[CBFF] The Chicago Bears: Defense From Top to Bottom

[Jason Cetina]

An interesting take, but I think the seeds to the offense's ineptness 
were laid when Angelo was hired and stuck with Dick Jauron. When he 
became the GM, he started rebuilding a defense with all kinds of 
problems, and also an offense that could do nothing. The defense came 
together quickly after Lovie was hired, but the problem was the the 
offense had suffered through a year of the Terry Shea experiment.

Knowing he had a peaking team, he fired Shea and took the safe route of 
hiring Ron Turner to build a competent if not spectacular offense. Right 
at that time, though, the offensive line should have been rebuilt. 
Instead he took a bunch of guys who were on the wrong side of thirty in 
order to make the Super Bowl push. Now the Bears are left with the 
consequences of that decision. They should've had started rebuilding the 
line *via the draft* the day Lovie was hired. Instead the did stopgap 
stuff via free agency. Imagine this year if we had 3rd and 4th year 
linemen who were starting to come into their own. The result would be 
less holes to fill and more cap space to pursue other guys.

I think the big problem Angelo had is that the defense peaked way faster 
than expected, largely due to the emergence of guys like Vasher, 
Tillman, Harris, Briggs, and T. Brown. He just didn't keep the offense 
in sync with the defense. I'm betting thats hard to do.
-
Jason

Tom Shannon wrote:
> http://chicagobearsfanforum.com/blog/?p=207
> http://www.myspace.com/the_left_hand_of_darkness
>
> The Chicago Bears:  Defense From Top to Bottom
>
> By Tom Shannon
>
> Looking at the middling state that typically defines the Bears, probably the
> most common thing an optimistic fan will say is, "Wow.  Just think how good
> they'd be if they had an offense."  Inevitably they will then ask themselves
> why the Bears never have production on that side of the ball.
>
> There's a phrase that most people have been very familiar with since
> childhood.  It is, "It all starts at the top."  Most Bear fans will preface
> any criticism of ownership with some similar expression and they criticize
> often enough.  Indeed it's true of leadership on all levels.  Almost any
> sort of team in some way or another will reflect the personality of its
> head.  If a manager is refusing to admit his own mistakes you can bet that
> the members of the team are going to lack accountability and blame others
> for their failures.  It's the same all over in every walk of life.  It's
> part of the reason why the NFL head coach is so important despite the fact
> that all he appears to do during the game is wear head phones and call
> timeouts.
>
> This all struck home for me again last week as I watched the Bears approach
> free agency.  The first thing they did was re-sign Rex Grossman.  And you
> ask yourself, "Why keep a quarterback who you know doesn't have the ability
> to actively contribute to a true championship offense?  Why not look
> elsewhere?  Yeah, sure, it's a mediocre free agent class but why not try
> someone different?  Why not look for someone who hasn't had a chance to show
> what he can do or for a veteran who might have a couple good years left in
> him to excel?  Why not look for the next Derek Anderson or Kurt Warner?"
>
> The answer to this is because it's risky.  Sure you might be buying a
> diamond.  But what if it's a piece of glass?  Better to stick with the rocks
> you know, flaws and all.  Better not to risk the money on the unknown free
> agent.  Better to prevent others from signing your guys instead.  Better to
> play defense. 
>
> This attitude defines what the Bears did last week.  It defines what they
> will do next week.  It defines what they'll do in the draft.  It defines how
> they will perform on the field.
>
> The Bears have a lot of holes to fill this offseason but they aren't letting
> that affect their strategy for free agency.  They will sit back and let the
> first wave pass over them and then look at the guys who are left.  Don't
> look for the big talent.  Don't take the chance that you might overpay.
> Look for the bargains.  Take the leftovers with good floors and little risk.
>
> They will then sit down and assess their position.  They will see what holes
> they have left and move into the draft with those in mind.  But they will
> not identify a single prospect and trade up.  That's risky.  Player
> evaluation is not an exact science.  They will sit in position and "let the
> draft come to them."  Heck they might even trade down if they can.  So sure
> are the Bears that you can't take a risk by focusing on individual players
> that they don't even bother to hide their intensions.  GM Jerry Angelo has
> been characterized
> <http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/798312,CST-SPT-bear17.article
>   
>>  as being "honest to a fault" at this time of the year.  Nonsense.  It
>>     
> isn't honesty.  It's the firm belief that no matter what other teams do, no
> matter who they take, even if they trade up, he has just as good a chance of
> succeeding with the guy that falls to him as others have with the guy they
> went up and got.  Sure you evaluate players to the extent you can.  But
> bottom line, you don't identify outstanding players and go after them.  It's
> a coin flip.
>
> So when Bear fans ask the questions, "How could the franchise be so inept on
> the offensive side of the ball?  How come they can build good defenses and
> yet have decades of incompetence at the quarterback position?  How could
> they have such bad luck?" you find that the answer is simple, really.  It
> all starts at the top.  Offense requires originality. It requires that you
> formulate a plan and aggressively and actively execute it.  You don't wait
> for the game to come to you.  You take it to the game.  Instead, look what
> the Bears have.  Defensive front office.  Defensive head coach.  Defensive
> team.  Defensive attitude.  And there lies the surest path to mediocrity.
>
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