Off Topic » Whether it’s due to a leaking defense or quarterback

Trubisky‘s ill-advised throws into pass coverage Zach Gentry Jersey , the Chicago Bears are in need of a confidence infusion.Playing a 3-4 New York Jets team with its own struggles could go a long way in solving this, but the 3-3 Bears say they’ve reached a point where they’re only concerned with what they control in their search for answers.“We can’t dwell on the past,” linebacker Danny Trevathan said. “We’ve just got to keep moving forward. It’s a long season. We’re not in a bad situation.”It could be a better situation if the defense regains its swagger. Two straight losses and 69 total points allowed put the defense on its heels.“A lot of guys are probably a little down today, probably are disappointed but not discouraged,” cornerback Prince Amukamara said. “We know that we’re a team that’s going to continue to fight.”Players had a talk from defensive coordinator Vic Fangio aimed at keeping up spirits.“So right now we’ve just got to continue to build off that and don’t let the confidence and swagger go away because that’s when things really get bad for us,” safety Eddie Jackson said.The defense can trace its downfall to Khalil Mack‘s ankle injury. Although he has continued playing, he hasn’t been the same force as in the first four games.Mack couldn’t practice Wednesday, and coach Matt Nagy said it’s likely Mack will take the same route as last week when he rested Wednesday and Thursday, practiced on a limited basis Friday and then played.“We’ve got to pick up the slack,” Trevathan said.Chicago’s defense is now ranked No. 12 after being in the top five much of the season’s first quarter. The Bears are eighth in sacks (19) after leading through four games.“It plays its part,” Jackson said of Mack’s injury. “It definitely plays its part, especially when a guy like Mack when he’s out.”The Bears were hardly a poor pass rushing team before Mack came via trade from Oakland. They tied for seventh in sacks with 42 last year and played the same defense under Fangio with virtually all of the same players.So they say getting pressure on Jets rookie quarterback Sam Darnold Sunday with Mack limited shouldn’t be considered impossible.“It’s a team, it’s 11 guys on the defensive side of the ball,” Jackson said. “So when a guy like (Mack) goes out, we’ve got to put him on our back and just show him, like, it’s not just you, it’s going to be all of us.”Offensively Joey Bosa Jersey , Trubisky and the passing game could benefit if the Bears begin to run the ball more effectively. Their ranking as the sixth-best rushing team is deceiving because Trubisky has accounted for 245 yards, mostly on scrambles.Jordan Howard averages 3.5 yards and has 90 carries, but last year after six games under former coach John Fox he was averaging 4.2 yards a carry and ran 28 more times. The effect of a struggling running attack has been apparent when the Bears had leads against the Dolphins and Patriots before losing.“We need to finish,” guard Kyle Long said. “We’ve had leads in all of (the losses) and we haven’t been able to score more points to extend the lead on offense.”Nagy called a better running attack a matter of timing up the blocks in a new offense.“All of it, the guys are trying, and I know our numbers are skewed a little bit from the quarterback runs, but for the most part we feel like we need to create more of an identity there,” Nagy said of the running attack.Trubisky looked at the positive side of the passing game. The Bears scored 31 even while he spent much of the time scrambling and throwing on the run, so if they can complete some from the pocket they’ll be ahead of the game.“Basically as how I described it, as playing backyard football, me running around just trying to find completions and not being very sound with my footwork and drop-backs,” Trubisky said.With Kansas City last year as offensive coordinator, Nagy went through a much worse stretch with six losses in seven games before the Chiefs made the playoffs.“There was never any panic, never,” Nagy said. “There is not going to be any panic here, either.”Nagy pointed out the Bears also won three straight earlier.“Good people stick together,” Nagy said. “They rally through this kind of stuff and you just keep playing.”NOTES: Wide receiver Allen Robinson (groin) did not practice. Robinson in Sunday’s game aggravated the injury he suffered two weeks ago. … Guard Eric Kush (neck) did not practice. Cornerback Marcus Cooper (hamstring) had limited participation in practice. … Linebacker Roquan Smith has been listed by the Bears as suffering from a wrist injury, but he was able to practice Wednesday. Sean Payton despises the term “Black Monday.” And he’s one of the coaches who always survives it.Six head coaches were fired as the NFL season concluded Nick Bosa Jersey , four of them on Monday. Two, Mike McCarthy in Green Bay and Hue Jackson in Cleveland, didn’t even make it that far.Saints coach Payton, finishing his 13th season in New Orleans and now owning the second-longest tenure with a team after Cincinnati fired Marvin Lewis , had some strong words about how the coaching carousel gets derailed every year.“Our owners’ network that they own have created this,” Payton said, referring to NFL Network that is owned by the league, “marketed this and sold this ‘Black Monday,’ and that’s just disappointing.”In reference to Lewis, who was with the Bengals since 2003, but went an all-time worst 0-7 in the playoffs, Payton added: “He’s been a fabulous coach, but I don’t want to comment on anyone or all of them (who were fired).”He added that the whole Black Monday scene, which some media outlets promote the way they do actual competition, is “ridiculous.”Payton and every other coach in pro sports recognize that change is understandable and at times necessary. As long as it is thought out and includes a plan for the future, revision can make sense.When it’s more on an owner’s whim or due to some serious impatience, that’s another story.Steve Wilks , fired after a 3-13 record in his first — and only — season in Arizona L.J. Collier Jersey , might be a case in point. Had Bruce Arians not retired, he still would have been with the Cardinals, but Wilks was a hot candidate for several openings last offseason following his work as Carolina’s defensive coordinator. Barring a full-out revolt by the players, as happened with Ben McAdoo and the Giants in 2017, how is one year enough to judge a head coach’s capabilities?Also fired on Monday were Vance Joseph in Denver and Adam Gase in Miami. On Sunday night, Todd Bowles with the Jets and Dirk Koetter with the Bucs were let go.A year ago, Indianapolis, Tennessee, Oakland, Detroit, Chicago, Arizona and the New York Giants made changes. That’s 14 franchises out of 32 with different head coaches since 2016. The Cardinals and Giants will have had three coaches from 2016-19.Also taking a hit has been the NFL’s initiative on diversity in coaching. The Rooney Rule is exemplary in purpose, though it sometimes gets criticized for how it is implemented.Of the eight head men released, only Koetter, Gase and McCarthy are not minorities. Just three minority head coaches remain: Ron Rivera with the Panthers, Anthony Lynn with the Chargers, and Mike Tomlin with the Steelers.Impatience by owners can’t be blamed for the moves by the Bengals or Jets, both clearly on a downward spiral.Otherwise http://www.seahawksauthorizedshops.com/authentic-marquise-blair-jersey , well, it normally takes at the very least three years for a coach’s program to take root. Joseph got two, Gase got three injury-ravaged years, and Koetter also got three.Jackson simply lost too often, particularly with a vastly improved roster early this season, to remain on the job.McCarthy, a Super Bowl winner, had seen things go stale in Green Bay, and he often has been blamed for the Packers getting to just the one Super Bowl with a generational quarterback, Aaron Rodgers.Still, the word stability seems to have been dropped from owners’ dictionaries. They give lip service to wanting to be like the Patriots, Saints or Seahawks.Then, if things turn sour for one season, they begin wondering if the right people are in place. Imagine if John Mara had done that with Tom Coughlin before the 2007 or 2011 seasons, when fans and media were calling for the coach’s removal.Yet, we hear things like this from Broncos boss John Elway:— “Vance made a lot of strides and deserves credit for how hard and competitively the team played this season. There’s always going to be a high standard here. The bottom line is we need to win more football games. We’re excited about the foundation that’s being built and look forward to putting in the work to get the Broncos back on the winning track.”In most places, that winning track has lots of potholes. Not many coaches get the opportunity to navigate around them.