I try not to get very preachy or too dramatic about football on this blog. Despite my gameday rages I know football matters so little in the real world. This week was a terrible reminder of that, with the off-field controversies making it hard to defend watching an organization as seemingly broken as the NFL. No game makes up for that. As a Bears fan this week was brutal for less serious reasons, as the Buffalo loss had just about everyone off the bandwagon, shitting on Trestman, Emery, Cutler, Tucker, and whoever else you wanted to blame. I saw Jay called a $54 million mistake. Steve Rosenbloom wrote that the season was already over. No one thought the Bears could win tonight, then the game started like it was written by a demon haunting all of our worst nightmares. It was hard not to think the worst of everything.
Then they won. They won the f&*king game. They did it legitimately, too. Yes, the 49ers had opportunities to put the game away in the first half. Certainly there were penalties aplenty, but you know what? Most of them were earned on both sides. Over-officiating sucks, but when they're technically the right calls, what can you do? And the Bears got screwed by a blown replay. They had their fair share of mistakes, but you know why San Fran didn't "deserve to win"? They got stopped. A lot. By a defense that was sick and tired of having the entire world shit on them. They dialed up pressure. They got sacks, they forced turnovers. None of those were flukes or gimmes. Kyle Fuller flashed athleticism. Chris Conte made the best play of his career, and it ain't even close. The run defense grinded it out, refusing to let them pop the big one. They held, and then the offense found it's way, and then they won the f*&king game. And that's why we watch. Through all of the negativity, the anxiety, the constant reminders of past letdowns, the never-ending fear, sometimes it pays off. Sometimes they do the impossible. Sometimes they win, and it has rarely felt better than it does right now.
Showing posts with label Shea McClellin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shea McClellin. Show all posts
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
TIME TO PANIC?! A Step By Step Guide to Appropriate Panicking About the Bears
In lieu of my traditional Good, Bad, Ugly breakdown of the third preseason game (in short: GOOD- Offense moved ball, Defensive line did stuff. BAD-everything else. UGLY- Kelvin Hayden), I've gauged the reaction of many Bears fans and surrounding media following the event and decided things need a bit of tweaking. So I'm here to help you all understand just what the appropriate level of panic is on the following Bears:
Jay Cutler: He was sacked twice, the first two times he's gone down all preseason. He was also picked for the first time after Garza snapped the ball early and Jay did a Jay thing trying to get rid of the ball in a hurry. Otherwise though he moved the ball pretty well, had a touchdown nullified by a ticky-tack penalty and another dropped, and averaged almost 8 YPA against the best secondary in the NFL. He finishes his preseason completing 66% with a passer rating just a notch below 100. He's fine. PANIC LEVEL: you know when you wake up at like 1 AM, and you think OH SHIT WHAT TIME IS IT DID I MISS WORK and then you realize it's 1 AM and you have like six more hours of glorious sleep left? That.
Jay Cutler: He was sacked twice, the first two times he's gone down all preseason. He was also picked for the first time after Garza snapped the ball early and Jay did a Jay thing trying to get rid of the ball in a hurry. Otherwise though he moved the ball pretty well, had a touchdown nullified by a ticky-tack penalty and another dropped, and averaged almost 8 YPA against the best secondary in the NFL. He finishes his preseason completing 66% with a passer rating just a notch below 100. He's fine. PANIC LEVEL: you know when you wake up at like 1 AM, and you think OH SHIT WHAT TIME IS IT DID I MISS WORK and then you realize it's 1 AM and you have like six more hours of glorious sleep left? That.
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Bears 20, Jaguars 19: Gentlemen, Start Your Overreactions
In the five drives this preseason in which the Bears first team has been on the field they've nabbed two interceptions, allowed two field goals, and given up one touchdown on a drive where they started backed up at their own 18 thanks to a fumble (oh, and they forced a 3rd down sack and killed that drive, yet it was overturned by a bullshit "point of emphasis" defensive holding call). They've allowed just one run longer than seven yards on those drives after being #32 in run defense last year.
Have their been moments of ugliness? Sure. The pressure failed to get home on a few third downs tonight and Chad Henne made them pay. The Bears were playing a vanilla two deep safety concept and there was space underneath. It happens. It's been happening for 10 years now. Ryan Mundy followed up a pretty good start against Philadelphia with a pretty crappy game tonight. I have the same concerns everyone has, but of course there's more panic than necessary because they gave up a bunch of passing yards in the first half of a preseason game.
My point? It's finally Bears season, and Bears fans are back in force. Love y'all.
The Good:
Jay Cutler: One benefit to the Bears running attack being ass so far this preseason has been that Jay has mostly worked on 3rd and Long passing and he's been very impressive in less than easy situations. He was pretty successful in that scenario last season as well. It's a welcome change from the Martzian days where anything longer than 3rd and 5 probably meant Jay was destined for pain. Jay was 7 of 9 for 75 yards and a TD tonight. So far in the preseason he's 16-22 for 160 yds, 2 TDs, 0 Ints, and a 123 rating. Most importantly he's yet to take a sack. Stay healthy, Jaiy. This is going to be fun.
Pass Protection: The Jaguars defensive line isn't world-class by any measure, but Sen'Derrick Marks, Chris Clemons, and Red Bryant are not a bad group, and they destroyed poor Josh McCown last week, so it was nice to see Jay have all of the time he could want.
Linebackers: They were atrocious last week, and weren't perfect this week, but Bostic and McClellin deserve a nod for making some plays in the backfield. Bostic in particular obliterated Luke Joeckel to blow up a Toby Gerhart run on 3rd down and force a field goal. I was heartened somewhat by their efforts, at least.
Jeremiah Ratliff: He's been in the backfield a lot so far. It's nice to see. Of all of the terrible things that befell the defense last year, having no presence at under-tackle was the worst. If Ratliff can fix that, good things will follow.
Sherrick McManis: He's always been solid on special teams, but Sherrick really impressed at corner tonight, breaking up one TD pass and being in on several other plays. I wonder if he's putting heat on Kelvin Hayden, who did not impress tonight at all.
Josh Morgan: Unless Eric Weems walks on water during practices, I don't see why the hell he should get another chance to run with the ones. Morgan caught all three of his targets for 41 yards, with one very impressive leaping grab. He's got by far the best NFL track record of any of the candidates, and it's not even close.
Blake Bortles: I'm sure Ron Hyperbole Jaworski will have Bortles in the hall of fame by tomorrow if he thinks Logan f*&king Thomas is a Pro Bowler, but Bortles made some very nice throws tonight. I was impressed.
The Bad:
Safeties: They were bad. Specifically Mundy, who was out of place on the only long run the first team D allowed and on one of the third down conversions as well.
Kelvin Hayden: I'm glad to hear Kyle Fuller is fine, because Hayden does not appear improved from his year off. Marqise Lee abused him twice. The penalty on him was bullshit, but, oh well. Kelvin Hayden sucks. This is not news.
Eric Weems: I've said it three goddamn years in a row. What purpose does this man serve? He was terrible on all three kick returns he got, fumbled to set up a TD, and I am not at all surprised his "great camp" hasn't translated to anything in games because when a man's best season (11 catches for 90 yards) is a bad game for Brandon Marshall that person does not usually break out in year eight. I saw the better version of this movie when it was called Devin Hester, and this direct-to-video sequel sucks. Get him off the field.
The Ugly:
Injuries: Kyle Fuller left after the first play of the game, which cost him some useful developmental time. Fortunately X-rays on his ankle are negative and he said he should be fine. The Zach Miller injury sounds much worse, and that's sad. Miller clearly has the talent, but unfortunately health sometimes is a skill, too, and he doesn't appear to have that.
That's all for now. I saw nothing that will cause me to panic yet, but I didn't exactly expect the defense to dominate overnight, either. Next week will be a very interesting test. I'm sure the response to that will be perfectly measured, regardless of what happens.
Go Bears.
Have their been moments of ugliness? Sure. The pressure failed to get home on a few third downs tonight and Chad Henne made them pay. The Bears were playing a vanilla two deep safety concept and there was space underneath. It happens. It's been happening for 10 years now. Ryan Mundy followed up a pretty good start against Philadelphia with a pretty crappy game tonight. I have the same concerns everyone has, but of course there's more panic than necessary because they gave up a bunch of passing yards in the first half of a preseason game.
My point? It's finally Bears season, and Bears fans are back in force. Love y'all.
The Good:
Jay Cutler: One benefit to the Bears running attack being ass so far this preseason has been that Jay has mostly worked on 3rd and Long passing and he's been very impressive in less than easy situations. He was pretty successful in that scenario last season as well. It's a welcome change from the Martzian days where anything longer than 3rd and 5 probably meant Jay was destined for pain. Jay was 7 of 9 for 75 yards and a TD tonight. So far in the preseason he's 16-22 for 160 yds, 2 TDs, 0 Ints, and a 123 rating. Most importantly he's yet to take a sack. Stay healthy, Jaiy. This is going to be fun.
Pass Protection: The Jaguars defensive line isn't world-class by any measure, but Sen'Derrick Marks, Chris Clemons, and Red Bryant are not a bad group, and they destroyed poor Josh McCown last week, so it was nice to see Jay have all of the time he could want.
Linebackers: They were atrocious last week, and weren't perfect this week, but Bostic and McClellin deserve a nod for making some plays in the backfield. Bostic in particular obliterated Luke Joeckel to blow up a Toby Gerhart run on 3rd down and force a field goal. I was heartened somewhat by their efforts, at least.
Jeremiah Ratliff: He's been in the backfield a lot so far. It's nice to see. Of all of the terrible things that befell the defense last year, having no presence at under-tackle was the worst. If Ratliff can fix that, good things will follow.
Sherrick McManis: He's always been solid on special teams, but Sherrick really impressed at corner tonight, breaking up one TD pass and being in on several other plays. I wonder if he's putting heat on Kelvin Hayden, who did not impress tonight at all.
Josh Morgan: Unless Eric Weems walks on water during practices, I don't see why the hell he should get another chance to run with the ones. Morgan caught all three of his targets for 41 yards, with one very impressive leaping grab. He's got by far the best NFL track record of any of the candidates, and it's not even close.
Blake Bortles: I'm sure Ron Hyperbole Jaworski will have Bortles in the hall of fame by tomorrow if he thinks Logan f*&king Thomas is a Pro Bowler, but Bortles made some very nice throws tonight. I was impressed.
The Bad:
Safeties: They were bad. Specifically Mundy, who was out of place on the only long run the first team D allowed and on one of the third down conversions as well.
Kelvin Hayden: I'm glad to hear Kyle Fuller is fine, because Hayden does not appear improved from his year off. Marqise Lee abused him twice. The penalty on him was bullshit, but, oh well. Kelvin Hayden sucks. This is not news.
Eric Weems: I've said it three goddamn years in a row. What purpose does this man serve? He was terrible on all three kick returns he got, fumbled to set up a TD, and I am not at all surprised his "great camp" hasn't translated to anything in games because when a man's best season (11 catches for 90 yards) is a bad game for Brandon Marshall that person does not usually break out in year eight. I saw the better version of this movie when it was called Devin Hester, and this direct-to-video sequel sucks. Get him off the field.
The Ugly:
Injuries: Kyle Fuller left after the first play of the game, which cost him some useful developmental time. Fortunately X-rays on his ankle are negative and he said he should be fine. The Zach Miller injury sounds much worse, and that's sad. Miller clearly has the talent, but unfortunately health sometimes is a skill, too, and he doesn't appear to have that.
That's all for now. I saw nothing that will cause me to panic yet, but I didn't exactly expect the defense to dominate overnight, either. Next week will be a very interesting test. I'm sure the response to that will be perfectly measured, regardless of what happens.
Go Bears.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Your 2014 Bears Training Camp/Roster Breakdown: The Defense
The Monsters of the Midway. The fearsome guardians of the line of scrimmage. The bringers of the black and blue to the black and blue division. The defense! The pride of the Chicag-
Oh goddammit.
NOW I remember. This defense was ass last year. It was worse than ass. It was boils on ass. It was the worst defense in franchise history, and it ruined all of the unreserved joy we should have had over the offense's progress. Such is life.
So here we are now, with a defense that will, at the very least, look very different this year. Will it play better? Well, yeah. That's not that hard to do. Will it be good enough to make the playoffs? I say yes. What did you really expect?
What the hell that's not BEAR FOOTB---
Oh goddammit.
NOW I remember. This defense was ass last year. It was worse than ass. It was boils on ass. It was the worst defense in franchise history, and it ruined all of the unreserved joy we should have had over the offense's progress. Such is life.
So here we are now, with a defense that will, at the very least, look very different this year. Will it play better? Well, yeah. That's not that hard to do. Will it be good enough to make the playoffs? I say yes. What did you really expect?
Monday, March 10, 2014
This is just sad, even for the offseason.
Ahh the offseason. What's a football columnist to do without any football happenings? Make a total ass of himself. That's the answer.
This column by the Tribune's Steve Rosenbloom started from a reasonable enough standpoint for the kind of obvious waffle that fills up the time between the Super Bowl and free agency. Shea McClellin was a bust at DE, and now the best he can hope for is to compete to maybe earn snaps at linebacker.
But you can't write 1,000 incensed words about that at this point, so Steve had to try to take it a step further. Clearly, the lack of success on Shea's part is indicative of some horrible failure on Phil Emery's. Let me tell you, the result is not pretty. Usually I just kind of surf the Chicago newspapers until something catches my eye, but we actually got requests that I put this loathsome piece of shit out of its misery. And so, with a heavy heart, I dug out my italics.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Bears 27, Packers 20- HA. HAHA. HAHAHA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Where was I?
Oh yeah, the Bears just beat the fucking Packers at Lambeau Field. Shea McClellin may have ended Aaron Rodger's season. Josh McCown is now unquestionably the greatest backup quarterback in Bears history. Julius Peppers remembered he was Julius Peppers.
Everything that needed to happen for the Bears to win tonight happened. Now they're staring at a 5-3 record, first place, and the potential return of Jay Cutler next week for a winner take all battle at Soldier Field. I know what I said last week, and I'm an idiot. This shit is still theirs for the taking.
ONTO THE BREAKDOWN:
THE GOOD:
Shea McClellin: Did that really just happen? Shea may still be on path to being a bust, but for one night he was everything we'd ever hoped he'd be, and it may have changed the entire NFC playoff picture. I have no other words. I will need you all to assure me tomorrow that this actually happened.
Julius Peppers: You can't stop time, but sometimes you can tell it to back off for a night. Peppers had a sack, two batted passes, and an interception. If he and Shea can bottle this and take it throughout the rest of the season, this defense might be even slightly less than awful. That may be all they need.
Matt Forte: The Bears offensive game plan without Cutler may not have been the usual "Forte and Defense and Pray" that it was under Lovie, but Forte still put the team on his back in the fourth quarter. The nine minute drive that clinched the game was pretty much all Forte, and he fought for every yard on his way to 125 yards rushing, to go along with 54 yards receiving.
Josh McCown: This may be his last career start. No offense to Josh, I hope it is. If so, he went out with a bang. He completed just 53% of his passes for 6.6 ypa, but he got 272 yds and two beautifully thrown TD passes and did far more than any of us could have ever dreamed he'd do in this game. I hope he sticks around as Jay's caddy for at least one more year, because everyone seems to love him and I understand why now.
Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery: These two. What a gift it is to watch them make DC's pick their poison and lose either way.
Marc Trestman: I am so happy this man is the head coach of the Chicago Bears. On the road, with his backup QB, going up against a defensive coordinator who had never failed to kick the ass of whoever his counterpart in Chicago was at the time, Trestman dialed up a perfect game as the offense compiled 27 points and 443 yards. With their backup quarterback. Not only that, but on 4th and inches, at his own fucking 30, with a 4 point lead on the road in Lambeau Field, he bet on his team and won. I look forward to seeing what this man can do with a team at full strength someday.
The Bad:
The Safeties: Ok. I get that you all were drafted to be Cover 2 safeties and you can't be expected to cover for 5 seconds when the pass rush is inert, but the simple inability to square up a runningback is just inexcusable. Major Wright was just garbage tonight, and Conte was only a hair better. Guh.
Special Teams: A punt block and caught completely off guard on a surprise onside. It's getting old seeing the once Best-in-the-NFL unit play this poorly.
The Ugly:
Jon Gruden: HIS NAME IS ALSHON JEFFERY. ALSHON. JEFFERY.
That's all for now. Holy shit. Ho. Lee. Shit. Go Bears.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Where was I?
Oh yeah, the Bears just beat the fucking Packers at Lambeau Field. Shea McClellin may have ended Aaron Rodger's season. Josh McCown is now unquestionably the greatest backup quarterback in Bears history. Julius Peppers remembered he was Julius Peppers.
Everything that needed to happen for the Bears to win tonight happened. Now they're staring at a 5-3 record, first place, and the potential return of Jay Cutler next week for a winner take all battle at Soldier Field. I know what I said last week, and I'm an idiot. This shit is still theirs for the taking.
ONTO THE BREAKDOWN:
THE GOOD:
Shea McClellin: Did that really just happen? Shea may still be on path to being a bust, but for one night he was everything we'd ever hoped he'd be, and it may have changed the entire NFC playoff picture. I have no other words. I will need you all to assure me tomorrow that this actually happened.
Julius Peppers: You can't stop time, but sometimes you can tell it to back off for a night. Peppers had a sack, two batted passes, and an interception. If he and Shea can bottle this and take it throughout the rest of the season, this defense might be even slightly less than awful. That may be all they need.
Matt Forte: The Bears offensive game plan without Cutler may not have been the usual "Forte and Defense and Pray" that it was under Lovie, but Forte still put the team on his back in the fourth quarter. The nine minute drive that clinched the game was pretty much all Forte, and he fought for every yard on his way to 125 yards rushing, to go along with 54 yards receiving.
Josh McCown: This may be his last career start. No offense to Josh, I hope it is. If so, he went out with a bang. He completed just 53% of his passes for 6.6 ypa, but he got 272 yds and two beautifully thrown TD passes and did far more than any of us could have ever dreamed he'd do in this game. I hope he sticks around as Jay's caddy for at least one more year, because everyone seems to love him and I understand why now.
Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery: These two. What a gift it is to watch them make DC's pick their poison and lose either way.
Marc Trestman: I am so happy this man is the head coach of the Chicago Bears. On the road, with his backup QB, going up against a defensive coordinator who had never failed to kick the ass of whoever his counterpart in Chicago was at the time, Trestman dialed up a perfect game as the offense compiled 27 points and 443 yards. With their backup quarterback. Not only that, but on 4th and inches, at his own fucking 30, with a 4 point lead on the road in Lambeau Field, he bet on his team and won. I look forward to seeing what this man can do with a team at full strength someday.
The Bad:
The Safeties: Ok. I get that you all were drafted to be Cover 2 safeties and you can't be expected to cover for 5 seconds when the pass rush is inert, but the simple inability to square up a runningback is just inexcusable. Major Wright was just garbage tonight, and Conte was only a hair better. Guh.
Special Teams: A punt block and caught completely off guard on a surprise onside. It's getting old seeing the once Best-in-the-NFL unit play this poorly.
The Ugly:
Jon Gruden: HIS NAME IS ALSHON JEFFERY. ALSHON. JEFFERY.
That's all for now. Holy shit. Ho. Lee. Shit. Go Bears.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Bears 27, Giants 21- Eli Sux
I am going to try not to overreact to anything that happened tonight. Thursday Night Games are generally less than pretty, and the Bears, at least on one side of the ball, managed to keep it completely clean. That's to be commended. Otherwise, I can only say I'm glad the Bears survived.
The offense was everything we had ever hoped it would be for one half and then saw several promising drives in the second half fizzle out thanks to a mediocre effort in the run game and some missed passes. Nothing on that side of the ball really concerned me, though. A handful of plays (a crappy grounding call, a couple barely missed deep balls to Jeffery) go differently and they put this one away fairly early, but a few missed opportunities are understandable when you didn't even have a real practice in the week. They still managed 375 yards, picked up 25 first downs, and possessed the ball for over 32 minutes. Most importantly, they had zero turnovers in a game where one could have killed them. Again, for a Thursday night shitpile, I'll take it.
As for the other side of the ball? Well. Things there are...still panic-inducing. It's hard to harp too much on a team that was down 6 starters by the end of the game (really hope Anderson's injury isn't serious), but when some of those players struggling are the 5 starters who were so good last year, that Is concerning. Hopefully the ten days off will let them field as close to a complete unit as possible and let them get some practice reps for the new guys. Either way, I suspect they're going to keep us awake at night the rest of the year. In the end, though, 4-2 is nothing to be upset about and they get a long respite before taking on a struggling Redskins team. Hopefully they keep getting better.
THE GOOD:
Jay Cutler: He was smart and accurate for most of the game, with the only mistakes being some missed connections between he and Jeffery, some Jay's fault and some Alshons. He finished 24/36 for 262 YDs and 2 TDs, with his second straight 100+ passer rating, and his 5th 90+ passer rating in six tries. He also ran for 20 yards, converting several 3rd downs, because that's just what he does.
Brandon Marshall: Far too much will be made of the Bears determination to get the ball to Brandon, when really Jay just threw it to his star fucking receiver because he was, y'know, open. He finished with 9 catches for 87 yards and 2 TDs.
Marty B: He caught 6 of 7 passes thrown his way for 68 yards against his old team. Considering Eli's last DERP clanged off the hands of his TE, I'm sure the Giants are wishing they'd have found some money to keep him.
Pass Protection: The Giants aren't doing a very good job of getting to the QB right now (I sympathize!), but the line not only allowed zero sacks, I can't even remember more than one or two plays where Jay seemed to be under Any pressure. Commendable.
Marc Trestman: I thought that was a pretty good game plan on offense. It's a shame some promising second half drives ended in Giants territory, but the approach was sound and I was pleased with his decision to throw for the first down on 3rd down with less than 2 minutes left. I can't imagine Lovie being so ballsy in that spot.
THE BAD:
Run Defense: I can't say I expected them to be dominant with a d-line composed of guys signed off the street and Shea Fucking McClellin, but the Giants haven't run the ball worth a damn all year before tonight. That was ugly. Hopefully Stephen Paea and Charles Tillman (whose run defense should Never be understated) are healthy in ten days. Guh.
Shea McClellin: Once Paea is back, I expect Shea to be back at situational pass rusher and Nothing else. He is literally the worst run-defending DE in the entire NFL (and no, that's not hyperbole. That's where he ranks according to PFF), and teams just run right at him for huge gains. It's time to put an end to that experiment. I've defended that pick in the past, but not anymore. He's a liability.
Tim Jennings: Yes, he had two INTs, including a pick six, but he was pretty spotty in coverage most of the night, missed several tackles, and had one dumb PI penalty and had another that was only waved off because the pass was uncatchable. Tim's a fine complementary corner, but he has been exposed everytime he's had the role of guarding the #1 of another team's offense.
Injuries: Tillman was out. Paea out. Anderson and Williams went down. Make it stop. Please. God. Make it stop.
Run Blocking: the Giants were 24th against the run before this game, and the Bears have generally run-blocked well this year, so I was shocked to see Forte get less than four yards per carry tonight, and that, more than anything else, is what slowed the offense down in the second half and allowed the Giants to hang around.
THE UGLY:
Eli Manning: Holy shit. 15 INTs in 6 games. That's just brutal. And I don't want to hear how he has no offensive line this year. He was barely pressured all night, and still DERP'd his way to defeat. He's a joke right now.
That's it for now. The Bears won, that's all that matters, and the offense keeps getting farther along each week. If the defense can just get healthy in their extra time off, things will be better going forward, but for now we may have to content ourselves with winning some uncomfortable close games.
Go Bears.
The offense was everything we had ever hoped it would be for one half and then saw several promising drives in the second half fizzle out thanks to a mediocre effort in the run game and some missed passes. Nothing on that side of the ball really concerned me, though. A handful of plays (a crappy grounding call, a couple barely missed deep balls to Jeffery) go differently and they put this one away fairly early, but a few missed opportunities are understandable when you didn't even have a real practice in the week. They still managed 375 yards, picked up 25 first downs, and possessed the ball for over 32 minutes. Most importantly, they had zero turnovers in a game where one could have killed them. Again, for a Thursday night shitpile, I'll take it.
As for the other side of the ball? Well. Things there are...still panic-inducing. It's hard to harp too much on a team that was down 6 starters by the end of the game (really hope Anderson's injury isn't serious), but when some of those players struggling are the 5 starters who were so good last year, that Is concerning. Hopefully the ten days off will let them field as close to a complete unit as possible and let them get some practice reps for the new guys. Either way, I suspect they're going to keep us awake at night the rest of the year. In the end, though, 4-2 is nothing to be upset about and they get a long respite before taking on a struggling Redskins team. Hopefully they keep getting better.
THE GOOD:
Jay Cutler: He was smart and accurate for most of the game, with the only mistakes being some missed connections between he and Jeffery, some Jay's fault and some Alshons. He finished 24/36 for 262 YDs and 2 TDs, with his second straight 100+ passer rating, and his 5th 90+ passer rating in six tries. He also ran for 20 yards, converting several 3rd downs, because that's just what he does.
Brandon Marshall: Far too much will be made of the Bears determination to get the ball to Brandon, when really Jay just threw it to his star fucking receiver because he was, y'know, open. He finished with 9 catches for 87 yards and 2 TDs.
Marty B: He caught 6 of 7 passes thrown his way for 68 yards against his old team. Considering Eli's last DERP clanged off the hands of his TE, I'm sure the Giants are wishing they'd have found some money to keep him.
Pass Protection: The Giants aren't doing a very good job of getting to the QB right now (I sympathize!), but the line not only allowed zero sacks, I can't even remember more than one or two plays where Jay seemed to be under Any pressure. Commendable.
Marc Trestman: I thought that was a pretty good game plan on offense. It's a shame some promising second half drives ended in Giants territory, but the approach was sound and I was pleased with his decision to throw for the first down on 3rd down with less than 2 minutes left. I can't imagine Lovie being so ballsy in that spot.
THE BAD:
Run Defense: I can't say I expected them to be dominant with a d-line composed of guys signed off the street and Shea Fucking McClellin, but the Giants haven't run the ball worth a damn all year before tonight. That was ugly. Hopefully Stephen Paea and Charles Tillman (whose run defense should Never be understated) are healthy in ten days. Guh.
Shea McClellin: Once Paea is back, I expect Shea to be back at situational pass rusher and Nothing else. He is literally the worst run-defending DE in the entire NFL (and no, that's not hyperbole. That's where he ranks according to PFF), and teams just run right at him for huge gains. It's time to put an end to that experiment. I've defended that pick in the past, but not anymore. He's a liability.
Tim Jennings: Yes, he had two INTs, including a pick six, but he was pretty spotty in coverage most of the night, missed several tackles, and had one dumb PI penalty and had another that was only waved off because the pass was uncatchable. Tim's a fine complementary corner, but he has been exposed everytime he's had the role of guarding the #1 of another team's offense.
Injuries: Tillman was out. Paea out. Anderson and Williams went down. Make it stop. Please. God. Make it stop.
Run Blocking: the Giants were 24th against the run before this game, and the Bears have generally run-blocked well this year, so I was shocked to see Forte get less than four yards per carry tonight, and that, more than anything else, is what slowed the offense down in the second half and allowed the Giants to hang around.
THE UGLY:
Eli Manning: Holy shit. 15 INTs in 6 games. That's just brutal. And I don't want to hear how he has no offensive line this year. He was barely pressured all night, and still DERP'd his way to defeat. He's a joke right now.
That's it for now. The Bears won, that's all that matters, and the offense keeps getting farther along each week. If the defense can just get healthy in their extra time off, things will be better going forward, but for now we may have to content ourselves with winning some uncomfortable close games.
Go Bears.
Monday, April 1, 2013
2012 Bears Position Reviews: the Defensive Line
Ahh, good news. The Bears defensive line was undeniably the deepest and arguably the most productive unit (I say arguably because Charles Tillman is coming to punch my balls) on the team this year. The entire rotation contributed with seven different lineman getting to the quarterback. The Bears were consistently able to get good pressure on quarterbacks with just their front four, allowing the defense do run the zones they thrive in. In the end, the Bears finished 8th in the NFL with 41 sacks, with 38 coming from the defensive line. If there was a weakness, it was that the team finished just 14th in yards per carry allowed and struggled to contain the top-flight rushing attacks they faced in the second half of the season. A certain linebacker certainly contributed to the defense's struggles in that department, but it is still a place where there's room for improvement.
Defensive Ends:
#90 Julius Peppers: 16 games, 16 games started, 39 tackles, 11.5 sacks, 2 passes defensed, 1 FF, 1 fumble recovery.
On the surface, Julius had yet another stellar campaign as a Bear, finishing for the second straight year with at least 11 sacks. Behind the numbers he wasn't quite as dominant as he had been his previous two years in Chicago. Pro Football Focus had him at +9.9 for the season, a very good grade, but not the +21.7 he posted the year before. He wasn't quite able to take away an entire half of the field in the run game as he had done before, and he wasn't the relentless pass-rushing force he was before, with his sacks tending to come in bunches with some distance between.
That said, we knew this would happen. The Bears were never going to get THE Julius Peppers for the entire length of that contract. That's just the reality of free agency. The important thing is that, even as he struggled with injury this year, Julius was still a damn good defensive end. You'd take Julius Peppers in a "down" year over just about all but a handful of defensive ends in the NFL at their peak. He also managed to post similar line stats to his 2011 campaign despite taking nearly 100 fewer snaps at DE. You hope going forward that Shea McClellin can continue to develop behind him and that Corey Wootton can stay healthy, because the best bet for the Bears to continue to get production, if not the superhuman annihilation of opposing offenses he was known for before, from Julius for the remainder of his deal. Regardless, I love Julius Peppers.
#71 Israel Idonije: 16 games, 11 games started, 48 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 1 FF
You don't have to know much about me to know that I'm not exactly the kind of fan who thumps his chest and gets all teary-eyed over grit and hustle or to tout the merits of some kind of lunch pail player. The exception to this rule is Israel Idonije. Izzy's been with the Bears since 2004, and in that time he's played every spot on the line. Up until 2010 he was usually the third defensive tackle off the bench. Then he switched to a mostly full-time DE, and the result was an extremely productive season. He tailed off as a pass-rusher in the second-half of 2011, even though his run defense remained stout. You couldn't really blame the Bears for opting to get younger at the position with the addition of Shea McClellin, and the emergence of Corey Wootton was also a pleasant surprise. It appeared Izzy's days were numbered.
Izzy responded with a great season, however. He was tops among all Bears defensive lineman in tackles, had an even better year against the run, with a +7.4 grade in that category. He was benched midway through the season for Wootton, and took the demotion in stride, especially he spent plenty of time at DT after his demotion.
Right now Izzy is a free agent, and I understand that the Bears brought in Turk McBride and that Shea and Wootton will both play bigger roles next year. My heart still wants Izzy back on the team, however, because he's as easy a player to root for as there is, and because he's still a damn good football player.
#98 Corey Wootton: 16 games, 7 games started, 27 tackles, 7.0 sacks, 1 pass defensed, 2 FF
Up until this year it seemed the Corey Wootton would go down as a trivia answer for his only career sack being the death of Brett Favre, but then he managed to stay healthy for an entire season for the first time since his junior year of college. With his new-found health Wootton erupted with 7 sacks as a rotational DE, eventually moving into the starting role. His development was huge as it allowed the Bears to give much-needed rest to Julius Peppers and it kept the team from having to expand Shea McClellin's role too quickly. While Wootton struggled a bit against the run when he moved into the starting lineup, it seems only reasonable to suspect that he'll improve as he gets more experience.
#99 Shea McClellin: 14 games, 0 games started, 14 tackles, 2.5 sacks
I think Shea McClellin is a good football player, I really do. Although he finished with slightly below average rating from Pro Football Focus for the season, primarily due to being a complete non-entity against the run, he graded out positively as a pass-rushing specialist, with 22 hurries to go along with his 2.5 sacks. That was all the team really needed from him last year, and, as I said, the resurgence of Izzy and the emergence of Wootton meant Shea really didn't have to do much other than provide pressure on the quarterback on 3rd down. If Izzy's not coming back, and with Pepper being a year older, Shea will have to be a more complete player next year. Hopefully with a year of experience, some better health, and a full offseason, he'll be ready, but he's going to have to put up some big numbers to silence the critics.
#95 Cheta Ozougwu: 2 games, 0 games started, 3 tackles.
Awesome name. Otherwise nothing special. Probably won't make the roster next year.
Defensive Tackles:
#69 Henry Melton: 14 games, 14 games started, 44 tackles, 6.0 sacks, 2 FF
I really hope the Bears can work out a long-term deal with Melton, because he's truly something special. He finished the year as Pro Football Focus' 7th rated defensive tackle in the NFL, although he ranks even higher if you only count other 4-3 DTs. Considering that Henry was a runningback less than four years ago, and that he's only been a full-time DE for two, his rapid progress is nothing short of remarkable. Last year he burst onto the scene with two sacks in the opener against the Falcons but followed with a largely up-and-down season as a pass-rusher and he struggled often with being over-aggressive and exposed against traps, draws, and screens. This year he became a truly dominant pass-rusher week in and week out, and he developed into a fairly average run defender. The sky's the limit when you consider Henry's talent, however, so I'm willing to bet that the best is yet to come.
#92 Stephen Paea: 15 games, 14 games started, 24 tackles, 2.5 sacks
Stephen Paea started to show some flashes of being the dominant nose tackle that Lovie envisioned two years ago this year. Overall he graded out positively with a +1.7 grade on the season. He was, naturally, better against the run than the pass, but he still contributed in that department with 2.5 sacks, more than his predecessor, Spice Adams, managed in his four years as the Bear's primary nose tackle. Hopefully the Bears have found their main duo for years to come in Melton and Paea.
#93 Nate Collins: 9 games, 0 games started, 11 tackles, 1 pass defensed, 2 FF
Nate Collins was the line's second biggest surprise after Wootton, finishing the season with a stellar +4.9 rating from PFF in his time in the rotation. He has the flexibility to play either the nose or the three-technique, and he was one of the few Bears defensive linemen to grade out well against both the run and the pass. I'm glad the Bears managed to bring him back, as that leaves them with three young, talented, and still-developing players in their rotation.
#91 Amobi Okoye: 9 games, 0 games started, 12 tackles, 1.0 sack, 1 FF
Amobi served two stints with the Bears this year, as he was cut early in the season after Nate Collins beat him out, but returned to finish out the season after injuries to Melton and McClellin left the team in need of more depth. While he wasn't quite the impact player he was in 2011, he was still fairly solid for a third-string DT and I wouldn't be surprised if the Bears brought him back on board if he's still hanging around on waivers this summer.
#75 Matt Toeaiana: 3 games, 2 games started, 4 tackles
Toeiana was never really much more than a body. He was more effective than a post-injury Tommie Harris and the older, slower version of Spice Adams, but he was never really going to be the long-term solution at the nose. The team is currently waiting for him to get healthy enough that they can work out an injury settlement and then cut him.
That's all for now. Next time: Lance Briggs is still awesome, but Brian Urlacher is not.
Defensive Ends:
#90 Julius Peppers: 16 games, 16 games started, 39 tackles, 11.5 sacks, 2 passes defensed, 1 FF, 1 fumble recovery.
On the surface, Julius had yet another stellar campaign as a Bear, finishing for the second straight year with at least 11 sacks. Behind the numbers he wasn't quite as dominant as he had been his previous two years in Chicago. Pro Football Focus had him at +9.9 for the season, a very good grade, but not the +21.7 he posted the year before. He wasn't quite able to take away an entire half of the field in the run game as he had done before, and he wasn't the relentless pass-rushing force he was before, with his sacks tending to come in bunches with some distance between.
That said, we knew this would happen. The Bears were never going to get THE Julius Peppers for the entire length of that contract. That's just the reality of free agency. The important thing is that, even as he struggled with injury this year, Julius was still a damn good defensive end. You'd take Julius Peppers in a "down" year over just about all but a handful of defensive ends in the NFL at their peak. He also managed to post similar line stats to his 2011 campaign despite taking nearly 100 fewer snaps at DE. You hope going forward that Shea McClellin can continue to develop behind him and that Corey Wootton can stay healthy, because the best bet for the Bears to continue to get production, if not the superhuman annihilation of opposing offenses he was known for before, from Julius for the remainder of his deal. Regardless, I love Julius Peppers.
#71 Israel Idonije: 16 games, 11 games started, 48 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 1 FF
You don't have to know much about me to know that I'm not exactly the kind of fan who thumps his chest and gets all teary-eyed over grit and hustle or to tout the merits of some kind of lunch pail player. The exception to this rule is Israel Idonije. Izzy's been with the Bears since 2004, and in that time he's played every spot on the line. Up until 2010 he was usually the third defensive tackle off the bench. Then he switched to a mostly full-time DE, and the result was an extremely productive season. He tailed off as a pass-rusher in the second-half of 2011, even though his run defense remained stout. You couldn't really blame the Bears for opting to get younger at the position with the addition of Shea McClellin, and the emergence of Corey Wootton was also a pleasant surprise. It appeared Izzy's days were numbered.
Izzy responded with a great season, however. He was tops among all Bears defensive lineman in tackles, had an even better year against the run, with a +7.4 grade in that category. He was benched midway through the season for Wootton, and took the demotion in stride, especially he spent plenty of time at DT after his demotion.
Right now Izzy is a free agent, and I understand that the Bears brought in Turk McBride and that Shea and Wootton will both play bigger roles next year. My heart still wants Izzy back on the team, however, because he's as easy a player to root for as there is, and because he's still a damn good football player.
#98 Corey Wootton: 16 games, 7 games started, 27 tackles, 7.0 sacks, 1 pass defensed, 2 FF
Up until this year it seemed the Corey Wootton would go down as a trivia answer for his only career sack being the death of Brett Favre, but then he managed to stay healthy for an entire season for the first time since his junior year of college. With his new-found health Wootton erupted with 7 sacks as a rotational DE, eventually moving into the starting role. His development was huge as it allowed the Bears to give much-needed rest to Julius Peppers and it kept the team from having to expand Shea McClellin's role too quickly. While Wootton struggled a bit against the run when he moved into the starting lineup, it seems only reasonable to suspect that he'll improve as he gets more experience.
#99 Shea McClellin: 14 games, 0 games started, 14 tackles, 2.5 sacks
I think Shea McClellin is a good football player, I really do. Although he finished with slightly below average rating from Pro Football Focus for the season, primarily due to being a complete non-entity against the run, he graded out positively as a pass-rushing specialist, with 22 hurries to go along with his 2.5 sacks. That was all the team really needed from him last year, and, as I said, the resurgence of Izzy and the emergence of Wootton meant Shea really didn't have to do much other than provide pressure on the quarterback on 3rd down. If Izzy's not coming back, and with Pepper being a year older, Shea will have to be a more complete player next year. Hopefully with a year of experience, some better health, and a full offseason, he'll be ready, but he's going to have to put up some big numbers to silence the critics.
#95 Cheta Ozougwu: 2 games, 0 games started, 3 tackles.
Awesome name. Otherwise nothing special. Probably won't make the roster next year.
Defensive Tackles:
#69 Henry Melton: 14 games, 14 games started, 44 tackles, 6.0 sacks, 2 FF
I really hope the Bears can work out a long-term deal with Melton, because he's truly something special. He finished the year as Pro Football Focus' 7th rated defensive tackle in the NFL, although he ranks even higher if you only count other 4-3 DTs. Considering that Henry was a runningback less than four years ago, and that he's only been a full-time DE for two, his rapid progress is nothing short of remarkable. Last year he burst onto the scene with two sacks in the opener against the Falcons but followed with a largely up-and-down season as a pass-rusher and he struggled often with being over-aggressive and exposed against traps, draws, and screens. This year he became a truly dominant pass-rusher week in and week out, and he developed into a fairly average run defender. The sky's the limit when you consider Henry's talent, however, so I'm willing to bet that the best is yet to come.
#92 Stephen Paea: 15 games, 14 games started, 24 tackles, 2.5 sacks
Stephen Paea started to show some flashes of being the dominant nose tackle that Lovie envisioned two years ago this year. Overall he graded out positively with a +1.7 grade on the season. He was, naturally, better against the run than the pass, but he still contributed in that department with 2.5 sacks, more than his predecessor, Spice Adams, managed in his four years as the Bear's primary nose tackle. Hopefully the Bears have found their main duo for years to come in Melton and Paea.
#93 Nate Collins: 9 games, 0 games started, 11 tackles, 1 pass defensed, 2 FF
Nate Collins was the line's second biggest surprise after Wootton, finishing the season with a stellar +4.9 rating from PFF in his time in the rotation. He has the flexibility to play either the nose or the three-technique, and he was one of the few Bears defensive linemen to grade out well against both the run and the pass. I'm glad the Bears managed to bring him back, as that leaves them with three young, talented, and still-developing players in their rotation.
#91 Amobi Okoye: 9 games, 0 games started, 12 tackles, 1.0 sack, 1 FF
Amobi served two stints with the Bears this year, as he was cut early in the season after Nate Collins beat him out, but returned to finish out the season after injuries to Melton and McClellin left the team in need of more depth. While he wasn't quite the impact player he was in 2011, he was still fairly solid for a third-string DT and I wouldn't be surprised if the Bears brought him back on board if he's still hanging around on waivers this summer.
#75 Matt Toeaiana: 3 games, 2 games started, 4 tackles
Toeiana was never really much more than a body. He was more effective than a post-injury Tommie Harris and the older, slower version of Spice Adams, but he was never really going to be the long-term solution at the nose. The team is currently waiting for him to get healthy enough that they can work out an injury settlement and then cut him.
That's all for now. Next time: Lance Briggs is still awesome, but Brian Urlacher is not.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
What the Hell is a "Tweener?" Shea McClellin, Zone Blitzes, and the Evolution of Lovie Smith's Defense
“While the 6-3 1/2, 260-pound McClellin may be a bit of a tweener, he has a track record for getting after the quarterback.”- NFLDraftScout.Com
“Shea McClellin is a tweener seemingly better suited for a 3-4 defense.”- Mark Potash, Chicago Sun Times
“At 6’3” and 260lbs is a true ‘tweener and will likely be asked to add 15-20lbs if his role in the pros requires a hand in the dirt”- Pro Football Focus
Those are just three of the many profiles of Shea McClellin that discuss the biggest issue Bears fans and beat writers seem to have with the pick: McClellin is a “tweener,” a seemingly classic case of a college athlete who doesn’t have a true position in the pros, since he’s too big to be a full time linebacker and too small to be a 4-3 DE. Those are usually the guys that go to a 3-4 scheme, yet here Shea is in Chicago, a committed 4-3 if ever there was one.
So why did the Bears tab McClellin as their guy?
Was it, as some paranoid idiots have claimed, so that they have Urlacher’s replacement on the roster since he’s more hurt than the team has claimed? I doubt it.
Is it, as other paranoid idiots have claimed, because Emery is prepping for a 3-4 in a Lovie-less future? Not exactly, since I hardly doubt Emery would undermine Lovie’s system when all of his other moves have screamed “Superbowl or Bust” this year.
Is it, as I myself and others have suggested, that McClellin’s really not that undersized and that there are numerous examples of 4-3 DE’s who have been successful with similar measurables (one name I should have mentioned as well when compiling that list was Alex Brown, who was 6’3’’, 262 and very effective in Lovie’s system)? This seems most accurate, and would be my guess, but there’s also another reason I think the Bears wanted a “tweener” on their defense.
I was reading an interview today with Chris Brown of SmartFootball.com (yes I mention him a lot. He’s brilliant and you should read his stuff often if you want to pretend to know something) and Brown said something very interesting when he was asked what he was most looking forward to in the near future of football:
“…on defense the big trend I see is to take existing defenses, like the 3-4 or 4-3, but to begin using more “hybrid” defenders in the base defense, guys who were maybe considered “tweeners” a few years ago without a true position. These are the linebacker/safety hybrids and the defensive end/linebacker hybrids, who, when facing all these no-huddle or multiple-formation attacks, must be able to both take on a fullback or tight-end at the line, rush the passer, or drop into pass coverage. You're definitely starting to see it in the NFL as they need players who can stuff the run and cover athletic tight-ends down the field. But you also are increasingly seeing it in college, both given the diversity of offensive attacks from week to week -- pass-first spread to pro-style to option to run-first spread -- and the increasing speed with which they operate in the no-huddle. Defenses don't have the luxury of having time to substitute the exact personnel they want for a specific situation; they need dynamic, multi-purpose playmakers on defense to deal with dynamic, multi-purpose playmakers on offense.”
That, in a nut shell, is the reason why I think the Bears wanted McClellin. Not only can McClellin use his speed as an edge rusher to take advantage of the attention paid to Julius Peppers on the other side in order to get to the quarterback, but also because his versatility is an undeniable asset in an NFL where offenses are rapidly evolving. You can say McClellin lacks the size necessary to take on tight ends or fullbacks, but teams are starting to emphasize speed over bulk at those positions as well (think Greg Olsen, Jermichael Finley, Aaron Hernandez, etc. Those guys are receivers first and aren't going to bulldoze guys like McClellin out of the way either) so in the end it's a wash.
If you look in the Bears own division you’ll see two teams in Green Bay and Detroit who essentially operate under the same principles as college spread offenses. While Green Bay still pays some respect to their old west coast offense background and Detroit’s Scott Linehan uses a one back offense that uses pass concepts from the old Run N Shoot, among others, both teams more or less ignore the run game and move the ball by spreading teams wide with four or five wide receiver sets and putting Stafford and Rodgers in the shotgun. Obviously the Bears need to counter this if they’re going to compete.
One way the Bears counter their aerial opponents is simply by remaining loyal to their system. While people love to claim the Tampa Two is obsolete every time the Bears players struggle, their success the last two years is proof that this scheme only becomes more valuable as opposing teams become more pass-oriented than ever before.
However, the base Tampa Two scheme can only get you so far and often leaves the team vulnerable to seams, slants, and out routes as well as inside runs. The Bears actually play the Cover 2 less than 30% of the time, as they often use Cover 4 and Cover 3 in passing downs as well. More importantly for this discussion is the fact that they also use a lot of zone blitzes.
Zone blitzes? What the hell? Not Lovie Smith, that boring old biddy. Zone blitzes belong to exotic defensive coordinators like Dom Capers and Dick LeBeau. The Bears scheme is as boring and conservative as it gets! Hell, it’s not like they're 2nd in the NFL in points allowed since 2004 or that they lead the NFL in takeaways in that time period. Oh wait. They are. And they do.
Actually, zone blitzes are one of the unheralded mainstays of Lovie’s scheme. As Matt Bowen noted, when Lovie Smith arrived with the Rams in 2001 the very first play he installed on defense was the Storm blitz, where the strong safety and middle linebacker blitz while three lineman rush and the weakside defensive end (likely to be Shea McClellin) and the SAM and WILL backers drop into coverage.
Another zone blitz you’ll see the Bears use with regularity is the Cover 1 Robber, where they use a single high safety in coverage, use the other safety to play man , blitz Lance Briggs, and use Urlacher in the middle of the field in a zone as the “robber” to take away short passes toward the weakside vacated by the blitzing Briggs.
In almost all of these zone blitzes, the presence of Shea McClellin will prove to be invaluable. McClellin, who played nearly as much linebacker at Boise State as he did DE, will be a much better player in coverage than Israel Idonije, and will give Lovie even more flexibility with the pressure he chooses to bring. As teams like the Falcons in 2010 learned, playing man coverage and blitzing Aaron Rodgers leads only to a painful death. Besides simply hoping a four man rush can get home, the zone blitz is the most effective tool the Bears will have against the Packers and Lions offenses. If the Bears can use any combination of blitzing Briggs or Urlacher (or DJ Moore, who they frequently send at the QB) and dropping athletic guys like Peppers or McClellin into coverage, they have a way to pressure those QBs without sacrificing too much in coverage.
So yes, Shea McClellin is a tweener. He’s not your prototypical defensive end or linebacker. If Julius Peppers were to disappear tomorrow and McClellin would find himself as the RDE, forced to take on double teams and carry an entire Cover 2 defense with his pass rush alone, he’d probably struggle. That’s not the plan, however, and by adding McClellin the Bears have actually added a great deal of flexibility to what they can do on defense. Times are changing and anyone who refuses to adapt will be left in the dust. Lovie Smith, who is unfairly criticized far too often for refusing to change, has seen where things are going and knew he needed a guy that’s as comfortable racing around the right tackle to chase Aaron Rodgers as he is dropping into coverage and covering Jermichael Finley. It’s a shame people are too short-sighted to see how McClellin’s greatest “weakness” is actually going to become a Bears strength.
“Shea McClellin is a tweener seemingly better suited for a 3-4 defense.”- Mark Potash, Chicago Sun Times
“At 6’3” and 260lbs is a true ‘tweener and will likely be asked to add 15-20lbs if his role in the pros requires a hand in the dirt”- Pro Football Focus
Those are just three of the many profiles of Shea McClellin that discuss the biggest issue Bears fans and beat writers seem to have with the pick: McClellin is a “tweener,” a seemingly classic case of a college athlete who doesn’t have a true position in the pros, since he’s too big to be a full time linebacker and too small to be a 4-3 DE. Those are usually the guys that go to a 3-4 scheme, yet here Shea is in Chicago, a committed 4-3 if ever there was one.
So why did the Bears tab McClellin as their guy?
Was it, as some paranoid idiots have claimed, so that they have Urlacher’s replacement on the roster since he’s more hurt than the team has claimed? I doubt it.
Is it, as other paranoid idiots have claimed, because Emery is prepping for a 3-4 in a Lovie-less future? Not exactly, since I hardly doubt Emery would undermine Lovie’s system when all of his other moves have screamed “Superbowl or Bust” this year.
Is it, as I myself and others have suggested, that McClellin’s really not that undersized and that there are numerous examples of 4-3 DE’s who have been successful with similar measurables (one name I should have mentioned as well when compiling that list was Alex Brown, who was 6’3’’, 262 and very effective in Lovie’s system)? This seems most accurate, and would be my guess, but there’s also another reason I think the Bears wanted a “tweener” on their defense.
I was reading an interview today with Chris Brown of SmartFootball.com (yes I mention him a lot. He’s brilliant and you should read his stuff often if you want to pretend to know something) and Brown said something very interesting when he was asked what he was most looking forward to in the near future of football:
“…on defense the big trend I see is to take existing defenses, like the 3-4 or 4-3, but to begin using more “hybrid” defenders in the base defense, guys who were maybe considered “tweeners” a few years ago without a true position. These are the linebacker/safety hybrids and the defensive end/linebacker hybrids, who, when facing all these no-huddle or multiple-formation attacks, must be able to both take on a fullback or tight-end at the line, rush the passer, or drop into pass coverage. You're definitely starting to see it in the NFL as they need players who can stuff the run and cover athletic tight-ends down the field. But you also are increasingly seeing it in college, both given the diversity of offensive attacks from week to week -- pass-first spread to pro-style to option to run-first spread -- and the increasing speed with which they operate in the no-huddle. Defenses don't have the luxury of having time to substitute the exact personnel they want for a specific situation; they need dynamic, multi-purpose playmakers on defense to deal with dynamic, multi-purpose playmakers on offense.”
That, in a nut shell, is the reason why I think the Bears wanted McClellin. Not only can McClellin use his speed as an edge rusher to take advantage of the attention paid to Julius Peppers on the other side in order to get to the quarterback, but also because his versatility is an undeniable asset in an NFL where offenses are rapidly evolving. You can say McClellin lacks the size necessary to take on tight ends or fullbacks, but teams are starting to emphasize speed over bulk at those positions as well (think Greg Olsen, Jermichael Finley, Aaron Hernandez, etc. Those guys are receivers first and aren't going to bulldoze guys like McClellin out of the way either) so in the end it's a wash.
If you look in the Bears own division you’ll see two teams in Green Bay and Detroit who essentially operate under the same principles as college spread offenses. While Green Bay still pays some respect to their old west coast offense background and Detroit’s Scott Linehan uses a one back offense that uses pass concepts from the old Run N Shoot, among others, both teams more or less ignore the run game and move the ball by spreading teams wide with four or five wide receiver sets and putting Stafford and Rodgers in the shotgun. Obviously the Bears need to counter this if they’re going to compete.
One way the Bears counter their aerial opponents is simply by remaining loyal to their system. While people love to claim the Tampa Two is obsolete every time the Bears players struggle, their success the last two years is proof that this scheme only becomes more valuable as opposing teams become more pass-oriented than ever before.
However, the base Tampa Two scheme can only get you so far and often leaves the team vulnerable to seams, slants, and out routes as well as inside runs. The Bears actually play the Cover 2 less than 30% of the time, as they often use Cover 4 and Cover 3 in passing downs as well. More importantly for this discussion is the fact that they also use a lot of zone blitzes.
Zone blitzes? What the hell? Not Lovie Smith, that boring old biddy. Zone blitzes belong to exotic defensive coordinators like Dom Capers and Dick LeBeau. The Bears scheme is as boring and conservative as it gets! Hell, it’s not like they're 2nd in the NFL in points allowed since 2004 or that they lead the NFL in takeaways in that time period. Oh wait. They are. And they do.
Actually, zone blitzes are one of the unheralded mainstays of Lovie’s scheme. As Matt Bowen noted, when Lovie Smith arrived with the Rams in 2001 the very first play he installed on defense was the Storm blitz, where the strong safety and middle linebacker blitz while three lineman rush and the weakside defensive end (likely to be Shea McClellin) and the SAM and WILL backers drop into coverage.
Another zone blitz you’ll see the Bears use with regularity is the Cover 1 Robber, where they use a single high safety in coverage, use the other safety to play man , blitz Lance Briggs, and use Urlacher in the middle of the field in a zone as the “robber” to take away short passes toward the weakside vacated by the blitzing Briggs.
In almost all of these zone blitzes, the presence of Shea McClellin will prove to be invaluable. McClellin, who played nearly as much linebacker at Boise State as he did DE, will be a much better player in coverage than Israel Idonije, and will give Lovie even more flexibility with the pressure he chooses to bring. As teams like the Falcons in 2010 learned, playing man coverage and blitzing Aaron Rodgers leads only to a painful death. Besides simply hoping a four man rush can get home, the zone blitz is the most effective tool the Bears will have against the Packers and Lions offenses. If the Bears can use any combination of blitzing Briggs or Urlacher (or DJ Moore, who they frequently send at the QB) and dropping athletic guys like Peppers or McClellin into coverage, they have a way to pressure those QBs without sacrificing too much in coverage.
So yes, Shea McClellin is a tweener. He’s not your prototypical defensive end or linebacker. If Julius Peppers were to disappear tomorrow and McClellin would find himself as the RDE, forced to take on double teams and carry an entire Cover 2 defense with his pass rush alone, he’d probably struggle. That’s not the plan, however, and by adding McClellin the Bears have actually added a great deal of flexibility to what they can do on defense. Times are changing and anyone who refuses to adapt will be left in the dust. Lovie Smith, who is unfairly criticized far too often for refusing to change, has seen where things are going and knew he needed a guy that’s as comfortable racing around the right tackle to chase Aaron Rodgers as he is dropping into coverage and covering Jermichael Finley. It’s a shame people are too short-sighted to see how McClellin’s greatest “weakness” is actually going to become a Bears strength.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)