of this very, very disappointing 2014 season.

Chicago’s bye week began Monday, one day after a Bear-sized egg was dropped on the field in Foxborough during a head-scratching loss to the New England Patriots.

Head coach Marc Trestman and general manager Phil Emery met the media Monday morning in an effort to do some sort of state-of-the-season-type press conference.

The two football brainiacs sat up at the podium and told reporters and fans alike that the only way for the Bears to pull through this tough time is by sticking together. Obviously. Much of what we heard from Trestman and Emery was exactly what we’ve come to expect from these two: rhetoric and more rhetoric. The most political of political answers.

Except for this gem from Trestman:

"I think the No. 1 thing we've got going for us right now is we're into the bye … ''

Wait, what? Trestman really couldn’t have said that, could he? Yep, he did. The quarterback whisperer who is one of the more positive, yet guarded coaches in the league slipped up and gave us a bit of honesty.

Trestman told us how it is through the first eight games. The best thing that this team has going for it is the fact that there’s no football game to be played Thursday, Sunday or Monday.

Now, you might not like Trestman’s candor about the state of the Bears, but hey, at least he finally showed us some real frustration. Without skipping a beat, though, Trestman went back to coach-speak before finishing his answer.

"…We've got a chance to look back and really take a systematic look at the issues that we've had and come up with some bona fide solutions,” the coach went on to say.

So, while Trestman, Emery and the Bears coaching staff put their heads together, let’s, together, find a few of our own “solutions,” as Trestman calls them. 

All quotes transcribed from press conference audio or pulled from team transcripts. All stats via ESPN.com unless otherwise noted.

Stop Expecting Jay Cutler to Be Something He’s Not

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Wide receiver Brandon Marshall said it best after the Bears’ Week 8 loss to the Miami Dolphins, "Same mistakes, same mistakes, same mistakes. We've got to protect the football. We've got to protect the football."

Cutler turned the ball over a combined 15 times in 11 games last season. So far this season, in eight games, the Bears quarterback has eight interceptions and four fumbles lost, giving him a total of 12.

This no longer can happen if the Bears are to turn around their season. The quarterback who signed a $100 million contract before the season cannot be the reason for offensive failure.

Despite the fact that Cutler has turned the ball over more than 20 entire NFL teams thus far, according to ESPN.com, those inside Halas Hall clearly have chosen to look at their quarterback through rose-colored glasses. Here’s what Emery said last week about Cutler, via Larry Mayer of ChicagoBears.com:

"

Jay Cutler is a winning quarterback in this league and no matter how you analyze the history of quarterbacks in the NFL, if you have a winning record you are an elite player at that position...I’ll say it again: Jay has enormous skills and he continues to improve in all areas as a football player. I know he has some throws he would like to have back, but all of our players have had plays that they would like to have back.

"

Winning quarterbacks, by definition, any definition, win games. While Cutler does have a career record above .500, he most certainly doesn’t as a Bear under Trestman. Cutler is 8-11 in games he’s started during the Trestman era. In those 18 games, the quarterback is responsible for a combined 27 turnovers.

Here’s what Emery had to say about Cutler on Monday:

"

Coming out of Vanderbilt, some of his things from a technical standpoint were concerning, in terms of coming off the back foot, protecting the football. And a lot of that revolves around trying to make plays. And Jay, like a lot of players in that position, has a little bit of a gunslinger personality in terms of, ‘I wanna be the guy making the plays.’ He trusts his arm. Those are habits. Habits are hard to improve.

"

Here’s why Emery’s words are hollow: Cutler has been a gunslinger since he came into the league. This isn’t new information. He didn’t just suddenly start turning the ball over in droves after Trestman took over. The quarterback whisperer was supposed to correct those tendencies from Cutler, yet somehow the mistakes keep coming from Cutler.

At some point during the bye week, Cutler needs to be brought to Halas Hall, so Emery and Trestman can give him a big hug while telling him, in true Robin Williams fashion, “It’s not your fault.”

No amount of analysis of statistics or game tape is going to make Cutler a better quarterback in his ninth season. That isn’t how it works.

All quotes transcribed from press conference audio or pulled from team transcripts. All stats via NFL.com unless otherwise noted.

It's Time to Pull Shea McClellin from the Starting Lineup

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The Shea McClellin experience needs to be over.

McClellin was Emery’s first-ever draft pick as an NFL general manager in 2012. And there were quite a few folks who thought Emery and the Bears reached on McClellin when they selected him 19th overall. For his first two (very forgettable) seasons, McClellin trotted out onto the field as a defensive end.

Pro Football Focus (subscription required), in 2012, ranked the rookie McClellin 37th out of 62 defensive ends who played at least 25 percent of their team’s respective snaps. The next season wasn’t much better, either. It was much worse, actually. According to PFF’s grades, only two of 52 qualifying defensive ends received worse marks than McClellin in 2013, when he graded out as the worst run-stopping end in the NFL.

These fantastic results resulted in a change for McClellin, who now dwells as the Bears’ starting outside linebacker. This experience hasn’t worked out, either, as McClellin has played poorly this season in the four games he’s appeared.

McClellin still looks lost on the field at times. He’s often fooled by play action; he struggles to seal the edge against mobile quarterbacks; and he struggles in coverage.

While McClellin isn’t solely responsible for the middle of the field, a first-round pick needs to be doing more to change the game. Look at what Kyle Fuller, the Bears 2014 first-round pick, has done this season. The cornerback has three interceptions and three forced fumbles. McClellin has zero forced fumbles in two-plus seasons.

There’s a lot of denial swirling around Halas Hall when it comes to McClellin.

“Right now, like all of us, he’s our starting ‘Sam’ backer right now, he’s a 3-5 record-wise ‘Sam’ backer, and he has to get better. And we all do,” Emery said Monday.

Those words make it sound like he’s hiding behind the collective failures of the team. How many times must Emery bang his head against the wall in search of an answer for McClellin? It makes sense for Emery to go the extra mile so his first-ever pick doesn’t flame out, but, at some point, the denial needs to stop.

All quotes transcribed from press conference audio or pulled from team transcripts. All stats via NFL.com unless otherwise noted.

You’re 3-5, Mix It Up a Little!

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

According to FiveThirtyEight.com, the Bears’ chances of making the postseason sit at eight percent. Yes, a whopping eight percent. While it would be pretty remarkable if this team were to win seven of eight to finish the season with 10 wins and possibly the playoffs, the odds are not in the Bears’ favor.

What the Bears need to do now is see what they have in 2014 draft picks Ego Ferguson and Will Sutton. With starting defensive end Lamarr Houston now out for the season after tearing his ACL, there are snaps to be had.

Willie Young likely will step into Houston’s spot on the left side opposite Jared Allen in the base defense. When the defense shifts into nickel, though, Ferguson and Sutton likely will see more action in Houston’s spot at the 3-technique.

Last season, injuries ravaged the Bears defense, to the tune of being ranked at the bottom of the league in nearly every statistical category that matters. A lack of depth can be cited as the main reason for the unproductive season.

With this season now looking grim, perhaps it’s time for management to see what they have in the young kids before free agency starts and the draft arrives. For more on how the Bears can replace Houston, go here.

On the offensive side of the ball, why not give Kyle Long a shot at right tackle? With Jordan Mills likely taking Matt Slauson’s spot at left guard, as Trestman said in the Monday press conference, there will be an opening next to Long. But instead of moving Michael Ola to right tackle, why not see how Long holds up on the end?

While the assignments clearly are different from position to position, Long has been a better pass protector this season than Mills and Ola. The Bears offensive line needs help protecting Cutler. Why not mix it up and see what happens? It can’t get much worse, can it?

All quotes transcribed from press conference audio or pulled from team transcripts. All stats via ESPN.com unless otherwise noted.