[CBFF] Bears lack a sense of urgency (Pierson)

[Victor Waldron]

Bears lack a sense of urgency
Don Pierson
On Pro Football

December 18, 2006

Very reluctantly, the Bears clinched home-field advantage Sunday
throughout the NFC playoffs, which will proceed as scheduled whether
anyone shows up or not.

It was as if the Bears were purposely trying to delay the celebration
so they would have a reason to play Detroit and Green Bay in the
meantime. As soon as word of the New Orleans Saints' loss to the
Washington Redskins got out, the Bears turned a 31-17 rout of the
inept Tampa Bay Buccaneers into a 34-31 overtime doubt.

Because their performance on the field failed to speak for them, coach
Lovie Smith and his players found it necessary to remind everybody
afterward that the Bears really are 12-2 and the road to the Super
Bowl will go through Soldier Field.

Smith had given his team extra time off after last Monday night's win
in St. Louis, and players took off work after three quarters Sunday
before the shopping malls closed.

"We haven't finished like we want," Smith conceded.

Indeed, that is now the task, and the question is how they do it. The
sense of urgency that accompanied the Pittsburgh Steelers in their
late-season push to last year's Super Bowl is missing throughout the
NFL this year. Most division leaders are so far ahead with two weeks
to play that they have to invent ways to stay interested.

The Bears spent several days this week creating tension, and then when
things began to go smoothly against the hapless Bucs, they decided to
allow the league's lowest-scoring team to get more points than they've
put up all season.

Only Miami had scored 31 against the Bears and that was through very
little fault of the defense. The Bucs gashed the Bears with two long
touchdowns in a 21-point fourth quarter, one a 64-yarder to Joey
Galloway on a blitz that exposed a growing problem: If the Bears can't
pressure journeyman quarterback Tim Rattay without injured defensive
tackles Tommie Harris and inactive Tank Johnson, how will they fare
against the Saints' Drew Brees or the Cowboys' Tony Romo in the
playoffs?

"We want to blitz more and get more pressure," defensive coordinator
Ron Rivera said. "We gave up the two longest touchdowns of the year
and that's disappointing."

Before Galloway's 64-yarder and a 44-yarder to Ike Hilliard, the
longest touchdown pass the Bears had allowed was a 26-yarder from
Arizona's Matt Leinart to Anquan Boldin in Week 6.

If Rex Grossman and the offense have to start worrying about whether
31 points will hold up, especially against a team as dreadful as
Tampa, then home field in the playoffs isn't going to mean anymore
than a short drive home, same as it meant in 2005 and 2001 and too
many times before.

The Bucs are so awful that after their fourth first down of the day,
late in the third quarter, receiver Maurice Stovall was penalized 15
yards for taunting.

At least Rivera sees opportunity ahead. "Games like this help set the
jaw and get you going on the straight and narrow," he said.

Likewise, Smith might not be tempted to rest too many players the next
two weeks. Coasting through the season finale last season in Minnesota
didn't seem to sharpen up anybody.

"We have a few things to correct," Smith acknowledged.

How to replace Harris and either replace or reform Johnson is first on
the to-do list now that Grossman barely was asked any questions after
his first 300-yard passing game and tight end Desmond Clark has been
rediscovered.

Rivera said he moved defensive end Alex Brown inside in some pass-rush
situations as the Bears attempt to revitalize the strength of their
defense.

Grossman said he would "love to keep playing" down the stretch. Brian
Urlacher, not a bit happy with giving up 31 points, said it's strictly
up to the coaches to decide who plays and it's "not my job to judge
whether it's good or bad."

The Philadelphia Eagles have won three games in a row to move within a
game of the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East, but wild-card teams are
providing the only suspense in a dull December. So maybe it's a good
thing that the Bears are providing their own motivation in their own
strange way.

Devin Hester lined up for one play at wide receiver Sunday, and
Grossman's incomplete pass on a quick hitch pattern must have so
unnerved Hester that he lapsed into an old habit of confusing kickoff
returns with punt returns. He danced away from his wedge, gained too
much east-west yardage and lost a fumble.

Center Olin Kreutz tried to prevent boredom by kneeing somebody on the
ground, provoking a fight and then pointing to the scoreboard.

Kicker Robbie Gould ended his monotonously good season by blowing one
easy overtime game-winner before coming through.

Smith played for the tie at the end of regulation from his own 10-yard
line. It was not the kind of strategy you might see in Indianapolis or
New England, but because the Bears needed only a tie to clinch home
field after the Saints' loss, Smith's decision was sound even though
the thought of clinching with a tie was not part of his discussion
with offensive coordinator Ron Turner at the time.

Like the season so far, it turned out all right for the Bears, who
must now figure out how games against woeful Detroit and
underachieving Green Bay can help them finish what they've started.

dpierson at tribune.com