Conventional wisdom (and being conventional in the NFL is death) is that you blitz a rookie quarterback, which the Seattle Seahawks have in Russell Wilson from Wisconsin.
But part of convention also is to blitz a struggling offensive line, which the Bears arent exactly, just one with potentially three starters next Sunday who werent in those positions nine days ago.
The intention is to force quick and multiple decisions by a group still in a molten state. With Gabe Carimi and Edwin Williams at guard (assuming Chris Spencers knee is not sound enough for a full game) and Jonathan Scott at right tackle, causing upheaval in protection schemes and ensuing assaults on Jay Cutler simply makes sense. The Bears are still 32nd in passing yardage, 30th in yards per pass play and 32nd in sacks per pass play.
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But heres the problem for Seattle, ranked third defensively in passing yards allowed and seventh in sacks per pass play:
The Bears are 10th in rushing yards and the Seahawks are bad against the run (26th in yards per attempt). But it goes deeper than that.
Consider this assessment by Danny ONeil, Seahawks beat writer for the Seattle Times:
When Frank Gore rushed for 92 yards in the second half of Seattle's loss at San Francisco last month, it was chalked up to scheme. The 49ers ran a trap play that Seattle didn't adjust to adequately. When Adrian Peterson gained 182 yards on the ground two weeks later, it was a testament to Peterson's MVP-caliber comeback. But when Miami gains 189 yards on the ground? Well, that's a pretty sure sign of a serious problem. The Dolphins hadn't rushed for more than 100 yards in a game as a team since September yet Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas averaged more than 6 yards per carry against the Seahawks.
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Pass blocking is defensive by nature; run blocking is offensive. For a Bears offensive line still coming together, a smash-mouth game plan plays into its strength as well as protects the less experienced.
Danny goes into some detail on the specifics of the decline in Seattles run defense. Then he points to a situation that further suggests if you just stay close to the Seahawks, they will crack.
No defense for the fourth quarter
Seattle is now batting .400 when it needs one stop to seal the game or force overtime. That's a great average in baseball, but it might turn out costing the Seahawks a playoff berth. Seattle's defense has given up a game-winning score in the final 5 minutes of its losses at Arizona, at Detroit and now at Miami. The Seahawks did manage to shut the door on New England and Carolina, but if coffee were for closersthen the Seahawks are sipping on tea.
And if anybody with any connection to Seattle isnt doing coffee, somethings already wrong.