Urlacher Calls Out His Defense

Added on Oct 11, 2011 by Scott in

NFL

Bears All-Pro linebacker Brian Urlacher wasted little time voicing what everyone else was thinking after Monday night’s 24-13 loss to the Lions. He called out a defense that allowed 395 yards and a pair of 70-plus yard touchdowns. He trashed a defense ranked 26th in the league. He lambasted a defense that has been shredded in consecutive weeks by rookie Cam Newton and running back Jahvid Best, respectively.

Needless to say, Urlacher is none too pleased with he and his teammates performance through the first five weeks of the season.

“We’re playing like [expletive], that’s what’s going on,” Urlacher said following the Bears’ 24-13 loss to the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Monday night. “We’re not playing good. We’re not disciplined. We’re not into our gaps. We’re not physical. I don’t know how many yards that kid had. He probably didn’t even have 10 carries.”

For the record, Best (the kid) had 12 carries for 163 yards including an 88-yard backbreaking touchdown scamper in the third quarter. Adding insult to insult, they also yielded a 73-yard touchdown catch to Calvin Johnson, in which the monster receiver ran past and over Bears safeties Chris Harris and Brandon Meriweather.

The normally stout defense that propelled Chicago to the NFC Championship game last season has been gashed both on the ground and through the air. Facing the likes of Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers hasn’t helped, but it’s clear that age and a lack of quality depth is being exploited.

Urlacher, Julius Peppers, Lance Briggs and Charles Tillman are all 30 or older. The unit as a whole has registered only nine sacks and four interceptions. A run defense that ranked 2nd in 2010 has given up 100 yards or more in all five games.

Things don’t get any easier for the Bears either. Adrian Peterson, the NFC’s leading rusher, comes to town for Sunday night football this week. Already three games behind in the NFC North, they can ill afford another division defeat.

Source: ESPN.com