Chicago Bears: Shore Up the Offensive Line and They'll Be Just Fine

In Thursday's somewhat lopsided loss to Green Bay, the box score and subsequent coverage may force the Chicago Bears and their vociferous fanbase to cringe. However, they shouldn't.

The Bears defense is elite which, even in today's NFL, makes them a contender. They held Green Bay to a mere 321 yards, which is three yards less then the vaunted San Francisco defense allowed in their win a week previous. They hounded Rodgers with five sacks, and forced two turnovers.

Peppers proved to be a mismatch for Green Bay no matter where he lined up on the defensive front. Tim Jennings has had consecutive stellar performances, and along with Peanut Tillman's signature punch strip, the Bears have a substantial cornerback tandem to combat the NFL's evolving propensity towards the passing game.

Sure, on the surface Cedric Benson may have appeared to gorge the Chicago defense, but the Bears played a deep Cover 2 all night. Their defensive strategy was to force Green Bay to beat them on the ground, which they didn't.

No, instead the Bears beat themselves with ignorance that took place this offseason. Phil Emery, Chicago's new general manager, must have not watched any of Chicago's games a season ago. For anyone with any level of football intelligence would not have neglected to fix the team's most egregious deficiency: their offensive line.

Jay Cutler was harassed week to week last season. However, Emery, with some occult philosophy I have no idea of identifying, decided that the pitiful offensive line from a year ago would magically progress into a unit of cohesion. Emery made splashes by reuniting Cutler with Brandon Marshall and drafting Alshon Jeffery, but he made zero improvements in the front five.

Thursday, Jay Cutler's reoccurring nightmare displayed itself. Go ahead and rag Cutler for his interceptions—I admit the one in the fourth quarter into double coverage was awful—but from the very first snap, a sack, Cutler was running for his life. He was hurried 18 times, seven of which resulted in sacks. No one can operate an offense under that level of pressure.

There is hope, however. Mike Tice, the Bears' offensive coordinator, is an offensive line specialist. If anyone can improve this deplorable group it's Tice. He will need to utilize the next 10 days and create a blocking scheme that can protect its most precious asset, Jay Cutler. 

Contingent upon the health of Matt Forte's right ankle, Bears fans can back away from the ledge. In the end, all the momentum swings went to Green Bay. Take away the fake field goal, give Brandon Marshall a mulligan on a touchdown drop he catches 99 out of 100 times, and the narrative tonight is different. Tonight's game won't slow down the Bears, as long as they shore up their offensive line.