The Chicago Bears have been impressive so far in this still-early 2013 season, but their 3-0 start leaves room to improve even more.
After a 10-6, non-playoff 2012 season, the Bears cut ties with longtime coach Lovie Smith, a mastermind of the modified Tampa 2 defense.
General manager Phil Emery hired coach Marc Trestman during the offseason in order to improve the offense, and to this point that objective has been achieved.
This is due in no small part to the fact that Trestman then brought on Aaron Kromer as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. Kromer had been the New Orleans Saints’ offensive line coach since 2009 prior to accepting his position with the Bears. During his time on the bayou, the Saints had a combined nine Pro Bowl appearances among five different offensive linemen. They also tied for the fewest sacks in the National Football League during that time with a total of 96.
The key to the Bears’ offensive success over the course of these first three games is the much-improved offensive line. If nothing else, one must credit Trestman for bringing in the personnel capable of turning the weakness that was the offensive line last year into a strength so far this year.
With Kromer came left tackle Jermon Bushrod from New Orleans. Emery signed him in the offseason to a five-year, $35.965 million contract to shore up the left side of the offensive line that last year featured the often bad J’Marcus Webb. Emery also signed a new left guard, Matt Slauson, who has played well to this point.
The Bears continued to address their offensive line woes when they took new right guard Kyle Long in the first round of the 2013 amateur draft. Long was unproven in his college career at Oregon, but he has shown himself to be effective in pushing defensive linemen around, even if not always employing perfect technique and footwork.
The real surprise of the new offensive line group was right tackle Jordan Mills, whom the Bears drafted in the fifth round. Kromer seems to have worked his magic with Mills, as fifth-round picks rarely make such a big impact as early in their careers as Mills has.
This revamping of the offensive line has coincided with, at long last, a little bit of a maturation process in quarterback Jay Cutler. Rare are the times when Cutler can be seen pouting, shouting at teammates and coaches or otherwise acting like a child.
Will Cutler’s demeanor last? That is a difficult question to answer because the Bears have been good to this point. There is no need to yell at your offensive linemen when they have kept you from being sacked on every pass attempt except three so far this season. It also would not make much sense to completely dismiss your offensive coordinator or quarterbacks coach when your offense is averaging four touchdowns per game, as the Bears are.
Fans will see if Cutler’s new, more positive attitude sticks when the chips are down and the Bears are looking like they will not be able to eke out wins.
But he also cannot complain about a lack of receiving talent. The Bears brought in tight end Martellus Bennett to be a blocking, pass-catching threat. He has been just that, catching the game-winner in the Minnesota game. Bennett leads all Bears with three touchdown receptions.
The defense that Smith perfected during his nine-year tenure as head coach may be cause for concern. The aging group is without the now-unable-to-run Brian Urlacher, who was offered what he deemed a lowball contract and elected instead to retire.
Julius Peppers, the 33-year-old defensive lineman, was not a factor in either the Bengals game or the Vikings game. However, he did show up on Sunday night against the Steelers, taking a fumble recovery 42 yards for a touchdown. The only problem is that he did not appear to be running like the Peppers of old.
Venerable cornerback Charles Tillman has had issues with his knee in the last two games. Henry Melton, the defensive tackle who had a breakout 2012, went down likely for the season with an injured ACL in the Pittsburgh game.
The Bears’ key question for the first time in recent memory is not whether the offense will succeed, but whether or not the defense can stay healthy, force takeaways and get off the field.
This question will be answered over the course of the next 13 regular season games, and the answer better be yes if the Bears hope to be anything but a dud in their potential playoff run.
Tim Carroll
Senior Sports Editor
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