Tag: Chicago Bears (Page 12 of 49)

      Should the Bears extend Lovie Smith’s contract?

      January 19, 2011 /
      Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith watches his team play the New England Patriots during the second quarter at Soldier Field in Chicago on December 12, 2010. UPI/Brian Kersey

      If Bear fans were presented with this question before the season started, half of them would have probably said that Lovie Smith would have to win the Super Bowl this year and the other half would have given an empathetic: “No.”

      If the hated Packers wax the Bears this Sunday at Solider Field, it stands to reason that Chicago fans will return to the same mindset they had before the season and wish Smith the best as he heads out the door. But what if the Bears win? Then what? Even if they lose to the Steelers or Jets in the Super Bowl, Smith would be responsible for taking the Bears to the title game twice in the past five years. Doesn’t he deserve a contract extension because of that?

      Smith has one more year left on his current deal and at least one of his players thinks that he deserves an extension (from ESPN.com):

      “I believe he has done a great job here. He’s the reason we’ve won,” [Brian] Urlacher said Wednesday on “Mike & Mike In The Morning” on ESPN Radio. “I think he’s been here seven years and this is our second NFC Championship [Game], and it hasn’t been that way around here in a long time. There were a few years where we were 7-9, 8-8 and that was good. People were excited about that because it meant we were getting better.

      “Now if we’re not in the playoffs or the NFC championship people are disappointed, and that’s because of him. That’s how he makes people believe around here, and that’s what he expects out of us. I believe in him. I don’t see why he wouldn’t get an extension. He’s earned it, and I don’t want to play for any other coach.”

      Urlacher makes a fair point but fans aren’t going to forget how Smith has struggled with game preparation and in-game management over the years. Good coaches put game plans together that take advantage of their opposition’s weaknesses throughout the course of a game. The better ones are not only good game-planners, but they make solid halftime adjustments to win in the second half.

      The best head coaches, guys like Bill Belichick, Sean Payton and even Rex Ryan from a defensive standpoint, can make adjustments on the fly. They don’t stray from their game plan, but they can attack opponents series-to-series and strike when the iron’s hot. Whether fans like to admit it, Smith can put together a good game plan more times than not. But he doesn’t always make sound halftime adjustments and he rarely makes in-game adjustments to attack his opponent when they’re not looking.

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      External Sports, NFL

      Cutler lifts Bears to Divisional win over Seahawks, sets up rematch with Packers

      January 16, 2011 /
      Chicago Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler celebrates after his touchdown pass to teammate Kellen Davis in the fourth quarter of play against the Seattle Seahawks during their NFC Divisional NFL playoff football game in Chicago, January 16, 2011. REUTERS/Frank Polich (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      Here are five thoughts on the Bears’ impressive 35-24 victory over the Seahawks in the Divisional Round on Sunday.

      1. What inexperience?
      Jay Cutler did Sunday what Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan couldn’t this weekend: Elevate his game when it mattered most. For all the talk about his lack of postseason experience, Cutler played like a 10-year playoff veteran on Sunday. He set the tone early with a picture-perfect 58-yard touchdown pass to Greg Olsen on the Bears’ third offensive play from scrimmage and then showed pure grit and determination on his 6-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. On the day, he was 15-of-28 passing for 274 yards with four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing) and zero interceptions (although he came close to throwing a couple of picks, including one at the goal line). Cutler has really put a lot of his past troubles behind him and deserves praise for his unflappable play on Sunday. He was highly impressive.

      2. Cutler also got a lot of help from his offensive line.
      The Bears’ O-line has taken a lot of heat for its play over the last couple of years, and deservedly so. But they’ve been a transformed unit since midway through the season and a lot of credit goes to Mike Tice and Lovie Smith for moving guys around to better match their strengths (and quite frankly, hide their weaknesses, too). Cutler was excellent but he also had plenty of time to survey the field and pick apart Seattle’s overmatched secondary. His front five did an outstanding job swallowing the Seahawks’ pass-rushers and keeping them out of the backfield.

      3. That’s Bear defense right there.
      The final score doesn’t do the Bears justice. Their defense played out of its mind for three quarters and that’s about as aggressive as I’ve seen Chicago’s secondary play all season. Unlike other teams who like to play their corners 10 yards off the ball and give opponents easy yards via slants and screens, the Bears’ DBs suffocated Seattle’s wideouts all afternoon. Granted, nobody outside of Brandon Stokley fought back, but credit still goes to the Bears’ corners for bringing the fight to them right from the start. Once again, Julius Peppers failed to record a sack but he got pressure on Hasselbeck all day. You have to focus on him to really appreciate what he does for that defense. He helped paved the way for fellow linemen like Tommie Harris, who did rack up two sacks. Without a doubt, J-Pepp was worth the money the Bears spent this offseason.

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      External Sports, NFL

      Five Questions: Seahawks vs. Bears

      January 13, 2011 /
      Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler stands on the field before game against the Washington Redskins at Soldier Field in Chicago on October 24, 2010. UPI/Brian Kersey

      Matchup: Seahawks (8-9) @ Bears (11-5)
      Kickoff: 1:00PM ET, Sunday

      1. Will inconsistency doom the Seahawks again?
      There have been seven separate occasions this year when the Seahawks have played at home and then gone on the road the following week. In those seven games, they went 0-7 and lost by an average margin of 23.6 points. Last week the Hawks played at home and pulled off the upset of the year by knocking off the defending champs. But they won’t have home field advantage or the element of surprise this week when they travel to Solider Field. Can Seattle finally put together back-to-back solid performances and pull off another upset? Or will their issues with consistency burn them again?

      2. How will Cutler play in his first-ever postseason game?
      The Seahawks do have one distinct advantage over the Bears this weekend, which is that their quarterback has postseason experience and Chicago’s doesn’t. Matt Hasselbeck has played in a Super Bowl. Before this season, Jay Cutler never had a winning seasons at either the college or pro level. Will his lack of inexperience cost the Bears this Sunday or will he rise to the challenge like he did against the Eagles and Jets earlier this year? Seattle ranks 29th in total defense and 30th against the pass. This is a unit that Cutler has to torch. He can’t throw three interceptions and have Devin Hester and his defense bail him out. He’s had a great season but now is the time to elevate his game.

      3. Will the Seahawks kick to Hester?
      The answer to this question should be no, but sometimes special teams coaches and punters think that they’re smarter than everyone and kick to him anyway. If he gets an opportunity to return a punt, it’s not a question of “if” he’ll put the Bears in good field position but, “at what yard line are the Bears going to start in their opponent’s territory?” Brian Schneider has a tough job this week in trying to figure out a way to neutralize Hester the best he can. If it were me, I’d be telling punter Jon Ryan to get as much distance on the kick as possible but to make sure the ball eventually lands out of bounds. There’s no reason to give Hester a chance to return the ball, even for a team like Seattle, which has had good special teams play this season.

      4. Will Martz stay balanced?
      This is right around the time of year when Mike Martz wants to go back to proving to people how smart he is. But he must keep his offense balanced. Following back-to-back losses to the Seahawks and Redskins in Weeks 6-7, Lovie Smith tightened the reins on Martz during the Bears’ Week 8 bye. The team also shuffled its offensive line around to take advantage of his personnel’s strengths and hide their weaknesses. The result was a six-game winning streak for Chicago, which only ended when the Bears ran into the buzz saw that is the New England Patriots. Martz is a better playcaller when his offense remains balanced. Cutler is a better quarterback when Matt Forte runs the ball more than six times a game. Now isn’t the time for Martz to go off script: he needs to stick to the game plan and to continue feeding Forte in order to keep defense’s on their heels. There’s also no need to try to throw vertical every down when Cutler is more efficient throwing short-to-intermediate passes. Even though they’re playing a Seattle team that only won seven games this season, the Bears still need to be at their best, and that includes Martz.

      5. Can Seattle attack Chicago’s weakness?
      The Bears rank 10th in total defense, second in rushing defense and fourth in scoring. But if there’s one area where they can be attacked it’s in the secondary. The Bears have given up an average of 224.2 yards per game through the air this season, which ranks them 21st in the league in that category. That said, they’re actually pretty good defending the deep pass. They’ve only allowed nine pass plays of 30-plus yards this season, which leads the NFC. But Hasselbeck actually fared well against Chicago earlier this season while completing 4 of 7 passes for 85 yards with one touchdown and a 139.9 rating on throws traveling at least 15 yards. Hasselbeck understands the Tampa 2 defense that Chicago runs better than any quarterback in the league because he has loads of experience and has played against that scheme many times before. The Bears may humiliate inexperienced quarterbacks, but chances are Hasselbeck will hold his own this Sunday. But can his offensive line protect him from Chicago’s nasty front seven? And can he beat the Bears without the threat of a running game?

      External Sports, NFL

      Former Bears Scout: Passing on James Starks was the “most embarrassing moment” of my career

      January 12, 2011 /
      Green Bay Packers running back James Starks gains 27 yards to the Packers 32-yard line as he shakes off a tackle attempt by Philadelphia Eagles Kurt Coleman during first quarter action of the Philadelphia Eagles-Green Bay Packers NFC Wildcard playoff game in Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field January 9, 2011. UPI/John Anderson

      Former Bears scout Greg Gabriel wrote an interesting article for the National Football Post. He describes the scene as the Bears tried to decide between James Starks and Dan LeFevour.

      As we got closer to our pick, Angelo made the decision for the Bears to draft Starks. When we drafted a player there was a protocol we followed. After the decision on who to draft was made, Cliff Stein (the Bears contract negotiator) would call the players agent and tell him we were planning on drafting his player. He would tell the agent that the wanted to get a 4-year contract with the player and wanted the contract done by a certain date. If the agent agreed then I would call the player and give him the news that the Bears were going to take him. This is exactly what happened with Starks. I was on the phone for a minute or so with Starks when Angelo walked in my office and told me he had changed his mind and was drafting LeFevour. I put Starks on hold and then said to Angelo that Stein had already talked to the agent and I had the player on the phone…we couldn’t do business like that. He said he was sorry but he decided he wanted LeFevour and the card had been turned in.

      I then had to tell the player (a player that I had developed a good relationship with over the previous two years) that in fact we were not drafting him. Hearing a kid go from being extremely excited to silence was not easy. It was the most embarrassing moment I had experienced while scouting.

      This is something of a story now that Starks is emerging as the top tailback for the Packers. He rushed 23 times for 123 yards against the Eagles, showing very good burst and wiggle through the hole. He also showed some nice hands out of the backfield, which makes sense since he caught a total of 93 passes in 2007 and 2008 as a member of the Buffalo Bulls.

      After Ryan Grant went down, the Packers decided not to add Marshawn Lynch to the mix at tailback and it appears that Starks was the main reason why.

      External Sports, Fantasy Football, News, NFL, Rumors & Gossip

      NFL Week 17 COY power rankings

      January 8, 2011 /

      It’s best to do this now, because surely our opinions will be skewed watching the playoffs.

      1. Bill Belichick, New England Patriots—The Pats just kept getting better as the season wore on, save for that hiccup against Cleveland. This is actually one of Bill’s best coaching jobs.

      2. Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Bucs—From 3-13 to 10-6. But what might be most impressive is that Morris told everyone this team would win 10 games when he may have been the only one who believed it.

      3. Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs—The AFC West winner has a home game Sunday. Did anyone pick KC to finish above third?

      4. Lovie Smith, Chicago Bears—Kudos to Lovie for sending his A-team out there last Sunday, and either way it’s surely been quite a year for his Bears, especially with that defense.

      5. Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles—He hasn’t hung around the city of Philadelphia for 11 years for no reason. The man just knows how to win with the talent he’s given.

      6. Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams—So close to grabbing that last playoff spot, but regardless, this is a team that will be reckoned with, maybe as soon as next year.

      7. Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons—The 13-3 Falcons are sharp heading into the big dance.

      8. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers/John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens—Without Big Ben for four games, and still grabbed the 2-seed in the tough AFC. The Ravens, meanwhile, snuck up on everyone by winning 12 games too.

      9. Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers—His team was in every single game and could just as easily be 16-0 than 10-6. Keep an eye on these guys, they could win it all as a 6-seed.

      10. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—You just can’t forget about the defending champs and that win in Atlanta a few weeks ago proved it.

      External Sports, NFL

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