POMPEI NAILS THE DEFENSE’S SIGNATURE FLAW
In his weekly Tribune film study column, Dan Pompei does not an excellent job with the defense as he points out some deficiencies fans are willing to ignore (specifically at linebacker). His note on the safeties is most worth reading:
Brandon Meriweather‘s big hits are starting to make receivers look twice when they come over the middle, but unless he starts wrapping up, he is going to give up a lot of unnecessary yards.
On DeAngelo Williams‘ 26-yard first-quarter run, Major Wright could have had him after 3 yards and Meriweather could have had him after 12. Both missed. Wright also took a bad angle on Steve Smith after a catch, giving up 9 extra yards.
With the linebackers struggling to stay in their gaps the safeties are under pressure to make tackles. They are not getting the job done. Chris Harris’ return can not come soon enough.
PISA TINOISAMOA WORKING OUT FOR BEARS WEDNESDAY
All of the newspapers are linking to the story but the first place I saw it? Where else but the Twitter feed of Chris Harris:
@pisatinoisamoa@spiceadams Pisa Delivery…
The Bears do not have a viable fourth linebacker on the roster currently and I would think the coaching staff is disappointed with the efforts of their second and third linebackers as well. If the Bears don’t stop the run week-in-and-week-out, with their soft zone secondary, they’ll never hold opponents to less than 450 yards.
THE DEVIN HESTER HALL OF FAME DEBATE IS NO DEBATE
Is Devin Hester a Hall of Famer? This seemed to be a debate throughout the sports media universe in the aftermath of Hester’s record-breaking return touchdown against the Panthers. Troy Aikman, a great player and shit analyst, weighed in:
“I think special teams is every bit as important as the other facets of the game,” Aikman told “The Mully and Hanley Show” on WSCR-AM 670. “This guy has been a dominant player in that regard. He’s been the best there has ever been with the return game. And so I would say yes, he absolutely deserves consideration.”
The Hall of Fame, for any sport, is meant to be a collection of the greatest players. Not the great players. The greatest players. And nobody in the history of professional football has ever returned kicks/punts better than Devin Hester. Think about how many players can make that claim, that no one ever performed their athletic task as well as them. In the NFL currently, only four individuals can work their way into the debate: Ray Lewis, Tony Gonzalez, Ed Reed, Hester. (Brady and Manning have more complicated arguments.)
If Hester retired tomorrow morning (and God willing he will not) he would be inducted into the HOF class five years from now when he became eligible.