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Bears stumbling in 2nd half

By WTOP Staff

GENE CHAMBERLAIN
Associated Press

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Chicago Bears coach Marc Trestman found no simple explanations Monday for why a team ranked second in scoring last year has dropped to the middle of the pack while losing three of their first five games.

While quarterback Jay Cutler received some blame for the Bears after suffering a second straight second-half collapse on offense Sunday in a 31-24 loss to the Carolina Panthers, Trestman and the players say they have enough mistakes for everyone to share equally in the scrutiny being brought on their offensive leader.

“You know, honestly we in the past have just been shooting ourselves in the foot, and it’s like everybody takes a turn at it,” tackle Michael Ola said Monday.

“It can be one person on this play and another person on this play and it’s more-so just attention to detail and being focused on every snap, because you know there’s drives there where we’re on the field and it looks like there’s not a defense and then there’s drives where it’s like, man, we just can’t seem to get it right.”

Trestman says it’s not a case of the opponents figuring out a key to stopping the offense since last season, or even making second-half adjustments to outsmart the Bears’ coaching staff.

“With all due respect to them (opponents), I think that if we can continue to take care of the football, as Jay said yesterday, and continue to just work at the details, we can come out of this thing,” Trestman said. “We showed signs. We moved the football.

“We were on a short field yesterday, we got some things done on a short field — but we didn’t manage the long field very well and we’ve got to do that.”

Cutler completed 28 of 36 for 289 yards and two touchdowns, but threw two interceptions Sunday. In the second half of the past two games, he has a passer rating of 44.0 with 22 completions in 33 attempts for 192 yards and three interceptions with no touchdowns. He was 7 of 13 for 83 yards with two interceptions Sunday.

“First half we had a little bit of rhythm,” wide receiver Brandon Marshall said. “Second half there was no rhythm at all.

“First half, it was pretty smooth out there and second, I don’t know what happened.”

The Bears (2-3) have been outscored in the second half of those two losses to the Panthers and Green Bay Packers, 34-3.

“We had one breakdown here, one breakdown there,” Trestman said. “We had an open guy, didn’t hit an open guy. We had a second-and-1, we had a pre-snap penalty. It took us to second-and-6 — we make 3 yards, instead of having a first down, and we don’t convert.

“We stopped ourselves. We did on those occasions, and the turnovers as well. There were two drives obviously that were one-play or two-play drives that were turnovers. But we had opportunities in the second half to move the ball and there were ample opportunities that they were giving us defensively and we didn’t get it done.”

Trestman said Cutler’s first interception by Roman Harper on a pass intended for Marshall against zone coverage should have been thrown to the outside and wide receiver Alshon Jeffery.

“He tried to get the ball in there, which he’s done many times before into Brandon, and Brandon’s made those kind of plays,” Trestman said. “But just looking it over, coming off of Brandon and moving on would have been the best situation in that regard.”

The other interception in the fourth quarter, which led to Carolina tying the score at 24-24, “just got away from me,” Cutler said following the game. “Just got high.

“Santonio (Holmes) was sneaking around the back there on a slant and it just got high and landed right in the guy’s arms. High and over the middle of the field is never good. And it happened twice (Sunday).”

Trestman said the solution is “controlling what we can control. And that’s being better on fundamentals and techniques on these runs that we detail out to the Nth degree with these guys.”

One solution might be trying to get Marshall the ball more. He was targeted only five times Sunday, and just six the previous week. Marshall had an ankle injury for three weeks, but Trestman said he’s over it.

“We’re going to go back and do some work on that to make sure we’re doing all the right things in that regard,” Trestman said. “We targeted him yesterday. He had a lot of calls. They took it away and Jay did the right thing by going other places.

“We want him obviously to have more productivity. When he touches the ball, good things happen. And over the last couple of weeks, we haven’t been able to get that done.”

Marshall seemed unhappy after the game, but didn’t elaborate on the situation.

“Brandon is not happy because he’s not being as productive as we’d like him to be and he’s not contributing like he wants to contribute to the offense,” Trestman said.

___

AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Don’t Settle for Student Loans to Pay for Online Education

By WTOP Staff
Online college programs are becoming a more popular choice for prospective students, with one study finding that more than 6 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2015. The popularity of these courses can be attributed in part to their flexibility with working adults' schedules, students' ability to progress more quickly through online programs and, oftentimes, cheaper tuition. [See 10 low-cost online bachelor's programs for out-of-state students.]Online degrees can be beneficial to many college students, but some studies have shown online learners complete their programs at lower rates than students at traditional brick-and-mortar campuses. Individuals with student loans but no degree comprise two-thirds of defaulted borrowers. Though these numbers are not encouraging, just like for traditional programs, there are ways to reduce how much you'll need to borrow for an online program to ensure you won't become one of these statistics. Don't just settle on borrowing student loans to cover the whole cost of your program and living expenses. Instead, start thinking about how to cut costs and cover your balance in different ways, such as the following. -- Grants and scholarships: Even though you are taking an online course, you can still apply and receive grants and scholarships. But your first step should be to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, which will allow you to receive a Pell Grant if your expected family contribution is low enough. The EFC criteria and award amounts are adjusted annually, but the 2017-2018 academic year awards range from $606 to $5,920, which could significantly lower the amount you borrow annually. Your next step is to apply for scholarships. You can start by checking online scholarship search engines, such as the Salt Scholarship Search, College Board's BigFuture and Peterson's. But don't forget to take advantage of local organizations and your school's financial aid office. Both may offer scholarships that you can't find with a national scholarship search. [Review these 10 sites to kick off your scholarship search.]For instance, organizations like the Elks Club, Knights of Columbus or the Rotary Club typically offer scholarships annually to local students. Just because you're going to school online doesn't mean you're ineligible. Visit your local library for scholarship listings, and ask around town. You might be surprised how many local organizations offer scholarships. While these scholarships typically aren't large, every little bit counts. Each dollar you receive in a scholarship is a dollar you don't have to borrow and pay interest on. -- Work-study: Another option for online students may be work-study awards. Not all students enrolled in online programs are eligible, but students at some schools -- including, for example, SUNY Empire State College and Liberty University -- are. Work-study awards are not given upfront like scholarships and grants. In most cases, they are an offer to earn up to the awarded amount if you secure an eligible work-study job. While there is a misconception that all work-study jobs must be on campus, students can work for off-campus, nonprofit or public employers as long as the work is in the public's interest. You may be able to work for a for-profit employer if the job is relevant to your course of study. No matter who the outside employer is, it will need to have an established agreement with your college for you to receive work-study funds. Remember, to be eligible for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled and pursuing a degree or certificate. If you're not working toward a credential, Pell Grants and work-study won't be option, but you may still be able to take advantage of private scholarships -- just be sure to read the eligibility criteria carefully. [Explore what to know about financial aid in online programs.]-- Pay as you go: One of the great benefits to enrolling online is the flexible schedule, which can allow you to complete your college coursework around your responsibilities. But prospective students often overlook using their part- or full-time job earnings as an option for paying for college. Almost 80 percent of college students in 2015 worked at least part time while attending classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By budgeting and thinking strategically about your college costs, you can likely reduce your dependence on student loans by paying a portion out of pocket. Many -- but not all -- online programs are less expensive than traditional programs and often have shorter payment periods. Six, eight or 10 weeks are common course durations. Because of the frequency of payments in an online setting, you may be well-placed to pay as you go and possibly avoid borrowing altogether. Attending college online and avoiding student loans may be challenging, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can limit the amount you need to borrow. More from U.S. News Q&A: Understanding Student Loan Discharge Eligibility Student Loan Refinancing Isn't Right for All Borrowers
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