Bears Special Teams Outshine the Rest of the Squad

The Bears' awful, awful performance on Sunday wasn't without a silver lining.

Though the offense and defense combined for hill of beans, the special teams were fantastic. As the one consistent unit for the Bears perhaps we need to look at special teams coordinator Dave Toub for coach of the year. At the very least, he is the best coach that Lovie Smith has hired.

The Seahawks have one of the best return games in the league, leading the league in kick returns. The Bears held them to 52 kick return yards, and negative yardage on punt returns. Leon Washington, the league's best at kickoff returns, couldn't break through the Bears special teams unit. 

Toub's squad also provided the Bears with the bulk of scoring.

Devin Hester had one of his patented punt returns, running the ball back for 89 yards and a touchdown. His run kept the Bears' hopes alive in the final minutes of the game.

Robbie Gould also lent a hand, kicking two field goals. His one misstep was due to the problems of the Bears offensive line. In the fourth quarter, the offense was driving and in field goal territory on third down. Instead of converting a first down or at least standing pat, Cutler was sacked and Gould was forced to try a 54-yard field goal. With the kick beyond Gould's comfort zone, he missed it.

Through six games, the Bears have more than 700 return yards, accrued by Hester, Danieal Manning and Johnny Knox. They are second in the league with punts that hit inside the 20-yard-line. With two touchdowns, Hester leads the league in punt return TDs. By bringing that kind of performance out of his players, Toub shines in the Bears all-star cast of coaches.

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