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