DAAAAAAAAAAAAA BEARS!!!!

[sparkdaddy]

FUCKING SUCK!!


That is all!!

[Garbageman]

But cheer up. They don't have draft picks in the first two rounds this year so there's no pressure with picking the right player in the top 10 and having to negotiate cap room or having him hold out.

[NickasInSaltLick]

But cheer up. They don't have draft picks in the first two rounds this year so there's no pressure with picking the right player in the top 10 and having to negotiate cap room or having him hold out.

Thanks for that silver lining man!

I think people are starting to realize what I've been saying for years, that we've had a hell of a lot bigger problems than just the lack of a bigtime quarterback all these years.

Starting at the top:
Mismanagement on the GM level: Just one example, blowing next year's #2 pick for Gaines Adams? Really? Now we don't even get a draft pick until the 2nd day! And the guy's been deactivated for the last two games for no reason. Brilliant. Jerry Angelo shouldn't even be a GM in the Arena League a this point.

Coaching: I know they wanted to show off their new toy, but the best teams in the league set up the pass with the run. Look at the gold standards right now, New Orleans (Thomas, Bush, Bell), Indy (Addai, Brown) and Minnesota (Peterson, Taylor), all of them (with the possible exception of Indy, but even they can get 1 fucking yard on the ground when they need it!) have solid running games that draw in defenders and open up their explosive passing attacks. I'm not ready to sell on Forte yet. He showed a lot of good things last year. I still think he might be one of the better double-threats out of the backfield since Roger Craig. It really seems like they've abandoned the run altogether, especially in the red-zone. I knew this season might be trouble when in the first Green Bay game we threw on 12 of the first 13 plays from scrimmage. And Cutler was running for his life on half of those plays, which leads me to my next point...

Shitty offensive line play: Orlando Pace was the best offensive lineman in Pro Football from 1999-2006. Maybe one of the best in history. But there's a reason the average lineman's career usually last 6 years tops. These guys break down. So what do we do? Let's sign him to protect the blindside! That guy gets blown up on practically every snap. John Tait was smart to retire when he did, because these guys are terrible. I'm starting to think that Ron Turner might actually be onto something with his PASSPASSPASS offense because not even Barry Sanders can run behind these guys. Kreutz and Garza are the only linemen even remotely worth a shit any more, and our decent blocking tight-end, Desmond Clark, has been hurt the bulk of the season. The big problem is though, that these jokers can't pass block either. I've seen every game they've played this season and on the rare occasion where Cutler has the chance to set his feet and step up in the pocket he makes decent, on target (although touchless) throws. On the run, his passes float or hit the receiver in the feet. And sadly, he's having to throw on the run all the goddamn time.

Defense: I kind of figured that we'd be in for a long year when we lost two linebackers (Urlacher, Tinoasimoa) in the first two PLAYS of the Green Bay game on opening nightl. But I had no idea that we'd end up that hammered with injuries this year. We've gotten down to the third string on pretty much every defensive backfield position this year. There isn't a team in the league deep enough to weather that many injuries and still perform at a decent level. Not only that, but they're the 4th worst team in the league in 3rd down defense which means they're on the field the whole goddamn game, making it tough to stop anybody down the stretch and tough for the offense to build any rhythm. The other thing, and I think the only way this gets fixed is with a coaching change, is that I think the Tampa-2 Defensive Scheme has been figured out. That particular defense owned the league for a few years early in this decade. But just like the famed "46" was made obsolete by the West-Coast Offense, I think most Offensive coordinators worth their salt can pick out the holes in it pretty easily. The Tampa-2 keys on three things, 1. tons of pressure generated by the D-Line, 2. a healthy, tall, fast secondary, and 3. linebackers that excel in pass coverage, yet can make a lightning quick adjustment to stop the run. We're getting none of those things right now.

The Recieving Corps: A lot of the prevailing thought is that they aren't very good. I disagree. I think Hester has made great strides toward making the transition from DB to WR. Almost pulling a reverse Troy Brown. He's also made some catches that shitty WR's just don't make. Knox has shown flashes of brilliance this year and I think Bennett is going to be one to watch down the road. He's got great hands and runs good routes for a 2nd year guy. Olsen is capable of being an all-pro if they'd throw him the fucking ball once in awhile. The only things they really have going against them is that they are relatively inexperienced, but they don't draw up the plays or routes, our shitty coaching staff comes up with them, and they rarely have time to get open due our shitty offensive line. But given time to grow, I think the three of them can make up a solid receiving corps within the next couple seasons.

On to Cutler himself: The guy is tremendously talented and like I said before, when he has time to set his feet and step up in the pocket he's capable of making on target, accurate throws. He rarely has that kind of time though. He's does have a much stronger arm than either of his predecessors which increases their range downfield. He does have some problems though. His throws lack, for the most part, touch. I kind of like the Montana school of quarterbacking where you lay the ball in there softly so the receiver doesn't really have to work to catch the ball. He favors more of an Elway style of zipping the ball in there. Both methods are effective, but I kinda prefer a little more touch when working with young receivers. He does have some other problems though, and it's not going to be so easy to fix these. Grossman and Orton suffered from all of the problems listed above, but they had certain qualities that the more talented Cutler clearly lacks. Grossman carried himself with a swagger and confidence, that's kind of hard to explain, but when he'd trot out onto the field, you just knew something exciting was going to happen. He was another guy that when he had time to set up and throw, he had a deceptively accurate and strong arm. You could count on one hand though the amount of times during the game that he wasn't on the run or on his back foot. But that guy went through a tremendous amount of shit in the press and from ignorant fans and just kept going out there until he was yanked. Orton was probably the least talented of the three. His arm strength wasn't that great, and he wasn't very mobile. But he was probably the smartest of the three. If the throw wasn't there, he wouldn't make it. And he also benefited from a more run-oriented rushing attack that better set up the pass. But he didn't bring the overall excitement and "flash" the other guys had and, much like Rex he got run out of town on a rail. That guy took even more shit from the press than Grossman last year, put his head down and trotted out there every week and played his ass off. I told my Denver fan buddies a million times not to worry about him last spring because I figured he'd bring those same qualities to Denver and I think I've been proven right. Cutler sadly, lacks both the swagger of Grossman and the grittiness of Orton and tries to get by purely on talent. When things don't go his way, he hangs his head and lashes out. Thankfully, those are both signs of immaturity and hopefully time can fix that. He's also suffering from a lack of guys in the locker room that can check him. Urlacher ISN'T that guy. The real heart and soul of that locker room the last few years was Mike Brown who, unfortunately had some injury problems and now might be the lone bright spot on a shoddy Chiefs defense. For most teams the quarterback is the defacto leader of the team, but I don't think that's been the case in Chicago, well ever. Hopefully he can grow up a little bit and take on a leadership role, but he's going to need somebody, a coach or veteran or something to take his ass under their wing and help him along.

Bottom line, until that stuff is addressed from the top on down, I think we're going to be a long way from being a contender. But that's nothing new to me as a fan. With the exception of a couple of years of relative brilliance here and there, we've been pretty shitty since 1985. I'll never turn my back on them though, I've been a Bears fan since I was in the crib, and I'll be a Bears fan until I kick the bucket.