[CBFF] Injuries Are Not an Excuse

[Steve Behrens]

Probably the same GM that said they were bullet proof going into the season.

On Nov 24, 2007 11:17 AM, Tom Shannon <tshanno at gmail.com> wrote:

> http://bloggeddrain.typepad.com/cbff/2007/11/for-those-of-yo.html
>
> For those of you wondering what the major problems are with the Bears this
> season I strongly suggest a read of an article
> <
> http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=cr-bearsstruggles112307&prov=yhoo&typ
> e=lgns>  on Yahoo! Sports by Charles Robinson. To make a long story short,
> he interviewed two NFC coaches and on general manager and the blame fell
> largely upon the front office. Although I thought the coaching staff got
> off
> a little too easy, for the most part the article was spot on. Here's the
> paragraph that stuck me the most:
>
> "If they were healthy, I think you could say it would be a different
> story,
> but that's how it all goes," the general manager said. "You have to deal
> with injuries in this game. What I think is interesting is how confident
> they were. I guess you could say they were cocky. That was right from the
> top (of the coaching staff). You can talk about being a great team, but
> injuries tend to show what you are as an entire organization. If you're
> going to be so confident like they have been, the people upstairs (in
> management) better make all the right decisions."
>
> This is really the bottom line. Any franchise in the NFL can win when its
> healthy. Its what happens when the injuries hit that separates the men
> from
> the boys in the NFL.
>
> Which injury affected the Bears the most? A recent response
> <http://www.chicagobears.com/news/ChalkTalkStory.asp?STORY_ID=4113>  to
> this
> question on the Chicago Bears website by Larry Mayer targeted the loss of
> Mike Brown and there's something to be said for that. But if the loss of
> Brown is the problem, the Bears are in much worse trouble than I'd like to
> think. Brown has been unable to stay healthy and it wouldn't surprise me
> if
> his NFL career ended at any time. Certainly replacing Brown's leadership
> skills would be tough. But even given Adam Archuleta's defects in pass
> coverage, I would say that the safeties haven't been a serious problem on
> the field.
>
> In my own view, the most serious injury has been to Tommie Harris' knee.
> Harris is gutting it out on the field but it's evident that he's badly
> hurt.
> This single injury converted the Bear defensive line from an asset to a
> serious liability. Bob Babich has been everyone's favorite whipping boy
> but
> the truth is that his hands are tied. The Bears are forced to stack the
> box
> and blitz far too often to make up for the deficiencies on the defensive
> line which have been exposed by the loss of Harris' effectiveness.
>
> The additions of Anthony Adams and Darwin Walker have been ineffective at
> maintaining even a decent defensive line without Harris. One might also
> point to the loss of Dusty Dvoracek but this isn't an adequate explanation
> since he is largely unproven anyway and only a fool would have relied upon
> him for quality performance before the season started. In any case the
> failure in particular on the part of Bobby DePaul and the office of Pro
> Player Personnel to find adequate talent to account for the losses due to
> injury has to bear a good part of the blame for the deficiencies in the
> Bears season to this point.
>
> There is an old saying that goes, "There are a thousand reasons for
> failure
> but not a single excuse." head coach Lovie Smith, in denying the very
> existence of Harris' injury this week, has all but confirmed that he
> shares
> the opinion. Injuries are a part of the game and they cannot be allowed to
> work into players minds as an excuse poor team performance. The same can
> be
> said of what has to this point been a dismal failure by the entire Bear
> front office.
>
>
>
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