Angelo has his priorities in order with QB

so let me get this straight. if we had a healthy tom brady with the current wide receivers, running backs, coaching staff, game plan (or lack thereof), offensive line, etc... we'd be headed to the super bowl this year? please! angelo is as clueless as the rest of the organization! what makes him think all of a sudden they can now evaluate talent at quarterback when the endless parade of ineptitude has been a direct result of his decisions on draft day or in free agency. i personally thing they can win with orton, but not without making other significant changes. sounds like were headed for another "rebuilding" period while the geniuses bring in the next franchise QB! hang on baby!!

Roman responds: Bears would be in the playoffs with a healthy Brady. Super Bowl? Who knows. Who thought Philly was a possibility when the Bears beat the Eagles? Strange things happen when a team gets on a roll. Bears obviously have other holes, but QB is one of them.

Music to my ears!

I agree about bringing in Rod Marinelli on the staff specializing on the defensive side of the ball. Sure, his resume as head coach obviously stinks, but he has merit as someone with at least viable NFL experience as both head coach and as a coach specialist, not a College coach hoping to make a splash in the NFL. The Bears need a staff armed with solid NFL experience. How about bringing in Romeo Crennel as def. coordinator and assigning Marinelli as def. line coach again? I still think Lovie is best served as coordinator, but obviously since we can’t or won’t get rid of him as head coach, then this is the plan to go. It’ll be interesting to see if Lovie and Angelo will see eye to eye in future asst./position coach hirings and draft picks this time around. I can see a soap opera involving those two brewing here during the offseason.

As for Kyle Orton, you were spot on about him, Roman. I don’t think he’ll ever win a Super Bowl or carry a team by himself, but he is someone you can count on only if the team has a great defense, just like that Super Bowl Baltimore Ravens team with Trent Dilfer, but even then, Orton is still not the sure thing and is unproven, especially with NO PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE. Unfortunately, the Bears don’t have a great defense anymore that can carry a team like the defense did in 2006. I’m all for Donovan McNabb, but only at the right price. McNabb is on the downside of his career and I don’t care what anyone says, he threw that Super Bowl game a few years back so that part of the resume counts against him in my book. Point is, just don’t overspend on him. Matt Cassel would be a nice option also. Just don’t hand over the starting reigns to Orton. I want to see some legitimate QB competition. What happened to the Caleb Hanie bandwagonites?

For myself, I enjoy the defensive side more when it comes to football so I’d rather see the Bears fix the defense first as first priority, followed by the Offensive Line and then the QB position next along with the wide receivers. Whatever defensive scheme that the Bears will admit that they run the most is safety and defensive line-driven. They have to absolutely improve that pass rush and the safety position.

Regarding the running game, let's not forget that we're necessarily set in stone in that part of the offense either. I’m fine with Matt Forte and his future is indeed promising, but I just don’t understand why the Bears cannot run 2-Back formations like the Giants or Titans do with their multiple running backs? They’re going to overuse and destroy that kid out there one day if they properly utilize the fullback position or bring in another decent running back to back him up. For whatever reason, Kevin Jones burned some bridges with the coaching staff and Jason Mckie/Jason Davis are just not good enough at fullback anymore, never mind Garret Wolfe wasting a roster space since can’t even make an impact on special teams either.

Angelo’s press conference was fine overall. He shouldn’t pull punches, but then again, his recent poor track record on high draft picks must be called out as well and he sure better realize that he’s part to blame as well, if not much of the blame alongside Lovie and many of the players. This team has a lot of work to do ahead of them in the offseason.

Good article Roman.

Its music to my ears!

Angelo should be firing himself, first and foremost. He is not qualified to judge whether Kyle could be a real option for next year.

Does everyone forget that the Bears had a quarterback that took them to the Super Bowl and that he sat on the bench all season? I suspect that the Bears would be in the play-offs if Grossman had taken over for the rest of the season after Orton's injury. I can't believe he would have missed as many wide open receivers or would have failed to make any 30 yard plus passes the way Orton did. One more victory would have done it. He might have fumbled a few and been sacked a few more times, but no way would he have played as miserably as Orton the last four or five games.

OMG!!!!!

Let's see ...

Mike Shanahan?

Lovie Smith?

Mike Shanahan?

Lovie Smith?

Mike Shanahan?

Lovie WHO???

Go Edgar Go! You are spot on my friend. I do find it a bit disengenious for Angelo to place blame and responsibility on others; look at his track record in the draft. Stabilize the QB position? Does this mean he brings back Kordell Stewart or Jeff Blake or some of the others he has inflicted us with? Who was that surfer? The man calling the shots needs to belly up to the bar and take a lot of the responsibility!

So now Jerry wants to put an emphasis on a QB where they have neglected that position for years?!? If Kyle could have his 40 or so drop passes back, maybe he would be a better than average QB? We need weapons for the Quarterback position! we have the TEs, the Running Back. Now we need a major overhaul of the Wide Receiving corps and we need a replenishment of Offensive Lineman. This OL could not push anyone off the line on 4th down!!!!

They have had a need at qb for the last 25 years for crying out loud. I am not convinced that Orton is that bad.. Their receivers stink!

Garrett Wolfe was actually one of the top special teams contributors. Plus on offense he is not used right. He should be used like Jones-Drew or Darren Sproles...as a Dave Meggett-style scat back. They do dumb stuff like run him between the tackles when he should be catching screens or running sweeps.

Adrian Peterson is the worthless one.

And Kyle should be a backup only

I simply cannot believe that we're still discussing Angelo wanting 'competition' at QB. You want to read between the lines? Do it. He wants Grossman to get another chance. If he didn't, why would they have kept him around? Orton does EVERYTHING the staff and team asked- was voted a captain by teammates who clearly respect and trust him with the ball, and we're all sitting here pointing fingers at the ONE GUY who actually played his part this year? No one is pointing fingers at LOVIE SMITH for having his team so woefully unprepared for every big game this year that they fell on their face in the first half of the last 4 games when the season mattered? You give Orton a set of receivers that might not make a good college team and then blame the QB for 'not convincing you 100%'? Wow, after 4 years of constant caressing of the poor, poor Rex Grossman's ego, he takes aim at Orton in his first year as the starter? This organization is a circus. It's full of clowns. The coaching staff can't discipline it's team, leaving guys like Tank Johnson and Cedric Benson around too long, and it's ORTON'S fault that they didn't make the playoffs. Count me out. I'm done with this team. Let em keep marginal at .500 for the next few years. We've all forgotten what it's like to have a consistent winner at Soldier Field. News flash, Jerry Angelo and the entire Chicago Bears team: That was the CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS who just passed by you to own Chicago winters. Take some advice from the West Side Hockey Club. Go Hawks!

Rod Marinelli.

The same Rod Marinelli that just became the first coach in NFL history to go 0-16.
The same Rod Marinelli that coached a team whose defense ranked 32nd out of 32 teams for the last two seasons.
Ok then. Sounds like a REAL good idea and the reason that everyone else in the league is laughing is because they are jealous of the Bears brain trust.
Lovie says "I hate to see a good man like Rod Marinelli out of a job".
So I guess that this is what really matters with the Bears now. Make sure that Lovie's old pals have a nice paying job no matter how bad they are.
And what the hell is this never ending "He coached in Tampa!" thing all about?
Since when did Tampa Bay become the cream of the croup for NFL coaching? They won nothing there until these very same people were all gone to other teams.

Jerry says "You don't win because of wide receivers. You don't win because of running backs. You win because of the quarterback."
If the Bears brought in a young QB that has had success like Cassel I would be shocked beyond belief. It will not happen and we will get another Brian Griese type of clown.
Did he say that getting some real NFL WRs is a priority?
Nope.
Not on his radar.
That sounds like he has no intention of getting the help they need at WR and he will spend the next 6 months hyping up Kyle Orton so we can all believe that everything is ok.
Just as long as we have the great Kyle Orton leading absolutely no one but some washed up slug in the QB evaluation Jerry can blow a few more picks on damaged defensive players and maybe... just maybe they can pick up a receiver in the 5th or 6th round.

With the great former Tampa Bay man Rod Marinelli helping out the defense and stiffs like this year’s WR gang returning the sky is the limit! They are close!

I am 46 years old and I have seen this crap before.
2009 is going to be a make or break year for me as a Bears fan.
If this is their plan and they roll out the same muck that I just watched for another year of my life then I will finally cut the cord with the Chicago Bears.

Edgar...it wasnt a Hanie Bandwagon, it was more like a cooler with wheels.

Bears, have played for decades without a quarterback. I was getting used to it. Always thought it was against rules for Bears, to have quarterback? Now suddenly they decide to get one? What brought on this change? Was Jerry, sober when he made this anouncment?

Oh here we go again and people wonder why he have has do many Qb's over the years .

So now after putting the majority of our payroll into longterm deals for the defense suddenly we need a superstar QB who can win games by himself because our defense is no longer any good ?

Jerry Angelo should be fired.

Orton at the age of 26 had one of the best seasons of a QB in bears history and this was going into a season when the tackle we took in the first rd had back problems, we converted a small backup DB to WR , had a 2nd rd pick starting at RB because our top 5 RB couldnt stay out jail, hyped up a arena league receiver to have a breakout season and picked up tow receivers off the scrap heap.

But hey its all on the QB lol

If its all on the QB how come after coming off a SB in which Grossman bombed he went after Griese instead of Brees ?

Jerry Angelo should be fired .

thankfully angelo watched the same games I did...Lovie? God only knows what he was watching...

Apparently, many fans have forgotten the basic fact that football games are won in the trenches. The Bears badly need to upgrade both offensive and defensive lines. A simple way to accomplish this is by getting rid of some aging "Stars" like Vasher, Brown, Tillman, Hillenmeyer, etc. for some extra draft choices. Then, draft 2 OLs and 2 DLs ASAP. After that, go for WRs and LBs. Forget the other positions for this year. Oh, and hire some competent Offensive and Defensive coaches who can mold the youth into effective units. Dominating linemen make the jobs of everyone else a lot easier. Orton will be a much more effective QB - Forte will blossom into another Walter Payton - Urlacher will return to the form he showed when the Bears had true Nose Tackles - Harris will be renovated as soon as he's no longer triple-teamed - Pass rushers will record double figures - Kreutz and Garza will be Pro-Bowlers. Another incentive for this strategy is the fact that this is an exceptional draft for big, tough, athletic linemen! Ask Mel Kiper.

It is fun to watch angelo con the media. He actually said you can't judge many of his draft picks because they haven't gotten to play! Haha, everyone is so gulled by his aw shucks stumblebum act they don't see what he's putting over on them. Hilarious!

After they bring in Marinelli, the bears are going to start to stink like tampa bay did for years and years, this won't be a downward spiral so much as a complete flop. The players will start to take on the attitude of the coaches and management, cover your tail and get-your-money approach.

Angelo will keep huckstering the team ownership and media, the fans will have to suffer through it. Notice how he made sure everyone knew he was paying attention to what was getting written about him and how he was getting covered. Pretty sharp focus on that point, clear as mudd on how he was going to improve the team, because he has no clue. Amazing this guy is in charge of the bears, only problem with relying on conniving instead of competence is eventually, you have to skip town. Take your tampa 2 crew and go!

Ah yes bring in an 0-16 head coach to help/oversee an inept defensive co-ordinator and a head coach that can't spell adjustment let alone actually make one. Then bring in an aging QB to play behind a porous offensive line. Sounds like a plan to me. Looking more and more like I'll be putting my Bears stuff in a box in the attic and replacing it with Carolina blue.

Go Panthers!

Interesting commentary from Angelo. So the QB is the #1 priority?? It's the most important position?? How many years did it take for Angelo to figure that out? I'd say the #1 priority should be finding then hiring a professional, competent GM. The #2 priority should be finding then hiring competent coaches. The roster is a mess, the salary structures are a mess and the coaching staff is a train-wreck.

I grew up a Patriots fan during the Parcells/Belichik years. I've become a big Bears fan since moving to Chicago, but one thing that drives me absolutely nuts about the Bears is the lack of accountability throughout the organization. With the Patriots (and other successful teams), there is the ultimate level of teamwork and accountability that comes from upper management through the coaches and then onto the players.

With the Bears, it's really a mess. For this, I blame Angelo ownership, and Lovie. Under real NFL coaches, Grossman would never have laid an egg vs Green Bay on New Year's because his mind was on festivities for later that night.

In summary, please bring accountability to the Bears. When someone messes up, they get punished. When they do well, they're praised.

I am totally sick to my stomach listening to Angelo. Orton was a top 10 quarterback in my opinion before the injury. He played through it though, and fell off because of it at the end of the season. Its not Orton its no w.r and no coaches. Put Orton in New England and he is a star. I have been negative in the past about chicago Q.bs but Im telling you Orton is differant and we will be making a huge mistake bringing in a overpriced over the hill veteran and not giving Orton a chance with a true number one wide out. He cant throw downfeild because our w.rs stink. I think Orton did good with what he had to work with. How many drops this season. Davis stonehands, Booker gave nothing, Lloyd possibly a number 3, Hester a work in progress, Come on Angelo and Smith open your eyes and blame the right people. Draft a w.r 1 or 2 and get T.j in free agency then evaluate Orton. Oh yeah and dont blow the pick like usual. Angelo and Smith are to blame .

Roman, I do dearly love these blog entries you stimulate.The year is almost over, and the blog comments made the Bears' collapse almost bearable. I miss those Chicago comments here in Wisconsin. Somehow the Packer and Viking fans just do not have the same biting sarcasm. At least changes seem to be the order or odor of the day. May the New Year bring about a Bear revival the way 2008 brought about one for the long "also ran" tradition of the Blackhawks.Let's hope the hockey pucks keep slipping into the net and that the Cubs overcome their play-off doldrums in 2009.
Back to the Super Bowl!!!

after watching this team all year, the most important positions that need to be addressed is the secondary, plain and simple. then the wr core should be taken care of. the o line and d line were not horrible or even bad, maybe not stellar , but not bad. orton had 3 bad games all year and now everybody is calling for his head. some of your guys comments are just plain ignorant. whoever was the person that said that they should let brown go is just stupid. how many plays did this guy make for this team this year. his sack total is down yea ,but how many tip balls, forced fumbles, tackles for loss, and o yea a blocked field goal to help keep the season alive. vashers best days are long gone and i think tillman just needs a shrink to let all the negativity get out of his head. we are ragging on a team that lossed 4 games by a total of 7 points and were a half game of making the playoffs. nobody expected this team to do this well this year and if any thing it was one of the most entertaining seasons in a long time , so relax. every team needs to address issues in the off season, just be glad we aren't the browns, raiders, or even the cheese heads.

A good QB and a strong, big wide receiver are the two keys because it'll actually make our 'D' better, just because of the fact they won't see as many three and outs.

Jerry Angelos' first priotity should be to look in the mirror.

Since the Bears are looking into replacing their assistant coaches, why not take a look at Mike Shanahan as offensive coordinator? I guarantee you the Bear's would run a more diverse offense then what Turner did. Bears just need a contract stipulation that under no circumstances do you run a fullback dive.
Roman responds: What about Mike Martz?

Philtration, everything you posted I agree with.

Now that the Bears are out, I'll be rooting for the Ravens. Not that any franchise could take the place of my team, but I love a good, intense defense and the Ravens are known for that. As the Bears once were...

Oh yeah, if you're being paid as the top kicker in the league, is it too much to ask to be able to execute a somewhat decent onside kick? One that at least gives our guys a chance? Just a thought.

Did we really need an Angelo press conference to confirm that the Bears are a dead Team. The GM looks at his Team, a team in which he put the vast amount of time, money, draft and resources into the Defense. The Defense collapses after he lets his coach fire a great coordinator. The Defense is then directly responsible for another year end collapse and his answers to fix the Team are:

1, Blame the quarterback.
2, State that he is going to bring in a recycled veteran QB like Gus Ferotte to "provide" competition to improve Orton.
3, Hire the only coach in NFL history who has gone 0-16. A coach who lost 23 of his last 24 games largely due to defense. A coach whose defense has ranked last in the league in 2007-2008.
4, Bring in another "Tampa 2" advocate when the Tampa 2 Defense is so dead even John Madden early in the season said the Bears should scrap it. The same Tampa 2 Defense in use in Detroit, Chicago, Indpls and Tampa Bay. All terrible Defenses. The rest of the NFL knows the Tampa 2 sucks. Look at the Top Defensive Teams out there. They are either 3-4 defenses or 4-3 Zone Blitz schemes with linebackers who pressure the Quarterback. What does the Tampa 2 and Lovie the Loser do with their Linebackers? Drop them into coverage......

Do you think Bill Parcells or Bill Belichek would put together a plan like that?

This Team is dead from the Top Down. The NFL should revoke their charter and disband the Team because they are going to complete the slide into oblivion in 2009 and become Detroit Lions West.

They are primed for it. Maybe they can hire Matt Millen too when they bring on Marinelli. That will facilitate the move to the cellar of the NFL.

If this was a dream, TV Show or a movie it would be funny.

This isn't funny it's Tragic!!! And it's happening to our Team.

Where can I get Carolina Panther's Gear? I think I'm done in Chicago................

This organization is dead from the Top on down. At this point

"Roman responds: What about Mike Martz?"

Martz is probably more of a possible option than Shanahan (Shanahan most likely will not settle for less than a head coaching spot). His offenses have always been dynamic, and he has a winning pedigree. Good idea, let's get Angelo on the phone.

Phil and gang, don’t get me wrong and I share the frustration with this seemingly hopeless Bears team, but sometimes you have to give some ounce of credit where credit is due. It really has only been 2+ years since this team rode a magical season and made a recent Super Bowl appearance. We can’t just act like spoiled brats and say we’ve had it with this team and then root for another team out of state. Man, that's just wrong, but hey, to each his own I guess. Seriously though, I want Lovie axed from the head coaching position as much as, if not more than you do because I’ve been calling him out for years now and I was also very adamant about the Bears foolishly signing him to a long contract extension after that 2006 season. The common misconception that the casual sports fan and even some of the media columnists make is that too many think that the NFL head coaching position is only about drawing up plays and game strategies and then it’s all on the players to execute, that’s it. Believe me, I’ve read enough articles and blogs over the years and this is what many people usually write. The fact is, the head coach is responsible for so much more to the team (and still, too many underestimate the head coaching position. However unfortunately, the reality is that Lovie’s not going to get canned at this time, period. Same goes with Jerry Angelo. Let’s move on from that already and as die hard Bears fans, help them figure out other ways to make this team better instead of installing your writing pal, WRD’s me-first attitude of calling out “sorry-a*s Bears fans complaining about the same thing over and over again”.

As for Rod Marinelli, this is what I tried to point out earlier. You’re mistaking Rod Marinelli’s skills as HEAD COACH to his skills as a Position coach or Asst. Coordinator. Those are 2 highly different positions on a football team. That’s an unfair assessment to use Marinelli’s head coaching resume in hiring him as a possible position coach or def. coordinator on this team. No one is saying that Marinelli is the answer to it all, but he has a lot of better credentials as a specialist coach on defense than what the Bears have right now and that’s also why I brought up Romeo Crennel who’s had success has a def. coordinator for the New England Patriots.

Besides, these guys are but pieces to fixing the puzzle, but it’s a good head start to consider heading into the offseason. I can’t stress enough about player development. The Bears absolutely have to improve in that area of coaching. If not the head coach who runs it all, then we seriously have to upgrade the assistants/position coaching. Look at Danieal Manning for example. Is he talented? Yes, he is! How’s his football IQ though? Most will say very poor or dumb as rocks, right? Well, is he being developed properly to become a good defensive NFL player? I don’t think so, but the talent is there. He’s making the same mistakes on defensive reads today as in his rookie year. Same thing with Devin Hester on the offensive side of the ball. Talent is there and we all know that he’s a playmaker, but is he being taught the WR position properly? That’s the burning question of the day. In the end though, that’s coaching, my man. That's an important responsibility of a coach, to teach and develop. You can spin it any way you want, but it’s about COACHING, or lack of it on this Bears team. Now of course the Bears also need to improve in other areas by bringing in talented and expensive free agents, but to me, free agents are for building a good and young team to become a Championship contender. Fans love the quick fix which is why many are asking for Anquan Boldin and that’s fine, I agree in acquiring a proven receiver like him, but I’m talking about fixing the overall problem. The key to long term success to almost any sports team is to not only build through the draft and finding talent, but to also DEVELOP that talent into a cohesive unit. That’s where I think the Bears have trouble trying to figure it out. It’s too much “hey, draft this guy and throw him out there” but without the proper teaching to the PRO GAME and so now, the Bears are just mixed up with a bunch of issues on the team. However, if you gotta start somewhere with this team, it’s the coaching staff and scout team underneath the head coach, especially since we apparently can’t just get rid of Lovie or Angelo and overhaul from scratch. That’s my opinion.

Roman responds: Edgar, congrats, that was the longest post of 2008! Happy New Year.

Has anyone brought up how lovie said a day before that Orton WAS the starter for next year?

Is that a sign of anything that Jerry came out and contradicted him the next day?

maybe Jerry is finally taking the Bear by the horns.

Sorry Edgar but I have been following the Bears a lot longer than the last three years.
A lot longer than since the Super Bowl in 1985 too.
You say that “We can’t just act like spoiled brats”
Spoiled?
That made me laugh man.
Spoiled on what?

Over 40 years of my life dedicated to a team that has won a grand total of one title during that time and with the exception of a few seasons in the 80s they have not been a contender or even a .500 team but for a handful of seasons.
That is a lot of years of watching just average to bad football so I am hardly “spoiled” by being a Bears fan.

I want and expect more than "a magical season and a recent Super Bowl appearance" for my 40+ years of support to this team.
That my be good enough for a some 22 year-old guy who has kind of stuck with a team that has sucked for 10 years and has no real tradition in the NFL but this is not the Cincinnati Bengals here.
Or we would like to think so anyway.
The Bengals have been to just as many Super Bowls as the Bears have so we can stop pinning medals on ourselves for 1985 any time now.
The 1985 season was great but it was a long time ago now and it is getting embarrassing.
The Steelers are going to the playoffs once again and their fans are not sitting around dreaming about the 1970s teams. Teams that won 4 rings in 6 years at that.
A much bigger accomplishment than what the 85 Bears did.

Why are some people so easily pleased with mediocrity?
If this were a TV show and it had become predictable and boring you would stop watching. Right?
If this were a rock band and they had not recorded a good song in over 20 years you would stop going to see them live and listen to something else. Right?
If this were a neighborhood and it had become a crime ridden slum you would move to a new place. Right?
If this were a restaurant that served a good meal once out of every 20 times you went there then you would eat some place else. Right?
That does not make you a “spoiled brat”. It means that you have finally reached the point where you say “I have had enough of this thanks”

Culzie:

When Lovie Smith says, "Kyle is our quarterback." he should preface that statement with, "As of THIS press conference ..."

These guys are a joke.

TIM - I AM dying!!!!!

This is exactly what I am talking about. Rod Marinelli has just turned in the worst Head Coaching performance in NFL history and folks are cheering. Lovie deserves better than that. We have to work on both lines. Get a REAL receiver and bring in a bone fide stud at QB and let him battle it out with Orton and Hanie.

Rex should have been cut today since he will be able to ride CTA for a penny. Angelo PLEASE send this guy packin.

Happy New Years!

DA BEARS HAVE NOT HAD A GOOD QB IN MY LIFETIME REX IS AS GOOD OR BAD AS ANY OF THEM.

Phil, all I said was to give a LITTLE ounce of credit, not a ton. A little. Like I said though, if you want to just throw all your years away as a one-time die hard Bears fan, then to each his own. I'm not begging you to stay a fan. Heck, if you want to keep using the blogs to bash the organization and never watch or cheer the team again when they play a game, who am I to tell you otherwise? I'm with you on the criticisms to the organization and coaching staff, man! I just wrote what Roman called the longest post of 2008 in support of your rant and now you want to turn that around against me because you think I'm trying to upstage you in the blogs? Wow, some of you sports fans are really something else...

I absolutely LOVE when someone mentions my name when I barely am making a peep. Yeah Ed we must get our gameplan together & work in a united front to get our way as fans. We must dedicate ourselves to coming up with ideas to improve our team since THIS is the only way it will happen. I don't know why NO ONE else had thought of it before. Do they still pull fans out of the stands to attempt FGs & such since they can do the same and ask Ed to come on down & design a play in the dirt like they did in 63 when he became a fan. Obviously it must've been your gameplan & complaining that got them to sign ALL the QBs we've had over the years. And after YOU made them realize that they were wrong they sought your advise on what to do with them. I'm not downing the fans for complaining I'm sayin to come up with a new record to scratch. Its the broken records repeating themselves that are just annoying. Give Polly a cracker and have her shut up. Tell me about something more obvious than overpaid D players looking bad. Talk about the whole team or broach something that no one else noticed. Mention something new. quit crying about the samething over & over.

Some of you guys act like you have to take these guys home with you. Its like you live & die with this team. Man, they are on for 3 hours a week a maybe a little more if they have OT. Dude everything ends. Gunsmoke was a great show along with Dragnet & Hawaii 50. You have to get over their loss because it will eat u up inside. I was a BIG Cub fan in the 70s but I grew outta that & they did ruin quite a few of my summer days cause I carried the losses around with me. They are entertainment. The players change teams so much that there isn't anyone to root for or to live & die with. Why do people get mad at someone who act nonchalant when it isn't life & death? Its a GAME. Only bettors should worry so much. if I was losing thousands of dollars I'd either find another line of business or stop betting on the Navy Blue.

Big Willy, I understand their passion. But you are right as rain. In the final analysis of this situation you have to conclude that its a game and we have to get over it. Lovie is a man of higher principles (God-Fearing). He has all the passion us Bears fans have, but yet knows at the end of the day - its just a game. And he has his priorities right. That does not mean that others care more. That would be a poor assumption. That means that you see things as they should be seen and approach them with a calm demeanor. And that does not mean that you do not run through the gambit of human emotions on the inside, but you put them asside and focus on the job at hand.

Losing your cool does not qualify you more to be a champion. We love Mike Ditka - the second best coach the Bears ever had, but after Buddy left his act got old quick and we spiraled into losing seasons. And I noticed how Ditka wisely got out of the game. He is a great pitch man and will forever be the grabowski we all love. Thank goodness.

Bears were in the superbowl two years ago and lost to another quiet coach that resembles Lovie Smith in almost every way. The difference between the two teams...one had arguably one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history who inspite of all those records - could have been beaten that day. And the other had a one trick pony that could not summon his magic at will who instead gift-wrapped it for the opposition. Our vaunted defense was matched with a potent offense, and our offense simply gave it away. I have a friend who will swear to you that Rex bet on the Colts to this DAY. He said they must've been holding his mother hostage or something. Lovie was classy and gracious in defeat and Dungy was the same in victory. Both sides of the same coin. And going crazy had NOTHING to do with it.

You see WRD, that is the problem with your posts. You’re picking a battle with the general fan population that enjoys typing up blogs expressing their displeasure over OUR Chicago Bears team’s failure to make the playoffs 2 years in a row now after coming off of a Super Bowl appearance with what, at the time, was one of the youngest up and coming football teams in the NFL. You don’t think there’s anything wrong with that? I’ll take your broken record and shove it back to your typing keyboard because your attitude stinks. I’m so tired of your “it’s all the players” fault approach and ALWAYS exonerate Lovie Smith with no blame at all. I already said that it’s MORE THAN JUST LOVIE and also acknowledged that both Lovie and Angelo will not get fired this offseason. But yes, I have a problem with Urlacher holding out last year for more money and then no longer playing at a Pro Bowl caliber. Same goes with Tommie Harris, Nathan Vasher, Devin Hester, etc., the list can go on. However, as head coach and one of the so-called leaders of the team, he will and should take a lot of the blame because you know what, that goes with the territory like it or not. And you always underestimate the responsibilities of a head coach. The responsibility of the head coach is more than just game planning and drawing up plays for the players to execute. Teaching and development, along with managing the entire coaching staff is also part of the evaluation process. You think because these guys are all talented and professional, they don’t need teaching and developing anymore? Are you out of your mind? If that fails or if that’s part of the problem with the team, that also goes back to the head coach! Plus, I never once compared Lovie to Ditka, Jauron, Wannstedt… WRD, you always say that too many fans compare these new Bears to the ’85 season and with Ditka and so forth, but where are those fans in this post? As of this morning, January 2, 2009, I just perused through 90+ posts in this blog topic and prior blog topic on the Bears and not a single Bears fan (maybe 1 or 2 guys that slipped my eyes) mentioned Ditka or the ’85 Bears except you! That was then, this is now. Are you even a Bears fan, WRD? I honestly can’t tell sometimes with your posts. You’re more busy whining about the fans complaining in the blogs than you are about the current Bears team. And then you barely making a peep in the blogs, WRD? Yeah right, don’t act all so innocent now. Where’s your “voice of reason” superstar blogger pal, Darryl M.? He’s been quiet lately. Busy over the holidays or thinking of another way to spin the blogs on the side of another racial crusade by fans against Lovie Smith? Unbelievable.

Edgar

I think that you misunderstood my comments if you believe that I am worried about upstaging anyone in the blogs.

I do not claim to have an answer for everything and I do not bash other people's ideas or opinions just to start a fight.
I have posted a lot of comments about a number of topics on line and I do not ever even think about trying to top someone else's posts or worry about getting attention here or anywhere else on the Internet.
That is not me at all.

I usually agree with just about everything you say but you are way off on that one.
I was just venting about the Bears a bit and I lumped in the people who actually believe that 1985 was all we need as Bears fans and that everything else is just gravy.
It was not about you personally.
I see that way of thinking all the time and not just in here and I also know that you could not care less if I do watch the Bears or not.
Why should you?

With that all said I forgot to tell you that you left your wallet in my car again.
I told you that it is perfectly safe to take it inside the strip clubs.
How old is that condom you have in there?
It looks like an old ketchup packet from Wendy's

Hug and kisses my friend xoxoxxo

The Bears will be worse next year ...mark my word

Jerry, Lovie, Babich...Phillips?..lmao...unwarranted egos with limited knowledge...and afraid to say no....gay

The Raiders finished strong...stronger than Chicago considering their last two opponents

Raiders will have a better record than the Bears next year...book it

Hey Keith, are you on crack? Just a game? Maybe to the fans and media it is but this is Lovie's profession, one which he gets paid big, big money to do. So he better get his priorities straight or pack his bags and take the first flight out of O'Hare.

And for all this talk about giving Lovie's cardboard personality a pass, do you remember last years away game at Green Bay or this years home game at Green Bay? In both first halves, the team royally stunk it up. Reports from both games say Lovie blew his top and let his team have it at halftime. And what do you know? Chicago came out and won those games. So I guess "going crazy" is the answer and if Lovie can have that kind of effect on his players, why in the name of Zeus doesn't he act like that in other games besides Green Bay ones?

And oh yeah, Tony Dungy was wonderful after the SuperBowl victory. What were his words? Something about God being on the side of the Colts through the game? Right, ok Tony. Because as we all know Satan calls Chicago home so, according to Dungy, he didn't just win a SB, he was victorious in the ultimate battle of good vs. evil.

LOL, Edgar!

Got it, Phil. My bad for misunderstanding your post. Actually have a Bachelor's party to go at later tonight so go figure...

But one last thing about Lovie to WRD... before you start talking about the underperforming players again, just remember that along with Jerry Angelo, who is as much to blame for the lack of high draft picks impact to the team in recent years, Lovie Smith also has a major role in the draft war room on which players the team should select. Again, another responsiblity of an NFL Head Coach. No way will Lovie ever get a pass with the team's recent failures.

I never write entries to refute just one person. I write them to convey a counter prevailing thought. Honestly and truly I'm a Bear fan. I'm not just a Bear fan. I'm a common sense fan as well. For every fan who wants to blame Lovie for the overall fact that this organization sucks there is someone like Darryl M., Reggie, Keith and myself who just doesn't blame it all on Lovie. If you've been on this blog for a while you'd see how that goes. Two years ago quite a few people were taking about how our team wouldn't even make the playoffs. I was one of the main people who believed that we would go to the Super Bowl. The same negative fans felt that we would be one and done for various reasons. Maybe you were one of them. I don't know and I won't dwell on who they were. only one of them come to mind and he gave up trying to post because everyone seemed to believe that his posts were of some personal dislike for Lovie. In reality there are a lot of people who don't care for Lovie just because of his race. You may not be that person but there are a lot of people who feel that way. Do you honestly think that race isn't a factor in a lot of peoples lives? This past election year showed exactly how race is a factor as well as racism being subtly used to discredit a person. Chicago has a lot of racist people and enough of them populate these blogs. Does it piss me off? Of course. But once a person harp on something and leaves out the cause I'm sorry but I have to put my two cents in. Why put it all on Lovie? Ownership hasn't changed since the team's inception. Halas was a cheap skate and he raised his daughter in the same manner. Why act like that's something new? Why expect a change almost a century later? New England isn't owned by the same owners that were there when the team lost to the Bears in 85. That's what's changed for them. Their owner isn't just a football owner. He owns more than them. Our team doesn't even get revenue from the stadium, concession or parking. Their money is going to come from this team. If you owned them you'd do the same thing. No one is carelessly throwing money away just because the climate changes. Fans are gonna line up regardless. We've been worst off and people were still going to the games. Do you think that coaching is the reason that we are out of the playoffs only? Have you honestly compared who we have to what's out there? You guys were screaming a few years ago how Ray Lewis was a murderer(an untruth that didn't matter) and Urlacher was so much better. No matter how much either one was declining in skill one of them still played with the passion that fans are suppose to love. And evidently it wasn't Urlacher who had that passion anymore. I just didn't see as many excuses for Urlacher's decline as I saw last year. All I've seen over the last 6 years is fans in Chicago stating how every player on D only looks good because of Urlacher. Now that he's in a serious decline they don't correlate that he is the reason why the D has fallen off so bad. It wasn't coaching that made Urlacher great it was all on Urlacher and now that he isn't great it's the coaching that's the reason that the D is so bad. When fans keeping mentioning that it bothers me that they leave that out. When they toot someone or trash someone I think there needs to be someone to even the field. I use the same analogy with Ron Turner. If I had never seen what he could do with a decent QB and servicable WRs and RBs I wouldn't defend him. But he had a QB throw for close to 4'000 yards,28 Tds and not too many INTs and have two WRs and a RB surpass a thousand yard each in the same year I will feel that he knows more than any O coordinator we ever had. Having Walter Payton definitely doesn't count. Now with the rigamorole he's had for QBs over his latest tenure I'm willing to keep giving him a pass. If he made a good QB and decent skill players look bad then I'm going to see that he's nothing special. But until then what do you suggest? Who can make $#! into gold? Until we start getting better linemen and better skilled position players whose name doesn't rhyme with Forte then what else is there? Olson and Clark are one trick ponies. Either is a serious liability when it comes to being the total package. Clark is ordinary in every facet and Olsen has got to be the weakest TE in history. His blocking isn't anywhere near high school level and you can not run on his side unless he's blocking Gary Coleman. Plays get blown up in his direction and it's embarrassing to see them in slow motion. But I never see fans mention that. The only guy who has was Reggie. Why with all the opinions repeated like the pledge of allegiance do I never see his blocking mentioned as a flaw. Why don't I see anyone mention passes getting snatched away or his inability to break a one on one tackle with a safety. I only saw faint mention when he lost two fumbles. Everyone can see that our WRs are nothing special including Hester who has only shown flashes but Turner is the one being blamed for Orton overthrowing them when they do get open. Why complain about the drops when every single person receiving has dropped passes. I've even seen the great Steve Smith from Carolina drop a wide open pass. But fans here never let a drop pass go. The never let a blown coverage go. never let anything go especially when they have no love for the player who did it. Manning fumbled trying to get extra yardage on a return and fans will never forget that. Nor will they forget that he played the run instead of pass in the same game. Chris Harris missed a tackle in the Super Bowl and if he wasn't traded fans would've brought that up every time he was out there. The management knows that you guys don't give guys 2nd chances with this football team so they get rid of them because they know it is futile to try. Look up Rex Grossman as an indicator. No one was willing to say that he stunk because the line was TOO old or he had an inferior RB who couldn't do anything but ran hard into the first guy. He had no one to catch out the back field, nor block or pick up a blitz but who isn't giving him a break because of it. All fans know is what they see and not what is going on behind the curtain. All they know is what someone in the media who wasn't in meetings or who knew what an assignment was was telling them that someone was messing up. You can write an article about a CB who, in the heat of the battle, get an unnecessary roughness penalty after you give it thought. When you're not out there playing at that moment you can't say what you would or wouldn't have done. I betcha that there are Journalist who wish they can rewrite an article because of an uproar but he had a few people read it before it was decided to use it. He had time to work with his craft. Football players act with a certain emotion that we can't criticize so readily. It's like policmen who must act within a certain amount of time and can't redo things once they're done. A lot of times people are in an uproar because they feel that they shouldn't have made that same decision. I might get mad at an INT or a fumble or a penalty that I thought was unnecessary but I'm more willing to let it go and not identify that player as only that play. They have so many plays where they don't mess up. Why dwell on the ones that they did? That's the greatest mistake that fans make. Acting like they are going to get perfection when what we have all over this team is a bunch of regular players. Players who wouldn't even be back ups with other teams. Players that the coaches are left to sort through. You fans disliked every WR that is playing for another team who was mentioned recently in another blog when they were here. They had no future here until they looked better with another team. If any of these guys make it in the future with another team you guys would be right back here telling us how great they could've been for us. And lastly. Why would another guy practically beg someone to remain a fan? You guys are plenty scary.

Wait a sec Edgar, when did I mention Ditka's name in any blog recently. I mentioned Halas in one and mentioned him hiring (but not naming Ditka) with no head coaching background but didn't compare Lovie with Ditka at no time. I mentioned how Halas was the owner when we had bad coaching and bad players because some fan mentioned how Halas had to be turning over in his grave at the team as it exist. I mentioned the team's history as a whole and not as some comparison to Ditka and Lovie. The organization has sucked for decades and no amount of complaining will change that. Hit em in their pockets first. But knowing these fans you can't because there is always someone else lined up to take their place. The city is too big and have too many teams that are straight losers that have never lost fans to not be a draw. I'm not saying to suck in up and accept it. But in reality you have no choice if you are expecting wins in any Super Bowl. Now I will mention Ditka here; Anyone could've coached this team to a Super Bowl in 85 as long as they had Buddy Ryan as a Defensive coordinator. Buddy was set here and a lot of fans have hindsight to see that we might've repeated with him as the HEAD coach. Don't mention what he did as a head coach elsewhere because he didn't have the players he had while he was here. Ever. No even half as many as he had here. Ditka had to keep him when he was hired and that just doesn't happen nowadays unless your name is Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett. The defense won that Super Bowl not because of who the HEAD guys was but because of the D coordinator and who they had running the ball in 85. Even the QB who won big in 85 was named Fuller. Take away that Minnesota game with MacMahon and basically we might've won the Super Bowl with a 17-2 record and Steve Fuller at QB. It come back to coordinators as much as head coaches. No way in hell will you get a big money guy like Cowher to come here and also pay the premium for great coordinators. Fact of life. He knows it and the rest of the NFL knows it. The only way a guy comes here is to collect a paycheck after he has to polish the broken flatware he'd get from this organization. The NFL and college ranks are littered with former coordinators from the Pats who fell on their face without the combined ownership and management that they had in New England. You can't keep downing what you have in hopes of getting what you want. In this town it doesn't work that way. Start telling us who is a stud and who is crap and maybe they will listen to that. I really doubt that throwing around negative comments is going to get you your way with Angelo or Ownership. Lovie isn't going anywhere. And if he screams at his players in the lockerroom and get results to a lot of image minded people that is still better than doing it on the sideline like you guys want.

I am not all warm and fuzzy about Lovie and Jerry since the end of the season.
It seems that Lovie is in denial and Jerry is being Jerry
I believe that Jerry wants to get his defensive picks again and he will not address the WR position in the draft with the first 4 picks at least.
Not good.
I see him drafting DE Michael Johnson with the first pick if the Packers or Bills don't grab him first and a safety with the 2nd pick.
That would work if he can get a couple of real WRs like TJ Houshmandzadeh, Marques Colston and Antonio Bryant via free agency. Maybe even try to get Anquan Boldin in a trade.
OT Jordan Gross from Carolina and CB Nnamdi Asomugha from Oakland are unrestricted free agents and would be great signings too but I have no faith in Jerry of doing any of the above.

Lovie on the other hand seems to believe that you do not even need a WR and that showed this season. Even Jerry questioned him in public over Earl Bennett sitting all season while has been Marty Booker and never was Rashid Davis stunk it up all year.
Lovie may suck at several things but he excels at sucking as a talent evaluator. (Rex Grossman, Cedric Benson, Chad Hutchinson, Adam Archuleta….)
I would have rather seen Mike Hass out there every week than a butterfingered arena league player.

By the way... I threw out my Urlacher jersey. I must have bought the wrong one since I know "nothing about football" right Brian?
I think a Matt Forte jersey will make a fine replacement.

Ok, i stayed out of this...mostly because I hate reading...but....

Did the person who never uses anyones names, just actually say...

"Olsen is a one trick Poney?"

dude....

take off your bitter old I hate whitey glasses and give some credit to where credit is due. Olsen, is a better than average TE and if anything, he made Orton look almost serviceable this year. Without Olsen, Orton wouldnt have lasted 3 games.

Roman,
Is there are record for "longest blog post ever" on FCP? I didn't read WRD's second to last post (for fear of brain exploding), but just by looking at it, well, I reckon she'll take the county fair's blue ribbon.

And yeah, I gotta throw an apology your way. You thought the Bears couldn't win out, I thought they could and asked you to refute your claim. I'll bite my lip and man up. You were right, I was wrong. No shame in that.

///As per the result of tonight's Chargers-Colts game///

Hey Dungy, where's your Messiah now? Bwah-hahahaha!

Correct me if I'm wrong. But isn't this the same guy (Angelo) that scared away all potential veteran QB's in the past, by telling them that if they came to this team, they'd have to be a backup to Rex Grossman with no chance of competeing for the starting job? Wasn't Kurt Warner one of those QB's prior to going to Arizona? And now "The game is won and lost with the Quarterback!" When has QB been a priority for this team? Besides Rex, what other QB's have we drafted in the top 3 rounds? Makes no sense to me. Yes, we need improvement at that position. But we need improvement at a few other positions as well. Orton is a decent QB and we can win games with him. So unless a great opportunity at a better QB presents itself, then we should be fixing those other positions. And maybe that will help Orton out. Namely, WR. If Hester and Davis had so much potential at WR, they both would've been playing that position prior to coming to the team. If Lloyd was such a great leaping WR, he wouldn't have come to this team in a career saving move. And Marty Booker would not have come so cheap. We need more production out of that group. Olsen, who is not a true TE, but to me, a slow WR, makes a lot of plays. So if Orton can complete passes to a slow WR, then why can't he makes plays with our faster guys? Maybe they move too fast for him to connect with???

We also need improvements on our offensive line. I don't believe any team in the league struggled more than Da Bears did to get 1 yard. Do you know what teams used to attack our two TE sets? A freakin Nickle and Dime package. That's embarrassing! And that has a lot to do with the fact that Olsen is not a true TE. We need to get stronger at the point of attack. And we need to get more speed on sweeps and tosses.

I believe fixing those areas will help out our QB and our team tremendously! Without those areas fixed, it won't matter who's back there taking the snaps. Pass that on to Angelo!!!!!!!

Whew! O.K., now I'm ready. Just took in an old Evelyn Woods speedreading class so I can manage some of these posts.

Seasons over!

Next Bears comment will be at the start of the 2009 pre-season, after all the smoke has cleared and we see what we're up against; in and out of the organization.

Roman, I am disappointed by you. This clearly looks to be an effort by Angelo to point the interrogation lamp at someone other than himself. Orton is a convenient target. You took the bait and ran with it.

Angelo is perhaps the absolute worst GM to ever gauge the ability of a QB. Couldn't find one in Tampa Bay, has one in Chicago (Orton), but does everything in his power to diminish him.

All I know is that most of the folks on this blog had the Bears at 6-10 or 7-9. Orton, without a good defense and a head coach that lost this team two games, lead this team to 9 victories.

When the team needed to go 4-0 for a shot at the playoffs, Orton led them to 3 wins and played well in the one loss.

Orton is not pretty, but at last count, I thought the NFL was about winning, not the process.

Instead of sparking a very public debate about his starting QB's ability, why not lash out at the defense, which surely was the biggest freaking disappointment of this entire season (oh, it also happened to be the place where Angelo invested all that money in 2008)?

Honestly, how many of you expected Orton to lead this team to 9 victories? Orton isn't the issue. The issue is the alleged "braintrust" running the Bears. Get this team better players at the skill positions and stop playing "teacher's pets" on the defense and we will be a lot farther along than focusing our attention on the QB spot in 2009.

First of all, WRD, let’s get something straight here… the blogs are never meant to be anything personal like you brought up in the prior blog topic. I may mention someone’s name as a response to a post and criticize comments, but it’s not a personal attack. Big difference. I don’t know you as a person, I only go by how it looks when you type the note. So for you to appear to act so self-righteous and say that you never mention someone’s name in the posts or refute any one person holds no water in here. And calling out fans as racist and implying racism in a sports blog is an extreme low blow to many of the fans who genuinely don’t even differentiate skin color and race. Did I ever say racism doesn’t exist? Of course it does and it will always exist until the end of time. I may not be black or white, WRD, but I’m a minority in this country. I’ve been a victim, I’ve been profiled and I’ve been discriminated in my lifetime. I’m not ignorant of the problem, but that kind of talk in sports discussion belongs in another forum, not here, because that can get real personal, believe me, and then it gets nowhere and then the entire sports discussion is no longer fun or interesting.

One of the reasons why I enjoy typing up sports blogs is because I enjoy a good old fashioned sports debate. If you actually READ most of my posts to its full content, I generally speak with an open mind and back up my comments. I already said that the problem is MORE than just Lovie and already acknowledged on more than one occasion that Lovie and Angelo’s jobs were secure this offseason. However, that doesn’t cover up the fact that both Lovie and Angelo shouldn’t be held accountable or at least share some accountability. Your problem is that you’re so bent on defending Lovie Smith from anything at all in that you only seem to just take one or two sentences from someone else’s blog post mentioning Lovie’s name in a negative tone and then ASSUME that everyone else or an overwhelming majority feels he’s the only problem. You get into this “me vs. the world complex” and gets annoying when in fact, it’s YOU who begins preaching to the choir! I’ll say this again, if we can’t fire Lovie Smith, then the rest of the coaching staff needs an upgrade and needs a serious infusion of assistants with solid NFL experience. That is why there is talk of Marinelli coming in and possibly Romeo Crennel or the Giants’ defensive coordinator and so forth. What do you think that the Bears’ first priority is in this offseason? Evaluating the coaches and making their first adjustments on the coaching staff. Let me ask you this question, if the Bears fail to make the playoffs again next season for the third time in a row, assuming the organization makes their adjustments this offseason to improve the team of course, will you finally accept Lovie’s head coaching is a primary issue or say it’s not him again?

As for the players… again, you’re darn right some of them are at fault, especially those who were paid handsomely with contract bonuses and extensions, for underperforming this past season. And Urlacher taking a pass, WRD? There has been a ton of Urlacher bashing going back to last 2 seasons so I have no idea what you’re talking when you say that fans haven’t seen that. Of course his decline is one of the primary reasons for the D’s downfall. A leader who can no longer lead by example by his play on the field is an obvious factor, but he’s still just 1 guy. When a scheme is not working, adjustments always has to be made. That goes back to coaching. But now if we’re just discussing player personnel, then that goes back to drafting talent or paying free agents. Again, back to Angelo AND Lovie in drafting talent because they each have their hand in FINAL player evaluation and scouting. If they can’t get fired, then fine, there needs to be an upgrade in the scouting staff as well. If there’s one thing you always leave out in your posts, WRD, it’s that the coaches, managed by the head coach keep in mind, is responsible for teaching and development. Having talent doesn’t always translate into superstars. We haven’t reached the point of discussing the NFL Draft or signing available free agents yet, but that’s food for thought on names that I can suggest for a later blog topic. For sure, the old adage in football is to build from the trenches, from the O-Line and D-Line up. I agree! Yes, good to upgrade the player positions AFTER the coaching staff issues are addressed.

And lastly, organizations CAN change. The Cubs changed and the Blackhawks changed. Sure, they haven’t won that elusive Championship trophy yet, but both organizations were once known as teams who don’t spend money, but now they do. Whether they’re spending wisely, that’s a separate argument, but their spending philosophies changed. To an extent, even the White Sox changed when Kenny Williams was hired. I never said that I could lead some kind of fan crusade to protest Bears’ games, but it doesn’t mean that I won’t voice my opinions and complaints and get into sports debates, whether in the blogs, in podcasts or in radio talk shows.

Edgar is right. I have to back him up and that first paragraph was Money...and dead on and im tired of people playing the victim role. Hamas does it. Israel does it. WRD does it.

BUT..

I do have to back up Willy on this one....cause...there is no way anyone can humanly possible....

"READ most of my(Yours..Edgars) posts to its full content"

Do you know how long that would take?

Let's talk about how badly the draft is going to get screwed up...or how Jerry will be loyal to someone ...ego supplementation

I mean, it's only going to get worse...Jerry and the Yes Men aren't qualified...

Name the X-Bears in the playoffs this year if you're confused...

When you look at the quality of football guys that lost their jobs this year...and Jerry and the Yes Men are still employed?..wow

Aren't you all embarrassed?...you should be..I can substitute ChicagoBears in all the RexGrossman jokes nowadays...if that's not proof..

The Bears organization is a joke...

That organization is generally 1-2 years behind what I say, so another ..or probably two more subpar years...Jerry and the Yes Men will be gone...

On one hand..you fools say DaBears don't have WR's..they run the wrong routes, they lead the league in drops...and then you put it on Orton...lmao..

Seems to me Orton put it on himself at the podium when it was his fault...He's a Man...DaBears don't deserve those...they sure aren't being run by 'em.

Now get outta my face...I got the Blackhawks...and the Cubs are getting ready to choke away another season...

Someone bought a laptop!!!!

And Culzie when I said I didn't mention names I meant that I didn't call fellow bloggers out by name. And I am ceratinly not surprised that you mentioned race when I said that Olsen was a one trick pony. I mentioned players from all races who were sub par but all you got out of that was I was hating on a white person. Edgar, do you get my point? Some people can be subtle about things and others can see whatever they want. Not all people are complaining about Coach Smith because of race and that's what I meant by fight your own battles and speak for yourself when things are questioned. Why waste your time explaining what you are or not. People will believe what they want to. I never said that Lovie was a great coach. To me that was not the issue. The issue was should he be fired and have everything blamed on him. You may not do that Edgar but I NEVER said that you did. I keep saying and will keep saying that people need to bitch about something new and not keep repeating the same broken records. Actually if I didn't request that then you would've never brought to the forefront a lot of other things that you have. Just stimulate some conversation. How would it have looked if everyone just kept repeating the same thing? Bitching about something doesn't make you a better fan than the next guy.

ok will i am. i will concede that you have been very fair and balanced in your criticism for a while now..so, i will say the Olsen call is more a factor of your declining eye sight perhaps then.

hows that?

Okay Culzie what makes Olsen the goods? What does he do that makes you think that he is big time? Catch? That's part of the one trick Pony I was speaking of. It's no different than a few years ago when guys wanted Benson starting because he ran into guys real hard. No one cared if he could do anything else. But you have to admit that his inability to be a complete back hampered Rex and the whole offense last year because when he was in they knew what to expect. Everything he did was atrocious. He lacked a lot of basic talent that Forte had in abundance. I don't care what race a player is. If he is looking bad I can see it. I'm not gonna just harp on the guys that got paid. It's a well known fact that the best players on the Bears are the guys who haven't got big money yet. I think money makes a lot of players lazy or complacent. I won't say that it made Hester lazy because it was evident that he was constantly going for the homerun on every return. Trying too hard can make a player commit errors. Manning was trying too hard when he fumbled on that return during the last game. I will let that go until it becomes a habit. Some people will expect him to mess up just because he did once. I just won't admit that money did the D in, totally. I think age is playing a part of it as well. I've heard that scouts stated that Harris had the body of a man much older than his age due to injuries. You can't make anyone old younger. Wale is up there along with Brian and Brown. Almost a 3rd of the D is up in age. We got too old on O last year as well.

OK, as a long time Bear fan and a confirmed Lovie Blagojevich hater maybe my opinion isn't as valid or unbiased as some other folks. I do believe Lovie is the worst coach in the league with bad coordinators that he hand picked. The Bears have plenty of defensive talent but they are in a bad scheme, the Tampa 2 which has all but destroyed Brian Urlacher's career. At 30 in a terrible scheme he looks washed up. At 30 the Steeler's James Harrison, in a great scheme is the Defensive Player of the year. Urlacher would be the same kind of player in the Steelers great scheme just like he was in Chicago before Lovie showed up. In fact the current Bear's players with Pittsburgh's Dick LeBeau's defensive scheme would be #1 in all defensive categories like the Steelers.
Don't forget all those years as well that Tony Dungy and the Colts have had a great Offense and Peyton Manning but flopped(Like this year) in the Play-offs it's been because of their defense. What Defensive Scheme? Tampa 2!!
Remember though my opinion doesn't matter.
Let's see what a respected ESPN Analyst says about the Bear's Defense:

"Although the Bears' overall ranking rose from No. 28 in 2007, their pass defense totally collapsed in 2008. You could point out the Bears had more passes thrown against them (622) than any other team. As a result, it was only natural they would give up the third-most passing yards this season. But anyone who watched the games knows the front-four pass rush -- a staple of the Tampa 2 -- was almost non-existent. Babich responded by blitzing more than any other NFL team, but the Bears still gave up 40 passes of at least 20 yards. And despite a run defense that ranked No. 5 overall, Chicago still had trouble stopping two of its division rivals on the ground. The Packers and Vikings averaged 150 rushing yards in their four games combined against the Bears."

Angelo's answer to the defensive issues are to blame Kyle Orton.
Lovie's answer to fix the Defense is to fire position coaches and hire more of his best friends. It's been reported the Bear's are "Desperate to hire Rod Marinelli", a close friend of Lovie and a Tampa 2 advocate. Rod Marinelli's Defensive Coordinator in Detroit was Joe Barry, a self-described "Lovie" clone who is also a Tampa 2 advocate. It's been reported that he could come to the Bears as well.
Let's see what ESPN says about Rod Marinelli and Joe Barry's Defense in Detroit:
"2008 overall ranking: No. 32
Pass defense: No. 27
Run defense: No. 32
Key statistic: Gave up NFL-high 26 runs of 20-plus yards"

"The Lions gave up more total yards than any team in the NFL during Barry's two-year tenure, one marked by a literal adherence to the "Tampa 2" philosophy. Barry utilized quick but smallish defensive linemen and linebackers, hoping to maximize the pass rush and disrupt the backfield. Instead, the Lions rarely achieved pressure with a four-man rush, requiring blitzes that left their secondary exposed. Detroit intercepted four passes all season. Meanwhile, the Lions' size differential typically left them physically manhandled against the run."

Gee that sounds exactly like the Bears with Lovie's Butt Buddy Babich running the show.

So those of you who don't think Lovie is the problem please answer this question for me. How could any football coach in their right mind believe that the Tampa 2 is a great scheme and hiring more coaches from other failed Tampa 2 Defenses will solve the Bear's defensive woes and lead them into the play-offs?

All this talk about WRs, QBs, Orton or Urlacher is pointless. No amount of new talent from the draft. free agency or trades is going to overcome the horrific coaching of Lovie Blagojevich, his miserable Tampa 2 defensive scheme and his offensive philosophy with Ron"Stomach" Turner.

Maybe Lovie will buy Obama's senate seat and we can hire Ron Rivera!!!! Or Obama will appoint him to a Government Post. As long as it isn't Secretary of Defense the country will still be okay.
There is always hope!!!
Sorry for the long post at least it's not as long as WRDs!!!

How did it come to this....................

*a-hem*

First: I was in Chicago for New Year's (to see Hum play at the Double Door with Dianogah and The Life & Times--excellent show), so I wanted to extend a personal thanks to all the Chicago homers here on having such a wonderful city.

Okay, on to the topics at hand:

Edgar
If you actually READ most of my posts to its full content, I generally speak with an open mind and back up my comments.

No, you don't. (See how arbitrary that sounds? No? Okay, I tried.)

And then you barely making a peep in the blogs, WRD? Yeah right, don’t act all so innocent now. Where’s your “voice of reason” superstar blogger pal, Darryl M.? He’s been quiet lately. Busy over the holidays or thinking of another way to spin the blogs on the side of another racial crusade by fans against Lovie Smith?

I'll try to keep the polysyllables to a minimum: No one in this blog has done anything to repudiate the numbers I post about how Bill Cowher's record is comparable to Lovie Smith's, or even the fact that it took him over a decade of ups and downs to win his only Super Bowl on the second try. No one has done anything to repudiate the fact that it was with Smith's defense that Ron Rivera managed to have so much success, or that Rivera's first post-Bears defense as coordinator actually ranked lower than the Bears' this season.

Edgar, you at least seem to know that everything isn't Lovie's fault, so I can't completely fault you, but you're just as quick to namedrop me, shortly before, in what made me actually laugh out loud, trying to tell William that this blog isn't about "personal attacks." I wouldn't mind this so much if you (and Culzie, et.al) would substantially refute my points, instead of fixating on questions I ask about the subconscious influences of your larger motives.

I asked a question about race, and how it may affect how some people perceive Lovie Smith and his performance. Rather than answer it, you folks instead fatuously parrot "RACE CARD!! RACE CARD" and dwell on it, trying vainly to twist my words into some kind of attack (thereby answering it). Sure, I write epic posts (far longer than Edgar's, by the way, Roman)--but the fact that you can't focus on anything other than race means I'm not the one suffering from tunnel vision here.

Some general thoughts:

1) Rex Grossman + Proven WRs, OL & RB = 20 INTs and a 73.9 passer rating. Jerry Angelo: "Rex is our quarterback."
Kyle Orton + No-name WRs, Beat-up OL & a rookie RB = 12 INTs and a 79.6 passer rating. Jerry Angelo: "I think we have to have competition at that position. We have to keep an eye on that position, more than any. We have to get that position right. I know there's going to be a lot of talk about a No. 1 receiver, but it starts with the quarterback. It's all about the quarterback. You don't win because of wide receivers. You don't win because of running backs. You win because of the quarterback. We have to get that position stabilized. We're fixated on that."

Roman, I'll agree that Orton hasn't distinguished himself as a marquee player, but this is so full of WRONG it's not funny. Angelo sounds angry that Orton screwed up his plans for a high first-round draft pick to trade away for some magic beans. I suppose it makes sense; I mean, all Orton did was inherit an offense with a line that hadn't protected anyone all last year and whose starting WR's both playing in different cities and take them within a game of the playoffs. Orton did his share of screwing up post-injury, but--to be fair--how many times did he hit Rashied Davis or Devin Hester in the hands? How many times did he come back from making a mistake to engineer a drive that put the Bears in the position to win a game?

2) Seedy? Good post. Keith gets a nod as well.

3) Culzie? Is "one-trick pony" some kind of racial epithet I've heard nothing about, or are you just trying really, really hard to find a white person on this team who's a victim of racism? I'm just wondering. I personally agree with you in that Olsen's a pretty good TE.

Without Olsen, Orton wouldn't have lasted 3 games.

Given that Olsen's hardly known for his blocking prowess, I kinda doubt that. Besides, you say that as if Orton didn't have WR's dropping passes all year. Oh, and by that logic, you could argue that, without Olsen's fumbles, the Bears wouldn't have lost the Carolina game and would be in the playoffs now. Not going to knock the guy--he did lead the team in TD receptions and, for the most part, he showed up this year when he really had to--but I think it's funny how, in your mind the guy getting him the ball seems to have nothing to do with his performance, which is particularly odd considering Olsen didn't even lead the team in receptions (Forte) or receiving yards (Hester).

(Oh, and if you're going to try and bite my style, at least do it the right way. I'd suggest you try "so, why is it that no one's calling for Desmond Clark's job? Why is it that Devin Hester and Rashied Davis get off scot-free when Olsen shoulders the blame for an underachieving offense?" Granted, you'd be factually inaccurate--but you're probably used to that by now.)

4) Uh, Roman...So Orton's problem right now is that he's not as good as Tom Brady? More teams than the Bears would be in the playoffs right now with a healthy Brady under center. I'm glad to see Angelo taking some initiative with the quarterback situation (finally), but I just think throwing Orton under the bus like that is insulting, unprofessional, and stupid, especially considering the free ride he gave Rex Grossman all those years.

In other words, typical Jerry Angelo.

Darryl M, it’s about time. And by the way, I love how you took your time to come up with all that material and using the fancy words in a sports blog of all places. I wonder though, is that really you or is that your way of showing off your writing skills? Hey, look at Darryl pointing out in parentheses that his posts are usually longer than mine as if he’s looking for credit on writing quantity! Now we’re running an essay contest in the blogs! What’s next? Now I know why you’ve been away for awhile. Say what you want about the subliminal messages or the subconscious mind, but to me, people who talk or write like that are some of the biggest cons. Just an opinion, don’t mistaken it for anything more than that. And plus, I never once mentioned or cried the word “race card” ever in any post. The point was every time Lovie’s name comes up for criticism by any fan, you always elude to or as you say, ask a question about race (which really is in a sense, baiting the person to react to cry the race card claim) when Lovie is criticized as head coach. Speaking of parrots, you bring up that question all the time. A fact and a pattern, Darryl M, not a “personal attack” to you. But hey, if you want to call it that also because you can read the subconscious mind, then more power to Darryl M, the inquiring telepath!

"...instead of fixating on questions I ask about the subconscious influences of your larger motives.

I asked a question about race, and how it may affect how some people perceive Lovie Smith and his performance. Rather than answer it, you folks instead fatuously parrot "RACE CARD!! RACE CARD" and dwell on it, trying vainly to twist my words into some kind of attack (thereby answering it). Sure, I write epic posts (far longer than Edgar's, by the way, Roman)--but the fact that you can't focus on anything other than race means I'm not the one suffering from tunnel vision here." - Darryl m

Right on, Darryl! I see I've taught you well!

Personally yours,

The Good Reverend

Edgar: I'm sorry. If I stop confusing you with big words and parentheticals--oops, sorry, "extra thoughts," will you stick around and not take your ball and go home?

Ed In Richmond:
Maybe Lovie will buy Obama's senate seat and we can hire Ron Rivera!!!!

The same Ron Rivera whose defense ranked 28th in the league overall this year, 31st in passing?

2008 is going to be looked back as the year of the "no BS" coach/team. It's interesting that Dallas, with arguably the most talented team, is sitting at home. Same with Jacksonville, Cincinnati and Cleveland (not that Cincinnati or Cleveland had a ton of talent, but were expected to do much better than their 2008 records).

Playoff Teams Led by No BS Head Coaches (in descending order of high levels of No BS)

Giants
Steelers
Ravens
Dolphins
Panthers
Colts
Titans
Eagles
Vikings
Chargers
Falcons
Cardinals

It's interesting that most of these teams were able to instill a unified focus on what they were trying to accomplish. Several coaches in the above list disciplined players -- star players -- during the season. No one was above the team.

Compare that to Dallas, Jacksonville, Cinn and Cleveland where chaos ruled and the focus was as varied as there were players.

Compare that to the Bears. Lovie had his moments and did, at times, discipline some players, but he rarely went all the way. Perhaps his approach is learned from Angelo, who basically blamed the Bears non-playoff year on his QB, who played way better than most fans expected. Now, we see that Lovie has fired some unknown who was serving as linebackers coach. That seems odd given that the only Pro Bowler this year was a linebacker (Briggs), but this does fit a pattern for Lovie. He tends to get frustrated and then make some minor move. I believe at least once or twice this season he stated that "changes would be made" after a poor Bears effort only to release someone from the practice squad (big whoop).

I know it can be tough to become a No BS head coach when you are called "Lovie," but this Bears team needs a violent kick in the ass, a team-wide commitment to play players instead of "pets", an upgrade in talent, scheme and at GM.

I don't think it will happen, so more of the same will take place in 2009.

Happy New Year everyone!

Not sure why you're apologizing, Darryl. My feelings weren't hurt. Maybe your subconscious mind thought it was, but they weren't. I'm not confused, I'm just pointing out the obvious on how much you love to show off your writing skills in a sports blog. And I know you do, but don't look at that as a personal attack, call it a compliment. Pretty amusing and sad though, if you ask me. Like I said, it was an observation and a fact. I just enjoy how you try to defend yourself by saying "I only asked a question about race..", that's all. Like you didn't know ahead of time that there were going to be other bloggers who were going to respond and cry the race card issue that you so much want to expose in the sports blog. Yeah, riiiiight. It's called manipulating, Darryl. That's what you do with your words, but of course, you'll deny it in your own words. But hey, the blogs are a free for all so if you want keep at it with the back and forth posts, you have both my blessing, Darryl and Reverend Al.

Im thinking the only thing that will ever settle this racial debate...is a little 4 on 4 flag football.

Me, Edgar, Anthony and Ed

vs.

WRD, Darryl, Phil and Seedy.

Keith can Ref.

and Roman can call the game.

Julie and Bubba's mom can squeeze into some hot cheerleader outfits...

and

Hitman can bring the Cooler full of surprises for after the game.

Man, an entire cooler full?...half/half...you're gonna want water

lol, I'm white, 41, still run a high 4.4 low 4.5 40 yd dash...and you want me to be the waterboy?

there will always be racism..

true story..Berry chill commercial filming...first one down the field was me...the AD was taunting the "others" (guess their color) using the short white guy (Me)..

So, I have to admit, sometimes racism is good..

LOL...anyway...Tom Cable for next Raiders Coach..and they win the West!!

I"m gonna go make fun of the Cubs now until ..well..the draft

So Ed in Richmond, the scheme is what has destroyed Urlacher? The first 3 years he played well in it but now over the last 2 years the injuries have taken their tolls because of the rigors of the scheme? First of all arthritis isn't an injury. That's what his back was ailing from. And his "neck" injury was sustained because he slept wrong on a plane after vacationing. That kind of stuff doesn't happen to young people. Look at Sosa hurting himself sneezing. He was also getting up there in age and started to decline rapidly after that. Sounds familiar? I don't see anything wrong with getting people who are more familiar with a scheme. And Detroit never got the personnel to make their cover 2 work. If Marinelli was allowed to come here when Coach Smith first wanted him to who knows what kind of success we might have had. I can't name not one person who is a star on detroit's D so why would you expect the scheme to work without good players. The Lion's GM ruined the team with his passing up players and reaching with WR picks all the time. His picks made coaching that much harder. Even Millen says that he didn't know what he was doing. Blame the owners for letting him come there without the resume. And my posts are long because i'm thoughtful. I think long and hard before I post so it shows up in long posts.

flag football, culzie? why not two-hand touch...or tackle?

and why do the ladies have to be cheerleaders! SEXIST!!!

If we let the Girls Play, it would probably be more than two hand touch...Seedy!!!

So, yes, I felt safer being sexist on this one;)