Durkin: 'We're Definitely Underachieving,' Marshall Says
By Dan Durkin-
(CBS) It wasn't supposed to be this way.
After finishing the 2013 season as the league's second-highest scoring team, the Bears felt like their offense was on the cusp of something special. Five games into the 2014 season, they're scoring below the league average and have more turnovers than points in the second half of their last two games.
"We're definitely underachieving," wide receiver Brandon Marshall said. "We have all the talent in the world, we shouldn't be sitting at 2-3."
Yet that's exactly where they sit.
Coach Marc Trestman shared that same sentiment about his offense, which has yet to put together four full quarters of football.
"Obviously we're extremely disappointed," Trestman said. "We haven't even come close to playing the game that we want to play. We've certainly seen a resemblance of the team and the offense we want to become, but we haven't performed at that level and we're honest with ourselves about it."
Were the expectations too high for the offense? Possibly. The Bears have only been in this system for 21 games and are still searching for an identity. However, given how this team has been constructed and where the majority of their financial resources have been allocated, one is left to ponder, if not now, then when?
"The Bears offense, we're getting better, man," Marshall said. "It's not like we've been together nine years. We're not the Saints, we're not those guys, we're not the Atlanta Falcons. So, it's just high expectations when you look at what you have on paper -- the offensive line, Matt Forte, myself, Martellus (Bennett), Alshon Jeffery, we're expected to be a great offense. So, we've just got to go out there and do it."
Injuries have played a part in the collective struggle, affecting overall continuity. When a receiver isn't at full strength, he doesn't get into his route as quick, which requires the line to hold their blocks just a bit longer. When the offensive line is playing with backups, tight ends and running backs are sometimes kept in to help with protection, which takes away from the number of eligible receivers out in routes.
Offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer feels the offense is as healthy as it's been all season and is ready to turn things around.
"It's a combination of 11 guys playing together," Kromer said. "You can see us growing in practice, this week especially. Having all the receivers back healthy, having the guys playing together more, you see an efficiency in the offense this week that you haven't seen in the past weeks."
Injuries are a part of football that every team in the league must deal with throughout the course of the season. What's been inexcusable about the play of the Bears offense so far are the on-field miscommunications, presnap penalties and the back-breaking turnovers in crucial moments. All of those are variables that the team can control and are being focused on in practice.
"There's a lot of pride in that room," Trestman said. "Guys want to do it right. We want to do it for ourselves and for our fans and we're working hard at it."
Dan Durkin covers the Bears for CBSChicago.com and is a frequent contributor to 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter at @djdurkin.
