NFC Central

Sporting News, The, Dec 14, 1998 by John Mullin

A few tips for Lions corners

Not since the days of Hall of Famer Lem Barney have the Lions had this much raw ability roaming in the secondary. The talent is there, but the results are not. Not yet, anyway.

The Lions used their top two picks in 1997 to draft cornerbacks Bryant Westbrook (first round) and Kevin Abrams (second). They then took Terry Fair with their first-round choice this year. Westbrook and Fair are starting, and Abrams is playing nickel back. While their progress has been good, there are several areas in which they need to improve:

* Don't turn in, turn out. Their overall techniques are sound and they've learned to run with receivers and not bite on the double-move routes. There's still a problem, however, when the ball is in the air on deep passes. Westbrook is doing a better job of mining away from the receiver to look for the ball, but Abrams and Fair still get caught turning inside. The resulting contact usually draws a pass interference call.

* Cheat if you must. While Fair and Abrams have gotten better in keeping their hands off receivers, Westbrook still has a reputation as a grabber. "We don't mind if they grab, just don't get caught," defensive coordinator Larry Peccatiello says.

* Be patient and aggressive--and know the difference. The Lions have been burned on several big plays because the youngsters are so eager to make something happen, they leave their zone and responsibility.

Still, the coaches have constantly reminded the young comers to stay in an attack mode, regardless of the consequences.

"We want them to be aggressive," Peccatiello says. "It's not always going to mm out like we have it drawn up, but we want to win our fair share." --Tom Kowalski

Chicago

3-10: 5th

Shrinking offense makes coaches feel the pain

The injuries at quarterback, first to Erik Kramer, then to Moses Moreno, with Steve Stenstrom's sore shoulder thrown into the mix, have imposed limitations on offensive planning. The offense was necessarily scaled down with the dropoff in experience from Kramer to Stenstrom. When Moreno, a rookie, took over after a season of running the scout team, the playbook shrank again. With Moreno's ankle injury, newcomer Jim Miller has been readied as the backup and coaches have given him a repertoire of six plays. Stenstrom, surprisingly, has been given the mandate that if he plays well, he will remain the starter, even when Moreno is healthy. That comes despite coach Dave Wannstedt's earlier statement that Moreno would start for the rest of the season after Stenstrom was benched.... The switch from Moreno to Stenstrom was the Bears' third quarterback change in five games.

SHOTGUN WEDDING: The Bears have run almost 6,000 plays since Wannstedt arrived, all of them with the quarterback directly under center. That could change in 1999, when the Bears begin experimenting with the shotgun formation in their pass offense. The idea was discussed last year but shelved because of uncertainties at center and quarterback. It is a more serious consideration now. Offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh has studied the Denver offense, which uses the shotgun and still operates a form of timing pass similar to what the Bears like to use. And Cavanaugh believes much of the Bears' scheme will work out of the shotgun, too. Coaches see the primary benefit as the quarterback being able to see the pass rash develop. The plan would be to use the shotgun sparingly, in two-minute situations at first, and more often if successful. The coaches believe Kramer, who underwent surgery on his knee and shoulder last week, can operate effectively out of the formation, as can C Casey Wiegmann.

GOAL-LINE STAND: Talk about shotgun formations, personnel moves and other forward-looking topics leads to the conclusion Wannstedt will return as coach next season. But no one, least of all normally incommunicado president Michael McCaskey, is saying anything, even though Wannstedt does not sound like someone playing out the string. If the Bears falter and begin losing badly down the stretch, anything is possible. But they have not quit so far and that has been the saving grace for Wannstedt.--John Mullin

GRADING OUT vs. Minnesota

OFFENSE F

No yards in 2nd quarter is fatal along with inability to answer early Vikings scores.

DEFENSE F

The Vikings romp even without Cris Carter and Jake Reed.

SPECIAL TEAMS C

Not many chances for KO returns, but coverage units contained Vikes returners.

STRATEGY C-

Should the scheme be blamed or is it poor execution?

BEARS

PASSING          Att.      Comp.     Pct.       Yds.      Long

Kramer           250        151      60.4       1823       79t
Stenstrom        110         60      54.5        725       48

PASSING          TD         Int.      Rate      Sacks

Kramer             9          7       83.1        10
Stenstrom          2          4       65.9        13

RUSHING          Att.       Yds.       Avg.        TD

Bennett          153        514        3.4         2
Enis             133        497        3.7         0
Chancey           19         89        4.7         1

RECEIVING        No.        Yds.       Avg.       TD

Engram            53        868       16.4         5
Conway            42        549       13.1         2
Penn              29        427       14.7         3

SCORING          XPM        XPA       FGM         FGA     Pts.

Jaeger            21         22       18          22        75

PUNTING          No.       Yds.       Avg.        Blk.

Horan             51       2130       41.8         0

KO RETURNS       No.       Yds.       Avg.        TD

Milburn           51       1210       23.7        1

PUNT RETURNS     No.       Yds.       Avg.        TD

Milburn          19         256       13.5        1