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Devin Hester Making a Strong Case for No. 1 Receiver Status
Published: September 25, 2009
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It was a simple catch for Devin Hester to make, but critical.
With two minutes remaining in a 14-14 fourth quarter tie with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bears are facing a 3rd-and-4 from the Pittsburgh 39-yard line.
With one more first down, the Bears will have the ability to pound the football in the middle of the field, run the clock, and put the game on the foot of Robbie Gould, one of the most accurate and clutch field goal kickers in the game.
The Bears start out in a trips bunch formation to the left with Devin Hester, Earl Bennett, and Greg Olsen in tight to the left with Matt Forte in the backfield and Johnny Knox all alone split wide right.
Olsen shifts into the backfield, ostensibly becoming a fullback, and Jay Cutler hikes the ball into a play action fake to Forte.
The Steelers bring pressure from the right side as James Harrison, the 2008 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, breaks right to cover Olsen coming out of the backfield. Bennett streaks up five yards and then out and up 10 yards in a flag route, leaving Hester underneath to take advantage of an outmatched Steelers linebacker for a quick five-yard in.
Cutler rolls slightly to the left and throws it down and in to Hester for the first down.
It’s an unremarkable play only made remarkable by the situation and by the fact that Hester has now made his second clutch third down conversion of the fourth quarter.
The greater significance only comes in the context of looking at Hester’s output thus far into an early season: eight receptions, 111 yards, one touchdown.
Nothing really jumps off the page as being truly remarkable until you realize that seven of his first eight receptions have either been for a first down or a touchdown.
Ladies and gentlemen, that is the epitome of clutch production.
Lost in Cutler’s horrid first outing and the emergence of Knox as a legitimate receiving threat is this—Devin Hester is quietly putting together one of the most productive seasons of any receiver in the NFL.
After a shaky preseason in which he often looked out of place and out of sync with Cutler, he has since emerged looking like, well…the only starting Bears receiver with NFL game experience.
He’s made all the catches: back shoulder leaping grabs for first downs with defenders draped on him, quick hits to the flats in space to put patented moves on solo defenders for extra yards and first downs, straight line fly patterns for touchdowns by simply out-running cornerbacks and safeties—it’s all been on display.
And he hasn’t even had his “breakout” game yet.
The knock on Hester this offseason was that he needs to show the league that he is an every down wide receiver—a go-to guy in clutch situations who can not only run faster than everyone, but can also grasp the subtlety of the playbook by finding empty areas in zone coverage or by simply beating man to man coverage and making the tough catch when yards are needed.
More importantly, he needs to gain the trust of Jay Cutler to do those things.
Judging from his lights out production in the first two games of the season and the fact that the Bears coaching staff called a play for him in the most critical moment with the game on the line, you can tell that trust is emerging from not only his quarterback, but from the entire organization as well.
It’s just the beginning of the year, and it’s impossible to divine the myriad twists and turns of an often confounding NFL season. Plenty of questions will remain for Hester and the Bears until Cutler and he are able to combine for a statement performance that any NFL observer can look at and without hesitation say, “Devin Hester has arrived.”
Until then, Hester is quietly emerging as the textbook definition of a No. 1 receiver.
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
Chicago Bears: Top Five Reasons the 2009 Schedule Isn’t So Easy
Published: June 16, 2009
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Common wisdom says that the Bears should have a go of it this season based on their opponent’s poor winning percentage, or “strength of schedule”, in 2008. The Bears, in fact, post the lowest strength of schedule percentage in the NFL at .414. Which is seriously comforting… if it was still 2008.
The problems with strength of schedule ratings are legion and logically inherent- I need not go into them- but I can break down the top five teams this season that are going to throw off this “easiest” schedule in the NFL nonsense.
My Q&A (OK, OK—Just Q) with Defensive Line Coach Rod Marinelli
Published: May 28, 2009
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Lovie Smith described the off season move for long-time friend and former head coach of the win-less Detroit Lions, Rod Marinelli, as the most important off season acquisition he could have made.
Well, no. Not really—hindsight being 20/20 and all.
With the unexpected acquisition of Jay Cutler having since engulfed all other off season moves—not only for the Bears but arguably for the entire NFL—Rod Marinelli’s role in the Bears’ future success has taken a back seat as far as your average fans are concerned.
However, it has been widely acknowledged internally and by many NFL experts that Rod Marinelli’s return to coaching the defensive line position could still have the greatest influence over the Bears’ ability to make that next step of returning to NFC prominence.
Many fans don’t really know Marinelli’s background and reputation as one of the finest position coaches in the league and are (and I can’t blame them) more than a little underwhelmed by his recent track record as the head coach of the Detroit Lions.
So who is Rod Marinelli and what should Bears nation expect from this legendary (for better and worse) personality? Here’s what I want to know.
1) Tell us how your experiences in Vietnam have shaped your world view. It’s an intense test to pass for any young man- have you taken any of the lessons learned in the military and transferred them to —the football field?
2) What does it mean for you to be re-united with your long time friend and peer, Lovie Smith? What’s your working relationship like?
3) You have a very veteran line this year with Bears—they know the system up and down and there’s nothing new in the way of technique that they haven’t seen before- how do you go about getting better play from them?
4) Can you clear something up for us? Many people think that you have been a defensive coordinator at the professional level, which isn’t actually the case.
You do, however, have extensive experience as an Assistant Head Coach—a responsibility you will resume here in Chicago. What are the responsibilities of an Assistant Head Coach and how do they differ from that of an offensive or defensive coordinator?
5) Two of the top four draft choices this year were defensive linemen- how much influence do you wield personally in draft day decisions when it comes to your defensive line?
6) In your estimation, what will it take from Tommie Harris to regain the form he displayed in ’05 and ’06?
7) How did your experience in Detroit change your coaching philosophy, if at all? What did you learn? Is there anything you would have done differently looking back on it?
8) Which of your young players are you looking to have a quantum leap in production from this year and why?
9) What coaches have you learned the most from and who has most inspired your philosophy and brand of coaching?
10) With all the teams in the NFL currently switching away from the 4-3 defense to play the 3-4, why do you think the Tampa Two derivatives, with the right personnel and executed correctly, can be the most effective scheme in the league?
