In the wake of Sunday’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the source of greatest concern in the Bears’ locker room was not Brian Gowins’ missed 48-yard field goal, but why the game came down to that.
Concerns over the Bears’ inability to finish off an opponent were evident even after the win over Kansas City, in which the true closers were Chiefs coach Gunther Cunningham and quarterback Elvis Grbac. Now, after a defeat in which the Bears failed to hold a 13-0 lead, the questions are becoming more serious.
“Talking to guys after games these two weeks, they’re confused and don’t know what to do,” receiver Curtis Conway said. “We’re beating ourselves. Last week we had (the Chiefs) against the ropes; they didn’t know what we were doing. Same thing this week; they didn’t know what we were doing and we just killed ourselves.”
The worries are on several levels. The Bears have been unable to win a second half, being outscored 28-3 in the second halves of the first two games. They have not been able to regain lost momentum or to maintain it once the element of surprise is lost. The defense allowed 316 second-half yards to Seattle. “We felt like we let it slip away,” defensive end Bryan Robinson said.
The ability to finish is everything. In their 14 wins last season, the Atlanta Falcons were never outscored in a second half. The New York Jets won 10 of their final 11 and were outscored after halftime only once in those 10 wins.
The only area that has managed to come close to finishing opponents so far has been special teams. The miss by interim kicker Gowins was devastating, but not once in the seven previous possessions had Bears special teams allowed Seattle to start from farther out than its own 30. In the first game, Todd Sauerbrun’s punting and Bears coverage finished Kansas City at crucial points.
Two reasons were commonly cited for Bears failures to close in the past. Players said they were leg-weary by the end of Dave Wannstedt’s training camps, leading to fades. There also were instances of coaches coaching not to lose rather than to win, and games slipped away amid the tentativeness.
After four blown leads led to four losses to start last season, the Bears began to finish strong, winning three of the next four games despite leading none of the games at halftime. In Games 5-8 the Bears outscored opponents in every second half. Then, after season-ending injuries to Curtis Enis and Erik Kramer, only once in the final eight games did the Bears outscore an opponent in a second half and they finished 1-7.
The simple answer this year is adjustments: Teams adjust to what Bears are doing. Bears fail to adjust. Bears lose.
Seattle held the Bears to three points and Kansas City shut out the Bears after halftime. Seattle surprised the Bears by running the ball in the third quarter, then hit them twice in the fourth quarter with long scoring passes. Kansas City turned up its blitz pressure against Shane Matthews and pounded him before Cunningham’s play-calling and Grbac’s passing combined to close out the Chiefs.
“Seattle made adjustments after the half and we didn’t adjust to them too well in the second half,” Robinson said.
Opponents have adjusted better than and outplayed the Bears on offense and defense in potential close situations at different points throughout the first two games. They have not been able to sustain early advantages gained on offense in particular.
“We jump out on people, catch them off guard and then they start catching on,” Conway said. “We have to learn how to close out the game. We have some things we can do. We made a lot of mistakes, had some penalties. It’s one thing to come out and catch people off guard and be able to move the ball. The thing we have to do now is be able to move the ball when people know what we’re doing.”
But one solution may lie in another area.
Linebacker Keith Burns earned two Super Bowl rings as a member of the Denver Broncos. He was also a Bronco when they were 7-9 and 8-8, and the difference was more than adjustments, more even than Terrell Davis.
“It was chemistry,” Burns said. “Denver was not always winning when I was there. It was a gradual process. We took our lumps even when (coach Mike) Shanahan first came in because we weren’t able to put teams away.”
The change came, Burns said, when camaraderie off the field began growing into chemistry on it, “knowing that the guy beside you is going to fight with you on every play,” he said. “It carries over.”
The Bears have two new offensive line starters, new quarterback, safety, defensive ends. They have 10 rookies. Players are still learning each other; when that happened in Denver, the confidence that was key to the Broncos’ ability to finish games took off.
Shanahan set the tone when he instituted a preseason Casino Night at his home, with fake money for gambling and prizes for players, coaches and family members. “It wasn’t about going over to his house; it was about letting your hair down–coaches, players, family–in an open atmosphere where everybody is together,” Burns said. “It’s little things like that.”
The first step toward solving the early problems here may already have taken place.
“The good thing about it is that everybody knows that we do need to learn how to close teams out, so that’s a start,” Burns said.
