I want to start off by sending my condolences to Jay Cutler for being traded to this awful team. The Bears brought the first legitimate quarterback they have had in years to a team that can not protect him and take advantage of his talents. Also they apparently have a running back who appears to be a one hit wonder and a bunch of wide receivers who are young and inexperienced.
Culter has not been perfect and the game against the Eagles is an example. The problem is he has lost his confidence and is not stepping into his throws which have caused them to sail over their intended receivers. Why is this happening? It is happening because he has been beaten to a pulp in every game and wants to get rid of the ball as soon as possible and then get away from the onslaught. He needs to roll out more often, scramble and make better decisions in the red zone.
Let's move to the offensive line. The O line has been a problem since the year they went to the superbowl. That year, they started off very slowly and the Bears had trouble running the ball effectively. This is one of the main reasons Rex Grossman got off to such a hot start that season. Rex had no choice to throw the ball!! Once the line improved the running game did as well and they were able to run the ball more effectively when Rex started having his problems and went game to game alternating between good Rex and bad Rex.
The line has been bad ever since and they have not done enough to try and fix it. Orlando Pace and Olin Kreutz are hall of fame linemen who are way past their prime and should have retired a long time ago. Roberto Garza has been adequate and Chris Williams is essentially a rookie and it's too early to tell whether he will be good or bad. Beekman has been adequate and Omiyale has been awful. Another problem is some of these players do not play in their natural positions. It is harder to be able to block properly when you are not playing your natural position that you are used to. The bottom line is they have to fix the line again, on the fly, through free agency. My suggestion would be to go after players that are in their prime instead of has beens or never will be players.
Next up is their highly overrated running back. It would help that their running back would not run right into the pile and fall down. Last year Forte's best attribute was his ability to catch the ball out of the back field. He did not have a good average per rush. Forte needs to learn how to find the hole and run through it like Kahlil Bell who ran for about 72 yards on his first carry. If Forte can not improve his rushing ability, they need to give Bell a shot and then go looking for a new running back in the off season.
Once again the wide receivers are young and inexperienced. Bennett and Knox look like they have a chance to be good. Hester is a good possession receiver but was better suited to be left as a returner and a part time receiver. He is not a number one guy and should not be labeled as such. Once again the team needs to find a big solid player Calvin Johnson, Randy Moss type of player. Until they do, they will not have a consistent passing attack. The tight end Greg Olsen has been a disappointment as well. Olsen is big and fast but wont fight for the ball, drops too many passes. and is not a good blocker. He should be moved to a full time wide receiver position.
The defense is in rough shape. The D line is adequate. Alex Brown is highly underrated and is the anchor of that line. Ogunleye is a good player but will price himself out of the Bears price range. Gaines Adams is too small to be an end and needs to bulk up. Tommy Harris needs to show something on a consistent basis otherwise he should not be back. I don't think he has the heart to be a consistent player. That being said the games he did not play this year the defense was humiliated. It's possible that he may be the focus on the other teams Offensive line and the reason why you don't hear about him much is he can't get off the double team which is a problem in itself. This would mean he needs another dominant tackle to take up the slack. The other guys that have been brought in to play next to him have not done the job. Once again the Bears need to bring in at least 1 defensive lineman to help that part of the D.
The secondary is a mess. Bowman and Afalava are decent player but it is too early to tell whether they will pan out and be good enough. Charles Tillman is a one of the best cornerbacks in the league when healthy(the problem he has a problem staying that way). Urlacher has been missed and his replacements have not done the job. Hopefully next year he can return to his pro bowl form of a few years ago. This brings me to Danieal Manning is the most overrated player in football. Just because he is a great athlete doesn't mean he is good at football. Manning may be fast but that's it. He does not have the football ability to be able to man the safety or the corner spot on a consistent basis. The team also has him taking kickoffs and that is where they need to leave him.
This brings me to Jerry Angelo, Lovie Smith and the McCaskeys. Jerry Angelo has not proven that he can draft the players on a consistent basis that can compete at this level. One example is Cedric Benson. Benson is turning out to be a good player but he didn't want to be here and the Bears knew it before they drafted him. Benson did everything he could to get himself off the team and ultimately succeeded. Who's fault is that? It's Angelo's fault because he had to be aware that Benson did not want to come here and he drafted him anyway. There are other players that were not good that don't even play football because they were bad.
Lovie Smith has taken over the Defense and it hasn't helped much. When a team plays like the Bears have, the coach usually takes the fall. That is what should happen in this case. What will happen is Ron Turner will get fired and be the scapegoat for the offensive woes. It's not all on Turner but he does have some questionable decisions on plays. Of course he is not the person who brought in the horrible offensive line and average running back.
The McCaskeys need to hold their collective noses and payoff Smith and Angelo and go after Mike Shanahan to do both their jobs. Shanahan is a local guy who has done it before with Denver. If Shanahan is not the option, bring in Holmgren or Cowher with a strong GM who is a good personnel evaluator. Then the family needs to bring in several players through trades and free agency to fix the team for their star QB.
If the McCaskeys are not willing to do what is necessary to fix the teams problems after this season, they should consider selling the team. Bears fans deserve better than the product they watch every Sunday. People who spend their hard earned money to attend the games deserve better as well.
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