The answer is that they have all had Ron Turner as their Offensive Coordinator while playing for the Bears.  Jay Cutler was putting up pro bowl numbers in Denver before he came to Chicago and now all of a sudden he is throwing up five picks in a game just like Grossman and Orton did while Ron Turner was their OC.  I don't think that there is any coincidence.  Kyle Orton, although not necessarily convincingly, is producing great numbers in Denver, while a pro bowl quarterback is producing numbers just like Grossman and Orton did during their stays in Chicago.  I would also be willing to bet that if Grossman gets a chance in Houston, he will end up producing good numbers as well. 

Unlike most of the sportscasters out there, I personally am not blaming the WR's or offensive line for Cutler's problems (although they aren't necessarily helping him either), I am saying that Ron Turner is to blame.  In the entire time that Ron Turner has been the offensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears, the Bears offense has been mediocre at best and I am including the 2006 superbowl year as well as his first stint as Offensive Coordinator.  If it weren't for defense and Devin Hester, the 2006 team wouldn't have been alowed anywhere near the stadium the superbowl was played in, much less the game itself. 

Sorry, I got sidetracked for a minute, but what I am saying is that most of us including myself at one point or another has said, "Well if we just had a good QB then we would be alright".  Well we now have a young pro bowl QB and it is not alright, so when you put 2 and 2 together, you find the common denominator.........Ron Turner.  I found a site while trying to find ammunition for this rant that is called fireronturner.net and I think it's great, however, I am wondering if WCG or another die hard bear fan with more time than myself can put a petition together to send to the McCaskey's to fire Ron Turner.  I heard that the Kansas City Chief fans put together a petition so that Larry Johnson wouldn't break Priest Holmes' franchise record so why can't us Bears fans put together a petition to fire Ron Turner.  I am not saying that the petition is the reason that Kansas City let LJ go, however, it is pretty ironic don't you think. 

I don't know who the Bears should hire to replace him, but I personally wouldn't mind having Mike Martz come in.  Obvioulsy he appears to be an asshole and is a horrible head coach, but nobody can deny his ability to turn bad offenses into powerhouses.  Nobody can deny the fact that he can take mediocre QB's and WR's and make them into statistical beasts.  Look at Marc Bulger, Jon Kitna, Mike Furrey, Shaun McDonald, Josh Morgan, and Kurt Warner (although Kurt has mainted elite QB status, but was an unknown until Martz), and Torry Holt (who was drafted the year Martz was OC, then had five out of seven pro bowl years under Martz), etc. 

Imagine what he could do with a pro bowl caliber QB instead of an unknown or career backup, a WR that could be the best slot receiver in the league instead of a number one receiver, a great running back that can catch (just like Marshall Faulk), and a WR that was the SEC's all time leading WR that is about to enter his third year next year. 

What I am saying is that the Bears have a lot of pieces in place on offense they just need the right OC to utilize their talents, and it is up to us Bears fans to have our voices heard.  We should all pull together to get Ron Turner fired because no matter who he has at QB, WR, RB, or TE he just doesn't get the job done, and if he had a real job he would have been fired a long time ago for lack of productivity. 

Well fellas there is another free agent WR out there now since he was cut by the 49ers, just wondering if any of you are interested in the bears taking a look at him.  I think they should bring him in and give him a chance personally.  I don't think there are any WR's out there that could be successful with the 49ers, so maybe he wouldn't be all that bad.  I don't know.  I am just looking for anything to post about since free agency has slowed down now and the bears aren't doing too much for us fans to talk about.  Plus, since the bears apparently are in the mood to save money, I think that he would come pretty cheap, maybe he would take a one year deal or something.  Obviously though it doesn't matter how many good or bad receivers the bears bring in until they fix the O-line and RB situation, but at least WR would be one less thing the bears have to worry about drafting on the first day.

Ok, so now that I have your attention I would like to address a number of issues that most of us bears fans are talking about....  

Berrian is not worth that much, even if we don't have a clear-cut number one receiver!!!  I have said it before and I will say it again.....Berrian isn't worth top five money.  I can name at least 10 other wide receivers that are better than he is.  Randy Moss, Chad Johnson, Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison, Tory Holt, Anquan Boldin, Larry Fizgerald, T.J. Houshmanzadeh, Roy Williams, Steve Smith, Hines Ward, Andre Johnson, Terrell Ownes, Marques Colston, Donald Driver, Santana Moss, Lee Evans, Derrick Mason, Wes Welker, etc.  Ok, well that is 19 that I can think of just off the top of my head which proves my point even further, (and they aren't in any particular order) and how many of those are making top five money?????  Oh, maybe the top five!!!  Just the idea of giving berrian the average of the top 5 money is a ridiculous thought!!!  If the bears are looking to give any receiver top five money the receiver should at least be within the top 15.  Let him GO!!!  Use all the money that the bears are under the cap to trade for a top 5 or 10 receiver, at least they would be worth the money.  See, when the bears used the tag on Briggs that was understandable because he was at least a top 10 linebacker, but Berrian isn't even close.  Just look at the numbers and the money and if you all don't see it, then you are crazy.  If you all are looking for a solution to this issue than I have a couple of them.  Sign Marty Booker back!!!  He was only traded because the bears had a more pressing need for a pass rusher, but Marty was the best receiver the bears have had in the last ten years and and I hope that someone disagrees with me on this one.  The bears could pick up Donte Stallworth along with Booker and the combination of the two would cost less than the combination of Muhammed (who has been released obviously) and Berrian with the franchise tag would cost.

Michael Turner......
He's just like Matt Shaub was last year....a backup to a great player, who showed promise in the preseason and some regular season games when the starter was injured or in Turners' case when the score was out of reach for the opponent.  I don't see anybody jumping up and down for Todd Collins (who stepped in and won some critical games for the Redskins to get them into the playoffs).  All of you basically want Michael Turner, just like the Texans wanted Matt Shaub, but the cost is just too high for a player that hasn't proved anything yet, just like 1st round draft pics.  Michael Turner could turn out just like Benson has or like Shaub did in Houston last year, but yet all of you want to pay him like he's done something.  He hasn't done anything!!!!  Now, instead of paying big money for a guy that hasn't proved anything, why don't the bears give up the first round pick to get a guy that is a PROVEN stud.

The QB situation..........
Kyle Orton has not been given a fair shot!!!  He came in as a rookie and won 10 games, AS A ROOKIE.  As all of us know, it was mostly the defense, special teams, and a conservative offense that caused that success?? However, wasn't that the case with Grossman's success and non-success as well???  Don't get me wrong, I like Rex as a person and as a professional athlete, but as a starting QB, not so much.  I know most of us agree on this, but my main complaint is that Kyle Orton hasn't been given nearly as much of a chance as Rex has.  Obviously Kyle had problems as a rookie, but yet again, he was a ROOKIE QB.  Let's look at what he did as a rookie...
Led Bears to division title by starting 15 games as a rookie while helping Chicago to a 10-5 record in those contests... Set Bears rookie records with 15 starts, 10 wins, 368 pass attempts, 190 completions, 1,869 yards and 9 TD passes (tie)... First Bears QB to start more than 13 games in a season since Erik Kramer started all 16 in 1995... Started Games 1-14, 16; DNP in Game 15 and in Divisional Playoff... Completed 15-of-29 passes for 145 yards with 1 TD vs. BALT (10/23) to earn Diet Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week honors.
Now...that was as a rookie who was drafted in the 4th round.  Bottom Line is that Kyle Orton is costing a lot less money and was not given the same gameplan/opportunities that Grossman and Griese were given this year, so his stats weren't nearly as padded as Grossman and Griese's were.  However.....the bears won 2 out of 3 of those games and in the games they won they were winning almost the entire time so Orton didn't get the chance to showcase his talents.  Now, if you want to be critical of Orton, in the game that the bears lost Orton threw for 184 yds. and an INT.  Now, the INT came on a last quarter 2 minute drive when the bears were already losing, but Orton completed 22/38 passes and that was his first game starting since 2005.  In his second game, he still wasn't given the chance to throw the ball because the bears killed the Packers 35-7.  Orton completed 9 of 15 passes for 104 yds.  Now, here's my question...if you know you can't make the playoffs, why don't you let a guy that you aren't sure that can be your long term starter throw the ball???  The win at that point didn't matter since you did't make the playoffs, but I understand the pride factor, but at that point shouldn't you see what you have for the future, especially at the QB position?  My point is that they should have given Orton the chance to shine and all they did was allow him to manage the game, like they did his rookie year.  NOW, the positive of the last 3 games of the season was that Orton can MANAGE the game in order to WIN, but they didn't give him the same option they gave Grossman and Griese to go out and CONTROL the game.  My final point is that the bears should give Orton the same opportunity to succeed as they have with Grossman, but they should also realize that Orton is a big boy (6ft 4 in and 217 pounds) who hasn't been as injury prone as Grossman has, a chance to be their starter.  I have agreed with getting rid of Griese, but, every team should have a veteran number 2 just in case your number 1 get's injured, just look at the Redskins who beat us with Todd Collins.  Bottom line is that the bears should let Orton be the starter and keep Griese as the veteran backup, let Grossman go to free agency, and then draft a QB with the first or second pick of the 3rd round that the bears have, obviously depending on the draft value.

Jerry Angelo.....
Now, last year forbes magazine named Jerry Angelo the 8th best GM in ALL of sports.  I tend to agree and disagree.  I think he has done a great job since he has been the GM for the bears, but I also think he can do better.  The question I have is....Will the bears front office let him spend the money it takes to build a championship team?
I tend to think not and there are a number of reasons why I think so, but I just don't feel like proving it at this time.  I will say though that I have questioned a lot of the transactions that the bears have made over the years, it does seem like Jerry is trying to do his best, with the money that the organization gives him, to build a winning team.  With that being said, it seems as if the team owners aren't involved with the team and also aren't willing to part ways with some cash to obtain players that are top notch athletes in the early part of their careers (well, as far as free agency and trades are concerned).  When was the last time the bears traded for a superstar that was in there prime???  The fact of the matter is that the bears wait until prime time players are almost at the end of their careers to get them into chicago.  Ex.  Mushin Muhammad 32, Fred Miller 32 Ruben Brown 34.

The Draft........
I say get rid of the first round pick completely to get either a proven player or a bunch more draft picks.  The fact of the matter is that the players drafted in the first round cost a whole lot of money, and haven't proven anything (on the professional level) yet.  The bears seem to do horrible on first rounders, with the exception of Urlacher and Harris, and Olson because he was basically given to them.  The bears are known to do better in the later rounds as far as picking talent is concerned, so why don't they give up the first round pick to get experienced proven players?  That is about the only thing I can question Jerry Angelo on, other than letting Thomas Jones go.  Although I will acknowledge that Jerry did use the higher second round pick for Jones to obtain 4 other picks from the Chargers.  My final thought is that Jerry Angelo seems to be making the moves that a lot of us have blogged about as far as releasing players, but some of you think he should use the extra money to get free agents that are nearing their final years and/or not proven themselves to be top notch players in this league.  I say use the extra money and the first round pick to trade for a top notch player in their prime!!!  Whether it be a disgruntled wide receiver like Chad Johnson or a RB like Steven Jackson who the team doesn't want to let go, but might be willing to for a price.  The NFL is all about dollars and cents, and if you are willing to pay for it (and the bears usually aren't) then you can have it.    

As a bears fan my entire life I have to ask this question, even though I hate what it means per se`???  Should the bears go into re-building mode?  I unfortunately... think yes.  We went to the superbowl over a year ago now, and then had the usual superbowl loser downfall.  I know this is really depressing, but..........we don't have a clear-cut quarterback (and for the record, I don't think that Orton had his fair chance down the stretch, like grossman and griese did)...just look at the passing stats....passing attempts is mostly what I am talking about).  We don't have a running game, which most bears fans like myself is what we come to expect from a tema that "comes off the bus runing", and we have a deteriorating offensive line......which in my opinion is the most important part of a decent offense.  So, I have to ask the true football fans (not just us die hard bears fans), what should the bears do???  I have my own opinions, which I personally think would do the trick, such as bringing in one of the best receivers out there like I don't know.......Chad Johnson and getting rid of some of the veterans that are costing the team a lot of money for non-performance.  I am talking about players like......Moose, Adam Archuleta, Fred Miller, Brian Griese, and worst, but not least Cedric Benson and his contract hold out/non-top five performing @ss, who bye the way drove out Thomas Jones.  Other players that I feel can go because they are going to want money that they may or may not deserve, but won't bring a championship regardless are........Lance Briggs and Bernard Berrian.
I am not saying that free agency is the answer that us bears fans are looking for, but I do think that there needs to be a shake-up, unfortunately for us bears fans, the McCaskeys, won't put out the money that us bears fans have paid for years to win another championship!!!