[CBFF] Excellent Read!!

[Steve Behrens]

Dan Pompie From the Sporting News

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=166696

*Four quarter drill
**
*Posted: January 11, 2007

 It is late September and the Bears' running game is no more than a hood
ornament on a diesel truck that is powering through the NFC. Chicago has
just beaten the Vikings, 19-16, but without much help from the running game,
which averaged 2.4 yards per rush.

  Starter Thomas Jones <javascript:fantasyPopup('nfl', 5036)> is dancing too
much and hasn't had a single run of 20 yards. Backup Cedric
Benson<javascript:fantasyPopup('nfl', 7180)>didn't even play against
Minnesota, and he's ticked off.

The Bears were one of the best running teams in football in 2005, but this
season both Jones and Benson missed chunks of training camp with injuries.
Jones stayed away from the team in the offseason because the Bears didn't
fulfill his desire to be traded.

In the preseason, the team was more concerned with developing its
questionable passing game, so the offensive linemen didn't get a lot of work
in the running game.

Surely, this would be an ideal time to minimize the rushing attack. But
offensive coordinator Ron Turner keeps calling for handoffs -- 37 of them
the week after the Vikings game.

And by the time Jones can see his breath at Soldier Field, it's all worth
it. After averaging 3.0 yards a carry in the first quarter of the season,
the Bears average 3.8 in the second quarter. Then 3.9 in the third.
And 4.6in the fourth -- when they need to run the most.

>From Rex Grossman <javascript:fantasyPopup('nfl', 6358)>'s wild
quarterbacking swings to staggering injuries to Mike
Brown<javascript:fantasyPopup('nfl', 5068)>and Tommie
Harris <javascript:fantasyPopup('nfl', 6773)> to the development of two
surprising rookies, the Bears developed four distinct personalities during
the 2006 season.

NFL teams often do that, which is why coaches look at a season in
quarters. Sporting
News <http://www.sportingnews.com/> followed the Bears through their four
quarters and found what shaped the team that would become the No. 1 seed in
the NFC playoffs.

*First quarter: Total domination*

Record: 4-0
Game 1: W, at GB, 26-0
2: W, DET, 34-7
3: W, at MIN, 19-16
4: W, SEA, 37-6

These are the days for the Bears. They peak on a warm October night when
Chicago's lakefront glistens, before the expectations become burdensome,
before the surgeon's scalpel slices any flesh, before the first boo is spit
onto the Soldier Field grass.

The Bears trounce the defending NFC champion Seahawks this night, and no one
can call them anything but the conference's best team. The Bears are not a
fluky success, the type in which one department carries the others. No, they
are a team that beats you every which way. All but one of their victories is
a blowout, and they are allowing the fewest points in the league.

The defense was expected. But the way the Bears are scoring points is
stunning. Only one team is throwing for more yards per pass play. "They were
winging it, letting it fly," Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin says.
"They were passing to set up the run and having success doing it. They were
hitting some big plays on people."

Rex Grossman, you da man. You are taking chances and winning. You have
arrived, finally, after three seasons in which you spent more time working
with physical therapists than wide receivers.

And you have taken friends along for the ride. Bernard
Berrian<javascript:fantasyPopup('nfl', 6837)>is establishing himself
as a home run hitter with four catches of 40 or more
yards. Desmond Clark <javascript:fantasyPopup('nfl', 4829)>, who everyone
thought needed to be replaced, has more receiving yards than any tight end
in the league.

Opposing defenses still aren't overly concerned about the passing game,
though. They're playing a lot of eight in the box, more concerned with a
running game that ranks 27th in the NFL in yards per carry. Coach Lovie
Smith says, "I think a lot of teams just assume we can't keep doing it this
way."

*Second quarter: Weaknesses exposed*

Record: 3-1
Game 5: W, BUF, 40-7
6: W, at ARI, 24-23
7: W, SF, 41-10
8: L, MIA, 31-13

Staying on top always is more difficult than getting there -- as the Bears
are learning. The enemy lurks across the line of scrimmage, more determined
than ever, and the enemy lurks within, a little more satisfied than before.

On a Monday night, the 1-4 Cardinals take the undefeated Bears to the brink
of their first loss. But the Bears overcome a 20-point deficit on two fumble
returns for touchdowns and a Devin Hester <javascript:fantasyPopup('nfl',
7806)> punt return for a touchdown. It is unquestionably the most
significant game of the year for the Bears because its impact will reach
deep into the season. The stirring manner in which the Bears win causes
many, even the always composed Smith, to use the phrase "team of destiny" in
the glow of the postgame.

In another postgame news conference, Cardinals coach Dennis Green provides a
sound byte that will live in sports talk radio infamy. "The Bears are who we
thought they were," Green says, starting out calmly. "That is why we took
the damn field." Voice rising. "If you want to crown them, crown their
asses!" Screaming. "They are who we thought they were! And we let them off
the hook!"

Lost in the dramatic delivery is the point that the Cardinals had indeed
exposed the mighty Bears by putting together a game plan that was as
ingenious as they would face all season.

One of the Cardinals' priorities is to slow down the Bears' pass rush, so
Arizona uses more six- and seven-man protections and more short drops and
quick throws from shotgun. Harris is double-teamed or chipped on virtually
every passing down. Other teams will follow suit as the season goes on, and
Harris won't get another sack the rest of the year. The Bears go from 15
first quarter sacks to six in the second quarter.

Grossman has his first atrocious game. He turns the ball over six times, in
part because of the Cardinals' bold decision to blitz him and press the
receivers. The Cardinals are particularly effective with pressure up the
middle, which the Bears will, in subsequent games, need to show they can
handle. Three weeks later against the Dolphins, the blitzes keep coming, and
Grossman has four turnovers in the Bears' first loss.

The Dolphins also have success with a little-used coverage called two man,
essentially a cover 2 with the corners using a man-to-man technique in which
they trail receivers. On one fourth quarter play, Grossman recognizes the
coverage late and throws high to avoid the cornerback trying to undercut the
pass. He is intercepted by safety Renaldo Hill, and on the next play the
Dolphins score and put the game out of reach.

After the game, Harris blames the loss on complacency and says the team did
not prepare the way it needed to.

Nobody will be crowning these Bears just yet.

*Third quarter: On an uneven heel*

Record: 3-1
Game 9: W, at NYG, 38-20
10: W, at NYJ, 10-0
11: L, at NE, 17-13
12: W, MIN, 23-13

Coming off their first loss, the Bears face their most imposing stretch of
the season. They pack their bags for road games against the Giants, Jets and
Patriots -- all teams that are playoff-bound.

With an opportunistic defense that provides 15 takeaways in the third
quarter, the Bears win every game but one. But their victories are uneven
efforts. Gone are the days when the games were over at halftime.

Grossman is brilliant against the Giants, but his play diminishes in each
subsequent game of the quarter until he bottoms out in a win against the
Vikings with a 1.3 passer rating.

Defenses continue to bait him with a healthy amount of two man, but Grossman
and the Bears start to get better against it. When the Giants use it on a
third-and-22, Grossman calls a draw play and Jones gets 26 yards.

In the Bears' only home game of the quarter, Grossman is heckled. Sounding a
little like George W. Bush, Smith repeatedly professes his commitment to his
quarterback and often provides his endorsement before the question. It is
Smith's soothing leadership, though, that gets this team through rough
waters.

The run defense is showing cracks; it has been since the team lost strong
safety and secondary leader Brown in the Arizona game. In games Brown
started, the Bears allowed 3.3 yards per rush. Since he got hurt, they are
allowing 4.7.

Brown may not have made tackles on the plays that became longer runs, but he
could have gotten teammates in the proper alignment to make the tackles.
"Yeah, there were instances where one person was thinking something and it
wasn't getting communicated correctly," cornerback Nathan
Vasher<javascript:fantasyPopup('nfl', 6869)>says. "That's why we had
some busts in the secondary."

The third quarter, Smith admits, has taken a toll on the Bears. But they are
stronger for having survived it.

*Fourth quarter: Still the NFC's best … for now*

Record: 3-1
Game 13: W, at STL, 42-27
14: W, TB, 34-31
15: W, at DET, 26-21
16: L, GB, 26-7

On a frigid December day, Grossman hears the cold truth from his coaches: If
he doesn't turn it up against the Rams, he'll be replaced by Brian
Griese<javascript:fantasyPopup('nfl', 4322)>,
who will take a larger percentage of the practice reps this week.

Turner takes time with Grossman to watch some of his better games from
earlier in the season. Subsequently, Grossman decides to make four lists in
his spiral notebook that he often carries around Halas Hall:

Turner helps Grossman by paring down the game plan about 25 percent. The
emphasis is on plays with simple reads and concepts Grossman is most
comfortable with.

Against the Rams, Grossman avoids turnovers and throws two touchdown passes.
He follows the performance with two more solid games. Grossman has stopped
forcing passes downfield, as illustrated by these numbers: In the final
quarter, 53 percent of his completions are to tight ends and backs.
Previously, 42 percent were.

But then he goes haywire against the Packers in the season finale. He has a
0.0 passer rating in the first half before he is pulled at halftime.

Smith is not alarmed, though much of Chicago is. Grossman isn't the only
Bear who is tailing off. This team, having clinched home-field advantage
with two games remaining, is coasting down the stretch. The circumstances
work against the Bears; even the coaches start looking ahead to the playoffs
and approach the final two games with a preseason mentality.

In the final quarter, the defense allows an average of 26.3 points and
372.5yards per game. Previously, it allowed averages of
12.5 points and 268 yards. The suspicion of many is that the smallish
defenders have worn down, but that might not be the case.

Dating back to the offseason, Smith went to great lengths to ensure his team
would not wear down. He went so far as to insist players sit on benches
during practices when they weren't running a play. Urlacher loses nine
pounds during the course of the season but still weighs 251, which is close
to 10 pounds more than he usually weighs at the end of a season. And in the
weight room, he's stronger than he was in September.

A more tangible issue is the absence of Harris, who has surgery on his
hamstring at the start of the quarter and is out for the season. "Taking
Tommie Harris and Mike Brown off that defense, the playmaking ability was
not there like I remembered it in Week 1," Packers coach Mike McCarthy says.


The only defender who seems unaffected by Harris' absence is rookie end Mark
Anderson <javascript:fantasyPopup('nfl', 7908)>, who has four sacks in the
quarter and 12 for the season. A fifth-round pick, Anderson missed all of
training camp and the first three exhibition games with a hamstring injury.
He started out getting maybe 15 snaps a game. In the last quarter of the
season, he plays almost 40 per game and inspires Smith to call him "our best
pass rusher."

When the Bears finish the season, they do so with the comforting knowledge
they were the NFC's best from start to finish. But they also begin the
postseason feeling they have much to prove or, perhaps, prove again. And to
Smith, that might not necessarily be a bad thing.

*Laser pointer on … Tommie Harris *

Harris is changing the way defenses play the Bears by forcing them to
account for his violent pass rush. At 23, Harris is figuring it all out and
has become the NFL's best interior pass rusher. He is tied for the league
lead in sacks and invoking comparisons to a young Warren Sapp. "He's a
dominant player," coach Lovie Smith says, "and he's not even in his prime
yet."



*Laser pointer on … **Brian Urlacher* <javascript:fantasyPopup('nfl', 5038)>
* *

Urlacher is in the midst of what probably is his best season, and he shows
America what he is capable of against Arizona by ripping the ball from
Edgerrin James' grasp with the game on the line and willing his team to
victory. After grading game tape, coaches say the middle linebacker had a
chance to make 29 plays -- and he made 25 tackles.

Urlacher later agrees it is the best game he has ever played.

There are reasons for this. In past years, the Bears wanted to keep Urlacher
at middle linebacker, but they adjusted their alignments when opponents
changed the strength of their offense through presnap motion. This season,
the team is letting Urlacher stay where he is, even if motion on offense
would seem to dictate that he play outside linebacker on some snaps. Now it
is impossible for offenses to lure Urlacher away from the play with presnap
movement.

Facing a 20-0 deficit at halftime of the Arizona game, coaches adjust the
game plan. They move away from cover 2 and cover 3 schemes and instead play
man-to-man with an eight-man front. That leaves Urlacher free to blow
through gaps.

The Bears will play more of this style in subsequent quarters, though the
results never will be as sublime.

*Laser pointer on … Cedric Benson *

The Bears need a more physical presence in the running game, and they find
one barreling through the hole.

Benson begins to show his potential for the first time since the Bears made
him the fourth pick of the 2005 draft. Since the beginning of the season,
Benson has improved at reading defenses, picking up blitzes and finding
creases.

Along the way, he has become a professional. Now he's coming to practice
prepared and paying more attention at meetings. He's even doing the little
things, such as running all the way to the goal line on practice carries
instead of stopping after defenders reach him.

"He's exactly what we need, especially this time of year when the running
game has to take a priority over everything," coach Lovie Smith says.

Subsequently, the onetime outcast has found acceptance in the locker room.
linebacker Brian Urlacher says, "Cedric has earned my respect and the
respect of everyone on the team with the way he's run the ball, and he's
pretty much turned his whole attitude around."

*Laser pointer on … Devin Hester *

After two kickoff returns for touchdowns against the Rams, the electric
Hester officially becomes the most sensational return man in NFL history
with six return TDs.

All season long, the Bears took it slowly with the second-round pick.
Initially, he strictly was a punt returner. Then he slowly was given more
responsibilities as a kickoff returner and cornerback.

Like many of his teammates, Hester's play falls off in the fourth quarter.
He struggles with judgment on punt returns, and coach Lovie Smith takes the
blame for giving Hester too many responsibilities.

Others, however, trace Hester's problems to a punt return against the Bucs
in which Tampa gunner Torrie Cox gets past a double-team and hits Hester
unexpectedly. From then on, Hester might have been peeking downfield too
much before fielding the punt.