Why Are the Chicago Bears Really Struggling?

Derek Lofland, NFL director at Fantasy Football Maniaxs

I’m not sure what to expect out of the Bears, in terms of wins and losses, but one thing that I expect is that this will be arguably the worst offense in the NFL this season.

The first problem is a bad quarterback and worse quarterback. The Bears are trying to flip a coin to decide which puts the team in the best position to not completely stink up the field. 

Rex Grossman has a 66.9 QB rating in two preseason games, as he played fairly well against Kansas City but stunk against Seattle. 

Kyle Orton has a 76.4 rating and has yet to throw a touchdown pass or interception. 

Neither has established himself as the front-runner. Yet the Bears named Orton the starting quarterback for the season opener. Hopefully, he has shown more in practice than he did in the games.

The offensive line was supposed to be in a rebuilding mode behind the drafting of Chris Williams.  Fred Miller and Rueben Brown were both let go to help this line get younger.  Williams was an injury concern entering the draft because of neck and back issues.

Chris Williams now has a herniated disc and could miss most of or all of the NFL season. Even if he does comeback, he will be way behind the curve, and his rookie season is going to be a lost season at best.

Then there are the skill positions.

Marty Booker, Brandon Lloyd, Rashied Davis, Devin Hester, and Mark Bradley are expected to be the Bears' receivers this season. Rookie Matt Forte and veteran Adrian Peterson will get the majority of the carries. That isn’t exactly a list of skill-position players that keep defensive coordinators up late at night. 

Devin Hester is a terror on special teams, but the jury is still out when it comes to wide receiver.  Second-year tight end Greg Olson is probably their scariest skill-position player.

What that translates into is three points scored in the first half against the Chiefs in which the offense went eight plays for 19 yards and five points against the Seahawks.  

Seeing that the offense doesn’t score a safety, that is three more first half points for the offense. That drive went 10 plays for 51 yards.

Unlike the Bears' case, there are some teams where a problem can be identified at one position.

With the Jaguars last year, it was wide receiver. The Cowboys had secondary issues.   With the Bears, the entire offense is a mess. 

The skill-position players can’t do anything because the offensive line can’t protect the quarterback or open up holes for the running game. 

The quarterback can’t do anything, because the line doesn’t give him time, the receivers aren’t very solid, and the running game doesn’t set him up with manageable plays.  Even if the line could block better it isn’t going to look good with the players it is protecting.  It’s a vicious cycle.

In 2005 and 2006 the only problem on this team was quarterback.

In 2005, the Bears were able to go 11-5 with an offense that ranked 26th in points scored and 29th in yards gained. That defense finished first in points allowed and second in yards allowed. I think the Bears don’t have as good of a defensive unit as they did in 2005, and they have additional problems on the line and at running back.

I’m very interested to see how this offense does in 2008 and what that translates to in terms of their record. Even though that division is in a state of flux—Detroit looking to get over the hump, Green Bay replacing a legend, and Minnesota emerging—it is going to be tough for the Bears to compete, given their offensive woes.