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Marc Trestman Fails Chicago Bears In Loss To Carolina Panthers

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Marc Trestman Chicago Bears

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It seems hard to point the blame at one particular person when analyzing the Chicago Bears‘ loss to the Carolina Panthers. It’s probably easier for most to point the blame at everybody. This was a complete failure in all aspects of the Bears football team. But when a team fails in all phases like Chicago did on Sunday, the finger needs to be pointed squarely at head coach Marc Trestman. The Bears are an undisciplined football team, and it showed on Sunday.

Special teams continued to be a problem for Chicago. The coverage unit had a complete meltdown covering a first quarter punt. Teddy Williams drilled Panthers return man Philly Brown early, earning a penalty, but no Bear bothered to cover the loose ball. That gave Brown an opportunity to pick up the ball and race 79 yards down the sidelines, giving the Panthers a 7-0 lead.

The Bears recovered nicely. The defense forced a couple turnovers and the offense took advantage of excellent field position, turning those Panthers’ miscues into points and the Bears bounced back to take a 21-7 lead. Any playoff caliber team should have no problems holding onto a two-touchdown lead against a struggling Panthers team, even on the road. What does that make Chicago?

The defense did a terrible job at the end of the half. Cam Newton shredded the defense and drove 75 yards in just 1:39 finding Greg Olsen for a touchdown with just 12 seconds remaining before halftime. The Bears’ offense gained only 22 yards on the opening possession of the second half before punting, and then Newton crafted a 10-play, 86-yard drive to tie the game and erase any momentum the Bears had built in the first half.

Chicago turned the ball over on their final three possessions. The Panthers turned the first two gifts into 10 points and took a 31-24 lead, and the Bears’ final turnover ended the game.

It’s a simple rule in the NFL; you can’t turn the football over and expect to win games. The Bears have lost the turnover battle three times and have lost all three of those games. On the reverse side, they are 2-0 in games where they are a positive in turnover ratio. Unfortunately for Chicago, they have given the ball away 10 times so far this season, which is good for third most in the NFL.

Jay Cutler made some poor decisions with the football, but the offensive line that had performed well over the first four games of the season had major issues against Carolina. The Panthers treated Cutler like a pinata on Sunday, sacking the Bears’ QB four times and hitting him an additional five. We’ve seen this formula plenty of times; if Cutler gets pressured, he makes poor decisions and the whole offense unravels. The Panthers kept pressure on Cutler, and he turned the ball over three times.

It’s easy to blame the defense, and it should shoulder plenty of blame not being able to hold the Panthers’ struggling offense at bay. But when do we start putting blame on Trestman and the offense? This high-powered offense has totaled three second-half points in the last two games. The offense that was supposed to carry the mediocre defense and keep the Bears in the win column currently ranks 17th in the NFL in points per game, hardly impressive.

The Bears’ offense has weapons, but they are being underutilized. Trestman was supposed to harness Cutler’s tremendous talent and he has failed to do so. The Bears have not put together one quality game from start to finish yet this season, and that falls on the coach. Trestman now stands at 10-11 in his first 21 games as Bears head coach. Lovie Smith went 11-10 in his final 21 games as the Bears’ head coach and he was shown the door.

It’s still too early in Phil Emery’s tenure to consider him on the hot seat, and the Bears have committed to Cutler for the foreseeable future. Maybe the Bears need to start taking a longer look at Trestman. He has a four-year contract, and it’s highly doubtful the Bears would ever consider removing a head coach with more than one year on his contract. But the window with this core of talented offensive players is going to close sooner than you think. Perhaps the Bears need to start questioning whether Trestman is the right man for the job.

Bill Zimmerman is a Chicago Bears writer for www.RantSports.Com. Follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.

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