| 04 December 2009
Sadly I didn't watch the live coverage of the Vikings game because a) I knew what the result would be b) The Cardinals versus Titans game was on because the Cardinals were on the road. Needless to say I'm not disappointed I chose not to watch the debacle against the Vikings, knowing full well what the result would be even before the game kicked off.
Finally though the Bears can stop pretending and focus on real football instead of putting up the fake attitude of "well we sit at four losses, five losses, six losses but we're still in the playoff hunt, anything can happen in the NFL."
That type of bull shit really got old in a hurry although I would have never predicted that the Bears would lose three games this season by the margin that they've lost. The three losses against the Bengals, Cardinals and Vikings mean only one thing, a change has to be made and I'm really leaning towards whole sale changes from the top of this organization on down.
I'll be brutally honest and upfront, I don't believe the Jay Cutler trade should buy Jerry Angelo any leeway on the season. Not because of Cutler's shortcomings or failures this season, but because he so clearly and wrongly evaluated the defensive problems from last year and so clearly has mismanaged the offensive line throughout his entire tenure.
Angelo should be fired because there are so many other problems on this team right now, on both sides of the ball that because of the Cutler trade he has left himself in no position to fix these problems, the same problems that existed before the Cutler trade and BEFORE the Gaines Adams trade.
The offensive line needs a complete make over, meaning all five positions on the line need to change or at the very least four of the five should change.
The Bears get a small look at what could be a possible future with Chris Williams starting at LT and Kevin Shaffer being inserted at RT this week with Orlando Pace likely out with a groin injury. The next logical step would be sliding Beekman over to center and inserting Lance Louis in at left guard to see what type of potential exists with that mix of players. The Bears could make the four of five change starting this week if they wanted to, but realistically that's not going to happen.
Again this would be the smart move because it would give Angelo a more clear view of the O-Line and whether or not there is anyone among the new four starters worth saving for the future.
I'm really starting to doubt whether Chris Williams is ever going to be the answer at LT given how far he regressed from his once promising start. Williams is not a RT and once teams figured out the best way to attack him is to over power him the rest was just simple implementation and attack.
Elsewhere Kevin Shaffer was booted from the Browns for a reason, and if he was too bad of an offensive tackle to stick in Cleveland, why should I believe he's good enough for Chicago? Angelo has proven time and again that his front office fails miserably at scouting and evaluating O-Line talent. The results of any of his O-Line evaluations and scouting speaks volumes as to one reason why Angelo should be let go.
On the other side of the ball the Bears should shift in Jarron Gilbert, and Gaines Adams to see what they have in the tank. Angelo did say this week that Gilbert is ready and able to play, so he should get the start ahead of, well pick your player; Tommie Harris, or Adewale Ogunleye. Gilbert needs to show some progress in his development over the next five games. Hopefully he can show reasons why the Bears drafted him in the third round in the NFL draft and why he led the nation in tackles for a loss in the college ranks last year.
None of this really takes away from the obvious though, that is Lovie Smith can't get anything out of these overpaid and worthless players. The hunger in the Bears' defense is gone, players that once showed promise are garbage. Not one player of the 22 players on defense is worth keeping. Yes that includes the one-dimensional run stopper extraordinaire that is Lance Briggs.
The Bears have absolutely no versatility on defense right now and it shows. They have no flexibility amongst their linebackers, none of them can blitz worth a damn, and none of them are athletic enough in coverage to help in a zone blitzing scheme.
I recognize that Briggs is a good run stopper and one of the best open field tacklers in the game, but you need more versatility out of the most important position on the field when your team is on defense. Certainly the Bears' defensive scheme is built around getting pressure from the front four and Tommie Harris is the most important aspect of the Cover-2 defense from his three-technique spot. But the key to any successful defense is LBs who can get pressure, drop back into coverage when called upon and clog up running lanes from side line to side line.
The Bears have very one dimensional and athletically limited linebackers who are a reliability in coverage and don't do much to pressure the QB. Moreover they are a group of completely under-sized LBs who often can be picked up by a chipping RB or TE who then can release into the gap the LB just blitzed from.
Most successful teams on defense have very dynamic athletes at both the DE and LB spot and they are essentially interchangeable in their ability to rush the passer or drop into coverage. Look no further than the success the Ravens, Steelers, Eagles and other teams have year after year with the versatility of the personnel in their front seven.
Right now the Bears need a complete makeover of their franchise and need to figure out a way to build around the only untouchable player on the team, Jay Cutler. Cutler is 26-years-old and likely won't be in the prime of his career until he's 30-years-old. Moreover with his natural god given arm strength and talent he could probably be a star in this league throughout his 30s, much like Brett Favre, Peyton Manning and Kurt Warner have been over the last decade.
If the Bears are going to do this right then they need to get value from some of the players that have value in the trade market and find out if anyone amongst the recent draft choices is worth keeping.
Then and only then can they begin to repair this mess of a team that could dominate the Windy City sports landscape like no other team in town could.
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