If the Bears’ offense has to get worse before it gets better, it is in good shape after the first quarter of the season.
Last year it finished as the worst in the league. This year’s pace is even slower. With quarterback Rex Grossman starting the first three games and Jonathan Quinn the fourth last season, the Bears had scored 74 points during their 1-3 start.
This year they have scored only 61 in their 1-3 start.
Last year they ranked 20th in total offensive yards and passing yards after four games; this year it’s 27th and 30th.
Last year it was 5.1 yards per play; this year it’s 4.2.
Last year Thomas Jones led Bears scorers with four touchdowns; this year it’s the same.
Last year the Bears were passing for 192.5 yards a game; this year it’s 128.3.
Last year David Terrell had 267 yards receiving on 16 catches; this year Muhsin Muhammad has 250 on 22 catches.
There is improvement in rushing yardage by 5 yards a game, from 122 to 127.5.
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Not an easy task
Bears rookies Kyle Orton, Cedric Benson and Mark Bradley are expected to start Sunday at quarterback, running back and wide receiver, respectively. This might be unprecedented for the Bears, and it is unusual in the NFL. The last time it happened was Dec. 5 when Arizona Cardinals quarterback John Navarre, running back Larry Croom and receiver Larry Fitzgerald lined up as rookies against the Detroit Lions.
The Cardinals lost 26-12, and it was the only game Navarre and Croom started.
Penalties up
With penalties up all around the league, the Bears are performing similarly to last season. Last year the Bears tied for fourth-most-penalized team in the league. After four games, they had committed 29 penalties. This season the Bears have committed 28. But penalty yardage is up, from 247 to 271, so the players have committed more serious infractions.
Many more flags
There were 246 penalties in the 14 games last week, led by the Baltimore Ravens with 21 penalties against the Lions, one short of the league record. The Oakland Raiders, notorious for penalties, didn’t even play.
Through five games, teams are averaging a record 37 penalties for 292 yards. Last season at the same point the numbers were 33.5 and 273.
The Ravens drew four unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties and had two players ejected, Terrell Suggs and B.J. Ward, Suggs for bumping referee Mike Carey.
“Usually after our game, equipment people have to redo jerseys and sew them up and fix them,” Lions coach Steve Mariucci said. “Typically, three or four jerseys get fixed. [We had to fix] 19 jerseys [Sunday]. Our equipment guys were here late sewing up jerseys. We had to throw some out they were ripped up so much. It was just a physical game. Guys were fighting in there.”
Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher, co-chairman of the league’s competition committee, said: “I don’t think right now there is a respect for the game around the league in those instances you see. It’s hard to understand. When you have a weekend like we had where you have ejections and those things, everybody is aware of it.”
League officials are monitoring the situation but say it’s too early to call it a trend. There are three areas of increased emphasis–illegal blocks in the back, offensive pass interference and offensive holding. Fisher said he hasn’t seen a breakdown by penalty but senses there are more special-teams penalties.
“These games are close,” Fisher said. “I know the passing yards are up, scoring’s down, rushing’s down, the games are close. And we’re putting great emphasis on special teams, and when you do that and you put younger players on special teams, they’re going to grab a jersey or push somebody in the back, and that’s another area where we’re seeing an increase.”
Dilfer tour continues
Last week Cleveland quarterback Trent Dilfer got payback against Bears general manager Jerry Angelo, who was in charge of player personnel for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they let Dilfer go.
This week Dilfer gets his first shot at Baltimore coach Brian Billick, who won the Super Bowl after the 2000 season with Dilfer only to let him go in favor of Elvis Grbac.
“Trent looks great,” Billick said. “I have not seen Trent throw this well in a long time. He’s efficient. He has a complete grasp of the offense.”
Billick defended his move by reminding that the Ravens finished 10-6 with Grbac, reached the division round of the playoffs and had their highest offensive ranking in the Billick regime at No. 14, up two spots from their ranking of No. 16 with Dilfer.
After the Ravens signed Grbac, Dilfer was left hanging until August, when he signed with Seattle. So he is eager to face Billick.
“Put yourself in my shoes,” Dilfer said upon joining the Browns in March. “What does that do to your self-esteem? If you’re a teenage girl, you don’t want to have that happen to you.”
This week, Dilfer said, “I never thought they wouldn’t [bring me back], until I found out they were talking to Grbac and [Brad] Johnson. It was a shocker to me. And nobody called me. The only person who called me was Matt Cavanaugh, the coordinator, who let me know what was going on.”
Patriot TV deal
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft continues to come up with new ways to produce revenue he doesn’t have to share with fellow owners. The team has just launched its own TV network without owning a TV station.
“We’re calling it the Patriots Virtual Network,” club President Jonathan Kraft said. “It was launched in conjunction with Comcast and the NFL Network and it’s called Patriots on Demand.
“The league decided the teams shouldn’t be building individual linear channels but they had no problem with teams doing virtual networks under the NFL Network on Demand umbrella.”
The network includes a daily “Patriots Video News” show, locker-room interviews, coach Bill Belichick’s news conferences, four shows produced by the team that run on local TV stations first as well as other team-produced programming such as player profiles, cheerleader tryouts and the making of the annual swimsuit calendar. It also will include exclusive access to ring ceremonies, the draft and the team’s charity golf tournament.
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Rookie kickers
The New York Jets spent their second-round draft choice on Ohio State kicker Mike Nugent. He missed field-goal attempts from 40 and 48 yards last week against Tampa Bay and is 4 of 7 as a pro.
Are the Jets concerned?
“I think you have to be,” general manager Terry Bradway said.
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