[CBFF] 10 Things We Don't Know About the Bears

[Steve Behrens]

(BTW, there are some nice pics that go along with some of these comments.
The one of Housh is very nice)

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/-1,bears-ten-things-30.photogallery?index=0

Mark Potash takes a look at the Bears after three games and tells us 10
things we don't know about the Bears:

*1*
I don't know if anyone will buy this theory—and I can't prove it—but I think
Bears receivers are making better catches and running better routes because
they have a Pro Bowl quarterback who is forcing them to raise the level of
their game. Not only Devin Hester's nifty grab on the game-winning 36-yard
touchdown pass against the Seahawks on Sunday, but Johnny Knox, Kellen Davis
and Earl Bennett all have made catches rarely seen with previous Bears
quarterbacks (Marty Booker's spectacular one-hand grab against the Lions
last year is one, but that's an exception). Maybe I'm giving Jay Cutler too
much credit, but I think his ability commands a level of respect where
receivers go all out so they don't look bad.

*2 *
I don't know if Hub Arkush is willing to admit it, but Devin Hester looked
like a wide receiver on Sunday. Not that Hub's criticism of the Hester move
is wrong—that Hester doesn't have the instincts of a wide receiver. But with
good coaching, a good quarterback and another big-play threat in Johnny Knox
around, an athlete like Hester can make it work even without the instincts
to play the position.

*3*
I don't know why any of Jay Cutler's critics would think he was a mad bomber
who had a questionable short game. Cutler completed 63.6 and 62.3 percent of
his passes the previous two seasons—not too far off his 64.4 completion rate
this season. Cutler had only three pass plays longer than 50 yards last
year—a 72-yarder to tight end Tony Scheffler, an underthrown 30-yard ball
that Eddie Royal turned into a 93-yard touchdown and a 17-yard throw that
Royal turned into a 59-yard touchdown. Coming into this season, Cutler had
10 games with ratings of 90.0 or better where his longest play was 35 yards
or fewer. Daryl Lamonica he is not. The benefit of an NFL quarterback with
his arm strength is not only the deep ball, but the ablity to throw quality
passes on the run and to fire short passes into tight spots, like the
six-yard TD pass to Kellen Davis against the Steelers—not many NFL
quarterbacks can make that throw. Let's not forget that the criticism of Jay
Cutler was that his petulance and immaturity would ultimately bring down the
team. He'll never quite beat that rap until he wins a Super Bowl, I guess.
But despite media reports to the contrary, there is no hard evidence yet to
prove that scenario is even close to coming to fruition.

*4*
I don't know if the Bears coaching staff told Matt Forte it's not worth it
to expose the ball like he did trying to reach the goal line on a 10-yard
catch to the 1-yard line Sunday, but they should have. Forte tried to
stretch out for the TD, only to have Seahawks linebacker David Hawthorn
knock it away for a turnover. Lovie Smith was smart to challenge, but only
the luck of Forte having a knee down prior to losing the ball saved the
Bears from disaster (Did you notice that Forte left the field after the
"fumble" without protest?). Talk about a game-saver. The Bears were down
13-0 at the time. With the way the crowd was impacting that game, it would
have been disastrous for the Bears to come up empty there.

*5*
I don't know if T.J. Houshmanzadeh regrets trash-talking the Bears defensive
backs when asked on a conference call with Chicago reporters why he didn't
sign with the Bears in the offseason, but the episode speaks well for the
Bears. Not because the Bears got the best of it with Houshmanzadeh, who had
four catches for 35 yards and fumbled on one of them; but when's the last
time any receiver anywhere bitched about not being courted by the Chicago
Bears? This is where, as Muhsin Muhammad so famously (and accurately) said,
"Chicago is where wide receivers go to die." Now at least one forme Pro
Bowler is mad because the Bears didn't want them. Sorry to belabor the
point, but that's the Jay Cutler effect. I don't think he would have been so
"bitter" about it had Kyle Orton still been with the Bears.

*6*
I don't know if Jerry Angelo regrets not signing Brendon Ayanbadejo after
the 2007, but he should. Not only have the Bears' special teams suffered
without Ayanbadejo (even if you consider Devin Hester's struggles on returns
in 2008 a coincidence), but with Brian Urlacher, Pisa Tinoisamoa and now
Hunter Hillenmeyer injured, the Bears probably could use Ayanbadejo as a
backup linebacker. Ayanbadejo had an interception, a sack, a
tackle-for-loss, a QB-hurry and a pass breakup in the Ravens' 34-3 victory
over the Browns on Sunday. Ayanbadejo signed a four-year $4.9-million deal
(with a $1.9 signing bonus) in 2008. That money went to Brian Urlacher
instead, when Angelo gave him an $18 million extension last year.

*7*
We don't know if the Bears can continue to win without a running game.

*8 *
I don't know if it's too early to be disappointed in right tackle Chris
Williams, but I thought he'd be better than he is, based on the success of
the other first-round tackles from 2008. Williams had two penalties for
false starts against the Seahawks, which is going to happen in your first
game at Seattle's Qwest Field, but he also got beat with some regularity. It
doesn't help that the rest of the line is struggling, which puts even more
pressure on Williams to produce as ostensibly a first-year player. When it
comes to disappointing, Williams is at least behind Orlando Pace and Frank
Omiyale and maybe even Roberto Garza.

*9*
I don't know if the Bears can keep winning without a running game, but Jay
Cutler makes it possible. For one thing, he's completing 64.4 percent of his
passes—especially good considering how much pressure he's under—which puts
him on pace to be the most accurate passer in team history (for full-time
starters). That accuracy is the key to keeping drives alive when you can't
run the ball. Last season, the four teams that played in the conference
championship games were in the bottom third of the NFL in rushing—the
Steelers (29th, 3.7), Cardinals (31st, 3.4), Eagles (21st,. 4.0) and Ravens
(21st, 4.0). But they all had accurate quarterbacks: Ben Roethlisberger
(59.9 percent), Kurt Warner (67.1), Joe Flacco (60.0) and Donovan McNabb
(60.4).

*10*
I don't know what it means that Cedric Benson rushed for 76 yards on 16
carries (4.8 yards per carry), including a 23-yard touchdown against the
Steelers' defense one week after Matt Forte was held to 29 yards on 13
carries (2.2 yards per carry) with a long gain of five yards against the
Steelers. Is Benson that much better than when he was with the Bears? Or has
the Bengals' coaching staff found a way to utilize him better than the
Bears' coaching staff did? Or just dumb luck, like the Chiefs' Mark Bradley
catching a 13-yard touchdown pass, rushing for 22 yards on an end around and
throwing a 26-yard pass Sunday against the Eagles when he could barely get
onto the field with the Bears. I know you wouldn't want either one of them
back, but at some point you have to wonder why are other teams getting more
out of former Bears than the Bears did.
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