Bears' defense defends offense
By TOM MUSICK -- Shaw Newspapers
LAKE FOREST – The Bears turned their good side toward the cameras Monday.
Yet that could not prevent the team from acknowledging its unflattering struggles on offense.
When the Bears win, part of the prize for players includes no media access to the locker room at Halas Hall on the following day. Instead, the team selects a player or two to speak down the hall on behalf of the team.
It came as no surprise, then, when two defensive starters, Hunter Hillenmeyer and Alex Brown, strolled toward a bank of cameras Monday. The Bears' defense forced five turnovers in a 30-6 win Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, but the team’s offense allowed four sacks and scored two touchdowns in seven visits inside of the Browns’ 20-yard line.
“If you read the papers or you do all that stuff, it will say that one side is not holding up the other end,” Brown said. “But it happens. It’s football. …When that happens, we’ve got to help their side, or they’ve got to help us. In the end, it’s all one team. It’s all the Chicago Bears.”
In that case, the Bears (4-3) all have some work to do despite Sunday’s 24-point win. Bears coach Lovie Smith emphasized improvements in the rushing game and on third downs, but he admitted that the team’s offensive line and red-zone production needed attention.
“Don’t see any major shakeups or anything like that this week,” said Smith, who started Josh Beekman at left guard Sunday in place of Frank Omiyale. “We’re just going to stay with what we believe in, and we’ll have more and more success with some of the areas that we’re not satisfied with right now.”
If anything, expect the Bears to simplify their play calls on offense against Arizona. Smith said he had faith that the goal-line offense could improve despite a year’s worth of struggles.
“I’m pleased with us continuing to get down in the red zone where we’re talking about the red zone,” Smith said. “Whether it be us protecting the football or just making a play from time to time, it will come, as long as we maintain what we’re doing and just continue to get the ball down there.”
Brown insisted that no tension existed after the Bears’ offense wasted takeaways by the defense that could have put the game out of reach. A week ago, he said, critics lambasted the Bears' defense after it surrendered 45 points to the Cincinnati Bengals in a blowout defeat.
“Our offense, I mean, hey, they’re good,” Brown said. “They’re good, and it’s going to start rolling here soon. … [Cleveland] did a good job, I guess, against our offensive line, but we kept running.
“We kept running the ball, and Matt Forte kept running his nose in there, picking up the yardage we needed, making them respect the run,” Brown continued. “[And] Jay is Jay. Jay, he’s a heck of a quarterback. Our receivers are catching the ball. They’re getting open. It’s going to start coming.”
Bears bits: Smith revealed that safety Craig Steltz suffered a bruised biceps. … Brown joked about Vikings quarterback Brett Favre, whose team improved to 7-1 on Sunday. “There’s nothing we can do. We can’t go up there and kidnap him, you know? They’re really good.”
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