But the Bears have not improved the roster since.

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At least we made it to the NFC Championship game.

Just kidding. 

The packers raised Papa Bear's trophy in our house. 

Todd Collins had no business being the #2 QB.

Once Hanie came in the only way for us to have won would have been with his arm.  We wasted downs and possessions on running plays for little or nothing.

Urlacher needs to score on the interception, not make a move, but run hard  (He played great and still is phenomenal though). 

Hanie threw it to Forte instead of Hester and Raji picked it off.

We continued to be terrible converting on 3rd downs.

I have always liked Cutler, but I am disappointed.  Lovie was visibly disturbed when he was asked about Cutler during the postgame, making an awkward scratching of the chin gesture...  I am reminded of the rumor that Urlacher's initial reaction to the Bear's signing of Cutler was that Jay was a "pu**y".   

Some really poor officiating.

Going forward:

We do have a bright future.... but:

I say fire Lovie and Jerry Angelo.  If beating the packers is their #1 priority then they have failed rather dramatically. I do like Martz and Tice though.  New head coach... Ditka or Jordan are the best I can come up with right now.

We don't play with pads or live in practice... that is why it takes us awhile to start playing strong...!?!?  This is what I heard and I would really like it explained to me. 

As heartbreaking as this loss is, considering the opponent and how we extended their good fortune earlier,  I expect Lovie not to go anywhere, as he is said to be a favorite of Virginia McCaskey.

Offensive Line, Secondary and WRs are the priorities.  That said, other then Kam Chancellor, the guy I am hoping the Bears target if available in the draft (or even if they have to move up) is Mark Ingram.  Mike Pouncey could play for us...  A QB might not be a bad idea either....

Go Bulls!

We continue to lose in pathetic fashion.  It was unrealistic to expect us to be a consistently fundamentally sound football team, regardless of our early record.  We may have a decent record (4-3), but right now we are not a decent football team.

Going forward we need to get more talent on the defensive line and at LB.  That was a joke.  I think it is obvious that we need several upgrades to the Offensive line in order to run or pass the ball.  It is as if the entire organization was caught by surprise that nobody on our line can block.  They either knew and ignored it or they didnt know, either way the situation is inexcusable. 

I think the JCis great,  but at the same time i think management sucks and that he correctly has no faith in them to put together a winning game plan, let alone both a roster and a game plan that protects the QB.  Sure Cutler is getting paid big money but my impression is that Cutler's main priority is staying alive, not standing in the pocket and likely taking hits...  I've said it before, he does a wimpy little tuck and fall when he feels pressure, pardon the expression but he simply isn't a "balls to the wall" guy (i dont really even understand the expression, but whatever).  Jay is kind of too smart to be that guy for us... i mean seriously 3 guys named Lovie Jerry and Mike come up and tell you to take live snaps behind our "offensive" line... without the big $, do you do it?  Probably not if you value longevity on this earth.

Just to clarify i do not know JC so all of this is speculation, but  in a nut shell it never occurred to anybody before this season that our offensive line needs to be addressed.  I knew, the Madden video game knew, most of you knew, Jay Cutler knew, but Bears management did nothing to address the issue of our offense being terrible.  We did sign Chester Taylor and Brandon Manumaleuna though.  Seriously, that was their answer to last year's offensive woes. 

Joke is on us Bears fans. I am not frustrated that we stink, I am used to that, but it is really starting to aggravate me  that nothing changes.  It is what it is... until it isn't.

4 and 0 would have been nice. But 3 and 0 was improbable enough on its own.

Our Offensive Line is in total chaos, in case you didn't know.  I can't imagine the Giants' pass rushers are that much better then the Packers... This OL unit just does not have NFL caliber talent.  Logan Mankins' name is hot in the streets right now, but any move for a quality OL needs to be explored.  Maybe use Tommie Harris and/or a 2nd rounder

Jay got knocked out.  We have no backup(s).  Hate to hate, but Jay not only holds the ball, he also does a strange preemptive tuck and holds the ball in anticipation of getting hit.  Not only does he look funny, especially when the hit is late and he peeks back up to see what is going on, but he does not stand tall in the pocket like an elite QB.  Typing that makes me think that maybe we could move him around on roll outs to limit sacks/pressure.

The inability or refusal to throw short routes and/or screen passes is absurd.  No check downs, no short routes to Hester or Knox, just Jay holding the ball and waiting to get hit.  Truth is Jay looked off even before the game started.  I know people talk a lot about his affect and speculate on what he is thinking, all I am saying is that he did not seem as focused or sharp as he  usually does.   I think he had the concussion before the game even started.

Our D was bound to fall apart without getting any help from the offense.

Can Tommie Harris play OLine?

Martz and Tice have their work cut out for them.  But if nobody on the OL can win a 1 on 1 matchup there isn't much scheming for a coach to do, aside from telling management to make a trade for an OLineman.

Big Picture: I look at this as a loss on the road.  Gonna happen, you just hope the star QB survives.  Shocker alert- we play much better at home then on the road.  While that is true for most I feel like our effort was poor, lethargic, lacked urgency... that is an easy way to get your QB hurt and a big fat LOSS. 

Why it took so long to get coordinators with previous NFL coordinating experience is still a mystery.  Luckily the Chicago Bears now have an abundance of former Head Coaches on the sideline.  Rod Marinelli is the Bears DC, Mike Martz is the OC and Mike Tice is the OLine coach.  

On Sunday against the Cowboys the Bears offensive llne was an unmitigated disaster on our first several possessions.  As a Bears fan, I wasn't surprised.  But there was a palpable moment when Tice and Martz were called upon to do exactly what they were brought here to do, use their knowledge of X's and O's  to counter quality NFL defenses with let's face (can't ignore it!) it inferior talent on the OLine.   They did so in impressive fashion we won the game, and Jay Cutler survived what initially looked like a perilous day.

Sure the 2-0 start makes it easy to say this, but this new confidence in the Bears coaching staff has me seeing this team as one with potential once again.  This coming Monday night against the Packers is going to be awesome.  I  expect good things.  

Remember how bad we were last year.  I really like Julius Peppers, but at no point did I think that if only we had a better defensive end we wouldn't be such a pitiful team.  To me it was obvious we were bad for several reasons.  Top amongst those were a bad offensive line, bad receivers and a bad secondary.  The only roster moves made to address those issues were the acquisition of Chris Harris and the drafting of Major Wright, which were good moves but hard to get too excited about. 

So to sum it up we still don't have decent blockers and even though our pass catchers have a glint of potential, they still are not very good at pass catching.

Sure we hired some more experienced coaches, but left them the same junk to work with.  It is like revamping the cooking staff but refusing to change the menu.  Put Wolfgang Puck in a McDonald's kitchen and the best you are going to get is a really good chicken McNugget.  So we are trying to perfect the chicken McNugget while other teams are deciding what temperature they want to cook their filet mignon.  This will not end well.

I hope I am wrong and that I have to eat my words (I am clearly hungry), but I see us losing to the Lions on opening day and when we play them later in the season.  Yup we will lose to the Lions both times we play them.  I don't see us finishing any better then last in the NFC North.

I am excited for the start of the season, but my enthusiasm is tempered by the fact that once again the Chicago Bears are not very good.

(Side note:  tackle first, then call yourselves the Monsters of the Midway)

update:

I will take the win, butt that was ugly.  Other then the scoreboard, it still feels like a loss.

The Chicago Bears are  defensive football team.  I really don't understand all the whining that we didn't focus on OL.  We could not stop people last year.  Good passing teams tore us apart.  WRs around the league were laughing at us.  Say what you want, but correcting that is our number one priority.  We need the guys that we got.  I love the picks of Wright and Wooton because they fit needs in our vaunted Tampa 2 defensive scheme. And while I am fuzzy on Joshua Moore, our secondary has long been our weakest link (pre-Jay QB era forgotten).

"Who would not consider Alan Faneca if you had a need at the offensive line?" Angelo said Saturday.  Unfortunately I'm pretty sure JA doesn't feel OL is a need.  Kind of like his approach to our WRs.  Another hunch o'mine is that Martz and Tice are comfortable with what they have.  Just having those guys around adds more professionalism to the offensive coaching staff then we have had in a long time.  Personally I would rather pursue a a defensive tackle to play in the middle next to Tommie Harris to replace Anthony Adams and/or Marcus Harrison instead of a Guard that eventually loses the battle to Beekman and/or Garza.  

I do believe Hunter Hillenmeyer is on the trading block.  Not sure for what, maybe OLine help is on the way afterall.

Sure there were press conferences and the like, but you're telling me it wasn't until now that the Bears caught on to the fact that they were a bad football team, desperate?  For a long time the stories wafting from Halas Hall did not pass the smell or the laugh test.  

As a Bears fan I am thrilled with their moves in free agency, so far.  Nonetheless, I do not think the Bears finally decided to make moves worthy of a premier NFL franchise because they finally saw the light.  While I am not privileged as to the inner workings of Halas Hall (shocking isn't it?!), I think it was the presence of Mike Martz and Mike Tice that guided the Bears away from pseudo-shrewd business decisions and towards making moves more likely to win football games.

NOTE:  One may say "the desperation led them to bring in these better football minds".  Maybe so, but the question still remains why it took so long to take such obvious NFL franchise baby steps in the right direction? 

Darren Sharper was too old for the Bears to consider!??!   I found out last week that it only takes one percocet for the Bears to be playing on a different channel.  They were losing, but at least they were in the playoffs.   

My picks for Saturday are NO and INDY.  For Sunday I pick the Minn and SD.  Did y'all know that when you publish a Fan Post it gives you the ability to edit it (picks) at a later date?  I really like that feature.     : P

No 1st or 2nd round picks and a notoriously cheap front office even though the organization is worth over $1 BILLION, so I don't expect much.  I can only look ahead at this offseason and possible free agents and say what I would do (and wish the front office would do).

Free Agents:

WR   Brandon Marshal

LG    Logan Mankins

FS    Antoine Bethea

Rookies/Draft:

FS Kam Chancellor from Virginia Tech (6'3  224). I'd even trade up to get this guy as he is projected to go in the 3rd round (maybe Jamar Williams and a 3rd or 4th rounder?)

SS Justin Woodall from Alabama  (6'1 220)  projected to go 5th or 6th round.

That is what I'd do.  What would you do?

The notion that the Bears make decisions for reasons other than winning football games has been a recurring theme of mine...  well this little nugget from Melissa Isaacson's "How a Bears Coach gets fired" has the hamster in my head spinning the wheel in overdrive:

"In contrast, Wannstedt's firing was said to be extremely hard for the McCaskeys -- particularly for family matriarch, Virginia -- in part because Wannstedt shared similar religious and moral beliefs, and it could very well be similarly difficult with Smith."

Clearly if we all just prayed a little bit harder the Bears might magically turn back into a respectable franchise.

The point and the season are moot....  While I am not an expert on quarterback mechanics,  the word stuck in my head after this loss that nobody has muttered is "arc":

In Jay's highlights from Denver and watching clips of deep passes around the league, it is obvious that arc is fundamental to the successful of deep pass plays.  The potential TD passes Cutler "just missed on" had little to no arc.  Due to pressure, Cutler was forced to lob his pass to Kellen Davis in the 3rd quarter and it was a TD.  It is easy to understand Cutler's hesitance to put more air under the ball as it gives DBs more of a chance to make plays on the ball than his strong arm and laser passes usually allow.  I think the main reason for this is a feeling (problem legitimate) that he needs to put the ball in the perfect spot on each throw.  That can be translated another way to reflect the inability of our receivers to go up and make plays on the ball while in the air, forcing Jay to zip it in there. We have the QB for it and fast enough receivers to have an effective deep passing game.  While Hester and Knox aren't likely to win fights for the ball in the air, with a little bit of arc on deep throws those 2 will get there. 

There is little to salvage from this season other than developing chemistry on offense.  Right now everybody knows the ball is going to Olsen in the crunchtime.  Hopefully by season's end Cutler can feels comfortable with all his weapons.  Personally I thought we would have at least attempted more deep pass plays during games so far, not only to stretch defenses, but also and now more importantly to get much needed in game experience/comfort. 

Couple of things about a couple of things:  That reverse play that the Eagles run every week with great success... um let's give Hester or Knox a try.  Near the end, 3rd and short Eagles blitzed heavy on the right side, JC passed quick incompletion to Bennett, I thought Forte was open.  I general I think maybe 1/3 of the run plays called on 1st down should have been screen plays.  I'll like Khalil Bell more when he scores, but Knox was awesome on that long run play.  Asante's block on Brown and Harris on his own TD play was impressive.    

The worst thing about the Bears' current woes is that I am no longer able to feign surprise.  Jerry Angelo was brought in specifically because of his success with Tampa Bay.  He has done what he was paid to do.  The Bears are now remarkably similar to Angelo's Buccaneers team(s).  That success came in spite of possibly one of the worst offenses ever for a Super Bowl victor.  Hiring him was a validation of the philosophy that success in the NFL can be had without investing in the offensive side of the ball.  Angelo was so validated that he did not even bother to bring in an offensive mind as good as or better than Gruden this time around, no need to open the door to possible dissent from offensive minded coaches.  The ineptitude of the offense in the wake of JC's arrival and the defenses' inability to stop anybody anymore illustrates how detrimental Angelo's master plan has been to the Bears.

So basically, Jerry Angelo is exactly who everybody knew him to be and the Bears are exactly what he designed them to be.  [can also read : Congratulations! We are now the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.]

Before the trade for Cutler the big debate was whether or not to draft a WR or OL with the #18 pick. Sure getting Jay was nice and all, but aside from Jay the organization has done nothing to improve itself. We are still in virtually the same position we were before the trade, only with more holes and less opportunities to improve (ie no draft picks).

I like Jay, but the notion that we don't need actual receivers (any receiver will do at this point) because Jay will make our crap ones into gold needs to be retired. A guy who can catch will help a bad QB more than a QB who can throw will help a guy who cannot catch. Brandon Marshall alone has made neckbeard look good.

For years management has focused on defense in the draft. Not only is it now becoming apparent they didn't even do that well as this D is turrible, but also the neglect and/or ineptitude the front office has shown in acquiring skill/position players continues to haunt. Maybe a healthy #54 would have made the D so good that the team could overcome the absence of a solid receiver and/or a lineman who can block... Jay or no Jay this team is basically the '05 squad with bad replacements for anybody who has left since then and no fresh talent to offset aging.