The Chicago Bears have been one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL this season, and Mike Ditka is the latest to weigh in on their struggles.
Da Coach, who led Da Bears to the NFC Championship Game three times and won Super Bowl XX, is nothing short of disgusted with the defense on this year’s team. Keep in mind that the defense for Ditka’s ’85 Bears is considered one of the best ever.
Ditka provided some commentary on the 3-5 Bears in a column for the Chicago Sun-Times. Here are some of the specific portions ripping the defense.
I think everybody deserves a little bit of the blame. But I think it starts with the fact that they are not a very good team on defense, and that creates a lot of problems for the offense. They consistently put the offense in a position where they have to score to win. Their defense hasn’t been able to stop anybody, that’s for sure.
[…]
It’s the worst defense I’ve seen in a long time. No question about it. I can understand why Dick (Butkus), Dan (Hampton), Doug (Buffone) or any of these guys would be vocal about it. The one constant throughout Bears history has been their defense. You know, in ’63, our defense carried us. We did some good things on offense, but our defense carried us. In ’85 we won a championship — our defense carried us.
Last week Da Coach was ripping the Bears for their lack of leadership, which seemed like a jab at Jay Cutler. Now he’s moved on to a new problem.
It’s a very fair criticism, too. The Bears are 29th in the league in points allowed per game at 27.8, thanks largely to the 51 they just allowed to the Patriots. Beyond that, they also surrendered 38 to Green Bay, 31 to Carolina and 27 to the Dolphins.
But that’s not the only area where they’ve been bad; they’re only averaging 22.5 points per game on offense, which is 20th in the league. For a team that started 2-1 and looked like it was going to live up to expectations, the Bears have certainly gone into the tank. They have to be considered the biggest disappointment in the league.
H/T Shutdown Corner
