When Bears coach Lovie Smith
said back in training camp that he thought Devin
Hester could become a No. 1 receiver in the NFL,
he didn't necessarily mean this year, but that's
how quickly it has happened.
Over the past four weeks, Hester has caught more passes
(17) for more yards (250) than any wide receiver, tight
end or running back on the team. His yardage is double
that of any other player on the team in the last month.
In the past four games, he has caught more passes than
all of the Bears' other wide receivers combined and has
more than twice as much yardage.
Hester and the Bears will be playing for more than just
pride tonight when Green Bay visits Soldier Field,
thanks to some huge breaks over the weekend.
For starters, the Bears must win tonight and Sunday at
Houston to have any chance. Then, if Minnesota, which
lost Sunday at home to Atlanta, loses again Sunday to
the New York Giants, the Bears will be NFC North
champions.
If the Vikings do win, the Bears can still make it as a
wild card if the Cowboys lose at Philadelphia AND the
Bucs lose at home to Oakland.
They would lose the tiebreaker to Tampa Bay because
they lost 27-24 to the Bucs in overtime in Week 3 and
to Dallas because of strength of victory.
First things first, though, for the Bears. If anyone
can make the Packers' secondary pay tonight for its
in-your-face press coverage, it is the blazing-fast
Hester.
"He's improved a lot throughout the year," offensive
coordinator Ron Turner said. "But the last few weeks
you can really see he's playing a lot faster. He's
playing with a lot more confidence. He's not thinking
as much. He's just coming out and playing and reacting,
which is a natural transition for someone learning to
play the position."
Part of the reason Hester has emerged as the Bears' No.
1 wide receiver is that other players have failed to
produce. But part of it is his own maturation at a
position that's still relatively new to him.
Hester was a cornerback as a rookie in 2006, and last
season he was spoon-fed after making the switch to wide
receiver, catching 20 passes for 299 yards, with 11 of
the catches and 160 of the yards coming in the final
four games.
He had never started a game in the NFL at wide receiver
until opening day this season, and he only has started
six times in his pro career, although his playing time
has been increasing.
"He's improved quite a bit in all phases as far as
being a receiver," coach Lovie Smith said. "Running
routes is a part of it. A lot goes into it. It's hard
to just move over there in a year and expect a guy to
have everything down, but he has made improvement each
week.
"You just look at his last game and the threat that he
was as a receiver. He's becoming the threat that we
thought he would become."
Hester's numbers last week against the New Orleans
Saints were modest: 4 catches for 46 yards. But he also
drew pass-interference penalties of 39 and 38 yards,
the second of which put the Bears in position for the
game-winning field goal in overtime.
Hester has been a hot Bears topic all season, but much
of the attention has been negative because of his steep
decline in production as a kick-returner.
He scored 11 touchdowns on kickoff and punt returns in
his first two seasons, setting the NFL record as a
rookie with 5 in 2006 and eclipsing it last season with
6.
By comparison, this year has been a major
disappointment.
Hester is averaging a pedestrian 5.6 yards on punt
returns, 23rd in the NFL and less than half his career
average of 14.1 yards. His kickoff-return average of
21.9 yards is 32nd in the league, and he has been
replaced by Danieal Manning, who is averaging an
NFL-best 29.5.
It seems everyone has a theory for Hester's demise in
the return game.
After a brief training-camp holdout, Hester signed a
four-year contract extension that included $15 million
in guaranteed money and could be worth as much as $40
million if he puts up elite numbers as a wide receiver.
It has been speculated that Hester's struggles in the
return game are the result of trying to live up the
money or the extra work he's putting in to become a
go-to wide receiver.
But Smith said it's more about the unrealistic
expectations of others.
"I think what weighed on Devin was probably just the
type of success he had the first two years," Smith
said. "He's spoiled all of us to where, if he's not
scoring every time he touches the ball, it's 'What's
wrong with Devin?'
"I see a guy who's developing his entire game. Returns
haven't been exactly the way we would like, but as a
receiver we're getting No. 1-type receiver play. We
like where he's (going). Hopefully we'll see him take
another step this week."
And why not? Hester has done some of his best work on a
national stage.
(dailyherald.com)