What else could Frank Omiyale say?
”He just beat me off the snap. Once he got in there, I couldn’t take him over. He did get me,” the affable veteran right tackle said when asked about the fourth-and-one play that Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh blew up almost single-handedly in the Bears’ 24-13 loss to the Lions on Monday night at Ford Field.
It was that kind of night for the Bears. The biggest mistakes were so obvious, it was awkward to ask for answers because you know they were pretty simple: They just got beat.
Omiyale and the Bears’ offensive line took the brunt of the criticism. It was the line that set the tone for a difficult night with three false-start penalties on their first offensive series — by tight end Kellen Davis on the first lay, left guard Chris Williams on the fourth play and left tackle J’Marcus Webb on the fifth play.
Webb finished with three false starts, Davis had two and Omiyale one as the Bears had nine false-start penalties, including one on Matt Forte and another on rookie Chris Conte on special teams.
”We knew what it was going to be like coming in,” Omiyale said. ”I myself have to do a better job of handling crowd noise and different situations. I just want to be there for my teammates when my number’s called. I definitely fell short of that today.”
There was no getting around harsh judgments even without seeing the film after the disappointing effort that dropped the Bears to 2-3. Omiyale in particular will be on the hot seat this week. His number might not be called this week if Chris Spencer’s broken right hand is healed enough to play, or even if it’s not. Edwin Williams played right guard and Lance Louis moved to right tackle late in Monday night’s game.
”Anytime you lose it’s a disappointment,” Omiyale said. ”We put a lot of work into what we do. When you don’t get the results you want, it’s hard. I definitely have to look at myself and where I’m at right now. I have to dig deep and get better.”
The Bears were so jittery on the line it was hard to tell who jumped when. Even Omiyale said, ”I know I had a couple [of penalties] myself” when officially, anyway, he only had one. Adjusting to the crowd noise at Ford Field also was problematic.
”Well, we were going [on] cadence …. We did try to adjust,” Omiyale said. ”I don’t’ know what to say. It was just one of those nights.”
