Bears are 'all on deck to improve' after disappointing loss
Monday was centered around improvement for the Chicago Bears after a disheartening 38-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 1. There certainly is plenty of room for it going forward. Quite frankly, the Bears played nowhere close to their best football on Sunday. Chicago showed some flashes during the early portions of the […]
Monday was centered around improvement for the Chicago Bears after a disheartening 38-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 1.
There certainly is plenty of room for it going forward. Quite frankly, the Bears played nowhere close to their best football on Sunday.
Chicago showed some flashes during the early portions of the game and only managed to walk out with some dignity after piecing things together in garbage time. Overall, the outcome wasn't nearly close to what head coach Matt Eberflus expected his team to show in the home opener, but he's ready to take the next step forward.
"It's everybody, all hands on deck to to improve," Eberflus said while speaking to reporters on Monday. "Because we want to improve this season as we go. We want to be a stronger football team every single week. And we have room for improvement, as you can see, so we're excited about getting that done, and it's a challenge for our guys to work on that."
The passing game is the first critical piece the Bears need to focus on before facing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday. Against the Packers, the Bears game plan through the air was simple: keep it short and make a play after the catch.
However, that style of passing offense only works with one key factor, blocking. Following Sunday's loss, quarterback Justin Fields stated that the team needs to do a better job blocking on the perimeter going forward.
Eberflus shared the sentiment and even went a different direction when discussing how the team's passing offense could improve in Week 2.
"We always want to look downfield, that's an important piece to it," he explained. "We always want to do that certainly, before [Fields] scrambles and runs. We want to take a look downfield and see open receivers if they are there"
A key factor in stretching the Bears' offense down the field is going to come through a better use of wide receivers DJ Moore and Darnell Mooney.
Both Fields and Eberflus mentioned that Moore's two total targets in his Bears debut is unacceptable and it's imperative that they find a way to utilize their best skill player. There's some hope to the new downfield outlook considering Fields furthest pass of the afternoon resulted in a 20-yard touchdown to Mooney.
The avenue is there to improve in the passing game, now let's take a look at the improvements the Bears can make defensively.
First and foremost has to be getting off the field. Chicago’s notably struggled on third-down, allowing the Packers to convert on 9/16 attempts. In potentially drive ending plays, unit had no answer for Packers quarterback Jordan Love who went 8/10 for 141 yards and two touchdowns on third and fourth down.
Improvement in that factor of the game needs to come from their pass rushers and disrupting the quarterback on critical downs. According to Pro Football Focus, the Bears ranked last in the league on Sunday based on their pass rushing grade of 48.7.
Defensive end DeMarcus Walker mentioned that the team's pass rushing scheme needs to get better following the loss. Eberflus downplayed the veteran's reaction and suggested that the entire front just needs to work better together and communicate more effectively.
"You know, when a guy takes an inside move at [defensive] tackle, then the other tackles gotta cover," he said. "Or, if you're working half side, if the end takes a inside move, because he has the freedom to do that, the tackle needs to cover. So there's a lot of things that go into that."
At the end of the day, these changes aren’t likely to be made over night. But, the team appears to be self-willed enough to recognize the errors and tackle their issues one step at a time. It's a long season ahead but gradual improvements could eventually start to stack for the Bears.
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Featured image via: Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
