BEARS DEFENSE FALLING APART

[Him8123]

Vasher, Tillman out against pass-happy Lions
DEPLETED 'D' | CBs Vasher, Tillman out against pass-happy Lions

September 26, 2007
BY BRAD BIGGS bbiggs@suntimes.com
Brian Griese isn't the only player who'll make his first start for the Bears on Sunday.

There will be considerably more turnover on defense. A short-handed situation in the secondary, after Nathan Vasher went down Sunday with a partially torn groin muscle, has grown worse with the news that Charles Tillman also is injured. Rookie Trumaine McBride, a seventh-round draft pick, is expected to start in his place.

The Bears will face the pass-happy Detroit Lions, and quite possibly Brett Favre and the undefeated Green Bay Packers the next week, without the cornerback tandem they signed to contract extensions totaling $69.5 million in the offseason. Vasher will be out at least a month, and Tillman is likely to miss two games with a sprained right ankle, which was retaped on the sideline Sunday night against Dallas. A source close to McBride said he's expected to be the first member of the 2007 draft class to start.

Ricky Manning Jr. already was slated to take over for Vasher, and strong safety Adam Archuleta will play with a broken right hand, meaning the entire starting secondary from Week 1 is now injured. Free safety Mike Brown (torn left ACL) is out for the season, and the depleted Bears also could be without defensive tackle Tommie Harris (left knee) and linebacker Lance Briggs (groin) this week.

There are other options in the secondary, but rookie fifth-round pick Corey Graham was not in uniform for the first three games, and veteran Ade Jimoh has participated in only five practices, having been bounced in and out to make room for emergency punter Dirk Johnson. The Bears are considering promoting cornerback Greg Fassitt from the practice squad. A source close to Fassitt said Tuesday evening it was ''50-50'' that the undrafted free agent from Grambling will be signed to a contract.

Backup safety Brandon McGowan has experience covering the slot in the nickel defense. He was guilty of letting Chargers tight end Antonio Gates free for a touchdown on the halfback pass by LaDainian Tomlinson in Week 1. The Bears figure to be in their nickel defense often Sunday. The Lions have five receivers with 10 or more catches, and their pass-to-run ratio is nearly 3 to 1 with Mike Martz at the controls.

''The injuries did pile up, but we still feel like we have some good backups, and we just need to make sure we go out there and play at a high level,'' defensive coordinator Bob Babich said after the game Sunday. ''Whatever happens, we just have to deal with it and go from there.''

[BallHawk]

So far, everything that could of gone wrong for the Bears has gone wrong.

Grossman has sucked
Benson hasn't been able to step into Jones' shoes
The defense isn't playing like they did last year
Injuries
Packers playing well

[Green Bud Packer]

I always hear "injuries are no excuse" but man they sure are a big part of wins and losses.

I know I'm enjoying the Pack's successes and Crytown's woes.

[3irty1]

I can't believe they lost both of their corners... I just don't see how they could possibly win a game right now...

[superfan]

The Super Bowl Loser curse is in full effect.

[Scott Campbell]

Grossman is healthy!

[Jerry Tagge]

The injury excuse is in full force in FIB land.

Of course, when I remind them of all the injuries the Packers had in 2005 or the fact they beat Seattle in the regular season last year 37-6 without Shaun Alexander, I get the "injuries are no excuse" line.

Typical Bears clowns hypocrites.

[b bulldog]

Injuries are a huge factor in the NFL

[cheesner]

Okay. The next two games (Vikes and Bears) are against teams with good run defense and questions in the secondary. The predominance of passing is not going away anytime soon.

[BallHawk]

Injuries are a huge factor in the NFL

Injuries are huge factor in any sport. The NFL and the MLB probably do take the biggest hit, though.

[b bulldog]

I would say that the NFL would be biggest and that is because they have a hard cap.

[VegasPackFan]

This is why team depth is so important. The Bears have had to pay their star D players alot of money over the last few years, and it has a negative effect on a team's ability to have the depth needed to overcome these inevitable injuries. All the money is tied up in starters.

The Pack has done a good job so far overcoming the early season injuries to the O. The team has pretty decent depth.

[b bulldog]

If the packeras lost Barnett,Harris,Woodson and Bigby we would be screwed! No team can lose talented players like the bears have and still be realisticly in the running for a championship.

[HarveyWallbangers]

The problem with the Bears is that they have too many injury prone guys. A lot of these guys get injured every year.

[b bulldog]

Tillman and Brown are definitely proned to injury but Briggs,Vasher and Harris seem to be the average players in regards to injury. They need to move on and find a replacement for Brown and Tillman is too slow to begin with. Teams fall in love with players that tease them. The Packers were that way with david Marin and the biggest tease of all is the glass doll himself, Ben Sheets. Why he is still a brewer is beyond me.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Agreed.

Actually, there aren't that many guys on the Bears now that are injury prone, but that's been their M.O. for awhile. For some reason, it always seems like Mike Brown's loss is devastating to them. Yet, he gets injured most years. They do need a replacement for him.

[VegasPackFan]

It has to be really hard with Brown especially. When that guy is in the game, he does amazing things. He just cannot stay healthy.

How or when do you just decide that a highly talented player just isnt worth it due to injury. Brown is a huge difference maker when he is in there.

[BallHawk]

For some reason, it always seems like Mike Brown's loss is devastating to them. Yet, he gets injured most years. They do need a replacement for him.

They should of picked up Marquand when they had the chance.

:wink:

[b bulldog]

Mike Brown on the Bears=leroy Butler for the packers
I am not a big brewwers fan but why in the hell don't the fans get in an uproar about a guy like sheets. The guy is ALWAYS HURT! I wonder if he can look the brewers brass in the face when he picks up his milion dollar checks?

[MJZiggy]

If the packeras lost Barnett,Harris,Woodson and Bigby we would be screwed! No team can lose talented players like the bears have and still be realisticly in the running for a championship.

The difference is that the Packers have over $10 million in cap room to make some attempt at picking up stopgap replacements and the Bears right now have something like $300K in cap room. Hope that 7th round pick has a good time out there...

[Fritz]

Injuries really do make a difference. But nobody seemed to feel sorry for the Pack in Shermy's last year, which seemed frickin' ridiculous in terms of the number of injuries.

[3irty1]

Glass dolls are a frustrating but accepted part of baseball. Every team has them. Its just part of the game. Pitching a baseball is a very unnatural motion. Eventually guys like Kerry Wood and Mark Prior will prove too fragile to evern rehab completely but Sheets has had a wide variety of fairly freakish injuries. In baseball where money is no object, his salary is a small price to pay for one of the best hooks in the game.

[b bulldog]

Sounds like a homers spin on sheets

[KYPack]

So far, everything that could of gone wrong for the Bears has gone wrong.

Grossman has sucked
Benson hasn't been able to step into Jones' shoes
The defense isn't playing like they did last year
Injuries
Packers playing well

You got it.

The "Nightmare Scenario" is now in play for the Bears.

& I love it.

[Scott Campbell]

The Packer are undefeated at 3-0. Their fans are ecstatic.

The Bears are reeling at 1-2. Their fans are jumping off bridges.

The world is right.

[Patler]

Sounds like a homers spin on sheets

Ben Sheets pitched 4+ years for the Brewers and never missed a start, averaging over six innings per start. He was an absolute horse sucking up innings. His first injury came in 2005, so its really been only the last couple seasons that he has had problems. Sometimes players run through a stretch like that and get over it. Sometimes it continues. Hard to say for sure yet with Sheets. Don't forget, one of the "injuries" was an inner ear infection the doctors couldn't get cleared up and caused vertigo for weeks, keeping him out of the lineup.

If the young pitching comes a long, Sheets could be a prime candidate to be traded.

[Bretsky]

If the packeras lost Barnett,Harris,Woodson and Bigby we would be screwed! No team can lose talented players like the bears have and still be realisticly in the running for a championship.

The difference is that the Packers have over $10 million in cap room to make some attempt at picking up stopgap replacements and the Bears right now have something like $300K in cap room. Hope that 7th round pick has a good time out there...


Care to name anybody out there who would actually warrant much more that minimal wage ? Maybe Cory Dillon if you want an experienced RB.

The 12,000,000 amount doesn't do much more good ths year than sitting on 500G at this point. It's for renegotiation, the future, and front loading .

[Bretsky]

Injuries really do make a difference. But nobody seemed to feel sorry for the Pack in Shermy's last year, which seemed frickin' ridiculous in terms of the number of injuries.



AMEN