A Bear Dilema: Lovie Needs To Go

Monsters Of The Midway? Sure, but their more like the cuddly stuffed monsters you buy from the store. The Chicago Bears have gone from being 3-1 with a lot of promise and having a superstar quarterback to a team that is 5-7, yet feels more like 2-10, and has a quarterback who leads the world in interceptions. Sometimes it isn't fair to pinpoint one particular person or reason for a teams unraveling, but in this case the blame has to lie upon  Lovie Smith.

Yes, injuries have riddled the Bears all season. Brian Urlacher suffered a season ending injury the first week of the year, fellow linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa cant stay healthy, Lance Briggs missed last weeks game against the Rams...The list goes on: Orlando Pace is hurt, Devin Hester left the Rams game with a calf injury and it seems every week a different player has gone down.

But, despite these injuries, the Bears play has been beyond unnacceptable. I know Lovie Smith is soft-spoken, but if I was him, I would have been driven to screaming and knocking over tables by now...If only to grab their attention. The Bears have shown obvious signs of being unprepared for their opponents and that is a direct result of the coaching staff, particulary Lovie Smith. The Bears have not been waylayed like this in many, many years and I cannot remember, even in their down years, the Bears getting utterly trucked over.

Chicago lost by 35 to Cincinnati and 20 to Arizona. Teams have passed and ran all over the defense. Chicago has always been known for owning a tough defense, this year it appears to have gone soft.

I am fully for the firing of Lovie Smith, right now. His time is over and he has become inneffective as a head coach, that much is more than blatant and Tommie Harris can stand up for his coach all he wants, but were not blind. Its time for a new atmosphere, new style of coach...My own short list would include: Bill Cowher, Jon Gruden and Mike Shanahan. In that order.

Certainly there are more issues involved than the head coach, I also believe the rest of the staff should be looking for new jobs, particularly Ron Turner. Then there is the problem of personnel. The Bears O-line is borderline terrible, their wide receiving core lacks a #1 and Jay Cutler's decision making is causing ulcers to Bears fans. Granted, a lot of the reason the Bears offense has struggled is due to the line; Matt Forte has been non-existent for the most part and that is because there are no holes for him, it seems like every time he receives the ball he's been knocked backwards.

I think Chicago could be back on track as soon as next season, easily, but the only way that will happen is if money crunching Jerry Angelo is capable of making a quick and decisive coaching change and opening up that pocketbook of his.

The Bears have a bright future, they have Jay Cutler locked up for several years and despite what most think of him right now, he still has pro-bowl ability. Cutler is playing with the fear of throwing an interception and it is effecting his play big time, once he relaxes and gets back into form, he'll silence critics. Matt Forte proved last season what he is capable of, don't let this year fool you.

The only thing the Bears are now playing for is pride, which they haven't shown much of. These last few games will show us how much heart the Bears have, which is something I certainly have questioned many times this season.