- Joined:
- Dec 12, 2011
- Posts:
- 30,816
- Liked Posts:
- 35,721
@BradBiggs: Reality is it was going to take a perfect storm for #Bears to be serious contender this season. http://t.co/okcfACIbHK
It's hard to find rosy scenarios for Bears
Facebook
Twitter
By Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune reporter
5:13 pm, October 26, 2013
A collapse was coming for the Bears. It was only a matter of when.
That is what happens when there is a faulty foundation, something Phil Emery inherited when he was hired as general manager in 2012. The hope was pairing coach Marc Trestman with quarterback Jay Cutler would buy enough time to cover up some of the deficiencies and fill some of the spreading cracks.
Now Cutler is expected to miss at least a month, and linebacker Lance Briggs figures to be out six weeks, casting a shadow over Halas Hall shortly after the Trestman era began with three consecutive victories. At 4-3, the Bears still would be feeling pretty good about a second-half run if not for serious injuries to the best players on each side of the ball.
Without Cutler, it's going to be challenging to remain in games with the window of opportunity for a once-great defense closing. It's not creaking shut. The frame is slamming and glass is shattering. A defense that has bristled at the talk of age for two or three years no longer can hide it.
Perhaps some dedicated practice time in Trestman's offense will help 34-year-old Josh McCown keep the offense humming after scoring 24 points in the second half of last week's loss to the Redskins. But the Redskins and their porous defense are not on the schedule again, and opponents are going to plan differently for McCown.
The reality is it was going to take a perfect storm for the Bears to be serious contenders this season. Who knows? Maybe McCown thrives until Cutler returns and the defense somehow gets off what is a staggering pace for points and yards allowed.
At this rate, the defense will allow 471 points (club record is 421 in 1997) and 6,256 yards (club record is 5,729 in 1989). But does anyone really believe a defense that is halfway to being historically bad is going to pull out of a nose dive, especially with Briggs missing?
A pair of victories over the struggling Vikings and Steelers after the season-opening upset of the Bengals created hope. But Emery had to know long ago — well before firing Lovie Smith and replacing him with Trestman — that this coming offseason would be his most challenging. Yes, there will be more obstacles than changing the head coach. Heavy lifting lies ahead.
Only 10 players remain on the roster from the 2006-11 Jerry Angelo drafts, and injured defensive tackle Henry Melton is one. Only five currently are starting — running back Matt Forte, defensive linemen Stephen Paea and Corey Wootton and struggling safeties Major Wright and Chris Conte.
Just like ignoring the offensive line in the draft from 2003-07 caught up with the Bears when Chris Williams and Gabe Carimi proved to be busts, a slew of unproductive drafts now is challenging the organization, particularly the defense. The Bears didn't get away from these issues when Emery replaced Angelo, they only adopted a new plan to recover from a series of errors and missteps.
Twenty-nine players are coming out of contracts after this season. Right now, Wootton might be the only one on a rookie deal that the Bears really want back, and he's a complementary producer. The process of revamping an aging defense began this year as linebackers Jon Bostic and Khaseem Greene were drafted. Both could start Nov. 4 against the Packers. An overhaul is ahead for the line and the secondary. We're talking about Extreme Makeover, Halas Hall edition.
That is why it is a bad idea right now for Emery to consider dealing anything close to a middle-round draft pick before the 3 p.m. Tuesday trade deadline. He has reshaped the offensive line and added playmakers in two offseasons, and he's going to need all the resources available to have a shot at finishing the job for 2014. That might be a tall order.
The onus is going to be on Emery to come up with difference-makers. He needs to turn more draft picks into players like Kyle Long and Alshon Jeffery. This season is far from over. The division race and wild-card hunt will be compelling, and no one is saying the Bears are out of it. In these nine games, Emery can focus specifically on what he wants to do with the impending free agents and sharpen a list of needs vs. one of wants.
The loss of Cutler and Briggs doesn't signal the end for 2013, but weaknesses are getting hard to hide. A good quarterback can make up for a lot of shortcomings, but a long stretch of bad drafts eventually catches up to every franchise.
It's hard to find rosy scenarios for Bears
By Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune reporter
5:13 pm, October 26, 2013
A collapse was coming for the Bears. It was only a matter of when.
That is what happens when there is a faulty foundation, something Phil Emery inherited when he was hired as general manager in 2012. The hope was pairing coach Marc Trestman with quarterback Jay Cutler would buy enough time to cover up some of the deficiencies and fill some of the spreading cracks.
Now Cutler is expected to miss at least a month, and linebacker Lance Briggs figures to be out six weeks, casting a shadow over Halas Hall shortly after the Trestman era began with three consecutive victories. At 4-3, the Bears still would be feeling pretty good about a second-half run if not for serious injuries to the best players on each side of the ball.
Without Cutler, it's going to be challenging to remain in games with the window of opportunity for a once-great defense closing. It's not creaking shut. The frame is slamming and glass is shattering. A defense that has bristled at the talk of age for two or three years no longer can hide it.
Perhaps some dedicated practice time in Trestman's offense will help 34-year-old Josh McCown keep the offense humming after scoring 24 points in the second half of last week's loss to the Redskins. But the Redskins and their porous defense are not on the schedule again, and opponents are going to plan differently for McCown.
The reality is it was going to take a perfect storm for the Bears to be serious contenders this season. Who knows? Maybe McCown thrives until Cutler returns and the defense somehow gets off what is a staggering pace for points and yards allowed.
At this rate, the defense will allow 471 points (club record is 421 in 1997) and 6,256 yards (club record is 5,729 in 1989). But does anyone really believe a defense that is halfway to being historically bad is going to pull out of a nose dive, especially with Briggs missing?
A pair of victories over the struggling Vikings and Steelers after the season-opening upset of the Bengals created hope. But Emery had to know long ago — well before firing Lovie Smith and replacing him with Trestman — that this coming offseason would be his most challenging. Yes, there will be more obstacles than changing the head coach. Heavy lifting lies ahead.
Only 10 players remain on the roster from the 2006-11 Jerry Angelo drafts, and injured defensive tackle Henry Melton is one. Only five currently are starting — running back Matt Forte, defensive linemen Stephen Paea and Corey Wootton and struggling safeties Major Wright and Chris Conte.
Just like ignoring the offensive line in the draft from 2003-07 caught up with the Bears when Chris Williams and Gabe Carimi proved to be busts, a slew of unproductive drafts now is challenging the organization, particularly the defense. The Bears didn't get away from these issues when Emery replaced Angelo, they only adopted a new plan to recover from a series of errors and missteps.
Twenty-nine players are coming out of contracts after this season. Right now, Wootton might be the only one on a rookie deal that the Bears really want back, and he's a complementary producer. The process of revamping an aging defense began this year as linebackers Jon Bostic and Khaseem Greene were drafted. Both could start Nov. 4 against the Packers. An overhaul is ahead for the line and the secondary. We're talking about Extreme Makeover, Halas Hall edition.
That is why it is a bad idea right now for Emery to consider dealing anything close to a middle-round draft pick before the 3 p.m. Tuesday trade deadline. He has reshaped the offensive line and added playmakers in two offseasons, and he's going to need all the resources available to have a shot at finishing the job for 2014. That might be a tall order.
The onus is going to be on Emery to come up with difference-makers. He needs to turn more draft picks into players like Kyle Long and Alshon Jeffery. This season is far from over. The division race and wild-card hunt will be compelling, and no one is saying the Bears are out of it. In these nine games, Emery can focus specifically on what he wants to do with the impending free agents and sharpen a list of needs vs. one of wants.
The loss of Cutler and Briggs doesn't signal the end for 2013, but weaknesses are getting hard to hide. A good quarterback can make up for a lot of shortcomings, but a long stretch of bad drafts eventually catches up to every franchise.