2009 Chicago Bears offseason

[jersey cubs fan]

The mediocrity is settling in. This team is entering Wanny territory and barring a very impressive offseason, we're probably looking at a 10 loss team next year. The defensive dominance is gone, the best players on that squad are older and not nearly what they once were. The weak spots are glaringly weak. For a unit that is all about not giving up the long ball, this team has repeatedly been beaten by blown coverages.

 

What I want most to happen is a shakeup of the coaching staff. Lovie is a coward on game day, continually punting on opponent's side of the field, playing a field position game with a team that can't prevent 90 yard drives. I'd like to see Lovie gone, as he's nothing more than a motivational speaker for the players now. But I don't think that will happen, so hopefully they clear out the staff on both sides of the ball. They need actual professional football coaches, and not these "teachers" coming out of the college ranks. They need a legit offensive guru, both to get the most out of this offensive unit and help find and develop a QB.

 

Pretty much everybody on the offense is just good enough to play, but absolutely none of them are good enough to make their teammates better. The line might be okay if the QB and receivers were better, the receivers might be okay with a great QB, the QB might be okay if the receivers could impact the game more themselves.

 

Angelo needs to have his best draft yet, making up for the many misses of the past few years. No more hidden project players. They will need as many as three new starters out of this draft to upgrade the talent to the level it needs to be in order to return to contender status.

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

Not feeling the Lovie hate. I think he did a remarkable job this season squeezing 9 wins out of a 4-5 win team. Yes, he is pretty bad on gameday at times, but keeps a good locker room and gets the most out of his players. Are there better head coaches out there? Sure. Any available? Maybe(Marty S?) You might be able to do better, but you could certainly do worse.

 

I think it is impossible to make any judgement on Orton, or any other QB you bring in with this group of WR's. They are by far the worst in the NFL. Devin Hester is the only one that has any business on an NFL roster. I'd like to see how much TJ Housh would cost in FA. Ruvell Martin is an interesting prospect that probably would come cheap from GB. I think he can be a very good WR in this league but is buried on the depth chart.

[dew1679666265]

Not feeling the Lovie hate. I think he did a remarkable job this season squeezing 9 wins out of a 4-5 win team. Yes, he is pretty bad on gameday at times, but keeps a good locker room and gets the most out of his players. Are there better head coaches out there? Sure. Any available? Maybe(Marty S?) You might be able to do better, but you could certainly do worse.

 

Firing Lovie, I think, is similar to SD firing Marty Schottenheimer. Sure, there are coaches out there who might be better, but the chances of landing one are so low that you're likely going to end up downgrading. You could well end up with Norv Turner part 2.

 

Like you said, the only coach who is a sure thing improvement over Lovie is Marty, but will he come out of retirement and is he a very big upgrade?

[Banedon]

I think Babich will be gone. Maybe as soon as today. I hope Turner too. Either Marinelli or Mangini would work as DC. Not sure who would take over as OC though.

 

I think a change in defensive scheme could really help this team.

[jersey cubs fan]

Not feeling the Lovie hate. I think he did a remarkable job this season squeezing 9 wins out of a 4-5 win team. Yes, he is pretty bad on gameday at times, but keeps a good locker room and gets the most out of his players. Are there better head coaches out there? Sure. Any available? Maybe(Marty S?) You might be able to do better, but you could certainly do worse.

 

If he was willing and/or able to hire quality offensive and defensive coordinators, he'd be fine. But he's a gameday idiot and he has bad coordinators. Lovie can't make a decision to save his life. This team routinely wastes precious seconds trying to figure out what they are going to do, call all sorts of unnecessary timeouts and punts in enemy territory every game. This team was playing from behind for a playoff berth and Lovie played these games like a 12 win team just trying to coast into the playoffs.

 

He does "get the most" out of the players, but then he sabotages those efforts with stupid decisions, including letting Babich and Turner repeatedly muck up winnable games.

[jersey cubs fan]

Not feeling the Lovie hate. I think he did a remarkable job this season squeezing 9 wins out of a 4-5 win team. Yes, he is pretty bad on gameday at times, but keeps a good locker room and gets the most out of his players. Are there better head coaches out there? Sure. Any available? Maybe(Marty S?) You might be able to do better, but you could certainly do worse.

 

Firing Lovie, I think, is similar to SD firing Marty Schottenheimer. Sure, there are coaches out there who might be better, but the chances of landing one are so low that you're likely going to end up downgrading. You could well end up with Norv Turner part 2.

 

Like you said, the only coach who is a sure thing improvement over Lovie is Marty, but will he come out of retirement and is he a very big upgrade?

 

Ummmm, no.

 

SD was a very good team that supposedly couldn't get over the hump. The Bears aren't even near the hump. It's much more like the Jets firing Mangini. The team outperformed in his first year, raising expectations, but they have disappointed of late.

[jersey cubs fan]

I think Babich will be gone. Maybe as soon as today. I hope Turner too. Either Marinelli or Mangini would work as DC. Not sure who would take over as OC though.

 

I think a change in defensive scheme could really help this team.

 

Lovie got all kinds of perks out of the 2006 season, including far too much decision making power for both coaches and personel. Angelo needs to completely take away that control, but the problem is once that happens in the NFL, the coach rarely stays on much longer. Odds are, if Angelo tries to force chances, it's going to cause friction with the very stubborn Smith, and next year could easily be a disastrous end of each of their tenures in Chicago.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

It's really easy to complain about the lack of "aggresiveness" in game-day planning when they lose, but I've seen too many games where the defense and special teams game wins the day to agree.

 

As is usually the case in the NFL, this team will be as good as it's next draft.

[Banedon]

I think Babich will be gone. Maybe as soon as today. I hope Turner too. Either Marinelli or Mangini would work as DC. Not sure who would take over as OC though.

 

I think a change in defensive scheme could really help this team.

 

Lovie got all kinds of perks out of the 2006 season, including far too much decision making power for both coaches and personel. Angelo needs to completely take away that control, but the problem is once that happens in the NFL, the coach rarely stays on much longer. Odds are, if Angelo tries to force chances, it's going to cause friction with the very stubborn Smith, and next year could easily be a disastrous end of each of their tenures in Chicago.

 

I think that's an increasingly likely scenario.

[dew1679666265]

Not feeling the Lovie hate. I think he did a remarkable job this season squeezing 9 wins out of a 4-5 win team. Yes, he is pretty bad on gameday at times, but keeps a good locker room and gets the most out of his players. Are there better head coaches out there? Sure. Any available? Maybe(Marty S?) You might be able to do better, but you could certainly do worse.

 

Firing Lovie, I think, is similar to SD firing Marty Schottenheimer. Sure, there are coaches out there who might be better, but the chances of landing one are so low that you're likely going to end up downgrading. You could well end up with Norv Turner part 2.

 

Like you said, the only coach who is a sure thing improvement over Lovie is Marty, but will he come out of retirement and is he a very big upgrade?

 

Ummmm, no.

 

SD was a very good team that supposedly couldn't get over the hump. The Bears aren't even near the hump. It's much more like the Jets firing Mangini. The team outperformed in his first year, raising expectations, but they have disappointed of late.

 

I'm not talking about team performance as much as how good the coach is. Lovie got good results out of this year's team. Nine wins with Kyle Orton as your QB and Devin Hester as your "#1" receiver is pretty good.

 

My point with the comparison to Marty is that it's going to be hard to find a coach as good or better than Lovie, so is it worth the risk to fire him when he's done a pretty good job. If the Bears had finished way out of the playoff race and under .500, I could understand firing him. But he's doing a pretty good job and there's not likely a clearly better coach out there. I'd hang on to him for another year.

 

As for the team comparison, though, I think you're right on. The Bears and Jets have similar talent levels, produced similar results, and I think both coaches should keep/have kept their job.

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

Not feeling the Lovie hate. I think he did a remarkable job this season squeezing 9 wins out of a 4-5 win team. Yes, he is pretty bad on gameday at times, but keeps a good locker room and gets the most out of his players. Are there better head coaches out there? Sure. Any available? Maybe(Marty S?) You might be able to do better, but you could certainly do worse.

 

If he was willing and/or able to hire quality offensive and defensive coordinators, he'd be fine. But he's a gameday idiot and he has bad coordinators. Lovie can't make a decision to save his life. This team routinely wastes precious seconds trying to figure out what they are going to do, call all sorts of unnecessary timeouts and punts in enemy territory every game. This team was playing from behind for a playoff berth and Lovie played these games like a 12 win team just trying to coast into the playoffs.

 

He does "get the most" out of the players, but then he sabotages those efforts with stupid decisions, including letting Babich and Turner repeatedly muck up winnable games.

 

Fair enough, but who would you replace Lovie with? The only guy I would consier is Marty, which I would do in a heartbeat. I don't see Angelo making such move at all.

 

I really think the root of all this teams problems start with Angelo. Like they say, Veteran's Commitee flows down not up. The 2007 draft is a complete joke outside of Olsen. Dan Bazuin, Michael Owko & Wolfe? Are you kidding me? These players should be filling key positions now, but are basically wasted picks. We should also kill the notion that Angelo is some type of defensive guru when it comes to the draft. He hasn't found any gems on D since 2004. Since then he has basically drafted borderline starters.

[Magnetic Curses]

The mediocrity is settling in. This team is entering Wanny territory and barring a very impressive offseason, we're probably looking at a 10 loss team next year. The defensive dominance is gone, the best players on that squad are older and not nearly what they once were. The weak spots are glaringly weak. For a unit that is all about not giving up the long ball, this team has repeatedly been beaten by blown coverages.

 

What I want most to happen is a shakeup of the coaching staff. Lovie is a coward on game day, continually punting on opponent's side of the field, playing a field position game with a team that can't prevent 90 yard drives. I'd like to see Lovie gone, as he's nothing more than a motivational speaker for the players now. But I don't think that will happen, so hopefully they clear out the staff on both sides of the ball. They need actual professional football coaches, and not these "teachers" coming out of the college ranks. They need a legit offensive guru, both to get the most out of this offensive unit and help find and develop a QB.

 

Pretty much everybody on the offense is just good enough to play, but absolutely none of them are good enough to make their teammates better. The line might be okay if the QB and receivers were better, the receivers might be okay with a great QB, the QB might be okay if the receivers could impact the game more themselves.

 

Angelo needs to have his best draft yet, making up for the many misses of the past few years. No more hidden project players. They will need as many as three new starters out of this draft to upgrade the talent to the level it needs to be in order to return to contender status.

 

pretty much agree with all of this. as i've said before, we need a pass rusher first and foremost, the best available either through free agency or with our draft selection.

 

generally the bears do not make big free agent acquisitions, and when they have in the past, it's moose. i hope angelo isn't dumb enough to waste cap space on housh when there are guys out there that can improve the core of this team and not just polish the brass on the titanic.

 

what about haynesworth? he instantly makes the front four formidable, and could free up our existing ends to rush the passer as well as getting it himself, he makes the line better and would definitely make tommie harris better. if we signed him, there would be no need to upgrade the line in any other area. this would also allow us to draft a player like maclin, a plug-and-play #1 receiver. there's always terrell suggs but he's a 3-4 end, a gimmick end, and he's played for coaches with a little more imaginations than ours.

 

that said, we need to upgrade the o-line and simply having chris williams step in for jsc isn't gonna do it. i don't know if drafting another tackle in the first 3 rounds and then shifting tait to guard would help, but i don't think it could hurt too bad, considering how bad tait has gotten at preventing a speed rusher from sprinting around him and blowing up orton.

 

we could possibly compete next year with the players we have if we make the right moves.

Edited December 29, 2008 by Stannis

[jersey cubs fan]

It's really easy to complain about the lack of "aggresiveness" in game-day planning when they lose, but I've seen too many games where the defense and special teams game wins the day to agree.

 

Not since 2006.

 

Stop living in the past. That plan worked when the defense was elite, but it's nowhere close to elite this year, and only Lovie apparantly couldn't see that truth.

[dew1679666265]

Not feeling the Lovie hate. I think he did a remarkable job this season squeezing 9 wins out of a 4-5 win team. Yes, he is pretty bad on gameday at times, but keeps a good locker room and gets the most out of his players. Are there better head coaches out there? Sure. Any available? Maybe(Marty S?) You might be able to do better, but you could certainly do worse.

 

If he was willing and/or able to hire quality offensive and defensive coordinators, he'd be fine. But he's a gameday idiot and he has bad coordinators. Lovie can't make a decision to save his life. This team routinely wastes precious seconds trying to figure out what they are going to do, call all sorts of unnecessary timeouts and punts in enemy territory every game. This team was playing from behind for a playoff berth and Lovie played these games like a 12 win team just trying to coast into the playoffs.

 

He does "get the most" out of the players, but then he sabotages those efforts with stupid decisions, including letting Babich and Turner repeatedly muck up winnable games.

 

Fair enough, but who would you replace Lovie with? The only guy I would consier is Marty, which I would do in a heartbeat. I don't see Angelo making such move at all.

 

I really think the root of all this teams problems start with Angelo. Like they say, Veteran's Commitee flows down not up. The 2007 draft is a complete joke outside of Olsen. Dan Bazuin, Michael Owko & Wolfe? Are you kidding me? These players should be filling key positions now, but are basically wasted picks. We should also kill the notion that Angelo is some type of defensive guru when it comes to the draft. He hasn't found any gems on D since 2004. Since then he has basically drafted borderline starters.

 

Now that I think about it, Bill Cowher would also be an upgrade, but both he and Marty are longshots to come out of retirement and then you'll have to outbid the Browns, (perhaps) Cowboys, Lions, Jets, etc for both.

 

Otherwise, it's probably a young up and comer who's a huge risk.

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

what about haynesworth? he instantly makes the front four formidable, and could free up our existing ends to rush the passer as well as getting it himself, he makes the line better and would definitely make tommie harris better. if .

I'd love him, but I think the Bears are only interested in undersized defensive lineman that get blown off the ball 99% of the plays.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

It's really easy to complain about the lack of "aggresiveness" in game-day planning when they lose, but I've seen too many games where the defense and special teams game wins the day to agree.

 

Not since 2006.

 

Stop living in the past. That plan worked when the defense was elite, but it's nowhere close to elite this year, and only Lovie apparantly couldn't see that truth.

 

I get it, you hate Smith and you hate the defense. I disagree.

 

We saw defense and special teams win several games this season. We saw it two weeks ago.

 

This defense wasn't elite, but defenses tend to rise and fall quickly year-to-year. A good draft and it'll be elite again. A bad draft and your hatred of Smith will be a little more justified because we won't be coming off a winning season.

[Keener98]

Id be all for firing Lovie Smith but its not happening. The guy has made terrible decision after terrible decision when it comes to personnel. Mark Anderson over Alex Brown? Cedric Benson over Thomas Jones? The whole QB competition bs. Our 3rd round draft pick Bennet cant see the field even though the guys playing have no business on an NFL roster(Rashied Davis). His terrrible time management. His terrible decision making on plays to throw the red flag on, and which ones not to. His gutless punting while in the opponents territory.

 

And those are just the reasons I came up with off the top of my head. Lovie Smith is not a good NFL head coach plain and simple. Hes overmatched, and quite frankly Im tired of his act with the media.

 

Smith has been given more decision making when it comes to the draft in recent years and what has that gotten the Bears?Forte, and thats about it. In my opinion the Bears have to shake some things up. 1st and 2nd need to be both cooridinators fired immediately. Then I look to see what Urlacher would fetch the Bears in a trade along with Vasher. This draft is going to be loaded with linebackers, and as we all know that seems to be Angelos specialty so lets make a splash.

[dew1679666265]

what about haynesworth? he instantly makes the front four formidable, and could free up our existing ends to rush the passer as well as getting it himself, he makes the line better and would definitely make tommie harris better. if .

I'd love him, but I think the Bears are only interested in undersized defensive lineman that get blown off the ball 99% of the plays.

 

That's the cover 2 defense! :D The Colts do the same thing - tiny, but fast D-linemen. Dungy and Lovie are both from the same school of thought.

 

And Albert is a great, great DT. Everything I've heard is that the Titans will bring him back, but they're still bickering over the contract, so I'm not certain.

[Magnetic Curses]

lovie's not going anywhere, and i don't think canning babich will do much of anything. the line couldn't get pressure and with our aging second and third-level personnel, that means disaster. we need a couple players up front who can get around or through a fat boy. Edited December 29, 2008 by Stannis

[Soul]

The sad thing is, I don't really sense a big shakeup coming. Babich is clearly on the hotseat. What else would likely change? They'll probably go into '09 with Kyle at QB, most of the same Oline, the same Dline and LB corps except maybe one addition. Mike Brown might be done -- replacement won't be as good.

 

I'm pretty pessimistic about this team, and I have been since about half way through the '07 season. The arrow has clearly been pointing down, and remains so, despite winning two more games this year.

[jersey cubs fan]

People pretending there's nobody out there who can replace Lovie, or be as good as Lovie, aren't paying attention to the league. The Bears are routinely outcoached on Sundays. And the well run teams find quality coaches to replace the old regime fairly constantly. Look at Harbaugh in Baltimore, Sparano in Miami and Smith in Atlanta. You're telling me you can't find a quality coach on the Giants, Panthers, Titans, Colts or Steelers staff? Look at Tomlin in Pittsburgh. Why can't the Bears find a coach who gets the most out of his team and actually gets them to the playoffs constantly. The Steelers don't have a single elite talent on their offense and they only have a couple of truly great defensive players, but year-in and year-out that team plays great football and wins.

 

The Bears are .500 the last two years. You're telling me they can't find a coach that can make them better than that? This isn't baseball, where it's pitcher vs hitter with quantifiable results. Coaching matters in football and the Bears aren't getting any coaching. They are filled with Lovie and a bunch of college coaches and nobody but Toub has come close to looking like potentially one of the best at their job in the NFL.

 

If Lovie wants to replace all his coaches, fine, keep him. But if he insists on sticking with the teachers he brought in, and refuses to make the necessary changes, then he needs to be replaced because he brings absolutely nothing to the table on Sundays.

[jersey cubs fan]

It's really easy to complain about the lack of "aggresiveness" in game-day planning when they lose, but I've seen too many games where the defense and special teams game wins the day to agree.

 

Not since 2006.

 

Stop living in the past. That plan worked when the defense was elite, but it's nowhere close to elite this year, and only Lovie apparantly couldn't see that truth.

 

I get it, you hate Smith and you hate the defense. I disagree.

 

We saw defense and special teams win several games this season. We saw it two weeks ago.

 

This defense wasn't elite, but defenses tend to rise and fall quickly year-to-year. A good draft and it'll be elite again. A bad draft and your hatred of Smith will be a little more justified because we won't be coming off a winning season.

 

I don't hate Smith. I hate the complacency. And I laugh at that idiotic last line. 9-7, oh boy, winning season don't make changes you can't expect anything better.

 

This defense was crap this year. They were crap last year as well and Lovie played games down the stretch as if they were something more than they were. If it wasn't for very cold conditions making it tough for those pass happy teams in the 2 previous games, the results would have looked a lot more like yesterday, when a bad defense was exposed for the umpteenth time.

 

It's either replace all the coaches and keep Smith, or replace him so you can get a total overhaul. This team needs to be good enough to win despite Lovie's poor game day coaching. Because they will never win based on his "savvy" moves on Sundays.

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

what about haynesworth? he instantly makes the front four formidable, and could free up our existing ends to rush the passer as well as getting it himself, he makes the line better and would definitely make tommie harris better. if .

I'd love him, but I think the Bears are only interested in undersized defensive lineman that get blown off the ball 99% of the plays.

 

That's the cover 2 defense! :D The Colts do the same thing - tiny, but fast D-linemen. Dungy and Lovie are both from the same school of thought.

 

And Albert is a great, great DT. Everything I've heard is that the Titans will bring him back, but they're still bickering over the contract, so I'm not certain.

I like to call it the "Tampa Terrible" defense. Hey look, I got a 260lb DT that runs a 4.7! And once a game he can use that quickness to make a play 5 yards in the backfield. Forget that he gets his arse handed to him the reaminder of the game, we have a real playmaker here.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

There's a big leap from "no need to fire the coach" to "no need for changes."

 

The fact that you made it shows you aren't remotely objective about this, and are just another fan who wants to fire the coach. Fans *always* want to fire the coach.

[jersey cubs fan]

The sad thing is, I don't really sense a big shakeup coming. .

 

I don't see it either. This organization stuck with Wanny, Jauron and all those incompetent coordinators those guys used. They don't demand results and are far more likely to try and stick with the status quo than actually go out and look for a great coach. 9-7 probably bought Lovie another season, if not two. It's probably going to take a 10-12 loss season before they decide to make changes.