I have been a Chicago Bears fan for my twenty-two years on Earth. I have been an intelligent, critical football fan and observer for at least the last nine years and, because of that, I have seen a great variety of Bears teams. The first Bears game I ever attended was the infamous 24-23 home loss to the Packers in 1997 in which Erik Kramer’s two-point conversion attempt slipped through the hands of a wide-open Curtis Enis.
I remember watching some pretty brutal, uninspired football for those next few years. Conversely, I will never forget being among the four-thousand or so remaining fans at the Browns game in 2001 when the Bears scored two TDs in the final 32 seconds and won (again) on Mike Brown’s INT return in overtime.
I went to three games in the 2006 season, including both home playoff games, and was constantly amazed by that team. After watching twelve seasons of Bears football prior to these last 16 games, this 2008 team and organization is the model for mediocrity.
It all starts at the top. In the aftermath of his tremendous drafts in 2003 and 2004 that yielded NFLers QB Rex Grossman, CB Charles Tillman, LB Lance Briggs, S Todd Johnson, DT Ian Scott, WR Bobby Wade, WR Justin Gage, DT Tommie Harris, DT Tank Johnson, WR Bernard Berrian, and CB Nathan Vasher, GM Jerry Angelo has struggled, mostly with his early picks. That has left the team thin at defensive end, fullback and on the offensive line.
Luckily the team avoided injuries at those spots, with the exception of Jason McKie’s season ending a few weeks early. However, the wide receiving corps was a true collection from the scrap heap. While I believe that one big receiver can pair with the Hester/Olsen/Forte trio to form a legitimate passing game, Angelo allowed his leading receivers from the last few years to leave without having any plan for how to replace their production.
This lack of planning combined with a few late-round drafting gems (Beekman, Payne, Graham, Harrison) has led to a slightly below-average roster in terms of talent.
As for the coaches, Ron Turner turned a non-existent receiving corps, new starting quarterback, rookie running back and sub-par offensive line into an average scoring offense (ranked fourteenth of 32). That counts as miraculous in my book. Dave Toub’s special teams were excellent except for Devin Hester’s vanishing act. Bob Babich? Yikes.
10 comments Last one added 6 months ago — Leave a Comment
Adam Radochonski 6 months ago
I agree with you wholeheartedly. The Bears are just a plain awful football team. Maybe it's the coaching staff, or maybe it's just a lack of overall talent. Hell, it may even be management. This is a crucial off-season because the Bears will need to establish some new blood and excitement for this franchise. Sure, Forte is geat and Hester is improving, but some new talent along the o-line and receiving corps would be much appreciated. If this isn't done, there should be a house cleaning, starting with Jerry Angelo.
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T.W. Krems 6 months ago
Now now they are not a plain awful football team. They have problems, but like you Rob says, at least we are not the Cowboys or Broncos. We need a new QB that can throw to Hester. We need to cut Mike Brown and get at least one better CB, fire Bob Babich and Jerry Angelo. We have Forte, Hester and a solid front 8 on defense to build around. It was just not our year.
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T.W. Krems 6 months ago
Anyways, welcome to BR> Oh, my dad also graduated from Chicago U.
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Ricky Butts 6 months ago
The Bears secondary was not great. Wait, they were not even good. They got picked apart game after game. They were ranked 30th!!!!! in the NFL after giving up 241.2 yards per game. Chargers and Seahawks were the only teams worse.
They were better when it came to rush defense, fifth in the NFL giving up 93.5 yards per game. Still they were very inconsistent. Remember when they held the leagues best rushing team, the Titans to 22 yards. The following week they were shredded by Ryan Grant for 145 himself.
As a whole, the Chicago defense ranked 21st in yardage given up, 16 spots behind the number five ranking they have in rush defense, because of how terrible their secondary was.
They were in the middle of the pack, 16th in points per game, with 21.9.
Now, they did lead the league in takeaways, but they also missed more tackles than any team in the league.
THEY NEED A NEW SECONDARY!!!
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Todd Vance 6 months ago
I agree with Ricky... I like your article Rob - almost all good but you are off the charts wrong about the secondary! THEY were terrible!!!!
Nathan Vasher played ridiculously poor for his skill level and Tillman just lost his mind randomly all season long. As for the safeties... well they were hit hard by injury (like usual) but still ... bad.
I had horrible flashbacks of Adam Archuletta the last couple weeks watching #20 --- and that's just not good.
We need help!
*** SAYING ALL THAT ***
I think by putting Bob Babich to work somewhere else, like the equipment room or something, will immediately impact the secondary's quality level.
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Jake Perper 6 months ago
why cut Mike Brown? he has been great for us forever and bring Rex back to compete with Orton draft another QB and get tj housh. and get offensive lineman and a new d coordinator and we'll be fine.
This team was a couple of plays away from being 12-4
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Adam Radochonski 6 months ago
Mike Brown was a great safety, and the key word is 'was'. He is past his prime and would want a big salary. I know he's been a great player and true leader, but he hasn't finished a season in 4 years. Call it bad luck or just bad timing, he just hasn't been reliable, and it's time to turn over a new leaf.
Management needs to either change their personnel or philosophy. We need to be more aggressive in free agency, especially this year because there are some game-changers available. We need more physicality on both sides of the ball. We need to find an offense to best utilize our prized players--Hester, Olsen, and Forte--and I'm not sold on Ron Turner being that guy. Also, we need a new quarterback. Honestly, how much more of Kyle/Rex are we going to deal with? Both are borderline starters. Get a bona fide QB--I don't know, Matt Cassel anyone?--and see how well this offense can operate.
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Alexa Mason 6 months ago
I love the Bears but I'm over Lovie...
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James 6 months ago
I just think it does no good to even bother talking about the Bears needing a new QB or head coach, because it's just so unlike Jerry Angelo to decide to clean house after a season in which Chicago came within one game of going to the playoffs. The Bears won't do anything radical this offseason because they never do until they absolutely can't ignore it anymore (i.e. 4-12 record). They will slowly fade from a mediocre team into a bad one. Lovie's contract will expire in a couple years and Babich and Turner will probably go with him. It's funny that in another city like New York, Dallas, or Philadelphia, Lovie would be fighting for his life but in Chicago, he's still the coach that took us to the Super Bowl in 2006 and everyone is ignoring that this team has plummeted from a very good team to a very mediocre one.
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Jake Perper 6 months ago
Mike Brown would settle for little money for the Bears. u dont think so Adam?
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