Talk going into the season was would failed contract extension negotiations effect Matt Forte’s play?

Answer it only enhanced his play even if he only managed to play in 12 games due to injury.

There is really no way to describe Forte’s value to the  Bears so you have to put it in perspective.  Forte is starting his career off by accomplishing something no other running back in the history of the NFL has done.  That’s honestly all the perspective that’s needed is for that statement to be made and to let it stand on it’s own.

Let’s dig a little bit deeper though to further add to the perspective.

Shortly after the 2010 season there was concern surrounding the defensive line of the Chicago Bears and how thing would progress heading into the future.  Tommie Harris was the starting three technique defensive tackle a key cog in the Lovie Smith one-gap Tampa-2 scheme and he had yet another disappointing season.

Even with Julius Peppers enjoying an All-Pro year, questions surrounded every other position on the defensive line.  Anthony Adams was a free agent, Henry Melton looked good in spot duty as a rotational DT, Matt Toeaina was good but not starter value.

Here's the text of the official release:

BEARS NAME MIKE TICE OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR

LAKE FOREST, IL – The Chicago Bears promoted Mike Tice today, making him their offensive coordinator. Tice has spent the last two seasons as the Bears offensive line coach. This season, the Bears offensive line helped a Bears rushing attack produce 2,015 yards, just the second time they have eclipsed the 2,000-yard rushing mark in the last 21 seasons. The Bears 4.4 rushing average was highest for the franchise since 1990.

Reports coming now indicate that Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz has resigned from his position with the Chicago Bears over philosophical differences.

It's obvious what those differences are as Martz wants to do more to run his offense and the essential fact that no other team in the NFL runs the same offense.

Martz had two come to Jesus moments with trying to run his offense by going with mainly seven step drops and long routes down the field.

During the Bears' five game winning streak this season, the offense began to emerge but only AFTER refocusing on the run and pairing down the playbook.

The result was much the same level of success the Bears enjoyed last year after the bye week, the offense began to click after a Martz intervention.

The immediate likelihood in finding a Martz replacement would seem to be elevating Mike Tice to the role of offensive coordinator.  The run game success and most of the run game development and philosophy can be directly attributed to Tice.

With the Bears having rushed for over 2,000 yards on the season for the first times since 2005 and only for the second time since 1990 keeping a strong run minded philosophy would seem ideal.

As an example while the New Orleans Saints' QB Drew Brees set a record with over 5,000 yards passing in a single season, they also went for over 2,000 yards rushing on the season with a 4.9 YPC average as well as an average 132.9 YPG.

Thus proving the philosophy that you can still compliment the pass with a strong rushing attack when called upon.

The Bears would seem likely to want to develop the passing game even further without risking as many sacks as have existed over the last two season under Martz.

Martz's philosophy always seemed to be an emphasis on big plays in the passing game rather than efficiency.   Having an efficient passing attack is even more important than having the big plays.   Efficiency means cutting down on sacks, converting your third downs which was even a problem when Cutler was in place.

Also of consideration might be whether or not a new GM has a role in bringing in a new offensive coordinator or has  a say in helping to develop the philosophy on offense.

Lovie Smith's obvious strength as a defensive minded coach would seem to indicate that allowing a new GM to have some say on offense may be a good idea.

The Chicago Bears today decided to move on from the nearly 10 year long Jerry Angelo era in the Windy City and have relieved Angelo of his GM duties.

From the Bears' official release:

Chicago Bears President and CEO Ted Phillips informed Jerry Angelo this morning he will not return as the team’s general manager for the 2012 season.

The team will hold a press conference today at 4 pm CT in the Halas Hall theatre. Halas Hall will be open to the media at 2:00 pm."

The Bears make a bit of a shocking move by firing Angelo, not because Angelo didn't deserve to be let go, but because NO ONE expected it to happen.

Admittedly I have been one to try and bring perspective to Angelo's tenure, have argued for Angelo's side but I emphasize I am not upset that he was let go, nor disappointed that he was let go.  Could I have seen Angelo staying on going forward, yes, did he deserve to, possibly.....does it matter now?  Certainly not, the Bears made their decision and it's a good move after 10 years of mediocre drafts and a roster that doesn't cut the mustard.

Now the question of speculation as to WHO the Bears will hire on as the new GM?

Promoting Tim Ruskell to the GM job is out of the question, Ruskell should be driving Angelo's car on the way out of town.  Ruskell had a disastrous tenure in Seattle .

Chris Mortensen on ESPN 1000 reported that Ruskell most certainly would be considered for the GM job.

Ruskell has a full blown relationship and nearly the same philosophy as Angelo, would not be the guy to hire on.

Bears move to look at Bill Polian?  Polian is another candidate mentioned by Mortensen on ESPN radio.

Other possible candidates include Eric DeCosta director of player personnel of the Ravens and Steve Keim Director of Player Personnel of the Arizona Cardinals.

Mortensen emphasized that he has not heard any names attached to the job as of yet.  Those were two names that Bears fans are maybe not as familiar with but they are known as young guys who have stocked rosters with young talent.

Alot of talk has been surfacing lately about Jerry Angelo's future. Retirement rumors popped up a few weeks ago and since it's been the topic of discussion in Chicago.

However there hasn't been an in-depth look into the future of the franchise and the window of success the Bears are operating within. As most every would guess with this defense, this front office and this coaching staff the Chicago Bears' ownership has given them a two year window to win a Super Bowl title.

Why is it a two year window? Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith's contracts are up in 2013. Plus all of the recent flurry of extensions has put a host of players also on the bubble after the 2013 season.

It seems apparent that the ownership has laid out a time table for the Bears and it's a time table Angelo is following.

Win a title in two years or else.

The defense gets older, Cutler comes up in the window of another extension, Julius Peppers gets to the end of his monstrous Briggs and Urlacher's careers start to wind down and their contracts start to go away.

Money starts to come off the payroll and with the potential for Smith and Angelo to both be gone simultaneously it leaves the Bears' ownership in a very appealing position to any potential GM.

A new GM could come in and make his own coaching hire develop his own front office and scouting division. He'd also have some financial flexibility to work with to overhaul and build the Bears' roster as he sees fit.

This to me is a sign of an ownership that is beginning to pay attention and is quietly behind the scenes letting people within this front office know that time is short.

It should be reassuring to the fans as well to know that there is a recognized timeline by the ownership that a title to the Windy City needs to be delivered by.

The defense is still playing at a championship level, and there should be the expectation that the Bears can compete again in 2012 with some minor adjustments.

Timing is everything and the obvious state of the organization indicates that fans should expect the Bears to win a Super after the 2012 or 2013 seasons.

Despite missing the playoffs, fans coaches and players had respect for the 2011 Chicago Bears team voting five Bears players to the Pro Bowl.

Return trips to the Pro Bowl were in order for Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs and first time Pro Bowlers Corey Graham, Charles Tillman and Matt Forte rounded out the selections.

Forte made the Pro Bowl in spite of his late season knee injury which cost him the last four games of the season.  Forte at the time of his injury was leading the NFL in yards from scrimmage, in the final year of his contract.

Forte will obviously use this as leverage when contract negotiations ramp up in the off-season.  If the Bears cannot re-sign Forte early they'll likely franchise him to prevent him from hitting the open market.

Forte is the first Bears running back to be named to the Pro Bowl since Neal Anderson following the 1991 season.  He ranked third in the league in rushing yards (997) and ranked fourth among all running backs with 490 yards receiving. His 4.9 rushing average in 2011 is a career high and sixth among NFL running backs with at least 150 rushing attempts this season.

A well deserved nod for Charles Tillman who had one of  if not the best season of his career.   Tillman's stats were amongst the best in the league.  103 tackles are second in the NFL amongst CBs. He also has 13 pass break ups and three forced fumbles.  His ability to line up against the opposing receiver and shut them down is key to the Bears' defensive success.

Tillman's notable season performance came against the Lions' Calvin Johnson at home.  Tillman had five tackles one pick, and held Johnson to a mediocre seven receptions  for 81 yards, take away the 40 yard reception in garbage time and Johnson had only six catches for 41 yards.

Bears special teams ace Corey Graham earned his first Pro Bowl nod, arguably a year late.  Graham is the best cover man on the best coverage unit in the NFL.  Matt Bowen calls Graham "the best cover man in the NFL." and it's well deserved recognition.

Graham leads the Bears with 20 special teams tackles after coaches’ review this season. Since entering the NFL in 2007, Graham ranks tied for second in the NFL with 74 special teams tackles, based on press box statistics. Graham plays on five of the Bears six special teams units (punt coverage, kickoff coverage, punt returns, kickoff returns and field goal blocks).The Bears punt return coverage unit ranks second in the NFL this season allowing just 5.4 yards per return.

Briggs and Urlacher?  I think we know just how good those two have been for the Bears and their play consistently empties out the encyclopedia of superlatives.   Both are deserving and we hope continue to play at a high level for the Bears for the next few seasons.

Most if not all Bears fans have given up on second year offensive tackle J'Marcus Webb and want to go out and draft a future LT in the first round of the NFL draft.  Meaning more growing pains at a position that suffered growing pains with a first year starter.

The Seattle Seahawks have drafted four starting offensive linemen in the last two seasons all in the first and second round of the NFL draft and are even with the Bears in sacks allowed on the season.

This is the one simple bit of hard evidence I can point to that shows drafting offensive linemen in the first two rounds of the NFL draft does not always work to immediately solidify things up front.

Beyond that the Bears will eliminate Mike Martz and add both Chris Williams and Gabe Carimi and rid themselves of Frank Omiyale.  Leaving a hole on offense and a need in either free agency or the draft.

That position will be a swing tackle, someone who can play either RT or LT, but will almost certainly be a mid to late round selection.

You grade the offensive line on more than just pass protection, the other part of the equation is run blocking, and the Bears have improved monumentally over the 2009 season, the low point.   The Bears have five solid run blockers that start and have another two blockers that add depth.

The pass blocking is always the last thing to develop, but will get a boost with Martz's departure.  Meaning that the five starters that are in place will turn out to be just fine as they continue to grow and play together.

There is absolutely no reason for the Bears to draft an offensive tackle with any of their first three, arguably four draft picks.  There are much more pressing needs to address, most notably the wide receiver position and beginning to retool a defense.

Frank Omiyale will need to be replaced and the Bears can do this by drafting a swing back up tackle that can learn.   Who knows, perhaps Levi Horn already represents that player, that however seems unlikely.

Free agency may also be a possibility, but the preference should be to draft a young OT to help add to a young and talented offensive front.

Be certain the offensive front is starting to become a strong unit over the last two seasons especially with the depth that has been developed and added.

Chris Spencer was a cheap starter level player who can compete to be a starter next year or can be solid backup at either guard position or at center.   Lance Louis is yet another starter capable player who can play as a backup at either RG or at RT.

Edwin Williams has proven himself, he's a solid option possibly at center as a backup or certainly as a backup guard.

All this depth that has started and has played well as starters can rotate to a backup positions.  The key to all this development is simply Mike Tice, who should be given a raise and kept on as offensive coordinator.

Bears fans are in an uproar and they have every right to be given the circumstances of the franchise.  An aging defense that is still playing well enough for the Bears to compete for a Super Bowl, won't be because the Bears have lost five straight.

The team is built around it's over 30-something stars, Charles Tillman, Lance Briggs, Julius Peppers and Brian Urlacher arguably three of these four will be in the hall of fame and are playing at a hall of fame level currently.

However I'm here to provide a dose of perspective for Bears fans ready to send a torch and pitchfork mob down to Halas Hall today with most of the Chicago media leading the way.

This is a wasted season and teams suffer wasted seasons, and this season is not a sign of worse things to come.  Perhaps that's the most frustrating thing of all, is that the season is a complete waste given the Bears would be playing for or would have already locked up the fifth seed in the playoffs by now.

The main point Bears fans have on their side is the string of futility all throughout the 90s and the early part of this decade and the missed playoff chances in five of the last six seasons.

However Bears fans now have to separate eras to keep a real perspective on who this team is now.  This team is Jay Cutler's team and it will win and lose and compete for championships because of Cutler.  This is what franchise QBs are all about, they make your team competitive each and every season for a playoff berth and your season can depend on how productive of a season they have.

Franchise players make or break your franchise, period.  Bears fans may not quite understand the importance of a franchise QB yet, but they should given the long history of mediocrity without one.

This is not a sign of bigger problems and it's happened to NFL teams before.  Namely the 2007 to 2008 Green Bay Packers 13-3 one year to 6-10 the following year to back in the playoff hunt the following year with a 11-5 record.

After missing the playoffs the Packers fired their defensive coordinator, hired Dom Capers and drafted B.J. Raji ninth overall and traded up to draft Clay Matthews in the 26th overall in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft.

Wasted opportunity indeed for the Packers and a blueprint for the 2011 Chicago Bears to follow heading into the 2012 season.

The Bears need to rid themselves of offensive coordinator Mike Martz that's step one.  Don't let the media try to fool you into believing that because Martz knew Hanie wasn't ready for prime time and the offense was starting to click that that should outweigh the obvious reasons to fire him.   The reasons are many and Martz should be gone and the reins turned over to Mike Tice.

From there the Bears draft a number one receiver and begin to retool an aging defense, hopefully by finding three starters in the draft somewhere in rounds one through four.

The Bears wound up with two starters on defense from the 2011 draft in Paea and Conte so it's not a stretch to hope that the Bears can land three more.

This is how the Bears can bounce back and ensure success beyond Urlacher Briggs and Peppers.   Rebuilding the defense over the next two to three drafts while simultaneously remaining competitive in 2012 and 2013 with most of the same starters.

The Bears don't need to panic and hit reset on Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith, they need to realize what they have in Cutler and build around him accordingly.

The talk before the season was that Henry Melton was going to emerge in 2011 as a very strong player at the three technique defensive tackle spot.

The talk was very warranted from what we saw from Melton last year when he started to make an impact at a mere 260 to 270-pounds.

Melton now is up to 295-pounds and in the process he has not sacrificed much speed or explosion, all important aspects within the one gap defense.

Results speak for themselves and as of right now the results show that Melton is a legitimate Pro Bowl defensive tackle.   Melton is tied for the league lead in sacks by DTs at seven, has 31 total QB pressures on the season and has stacked up a solid four tackles for a loss on the season.

Those are numbers worthy of a Pro Bowl invite especially given how important it is for the three technique to apply this type of pressure.   Even more impressive is how the Bears prefer to divide up the snaps between their backup defensive tackles Amobi Okoye and Stephen Paea.

Adding to the list of impressive accomplishments Melton has a sack in each of the last three games to go with eight QBPs in the last three games.  Proving that his production is getting better at the most critical juncture of the season with the Bears in the midst of a playoff race.

Obviously the Bears have lost their last three games, but Melton's play as been at a high level throughout the losing streak.

In the meantime the Bears defense has given up a mere 20 points over the last two games.

The third year DT is quietly living up to the potential that Lovie Smith stated he had within him, arguably exceeding that level of potential.

The question now is given this is Melton's first full year as a starter, his first full year playing primarily as a DT where is Meltons's limit?   That question may yet to be answered but on a defense that is full of aging stars, Melton is proving that he's a young and emerging star that could be wreaking havoc in the NFC North for the next five to seven years.

Melton's stats prove he deserves Pro Bowl consideration, and quite possibly All-Pro consideration.  His production speaks for itself and after his fourth and final year in his rookie deal, Melton will be in line for a fat contract extension an extension the Bears might look into doing now, before Melton's price tag gets too high.