Quote:
Originally Posted by Henry Burris
Ah no
Printable View
Quote:
Originally Posted by Henry Burris
Ah no
I've said it before, Lovie Smith is a great man, and in my opinion, he's a pretty damn good leader of men, but outside of his leadership qualities (ironically something everyone claims his QB does NOT have), he is average at best.
1. 2005 was a pretty good season and we made it to the SB in 2006 with a team that was largely already built before he got here and with a season that was paved with an easy schedule. Now, he DID get us all the way there, so I'm not casting the whole season aside, but the success that is laid upon him should be mitigated by those facts. Also, keep in mind that our Division sucked back then and it was widely considered the worst Division in the league at that time.
2. After the SB, he got his first extension, and with it (along with a SB appearance), he was given much more say in personnel issues. This has been widely reported in the Chicago sports media and while he didn't have it in writing in his contract, his wishes were given MUCH more weight with Jerry Angelo. Ironically, this is also when our offensive line began to deteriorate. Prior to that Angelo had gone out and built an O-Line that was plenty adequate, if not star studded. He went out and got John Tait, Roberto Garza, Reuben Brown and Fred Miller to go along with Olin Kreutz. Fred was obviously the weak link there, but that has been our best O-Line in the Lovie Smith era. Once Lovie got more say, our O-Line was forgotten.
3. We also made the NFCC game in 2010, however, for those that were around, do we not recall how crazy lucky we got that year. Our lack of injuries were among historical lows, and we played either bad teams or teams decimated with injuries of their own. Then, the only team we had to beat to get to the NFC title game was a fluke team that made the playoffs with a LOSING RECORD.
4. Last year, we had a bit of a run, but after Cutler went down, so went our season. The teams we lost to were NOT good teams and a good team should at least be able to overcome the injuries on occasion. Lovie Smith is not the OC or the DC, he was and is the HEAD Coach and therefore, the responsibility for the WHOLE team lies with him. To leave him blameless for last season's collapse and simply throw that out as "just due to the loss of Cutler", is to by contrast suggest that he deserves no credit for the wins when Cutler was healthy, right?
5. The running list of bad OC's (which is up to the HC) is long and painful. The list of Defensive coaches that were simply buddies and not really qualified for the job is also longer than most remember. Remember Babich moving to DC after Chico was run off? How about Brick Hayley as the D-Line coach, and so on and so on.
Now, with all that said, 99 made a good point in another thread that Lovie has gotten better over the years and has overcome his early "Green Coach" mistakes. That point is well taken and I agree. But it's so hard for me to get past the fact that the only good season we have had since 2006 is a season that caught lighting in a bottle. How many coaches wouldn't LOVE to finish the season with all the starters that they started the season with. Man, our health that year was ubber extraordinary. Peoiple point to his winning record and exclaim that he is better than what we could find out there in the market. Well guys, many have said that the NFL is all about "What have you done for me lately". Do you realize how far back 2006 was? Since then Lovie Smith has an actual record of 42-38; that's only 2 games over .500. Take out the 2010 season and we have finished between 7-9 and 9-7 four out of the last five years. Now I know I'm pretty hard headed, but that's pretty average.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nakoma1
LOL dude gtfo :)
LOLYOUMADBRO?
Seriously though, I did forget about the 2004 season I don't stat check myself everytime I post (im pretty good but not perfect at remmebering these things). And yes there is an asterisk on last year, I think most would agree. Super bowl was a well played game against a vastly superior opponent (see they had an offense AND a defense).
LOLUMAD
Get over yourself sir.
AND JA IS WATCHING YOU POOP
can you guys go back to the Official board? it's not closed, just moved to facebook...
Quote:
Originally Posted by XxMidwayMonstersxX
Laugh all you want Midway now with your lauging aside
Your asterik is what for last season ??? B/C cutty didn’t play the whole season ??? The didn’t get anywhere near the Show last year so why are you making reference to the SuperBowl ???
FAST REWIND .....
Two year’s in a row a certain Bear team I remember fought their way to the playoffs and lost with their back - up at the helm and that by no means was he the reason for losing .. The next year they dominated and again the Back up had to take the contorls off and on through the season ...
The out come a Super Bowl win
FAST FORWARD to present time HYPOTHETICAL SITUATIUON :
now since this years D is playing lights out , out of their Azzzez Football .
Let’s put Cambell in the game now ,........ due to an injury to Cutler
How far do you see the Bears going now ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nakoma1
It is there because we would have made the playoffs if Cutty and Forte were not injured at the end of the year
After what Houston went through last year, backups is no excuse...they made a playoff run w/their 3rd string rookie qb, backup rb, backup wr, back te(not the whole season fwiw) they also had key inj's on the D side also.
If this team had been built properly, and there is good reason to believe Smith had a lot of say in this teams strength/depth, then we could have also made that run. Sorry but Schaub/Foster are =/> at both positions to Cutler/Forte. If they can lose them and some others, then the backup qb to boot then there is no reason the Bears couldn't have.
That being said, I don't think Lovie will ever have the kind of say he used to now that Emery is here, and Lovie has evolved as a HC. While I didn't agree w/the last ext this one makes since. 1) New HC means New DC/OC and I think that both are doing well. 2) Lovie has become a better HC then he used to be. 3) YOu cannot name someone available that you would rather have.
Interesting thought, ric but besides them and the 2008 patriots, what other team has suffered horrible injuries and kept rolling along? I do agree that it shows both organizations reacted brilliantly, but that was some luck going their way.
Ya but it also proves that teams don't just implode b/c of it. Not saying we should have gone to the SB, or even made the playoffs, but the implosion was inexcusable.
It certainly sucked, but a lot went into it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Riczaj01
A bad offensive line was further exposed because Cutler and Forte made them look better
Both Cutler and Forte were out at the same time
The Texans' backup QBs were much more capable than Hanie
Hanie was ill-prepared because Martz pretty much hated him and didn't want him to be there
Marion Barber fumbled away a sure win in Denver, which demoralized the team and lead to a total non-effort the next week
The defense played fairly well in the Oakland, KC and Denver games, then was humiliated by Seattle (WTF) and Green Bay (understandable). The Texans were much more talented on offense to begin with. Still, when you take out the two key guys that actually made the Bears look like a pro offense, the outcome isn't pretty. I don't think any coach could have dragged that team into the playoffs with Cutler and Forte lost.