By Ryan Glab 

Bears offense vs. Dolphins defense

The Bears have struggled to move the ball this season, convert on third downs, and put together a complete offensive game. Until last week against Minnesota, that is. They finished with 360 total yards of offense, scored 27 points, and converted 11 third down attempts. They’ll get a stiff challenge this week against the No. 8 defense in the league in Miami. Linebacker Cameron Wake, who has been battling a hip injury, was not listed on Wednesday’s injury report and will play in this game. Wake leads the team with 8.5 sacks, ranking him third in the league in that category. The Bears will have to pay extra attention to him and keep in an additional blocker if needed. The offensive line has done a much better job protecting Jay Cutler the past two weeks after their bye week. Part of that has to do with the change in play calling by Mike Martz. The Bears have made a commitment to the run game in the last two games against Buffalo and Minnesota and that will likely continue. I genuinely believe Martz understands the need to scale back his offense and mix in more runs for multiple reasons. First, it doesn’t do him any good if Cutler is on his back. Second, Matt Forte and Chester Taylor are two of the more reliable offensive weapons and need to get involved in the game plan. The Dolphins are No. 6 against the pass but only 16th against the run, so there may be room to operate. If the Dolphins’ offense struggles, which is more than possible, the defense might be left on the field too long and the Bears might find some running room late in the game. Miami has a pair of active safeties in Yeremiah Bell and Chris Clemons, who rank second and third, respectively, in tackles on the team. The defense is not a ball-hawking unit, though. They have just six interceptions on the season, ranking them 26th in the league. But what the Dolphins do best is keep the score low and close. They’re allowing 21.3 points per game, 13th-best in the league. The Bears’ offense is 23rd in points scored.

Advantage: Dolphins

Bears defense vs. Dolphins offense

The Bears have the No. 4 defense according to yards allowed and the No. 2 scoring defense. They’re allowing just 301.9 yards and 16.2 points per game. Lance Briggs, Brian Urlacher, and Julius Peppers are all playing at a high level. Charles Tillman is still punching the ball loose as well as he ever has and Israel Idonije has stepped up and contributed well as the starter opposite Peppers. The Bears will be without linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa, and despite how well he was playing, Nick Roach should step in and do just fine. Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the season is the play of the safeties, Danieal Manning and Chris Harris, the starters for the Bears in Super Bowl XLI. Manning is fourth on the team in tackles with 48. Harris is not too far behind him with 37 and also has two interceptions. He’s been most effective in blitzes and has a good chance to make a play this week against a weakened Dolphins offense. That’s because Miami will be starting its third-string quarterback, Tyler Thigpen. Chad Pennington and Chad Henne both suffered injuries last week against Tennessee and Thigpen had to finish the game. As part of their game plan, the Dolphins will likely institute some of the Wildcat formation, where running backs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams will take snaps from the shotgun formation. There shouldn’t be too much to worry about from that formation. Neither player can throw the ball particularly well and the Bears have great team speed to string out the play. The Dolphins are minus-5 in turnover ratio, which could hurt them in this matchup because of how good the Bears are at taking away the ball. The Bears are second in the league in interceptions and third in fumble recoveries.

Advantage: Bears 

Special Teams

Last week’s special teams effort was about as dominant as we’ve seen the unit perform in a few years. The Bears had the No. 1 special teams during their Super Bowl run, back when Devin Hester was “ridiculous” while setting kick return records. By no coincidence whatsoever, Hester was back returning kickoffs against Minnesota and he gave the Bears great field position all game. Hester had kick returns of 32 and 68 yards and a punt return of 42 yards. If not for a missed field goal by Robbie Gould, the Bears would have had a nearly flawless game on special teams last week. Miami kicker Dan Carpenter leads the NFL with 22 field goals made. He’s converted on 88% of his kicks with a long of 54 yards. Brad Maynard has not had a good season but neither has Miami punter Brandon Fields. Fields has a net average of just 36.5 yards, only slightly better than Maynard’s 34.6. Fields is good at placing his kicks, though, as he’s dropped 16 inside the 20, just one behind Maynard’s 17. Miami’s kick returner, Nolan Carroll, has a return average of just 23.9 yards per return. Punt returner Davone Bess has good speed and quickness but is averaging just 10.8 yards per return. Hester is clearly a better returner than both.

Advantage: Bears

Intangibles

The Bears return to South Beach for the first time since Super Bowl XLI. Hester returns to play in front of his friends and family and I have a strong feeling he’ll put on a show, unless the Dolphins completely kick away from him. Short weeks generally favor the home team because they get to schedule one extra practice while the road team has to travel, but the Bears worked in one last quick practice yesterday before boarding the plane for Miami. I’m not so sure the Dolphins will have any extra advantage aside from the normal home field advantage. The warm Florida climate will make weather a non-factor. The real issues to be determined in this game are the injuries to the Dolphins’ offense. Will Thigpen be able to engineer their offense against one of the best defenses in the league? How will Long’s dislocated shoulder hold up against the fierce pass rush of Peppers? Will the Dolphins’ offense be able to protect the football? Those are the factors that will likely decide the outcome of this game. Last week, I felt that the Vikings would win the game due to the desperation of their situation. It seemed like they would come out swinging with their best effort while their backs were up to the wall and their season was in a dire state. The Bears had no sympathy and summarily dismissed them. The Dolphins find themselves in a similar situation. Two games behind co-division leaders, the Jets and Patriots, and tied with three other AFC teams for a wild card spot, Miami needs this game badly. That alone ought to keep this game close, but I think the Bears pull out the victory.

Advantage: Bears

Final Score: Chicago 20, Miami 17

http://www.bearsbeat.com/

Go back to Bears Fan Spot 

Running Back

Temple

6-0 218

Draft board overall prospect rank: #101

Draft board overall running back rank: #7

Overall rating: 66 (3^rd/4^th round)

40 time: 4.50

Games watched: Ohio/Temple

Positives

·         3 year starter

·         Good production (2009: 1361 yards and 16 touchdowns on 236 carries, 2010: 728 yards and 10 touchdowns on 154 carries, 2011: 1481 yards and 27 touchdowns on 273 carries)

·         Powerful runner

·         Tough to tackle

·         Excellent short yardage back

·         27 touchdowns as a senior in 11 games

·         Good vision

·         Excellent inside runner

·         Instinctive and shifty

·         Good downhill runner

·         Solid 40 (4.50) for his size

·         Good pad level

·         Solid blocker for his age

·         Tough and gritty

·         Played through injury

Negatives

·         Not as fast as his 40 time

·         Not that explosive

·         Not dangerous in space

·         Doesn’t have game breaking speed

·         Subpar outside runner

·         Only 19 catches in 3 years

·         Durability and injury problems

·         A lot of tread on his tires (663 carries in 3 seasons)

·         Level of competition

·         Lack of positional value

NFL Comparison: Cedric Benson

There’s a growing cliché in the NFL that you can find solid tandem/rotational backs in the mid rounds. This cliché is largely true and contributing to the decline of the positional value of the running back position. Pierce looks like one of those solid mid round picks. He’s expected to go in the 3^rd or 4^th round and should be a solid power back at the next level.

He doesn’t have a whole lot of explosiveness or speed to burn and he isn’t going to break the big gain. However, he’s the type of back who will turn a small gain into a medium sized gain and is close to a sure thing on short yardage plays. He had a whopping 27 touchdowns last season in just 11 games. The rest of the team combined for 22 touchdowns. He’s also not much of a pass catcher, but he’s a pretty good blocker for a college kid. He’s also a small school kid with an injury history.

He compares to Cedric Benson. He doesn’t compare as a prospect, obviously, because Benson was a top 5 pick, but he should have a similar career. Benson battled injuries early in his career in Chicago, but resurfaced as a solid, but spectacular back in Cincinnati. Pierce could also have some injury problems in his career, but when healthy, he should be a solid, but unspectacular back. As a lead back, he’d be a pretty cookie cutter 300 carry, 1200 yard back like Benson was in Cincinnati, but he’d probably be best off as part of a running back tandem. The same could have been said about Benson when he was younger.

Brandon Carr is one of, if not the best #2 cornerbacks in the league in Kansas City next to Brandon Flowers. Last season, he allowed a 49.4% completion percentage, 6.5 YPA, 3 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions, good for a QB rating allowed that ranked 5^th best amongst cornerbacks who played more than 75% of their team’s snaps.

However, the Cowboys are paying him to be a #1 cornerback, giving him 5 years, 50.1 million. He’ll replace Terence Newman and while he’s definitely an upgrade over him, he’s still a projection to the #1 cornerback spot so the Cowboys are taking a risk signing him to a huge deal. Johnathan Joseph made the transition well last offseason, but that doesn’t mean Carr will necessarily do the same. I think the Cowboys slightly overpaid giving him more money than Johnathan Joseph and Cortland Finnegan. It’s not like they didn’t have the need though.

Grade: B

Free agency priorities

Wide Receiver

Greg Little has a lot of upside, but he’s raw and didn’t play last season. Other than him, they literally have nothing at wide receiver unless Mohamed Massaquoi can bounce back from a terrible sophmore season. I think they try to add a veteran in free agency.

Offensive Tackle

The right tackle position was a huge hole of theirs last season. I like Jason Pinkston, who they drafted late, but not as a rookie.

Offensive Guard

The right guard position was as big of a hole as right tackle for them last year. They need to keep Colt McCoy upright and they didn’t draft a single player at the position (though late rounder Jason Pinkston can also play guard). Pork Chop Womack is a mediocre player, but resigning him might be their best option at this point.

Safety

They drafted Eric Hagg late with the intention of having him play alongside TJ Ward for the future. However, in the short term, resigning Abram Elam or a similar veteran might be their best move.

Draft Needs 

Wide Receiver

Mohamed Massaquoi led all Browns wide receivers with 483 receiving yards. Their top wide receivers by yardage were as follows, Massaquoi (483), Chansi Stuckey (348), Brian Robiskie (310), Josh Cribbs (292), Sam Aiken (7). There’s a little bit of talent there, but they need to get Colt McCoy a true #1 receiver. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they double dipped at this position early if the draft were to fall the right way.

Drafted Greg Little (#59) 

Defensive End

The Browns are making the move to a 4-3, but they don’t have any 4-3 ends. Great. Besides, they only managed 29 sacks last year anyway.

Drafted Jabaal Sheard (#37) 

Defensive Tackle

Shaun Rogers isn’t a good fit for a 4-3 and with his large salary, he’ll probably be cut this offseason. They’ll need someone inside next to Ahtyba Rubin.

Drafted Phil Taylor (#21) 

Outside Linebacker

Who are their outside linebackers in a 4-3? Chris Gucong? Scott Fujita? Eric Barton and David Bowens if they resign D’Qwell Jackson? Eh, nothing too special there. You can get by with that mix, but there’s no stand out players. Also, only Gucong is under 30.

Resigned D’Qwell Jackson 

Guard

Joe Thomas and Alex Mack are both among the best in their respective positions, left tackle and center. Other than they, they need help on the offensive line, including at guard where they could potentially get 2 upgrades this offseason and at the very least need depth and competition. 

Offensive Tackle

See above. Right tackle John St. Clair isn’t very good.

Drafted Jason Pinkston (#150) 

Middle Linebacker

This is a bigger need if D’Qwell Jackson doesn’t resign. If he leaves, they’re left with David Bowens and Eric Barton inside. Nothing too special, and one or two of them might have to play outside anyway. Both are over 30 as well. 

Cornerback

Sheldon Brown turns 32 in March, which is right about when cornerback start heading south in terms of their abilities. They need to look at potential replacements. The Browns ranked 27th in terms of YPA allowed against the pass, which is skewed by a tough schedule, but still an area in need of improvement. Joe Haden is a definite keeper, but they need one opposite him.

Drafted Buster Skrine (#137) 

Safety

TJ Ward had a good rookie year, but Abram Elam could be upgraded.

Drafted Eric Hagg (#248) 

The Cardinals felt going into the season that the combination of former first round pick Matt Leinart, 2007 Pro Bowler Derek Anderson, and two promising rookies John Skelton and Max Hall would be enough to fill the void of retired future Hall of Famer Kurt Warner at quarterback and that this team would still be able to finish atop the NFC West. Well, they were wrong.

Matt Leinart struggled in the preseason and threw a hissy fit when benched for Derek Anderson. The development of rookies Max Hall and John Skelton in the preseason allowed Arizona to cut Matt Leinart. Leinart was such a hot commodity on the open market that he signed with Houston to be the 3^rd string quarterback behind Matt Schaub and the guy who ran out the back of his own end zone for the 0-16 Lions in 2008.

Anderson started the year at quarterback, but struggled and was benched for Max Hall. Hall led the team to one impressive victory over the Saints, but struggled in the rest of his games and was benched for Derek Anderson. Anderson was fairly mediocre for a few games, before an awful two game stretch from weeks 12-13 where he went 23 for 55 for 189 yards and 2 picks, blew up in a post-game tirade when asked why he was laughing on the sideline in a blowout, and lost consecutive home games to division rivals 27-6 and 19-6. This season just proved that Anderson is a one year wonder and nothing more.

Anderson was then benched for Skelton. Skelton had 3 decent games against crappy defenses and led the team to 2 wins before struggling in the finale and being benched for Richard Bartel (fresh off the practice squad) to deliver a fitting end to the Cardinals’ 2010 season, a 38-7 loss in San Francisco. The Cardinals ended the season 5-11.

Unfortunately, the solution might not be as easy as finding a simply new quarterback. The defense gave up close to a touchdown more in 2010 than they did in 2009 (6.8 more points per game). They ranked 29^th in fewest total yards allowed, 25^th against the pass in terms of YPA, and 20^th against the run in terms of YPC. Their 33 sacks were down 10 sacks from 2009.

Fortunately for the Cardinals, they seem to have the right man at head coach. Ken Whisenhunt, fresh off of back-to-back division titles and a Super Bowl appearance, did a great job of coaching this team. How they won 5 games with the lack of talent they had at the quarterback position and on defense is beyond me. Hopefully this team doesn’t do something stupid and blame the man at the helm because they have a keeper in Whisenhunt as coach. 

Taylor is going to be 31 in the middle of next season, but he doesn’t have a lot of wear and tear on his body with only 1028 career carries (the equivalent of roughly 3.5 years). However, Taylor is nothing but an average running back right now. He and Matt Forte will make a good running back combination and Taylor should also give the Forte that he lacked last year, which could lead to a rebound year for Forte (like drafting Donald Brown did for Joseph Addai in Indy this year). That being said, 4 years is still a long time for a back for 30, so I don’t love this move.

Grade: B+

Guard

Georgia

6-5 310

Draft board overall prospect rank: #87

Draft board overall guard rank: #8

Overall rating: 70 (mid 3rd)

40 time: 5.37 (projected)

3/27/11: There was a time when I really liked Clint Boling. I actually had him as my top rated offensive tackle (this is not a good offensive tackle class) heading into the season. As I started watching him more, it became clear, this guy struggled way too much with speed rushers to be a tackle in the NFL. He wasn’t athletic enough to play tackle and would have to move inside. Measurements at the Senior Bowl confirmed this. He had too short of arms to play outside.

Fortunately for him, he has so much experience at other positions that moving inside wouldn’t be that hard. He’s played tackle for the past 2 years, but he also has experience at guard and has even played some center, not a lot, but some. Guard seems like it’s going to be his position going forward, and he’s done well as a guard this offseason, especially at the Senior Bowl.

He is impressing in workouts and proving what there was never any doubt about, this kid has a good grasp of the fundamentals. He’s a good technician. He’s smart and versatile. He’s problem is, he’s just not that athletic. He’s rising on my board of late and that seems to be the general consensus. He could go in the 2^nd round and is most likely coming off the board in the 3^rd round.

NFL Comparison: Eric Steinbach

Cormac Eklof is an avid New England Patriots fan and creator of ‘Boston Irish’, primarily a Red Sox and Patriots blog.

He has compiled a 129-46 record pitching for the Dublin Hurricanes in the Irish baseball league and has pitched for the Irish National baseball team since 1996. He played three years in the Irish American football league as Quarterback for the DCU Saints, where they never called late hits on the Quarterback. He does not like hard tackling Middle Linebackers.

       Email: cormac.arthur.eklof@gmail.com

       Twitter: http://twitter.com/BostonIrishBlog

       Boston Irish: http://irishbaseballseason.blogspot.com/

It looks very unlikely that Goldson would return to San Francisco in 2011, but his starting opportunities had dwindled to none so he can no choice but to come back to San Francisco on a cheap one year deal, 2 million, and compete for the starting free safety job, one he’ll probably win. He’s familiar with the team and the personnel and is more talented than Reggie Smith and Madieu Williams. 2 million dollars is cheap for a starting safety.

Grade: A

Tulloch must have taken a pay cut to stay in Detroit and play for Jim Schwartz in a wide nine scheme again because 25 million over 5 years with only 11.2 million guaranteed is a steal for a player who ranked 7^th among middle linebackers on ProFootballFocus’ in Detroit’s scheme last season. The Lions did well to bring back 21 of 22 starters from a playoff team (only losing Eric Wright, who was overpaid by Tampa Bay). They’ll need another cornerback through the draft, an upgrade at safety, and some youth on the offensive line, but they’re in good shape for another trip to the playoffs in 2012.

Grade: A