|
Benefit of the doubt? Lovie's lost that, too
Dan McNeil
Suntimes.com
I have no problem being among the first to sound the panic siren. That's because Lovie Smith wasn't just handed his place on the hot seat -- he earned it.
Smith has done so by posting a 16-17 record since his Bears spit the bit in Miami in Super Bowl XLI. If the Bears miss the playoffs this season, it will be for the third consecutive year.
Terminable offenses? In the NFL world of big-boy rules, yes.
Smith has two years left on his puffy, post-Super Bowl deal, but it's for only $9 million. A drop in the bucket for an organization that spent unnecessarily to placate pouty, surgically reconstructed, aging-fast middle linebacker Brian Urlacher two training camps ago. Urlacher was under contract, but Jerry Angelo caved and Urlacher got paid ''stupid money.''
Angelo also had his head over his skis when he spent huge money on Tommie Harris' second deal in 2008. Harris' NFL shelf life is decidedly closer to expiration than when the Bears rolled the dice on him at No. 14 overall in 2004.
If the Bears think tank has no ethical or moral grapples with spending McCaskey money unwisely, why should I?
It isn't an overstatement to suggest Sunday's game against defending champion Pittsburgh is a defining moment for Smith. It's only Week 2, but the Bears are in crisis-management mode.
Their franchise quarterback hit almost as many Packers in stride as he did Bears. The expected-to-be-bad receiving corps was what we thought it was. Urlacher is out for the year. There was an inexcusable special-teams gaffe.
This falls in the lap of the head coach more than anybody. Smith hires (and fires) his assistants, most of whom have little or no history of developing top-of-the-line talent. The defensive boilerplate was designed by Smith. If Ben Roethlisberger has a big day, it's all on Smith.
Urlacher's absence doesn't give the head coach a free pass. Neither do injuries. Smith has to play with what he has and succeed. Only a bad musician blames his instrument.
Smith needs to stop the bleeding. An 0-2 start, with a trip to Seattle in Week 3, would not be ''position A.'' Winning on the road in the NFL is no two-foot putt. If you thought this week has been exhausting, stick around if the Bears get strapped in the cow pasture on the lakefront Sunday.
It will get even goofier if Mike Singletary's 49ers win again. Mid-'80s Bears loyalists (there are other words for them) will be screaming for Samurai Mike to be returned to his rightful place, to change the culture here as some are suggesting he has in San Francisco. Under Singletary's stewardship, the Niners won four of their last five last season and raised eyebrows with an impressive win at defending NFC champ Arizona on Sunday.
It is my wish that Singletary enjoys a long, successful run as an NFL headmaster. In San Francisco. In his hometown of Houston. Anywhere but here.
Let me be the first to cast a ''no'' ballot for Singletary succeeding Smith when the Bears eventually fire him.
Can't do it. Can't keep giving these managerial roles to former heroes because most of us are incapable of judging yesteryear's stars objectively.
We give effective-but-loopy White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen more of the benefit of the doubt than he probably deserves.
We all cried foul when John McDonough kicked fan favorite Denis Savard to the curb just four games into puck season last year. It was the right move.
We gave John Paxson a relatively easy ride when he was generally managing the Bulls. In Pax's six years on the job, his teams won one playoff series.
No more sacred cows. Especially when there are five still-young-enough Super Bowl-winning coaches -- Mike Shanahan, Bill Cowher, Jon Gruden, Brian Billick and Tony Dungy -- recharging their batteries in broadcast booths or sitting on the couch.
Expectations of these Bears are high. Smith's team needs to get hot, and it needs to do it this weekend.
If he doesn't, Smitty's gonna have to settle for an even hotter seat.
**
Pretty stupid article.
The Bears may be 16-17 since losing the Super Bowl, but you can't lose a Super Bowl without winning an NFC Championship, which was our 1st in 20+ years. Lovie's career record in Chicago is 45-35, which is a 56% winning percentage. He's .500 in the playoffs with a pair of Division crowns and an NFC Championship. He's had 3 winning seasons in 5 years (60% of the time). He's won an NFL Coach of the Year award in the past 5 years.
Its a little early for panic mode. Many who have seen the Bears schedule had them starting 0-2.
Consider this:
1. At Green Bay - Most have the Bears splitting with Green Bay, so it makes sense that GB would win at home making us 0-1.
2. Steelers - These guys are the Super Bowl champs. I'm not sure the logic was that we were in that group just yet, so 0-2.
3. At Seattle - Very winnable game although Hasselback did look good. I say win and we're 1-2.
4. Lions - Win evening us up at 2-2.
5. At Atlanta - Falcons are solid. We may lose on the road. 2-3.
6. At Cincinnati - They look rough. Win sending us to 3-3.
7. Browns - Home against Cleveland looks like a win. 4-3.
8. Arizona - Home against Warner and company, but if our D-line gets pressure like they did in Green Bay, this is a win. I think we do. 5-3.
9. At SF - Could be tougher than expected, but I'll say win. 6-3.
10. Philly - Even at home, with a healthy McNabb, likely a loss. 6-4.
11. At Minnesota - I say we split with them, so we'll call this a loss. 6-5.
12. Rams - At home? Should be a win putting us at 7-5.
13. Packers - I said we'd split with them, so 8-5 with a win.
14. At Ravens - Ravens didn't look great against KC, but I'll say we lose this one on the road, so we're 8-6.
15. Vikings - I said we'd split with them, too, but they did look good. Assuming a split, 9-6 for us.
16. At Detroit - Should win to end the season, so 10-6, which was my prediction.
Obviously a lot can happen in many of those games. Its the NFL, so looking at this schedule, I see what should be 5 guaranteed wins (Detroit twice, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and St. Louis). I see what should be 4 guaranteed losses (Steelers, Philly, Ravens, at Green Bay, and at Minnesota). The rest, comprising 6 games, could easily go either way. If we can steal a win out of the "should lose" column and not give any back from the "should win" column, and then just split the remaining games, we'd finish 9-7. We need to perform better than .500 in those toss up games (that is the key) and a playoff team should have to do better in those games while beating an elite team here or there.
|
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
