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Cowboys' next opponent: Bears coach facing criticism, too
12:03 AM CDT on Tuesday, September 14, 2010
BY BRAD BIGGS / Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — Bears coach Lovie Smith had to pause for a moment Monday to consider the irony of the question.
Criticized often for his Cover-2 scheme, Smith was asked why there wasn't safety help for Zack Bowman when the 6-foot-1 cornerback was put in a jump ball situation against 6-5 Calvin Johnson, a leap the Lions wide receiver won — until he tried to brace himself with the ball in his right hand and it squirted out.
"It seems like every time we play double coverage, (people ask) 'Why do you guys play two deep?'" Smith said. "On that play, we had a blitz on — 'Why don't you blitz more?' — and when you blitz you can't double cover everybody on each play. Football 101. Can't do it. On that play we didn't. The next two we did."
The Bears were in Cover-3 on the play with 24 seconds remaining in the 19-14 victory Sunday that was preserved when an official replay review deemed Johnson's would-be 25-yard touchdown catch to be an incompletion.
Bowman was purposefully vague when asked if he should have had help. Safety Danieal Manning, in the middle of the field, said he was where the scheme called for him to play. Conventional rules of a single-high safety scheme call for the safety to be there to clean up a play outside the numbers if he can't make a play on the ball.
So, it will remain one of those murky questions. Poor call to put the Lions' best player in a position to beat you one-on-one in the final moments of a game, or poor execution?
Meanwhile, Smith remained resolute in his decision to have Matt Forte try to run in on fourth-and-goal from the 1 after he had failed in three previous goal-line runs.
"Nothing has changed," Smith said. "I went for it because I thought we could get it. Wanted the offense to see that I thought that. Felt good about it going for it then. And feel good about it now. In those situations, probably will do the same thing again."
The good news is the Bears are 1-0, and the team has put behind it a worrisome preseason. There are some axioms in the NFL for Smith, and one is that a team makes its greatest improvement from Week 1 to Week 2.
His team will put the belief to the test Sunday at Dallas in the franchise's first trip to glitzy Cowboys Stadium, the jewel of owner Jerry Jones . The facility will play host to Super Bowl XLV in February and many selected the Cowboys as a favorite to represent the NFC. The Bears will have an opportunity to send them to an ominous 0-2 start.
"You want to see signs of what you can become as a team and we were able to see those signs," Smith said. "There were quite a few signs throughout, signs of us playing some dominating football at times."
The defense suffocated the Lions and the offense racked up 463 yards, a statistic Smith pointed to when asked about the performance of the offensive line. Jay Cutler had one of his best games as a Bear and, most importantly, the Bears' star players performed as such. Special teams were solid and if there had not been four turnovers, there wouldn't be pressing questions about covering Johnson in the end zone or going for it at the goal line.
We'll see what improvement a week brings.
• • •
12:03 AM CDT on Tuesday, September 14, 2010
BY BRAD BIGGS / Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — Bears coach Lovie Smith had to pause for a moment Monday to consider the irony of the question.
Criticized often for his Cover-2 scheme, Smith was asked why there wasn't safety help for Zack Bowman when the 6-foot-1 cornerback was put in a jump ball situation against 6-5 Calvin Johnson, a leap the Lions wide receiver won — until he tried to brace himself with the ball in his right hand and it squirted out.
"It seems like every time we play double coverage, (people ask) 'Why do you guys play two deep?'" Smith said. "On that play, we had a blitz on — 'Why don't you blitz more?' — and when you blitz you can't double cover everybody on each play. Football 101. Can't do it. On that play we didn't. The next two we did."
The Bears were in Cover-3 on the play with 24 seconds remaining in the 19-14 victory Sunday that was preserved when an official replay review deemed Johnson's would-be 25-yard touchdown catch to be an incompletion.
Bowman was purposefully vague when asked if he should have had help. Safety Danieal Manning, in the middle of the field, said he was where the scheme called for him to play. Conventional rules of a single-high safety scheme call for the safety to be there to clean up a play outside the numbers if he can't make a play on the ball.
So, it will remain one of those murky questions. Poor call to put the Lions' best player in a position to beat you one-on-one in the final moments of a game, or poor execution?
Meanwhile, Smith remained resolute in his decision to have Matt Forte try to run in on fourth-and-goal from the 1 after he had failed in three previous goal-line runs.
"Nothing has changed," Smith said. "I went for it because I thought we could get it. Wanted the offense to see that I thought that. Felt good about it going for it then. And feel good about it now. In those situations, probably will do the same thing again."
The good news is the Bears are 1-0, and the team has put behind it a worrisome preseason. There are some axioms in the NFL for Smith, and one is that a team makes its greatest improvement from Week 1 to Week 2.
His team will put the belief to the test Sunday at Dallas in the franchise's first trip to glitzy Cowboys Stadium, the jewel of owner Jerry Jones . The facility will play host to Super Bowl XLV in February and many selected the Cowboys as a favorite to represent the NFC. The Bears will have an opportunity to send them to an ominous 0-2 start.
"You want to see signs of what you can become as a team and we were able to see those signs," Smith said. "There were quite a few signs throughout, signs of us playing some dominating football at times."
The defense suffocated the Lions and the offense racked up 463 yards, a statistic Smith pointed to when asked about the performance of the offensive line. Jay Cutler had one of his best games as a Bear and, most importantly, the Bears' star players performed as such. Special teams were solid and if there had not been four turnovers, there wouldn't be pressing questions about covering Johnson in the end zone or going for it at the goal line.
We'll see what improvement a week brings.
• • •