Five Reasons to Be Pessimistic about the Bears

 

The Chicago Bears had an extremely disappointing season in 2009 with a 7-9 record and a franchise-type quarterback that threw the ball to the other team as often as he threw touchdown passes. While the Bears defense performed as to be expected in the front seven minus Brian Urlacher, the secondary (except Peanut Tillman) were horrible. Here are five reasons why the Bears may be horrible next season.

1. The Return of Lovie Smith

As the famous saying goes, “coaches are hired to be fired”. Well Lovie certainly tried his best to make this statement a reality last season. If I was not at the famous timeout/challenge/timeout game against the Packers, I would not have believed it. Based on that brilliant move alone, he should have voluntarily resigned. So instead, we are stuck with him for another season. While I do not suggest that Lovie owes us anything, his smug attitude and condescending tone seems really out of line for a coach that turned a Super Bowl team into a mid-level draft pick contender.

2. The Front Office

 

Not having a second round pick this season really hurts (I am not going to say the Cutler trade was a bad one, but the Gaines Adams trade minus the tragedy wasn’t exactly working out). Once more the Bears have locked a lot of cap money into some poor values. Nathan Vasher is a prime example of that. Additionally, this is not exactly the strongest free-agent year. So put that all together and it seems like we will be watching a lot of the same crappy players that got the Bears to a 7-9 record and plenty of disappointments.

3. Offensive Line

I really felt sorry for Jay Cutler last season. On almost every play, there were more opponents in the backfield and not a lot of Chicago Bears. It must be really hard to throw when a 320 pound defense tackle is sitting on your head. Olin Kruetz stunk last season. He loves to tell everyone how good he is and how we do not know what we are talking about when his play is questioned. I did notice plenty of defensive tackles running untouched up the middle. Guards and tackles really were not much better. It is really hard to win in the NFL without a decent offensive line, and unless things change, Jay Cutler may want to take out a good insurance policy.

4. Matt Forte

It looked like Forte had a magnet on his chest that attracted tacklers from other teams last season. He had the moves of a Toyota gas pedal and the speed of a Prius. Plus, how many times can one fumble on the one-yard line (ok, so I am a little angry because of his lack of contribution to my fantasy team last season)? In the NFL, you need to at least present the idea you can run the football. Teams quickly figured out last season that the Bears were unable to do this simple part of the game.

5. Wide Receivers

The Bears best wide receiver is in a Vikings uniform (Bernard Berrian). Some would argue that their second best receiver wears a Panther’s jersey (although I personally hated Mushin Muhammad). The Devin connection has shown some flashes, but does not strike fear in opponents. While Johnny Knox was a nice little surprise last season, he looks like he is one hit away from a short career. Earl Bennett is mediocre at best. So you have a great quarterback and crap receivers. Makes for another fun-filled year of opponents catching Cutler passes.

So if you read my optimistic section, there is some overlap. But that was my intention. Next time, I will tell you what I think.