DS Talk » l of the season But he could no

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - Their offence is underperforming. Their defence is not delivering. Their coach is coming under criticism, too.No matter how ugly things look at the moment, general manager Phil Emery and coach Marc Trestman insist the Chicago Bears can turn around their season.It will take quite a shift.The Bears are 3-5 with a bye this week after brutal losses to Miami and New England, and they are fading fast in a season in which they were eyeing a run to the playoffs.Jay Cutler still is making questionable decisions at inopportune times. An offence that ranked among the best in franchise history in Trestmans first season has been a disappointment in Year 2. The rebuilt defence hasnt delivered the way the Bears hoped. Special teams are struggling, and Trestmans grip on the locker room is in question.Im not going to play self-defence here, Trestman said. But if you look at how the team has responded to adversity after Buffalo, into our next game against San Francisco, after (the loss at Carolina) into Atlanta, I think they have continued to respond for us, for themselves, as much as anything. Were on a two-game slide, theres no doubt about it. Were not comfortable with the way weve played. Coming out of Atlanta, we thought we were headed in the right direction.I think this team is strong internally, I think theyve got great heart, he continued. I think theyll come back ready to go on Monday.Exactly where are they going, though?The Bears are staggering after dropping four of five. They are 0-3 at home and in danger of missing the playoffs for the seventh time in eight years. Its not like the schedule is taking an easier turn, either.When they come back, they will be staring at Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in Green Bay. After that, they will still have two games left against Detroit and one each against Dallas and New Orleans.The past two games were nothing short of abysmal. As if falling to Miami at Soldier Field, with Brandon Marshall yelling in the locker room afterward, wasnt bad enough, Chicago got rolled by Tom Brady and the Patriots 51-23 at New England last week.The Bears have shown some resolve, bouncing back from a season-opening loss to Buffalo by beating San Francisco and the New York Jets on the road. They also won at Atlanta before this slide, but its not just the losses that are alarming. There are big questions about the teams leadership and mindset.Whether it was Lance Briggs missing practice to open a barbecue restaurant near his hometown of Sacramento, California, in the week leading up to the opener, or Marshall yelling in the locker room after the Dolphins game, the cracks were already hard to ignore.LaMarr Houston added another one in the closing minutes against New England when he celebrated a sack against a backup quarterback. One of the Bears top off-season acquisitions, he ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.If Trestman was angry about Marshalls blowup or Houstons celebration, he didnt show it in public.I think Marc is fully in control of this team, chairman George McCaskey told Comcast SportsNet Chicago. Just because a player isnt called out publicly doesnt mean the issue isnt being addressed. The players know that Marcs got their back, and anything that needs to be addressed with a player will be done behind closed doors.What has played out on the field hasnt been pretty.Five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen has just 1 1-2 sacks after signing a four-year deal that guaranteed $15.5 million. His string of seven straight seasons in double digits with Kansas City and Minnesota is in jeopardy.Marshall has been slowed by an ankle injury after signing a three-year extension. Cutler still is committing head-scratching turnovers, whether hes throwing across his body for an interception against Buffalo or attempting a two-handed chest pass that resulted in a fumble against New England.Emery acknowledged concerns about Cutlers fundamentals and decisions dating to his days at Vanderbilt. He says some of that was brought on by a lack of talent surrounding him. But the past two years, hes been working with an offence-minded head coach, two Pro Bowl receivers in Marshall and Alshon Jeffery, a productive tight end (Martellus Bennett) and a solid line.Have I seen improvement in the last two years? Emery said. Yes, I have. Because I know where we were at two years ago, and I know how many sacks he took, how much pressure and hits that he played through, and how he tried to overcome that group that was in front of him and how he tried to compensate. I think hes bought all the way in in terms of heres whats important, heres the concepts that were trying to accomplish.We still have some time to go, we still have some things we have to clean up.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Cheap Vans Shoes Free Shipping .I shared with him how much I appreciated all he had done for us, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said of that Thursday night farewell. Wholesale Vans Shoes . -- Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu will be the Dodgers starting pitchers in their two-game season-opening series in Australia against the Arizona Diamondbacks. http://www.cheapvansfromchina.com/. -- Kole Calhoun homered and drove in three runs, Albert Pujols also went deep and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Chicago White Sox 8-4 Friday night. Vans Shoes Clearance . James Harden wasnt worried and told his coach as much. "He was fired up but I told him: Its OK. Were going to be all right," Harden said. And they were. Houston scored 17 straight points after that timeout, led by 10 from Harden, to take the lead and roll to an easy 129-106 win. Cheap Vans Shoes China . After missing 20 games as a rookie a year ago, Valanciunas - like the Raptors as a whole - has been fortunate to be in good health this season. As he spoke about it, the Raptors sophomore centre scanned the room for wood to knock on. "It is disappointing because we lost today so thats the worst part of the day," said Valanciunas, who left Tuesdays game with a lower-back sprain in the third quarter, missing the rest of Torontos 118-113 overtime defeat at the hands of the Hawks.Tottenham missed the chance to put pressure on Premier League leaders Leicester after being held to a 1-1 draw at Liverpool on Saturday Night Football. With the Foxes not in action until Sunday, Spurs could have closed the gap at the top of the table to two points.But they fell behind in the 51st minute at Anfield when Philippe Coutinho finished from Daniel Sturridges pass. Harry Kane equalised in the 63rd minute with a fine finish but Spurs could not grab a winner and will now wait anxiously to see how the Foxes fare against Southampton.Mauricio Pochettinos side had their chances at Anfield but were also indebted to goalkeeper Hugo Lloris for several important stops.After Simon Mignolet punched away an early shot from Christian Eriksen, Lloris got down sharply to keep out an attempted clearance from Heung-Min Son.The France international then twice denied Adam Lallana, palming away an effort from the edge of the box before diving at full stretch to keep out a volley. Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool allowed Tottenham back into the game Sturridge had the best chance of the half when he was played in by Coutinho, but he shot straight at Lloris.Kane dragged a shot across goal at the other end before Dele Alli hit a dipping half-volley that Mignolet held.The breakthrough eventually arrived six minutes into the second half when Coutinho exchanged passes with Sturridge and then placed a shot into the corner. Coutinho (left) slotted home to give Liverpool the lead Coutinho almost returned the favour with a pin-point cross that Sturridge headed over the bar.dddddddddddd.But, after Son had volleyed wide, Spurs levelled when Eriksen did well to keep the ball in play and pass into the box for Kane, who turned and finished superbly.The goal was Kanes sixth in his last four league matches and set a new Spurs Premier League record of 22 in a season. Harry Kane (right) equalised with his 22nd league goal of the season But he could not add to his tally in a frantic final half-hour that saw both teams create chances.Mignolet got down well to save from Eriksen, while Coutinho slid a ball right across the face of goal.The Brazilian then dragged a shot narrowly wide with Lloris rooted to the spot before Eriksen curled a free-kick just wide and Toby Alderweireld headed past the post in injury-time. Mauricio Pochettino was pleased with his sides performance at Liverpool Player ratingsLiverpool: Mignolet (7), Clyne (6), Lovren (7), Sakho (5), Moreno (6), Can (6), Henderson (6), Lallana (7), Coutinho (8), Milner (6), Sturridge (5).Subs: Origi (6), Allen (5), Ibe (5).Tottenham: Lloris (8), Walker (7), Alderweireld (6), Wimmer (6), Rose (6), Dier (6), Dembele (7), Eriksen (7), Alli (6), Son (5), Kane (7).Subs: Chadli (6), Mason (5).Man of the match: Philippe Coutinho. ' ' '