SpongeWorthy

I dont mind Funk being a homer so much. Hes constantly calling the action wrong.

42 points after three

Holy [expletive] this is dreadful

Who is this roid monster of a ref?

26 [expletive] points?

it's definitely going to be mckenzie Sounds like it.

New GM will have to keep Lovie per Phillips.

Phillips saying it was Lovie's call to fire Martz and that Lovie will be in charge of finding the OC. That's...interesting. Doesn't seem like you can bring in a powerful GM with those parameters.

We suck at it, so we should get better at it because passing well is more conducive to scoring points than running well is.

Why do people keep asking this question? Everybody in the NFL is one season away from potentially being fired. I'm sure the new guy will get a 2-3 year contract, depending on how in demand he is. The Bears job offers a lot of potential. It's one of only 32 OC positions in the NFL, and several of those are OC in name only, since the head coach is the real guy in control. Yes, everyone is 1 season away from being fired, but why go into a situation that looks like only 1 year is the most likely scenario. It's why Bates choose Seattle over the Bears. It's why other OCs weren't jumping at a chance to come here 2 years ago. The only way a new guy comes in, I believe, is if he has a legit shot at being a head coach in the very near future. AKA an experienced OC or a former HC. You only want continuity if the guy is actually good at his job. That's why this Tice promotion talk is madness to me. I doubt he'd be a good play caller. I can't envision a scenario where the new OC comes in, does a good job, and takes over Lovie's job in year 2. If we have a good offense the team will be good overall and Lovie will probably get MORE job security. So if you want a guy to stay on board for a couple years, you look at a guy who has never been a play caller before and needs to prove himself before getting a shot at another HC position. Tom Clements fits the bill. Plus if McKenzie is all tight with Lovie he won't bring in an OC to undermine him.

Pass-happy is good. The Bears had the 9th most rushing attempts in the league. Missing out on another year of Cutler in his prime was no blessing. yes. it is a passing league, what is everyone's fixation with going back to the days of the wing-t? People that keep preaching "it's a passing league" are just as bad as the people who want to run the ball more. You do whatever works best. It's only a passing league if it works. The Bears were a good running team, why take that away? The Bears gave up a ton of sacks the last 2 years, why continue to try and pass? The Bears having the 9th most rushing attempts is a good thing when Forte was 6th in the league in yards per carry for RBs with over 150 carries (2nd for RBs over 200 carries). The Bears having the 9th most passing attempts would be bad if they got sacked once every 7 passes like last year. The Bears don't magically win or lose based on whether they run or pass the ball a certain number of times. Because the Bears being a good running team didn't translate into them being a good overall offense. If they can remain good on a per carry basis and improve the passing game they'll be in business. I don't expect them to go wide open like NE, GB, or NO but they obviously have to get wayyyy more productive in the passing game.

McKenzie/Clements makes a lot of sense. Get somebody Lovie is tight with and have an OC come in who won't immediately have his eyes on a new job because he'll have to prove himself as a play caller first.

Agreed. But it was stupid 2 years ago when Lovie was a lameduck coach and brought in Martz. That was the time to get a long-term OC. That's why I think Tice should get the job. He's a stopgap that doesn't cause any drastic changes. He doesn't make it 6 different offenses in 7 years if another lame duck is brought in. If Lovie stays and an outside OC is brought in, my guess is that means Lovie is here for the long haul, unless that OC is also being earmarked for the HC position in a year. i can't disagree with your logic, and i DO think that lovie deserves more time to prove that he can win a super bowl. i definitely do not want to change up the defense in any way. it's just i think running someone else's offense is weird. where is brad childress these days? Driving around in an unmarked white fan around elementary schools if I had to guess.

Tice has that Flintstonian quality to him that scares me. He's well suited to the job he has now.

Rose seems to have been making a lot more back court to front court passes in order to push the tempo. Sometimes I think he gives it up a bit early but there's definitely been an emphasis on pushing it.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-colts-christensen-likely-oc-candidate-for-bears-20120103,0,2665339.story

The Packers, Saints, and Patriots all invested a top half of the draft pick to get their tight ends. In New England's case, they used two of 'em. Not saying it's vital but it's worth a look. Certainly wouldn't hurt to go from nonexistent production at TE to something approaching league average. We spent 5 years listening to people whine about TE while Desmond Clark was a perfectly average TE because people were obsessed with Gates and Gonzalez. It got annoying. And I can tell it's going to get annoying again. The point is there are MUCH BIGGER fish to fry instead of worrying about filling Ditka's position again. The correlation between having a productive receiving TE and having a high caliber offense has gotten a lot stronger since then. The best offenses are investing in them and featuring them and not using stop gap solutions. We do not have much bigger fish to fry than getting Cutler more viable targets. A tight end COULD be a big part of that.

Considering the best offenses in the league today feature a dynamic TE(i.e. Finley, Graham, Gronkowski) yes, yes we are. GB won the Superbowl without Finley last year, and he only had 750ish yards this year. The Giants, Steelers and Eagles were also top 10 offenses without dynamic TEs. Not sure how you define "dynamic", but Celek and Ballard were both beasts this year. Miller less so, but he's steady/reliable and can hurt you if you vacate the short-middle because you are worried about the Wallace's and Brown's of the world.(see the Eagles game earlier this season). That said, I think Kelen Davis could be a useful target in the right offense. He's not going to line-up in the slot like Finley does, but he's a big target. That said, having a guy like Finley or Vernon Davis creates mismatches in the slot if you put a LB or S on them. They have to be covered in a zone or by a CB. Ballard had 38 catches for 600 yards this year. I don't think that's dynamic. Those are Greg Olsen numbers (with more catches for Olsen). All TEs are mismatches vs. a LB. No LB could stop 6-7 Davis if used properly. But still, that's icing on the cake. The cake is having WRs that can actually get open and make plays. Olsen was never very effective on a per target basis. Blame that on who you will.

The Packers, Saints, and Patriots all invested a top half of the draft pick to get their tight ends. In New England's case, they used two of 'em. Not saying it's vital but it's worth a look. Certainly wouldn't hurt to go from nonexistent production at TE to something approaching league average.

What we need in an OC is another guy whose glory years were in the late 90s. No to Billick.

Why would we get those guys to make lateral moves here? Especially with a new GM and Lovie's status up in the air. Two years ago you couldn't even get position coaches to take the job, which is why they settled on Martz. Carmichael and Clements aren't the play callers. I figured there was no way Norv wouldn't become available but you're right, it's just broke that he somehow has retained his job. Chud is a hot candidate probably will go straight to an HC position. I figured Mohrinweg would become available but Reid saved his job. I've always liked Borges. He runs a pro scheme and has developed QBs.

Oh my god you're right. Hahahah wow

Here's a slapdash list of guys that I'd be interested in looking at for OC: Tom Clements - Green Bay QB Coach Norv Turner Peter Carmichael Jr - Saints OC Rob Chudzinksi - Carolina OC Marty Mohrinweg - Eagles OC, doubtful he comes available looks like Reid is keeping his job Al Borges - Michigan OC Jeremy Bates name was attached to the job the last time around because he worked with Cutler in Denver. He's available but got fired by Seattle so not sure on how how a candidate he will be.

One of the Bears beat writers tweeted something about Ruskell not likely being Angelo's replacement.

But that offense was still 9th in points scored and 15th in total yardage when Cutler was healthy. http://footballoutsiders.com/dvoa-ratings/2011/week-11-dvoa-ratings 22nd in offensive DVOA after the Chargers game. 1st in special teams and 6th in defense. It was still pretty much the same formula we've always had under Lovie.