The Bears' First Quarter: New Eras

For as long as I've been a Bears fan, the team's identity came largely from its defense. From fans to coaches, the football team has long lived in the enormous shadow cast by the 1985 World Champion defense. Ever since then, there's been constant whining about the improvements that need to be made to various components of the offense, but fans could always seem to take comfort in the quality of the team's defense.

Of course, it seems like I've been saying for the past few years that the defense is aging. The window was closing. And now this past off-season, iconic linebacker Brian Urlacher retired after the Bears supposedly "low-balled" him by giving him a modest offer. The amount is kind of trivial since in his previous season, the man did not really play like he did a decade ago in his youth. Oh, and no other team wanted him.

Meanwhile, the defensive-minded Lovie Smith didn't get an offer from anybody after being let go, and his replacement Marc Trestman has been referred to as a "quarterback whisperer" for the success he's had working with numerous top QBs around the NFL. This once again gave some Bears fans reason for optimism about the offensive prospects, for once. And now four games into Trestman's first season, it's still taking a little getting used to. The defense most certainly isn't as good as it has been in years past, but the offense may be more potent than its ever been. In today's NFL, that could make this team a real contender.

But it's not that easy, of course. Nothing ever is.

My primary concern entering this season with the Bears was not with adjusting to the new coach, but the limited depth of the roster. And the reason I use the picture of Henry Melton being tended to after sustaining a season-ending injury in the win over Pittsburgh for this quarterly post is that his absence really demonstrates why my fears were justified. As good as the offense has been in multiple areas—Jay Cutler not being sacked as often because of an improved offensive line to the tight ends that can actually catch—the loss of Melton apparently makes what had looked like a weak pass rush basically a non-existent one. Without that kind of pressure on the offensive lines of opponents, it only makes it more likely that those teams can expose a fairly weak Bears secondary.

There is the off-chance that Chicago may now be able to actually compete in shootouts. And that could just mean that the Bears have finally become the sort of team that can finally compete in the high-scoring emphasis on passing that the league has become anyway. Still, without any real confidence in this team's ability to stop a capable opponent, it remains hard for me to believe that the Monsters of the Midway are going to be able to hope for much more than a short-lived Wild Card berth come January. There's certainly a lot to like about how Marc Trestman handles his team, the media and himself, but we've still got a ways to go before I'm talking about throwing any Bears Super Bowl parties.