Thursday, October 21, 2010

Should We Be Concerned About The Front Four?




The game against the Seahawks this past week was ugly in more ways than one. We could talk all day about the problems the offense is currently having, but I've got to pretend to work sometime today so let's not.


For the first time this season, the defense did not play up to their own lofty standards. Some of this can be contributed to facing a veteran QB such as Matt Hasselbeck that has seen everything over his time in the league, but overall, the defense failed in many aspects including the pass rush.


This brings me to my question; should Bears fans be concerned about the (lack) of a pass rush from the front four?

As most know, Lovie Smith runs a Tampa 2 style defense which is predicated on getting a solid pass rush from the front four. Ideally, the front four will generate enough pressure so that the only option for opposing QBs is to dump the ball off underneath the coverage and the back seven swarm to make the tackle after a short gain. This style is a classic "bend don't break" mentality and if the defense can generate a turnover or two, can be extremely effective.

However, if the front four can not generate consistent pressure, veteran QB's like Hasselbeck will pick the cover 2 apart with short/medium passes. This was the case last Sunday on the lakefront.


Look, we all understand Tommie Harris is a shell of his former self. The man has knees of a 55 year old. Last time I checked, there aren't any 55 year olds playing defensive tackle in the NFL. Unfortunately, Tommie still represents the best interior pass rusher on the Bears roster. As much as I like Anthony Adams and Matt Toeaina, their strengths are clearly stopping the run and occupying blockers to keep Urlacher/Briggs/Pisa clean to make plays. They both excel at doing this and the solid rush defense is evidence.


The problem is, that outside of Peppers, there isn't a consistent rusher on the roster. Some may say Izzy Idonije has the chance to develop into one, but the coaching staff has jerked him around so much over the last few seasons (changing positions, asking him to lose/gain weight) and severely stunted his development. I'm an Izzy guy, and I do think he has a chance to develop into a complete defensive end (he's already an above average run stopper) but until the staff leaves him at one position for an extended period, we wont ever know. The release of Marc Anderson could possibly be a sign that the staff will finally give Izzy the chance he's earned. If Izzy can continue to improve over the course of the season(he leads the Bears with 4 sacks through 6 games), then maybe the pass rush issues go away. But that's a lot to ask of a player who is getting his first real opportunity to learn and master a position.


This brings us back to Tommie. When Tommie was playing well, he could generate mass amounts of pressure through the "A" gap in the middle of the offensive line. It forced QB's and offensive coordinators to know whenever Tommie was on the field and adjust their blocking schemes to him. This would create 1 on 1 match ups for everyone else on the defensive line. Past players like Alex Brown, 'Wale Ogunleye and Anderson took advantage of these opportunities when Tommie was playing at a high level. But when Tommie plays like the overpriced sack of shit he is now, there is no threat from the interior lineman.


Until the Bears find an interior defensive lineman that can create a rush, offensive coordinators will continue to scheme double/triple teams toward Julius Peppers to neutralize him. This leaves 1 on 1 match ups for the rest of the lineman. Can the players on the roster win these 1 on 1 matchups? So far, no player outside of Izzy has. We can't expect Peppers to play at the level he has been performing at all season. He's going to have games like this last Sunday when he isn't going to have the enormous impact we've come to expect. Someone must take advantage or the Bears will revert back to the defensive form they have displayed the last 2+ seasons. Not good, not good at all.

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