Mired in a slump exacerbated by embarrassing back-to-back losses, the Bears won't leave any stone unturned as they prepare to host the Minnesota Vikings Sunday at Soldier Field.
"You have to take a look at everything," said quarterback Jay Cutler. "You have to go with a fine-tooth comb and just nitpick on every little detail. Nothing is too small. Nothing can be overlooked.
"The finest little step, how you interact with your teammates, communicating more during the week so that there aren't any miscommunications, finding energy on Wednesday when everyone's still a little down, and trying to go out and have a good practice. You have to do all those little things to try to dig yourself out."
One of those little things that Cutler will focus on this week is establishing confidence in his teammates. It became a topic of conversation after receiver Brandon Marshall said on Showtime's "Inside the NFL" Tuesday that "confidence is everything, and when you lose your confidence, it's over. You don't have a chance. And right now that's where we're at."
Cutler was asked about the team's confidence level Thursday during his weekly news conference.
"Whenever you're losing, your confidence is going to be a little bit lower," he said. "I think earlier in the week and throughout the week you've got to gain confidence for the game. If you go into the game with low confidence, you don't have a chance in this league.
"We probably as an offense and as a whole have to get some plays going; get some drives going and we can build on that for sure."
Cutler acknowledged that he feels responsible for jump-starting an offense that has struggled mightily. The Bears have been outscored 94-7 in the first half of their last three games, allowing 10 touchdowns and one field goal on 12 opponent possessions while scoring one TD on 19 drives.
"I've got to help with that," Cutler said. "We talked about that, just getting some energy out there. If things aren't going well on Sunday, someone's going to have to say something. If we have to say something in the huddle and get some guys going because we've got some good guys in our huddle. We like our group. We feel like we should be able to move the ball, so whatever we need to do."
The Bears (3-6) have sunk into last place in the NFC North by dropping five of their last six games, capped by back-to-back blowout losses to New England 51-23 and Green Bay 55-14.
"We're in a situation where success is going to breed success and failure is going to breed failure," said offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer. "What we have to do is we have to have a good play, then another good play, then a good drive, then a touchdown drive, and then do it again.
"Sometimes we're letting the situation of the game affect how we play as opposed to just playing football. Let's play our football and let's do our job on that individual play and we'll have success with the play, and not allowing what's happening in the game to affect how you play."
Getting off to a good start Sunday against the Vikings is paramount for the Bears, who have not scored in the first quarter in their last four games. Their first two possessions in their last five contests have resulted in eight punts and two interceptions.
"We're hurting ourselves a little bit with some pre-snap penalties, assignment issues, I've missed some throws," Cutler said. "We've just got to make sure that those first five, six, seven, eight plays we're on point and everyone knows their assignment.
"We have to get better. I have to get better. That's just kind of the focus right now, finding every little thing that I can get better at to try to win a ballgame."
