3 CHICAGO BEARS
A shaky line puts a return to the playoffs in serious doubt
In few training camps this summer could you make a statement as definitive as this one: The Bears, who reached the NFC Championship Game last season, will go only as far as their offensive tackles will take them.
A defense that was tied for third in the league in turnovers forced, fourth in points allowed and ninth in yards allowed returns nearly intact, with the chief departure being free-agent safety Danieal Manning. On offense, former Cowboys wideouts Roy Williams and Sam Hurd are in, and tight end Greg Olsen is out. Call it a wash. Though Olsen is an offensive weapon in the eyes of most personnel men, coordinator Mike Martz likes his tight ends to serve as extra blockers, not downfield receivers.
Which brings us to quarterback Jay Cutler's brace of 23-year-old personal protectors: 6'8", 333-pound left tackle J'Marcus Webb, a seventh-round pick from West Texas A&M in 2010, and 6'7", 316-pound right tackle Gabe Carimi from Wisconsin, a first-round choice this year. Playing mostly on the right side, Webb was part of a porous (to put it mildly) position in Chicago last season. According to the website ProFootballFocus.com, the Bears' tackles (starters Webb and Frank Omiyale, backups Chris Williams and Kevin Shafer) were responsible for 25 sacks, 10 quarterback hits and 98 hurries—the worst performance in the league.
So in the off-season, line coach Mike Tice went looking for help, and he didn't have to go out of his way to find it. In visits to see his son, Nate, a backup quarterback at Wisconsin, Tice was transfixed by Carimi. "Very, very tough kid," he says. "I knew he'd be able to handle the pressure and the demands of being a tackle in this league right away." Chicago took Carimi with the 29th pick, and Tice immediately envisioned him on the right side instead of the more exposed left, which will lessen expectations on him as a rookie. Martz, after scouting Carimi, said he was "as good a run blocker as I've ever seen come out of college football."
That meant shifting the more athletic Webb to protect Cutler's blind side, even though Webb struggled last season after being picked as a project. "We knew how bad he was going to be early because he had so far to come," says Martz. "And he was terrible early. But he was spiking up in the last eight games. He's more comfortable on the left, a more natural left tackle, so the move was the logical one to us."
In the preseason opener against the Bills, Chicago allowed four first-half sacks, two of which came as Webb struggled to block Buffalo's outside linebacker Shawne Merriman. Afterward, explaining his performance, Webb said he hadn't matched Merriman's intensity. That answer did not sit well with Tice. At all. "He's got to understand we put a world of weight on his shoulders," Tice says. "He needs to step up and play better, and he needs to grow up quicker. He's out on the island with our philosophy this year, hoping that we don't [have to] keep backs in and chip. He needs to buck up."
There's no other way to spin it. Handing the toughest position on the O-line to the 17th tackle taken in the 2010 draft is one of those calculated risks that will keep Tice, Martz, coach Lovie Smith and G.M. Jerry Angelo awake nights until they see Webb do the job well week in and week out this fall. Will Martz help by keeping in extra tight ends? Sure. But there are going to be moments early and often when Webb will find himself one-on-one against some fearsome pass rushers: John Abraham of the Falcons in Week 1, Clay Matthews of the Packers and Jared Allen of the Vikings twice, plus the Eagles' Trent Cole and Kansas City's Tamba Hali. Those five players had 62 sacks among them in 2010—a load for any left tackle, never mind one who's just learning the ropes.
Webb has good feet and a good punch with strong arms. What he doesn't yet do is apply the same effort snap after snap. Against that schedule of sackers, he'll have to.
Webb is a smart kid—Angelo says he scored 1,300 on the SAT out of high school ("That's the old SAT, out of 1,600 points")—who understands what he's facing. "I don't let the pressure get to me," Webb said after the Buffalo debacle. "I focus on improving every practice. I've done that this week after what happened against the Bills. I've blocked it all out after last week's game. I'm operating on Coach Tice's six P's: Perfect Practice Prevents Piss-Poor Performance."
Webb sounds convinced he can shoulder the burden. "When the lights come on and it's time to compete," he said, "I'll be there."
If he's not, it could be lights-out on the Bears' playoff hopes.
PROJECTED LINEUP
WITH 2010 STATS
OFFENSE
2010 Rank: 30
QB JAY CUTLER
ATT 432
COMP 261
PCT 60.4
YARDS 3,274
YD/ATT 7.58
TD 23
INT 16
RATING 86.3
RB MATT FORTE
ATT 237
YARDS 1,069
REC 51
TTD 9
WR JOHNNY KNOX
REC 51
YARDS 960
AVG 18.8
TTD 5
WR EARL BENNETT
REC 46
YARDS 561
AVG 12.2
TTD 3
WR DEVIN HESTER
REC 40
YARDS 475
AVG 11.9
TTD 4
TE KELLEN DAVIS
REC 1
YARDS 19
AVG 19.0
TTD 1
LT J'MARCUS WEBB
G 14
SACKS 10½
HOLD 4
FALSE 2
LG CHRIS WILLIAMS
G 13
SACKS 4½
HOLD 2
FALSE 2
C ROBERTO GARZA
G 14
SACKS 6½
HOLD 4
FALSE 2
RG LANCE LOUIS
G 16
SACKS 1
HOLD 0
FALSE 0
RT GABE CARIMI (R)
G STARTS
13 13
RB MARION BARBER
ATT 113
YARDS 374
REC 11
TTD 4
WR ROY WILLIAMS
REC 37
YARDS 530
AVG 14.3
TTD 5
DEFENSE
2010 Rank: 9
DE ISRAEL IDONIJE
TACKLES 48
SACKS 8
INT 0
DT HENRY MELTON
TACKLES 13
SACKS 2½
INT 0
DT ANTHONY ADAMS
TACKLES 37
SACKS 2
INT 0
DE JULIUS PEPPERS
TACKLES 54
SACKS 8
INT 2
LB LANCE BRIGGS
TACKLES 89
SACKS 2
INT 2
LB BRIAN URLACHER
TACKLES 126
SACKS 4
INT 1
LB NICK ROACH
TACKLES 11
SACKS 0
INT 0
CB TIM JENNINGS
TACKLES 54
SACKS 0
INT 1
SS MAJOR WRIGHT
TACKLES 19
SACKS 0
INT 0
FS CHRIS HARRIS
TACKLES 70
SACKS 0
INT 5
CB CHARLES TILLMAN
TACKLES 82
SACKS 0
INT 5
DB ZACKARY BOWMAN
TACKLES 28
SACKS 0
INT 0
SPECIALISTS
K ROBBIE GOULD
FG 25
FGA 30
XP 35
PTS 110
P ADAM PODLESH
PUNTS 57
GROSS 42.6
NET 37.8
BOLD: Projected starter
Italics:New acquisition
(R) Rookie: College stats
TTD: Total touchdowns
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
SACKS: Sacks allowed
HOLD: Holding penalties
FALSE: False starts
2011 SCHEDULE
2010 RECORD: 11--5
September
11 Atlanta
18 at New Orleans
25 Green Bay
October
2 Carolina
10 at Detroit (Mon)
16 Minnesota
23 Tampa Bay*
30 BYE
November
7 at Philadelphia (Mon)
13 Detroit
20 San Diego
27 at Oakland
December
4 Kansas City
11 at Denver
18 Seattle
25 at Green Bay
January
1 at Minnesota
* in London
COACH: LOVIE SMITH
Age: 53
EIGHTH SEASON WITH THE BEARS (63--49)
A strong and soft-spoken Texan, Smith took his share of criticism in the last four seasons before guiding the Bears to the NFC title game. "He's perfect for us," says linebacker Brian Urlacher. "He knows what buttons to push, and when." Though Smith leaves the offense to coordinator Mike Martz, he isn't afraid to stick his head into Martz's office and tell him what he wants done. Solidly entrenched.
SPOTLIGHT
ROY WILLIAMS, Wide receiver
He entered the league with the Lions as a savior, was traded to the Cowboys as a star and now returns to the NFC North as a failed big-money player trying to revive his career. In 39 games with Dallas over the last two-plus seasons, Williams caught just 93 passes, and there were questions about his hands and his desire. Still, the Bears wanted to provide quarterback Jay Cutler the sort of big target he had in Denver with Brandon Marshall, so they signed the 6'3", 215-pound Williams to a one-year, $2.5 million deal in July after the Cowboys cut him. He didn't get off to the best start: The seventh pick out of Texas in 2004, Williams was made a starter on Day One of training camp, displacing third-year wideout Johnny Knox. But Williams's mediocre conditioning and persistent drops opened the door for Knox to win back his job.
Still, Williams will get more chances with coordinator Mike Martz, under whom he went to the Pro Bowl with the Lions. No Chicago receiver had more than 51 receptions in 2010, and the team was 30th in the NFL in total offense, defying the odds by making it to the NFC Championship Game. And Williams is playing for his future. There's much riding on the outcome of this shotgun marriage—along with improved play from the tackles, Williams's ability to connect with Cutler will determine whether the Bears will be in the playoff hunt again.
PHOTO
DAVID E. KLUTHO (SMITH)
PHOTO
RICHARD A. BRIGHTLY/ICON SMI (WEBB)
A LOT TO HANDLE Chicago is moving Webb, a seventh-round choice in 2010 who had a rough time at right tackle as a rookie, over to the even more critical left side.
PHOTO
SCOTT BOEHM/GETTY IMAGES (WILLIAMS)
