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Bears Film Defense Notes: Nick Roach Didn't Lose His Job Over His Play
Written by Brett Solesky   
Wednesday, 04 November 2009 14:00
When Nick Roach came into the role of staring MIKE 'backer for the Chicago Bears it wasn't because Hunter Hillenmeyer wasn't playing at a high level.  Hillenmeyer suffered an injury and was out for a couple of games and during that time Roach manned the starting spot. 

Overall Roach played aHunter Hillenmeyert a high level, but what he struggled with was the defensive alignments and defensive signal calls.  Since the Bears' one gap scheme requires having people in the right gap at the right POA the Bears struggled in stopping the run against the Bengals as well as struggled in the two minute drill launched by the previous week in the Falcons game. 

All this is fair assessment of what Nick Roach struggled at, but what isn't fair is to think that Roach lost his starting MIKE job because he was as bad as Frank Omiyale has been at left guard.  Roach in fact has outplayed Hillenmeyer each and every time he has stepped out on the field. 

Hillenmeyer struggled mightily against the run in the Browns game.  He attacks the correct gap but he seems to be blocked out of his gap.  Hillenmeyer does not hold up well between the tackles and is not a down hill player.  Even with his 6-4 238-pound frame he is often times pushed around, even pushed completely out of his hole. 

Roach on the other hand held up quite well in between the tackles.  Roach's play was actually enhanced and he performed better at MIKE than he had at SAM.  Perhaps it has to do with Roach's experience in college  where he manned the MIKE spot.  I'm not sure what it is, but I know that he better attacks the LOS and he is able to shed blocks far better than Hillenmeyer. 

Hunter Hillenmeyer didn't play all bad though, in this game he looked like the best blitzing linebacker on the Bears team.  He attacked a couple times on a blitz and arguably could have been credited with half a sack.  He also never quits on a play even if he's been beat which is a good sign as well.  Perhaps some added bulk on his skinny frame could help him better hold up in the trenches. 

The bottom line is though it may be fair to debate whether waiting for Roach to better understand the defense and it's alignments is better in the long run over the drop off in play and production from Hunter Hillenmeyer.
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