Mavs Man
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September 24, 2007
by Sean Deveney, Sporting News
CHICAGO -- One look at the numbers was all it took for the Cowboys to step back and say, "Well, enough of this." With just over a quarter gone in Sunday night's showdown against the Bears at Soldier Field, Dallas quarterback Tony Romo handed off to Marion Barber, who headed off-tackle left. He was swarmed by blue jerseys, and brought down by linebacker Lance Briggs. A loss of one.
That was the fifth rushing attempt in 10 plays for the Cowboys. The yield was a scant seven yards. "We weren't able to do much of anything running the ball early," Cowboys tight end Jason Witten said. "So why keep beating your head on the wall?"
The Bears defense was, to that point, a wall against which some of the league's top heads had been beaten. In the first two weeks of the season, Chicago held consecutive Pro Bowl backs -- San Diego's Ladanian Tomlinson and Kansas City's Larry Johnson -- to 80 combined rushing yards. So the Cowboys passed. Boy howdy, did they pass, throwing on 33 of their next 37 plays and turning a stalemated game into a 34-10 romp. Romo finished with 329 yards passing and, in doing so, unmasked the prime reason this Bears team should quit daydreaming of a return to the Super Bowl and start dealing with the bigger concern of winning their division.
"We didn't do a good job against the pass tonight," said defensive end Alex Brown. "That's as big a problem for us right now as anything."
Which is saying something, since the Bears offense is among the most inept in the NFL. Quarterback Rex Grossman, merely unsightly in the first two weeks, was unwatchable against the Cowboys, throwing three interceptions to raise his season total to six. He has just one touchdown pass and a quarterback rating of 45.1, and was booed throughout the game.
That will keep the focus of downtrodden Bears fans on the offense (bring on Brian Griese!). But the little secret about the defending NFC champs -- now 1-2 -- is that opposing passers have posted a healthy rating of 92.4. As good as the Bears are against the run, they are only mediocre against the pass, as Romo showed. Chicago blitzed him heavily and kept eight men in the box, but he was elusive and three times converted long third downs that kept second-half drives alive.
"That's the problem," Brown says. "[The defensive line] didn't do our job. We can't let him sit back there and have six or seven seconds to throw the ball. ... We can't expect our linebackers and secondary to cover for six or seven seconds."
The offensive problems the Bears have had are not unexpected. They're supposed to struggle. But defense is the team's strength. Sunday night's game was billed as a battle between two NFC titans, a classic matchup of a great offense (Dallas had averaged 41 points coming into the game, tops in the league) and a great defense. The great offense showed up. The great defense?
"I feel like they had so much riding on their defense and everybody was talking about how good they were," said Owens, who tallied 145 yards on eight catches. "And they are good."
But obviously not that good, not at this point. Romo, who is probably the best quarterback in the NFC, was not intimidated. That's a problem for the immediate future. Chicago's next two games come on the road against division foes -- Detroit and Green Bay -- who have undergone passing-game rebirths. Making matters worse is that three defensive bulwarks (Lance Briggs, Nathan Vasher and Tommie Harris) limped off the field Sunday without returning. If the pass defense does not improve against Jon Kitna and Brett Favre, possibly without those players, Grossman's goofs won't matter much. The Bears are 1-2, but will have a tough time over the next two weeks avoiding 1-4.
"It's frustrating, embarrassing, all those words," says middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. "We've got to get some things fixed."
Quickly.
September 24, 2007
by Sean Deveney, Sporting News
CHICAGO -- One look at the numbers was all it took for the Cowboys to step back and say, "Well, enough of this." With just over a quarter gone in Sunday night's showdown against the Bears at Soldier Field, Dallas quarterback Tony Romo handed off to Marion Barber, who headed off-tackle left. He was swarmed by blue jerseys, and brought down by linebacker Lance Briggs. A loss of one.
That was the fifth rushing attempt in 10 plays for the Cowboys. The yield was a scant seven yards. "We weren't able to do much of anything running the ball early," Cowboys tight end Jason Witten said. "So why keep beating your head on the wall?"
The Bears defense was, to that point, a wall against which some of the league's top heads had been beaten. In the first two weeks of the season, Chicago held consecutive Pro Bowl backs -- San Diego's Ladanian Tomlinson and Kansas City's Larry Johnson -- to 80 combined rushing yards. So the Cowboys passed. Boy howdy, did they pass, throwing on 33 of their next 37 plays and turning a stalemated game into a 34-10 romp. Romo finished with 329 yards passing and, in doing so, unmasked the prime reason this Bears team should quit daydreaming of a return to the Super Bowl and start dealing with the bigger concern of winning their division.
"We didn't do a good job against the pass tonight," said defensive end Alex Brown. "That's as big a problem for us right now as anything."
Which is saying something, since the Bears offense is among the most inept in the NFL. Quarterback Rex Grossman, merely unsightly in the first two weeks, was unwatchable against the Cowboys, throwing three interceptions to raise his season total to six. He has just one touchdown pass and a quarterback rating of 45.1, and was booed throughout the game.
That will keep the focus of downtrodden Bears fans on the offense (bring on Brian Griese!). But the little secret about the defending NFC champs -- now 1-2 -- is that opposing passers have posted a healthy rating of 92.4. As good as the Bears are against the run, they are only mediocre against the pass, as Romo showed. Chicago blitzed him heavily and kept eight men in the box, but he was elusive and three times converted long third downs that kept second-half drives alive.
"That's the problem," Brown says. "[The defensive line] didn't do our job. We can't let him sit back there and have six or seven seconds to throw the ball. ... We can't expect our linebackers and secondary to cover for six or seven seconds."
The offensive problems the Bears have had are not unexpected. They're supposed to struggle. But defense is the team's strength. Sunday night's game was billed as a battle between two NFC titans, a classic matchup of a great offense (Dallas had averaged 41 points coming into the game, tops in the league) and a great defense. The great offense showed up. The great defense?
"I feel like they had so much riding on their defense and everybody was talking about how good they were," said Owens, who tallied 145 yards on eight catches. "And they are good."
But obviously not that good, not at this point. Romo, who is probably the best quarterback in the NFC, was not intimidated. That's a problem for the immediate future. Chicago's next two games come on the road against division foes -- Detroit and Green Bay -- who have undergone passing-game rebirths. Making matters worse is that three defensive bulwarks (Lance Briggs, Nathan Vasher and Tommie Harris) limped off the field Sunday without returning. If the pass defense does not improve against Jon Kitna and Brett Favre, possibly without those players, Grossman's goofs won't matter much. The Bears are 1-2, but will have a tough time over the next two weeks avoiding 1-4.
"It's frustrating, embarrassing, all those words," says middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. "We've got to get some things fixed."
Quickly.
<-- not a word.. I know mensas. 
