SB Nation - Danieal Manning

Taking Inventory: Bears Have a Mess to Clean Up

Dane Noble — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:27:12 -0000

Now that the 2009 season is dwindling down towards an unsuccessful campaign, it's time to start looking at what we have in house that would be beneficial to carry over into 2010. We know that we have a lot of holes to fill, and that we will have to hit the next free agency period pretty hard, but it makes sense to first see who needs to weeded out of our current roster.

Brad Biggs does a good job of compiling some names of who will be RFAs and UFAs, and who he thinks might be worth bringing back in 2010.

Who does he think the Bears might bring back?

LB Nick Roach

From Biggs:

Defensive end Adewale Ogunleye, who leads the team with six sacks, is in the final year of his contract, and Angelo hasn't ruled out bringing him back. He's the only starter among six unrestricted free agents -- a list that includes Josh Bullocks, Cato June, Darrell McClover, Adrian Peterson and Pisa Tinoisamoa.

Strong-side linebacker Nick Roach will be a restricted free agent. Defensive end Mark Anderson, nickel back Danieal Manning and reserve linebacker Jamar Williams, members of the 2006 draft class, will be unrestricted if there is an extension of the collective-bargaining agreement before March. If not, they'll be restricted free agents heading into an uncapped year, and that will give the Bears the chance to control their rights.

From a defensive standpoint, we saw that Rod Marinelli seemingly made an impact at the beginning of the season with the pass rush, but in the latter weeks of the season has become ineffective. Is this a byproduct of the lack of talent on the DL?

Perhaps Marinelli just needs a full year under his belt before seeing the kind of improvements we hoped for, but we certainly have some personnel issues regardless.

As far as the linebackers go, seeing Urlacher, Pisa, and Briggs go down certainly hurt us, but having Jamar and Nick step up has been a good thing.

Looking at Biggs' information, who do you think would be expendable, and who should we bring back?

Musical Secondary: Bears Switch Afalava, Payne, and Manning

Dane Noble — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:43:04 -0000

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In what is becoming a recurring theme for the Chicago Bears, head coach Lovie Smith is shuffling around the defensive secondary in preparation for Sunday's game versus the Rams.

According to a league source, rookie Al Afalava is being switched to free safety on Sunday, whileKevin Payne is being inserted into the starting lineup at strong safety.

As the Chicago Sun-Times first reported, Danieal Manning is being moved back exclusively to nickel. The shift should allow Manning to focus on covering St. Louis rookie receiver Brandon Gibson in the slot. The Rams opened up with a three-receiver set last Sunday versus Seattle.

At this point in the season, especially with the way our secondary has been lit up by opposing offenses, I suppose it doesn't really make a difference. The secondary was an issue last season, and not much has changed this year. Afalava has been somewhat of a bright spot, but he has also played like a rookie at times, being out of position on some plays and getting beat in routes on others. We'll see how this looks on Sunday.

Notes, Scribbles, and Things Jotted Down: Eagles Edition

Dane Noble — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:32:44 -0000

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Seeing talented players stuck on an untalented football team can be disheartening, and I'm starting to feel sorry for some of ours. For every playmaker the Chicago Bears have, there seem to be three bozos who can't do their job.

And even when we see some things go right for our football team, at the end of the day, we are who we found out we were back at the beginning of the season: not very good.

- Lump Al Afalava, Danieal Manning, Corey Graham, and Charles Tillman all into the same category: Players Who Will Either Make Big Plays, Or Get Burned.

- On the Michael Vick run on 3rd and 1 early in the game, all three Chicago linebackers blitzed, all into different holes. Vick's one second hesitation was enough for him to see which hole to run into.

- From the More Things That Fall On the Head Coach's Shoulders department: Getting off the field on 3rd down, and Penalties.

- The offensive line will have to be retooled for next year, or we may see Jay Cutler standing outside Halas Hall with a picket sign in his hands.

- We saw a 4 WR set on the Bears first drive, but Matt Forte was given the ball on a sweep.

- Cutler missed 3 TDs throws last night... all on overthrows. What's up with that?

- Adewale Ogunleye is very strong... has the potential to be a very good defensive end.

- On the Eagles first TD, Lance Briggs blitzed, and the Eagles ran a RB screen to his side. Yes, the blitz was shown early.

- Kahlil Bell... got pretty lucky on his first ever NFL carry. The Eagles happened to be blitzing in every hole of the OL, except the gap Bell was headed. Good to see the young man start his career that way.

- On the previous play, Bell actually motioned out of the backfield, and ended up split wide right. Cutler looked for him on a pass, but it was incomplete.

- For all of the criticism I have heaped up on Charles Tillman, he had a good game last night.

- Every week, penalties. So, why should this week be different? Come on Lovie Smith...

- The only thing Josh Beekman can consistently do well is pulling out to the right as a lead blocker on trap plays.

- I like Lance Briggs, and am thankful he is a part of our football team.

- When an offense hits the field for the final time, and needs to drive down the field in order to come from behind, a false start penalty is not a good first play. (Yes, Orlando Pace, I'm talking about you sir.)

- Donovan McNabb pulling Cutler to the side after the game for a pep talk: Priceless.

Pick 6: Impact Players In 2010

Dane Noble — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:12:26 -0000

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You didn't make the cut, bud. If you play well a few more times this year, maybe a team would be willing to give us a 2nd round pick for you. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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Not much going on in Bearville this evening, but I was wondering your thoughts on something. How many "impact players" do the Bears have right now, on each side of the ball?

And by "impact", I mean players that will make a significant difference for the 2010 Chicago Bears. Here's my top-6 players for each side of the ball:

Offense:

Jay Cutler: Has the tools, is young enough to improve.

Matt Forte: Great vision, excellent shiftiness. Very young...will only get better. Great receiving threat.

Greg Olsen: Rare receiving talents for a TE. Still needs improvement, but challenging for any defense he faces.

Devin Hester: All-world game breaking ability. Exponential growth as WR this year, and can only get better.

Johnny Knox: Very similar to Hester, but a truer WR. Looking forward to his progression. Big things from this kid.

Chris Williams: Despite rough patches this year, has the talent for a solid LT. I'm predicting Pro Bowl in 2 years.

Defense:

Lance Briggs: Established himself as someone who isn't going away. Tough, athletic, leader. In his prime.

Alex Brown: Seems to be tougher and faster this year. Really benefitting from Marinelli's tutelage.

Danieal Manning: Developed under Lovie Smith's personal guidance. Will be a great safety next year.

Al Afalava: Tough, fast, technical. Has faultered at times, but will benefit greatly from another year of experience.

Anthony Adams: Seems much stronger and faster this year. Is he even at his upside yet?

Brian Urlacher: Although he will be a year older, his body is getting a full year's rest this year. Can't wait...

Sure, there are other players that could make the list, and maybe there is someone that you don't think should be on my top-6. The way I see it, there are 11 starting positions, and 6 would mean that we have more than half our bases covered for each side of the ball going into next year.

Since I've done more than half the work for them, the team can take care of the rest. You're welcome Jerry Angelo!

Week 9 Preview: Cardinals (4-3) @ Bears (4-3)

SackMan — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:00:43 -0000

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Darnell Dockett has become quite a force (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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In a schedule that sounds like we're turning back the clock to 1925, the Bears and Cardinals kickoff at noon on Sunday in Soldier Field... re-newing the old Northside vs Southside rivalry. Game on FOX.

Week 8 Recap

The Cardinals got steam rolled by the Panthers at home, 34-21. Entering the game, Arizona's run D was #1 in the NFL, but Carolina ran for an incredible 270 yards. It wasn't the only incredible feat the Panthers accomplished in this game: they intercepted Kurt Warner 5 times... and for the first time all year, Jake Delhomme didn't turn the ball over (he only attempted 14 passes LOL). When you play the Cardinals, you usually try to play keep away from Warner and Co, but the Panthers played keep away from their own QB to win this one.

The Bears took care of the woeful Browns at Soldier Field 30-6. However, aside from the final score, there was absolutely nothing impressive about the victory. The Bears, once again, had red zone problems, as their first 3 drives stalled and led to FGs... including one drive that started at the Cleveland 13 yard line after Danieal Manning interception. Manning had a spectacular game... leading the team in tackles, breaking up a pass, intercepting a pass, and recovering a fumble.

Quick Numbers:

270: Rushing yards the Cardinals allowed to the Panthers last week.
3.5: Matt Forte's pathetic YPC in 2009
#7: The Cardinals rushing defensive ranking, falling all the way from #1 after last week
1: The number of sacks recorded by the Bears defense in their last 3 games. 1.

Key Injuries:

ARI WR Anquan Boldin (right ankle) Q

CHI FS Danieal Manning (back) Q
CHI WR Devin Hester (ankle) Q

When the Cardinals have the ball.
Kurt Warner is leading another high octane offense, with WRs Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Steve Breaston. What separates Warner from other QBs is his ability to read blitzes, and beat them with a quick release over and over again. Well, the Bears blitz more than just about every team in the NFL... and do it rather unsuccessfully. This should play right into the hands of Warner. And, when the Bears aren't blitzing, they're normally sitting in a very generous zone coverage, where veteran WRs make a killing. Ocho Cinco feasted on the Bears zone coverage a couple weeks ago... and Fitz and Boldin are better. Sorry folks... but if Warner comes out firing, this could get ugly again... much like the Bengals game.

The key matchup: Anquan Boldin vs the Bears back 7
While Larry Fitzgerald is the headliner and deep threat, Boldin is the guy who makes his living underneath and in the middle: exactly where the windows are in the Cover 2. Boldin will find the open spots in this weak zone all day long.

The X factor on offense for the Cardinals: Beanie Wells
Wells is starting to adapt to the NFL, and finally becoming a staple of the offense. He now leads the team in rushing, despite a few less carries than Tim Hightower, and is starting to look like a feature back. At some point this season, he's going to have "a game."

When the Bears have the ball.
Sometime this year... Ron Turner is going to have to allow Jay Cutler to do what he does best: make plays on the move. Now, would be a good time to finally start. The Bears offensive line has been so poor, that it's time to intentionally get Cutler outside of the pocket by design. When Cutler's on the move, he minimizes the Bears weak pass protection, and forces defenses to react, by freezing LBs and DBs who hesitate to commit to the QB or the WRs. Up to this point of the season, the Bears are simply wasting Cutler's best talents. And that's trending in other areas as well... because they are also wasting the talents of their two RBs Matt Forte and Garret Wolfe, by continually asking them to run between the tackles of a poor offensive line, when their only running success is coming outside. In the red zone, where the team continues to struggle, Ron Turner must get creative and find a way to create mis-matches. Here's an idea: use your 6'7" TE, Kellen Davis.

The key matchup: Olin Kreutz and Josh Beekman vs Darnell Dockett
Dockett has steadily become one of the better DTs in the league, and is a very disrupting force. With the Bears issues on the line, he could make things difficult for the Bears all afternoon.

The X Factor on offense for the Bears: TE Greg Olsen
As usual... this nod goes to Olsen. When Olsen gets heavily involved, good things happen for the Bears offense.

Side notes from the NFC North:

Vikings: Minnesota's run defense took another hit the last two weeks, as they are now allowing 4.1 ypc and 94.8 ypg. It feels good to be right about something this year :) They'll have the bye week to work on that, although there's no fountain of youth for Pat Williams to drink out of.

*(in the pre-season, I warned that the Vikings days of dominant run D was nearing an end, as Pat Williams turns 37 years old)

Packers: Aaron Rodgers was sacked another 6 times last week... and the Packers O-line let the Vikings record 10 more QB hits on him. It's amazing this man is still standing. This weekend, the Pack switch bays, and head south to take on the Yucs. Rodgers might not be on his back all afternoon this Sunday.

Lions: Detroit flies out west to Seattle after losing at home last week to the Rams 17-10, in a game they should've won. I doubt we'll be saying the same next Monday morning. Seattle should take of this bad road team rather easily.

Angelo's Drafting Prowess Not Seen On Offensive Line

Dane Noble — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:14:44 -0000

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After thinking this morning about the three not-so-savvy free agent OL acquisitions (Orlando Pace, Frank Omiyale, and Kevin Shaffer) Jerry Angelo brought to Chicago this past offseason, I started wondering about how he has addressed the OL through the draft.

Angelo is, of course, known as a "build through the draft" GM, and many will agree that, in building a team, it all starts in the trenches with the big guys. Lucky for me, I didn't have to do too much research, because Bob LeGere of the Daily Herald covered the topic today.

Since 2003, Jerry Angelo has drafted 8 offensive linemen out of 81 total picks through that span. Not a very high percentage, but then LeGere shows us where those 8 picks have been:

Year	Player	Round	Total picks
2009	Lance Louis	7	9
2008	C. Williams	1	7
2008	C. Adams	7	7
2008	Kirk Barton	7	7
2007	J. Beekman	4	9
2007	Aaron Brandt	7	9
2006	Tyler Reed	6	7
2005	None	N/A	6
2004	None	N/A	8
2003	B. Anderson	7	12

Besides Chris Williams in 2008, only one lineman has been drafted higher than the 6th round (Josh Beekman). And as you can see, in two of those years, we didn't select any. Not exactly building the foundation via the draft like he is known for, is it?

LeGere does go on to make sure we remember that Angelo has had success in the draft...

That's not to condemn Angelo's drafting record. The team's topfive receivers- Devin Hester, Earl Bennett, Matt Forte, Johnny Knox, and Greg Olsen- are all Angelo draft picks.

So are six of the top seven tacklers: Lance Briggs, Danieal Manning, Al Afalava, Charles Tillman, Zack Bowman, Alex Brown, Tommie Harris, and Marcus Harrison.

It also hasn't been long since Angelo was ranked the #8 General Manager in all of professional sports by Forbes, and third best in the NFL. But, the fact remains that Angelo has not addressed the OL in the draft, and the most recent free agent pick ups have not been worth the time.

It would seem to me that, if he was so "fixated" on getting the QB position right, he would also be fixated on protecting him. You can bet that Jay Cutler is already in someone's ears, telling the organization that this is not going to cut it.

Larry Meyer, senior writer at the Bears official site, sat down for his weekly meeting with Angelo today, and Mayer asked Angelo about scouting for talent:

LM: During the season, how actively do you look to sign players to your 53-man roster that are on other teams’ practice squads or are street free agents?

JA: Very actively. I think we’ve got a very good track record of doing that. We are looking for players all the time that fit what we do to create more competition at positions. To me, we do that as well as anybody. We are always actively looking at bringing players on board. But you can’t do it as a revolving door. If you bring a player in, it’s because you saw something—what he did in college or in the NFL. When you bring him in, there’s got to be a plan for him. These aren’t auditions. We want to bring them in, and further their development. So there has to be a plan. We just don’t pick guys up randomly, bring them in for a couple weeks and then send then down the road. We don’t operate that way. It’s not about collecting talent, it’s about finding players that fit what we do and feel we can win with.

I'm not saying that I don't trust Angelo, but it just doesn't feel very good to get a QB like Cutler, only to have not addressed his protection through the draft or free agency very effectively.

Notes, Scribbles, and Things Jotted Down: Browns Edition

Dane Noble — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:28:05 -0000

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Fans of the Chicago Bears got what we expected on Sunday: a complete dominance of a terrible team. In the long run, it probably doesn't make us feel any better about the season, but in the short run, it puts us a game over .500, and along pace with some of the other wild card potential teams in the NFC.

The defense looked good yesterday for the most part, but the offense continues to show a lack of rhythm. Luckily, we have some great young talent to build our future on, but that doesn't get us off the hook for the remainder of the 2009 season.

- Many will argue that the QB is the most important position on the field, while others will say it is collectively the OL. Roberto Garza can still hold his own, but Chris Williams is the only lineman that I think is worth banking on beyond 2009.

- Matt Forte is falling victim to our lackluster OL play. If I were to grade Forte, I'd say he is a 7 out of 10, with 8 being a Pro Bowl RB. Luckily, he is still very young, and dependable.

- Orlando Pace can still get it done at certain times, but is not consistent. One play, he'll have a dominate pancake block, and the next three plays he can't maintain his balance.

- Marcus Harrison showed good penetration yesterday.

- Danieal Manning showed great athleticism, and has incredible speed. Still out of position a lot, but Lovie Smith has done a good job with him. Hopefully, we see steady improvement over the year from Manning.

- I'll see what I can pull up numbers-wise, but Jay Cutler seems to look better in the shotgun.

- Speaking of Cutler, is it just me, or does he hang his head too much? Sees like his confidence level is down, and doesn't show much fire (outside of jawing with the opposing DC). It seems like the QB would be more of a leader...

- Offensive rhythm continues to be a problem. We'll look good one drive, only to look completely out of synch for the next three.

- Nick Roach is fast. Depending on Pisa Tinoisamoa's future as a Bear, I like Roach's athleticism. Hunter Hillenmeyer is intelligent, but not a starter for every Sunday. Next year, could we see Briggs, Urlacher, Roach?

- Cutler has forced our WRs to develop good hands. He makes some throws that many WRs couldn't catch. Good to see the progress of Devin Hester and Earl Bennett.

- Devin Hester should be our punt returner for years to come. He is still very young, and has more talent than I can say. Can you imagine how great he will be as he continues to develop into a formidable WR?

- Craig Steltz struggled in the defensive side of things this past offseason, but looks great on ST coverage.

- Kyle Orton was 10/15 passing for 35 yards in the first half in the Denver game yesterday.

- In the second half, Cleveland's RBs were getting past our front 4 too easily.

- When Cutler has time to throw, and plants his feet, he looks great. Too bad that doesn't happen more than once or twice per game.

- Corey Graham looked good on ST. What is his future with the Bears?

- Is Hunter Hillenmeyer really 100% healthy? I don't think so.

- Al Afalava continued to shine in run support. That kid is tough. Pay him more.

- Once again, we saw a run by Forte headed left, only to have the line collapse, and him cut back to his right for a TD run. His vision/ shiftiness is amazing.

- Hester limping in the 4th quarter after good run. Is he alright?

- Brady Quinn needs to get out of Cleveland. I wasn't a fan of his in college, and didn't think he would be good in the NFL, but have changed my mind. He will be a good NFL QB if he can find somewhere else t play.

- Hard to criticize Ron Turner when he doesn't have the personnel to work with. Our OL will continue holding back Forte, Cutler, and others as long as we keep sticking with what we have.

- JOSH BEEKMAN IS WHO WE THOUGHT HE WAS. HE GOT RUN SLAP OVER SEVERAL TIMES, AND GOT CUTLER NAILED BECAUSE OF IT. BEEKMAN IS NOT THE ANSWER.

- If we are going to fight for a wild card spot, the NFC East will be a tough challenger. It's early still, but it would be nice to see New Orleans get a win over Atlanta...

- The orange jerseys look great!

The Quotable Bears - Week Eight

ChiFan13 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:32:35 -0000

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I really don't know what to make of this game....there were some positive things and some lingering questions that we can take from this game.

I'll run through the 5 things I know:

1) Matt Forte is still not right

I'm going to stress this early: It's not all of his fault. Our OL is abysmal.

At the same time, some of it is his fault. I don't know why but he's developed "Ceddy feet" - Benson used to always shuffle, hesitate, and hit the hole. Unfortunately, Forte has found that habit to be quite delightful. He needs to change that ASAP.

2) Jay Cutler will still have to lead this team

Whether we go 13-3 or 4-12, this is Jay's team. He didn't have the best performance today, but it was good enough. I was impressed with him throwing a few balls away - that's something I haven't seen him do in quite a while.

Also, he's a tough SOB. Having a 350 lbs angry man land on you can't feel good, but he hopped up and was ready to roll.

And I do like his moxie. I like having our QB yelling at the other team's DC. Go ahead and think about past Bears QB's who would have done the same AND have his play back it up. I'm coming up with a grand total of none.

3) DL: Still bad

I should probably start by saying that the DE's show flashes of brilliance at times. The DT's have been unnoticeable thus far.

Don't let their performance today fool you. The Browns aren't a very good squad and I'm sure you all know that. I missed a few parts of the game, but I didn't notice Gaines Adams at all. Ogunleye and Brown were hard to miss, but I couldn't find Adams.

4) Hunter is our MLB

I know, I know. Strange to hear those words, especially from me, huh?

Well, Hunter just understands the position better, and it showed. Whether there were problems with communication or just not being in the right spot, Roach wasn't the guy. And that's totally fine. Roach seemed more comfortable at the Sam.

Regardless, I never, ever want to see Hunter at the Sam again.

5) Don't base too many of your opinions of this team based on this game

Folks, we played the Cleveland Browns. It's kind of like a varsity HS team playing the freshmen.

Can our guys take things from this game and learn from them? I hope so. If they don't, we have a real problem. Just try not to get too pumped based on the fact that we beat the Browns. And please remember that we didn't look so hot in beating them either.

Anyways, let's push onward.

Lovie on the offense:

"Winning performance is what I would say. We had opportunities with the takeaways. You would like touchdowns, but we got field goals. When you're not having your best offensive day, you can't turn the ball over and have bad plays like that and we didn't. Today we were able to get some points when the defense got the takeaways, which was big. Of course we'd like to be able to get touchdowns, and Jay got hit a few more times than we would like for him to today. But 30 points up on the board, you like to see that."

Lovie on the defense:

"Defensively, that's what we've been looking for. That's a part of our philosophy, our approach to winning football games. I think you have to get takeaways on defense and you have to be good on third-down conversions, which we were."

Lovie on Danieal Manning:

"We've been waiting for a day like that from Danieal."

Ron Turner on the offense:

"We've got to play better. We didn't execute well enough. I'll look at it, see what we need to do to give us a chance to get better, and if we're doing too much, we'll cut back. Obviously, we are because we're making too many mistakes. Just have to figure out what we do well, and that's what we'll do. We've got to take a good look at what we're doing and make sure we're not doing too much because we're making too many mistakes that we shouldn't be making."

Jay Cutler on the offense:

"In every respect offensively possible we've got to get better. We need to make more plays if we're going to beat some really quality teams in the future."

Jay Cutler on Cleveland DC Rob Ryan:

"I love Rob Ryan. I think that he has always liked and respected me. I think he's a great coach, and you can just hear the energy he brings on the sidelines for those guys. I've always enjoyed playing and competing against him. I think he's one of the best in football. I've always enjoyed going against the guy."

Jay Cutler on whether he can keep getting beat up week after week:

"Hopefully I won't find out. Shaun Rodgers is a big guy. So every time he hits you, that counts for two."

Josh Beekman on his performance:

"I got Jay hit on one of the protections out there. I can't let that happen. But there are going to be plays like that, so [we need to] keep battling. I just didn't have my feet under me. The coaching technique was to have your feet under you and go after him. I didn't do, so I have to execute the offense."

Adewale Ogunleye on the game:

"It's a steppingstone. We don't get too high or too low. We stay away from the papers because if you do that you won't want to play the next week."

Tommie Harris on whether he received different treatment:

"No. You have to ask [Bears head athletic trainer] Tim Bream that. I don't know about a different treatment program. I don't know about a different treatment program, I'm telling you that much. So you'll have to ask them about that. Don't try to start some junk, because you don't know what you're talking about. 'Cause you started all that last week. Listen, I come in the locker room last week, and [you] ask me what's going on. I said, 'I don't play. I don't talk if I don't play.' Then the next day I read 'Mystery, Tommie Harris is going on.' 'Are you suspended?' That's negative stuff we don't need."

Danieal Manning on the defense's performance:

"Just running to the ball, that helped out a lot. Just trusting in the scheme, that puts you in good positions, so that's what we played. It was very, very rewarding. Everybody wants to win and contribute, and I felt like I contributed in this win."

Danieal Manning on his INT:

"I just read the quarterback. I think the guy ran like a skinny post, so I just read him and saw him running inside. The ball was thrown right there, so I just made a play on the ball. I was feeling great about it, but I'd be feeling better if I scored. Now I got to go talk to Peanut about him scoring. I feel like I was just in the right place at the right time. Believing in the scheme is one thing, and then just using your natural ability and trusting your instincts finishes the play.

"A lot of my family called me this week and told me to relax and have fun. Tommie [Harris] actually came in today and gave me a little Hulk statue. He's my favorite superhero. He said remember this is a kid's game and go out there and play like it."

Craig Steltz on his injury:

"It happened on a special teams play. It was on a kickoff. I'm not really sure. We'll see (Monday)."

The Bears Blitz

Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:21:05 -0000

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The last couple years the Bears have been near the top in blitzing. Not necessarily in blitzing effectiveness, just near the top in number of times blitzed. They'll bring the linebackers, safeties, and nickleback at most any time. They'll "mug" their LB's up close to the line of scrimmage, they'll line their defensive backs up on the edge, and they'll occasionally run a delay blitz up the middle. They show a lot of different looks in their various blitz packages, but I know an appropriate saying that applies to this;

"Don't confuse activity with accomplishment." The Bears are very active in their blitzing, but is anything really getting done?

In the Bears 4-3 scheme, their 4-3 one gap scheme, each defender is usually assigned a gap. The four down linemen are asked to penetrate and control their gap, and depending on where the defensive linemen line up the linebackers are asked to cover the remaining gaps. When the Bears blitz when it's not an obvious passing situation, they are blitzing to thwart the run. Either because through scouting and game-planning they spotted a tendency depending on offensive formation, or they are simply clogging up their gaps at the snap.

When run blitzing it's important not to tip your hand too early, as you're vulnerable to an audible to a quick pass play. If an offense sniffs a run blitz before the snap, and senses it's blitzing into the attack point of the run, you can bet the quarterback will try and change the play. Many times we'll see a QB check out of a play, then we see the MLB audibling out of his defensive play to counter the QB's move. This is the game within a game that I love, and something the Bears miss with Brian Urlacher not in there. Say what you want about him not being physically the player he was at 26, the Bears miss his intelligence on the field.

The Bears are solid with their run blitzes, it's their blitzing to get after the QB where the Bears struggle.

Lance Briggs, he of the four straight pro bowls, has a career high of 2 sacks in a season. Brian Urlacher has a career high of 8 all the way back in his rookie year. The Bears linebackers are not good pass rushers. The last good pass rushing linebacker the Bears had was Rosevelt Colvin in 2002, when he had 10.5 sacks. I guess I could channel my inner Greg Blache and claim that sacks aren't as important as simply getting pressure on the QB, but in my opinion, if you're gonna be a team that blitzes, that blitzes on passing downs, you need to get sacks.

Danieal Manning has shown to be a quick blitzer off the edge. I'd like to see Al Afalava delay blitz up the gut on occasion, I think he's physical enough to get in there. And while I'm mentioning the delay blitz, I'd like to see the Bears use this strategy more often. By delay blitz, I'm referring to the blitz when the blitzer isn't just standing on the line of scrimmage, instead he'll blitz from his regular defensive position, or he'll loop around to the opposite side. Just something to disguise the blitz angle. Too many times the Bears show blitz and simply come from there.

There is a positive to showing blitz early. When a defense lines up as if to blitz it changes blocking assignments. The offensive line has to slide protection and the backs have to adjust assignments. Sometimes the QB will audible to a max protection just to cover his own tail, thus taking prospective pass receivers out of the play. Many times we'll see the Bears show blitz then back out of it at the snap. When doing this the Bears are hoping to get the offense to audible to a max protection scheme, then rely on their front 4 to get pressure all while the offense has fewer options running pass routes. Obviously getting a good push out of your D-Line is an important part of ~~this~~ any defensive strategy.

With the Bears not getting many sacks from blitzers, one would assume the blitzers are getting picked up, so one would also assume the D-Line is picking up the slack. This ain't happening (the last 2 weeks anyway) and in order for the Bears defense (or any other teams D for that matter) to be productive against the pass they need pressure.

With all the blitzing going on in Chicago the run defense has been solid the last few years (except for the occasional Cedric The Dominator type performance), but the sacks just aren't there. To paraphrase another favorite saying of mine; "Either blitz (effectively) or get off the pot."

* If anyone has any thing specifically they'd like me to touch on in an X's and O's type post, just shoot me an email, and I'll do my best.

NightLink: Manning & Knox; "they're just different cats"

Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:30:14 -0000

ESPN Chicago blogger Nick Friedell had a recent one on one interview with Abilene Christian University head coach Chris Thomsen, who coached both Danieal Manning and Johnny Knox. Here's the full blog, Leaving their mark.

After the jump I'll highlight some of their chat...

The Abilene Christian University head coach never saw either man have a bad day at practice, and neither of them ever seemed to fear playing on the big stage or making a play during a crucial moment of the game.

"I'm telling you, man, they're just different cats. Both of them."

Am I the only one that finds it cool he refers to them as "cats"?

Drafting players with high character is such an importance these days for many teams, it's good to hear some positive info on Manning and Knox.

"[Johnny] and Danieal, they don't even know what trouble is," Thomsen explains. "They don't even go near it.

"I'll get a guy that'll get in trouble here and they'll say, 'Coach, I'm getting a bad deal.' I'll say, 'Look, guys like Knox and Manning were here. Never, not one time, were they in my office. You're telling me you can't do right.' That's what you hold those guys up as: guys that were just great off the field, just great people and great leaders."

Coach Thomsen again pointed to the players attitude and work ethic when asked about going from Division 2 football to the NFL.

You want to know what I really think about both those guys? I think they're tremendous people. They've got the ability, and there's no question about that. But, those two guys, they're two of the most unique people that I've ever been around. Not just in football, but they both have the innate ability to show up every single day with a smile on their face, and work their tail off. They're just not that many people in your business or my business or any business that does that, that's just a gift. I only got to coach Danieal [for] one year, but I coached Johnny [for] two. But, I've never seen either one of them have a bad day. [They] never show up with their lip poked out [saying], 'I didn't get enough touches.'

And of course no Johnny Knox talk can happen without the nickname question popping up, and contrary to the caption on the picure on the espn blog, Johny Knox had no nickname at ACU.

I'm trying to think if Johnny had a nickname ... I don't think he did. I don't think the guys called him anything crazy ... Johnny just kind of carried himself with such a presence and people just kind of respected him. He'd joke around and cut up and he loves to laugh and have fun, but he was kind of the man around here.

Sticking with ESPN... did you notice the new power rankings are out for Week 6?

Someone tell me how the hell the Bears can win one week and not move up in the rankings, then after the bye week, they somehow move up 2 spots?!?!

Oh well, these power rankings are meaningless anyway so... then again, the Bears do play 2 teams ranked ahead of them in the next 2 weeks, so they could move up...