Bears’ linebacker Brian Urlacher is legendary as a hard-nosed, old-school football player, and he says what he thinks. His assessment of his current Bears?
“Defensively, we stink. We can’t stop the run, we can’t stop the pass,” Brian Urlacher said.
The Bears defense is currently 27th against the pass and 28th against the run. And they’ve given up 24 points or more in each of their last four games, a span in which they went 1-3.
Urlacher went into more detail on the 88-yard touchdown run by Jahvid Best, in which Best wasn’t slowed by anything stronger than a little harsh language.
“The quarterback took a snap, he handed it to the guy, and he ran 88 yards without being touched,” Urlacher said. “That’s what I saw. I don’t know why it happened, but that’s what I saw.”
The Bears were victimized by big plays. In addition to the 88-yard TD run by Best, Matthew Stafford connected with Calvin Johnson in the second quarter for a 73-yard TD pass. That’s two plays, 161 yards, 14 points.
Outside linebacker Lance Briggs’ assessment was similar to Urlacher’s: “We’re not disciplined.”
Cornerback Charles Tillman also put things into perspective, “Until we get this figured out, it’s going to be a long season.”
“I respect coach [Lovie] Smith and coach [Rod] Marinelli, because they’ll be men and blame themselves,” Tillman went on. “But it really falls on the players. They’re doing everything in their power. We, as players, can definitely man up and make the plays.”
“Right now, we just really need to get back to the fundamentals of football.”
No one can say that the bears aren’t manning up and taking responsibility. Now they have to turn that frustration and disgust into better performance on the field. Their next shot comes Sunday when they host the 1-4 Minnesota Vikings.
