Chip Shots: Bears Can't Adjust to Titans Air Attack

Chip Shots
A Sports Blog

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I'm Chip Ramsey a career broadcaster who has been a sports radio program director in Milwaukee and Nashville. I've covered everything from high school and college sports (including the SEC, Big Ten, MVC and OVC) to Major League Baseball, The NFL and the NHL. I have a few things to say, and when I want to say them, I say them here.

I mostly talk about my teams, which would be the White Sox, Bears, and Blackhawks, but I do talk about other things as well. Thanks for dropping by. I hope you will bookmark this site and visit often!

Chip's broadcast career

Chip Shots: Bears Can't Adjust to Titans Air Attack

Bears Can't Adjust to Titans Air Attack

A funny thing happened on the way to the Chicago bears 21-14 loss to the Tennessee Titans yesterday.

When the Bears drove down the field and scored a touchdown on their first possession, the Titans made adjustments and shut down the Bears offense the rest of the day. When the Bears stopped the Titans running game cold in its tracks, the Titans adjusted their offense to throw the football and suddenly, the Bears defense couldn't stop them anymore.

For their part, the Bears made few if any adjustments and lost the game.

Good teams, teams that win conference championships, teams that make the playoffs can adjust quickly. Teams that wallow and get knocked out in the first round of the playoffs can't or don't.

Welcome to the world of Lovie Smith, a world where the Tampa 2 defense is such a sacred cow it can't be tampered with. Welcome to a world where you can take one of the top rushing teams in the league and shut them down, but can't put any pressure on a 35 year-old journeyman backup quarterback with cement encased feet. Welcome to a world where everyone in Soldier Field knows the next play is a sideline pass, yet the Bears can't stop it. Welcome to a world where Bears castoff Justin Gage looks like Randy Moss.

The Bears inability to adjust to the Titans passing game yesterday spelled doom in a game that was easily winnable. Sure, Rex Grossman couldn't hit his butt with his left hand after the first possession and the Bears spent a majority of the game under their own goal posts, but still, they had their opportunities.

Opportunity minus execution means a loss and that was the Bears formula yesterday.

The Bears, a team that in the Lovie Smith era has depended on special teams play and an opportunistic defense that has turned mistakes into points. The Bears did none of that yesterday. And when the Titans made the necessary adjustments early in the game, the Bears did little of anything.

The Bears coaching staff needs to get a lot more involved in coming off the game plan and doing what needs to be done to give their team the best chance of winning. Otherwise, they better adjust their thinking on where they will end up this season and think about third place.