T-minus 5 Days to Chicago Bears Training Camp
Each day, I will highlight one storyline leading into camp.
Overall Team Health…
Based on what I am hearing, the team is healthy heading into camp. That is something that has not been the case in the past. Even Tommy Harris is ready to roll. The key to any team is healthy players, and the Bears are no exception.
If you look back at last season, there was always injury problems and that was a contributing factor to the 7-9 record.
Lovie Smith understands that football is a grind and doesn’t need to prove a lot in July. However, there is a need for contact and live action. His teams are normally ready to roll.
So let’s keep our fingers crossed for good health.
Chicago Bears Player Profile…Mark Anderson
Mark Anderson will go down as one of the most exciting rookies in Chicago Bear history. His rookie campaign was something special. Many people thought he was a steal as a fifth round selection out of Alabama. Jerry Angelo was the toast of the town with a draft that included Anderson along with Devin Hester.
Sophomore Slumps Suck
Especially when these carry over for the next two seasons or so. Anderson has not been close to the player he was as a rookie. And yet, the Bears continue to have high expectations for Anderson’s play. But expectations and performance are two different things, and Anderson certainly has a lot to prove. Lovie and the gang let Alex Brown and Adewale Ogunleye go because of the continued faith in Anderson’s talents (and Julius Peppers didn’t exactly hurt). But in years’ past, the Bears would play Mark Anderson with the idea he would find the talent again. So far, not so good…
The Verdict
Am I the only person that understands why Anderson was such a stud his rookie year? Hello, meet Tommy Harris. Harris would force offenses to block him with a guard and tackle thus freeing up Anderson, a gifted athlete by all indications, to rush the passer. Most tight ends and running backs are unable to hold Anderson up. However, when a tackle gets his paws on Anderson, its over. So Anderson, along with the Bears defense, will go the way of Tommy Harris. So Anderson will either be the stud we’ve been waiting for or another in a long line of crappy Bears defensive ends. Hello Carl “The Truth” Reeves.
My Two Cents on Chicago Bear’s Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz
I read an interesting article on Bleacher Report concerning Mike Martz. The writer Henry Young made some very strong and interesting arguments on why Mike Martz will be a failure as the Bears’ offensive coordinator.
To give the Cliff Note version of it, he feels that Martz will be a failure as the offensive coordinator because the roster is not built around his strengths as a coach. He feels that Martz’s failures will cost Lovie Smith his job. Hate to tell you, but Lovie should have been canned last season.
My Thoughts
Ron Turner was a horrible coach. He ran the same five plays that never worked and showed little imagination with a QB as talented as Jay Cutler. While I appreciate Young’s research and points in the article, Martz is Bill Walsh compared to Turner. This will be an upgrade based on replacing Turner. But, a point should be made about Martz’s inability to keep a job. Teams seem to run his rear end out of town. That is not a good sign.
I really hope that Martz comes into Chicago with things to improve and wants to make the Chicago Bears an offensive force. He has a QB that can do it, but question marks remain about the offensive line and running game. Chester Taylor will help a digressing Matt Forte, but that still may not be enough. Plus, questions still remain in the receiving core and with tight end Greg Olsen. The line will be helped by Brandon Manumaleuna, but teams are killing the Bears up the middle.
In closing, football season cannot start soon enough…
Chicago Bears OTAs…Defense
A lot has been made at this weekend’s OTA and the impact of the offense. But I would like to focus on the defense. I think this group has a lot to prove and I think the Bears have been spinning camp to avoid talking about the real problem on this squad.
Clown College of Coaches on Defense
The Bears answers for the coaching problem has been to rotate all people on deck to see if one can call a defense. Between Bob Babich, Lovie Smith, and Rod Marinelli, the Bears have employed and rotated three people with track record of failure. Babich was a disaster three years ago. The Cover Two really was performed at a high level last season under Smith and Marinelli’s defense linemen didn’t show much and an awesome run in Detroit the previous season…so now he gets to job.
Meanwhile, Smith replaces the whole offensive coaching staff (minus a few hold-overs) and refuses to say that the defense needs work. He even takes it a step further by pretty much telling the fans that we don’t know what we’re talking about and he has all the answers.
As you can tell by the tone of my articles that I really do not like Lovie Smith. I think he is a failure as a coach and needs to be replaced. His defensive decisions (supposedly his strength) really seem to be quite puzzling. And considering he was hired as a defensive minded coach, it is even more of a problem.
Chicago Bears OTAs
The Chicago Bears got a taste of the Mike Martz offense during OTAs, or Organized Team Activities to us common folks.
The feedback from Jay Cutler and other Bears was quite positive. “Mike (Martz) does a great job of mixing things up and keeping the defense off balance, putting guys in match-ups where they can win.” Cutler said. “It’s exciting. It’s changing. It’s always different.”
It should be noted that Cutler was picked off twice Friday by Brian Urlacher and Zach Bowman, but he also completed some passes to several players including Greg Olsen. I mention this because it has been reported that the Bears were shopping Olsen in the off-season and Martz has not liked tight ends that do not block well in his past positions.
Much has been made about issues of a working relationship between Martz and Cutler. According the coach Lovie Smith, the relationship is solid. “What I hope to see is exactly how it’s been from Day 1,” Smith said. “They have mutual respect for each other. Of course being in the middle, I knew both of the guys, knew that it would be a good fit.”
I know two things for sure. Jay Cutler is a talented quarterback and Mike Martz is a talented coach. If both can work together, this will be an exciting offense. Both guys have bad reputations, so the opportunity for both to prove critics wrong may be strong motivation. Look, going from Ron Turner to Mike Martz is like going from a ham sandwich to a filet mignon. This will only help the Bear’s offense.
Your thoughts please!!!
