Next Stretch Of Games Crucial For Bears

Sunday night's 17-3 sack-fest left most of us Bears fans scrambling for answers. Scrambling like our quarterbacks were all game. My favorite part of this mess was reading all of the possible explanations and opinions about how this record setting night occurred. You don't see nine sacks in a half every day. In fact, we'd never seen nine sacks in a half before Sunday.
A poll asked the simple question, Who is to blame for the Bears lack of protection?
A) Jay Cutler
B) The Offensive Line
C) The Coaching Staff
Personally, I'd like to add:
D) The Athleticism of the Giant's D-Line
E) All of the Above
I'm going with option E. If studying history has taught me anything, it's that an event usually cannot be attributed to a single factor, but rather, a multitude of factors.

So Kurt Warner took a break from dancing lessons to tell Jay Cutler he can't hang on to the ball as long as he did. Mike Ditka also chimed in, telling Cutler to get rid of the ball. Ditka is and has been the end all-be all of Bears analysis ever since he won the Super Bowl. I wish I was old enough to vividly remember when he was coaching the Saints. I bet the press was asking him about Bears related issues then too.
Fans have resorted to the familiar "Fire Lovie," and "Our O-Line Sucks" sentiments.
The sad fact is that all of these factors did contribute to the Bears' dismal night. Cutler held on to the ball way too long. The offensive line couldn't match the quickness and athleticism of the Giants D-Line, just like they couldn't in Dallas. It scares me to think of how they'll do against the Vikings and Jets. And while the coaching staff made adjustments in the second half, they didn't work.
This is a bad position to be in. Usually when something goes wrong with a good team (I'm of course grasping on to the notion that the Bears are still a good team), there's one or two obvious flaws that can be easily corrected in practice. Right now, our main problems are physical, which we can't really correct. And in Cutler's case, mental. I don't even want to speculate about what's going on in his head, especially after a concussion.
Fortunately for the Bears, their upcoming string of opponents have just as many problems, if not more than we do, starting with the Panthers.
Carolina is in complete disarray. They got rid of Jake Delhomme in the offseason, and handed four year veteran Matt Moore the starting quarterback job. After going 0-2 and completing only 40.8 percent of his passes, second round pick Jimmy Clausen was made the starter.
An already weak receiving core will be even weaker come Sunday. Steve Smith is expected to miss the game with an ankle injury, and Dwayne Jarrett was cut today after his second DWI arrest in less than three years.
The Panthers have also had trouble getting their running game going, which was expected to be their greatest strength coming into the season. Both DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart are capable of being the feature back, but have generally been ineffective while splitting time. The two have combined for 355 rushing yards and two touchdowns this season.
The Bears should have another stellar defensive performance, the question, as always, is if they will be able to move the ball and score. While the Panthers defense hasn't been spectacular, they've been better than their 0-4 record might indicate.
The Panthers game marks a stretch of four winnable games on the Bears schedule. Following Carolina, they have the Seahawks and Redskins at home, and after their Week 8 bye, the Bills in Toronto. If the Bears are able to take 3 of these 4, which they probably should, they'll put themselves in solid playoff contention. Their remaining eight games are much more difficult, but they would probably only need to win half of them.
Let's take baby steps. While the Bears protection still won't look good next week, hopefully they can eliminate one of the factors that plagued them in the Giants game. Whether it be a quicker release from Cutler, or dealing with the quicker ends.
Here's to hoping the factor is E) All of the Above.