Chicago Bears: What You Need to Know Heading into Week 13

The Chicago Bears were the laughingstock of the NFL a few weeks back after losing back-to-back games in agonizing fashion to the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers.

Since then, the Marc Trestman-led Bears have rattled off back-to-back wins and now sit 5-6 on the season. With winning suddenly being en vogue at Halas Hall, you’d think hope for the playoffs would be on the up and up.

That’s hardly the case, though.

Offensively, the Bears have been downright offensive. In Sunday’s 21-13 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Bears offense gained 204 total yards, amassing only 68 yards and three first downs in the first half.

Had the Mel Tucker-coached defense not forced three turnovers in the second half, we might not be talking about a Bears win.

The offense was set up to score Sunday by Tucker’s suddenly opportunistic defense. And the defense has been playing better of late. The unit has allowed a combined 26 points in the past two games—a mark that hadn’t been reached since Weeks 5 and 7 of the 2012 season.

When the season began, who would have thought this team would be winning games on the back of its defense?

But that’s where Trestman and the Bears currently sit.

It’s not going to get any easier from here. The game against Tampa Bay was the first of a three-game stretch that takes place over 11 days on the calendar—from Sunday to Thursday (Detroit Lions) to Thursday (Dallas Cowboys).

With time now limited, let’s dive right in to what you need to know heading into Week 13.

Defense Wins Championships

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

When the season began, the plan was for the Bears to have a middle-of-the-road defense to go along with an offense that finished second-best in the league in scoring last season.

Well, you all know how that’s turning out. The offense continues to struggle week in and week out, while the defense finally seems to be figuring things out.

After sacking the quarterback only once in the back-to-back losses to New England and Green Bay, the Bears went on to total seven in wins over Minnesota and Tampa Bay.

The five turnovers the Bears have forced in the past two games is the same number they forced in the five previous games.

Defensive end Jared Allen has been playing better of late, recording six quarterback hurries and six defensive stops in the past two weeks, according to PFF.

And as Allen has played better, so has Stephen Paea. The fourth-year defensive tackle arguably played his best game of the season against the Buccaneers, with two sacks in the second half and a hit on Josh McCown that led to Chris Conte’s impressive first-half interception.

More importantly, some of the younger players are starting to step up.

Second-year defensive end David Bass played his best game of the season Sunday, in limited snaps too. He was on the field for 15 defensive snaps, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), and made his impact by chasing down and forcing a fumble from McCown after starting to chase from the opposite side of the field.

Here’s a recap of what Bass’ season has looked like, via ESPN Chicago’s Michael C. Wright: inactive Weeks 1 and 2, did not play Weeks 3 and 5, waived Oct. 7, signed to the Bears practice squad Oct. 8, signed to the active roster Nov. 3.

Undrafted rookie Al Louis-Jean is another youngster who has been making an impact. His first significant action came back in Week 8 against New England. Louis-Jean didn’t fare too well against Tom Brady, but the overall experience prepared him for what happened Sunday.

“For my first game, for that to be my first game against Brady, that kind of gave me a jump-start in terms of experience,” Louis-Jean said, via Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. “You usually don’t get that many balls in one game.”

Louis-Jean got the call Sunday after rookie Kyle Fuller went down with an injury. The undrafted rookie got tasked with covering the Buccaneers best receiver, Mike Evans, holding him to just one catch on six targets after taking over at halftime.

Another guy to watch—second-year defensive end and sixth-round pick Cornelius Washington—was credited with two tackles for loss and one sack in Sunday’s win.

It’s time to scrap the idea that the Bears can win a Super Bowl, or even make it to the playoffs, with a mediocre defense. With the offense stuck in its current shape, the Bears need a defense that can take over and win a game without help.

Jordan Mills Is on His Way Back

MIKE MCCARN/Associated Press

The Bears announced Monday that Jordan Mills would have been a full participant in practice Monday, if the team had indeed practiced. The right tackle who started all 16 games as a rookie in 2013 missed the last two games due to a rib injury.

In no way, shape or form will Mills’ return to the field miraculously change the Bears’ offensive fortunes. He barely has been average this season, being ranked as the 74th-best right tackle in the NFL, out of 79, according to PFF. What Mills’ return does provide is depth.

When he returns, Michael Ola can move back to left guard, where he feels most comfortable. Ola has played five games at left guard and five games between left and right tackle.

The starting lineup will look like this: Jermon Bushrod, Ola, Roberto Garza, Kyle Long and Mills.

Brian de la Puente will return to the bench, where he belongs, next to Eben Britton. Both can serve as Swiss army knife-type players off the bench.

Offense Needs to Find the Right Sequence

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

You all know how much the offense has struggled this season. It’s been well-documented.

The same problems have occurred every week—blown assignments, pre-snap penalties, bad throws, turnovers and dropped passes.

“Overall, I thought our whole offense was just very, very poor early because of the mistakes that we made,” Trestman said Monday of the Bears’ struggles against the Buccaneers.

So let’s take a quick look at Chicago's six drives in the first half:

First drive (first half): three plays, eight yards, 1:52

• Brandon Marshall has a false-start penalty on second down.

Second drive (first half): nine plays, 26 yards, 5:12

• Gerald McCoy sacks Cutler and forces a fumble, which the Bucs recover.

Third drive (first half): three plays, seven yards, 1:39

Fourth drive (first half): seven plays, 14 yards, 2:59

• Marshall has an illegal blocking penalty on second down, turning 2nd-and-short into 2nd-and-long.
• Robbie Gould misses field goal from 54 yards.

Fifth drive (first half): three plays, eight yards, 1:09

• Marshall has an illegal block penalty on third down, and Ryan Mundy has an offensive holding penalty on fourth down.

Sixth drive (first half): three plays, six yards, 36 seconds

“It’s been disturbing that we haven’t been able to move the ball the way we would like to in games; that’s a fact,” Trestman went on to say to reporters. “But just based on where we’ve been over the last five or six weeks, no doubt about it. …”

Trestman’s use of the word “disturbing” is spot on. But what could be more disturbing is his lack of flexibility when it comes to making in-game adjustments. In the quote above, he acknowledged that the Bears have been having the same issues “over the last five or six weeks.”

If that’s the case—if the offense struggles to get out of the first 15 plays without making mistakes—then maybe the coaching staff should re-evaluate the way the game plan rolls out. It certainly seems like the Bears' plan of attack hinges on team perfection, because everything breaks down the moment adversity hits.

Unfortunately for this Bears team, self-inflicted adversity has been striking early and often. It is the leading factor behind the offensive struggles.

Looking in on the NFC North

Duane Burleson/Associated Press

Making the postseason is an uphill battle from here. The Bears need to reach 10 wins, which means they have to win their next five games. But as the 2013 Arizona Cardinals taught us, having 10 wins doesn’t necessarily get you into the postseason.

The Green Bay Packers (8-3), Detroit Lions (7-4), Bears (5-6) and Minnesota Vikings (4-7) all have played 11 games thus far. Chicago has zero games remaining against Green Bay, two against Detroit and one against Minnesota.

Catching the Packers is out of the question at this stage, but catching the Lions is a necessity. While the road to redemption started two weeks ago when the Vikings came to Soldier Field, it continues Thursday at Ford Field, against a Lions team that has lost two straight and scored just 15 total points in the process.

If Chicago can pull out a win on Turkey Day, the Lions only will be one game up in the standings with a matchup at Soldier Field on the docket in Week 16. Aside from Detroit, the Bears’ postseason hopes hinge on the failures of a few other teams: Seattle Seahawks (7-4), San Francisco 49ers (7-4), Philadelphia Eagles (8-3) and Dallas Cowboys (8-3).

Two of those four teams will make the playoffs via winning the division. Luckily for the Bears, the 49ers and Seahawks still have two games against each other, as do the Eagles and Cowboys.