24_Guy wrote:
Agree, disagree, whatever. But I'm right.
1. Provide retirement for Jerry Angelo. There are myriad reasons for this, and everyone already knows them. In short, you can’t let him run another draft. You also can’t let him continue to ignore the needs of the franchise quarterback. Orlando Pace doesn’t count. Neither do Gabe Carimi or Chris Williams.
2. Say farewell to Mike Martz. I was a proponent of his hiring, and I do believe he has a brilliant offense mind. But his system is antiquated (more on this later) and he is unwilling or unable to adapt to today’s NFL game. I am sure he is frustrated by his lack of talent, but he doesn’t seem to have the flexibility to try to achieve the most he can with it; rather his only focus is on attacking the other teams’ weaknesses – which under most circumstances would be admirable, but is actually useless if your own team’s talent is incapable of executing. This team can’t block for seven-step drops and can’t execute the complex route trees. Actually, not many can. Blitzing off the edge and jamming receivers pretty much shuts this system down. The Packers, Saints, Patriots, et al do not run a scheme anything like that. They don’t have great offensive lines either, but you don’t notice it as much. The QB’s get the ball out fast, either to a big WR that can jump and make a play, or to a big TE that causes mismatches.
3. Do not re-sign Matt Forte. The teams in Superbowl contention are not based on franchise running backs. Running backs are expendable in today’s NFL. Allocating resources to them hurts your team in other, more important areas. Yes, Forte has been a huge part of the offense. But he shouldn’t be. He’s basically been playing two positions – running back and TE, in a sense. He’s been Cutler’s check-down option; his safety cushion. That role should be played by a true TE, not the halfback. (And no, Greg Olsen wasn’t the answer either. Although aside from his bad hands, inability to block, and inability to gain yards after the catch, he was OK.)
4. Do not spend money or draft picks to bolster the defense. Yes they are aging. But, similar to my comments in step 3, the teams in Superbowl contention do not have lock-down defenses. To the contrary, many are ranked at the bottom of the league in defense. This is an offensive league. Even with another year under the belt of the Bears aging veterans, they can still play better defense than most contending teams.
5. Allocate all top resources, in free agency and top picks, to these positions: Two offensive linemen (one being LT, the other being the best available at any position), a big WR, and a big pass-catching TE. This is how the top NFL teams are built. The most frustrating thing with this team for the past three years has been, they already acquired the hardest piece, the franchise QB. He has been wasted for three years. You have to get the rest of the parts in order to compete. With these added parts, and an offensive coordinator willing to use a tight end, and willing to let Cutler roll-out, and willing to let Cutler audible, you have a chance to have a legitimate NFL offense, and thus, a legitimate chance to compete for a Superbowl. Even with just Cutler alone, the Bears were close as it was. Now please, continue with the proper NFL blueprint and finish the job. Before Cutler can’t walk anymore.
Let's analyze:
1. There's a huge push for having Jerry Angelo retire after an unfounded rumor started circulating that he was contemplating it. According to Angelo, he isn't going anywhere and the Bears won't be firing a guy that just got them to the NFC Title game last year. This is short sighted fantasy land. The fact that we even have a Franchise QB on this roster or a Franchise DE is because of Angelo for having the stones to go out and make a splash in free agency. He's also the guy who drafted Forte, Tillman, Briggs, and Devin Hester, among others. Has he had some rough Drafts? Sure. What GM hasn't. But under his watch, the Bears have played in the Conference Championship game twice in the past five years, which is something that only 7 other teams have acccomplished. And most of those teams are considered among the best in the League. Teams like the Steelers, Colts, Patriots, Packers, and Saints are on that list. And what happens if Carimi comes back and plays well on the OL and Chris Williams finds a nice hom on the left side at OG? That's two holes filled on the OL with young and talented players.
2. Mike Martz is probably out of here at the end of this season. His contract is up and rumor is that he wants a sick amount of money in return. Would be interesting if the Bears considered Norv Turner for that job. He runs an Offense similar to Martz and obviously his brother was a part of the Bears organization and had worked for Lovie before. If Smith turned over the Bears Offense, assuming Norv doesn't get offered a Head Coaching gig, working with Jay Cutler and Matt Forte might be something he's interested in doing.
3. The reason the Bears are lacking talented players at the skill positions outside of Forte and Cutler is because for one thing, the Bears felt Olsen didn't fit their system, so they weren't about to commit to him long term, and secondly, they simply haven't invested in finding WR's in the Draft. The Bears invested 2nd Round picks into Juaquin Iglesias, Devin Hester, and Mark Bradley since 2002. We haven't invested a 1st Round pick in a WR since David Terrell over a decade ago, and other than Muhsin Muhammad, we haven't tried to sign a marquee name in free agency either. The reality is that if we continue to shop for talent in the middle rounds, we're going to have hit or miss success with landing someone. Of the WR's drafted in the first three rounds over the past 10 years, the Bears look like they might go 2-4. While Bradley and Iglesias are clear busts, Hester turned into a Hall of Fame game changing athlete in the return game and Earl Bennett has shown flashes of developing into something on the possession side, hopefully to fill the role that Roy Williams will not be filling next year. But if they want a game changer at the position, free agency is your only avenue. This offseason, names like DeSean Jackson and Wes Welker are likely to be on the market and the Bears may take a stab to give Cutler some options in the passing game. Bottom line though is the reason that we don't have these players isn't that we do have Forte, and giving away your only Franchise caliber Pro Bowl player for nothing is irresponsible. If RB's like Forte grow on trees, then why haven't we had one since Neal Anderson?
4. Three of the five teams competing for bye weeks right now all have top 5 Defenses. The Steelers, 49ers, and Texans. The Ravens also have a top five Defense and will find themselves in the playoffs as well. What this item should have said is that if you have one of the best QB's in the NFL (top 5 caliber) and an insanely explosive Offense, like the Patriots, Packers, and Saints, you can get away with not playing very good Defense. Elite QB's have a tendency to cover up deficiencies on the rest of your roster. And if you think Cutler hasn't been doing that while he was in there, take one look at the fact that the Bears are winning 70% of their games with Cutler and 0% of their games without him. Don't blame Forte being out because our RB's are averaging nearly 5 yards per carry without him. Defenses are just as easily a ticket into the deep playoffs as Offense is. The difference is an elite QB.
5. I would think the Bears analysis of their own roster probably already pinpointed deficiencies on the OL and WR. As for a pass catching TE, that will depend on the scheme being used if/when Martz is out of here. Not a very insightful point, more obvious than anything.
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