Anatomy of a Drive: Bears Make Long March to the End Zone

Of the many failings the Bears have on offense, their minuscule numbers on time of possession may be the most indicative of the all of the rest of their problems. Lack of time with the ball results from an inability to get first downs and severely hampers scoring efforts. Not only that, it requires the defense to spend too much time on the field.

The Bears have relied entirely too much on big plays to get in the end zone, but for one lovely drive on Sunday, they took their time marching to the endzone. Here's how it went:

C. Taylor rushed to the right for 1 yard gain -- In his first carry of the game, Taylor was stopped quickly.
J. Cutler rushed to the right for 18 yard gain -- Well, would you look at that? Cutler can run, and run for a first down. He's never been known as a rusher, but he picked up 39 yards on the ground against the Bills.
J. Cutler passed to E. Bennett to the left for 10 yard gain -- After a short Taylor gain, Cutler found Bennett on a slant. The Bills were blitzing, but Cutler stayed calm and quickly got rid of the ball, getting his team a first down.
J. Cutler incomplete pass to the right -- Cutler rolled out and should have hit an open Devin Aromashodu. Instead, he sent the ball wide of Aromashodu, wasting an opportunity for a first down and maybe more.
J. Cutler passed to M. Forte to the right for 6 yard gain -- Forte caught a quick screen from Cutler and ran to the outside before he was taken down just short of the first down. Both Forte and Taylor had a prominent role in this drive.
J. Cutler passed to J. Knox to the right for 24 yard gain -- The Bears converted a third down! Normally, that wouldn't be the cause of celebration, but considering that the Bears do that only about 23 percent of the time, it's worth an exclamation point or two.
D. Hester rushed to the left for 1 yard loss -- See that? It's why Hester is a receiver who works better as a downfield receiver than a backfield runner.
C. Taylor rushed to the left for 4 yard gain -- And that's why Taylor is a running back. He was hit near the line of scrimmage, but kept moving and fell forward to pick up a gain.
J. Cutler passed to C. Taylor to the right for 14 yard gain -- Taylor brought the Bears in striking distance of the end zone with a short pass and a big run.
Chicago committed 5 yard penalty -- But then Greg Olsen moved them back with a false start.
J. Cutler incomplete pass to the right -- A scrambling Cutler overthrew Olsen in the end zone. Cutler was 17 for 30 on Sunday, and this was one of those times he should have easily hit his receiver.
J. Cutler passed to M. Forte down the middle for 5 yard gain -- Forte has been a versatile player for the Bears, and he showed that again by taking a shovel pass closer to the end zone.
J. Cutler passed to G. Olsen down the middle for 4 yard touchdown. R. Gould made PAT -- Olsen finally made a dent on the Bears offense by grabbing a touchdown in traffic. Still, there appeared to be confusion on the play as Olsen and Bennett were in the same place.

The 14-drive play took eight minutes, giving the defense a prolonged break. The drive was not perfect, as Cutler had problems connecting with his receivers twice. However, tt allowed the Bears to show off some versatility, and was devoid of any complicated plays. In short, it's the exact sort of offense that the Bears should run every week.