Week 17: Bears at Houston, noon on Fox

[WrigleyField 22]

The Bears changed defensive coordinators after reaching the Super Bowl. Surely they won't stick with the status quo after two non-playoff seasons. More than one defensive player talked about how things need to change. When players say that, they don't really mean the roster. The seat behind defensive coordinator Bob Babich's desk will feel hotter when he gets to work Monday. Speculation already has begun to swirl about Lovie Smith adding soon-to-be-fired Lions coach Rod Marinelli, who would be a good fit on the defensive staff. If the Bears react as they should, expect a staff shake-up.

 

from the Trib.....

Hmmm very interesting. I wonder if he could get our pass rushing to improve.

[Butterscup1679666578]

Turner better be on his way out of town too.

[Soul]

I just don't think Turner will get the axe this offseason. He's had little if anything to work with. Babich has had pro-bowl calibre talent to work with and has tanked. Turner's been trying to eek out some kind of offense from essentially nothing. There's a big difference there, in my mind.

[Keener98]

Id be interested in Maranelli as DC but I just wonder how hard of a sell it would be for the Bears front office. Firing a DC to hire a guy whos team just went 0-16 seems pretty questionable really, but I would be up for it.

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

I really don't get the Marinelli love at all. First off, people rave that he was such a great DLine coach in Tampa. Well, I'm guessing that had alot to do with the fact that guys like Simeon Rice and Warren Sapp were in fact, great football players. Then he goes to Detroit and during that time the team is terrible on defense every year. That team didn't have one single specific strenght on that side of the ball. In contrast, when Lovie came from St. Louis, the Bears were a pretty bad overall defensive team his first season, but they at least jumped to the top of the NFL in forced turnovers. Now, granted alot of Detroits woes should be placed on Millen, then again if a guy is such a great defensive mind he should be able to take any group of scrubs and at least finish in the top 20 of defensive rankings.

[jersey cubs fan]

Id be interested in Maranelli as DC but I just wonder how hard of a sell it would be for the Bears front office. Firing a DC to hire a guy whos team just went 0-16 seems pretty questionable really, but I would be up for it.

 

I don't think it would be a hard sell at all. Teams fire coordinators of disappointing units all the time, and they hire former head coaches to fill those roles on a fairly regular basis.

[Soul]

There are bad head coaches who are good coordinators. Marinelli's failure as HC of Detroit should not disqualify him for jobs as a DC.

[Banedon]

In contrast, when Lovie came from St. Louis, the Bears were a pretty bad overall defensive team his first season, but they at least jumped to the top of the NFL in forced turnovers.

 

The Bears were ranked 14th defensively (by ypg) in 2003, Jauron's last year. They weren't great, but it's not like they were terrible. It was only 2001 when everyone was comparing THAT team's defense to the 85 team, the way everybody does when the defense does well.

 

When Lovie started, he brought Ron Rivera in...they played great D until he left, and Babich was installed. If you want to dole out credit, I think Rivera should probably get first dibs. Lovie might have brought him in, but he also pushed him out.

 

The thought with briniging in Marinielli is that that scheme was the problem more than the players. And given the contracts that Angelo doled out in the offseason, I think you have to think that way if you're the Bears, unless you want to start eating some big dough, and taking some cap hits.

[cubweiser03]

There are bad head coaches who are good coordinators. Marinelli's failure as HC of Detroit should not disqualify him for jobs as a DC.

 

The problem is Marinelli was promoted directly from DLine coach to HC. He doesnt have a DC resume to fall back on like Dick LeBeau did. I would be fine with him as DLine coach, im not sure what upgrade he would be over Babich at coordinator.

[Banedon]

There are bad head coaches who are good coordinators. Marinelli's failure as HC of Detroit should not disqualify him for jobs as a DC.

 

The problem is Marinelli was promoted directly from DLine coach to HC. He doesnt have a DC resume to fall back on like Dick LeBeau did. I would be fine with him as DLine coach, im not sure what upgrade he would be over Babich at coordinator.

 

He was also assistant head coach for 4 years in TB.

[bukie]

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the idea of punting in opposing territory, especially inside the 40?

[BigbadB]

The Bears need help on both lines. They need to replace Rashied Davis and Marty Booker at WR, and they could probably use some help at safety now that Brown won't be back.

 

Maybe Bennett can fill one of the holes, but they do need someone who can spread the field and make quality catches from poorly thrown balls.

 

The Bears also need a franchise qb. This is nothing new. Realistically, they aren't going to get one this offseason, so the focus should be on all the other holes.

 

Missing the playoffs, in the big picture, was probably for the best. Winning a playoff game or two would have just been enough to make people think they were among the elite teams in the league when they clearly weren't.

[Soul]

There are bad head coaches who are good coordinators. Marinelli's failure as HC of Detroit should not disqualify him for jobs as a DC.

 

The problem is Marinelli was promoted directly from DLine coach to HC. He doesnt have a DC resume to fall back on like Dick LeBeau did. I would be fine with him as DLine coach, im not sure what upgrade he would be over Babich at coordinator.

 

He was also assistant head coach for 4 years in TB.

 

He might not be a good DC. All I was saying is that his failure as a HC should not serve as an automatic disqualification on his resume for DC jobs.

[jersey cubs fan]

Missing the playoffs, in the big picture, was probably for the best. Winning a playoff game or two would have just been enough to make people think they were among the elite teams in the league when they clearly weren't.

 

If missing the playoffs was enough to convince the powers to be to make changes, I would agree. But I don't see it happening, and because of that I would much rather have another meaningful week or two of football to follow than hope the McCaskeys and Philips will make necessary upgrades.

[Wilson A2000]

Turner better be on his way out of town too.

 

He wasn't the problem

[Wilson A2000]

The Bears were ranked 14th defensively (by ypg) in 2003, Jauron's last year. They weren't great, but it's not like they were terrible. It was only 2001 when everyone was comparing THAT team's defense to the 85 team, the way everybody does when the defense does well.

 

The 2005 defense was the best they had under Lovie (12.3 ppg if I remember correctly). 2006 might have been better, but injuries cut down their potential.