For this week's edition of "Behind Enemy Lines," we found some guy named Wiederer. Says he used to cover the Vikings back when Leslie Frazier, the Tampa 2 and Christian Ponder were 10-6 and not thought of as Larry, Curly and Moe. Dan, I think it is. Old @StribDW — which allegedly caused one co-worker to ask "What's the DW stand for?" roughly one year into Dan's 28-game Minneapolis layover – now covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune.
We threw five questions at him as the Vikings get ready to play the Bears in Chicago on Sunday. Here goes:
From your observations this season, does Jared Allen have anything left in that 32-year-old body?
A: "That's the million-dollar question here, or however many millions they paid him back in March. I don't know. Jared's only got 1 ½ sacks in eight games. He had that setback with pneumonia that kept him out of the Packers game in Week 4. And I would say he was 75 percent the next week when he played through it at Carolina. But eight games in and 1 ½ sacks? It sure seems like it's not all there. Now, to be fair, it didn't seem like it was all there last year for [Julius] Peppers and he's having an OK year in Green Bay. So sometimes you wonder about this defensive system and whether players are being put in the right calls to do what they do best. … It's also worth pointing out that the Bears played a bunch of read option quarterbacks early in the year, where basically the D-line's responsibilities were to make sure they kept contain. You have to be a little bit more restrained with your pass rush in that case. So you can't do what Jared likes to do, which is pin your ears back and go, which would give these quarterbacks a running lane. So there were games where they were so much more cautious and measured with their rush. So I think there is some of that. … Jared has seemed slower at times. And he's admitted that whether it's technique or something else, he's needing to find a way to get home a half-step quicker. Also, this team is built to play from ahead. They were supposed to have an explosive offense and be in games where they could turn the pass rush loose with a lead in the fourth quarter. But they haven't had a lead since Week 6. Not even for a second. So all of a sudden, that changes things as well. I don't want to take Jared off the hook too much for his lack of production. Certainly there are signs of age. He needs to be better."
We've never heard of a team doing something so poorly that it gets compared to a stat from 1923. Giving up 50 points in back-to-back games made the Bears the first team to do that since the 1923 Rochester Jeffersons. How horrendous is this defense?
A: "They have been horrendous. No way around it. You take the Patriots game and the first half of the Packers game, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers had a combined 11 touchdown passes and 11 incompletions. Chew on that stat for a minute. The Bears were atrocious. Those are two great quarterbacks, but nobody is that good. Blown assignments, discipline problems. The Bears had the worst defense in franchise history last year and they're no better this year. … People in the fan base want [defensive coordinator Mel] Tucker gone yesterday. They'll put the moving van out in front of Halas Hall ready to take him wherever he needs to go. So we'll see just how long Mel lasts. … I think it will be gut-check time Sunday to see how many guys have just folded it in and aren't entirely invested with their heart this week. If that's the case, the Vikings will win by 15 or 20 points and there will be boo birds from start to finish. The Bears certainly have enough talent to beat a team like the Vikings. I don't think they'll be intimidated by the offense they're facing. But after watching the last two weeks, you cannot predict anything but a gloomy, dim forecast. It's hard to pick the Bears after what they've shown really for three weeks. That loss to the Dolphins in Week 7 was bad, too."
Yeah, Marc Trestman is only in his second season as Bears coach. But is there a chance he doesn't survive this season?
A: "Definitely a chance now. If you had asked me that going into the bye week, I would have said no. Certainly this organization doesn't knee-jerk with that kind of decision. But the way these last two losses have been, you get a couple more uncompetitive blowouts and who knows? People say, `What record does he need to keep his job?' Our argument isn't about the final record, it's how they get there. If you lost to the Patriots and Packers and it was by two or three points, people would say, `OK, those are two better teams. Now, we have a winnable stretch with five of the next six games at home.' But the Bears just got their doors blown off and they're not anywhere near competitive. And you get zero sense that they're on the verge of turning the corner. To come out after the bye week and have zero answers, I think that's the most discouraging part – even for the coaching staff and the players."
