Gabriel: Red-Zone Offense, Takeaways Are Bears' Biggest Areas For Improvement

By Greg Gabriel--

(CBS) As we've stated numerous times this year, we all know that with the present roster, the 2015 Chicago Bears aren't ready to contend. Still, they were just a few plays away from being 3-3 going into their bye week.

With a breaking point in this Bears season, let's take a look at where they most need to improve as they sit at 2-4 with a home game against the Vikings (4-2) awaiting Sunday.

Red-zone offense

Bears kicker Robbie Gould has had a tremendous season, having gone 15-of-15 on field-goal attempts. The problem? That's way too many to have made just six games into the season.

The Bears' red-zone offense has been bad this year, as it ranks 25th out of 32 teams with a touchdown percentage of 44 percent, per teamrankings.com. We saw it in the opening two games against the Packers and Cardinals and again in Week 6 against the Lions.

For most teams, there are limited chances to score. When those opportunities are there, the club has to take advantage of them, because touchdowns, not field goals, win games.

Going forward, that's the one key aspect of the Bears offense that has to be improved. With Alshon Jeffery now healthy, he gives the Bears a weapon that they didn't have for four games earlier this season.

Pass protection

Through six games, the Bears have allowed their quarterback to be sacked 12 times, an average of twice per game. That number isn't that bad, but what the number doesn't tell us is how many times the quarterback has also been pressured into making a poor throw. That's been too often.

There have been some injuries along the offensive line, and the unit hasn't been as cohesive as the coaches would like. But thee line still needs to show improvement going forward.

The big question that has to be answered this week is who will be playing left tackle. In recent games, second-year man Charles Leno has manned the left tackle spot while Jermon Bushrod recovered from an injury.

After a so-so preseason, Leno has played winning football on the left side. It's my opinion that he has outplayed Bushrod, who was a Pro Bowler in 2011 and 2012. Leno has more athleticism than Bushrod and seems to do a better job handling speed rushers.

Rookie Hroniss Grasu moved into the starting center position in Week 5 after starter Will Montgomery went down. While Grasu struggled early in his first game against Kansas City, he bounced back and played much better the rest of that game and against Detroit. He has to continue to show improvement and lock down that position for the future.

Create turnovers

Look at most winning teams in the NFL, and most --if not all -- will have a positive turnover ratio. After the first six games, the Bears are a minus-1 in that ratio, which ranks 19th in the league. The Bears have taken care of the ball pretty well, with eight turnovers in six games (eighth-fewest in the league), but too many have come at inopportune times.

On the other hand, the Bears have forced only seven turnovers, with three of them coming recently against the Lions.

It's a simple philosophy: Take the ball away from your opponent, and they can't score. In six games, the Bears have only three interceptions. They need to average at least one interception a game.

How can that happen? The easiest way is to improve the pass rush. Not only by getting more sacks, but by getting consistent pressure on the quarterback. Pressuring the opposing quarterback will cause poor throws, and poor throws will turn into interceptions.

The defensive backs also have to play with more aggressiveness. The Bears have been playing with two rookies at the safety position in the past two games, and by nature a rookie will play a more cautious game. Antrel Rolle (ankle) should be back this week, and that will provide veteran leadership in the secondary. Rookie Adrian Amos has shown improvement, but now he has to step up and make more plays.

The toughest part of the Bears' schedule is behind them. In the remaining 10 games, if the Bears can show improvement in the three areas I mentioned above, they should have a good chance of splitting the final 10 games on the 2015 schedule.

Greg Gabriel is a former NFL talent evaluator who is an on-air contributor for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @greggabe.