I was looking forward to a breakout year for the Bears. I even drafted Jay Cutler in one of the later rounds in one of my fantasy football leagues expecting him to have his best season ever and be a top-tier quarterback. All the pieces were in place. And the defense being a liability seemed to be even more promising, since Cutler would have to play from behind more often, giving him plenty of opportunity to put up huge numbers.
But then the season started, and my excitement was almost completely squashed by losing the season opener in overtime to the Bills.
But I never feared it would get this bad!
The Bears have only three wins in the first ten weeks of the season, and the past three losses have been embarrassing. A loss to the Dolphins in which the Bears couldn't even score more than 14 points. And now two straight games against the Patriots and Packers that were both over by halftime. And the loss to the Packers came after a bye!
The Bears are failing at every level of play. The offense can't move the ball or score points. Special teams hasn't done anything special. And teams are cutting through the Bears' defense like butter. The defense at least has the excuse of injuries. Charles Tillman is out for the year, and Lance Briggs just returned from a multi-week injury. But that doesn't justify giving up over 100 points in two weeks, nor does it justify the defense being the statistically worst defense that the team has ever had in its 90-plus-year history.
The Bears' defense has set franchise records for awfulness.
But as bad as the defense is, it wasn't expected to be very good. New coach Mark Trestman is an offense-oriented coach, and the defense is old and has lost some of its best talent (like Brian Urlacher).
What is disappointing is that despite being the most "talented" and hyped offense that the team has ever seen, the offense is completely inept. It's as bad as the post-SuperBowl Rex Grossman offense!
The Bears don't even look like a professional football team right now.
There's two obvious scape-goats here: coach Mark Trestman, or quarterback Jay Cutler.
Cutler has been inconsistent and oft criticized, but his apologists always said that he needed a better offensive coach... [More]
dcf59726-f73a-4e18-afe4-1b8a951b130f|0|.0
Tags:Chicago Bears, Chicago, Bears, DA Bears, Marc Trestman, Phil Emery, Jay Cutler, Charles Tillman, Lance Briggs, Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffrey, Josh McCown, offense, defense, west coast, New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers
I have to say that I am not surprised that the Chicago Bears decided to fire Lovie Smith after the second late-season collapse by the team that lead the division the first half of the year. I also agree with the decision, mostly. During the entire tenure of Lovie Smith, the Bears' offense has been incompetant. Lovie is a great defensive mind, but I'm just not sold on his ability as a head coach. And judging by the fact that no other teams hired him, I guess I'm not the only one who had doubts.
The Bears went through several offensive coordinators during Smith's time, including the revolutionary mind of Mike Martz, but the team's offense remained abysmal throughout. They changed quarterbacks, changed offensive linemen, changed running backs, and rotated through a number of receivers. They even changed stadiums. The only constant was Smith.
The firing of Lovie Smith just further expands my concerns with the Bears' defense. I've already expressed fear that the defense is getting old and that veterans like Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, and Charles Tillman just might not have much left in their tanks. The window is definitely closing for these players, and they can't afford to wait around for several "rebuilding" years in order to become championship contenders again. I want to see Brian Urlacher win a SuperBowl with the Chicago Bears, but if the team's new coaching staff isn't able to fix Chicago's offensive woes, while maintaining strength on defense, then it doesn't look like Urlacher will get that ring. At least, not with the Bears.
New Chicago Bears head coach, Marc Trestman.
[More]
cf61832a-5d8a-424c-8374-c72db3a98429|1|3.0
Tags:Chicago Bears, Chicago, Bears, DA Bears, Lovie Smith, Jeremy Bates, Marc Trestman, Matt Cavanaugh, Dave Toub, Joe DeCamillis, Mike Martz, Phil Emery, Brian Urlacher, Jay Cutler, Devin Hester, Charles Tillman, Lance Briggs, Tim Tebow, Dez Bryant, offense, special teams, defense, Johnny Knox
At the start of the 2012 season, I may have had my hopes for the Bears a little high. I argued that the Bears might be the most balanced team in the league this year, potentially featuring an elite offense, defense, and special teams!
For the first half of the season, in which the Bears got off to a 7-1 start, it looked like I might have been right. But red flags started going up out of the gate. The offensive line just wasn't protecting Cutler very well, and Mike Tice's offense too often looked like the anemic offenses under coordinator Mike Martz. Although not ruled out for sure, it didn't look like Johnny Knox would be playing this year, and Devin Hester just doesn't have the same spark he once had. Early in the season, it seemed as if the Bears might have to rely once again on their defense. That defense shocked the league by being more effective than the offense, with both cornerbacks (Tim Jennings and Charles Tillman) earning Pro-Bowl honors for forcing turnovers and scoring touchdowns! Things were looking good at 7-1, but there was a bad feeling in my gut that this all looked too familiar.
Starting the second half of the season, that feeling became justified. Once again, the injury bug started biting the Bears. Alshon Jeffrey and Earl Bennett were both the victims of multi-week injuries, leaving Brandon Marshall as the team's only true threat in the passing game and allowing opposing defenses to send everything they had after Jay Cutler and Matt Forte. Cutler and Forte also suffered temporary injuries, and backups Jason Campbell and Micheal Bush were ineffective against the 49ers.
I'm getting too used to seeing Urlacher in street clothes.
[More]
8be29af7-af95-4b91-849e-cf7b394c7a04|2|2.5
Tags:football, Chicago Bears, DA Bears, NFL, NFC North, Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall, Matt Forte, Alshon Jeffrey, Earl Bennett, Johnny Knox, Brian Urlacher, Charles Tillman, Tim Jennings, Henry Melton, Julius Peppers, Devin Hester, Lovie Smith, Mike Tice, Mike Martz, Peyton Manning, playoff
Matt Forte (and fans) should be smiling after he signed a 4-year deal.
Bears players left and right are stating in interviews that they think this year's Bears team is going to be great. Recently, receiver Earl Bennett said in an interview that he thinks the Bears are the best team in the NFC North. Other players have expressed similar thoughts over the summer. Pro Bowl linebackers Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher have both stated in interviews this year that the 2012 Bears team is the best team they've been on, and that includes the Bears' 2006 SuperBowl run!
So are these sentiments even remotely accurate? Or are the players just a bit overconfident?
Well, in my humble opinion (as a Bears' fan), these players have every right to be excited about their team this year! [More]
9e44869c-ee00-47b1-899a-ae6f3e2efb45|1|5.0
Tags:DA Bears, Chicago Bears, Chicago, football, NFL, offense, defense, special teams, Jay Cutler, Matt Forte, Brandon Marshall, Johnny Knox, Earl Bennett, Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, Charles Tillman, Julius Peppers, Shea McClellin, Devin Hester, Robbie Gould, Mike Tice, Dave Toub, Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, NFC, NFC North, SuperBowl, playoff
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