CHICAGO — If you were Lovie Smith and you were not coaching in an NFL game on a Sunday in October, you probably would be sitting in a lounge chair on a tropical beach, toes in the sand, cold one at the ready — not a worry in the world.
But you were not Lovie Smith on Oct. 11; now comes Oct. 18, which is Game Day.
With one quarter of the Bears' season in the books, he has much to reflect on, think over, and plan at Halas Hall in preparation for the Bears' next game in Atlanta against the Falcons.
These are some of the things he may be thinking about: Generating more big plays on offense: So the Bears go out and get the quarterback with arguably the best arm in the league and pair him with wide receivers who play as fast as if they were riding crotch rockets. And then they generate only six plays of 25 yards or more in four games. That ranks 15th in the NFL, according to STATS, and it's not good enough.
Offensive coordinator Ron Turner is confident the big plays will come. It will help when the running game gets more consistent, because a respectable ground attack will pull a safety into the box more frequently, resulting in more one-on-one matchups out wide.
One of the biggest mysteries of the first quarter is why Greg Olsen did not catch many long balls. In training camp, he was the team's best deep threat. So far he has only one catch of 20 or more yards and an average per catch of 9.4, which ranks fourth on the Bears and 94th in the NFL.
“He's probably frustrated by it, and I am too,” said Turner, who had a series of discussions with Olsen last week. “Part of it has been some of the teams we've played, the style of defense. I'm very, very confident we'll be at the point where I thought we were going to be with Greg.”
Part of it has been the types of routes Olsen has run. The Bears need to take Olsen off the leash immediately.
How to come up with more takeaways: The Bears have only six takeaways — five from their defense. Thirteen teams have more. Defensive backs have only one interception.
For a defense that is built around takeaways, this is a problem. “We're not where we need to be, especially with takeaways,” Smith said. “I'm disappointed with the takeaways but pleased with how hard they've played, how they've finished games.”
What's puzzling is the Bears have done the things that usually lead to takeaways. They have pressured the quarterback. They have played a lot of zone defense. And they have gone for the strip, sometimes at the expense of the tackle.
Moving forward, they might want to consider mixing up coverages to a greater extent and using more pre-snap coverage disguises.
Finding a way to convert more third downs: The Bears have converted only 33.3 percent of their third down opportunities, which ranks 22nd in the NFL.
“There are times they didn't have a chance to convert because the defense had a better call,” Turner said. “I have to make sure they are in position to make plays with my calls every time, and then they have to make plays.”
The problem has not been that the Bears have been in third-and-longs all the time. They have needed no more than six yards for a first down on 65 percent of their third downs this season.
On third and less than four, the Bears have run it seven times and converted only once. On third and seven or more, the Bears have passed it 13 times and converted only three times. So they have failed at every level on third downs.
What's puzzling is even though the Bears don't sustain drives (they rank 25th in the NFL in first downs per game) they haven't lacked for points. They rank seventh in the league in scoring — so they have overcome these issues up until now.
They can't expect for this to continue though. The Bears need to examine the personnel on the field, the formations they are using and the pass plays they are calling in nickel situations.
Re-evaluating the blitz: The Bears have blitzed 62 times, fifth highest in the NFL. Has it been worth it?
Opponents have a 79.1 passer rating when the Bears blitz, and an 82.1 passer rating overall against the Bears. So the Bears have not been burned by blitzing very often.
Their pass rush has been revitalized more by the urgency with which ends Adewale Ogunleye, Alex Brown and Mark Anderson are playing than by the blitz, however. The Bears rank fifth in the NFL in sacks per play.
Smith wants to see if the Bears can create enough pressure with just four men more frequently as the season progresses.
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