OK, I've basically been too busy with other stuff to keep track of the Bears this season, so I'm wondering if someone can tell me why we sucked so bad?
Can someone give me a bit of a review of our offense, defense and special teams? If you could give me an idea of who played well or poorly as well, that would help too. Maybe give me a bit of an idea about our off-season plans (eg who is a FA? who are we likely to trade? who will we keep? etc)? Thanks. Hope someone can hook me up.
Help a lazy Bears fan
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Help a lazy Bears fan
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TNBT
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Cliff Levingston
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We started off the season absolutely killing the Chargers on defense, but we lost two big pieces of the defense in that game: Mike Brown and Dusty Dvoracek. Not too long after we lost Vasher for about 12 games of the season, Tillman for a couple games and Briggs for a game. Urlacher found out he had an arthritic back and that severely limited him for the majority of the season. Tommie Harris was never really 100% after about 1/4 of the way through the season. We also lost Mark Anderson late in the year to injury and pretty much all our DT's, having to sign guys off the street: Jimmy Kennedy and Matt Toeina.
So injuries hit the defense pretty hard which helped lend to a bad performance for most of the year. We weren't able to consistently get to the QB and weren't able to force a lot of turnovers like we did last year (which is what carried us).
Offensively, it all started at the offensive line. They couldn't open up good holes for Benson to run through for about 13 of our 16 games, not that Benson is the stud back of the NFL or anything. Grossman was incredibly bad early off, so we had to switch to Griese was bad as well. Grossman came back and played well but then of course got hurt, and we finished off with some nice showing from Orton. However, our offense is in shambles right now and it's mostly because of the offensive line.
Cliff Levingston hates Ron Turner as our OC but he'll be retained along with the majority of the coaching staff (if not everyone). Lovie seemed like he wanted to get rid of Turner but Angelo (basically) said that if he does that, then he'll fire Lovie's butt buddy Bob Babich (the DC).
Briggs and Berrian are all but lost to free agency. Angelo said he wants Grossman back in the mix at the QB position so you'll probably see him re-signed. We all have theories on who should/will be picked in the draft but Angelo has proved to be unpredictable in the draft during his tenure.
We need about 3 new offensive linemen, possibly another running back, a QB and definitely a WR. The only position we're set at on offense is Tight end with Clark and Olsen. The offensive personnel needs a massive upgrade.
The defense should be able to bounce back provided they can stay healthy. Jamar Williams (who'll be replacing Briggs) is no chump, but the biggest concern for the line backing core is the status of Urlacher's back; will he ever be dominant again? The Cover 2 relies heavily upon the safety, so we definitely need another play maker there.
Our defensive line appears to be pretty awesome going forward though. If Tommie Harris and Dusty Dvoracek can stay healthy, they'll be one of the top 5 best DT pairings in the NFL, not to mention our already strong cast of DE's (Ogunleye, Brown and Anderson).
The Bears could quite easily turn it around next season on the the back of the defense (once again) but offense needs a ton of work.
So injuries hit the defense pretty hard which helped lend to a bad performance for most of the year. We weren't able to consistently get to the QB and weren't able to force a lot of turnovers like we did last year (which is what carried us).
Offensively, it all started at the offensive line. They couldn't open up good holes for Benson to run through for about 13 of our 16 games, not that Benson is the stud back of the NFL or anything. Grossman was incredibly bad early off, so we had to switch to Griese was bad as well. Grossman came back and played well but then of course got hurt, and we finished off with some nice showing from Orton. However, our offense is in shambles right now and it's mostly because of the offensive line.
Cliff Levingston hates Ron Turner as our OC but he'll be retained along with the majority of the coaching staff (if not everyone). Lovie seemed like he wanted to get rid of Turner but Angelo (basically) said that if he does that, then he'll fire Lovie's butt buddy Bob Babich (the DC).
Briggs and Berrian are all but lost to free agency. Angelo said he wants Grossman back in the mix at the QB position so you'll probably see him re-signed. We all have theories on who should/will be picked in the draft but Angelo has proved to be unpredictable in the draft during his tenure.
We need about 3 new offensive linemen, possibly another running back, a QB and definitely a WR. The only position we're set at on offense is Tight end with Clark and Olsen. The offensive personnel needs a massive upgrade.
The defense should be able to bounce back provided they can stay healthy. Jamar Williams (who'll be replacing Briggs) is no chump, but the biggest concern for the line backing core is the status of Urlacher's back; will he ever be dominant again? The Cover 2 relies heavily upon the safety, so we definitely need another play maker there.
Our defensive line appears to be pretty awesome going forward though. If Tommie Harris and Dusty Dvoracek can stay healthy, they'll be one of the top 5 best DT pairings in the NFL, not to mention our already strong cast of DE's (Ogunleye, Brown and Anderson).
The Bears could quite easily turn it around next season on the the back of the defense (once again) but offense needs a ton of work.
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emperorjones
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Cliff Levingston
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TNBT
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Hey, thanks for the info. 
I remember hearing something about Urlacher's back, but I never really paid much attention this season. I remember the season preview I read in one of my magazines predicted that the offensive line had one more good year left. Guess that wasn't really the greatest call ever.
I remember hearing something about Urlacher's back, but I never really paid much attention this season. I remember the season preview I read in one of my magazines predicted that the offensive line had one more good year left. Guess that wasn't really the greatest call ever.
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CBS7
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If (a big if) all things go well this offseason, the Bears could be right back in the thick of things next year.
I hope we can retain Briggs. If management can keep one of Briggs/Berrian, I'd easily go Briggs. Please bring back Briggs. He was arguably our best defensive player this year (him or Tillman), with Urlacher's back problems, Harris's nagging injuries, and Brown/Vasher not playing.
Things of note:
- Tillman had a phenomenal year. Had our defense been better overall, he would have gotten more credit and would have been a sure pro bolwer and possibly an all-pro.
- Urlacher looked 10x better the last 5 or so games of the year then he did the rest of the year. He had 41 tackles, 6 deflected passes, 4 interceptions, 2 sacks, and a TD in the last 5. He still wasn't at the level of dominance he was in previous years but its still something to be positive about.
- In the last few games before Grossman got injured, he showed me something. He looked good in a different way then when he looked good early last season. Early last season pretty much all he was doing was launching the ball deep, surprising opposing defenses who didn't know what to expect from him. In the last 4 games this season he looked more mobile, made smarter, more accurate throws, only was picked off once, scrambled (and fumbled) a bit, and made two very clutch 4th quarter TD passes. He wasn't lighting the world on fire, but he definitely played like a guy that could manage the game but make plays when needed to.
- At the end of the season, on defense we were completely without 4 opening day starters (Brown/Dvoracek/Anderson/Vasher), another two missed time (Briggs/Tillman), another two were severely slowed by health problems (Harris/Urlacher) another one broke his hand and also suffers from chronic sucking disease (Archuleta). The only two starters that finished the season with good health all year were Ogunleye and Hillenmeyer. We lost a couple of backup DTs as well, in Walker and Adams, completey depleting that position. We also finished without 3 opening day offensive starterers in Grossman, Benson, and Ruben Brown. Griese got hurt during the year as well.
Thats some major injury problems.
Health on defense alone can get us back to the playoffs. Some good moves on offense would get us back to serious contendership.
I hope we can retain Briggs. If management can keep one of Briggs/Berrian, I'd easily go Briggs. Please bring back Briggs. He was arguably our best defensive player this year (him or Tillman), with Urlacher's back problems, Harris's nagging injuries, and Brown/Vasher not playing.
Things of note:
- Tillman had a phenomenal year. Had our defense been better overall, he would have gotten more credit and would have been a sure pro bolwer and possibly an all-pro.
- Urlacher looked 10x better the last 5 or so games of the year then he did the rest of the year. He had 41 tackles, 6 deflected passes, 4 interceptions, 2 sacks, and a TD in the last 5. He still wasn't at the level of dominance he was in previous years but its still something to be positive about.
- In the last few games before Grossman got injured, he showed me something. He looked good in a different way then when he looked good early last season. Early last season pretty much all he was doing was launching the ball deep, surprising opposing defenses who didn't know what to expect from him. In the last 4 games this season he looked more mobile, made smarter, more accurate throws, only was picked off once, scrambled (and fumbled) a bit, and made two very clutch 4th quarter TD passes. He wasn't lighting the world on fire, but he definitely played like a guy that could manage the game but make plays when needed to.
- At the end of the season, on defense we were completely without 4 opening day starters (Brown/Dvoracek/Anderson/Vasher), another two missed time (Briggs/Tillman), another two were severely slowed by health problems (Harris/Urlacher) another one broke his hand and also suffers from chronic sucking disease (Archuleta). The only two starters that finished the season with good health all year were Ogunleye and Hillenmeyer. We lost a couple of backup DTs as well, in Walker and Adams, completey depleting that position. We also finished without 3 opening day offensive starterers in Grossman, Benson, and Ruben Brown. Griese got hurt during the year as well.
Thats some major injury problems.
Health on defense alone can get us back to the playoffs. Some good moves on offense would get us back to serious contendership.
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Comet
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I may be a Packers fan, but I think you guys could've done much better this season. You dealt with drama (e.g. the Briggs contract crap), had a lot of injuries on defense, and saw Grossman do nothing again.
Anyways, you guys are just too talented to under-achieve like this again next season. Your defense is loaded with talent and Devin Hester is by far the best special teams player in the league. There's no way a team can have the same amount of injuries you guys had this year two consecutive years, so the injuries should go down. Just breath life into the O-Line, find a good pocket passer and you'll be competing for the championship again shortly. Good luck.
Anyways, you guys are just too talented to under-achieve like this again next season. Your defense is loaded with talent and Devin Hester is by far the best special teams player in the league. There's no way a team can have the same amount of injuries you guys had this year two consecutive years, so the injuries should go down. Just breath life into the O-Line, find a good pocket passer and you'll be competing for the championship again shortly. Good luck.
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Cliff Levingston
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Cliff Levingston would keep Briggs over Berrian if it was a one-or-the-other proposition as well. We make our living on defense, so if we can do something to help that side of the ball out, then by all means.
This is why Cliff Levingston wants a play making safety so bad; it should get our defense back in the upper echelon and make life a little easier on the offense.
FYI: the Bears are going to make Hester a prime WR target next season. Should be interesting to see how that works out, cause Moose said this past offseason that he sees a lot of Steve Smith in him (who also came in as a kick/punt returner and eventually made the transition to WR).
This is why Cliff Levingston wants a play making safety so bad; it should get our defense back in the upper echelon and make life a little easier on the offense.
FYI: the Bears are going to make Hester a prime WR target next season. Should be interesting to see how that works out, cause Moose said this past offseason that he sees a lot of Steve Smith in him (who also came in as a kick/punt returner and eventually made the transition to WR).