Chicago Bears will suck in 2008 for many reasons. After reading all the comments on my NFC North preview article and everyone crying about how the Bears wont be that bad...well, I'll tell you why they WILL be that bad.
OFFENSIVE LINE
The offensive line is getting old, and even though they added a good young rookie in Chris Williams, are they really going to be able to stop a Pat Williams, Kevin Williams, AJ Hawk, or a KGB? The answer is no, and this is a major problem, because all offenses rely on the line.
QUARTERBACK
The Bears don't have one. For some reason, they decided not to draft one this year. That is fine if you think there wasn't one that could flourish under your system, but now your relying on Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton.
They could be great backups, but they are not starters. Grossman is under way too much pressure to carry a youth football team, let alone the Chicago Bears. Orton won a bunch of games in that fluke, and yes I mean fluke, year.
Today's Must Reads
RUNNING BACK
After drafting Cedric Benson with the fourth pick overall, he has been nothing but a disappointment. He held out right out of the gate and didn't come to training camp until it has half over.
He got a big contract and never gave the numbers on the field. This can't all be Benson's fault. The O-line is old, and the offense is so limited that defenses will stack the box.
RECEIVERS
The Bears' only real bright spot on the offense is at tight end. With a solid veteran in Clark and an up-and-coming second-year man in Greg Olson, the bears will be set for awhile.
Now the real problem. The Bears' No. 1 guy is Marty Booker—the same Marty Booker that led the 2007 Dolphins to a 1-15 record. He is old, and after him is not much better talent. Mark Bradley is always injured, Devin Hester drops passes left and right, and they traded their best receiver to the Vikings.
DEFENSE
The Bears have and probably always will rely on defense. Their defense was good last year, but they ranked third in their own division. With drama from the Brian Urlacher situation and Tommie Harris coming off two years of injuries, the defense could be in trouble.
If the Bears wish to compete, they need to stay healthy on the defensive side of the ball. Hopefully, Mike Brown can give a full year of not tearing something to give the Bears a chance.
OVERALL
The offense is horrendous; the defense needs to stay healthy but can't; they play the Vikings and Packers four times; they have to play the Colts, Jags and the rest of AFC South; and it's called a rebuilding year.
If you look through their schedule, you can't pick out more than five wins. With maybe a gimme win down the stretch from the Pack or Vikings who will already have clinched something, the Bears will look to collect five or so wins.
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3 months ago
I agree with you. I dont think they will be good at all. Although, you forgot to mention the drafting if Matt Forte. He could turn out to be a solid player.
3 months ago
*of Matt Forte. My bad.
3 months ago
We didn't trade Berrian to the Vikings. He signed their for 42 million plus. Your analysis is little more than "This person is good" and "That person is bad." Real quality analysis. You really sound like you know what you're talking about. And you're very, very original in your prognostication.
3 months ago
they didn't trade Berrian he was a free agent.. but overall I agree with you on most points but, try and have faith in Grossman I know it's tough but a lot of New Yorkers turned on Eli and look what happend
3 months ago
Also, not that I am happy that Marty Booker is our, cough, number one receiver, but you cannot attach the Dolphins 1-15 record to him -- which is what you implied. Booker is essentially a "younger" version of Moose, and cheaper. Moose wasn't the consistent veteran the Bears expected when we signed him. As a die-hard, life-long fan of the Bears, we've never had amazing receivers but we have had accountable ones. Muhammad dropped the ball way too many times. I expect Booker to at least have stickier fingers.
As far as a real deep threat, Hester has questionable hands, but he has proven to show a lot of separation. If he catches a couple 80-yard TDs like last the one he did against Minny last year, well, he'll stretch the field. Only, that means Ron Turner has to actually call for the deep passes a bit more than he did last year.
3 months ago
The O-line will be better because John Tait is a lot better at right tackle than at left tackle, and with the addition of Chris Williams, they will have 2 good tackles and one of the best centers in the NFL. Matt Forte will be a good addition to the Bears and able to help out. Either Grossman or Orton are going to be at least decent I think. It took Favre a long time to get good too. The defense is going to be stacked yet again and the offense will be a little better, I think they can be an 8-8 team.
2 months ago
I would like to see one of these pre-season reports done during or at the conclusion of training camp. Too many issues and stories can occur before.
Look at Benson, he was just charged with another DUI prbably while this story was written!
2 months ago
the bears couldnt have asked to be more fortunate with benson's dui. now lovie has an excuse to sit the overpayed, over rated box of tissues who can't dodge a parked car let alone a 350lb lineman (for christ's sake your an nfl runningback!!!).
like i said in your last article, and i will say again here, way to early to predict anything. but im sure vikings fans will be proud their club put their money to good use handing over an enormous paycheck to a reciever who's never broke 100 catches or 1000 yards. im sure all of those crucial 3rd down drops will vault you right to 1st place!
you knock our recievers as though the north is totally stacked. outside of roy williams and driver the field is wide open for improvement.
qb's... tavaris jackson...? really? aaron rodgers has huge shoes to fill but i liked what i saw against dallas. IMO kitna has underachieved considering the weapons he has. hopefully the bears give orton his chance and they'll be less prone to turn the ball over.
and how about those stellar rushing attacks! outside of the peterson-taylor attack there's no one.
defense: the bears have the deepest line, best core of linebackers (54 will be wearing navy and orange, no doubt), and with a healthy mike brown, a solid secondary. mn has a good line with the signing of jared allen, but who are their linebackers? do they have a secondary? (those are legit questions i'm too lazy to look it up). haven't seen much out of gb and detroit either, not enough to dominate the division at least.
o-line: vikings have the best line, gotta hand it to them. outside of that... does anyone have anything to speak of? kruetz at the very least is a perrenial pro bowler. accompany an improved tait, and a solid draft choice... who knows? of all the positions to adapt to it seems lineman have the easiest time adjusting from college to pros...
the north is still wide wide open, anyone can take it. last season is clear cut evidence.
from 2 months ago
You just said the bears have the deepest line? Tommie Harris is their best lineman and he has been hurt the past two years. The vikings line is the best in the country cause they have 3 pro bowlers starting out of the 4 and the 4th was a first round pick a couple years ago but has a cancer like illness but still 3 out of 4 isnt bad. The vikings linebackers arent as good as the bears (obviously who probably has the best with Briggs and Urlacher) but they do two good ones in EJ Henderson and Chad Greenway their 2006 first round pick out of Iowa who had injury problems his rookie year. The vikings secondary is ok on corners with a pro bowler in Antonie Winfield and a 2nd year man from Texas in Cedric Griffin. The Secondary has 2007 pro bower and ex packer Sharper.
from 2 months ago
i said deepest, not best. harris, ogunleye, anderson, brown, idonije, dvorchek... six players that could potentially start anywhere in the nfl with a few exceptions.
from 2 months ago
Dvorchek hasnt even played yet? He played what one game and got hurt so its a stretch to say he could start anywhere, and alex brown isnt that good anymore but hes a lot better than Michael Haynes. If Harris can last a whole year, him and ogunleye could make this team go .
2 months ago
Chris Williams needs to get stronger in order to be a solid all-around offensive tackle. The running game should be fine with Matt Forte, even though he's a rookie, he has shown the moves and speed to get to the second level of the defense. He can also catch the ball in the backfield, unlike Cedric Benson. The receiving corp is god awful, just straight up. You seem to know what your talking about, wish you would of talked about the rookies, but all-around, great job.
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