Bears still in bad spot
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| Ravens tight end Todd Heap catches a TD pass against the Bears’ Corey Graham (21) and Al Afalava (24) during the first quarter Sunday in Baltimore. (AP) |
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BALTIMORE – If it’s not about the destination but the journey, then the Bears’ adventure to get here confirms what we have suspected for some time: The organization is in its worst spot in more than a decade.
If coach Lovie Smith is planning on making a late push to protect his job, he might want to dust off a new game plan and polish up his best motivational chat. Time is running out in a lost season and Sunday’s 31-7 loss to the Ravens at M & T Bank Stadium was another ugly reminder of all that is wrong.
If Jay Cutler is going to inspire confidence that the one-time Pro Bowl quarterback is the man to build the franchise around, he might want to lead those around him to success for a change as he holds off rookie gunslingers Mark Sanchez and Matthew Stafford for the NFL lead in interceptions.
In a season of lousy outings, Cutler was at his worst and the 21 inches of snow that fell Saturday on Baltimore were no excuse. The playing surface was perfect and Cutler was perfectly awful. He was picked off three more times to give him 25, and the Ravens turned the first two into a 14-0 lead after Joe Flacco tossed two touchdown passes to tight end Todd Heap.
Cutler finished 10-for-27 for 94 yards to give him a career-low passer rating of 7.9, the worst ever by a Ravens’ opponent. He needed to be perfect for an upset of the Ravens (8-6), and the Bears required a better defensive effort than the brutal showing they got as Flacco had career highs in touchdown passes (four) and passer rating (135.6), and Ray Rice ran for 87 yards on 16 carries.
“Hit the reset button or something?” Cutler said. “It would be nice. But we can’t. We’re in the position that we are and we’re responsible for that. I’m responsible for that, but there’s not much we can do but keep fighting and try to salvage something out of it, try to get ready for next year.”
As usual, the Bears (5-9) had a chance to get back in the game. Earl Bennett returned a punt 49 yards for a touchdown to pull within 14-7. That came after they failed with first-and-goal from the 4.
Baltimore led just 14-7 at halftime but needed only five plays to go ahead 21-7 on Flacco’s 32-yard pass to Demetrius Williams to start the third quarter. Then, Johnny Knox fumbled the ensuing kickoff leading to Flacco’s 18-yard scoring pass to Derrick Mason.
Smith said one team looked like it had something to play for, and obviously his team didn’t. That’s what is left as the Bears play out the string against Minnesota and Detroit. All that’s left is speculation on what will become of Smith and his staff and wild reports already are out there.
“You’re never safe in this league especially when you’re losing ballgames or you’re not playing to the level you’re expected to,” Cutler said. “That’s how it goes. That comes with the territory. Everybody understands that.”
The burning question is whether or not the McCaskeys will push the eject button on Smith, who is signed through 2011 with $11 million due.
“I haven’t been concerned about my job security every day I have come to work,” Smith said. “Come to work same way each day, trying to do the best job I possibly can. If you can do that, you don’t think about job security.”
The subject hovers over the locker room and it’s not going to go away with general manager Jerry Angelo passing on the opportunity to give Smith a vote of confidence.
“There is a lot wrong with the whole organization, but it is not Lovie,” center Olin Kreutz said. “You can’t concern yourself with their job, but you can’t help but think about it.
“It has to be fixed from top to bottom,” Kreutz continued. “I have an idea (where it starts), but it’s not my place to say.”
