What are the Bears doing??

[Senser81]

The Peppers signing is going to set that franchise back for the next 5-7 years,
The cap implications of giving a 30-year-old lineman that kind of money are mind-boggling.
It reminds me of the Eagles getting Jevon Kearse after his peak.

Yeah, but the Eagles thought they were "1 player away" from the Super Bowl when they signed Kearse. And, in retrospect, they were because after they signed Kearse they went to the Super Bowl. I am hoping the Bears aren't so delusional that they think Peppers is the lone missing piece to their Super Bowl puzzle.

 

[dave]

Yeah, but the Eagles thought they were "1 player away" from the Super Bowl when they signed Kearse. And, in retrospect, they were because after they signed Kearse they went to the Super Bowl. I am hoping the Bears aren't so delusional that they think Peppers is the lone missing piece to their Super Bowl puzzle.

True.

The Bears really needed Boldin and I agree with the poster above - the O-Line needed more help than the D-Line.

In The Sporting News preview, an opponent take got the Bears right - he said they're an old team when the NFL is going young.

Barring a monster Cutler year, I don't see the Bears as anything more than an 8-8 team. Green Bay and Minnesota are significantly better teams and Detroit will improve.

 

[FirstTimer]

Yeah, but the Eagles thought they were "1 player away" from the Super Bowl when they signed Kearse. And, in retrospect, they were because after they signed Kearse they went to the Super Bowl. I am hoping the Bears aren't so delusional that they think Peppers is the lone missing piece to their Super Bowl puzzle.

Even still I'd give more credit to TO to that Eagles team for being as good as they were than I would to Kearse.

 

[Senser81]

In The Sporting News preview, an opponent take got the Bears right - he said they're an old team when the NFL is going young.

Yeah, the Bears have very few guys who are actually in their prime. I would say Cutler and Garza are in their prime, and Briggs is probably a little past his prime but still somewhat effective. Their young guys either completely suck or aren't really established yet (I think Forte and Bowman fall into this category). Otherwise, its the same crap every year, where the local media idiots in Chicago expect All-Pro seasons from Urlacher, Tommie Harris, Olin Kreutz, Charles Tillman, etc.

 

[dave]

Even still I'd give more credit to TO to that Eagles team for being as good as they were than I would to Kearse.

As much as it pains me to write this, Owens was the difference maker that year.
Kearse only had 7.5 sacks in 2004, hardly an elite number. I've never seen a player who peaked so early and fell so fast.
Kearse was pedestrian in Philly ... maybe injuries were a factor, but he was never The Freak in Philly, just an overpaid situational DE.

Yeah, the Bears have very few guys who are actually in their prime. I would say Cutler and Garza are in their prime, and Briggs is probably a little past his prime but still somewhat effective. Their young guys either completely suck or aren't really established yet (I think Forte and Bowman fall into this category). Otherwise, its the same crap every year, where the local media idiots in Chicago expect All-Pro seasons from Urlacher, Tommie Harris, Olin Kreutz, Charles Tillman, etc.

Barry Sanders would have a hard time averaging 4.0 yds a carry behind that line. Poor Forte doesn't stand a chance.
OK, Sanders probably would still be great ... but you know where I'm going with this.

 

[Senser81]

Even still I'd give more credit to TO to that Eagles team for being as good as they were than I would to Kearse.

Yeah, I didn't mean that Kearse put them over the top. It was more like the Eagles had been building to the Super Bowl up to that point, so it was somewhat logical for them to grab Kearse at that time. The Bears are just seeing how long they can stay on top of Detroit in the NFC North standings. I have a feeling this will be the year that ends.

 

[1ke]

A few issues I have about Jerry Angelo (aka the luckiest man in football) and what the Bears are trying to accomplish this year...

1) Addition by subtraction - Signing Julius Peppers and letting go Ogunleye AND Alex Brown at the same time is a masterstroke of retardation. Brown was the Bears best d-linemen last year, and they let him leave for a song. They bring in Peppers, who gets frustrated by double-teams and takes plays off, and they pair him with Mark Anderson?? A guy who has proven that he can't be an every-down lineman?

Im here to play the homerism role....Ill give it a shot. Just know, i may not believe all im about to say, but ill throw it out there since Senser here is looking for some answers.

Wale, had to go. He thought he was better than he actually was. He hasnt played well since the super bowl season and he was going to as the Bears for a sum of money the Bears werent willing tp pay. (Common theme) Alex was the best DL (not a good thing) they had, but he was getting older, unhappy, and becoming less productive each week. Im sure the Bears felt, they couldnt be much worse off if they cut him. And say what you want about Julius, but its a fact that he is easily considered a top 3 DE in the league. You must pay in the NFL to win, so thats what they did. Also, about his contract, it is very very front loaded. Its kind of wink wink right now, that he wont see year 4 of that deal he signed.

2) No new WRs - the Bears offense is now in need of 3-4 good WRs, and they have none. They couldn't even bring in a Mike Furrey or a Shaun McDonald guy who already knows the system. To make matters worse, it appears that the Bears will be having Jay Cutler on the field for about 10 plays the entire preseason, so how can these subpar WRs even learn the new offense?

The Bears WR have become one of the positions where they seem to be least concerned. Devin Hester and Jonny Knox are idea wr's to run this offense. While DA may not be ideal, he had shown that he can play. And im not looking too much into the 8 plays vs SD. Jay will be out there more and more each pre-season game. Also, just something to keep in mind...Lovie and Martz have lost their starting QB's with year ending injuries in pre-season games. (Rex, Trent) They might be a bit skeptikal about leaving jay out there sometimes.

3) No experienced backup QB - And I'm not even talking about a 10-year vet who has seen everything, I'm talking about how the Bears have no one with even an iota of experience. They couldn't even close the deal on Todd Collins. Really?

Who cares, Bulger got 4 mil at Baltimore. This is purley a money issue. 4 FUCKING MIL to a bacup QB...not happening in Chicago. And...the Todd Collins thing....Hanie opened his mouth and said his injury wasnt as bad as reported. Collins cought wind, and didnt want to sign a deal where he would have more than likely been let go in 3 weeks anyway.

4) Offensive line is still a mess - same players as last year, just swapping them to different positions. I am amazed at Angelo's complete inability to address this issue.

Williams will start at LT...He only played in 2 games last season and showed promise. Garza moved to LG and is competing with Asiata cuz even Garza sucked nuts last season. RG is new boy Lance Louis and RT is scapegoat Frank. Frank is the biggest concern of the OL.

5) Harvey Unga - already a questionable pick based on the Bears personnel and system, he's out for the year now. Great work! And typical of how Angelo picks guys who are always injured.

7th Round pick for Unga.....soooooo....who gives a fuck, if it works, awesome, if not, see ya.

6) Over-reliance on players from Northwestern and Vanderbilt - I find this to be the most puzzling aspect of Jerry Angelo's reign. Angelo typically has no problems bringing in criminals and drug users to the Bears organization, but the past few years he has stockpiled these "student-athletes" from two questionable football factories. I noticed that the Bears defense has a lot of guys from those two awful defensive schools (Roach, Hillenmeyer, Wootton), so I took a look at their roster and here are the players who went to Northwestern or Vanderbilt...

Cutler
Earl Bennett
Hillenmeyer
Roach
Wootton
Brett Basanez
Zeke Markshausen
Eric Peterman
DJ Moore
Chris Williams

WOW!

Yea, i dont know. But Cutler and Williams are the only starters. Roach will loose out to Pisa, Hunter is behind Brian, Wooten and Bennett are extras, Brett wont make the team, DJ will be used for speacial teams, and Eric and Zeke will be cut. I dont care where the kids are from, as long as they can play.

 

[MRN]

Yea, i dont know. But Cutler and Williams are the only starters. Roach will loose out to Pisa, Hunter is behind Brian, Wooten and Bennett are extras, Brett wont make the team, DJ will be used for speacial teams, and Eric and Zeke will be cut. I dont care where the kids are from, as long as they can play.

Don't cut Peterman short, he has a good chance to make the team.

 

[Aso]

I also loved how Lovie said that getting Peppers will allow them to blitz more. Yes, because if there's one thing a Tampa 2 defense needs more it's more blitzing of LB and less coverage of the middle of the field. You definitely bring in a top-tier pass rusher just so he can potentially draw double teams.

To be honest when the Bears got rid of Ron Rivera is when I think their defense went to the shitter. When they lost him they didn't blitz nearly as much. He was their DC from 2004-2006.


Also when you're listing those WR's don't forget about Kevin Curtis.

 

[MRN]

First thing we need to do, is clean up the defense after this season. Get rid of Lovie and his stupid ass Tampa 2 defense is the first step.

 

[FedEx227]

To be honest when the Bears got rid of Ron Rivera is when I think their defense went to the shitter. When they lost him they didn't blitz nearly as much. He was their DC from 2004-2006.


Also when you're listing those WR's don't forget about Kevin Curtis.

You shouldn't have to blitz out of the Tampa 2.

What's been missing from the Bears post Rivera is a healthy, good Tommie Harris. No pressure from the line = really, really shitty Tampa 2.

 

[Aso]

Using a Tampa 2 Defense doesn't mean you never blitz. The Bears still do blitz but just not with the same success at they did with Ron Rivera. If you didn't know he played for the Bears in the '85 season and used to be on Jim Johnsons staff.

Unless you're the Bucs with future HOF'er Warren Sapp and maybe the leagues best pass rusher at the time Simeon Rice then you can get away with rushing four almost all the time. Or the Colts with Freeney and Mathis now.

I think Tommie Harris is a part of it but not having Ron Rivera's genius around anymore is definitely another part.


http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/01/05/the-bears-the-blitz-and-the-tampa-2/

 

[FedEx227]

That article basically says my point though, the Bears blitz a ton out of the Tampa 2, which in effect renders it pretty worthless as you need your LBs to be able to cover the middle of the field. Needing to generate a pass rush from your LB as opposed to your defensive line. You were saying since they lost Rivera, they didn't blitz as much. That's not true, they've actually blitzed far more SINCE he left.

The Ron Rivera is a genius thing is so annoyingly overhyped by Chicago it's unbelievable. The Bears defense was better in 2006 than they were in 2007, but attributing it to only Ron Rivera and making Rivera causal is just naive. Many, many other factors play into it, Brian Urlacher is half the player he once was, Tommie Harris can't stay on the field, Mark Anderson is given far too much time on the field, etc.

Yeah, the Bears defensive was definitely better with Rivera, and they DID blitz better, but to attribute it solely to Rivera is just not fair.

 

[Aso]

Not solely on Rivera. There were obviously other contributing factors I just think he was a pretty big part of it.

 

[1ke]

Wale was at his best, and AB benefited from Tommie being all world. Tank played his best too. But that's just the start, the whole team just played better and peaked that year. After that year, everything went to shit.

Lovie wanted Ron gone because Ron wasn't in love with the Cover 2 and wanted to do other things. Lovie wanted to keep the Cover 2 where it was.

And as far as the Bears blitzing....they blitz more than 30 other teams in the league, they just suck at it, and they couldn't do shit with their front four. Anyone remember when Brian Griese and TB threw the ball 73 times and the bears had 0 sacks! Yea it was evident they sucked and things weren't the same from the superbowl year.

 

[Maize]

I'm glad I am not the only one who thought the Bears had a devastating off-season. The team is really a facade; Mike Martz, Jay Cutler, Matt Forte, Julius Peppers... it is not going to be pretty. They are one of very few reasons I think the Lions have a shot to finish 3rd in the division this year.

 

[Tailback U]

I made a post about this last year on MM.

Go back and look at the Bears draft history and personnel decisions since they made the Super Bowl and it's like Angelo is trying to run that organization in to the ground.I'd have to go back and look but I think over half the guys they've drafted in rounds 1-3 aren't even on the team, hell, some aren't even in the league anymore.

The Bears constantly give up their best players in their prime (Cedric Benson, Thomas Jones, Bernard Berrian) and then draft shittier players to replace them.

Look at the Bears recent draft pick history: http://www.databasefootball.com/draft/draftteam.htm?tm=chi&lg=nfl

2009: No picks until round 3.

2008: Chris Williams, Matt Forte, Earl Bennett - not a bad class.

2007:
Greg Olsen (1st Round) - Nice pick.
Dan Bazuin (2nd Round) - Who?
Garrett Wolfe (3rd Round) - Worthless.
Michael Okwo (3rd Round) - Who?
5 other players who nobodies ever heard of. 1 good pick this year.

2006:
Daniel Manning (Round 2) - 5 picks in 30 starts (46 total games). Special teams player.
Devin Hester (round 2) - Good pick.
Dusty Dvoracek (Round 3) - Is he out of rehab?
3 other picks nobody has ever heard of.

2005:
Cedric Benson (Round 1) - Released for Thomas Jones. Who they also released a couple years later for Matt Forte.
Mark Bradley (Round 2) - Not on the team, not sure if he's still in the league.
Kyle Orton (Round 3) - Starting for the Broncos.

2004:
Tommie Harris (Nice pick)
Terry Johnson (Round 2) - Who?
Bernard Berrian (Round 3) - Let walk.
Nathan Vasher (Round 4) - Not on the team.

2003:
Michael Haynes (Round 1) - Who?
Rex Grossman (Round 1) - Great pick.
Charles Tillman (Round 2) - Paid off.
Lance Briggs (Round 3) - Great pick.

Is it just me or do these picks and personnel decisions seem absolutely terrible?

How did the Bears ever make it to the Super Bowl that year? I know their D was really good, but I don't remember anyone on it except for Urlacher, Briggs, Brown, Ogunleye.

I'm just waiting for the Bears to release Forte after he fails to reach expectations this season, draft another HB, and watch Forte run wild for another team.

 

[citizenerased]

Grossman a great pick?

Spent 3 years either as a back up or injured, than imploded in the Superbowl (as well as on national TV earlier in the season), before getting benched and cut. Apart from those opening 4 weeks of 2006 he was Patrick Ramsey-tastic.

 

[bcransom]

Gotta love the idea that a patchwork offensive line couldn't block a West Coast scheme last year. So let's now take that same patchwork offensive line, flip like two guys and try to do a timing route/7-step drop based offensive attack.

And people wonder why I gave up caring about the Bears 10-15 years ago? It's an absolutely pathetic, clueless football organization from top to bottom.

I also loved how Lovie said that getting Peppers will allow them to blitz more. Yes, because if there's one thing a Tampa 2 defense needs more it's more blitzing of LB and less coverage of the middle of the field. You definitely bring in a top-tier pass rusher just so he can potentially draw double teams.

Peppers has never played any consistent LB in the NFL, and won't for the Bears, so I have no idea where you got that. He is and always has been an RE, and draw double teams is exactly what he'll do.

 

[FedEx227]

Please let me know where I said Peppers will be a LB.

I was saying Lovie at the beginning of training camp said that the presence of Peppers on the line will allow him to free up some gaps for the LBs to blitz which to me seems extremely counter-productive in a Tampa 2.