Nov. 27--The question seemed straightforward enough when Aaron Kromer was asked this week whether the Bears will be able to rejuvenate their vertical passing game Thursday at Detroit.
The offensive coordinator smirked.
"If we can run really fast, yes," he said.
On the surface, it might have seemed like a sarcastic quip. But against the explosive and penetrating Lions defense the Bears will encounter at Ford Field, Kromer simply is thinking practically.
Opportunities to take deep shots just don't materialize often against the Lions, whose energetic and attacking defensive line doesn't allow opposing quarterbacks much time to think or read the field.
Attention Jay Cutler.
"Against a team like this," the Bears quarterback said, "you have to get the ball out."
With that, the stage is set for an NFC North Thanksgiving reunion at Ford Field. The Lions are making a push at winning the division behind their ferocious defense led by Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley and Ziggy Ansah. The Bears, meanwhile, are hoping to keep from drowning with an offense that too often has been rudderless this season.
"We're trying to explode," Bears tight end Martellus Bennett said. "But time's ticking."
And that time may seem be to ticking even faster with the Lions on the prowl Thursday. In a short week without practice and on the road, Cutler and the Bears' offense will face maybe their greatest challenge all season.
For those who thought the big-play fireworks had been restocked in Week 11 against the Vikings when Cutler threw for 330 yards with three touchdown passes, Thursday's festivities at Ford Field may provide a sobering reminder of just how clunky things can get for the Bears when they're forced to construct scoring drives one small piece at a time.
The Lions own the NFL's top rushing defense, rank 10th against the pass and have allowed only three opponents to score more than 21 points all season -- the Panthers, Saints and Patriots.
And while Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw for 349 yards and two touchdowns in last week's 34-9 dismantling of the Lions, Cutler and his supporting cast won't find his formula easy to replicate.
Of Brady's 53 passes Sunday, only two went for more than 20 yards -- both to Rob Gronkowski in a two-minute drill at the end of the first half.
Furthermore, Brady completed just two of the six passes he threw more than 15 yards downfield. And his 38 completions were caught an average of 4.5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
It was a patient, methodical, dink-and-dunk approach that needs to be studied.
But that hasn't been the Bears' forte this season with an offense that has nearly as many turnovers (21) as touchdowns (28), not to mention the 46 penalties they have committed while allowing 27 sacks.
Still, the one-bite-at-a-time approach will be needed and it's something the offense has talked extensively about in the abbreviated time they have had to plan this week.
"You have to break some tackles," Cutler said, "because you're not going to be able to consistently push it down (the field) 15 or 20 yards.
"A lot of things are going to be less than 12 yards, less than 5 yards. So you have to get some catch-and-runs. That's where you're going to get your pushes down the field."
Two weeks ago, the Vikings offered a plethora of one-on-one opportunities for Bears receivers on the outside, stubbornly sticking to their normal defensive philosophies while not zeroing in on other strategies that have corralled the Bears. And with Cutler never sacked that day, receivers Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall combined for 18 catches, 225 yards and three touchdowns.
Those numbers dipped dramatically to six grabs and 54 yards in Sunday's victory over the Bucs as the Bears again sputtered early and regressed as a whole, averaging just 3.6 yards per play and 15 yards per drive in their second consecutive triumph.
Simply put, the Bears haven't been polished enough on offense to be efficient. And they're now in the middle of a five-game funk in which they have scored just 21 points on 29 first-half possessions.
Getting things together at this stage of the season won't be easy. And the degree of difficulty only will elevate with the disruptive nature of the Lions' defense.
dwiederer@tribpub.com
Twitter @danwiederer
