The Chicago Bears had eight false starts on Monday night, which is more than 25 teams have committed all season.
Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times breaks down the ridiculous stat from a variety of ugly angles. Chicago has 17 false starts on the year; Seattle is next worst with 12. Three of the Bears games have been at home.
Two of the Bears players (J’Marcus Webb and Frank Omiyale) have more false starts than 12 teams.
The stat raises a larger point: Chicago has no foundation from which to build a good team. Mike Martz refuses to bring in extra blockers to protect Jay Cutler. The whole operation looks unprofessional.
Everything on offense is hoping for Jay Cutler to make a play; the opposite of what Martz intends. The receivers are not precise with their routes (Roy Williams, Devin Hester) or too young to handle a big role (Dane Sanzenbacher.) Even when Cutler plays great like Monday night, the team only scores 13 points. Run-blocking well the last two weeks is not enough.
The situation looks especially hopeless because the defense is ordinary. Remember: The Bears only beat Carolina at home because of Hester on special teams. The Bears defense kept giving up big plays to Carolina, just like they did to Detroit Monday. They are 29th in yards allowed and 17th in points allowed.
The safety play, led by free agent pickup Brandon Meriweather, has been miserable.
The Bears have played some of the best offenses in the league, but in the past the Bears defense would have been able to slow them down.