Hope Phil took some notes on how to build a D.

[cubzzzfanincali]

regardless of what defensive scheme we want to play, D line is the top overall need. It is also the rarest talentwise as a position group. The only exception I would anticipate to drafting a D lineman is a CB. But I wouldn't bet money on that.

I think the one exception to all this is a tradedown. I definitely don't think it is out of the question that Emery trades down. The Bears are in a classic tradedown situation...roster too thin, midrange draft pick, many positions of need. I won't complain to see a tradedown and pick up an extra guy...plus it would loosen the reins on what "should" be drafted at that draft position (#14) and open it up wider. At 14, you generally don't want to draft certain positions because the talents for them aren't rare enough to justify that.

I'm not going to judge this draft just on whether there's a first round tradedown of course, nor whether a specific position gets taken, but hopefully it reflects more strategic thinking than Emery has shown in the draft so far. I have really disliked Emery's drafts..in one case wrongly (the Jeffrey pick) put in other cases I'd say correctly. I am still super irritated at the Long pick, not because of the pick itself (yeah Long rocks) but at the total screwup of not capitalizing on the obvious free third rounder by just dropping back a couple of positions to draft your guy anyway.

Emery picks a safety, or a ILB at 14, yes, I will be really irritated. He wants those positions, that's his discretion, but he better be taking them later, not at 14. This is a pretty damn good draft position, right after a lot of the early juice gets blown on QBs, so we should have a pretty good selection of key position players to take.

 

[63bears40]

I just cant keep blaming the safeties. Like I said before, Conte and Wright were considered one of the best young safety tandems in the league. I cant see them just getting all stupid and forgetting how to play.

To me its more of our safeties giving cushions, give them no problem getting off the line, even on the 5 yard line our cb's played on the goal line. That is the difference between having our cornerbacks and seattles cornerbacks in the cover 3. They were always on the receiver, knocking them off their routes, giving no free releases, there was no room to run those famous pick plays. Big corners playing 10 yards off the ball or big corners jambing the receiver off the line is the big difference and I am not convinced either one of ours can do that and not get beat every play. Doesnt jamming the receiver at the line also help the safeties? I cant believe it was all urlacher saving our safeties all these years. Maybe in our Hybrid defense we can use four linebackers but have one already back where urlacher kept running.

Conte is probably the worst safety in the league period. He's always 2 steps slow in zone coverage.When he really knows what coverage is called. The guy can tackle . But what good is that? He's proved he can't cover a bigger TE . Which just puts a bigger target on his back.

 

[63bears40]

I agree, what hurt our Safeties the most were all the injuries right up the gut, in front of them. All the middle D linemen, all the middle linebackers, yikes.

I think a lack of of pass rush proved how inadequate our safeties were. They ( our safeties ) proved they could not handle the position by them selves . Which is a discouraging thought, but true. Upgrade is needed there.

 

[leomaz]

safeties are not to be left alone

I think a lack of of pass rush proved how inadequate our safeties were. They ( our safeties ) proved they could not handle the position by them selves . Which is a discouraging thought, but true. Upgrade is needed there.

Without any pressure even mediocre QBs see like all pro. No defensive back can stop anybody without the help of the d-line putting pressure on the QB. The linebackers need a solid front 4 to help them. The worst part of our team to start the 2013 season was our d-line and our defense will not be any better if the d-line is anywhere near as bad as last years......pressure from the front 4 is key to everything.without a dominating d-line who cares who are safeties are, seriously

 

[anotheridiot]

Conte is probably the worst safety in the league period. He's always 2 steps slow in zone coverage.When he really knows what coverage is called. The guy can tackle . But what good is that? He's proved he can't cover a bigger TE . Which just puts a bigger target on his back.

Can any safety cover a tight end who is a half foot and 60 pounds heavier?

See, I always thought the strong side linebacker was supposed to take the tight end, strong side was the side the tight end was lining up. It was the scheme that had him outmatched lining up in a bump and run look. The safety took the running back that went into a pass route. I dont think any of these linebackers we got had any coverage skills so conte got stuck being outsized.

I am not saying Conte deserves to start and stay on this team, I just know he did deserve his spot over the past two seasons, even after being flip flopped from free to strong safety and learning that on the fly. He is the safety so its always gonna be his fault, regardless of who was in the wrong defense, the corner backs do nothing to knock a receiver off their route and they have free release to do whatever they wanted.

 

[63bears40]

I just cant keep blaming the safeties. Like I said before, Conte and Wright were considered one of the best young safety tandems in the league. I cant see them just getting all stupid and forgetting how to play.

To me its more of our safeties giving cushions, give them no problem getting off the line, even on the 5 yard line our cb's played on the goal line. That is the difference between having our cornerbacks and seattles cornerbacks in the cover 3. They were always on the receiver, knocking them off their routes, giving no free releases, there was no room to run those famous pick plays. Big corners playing 10 yards off the ball or big corners jambing the receiver off the line is the big difference and I am not convinced either one of ours can do that and not get beat every play. Doesnt jamming the receiver at the line also help the safeties? I cant believe it was all urlacher saving our safeties all these years. Maybe in our Hybrid defense we can use four linebackers but have one already back where urlacher kept running.

A good pass rush helps the back 7 no doubt. But lack of it exposed our safety position for what it was. Piss poor. I don't care what coverage they are playing, they're not up to the task. If they even know what coverage they're playing.
Conte playing bump & run vs a 6'6" TE , I wonder who wins that battle. Oh, we already saw that result. It wasn't Chris.
My distaste for the safety play goes beyond pass coverage. Their lack in help stopping the run is what kicks me in the balls. Neither excels there either.
Urlacher didn't make our safeties look average. A good pass rush DID.

 

[63bears40]

The d-line has to get worked out. It is the most important part of the defense.....pressure, pressure, pressure....you can not go thru a season with out pressure. The safety position needs it. The cornerback position needs it. The linebacking position needs it. If you go back and watch the Detroit game at Soldier Field last season. Tell me how many times Matt Stafford moved from his setup spot. I beluve it was less than 2 times.

I agree that a pass rush makes the the back 7 look good. But lack of it, exposed some serious problems in our secondary.

I agree DL, LB, CB all need upgrading. But the safety position was healthy for most of the year. And they just didn't perform.

 

[63bears40]

Can any safety cover a tight end who is a half foot and 60 pounds heavier?

See, I always thought the strong side linebacker was supposed to take the tight end, strong side was the side the tight end was lining up. It was the scheme that had him outmatched lining up in a bump and run look. The safety took the running back that went into a pass route. I dont think any of these linebackers we got had any coverage skills so conte got stuck being outsized.

I am not saying Conte deserves to start and stay on this team, I just know he did deserve his spot over the past two seasons, even after being flip flopped from free to strong safety and learning that on the fly. He is the safety so its always gonna be his fault, regardless of who was in the wrong defense, the corner backs do nothing to knock a receiver off their route and they have free release to do whatever they wanted.

Seattle seems to do a good job on TEs. NE also put their best CB on Graham and shut him out.

 

[anotheridiot]

Seattle seems to do a good job on TEs. NE also put their best CB on Graham and shut him out.

Seattles base defense is cover three. That means a cornerback is responsible for the three zones on the field. The bears have two corners and one safety. NE put their best corner on Graham, yeah, cornerback vs safety again.

The term Safety used to mean one thing, deepest guy on the field, last line of defense. I just dont see where one on one coverage comes to play. It was always the safety fault for not knowing the defense, but its always the cornerbacks that sit in zone and let receivers past them. We all know what Jennings does, take chances on jumping routes. When it works its a pick 6, when it doesnt, its a safety chasing down the guy he left. You see the seattles and New Englands and that safety is not one on one, he is flying to the throw and the second guy there, not the primary.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

Passing defense was very definitely not the Bears D's problem this year. It was the rush defense. It is not a coincidence that the defense suddenly got a lot worse when the interior of our defense went on IR. It was because we could not stop the run, and everything became an attempt to cover up that weakness, and it compromised everything.

The only reason I'd like to see a CB drafted is because quite frankly we need one in the long term, and I wouldn't mind a FA signing at safety because it wouldn't be expensive to get a modest upgrade, but safety is not going to make any significant difference to this team if the front 7 is not sorted out. It's nearly irrelevant. If we went into 2014 with the EXACT same personnel in the secondary but fixed the front 7, everything would look a lot better. Just like it did before the front 7 got hurt and carved up.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

after posting this, I went and checked some team ranking stats, and no surprise the Bears weren't just last in rushing defense, they were last BY A LONG WAY. It was awful.

But I found really interesting was something else I hadn't actually noticed before. Our passing defense (middle of the road) has one very interesting stat. Did you guys realize we were tied for LAST in the league for sacks? Last?

Again, this is a giant, bright, white hot arrow pointing at the problem. No, that's not the secondary. It's the damn line. Terrible run defense, no pass rush. The line is the problem. This cannot possibly be stated forcefully enough.

 

[NCChiFan]

after posting this, I went and checked some team ranking stats, and no surprise the Bears weren't just last in rushing defense, they were last BY A LONG WAY. It was awful.

But I found really interesting was something else I hadn't actually noticed before. Our passing defense (middle of the road) has one very interesting stat. Did you guys realize we were tied for LAST in the league for sacks? Last?

Again, this is a giant, bright, white hot arrow pointing at the problem. No, that's not the secondary. It's the damn line. Terrible run defense, no pass rush. The line is the problem. This cannot possibly be stated forcefully enough.

Well said...

 

[leomaz]

front line

Seattle seems to do a good job on TEs. NE also put their best CB on Graham and shut him out.

They also put immense pressure on the QBs.........pressure, pressure, pressure............it all starts with the defensive line

 

[63bears40]

They also put immense pressure on the QBs.........pressure, pressure, pressure............it all starts with the defensive line

Been agreeing w/ you all along . DL needs to be fixed. I expect it to be addressed . But the safety play even 2 yrs. ago, was bullshit. Conte just plain out sucks. In my mind he his the weakest link of the D. I've given him credit for his tackling ability . But he just plain sucks in every other facet of the game. And yes he probably was our best option for the past few years. But that says a lot about our scouting & drafting.