Here's Another Great Understatement by Lovie Smith...........

‘Not our night’ doesn’t explain Bears’ frightening problems

BY MARK POTASH mpotash@suntimes.com November 20, 2012 10:31PM


http://www.suntimes.com/csp/cms/site...YPE=image/jpeg SAN FRANCISCO, CA - NOVEMBER 19: Head coach Lovie Smith of the Chicago Bears walks the sideline during the third quarter of the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park on November 19, 2012 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)






Updated: November 21, 2012 5:21PM


What, Lovie Smith worry? ‘‘It wasn’t our night,’’ the Bears coach said after a brutal 32-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park on Monday night. (Gimme a break Lovie in fact give us all a break and STFU)


Smith accentuated the positive after the discouraging debacle on the Bay: the Bears still are 7-3 and still are tied for the lead in the NFC North. But after that dreadful performance, those two realities seem like a pair of crutches propping up a flawed team with an uncertain future.


When the final is Texans 13, Bears 6, it wasn’t your night. But when it’s Jim Harbaugh 32, Lovie Smith 7, you have bigger problems than getting Jay Cutler back or Brandon Marshall open. Almost from the start, the blowout loss was littered with red flags that Smith, offensive coordinator Mike Tice and defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli should not be too quick to dismiss as a quirk of NFL competition.


To wit:

† Jason Campbell, with his 70 previous NFL starts, was no better than Caleb Hanie was last year as a replacement for Cutler — 14-for-22 for 107 yards, six sacks, one touchdown, two interceptions and a 52.7 passer rating.


How is it that Jacksonville Jaguars backup Chad Henne can come off the bench after not having taken a single snap in practice and — with the lowest-ranked offense in the NFL — torch the Houston Texans for 354 yards, four touchdowns and a 133.8 passer rating? (Because apparently he has a HC and an OC who actually know WTF they're doing)


†After two solid running plays against the stout 49ers run defense produced four-yard gains, the Bears faced a third-and-two at their own 28. Only with this offense can a third-and-two with 9:15 left in the first quarter be a moment of truth. But it was — Campbell was sacked for a 10-yard loss, and the Bears’ offense was done for the night.


The following statistic should be a trivial oddity. With the Bears, it’s speaking louder each week: On their first pass attempt in 10 games this season, they have four sacks for 42 yards in losses, a fumble, an interception, two other incompletions, a two-yard reception (followed by a sack) and an 11-yard scramble by Cutler (followed by a sack). (This in and of itself should be enough to get Tice replaced but nooooooo. Mike Tice is our OC/Play Caller and we'll go from there. This is stupid that's even beyond stupid.)


How is it that 49ers backup Colin Kaepernick, who came into the game with zero NFL starts, can drop back on his first pass attempt and have Frank Gore chip Julius Peppers to get just enough time to throw a dart to Mario Manningham near the sideline for an eight-yard gain? (Because he has a coach who can actually design plays that work and instill him with the confidence that they will)


†Niners tight end Vernon Davis had six receptions for 83 yards and a touchdown. He came into the game with 29 catches for 404 yards and four TDs in nine games — 14th among tight ends in yards and 15th in receptions. In six games before Monday, Davis had 14 receptions for 214 yards and no touchdowns. If the Seattle Seahawks defend him (zero catches), why can’t the Bears? (Because the Bears tried to defend him with a LB and SS who couldn't match his speed. Harbaugh saw that early and exploited it all game long.)


†Marshall made a great catch in the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown pass — with the Bears trailing 27-0.


As productive as Marshall has been, his tendency to produce best when the outcome is decided is coming into focus. (Six of his eight touchdowns have come with the Bears either up or down by 17 or more points.) Marshall dropped catchable touchdown passes in the end zone against the Green Bay Packers and Texans that would have made a difference. When it’s 27-0, he can catch a bullet in his teeth. He’s the best wide receiver in franchise history. But it looks like he might need help to play in the first postseason game of his seven-year NFL career. (An interesting point that we've been conveniently ignoring because we finally have someone who can catch a pass. Just not often enough when it really counts.)


The Bears are still 7-3 and still a contender — you can never underestimate the impact of parity. But the issues the Bears had against the 49ers are bigger than a bad day at the office. (Great observation but to Lovie and his staff apparently it is just another day at the office since the only significant change made this week was creating a situation that had one piece of shit OG quitting the team only because he was being replaced by an even bigger piece of shit OG who lost his job to the first piece of shit weeks ago. Tice is still running the offensive show so no matter who plays the entire offense will continue to play like 11 pieaces of shit no matter who plays LG anyway.)


Their problem is that they are a well-coached team that loses big games because they get outcoached. And you know what’s coming next: Smith’s steady hand will right the ship. If Cutler returns, the Bears will bounce back against the Vikings, Seahawks, Arizona Cardinals and Detroit Lions. But eventually the Bears are likely to run into Mike McCarthy and Dom Capers, Jim Harbaugh or Tom Coughlin. And the big question will be more clear than ever: Are Smith, Tice and Marinelli up to the challenge? (Horseshit! They are not a well coached team. Well coached teams don't get embarrassed like they did Monday. Well coached teams find a way to win in close games like the one they lost last Sunday. And well coached teams should win at least half there games against other well coached teams but the Bears don't so how in the wide world of sports can you call them a well coached team? That's a steaming pile of crap from a reporter whose doing nothing more than tossing them a bone so he doesn't get banned from the locker room. It doesn't take great coaching to beat up on 2-8 teams and the practice squads from The Little Sisters of the Poor. Well coached my ass. Lovie and his underprepared team got undressed once again on national TV by a second year NFL HC. His team is well coached like the emperor has new clothes. Somebody needs to yell out that he's naked and it might as well be me.)

How anyone can ignore the cancerous thinking that's rotting away another season is beyond me.

You can pin some of the more specific problems like a lack of pass blocking on one or two players but you can't blame the totally inept offensive play week after week after week on them. That's on the coach. There is more than enough offensive talent on the team to field on of the better offenses in the NFL but in this case rather than being run by a rookie QB who hasn't gotten it figured out it's being run by a rookie OC who has exactly the same problem.

My problem with this is that if you were expecting no more than a .500 season at best you'd leave the rookie QB and/or the rookie OC in there to learn. BUT NOT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING TO COMPETE FOR A TITLE!

I have watched this team make some pretty extreme blunders over the 40 years I've been watching them play and this one gets tossed pretty close to if not on the top of the heap. The complete lack of any common sense surrounding Lovie's decision to continue letting Tice run his offense is beyond mystifying. It border on insanity. Isn't that by it's definition continuing to do the same things time and time again yet expecting different results? Yeah, this is insane.

The stubborn pride and arrogance of the man is showing like a petticoat at the hem of a too short skirt. He's been the Bears HC for nine years and in all that time he's chosen never to learn enough about his offense to be able to take charge when he needs to? I'm sorry but that's not what anyone should be expecting out of a $5 mil per year HC with a masters degree in mediocre offensive football. There is not half full glass of offense right now. It's totally fucking empty down to the very last drop in the glass.

Despite all this I'd say there's a 90% chance Lovie will be back to coach a tenth season as the Bears HC and with or without Mike Tice as his OC the Bears offense will continue to struggle because it simply does not have the coaching, the direction and the pride in performance that the Bears defense does. If Lovie is OK with this then he's a fool who should be let go and if Phil Emery won't demand a change after all of the $$$ he spent gathering talent to make a championship run, all of which is being undone by Lovie and Mike Tice, then he's as big a fool as Lovie Smith.

I just love the reference to "A well coached team that is being out coached". hmmmm.... talk out of both sides of your mouth much?

They are being out coached. Anyone can see that. To conclude that means that we are well coached makes me conclude the writer is a clown.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by soulman

How anyone can ignore the cancerous thinking that's rotting away another season is beyond me.

You can pin some of the more specific problems like a lack of pass blocking on one or two players but you can't blame the totally inept offensive play week after week after week on them. That's on the coach. There is more than enough offensive talent on the team to field on of the better offenses in the NFL but in this case rather than being run by a rookie QB who hasn't gotten it figured out it's being run by a rookie OC who has exactly the same problem.

My problem with this is that if you were expecting no more than a .500 season at best you'd leave the rookie QB and/or the rookie OC in there to learn. BUT NOT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING TO COMPETE FOR A TITLE!

I have watched this team make some pretty extreme blunders over the 40 years I've been watching them play and this one gets tossed pretty close to if not on the top of the heap. The complete lack of any common sense surrounding Lovie's decision to continue letting Tice run his offense is beyond mystifying. It border on insanity. Isn't that by it's definition continuing to do the same things time and time again yet expecting different results? Yeah, this is insane.

The stubborn pride and arrogance of the man is showing like a petticoat at the hem of a too short skirt. He's been the Bears HC for nine years and in all that time he's chosen never to learn enough about his offense to be able to take charge when he needs to? I'm sorry but that's not what anyone should be expecting out of a $5 mil per year HC with a masters degree in mediocre offensive football. There is not half full glass of offense right now. It's totally fucking empty down to the very last drop in the glass.

Despite all this I'd say there's a 90% chance Lovie will be back to coach a tenth season as the Bears HC and with or without Mike Tice as his OC the Bears offense will continue to struggle because it simply does not have the coaching, the direction and the pride in performance that the Bears defense does. If Lovie is OK with this then he's a fool who should be let go and if Phil Emery won't demand a change after all of the $$$ he spent gathering talent to make a championship run, all of which is being undone by Lovie and Mike Tice, then he's as big a fool as Lovie Smith.

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Soul, while I agree with you to a point, it's almost like you're willing this team to lose even more than their poor play indicates they might well do more of this season. Against teams with a .500 or better record, the Bears are 2-3. The two wins came against the Dallas Cowboys (about to go to 6-5 when they finish manhandling the woeful Washington Redskins today) and the Indianapolis Colts, who are at the top of the Wild Card standings in the AFC right now. Two of the games we lost, against the Packers and the Texans, were winnable games. The only game that we had no business winning was Monday night's game against the 49ers. Realistically, we had no answer for the offense of the 49ers on Monday night, but even more disturbing is how porous our offensive line was. Tice should have run all night on the Niners to keep the ball away from the firecracker that is Colin Kaepernick. He didn't, and he didn't do so to set up playaction, which is something he has failed to do all season long.

All three losses we sustained were the result of being outcoached, and you couldn't be more right on that, soul. But what I find distasteful about what you're saying is that you have all but given up on this season when in fact we're still tied for first place in the NFC North standings. I think the worst we'll finish is 9-7, while the best we'll do is either 12-4 or 13-3 if we get hot again and go on another six game winning streak and learn from our mistakes in the first game against the Packers. At this point, I think the Bears control their own destiny. The Packers still have to play the Giants, still have to play Vikings twice, and still have to play us. Frankly, I think our defense can shut down the Packers. The question then will be whether Tice commits to the run and allows Cutler to run playaction against the Packers without the line falling apart on him. There is still a chance for this season to be salvaged.

Look. I'm not asking you to be a homer. What I do ask of you is to not give up on this team just yet. That 2010 team was as pathetic in its own way as this team is when it comes to offensive line play and the like. We have a better defense than we did in 2010, a special teams unit that while it hasn't had a punt or kick returned for a touchdown, has still given us pretty good field position due to the fear most teams have of kicking the ball to Hester. I had to sit through the last six games of last season and watch our offensive line and offense get ravaged by average to below average defenses simply because we didn't have Cutler to move around in the pocket or to run away from the pressure. This week, we should have him back, and I fully expect the Bears will win a close game at Soldier Field against the Minnesota Vikings. If they don't, well, it'll start looking like Lovie may be just a few weeks away from losing his job, or at the very least Tice being ousted from the offensive controls. I think going anywhere from 3-3 to 6-0 the rest of the way as being realistic, but we need to make changes now in how we call plays and how we scheme to protect Cutler or whomever the quarterback is from getting hurt. We have but one really standout team left on the schedule, that being the Packers, and I think we know their tendencies enough and know for a fact that their defense is not exactly great that we can compete against them. Do remember the 1963 Bears only averaged scoring 21 points per game, yet they won the NFL Championship. I think we will be fine, but there are definitely some changes that need to take place.

I wouldn't say pull the plug just yet. But Soul's definition of insanity rings true. The ship WILL NOT be righted with half measures and a "steady hand". The steady hand is what we're worried about-the lack of true tactical flexibility and the inability to reach the next level vs. good coaching. Does anyone here logically believe we are going to see new plays, a wr shakeup, wrinkles, savvy or just basic, decent playcalling with a stubborn hammerhead with the clipboard? For all his years in coaching is NOW the light is going to come on? If it takes that much just to get a reaction his strategies are easily defeated by those not needing that type of inspiration.

If and when the implosion continues you fold. You bench Jay for his own health and longevity. I really don't want to see an Urlacher injury situation playing JC in a meaningless game other that the HC to save his own ass. You fold- build and vett your depth by playing the 2nd team and garner higher draft choices.

I'll probably get flamed for saying that but what other measures to you get in a parity driven league with suck at OL? You need TALENT. You plan for the future and the next regime. The current window is almost completely shut. As soon as the inevitable is in sight you build your foundation NOW.

Which will probably in about 4 more games.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by short faced bear

I wouldn't say pull the plug just yet. But Soul's definition of insanity rings true. The ship WILL NOT be righted with half measures and a "steady hand". The steady hand is what we're worried about-the lack of true tactical flexibility and the inability to reach the next level vs. good coaching. Does anyone here logically believe we are going to see new plays, a wr shakeup, wrinkles, savvy or just basic, decent playcalling with a stubborn hammerhead with the clipboard? For all his years in coaching is NOW the light is going to come on? If it takes that much just to get a reaction his strategies are easily defeated by those not needing that type of inspiration.

If and when the implosion continues you fold. You bench Jay for his own health and longevity. I really don't want to see an Urlacher injury situation playing JC in a meaningless game other that the HC to save his own ass. You fold- build and vett your depth by playing the 2nd team and garner higher draft choices.

I'll probably get flamed for saying that but what other measures to you get in a parity driven league with suck at OL? You need TALENT. You plan for the future and the next regime. The current window is almost completely shut. As soon as the inevitable is in sight you build your foundation NOW.

Which will probably in about 4 more games.

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You won't get flamed for saying what you said, at least not by me, but I do disagree with you on some key points. There are four examples of consistent long term winning that although they didn't result in a ton of Super Bowl appearances did result in at least a decade's worth of constant postseason berths. One such example is the Pittsburgh Steelers. They have been the gold standard of the NFL now since the early 1970s when Chuck Noll built them into the NFL's premier franchise. Noll coached the Steelers from 1969 through 1991 and won over 193 games with a 56.6% winning percentage. During that time, he won 11 division titles and four Super Bowl championships. When he retired, Bill Cowher came along and continued winning big for the Steelers, winning better than 61% of his regular season games and taking the Steelers to two Super Bowls and winning one of them. And now that Cowher is not on the scene, Mike Tomlin has won a Super Bowl and played in another. Another team I like to point is the Miami Dolphins, who from 1971 through the late 1990s was the model of consistency. They appeared in five Super Bowls under Don Shula and won twice. Yet another team is, you guessed it, the Green Bay Packers. Mike Holmgren took over a sleeping giant in 1992 and turn it into a force to be reckoned with, and since 1992, when Brett Favre began quarterbacking the team, no team has won more games or been to the playoffs more than the Packers. Lastly, I will use the New England Patriots. They have been building contenders up in Foxborough, MA, since the mid 1990s when Bill Parcells was running the team. While the team wasn't as successful under Pete Carroll, it rebounded and set the standard in 2000 when Bill Belichick became coach. The rest is history.

If you compare these two coaches numbers throughout the course of their careers, Lovie Smith's and Chuck Noll's all favor. Both have approximately the same winning percentage, both have been to Super Bowls (though admittedly, Noll actually four while Lovie struck out in Super Bowl XLI). Lovie is probably most comparable to Jeff Fisher than any other coach in today's game. Jeff Fisher won for years for the Titans using the same formula for success he learned as a player under Mike Ditka. While Jeff Fisher struggled some down toward the end, it was because his owner, Bud Adams, was too cheap to go out and procure the quality through free agency it would take to build a sustainable winning product, as well as the disastrous drafting of Vince Young at the number three overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. Still, Fisher appeared in the Super Bowl once and won four division championships and made six playoff appearances in sixteen seasons.

I think there is something to be said about maintaining consistency if it's at all possible. However, when you consistently underachieve with a core of talented players at your command, you do sometimes have to make a break with the coaching staff or at least parts of it.

Bottom line, the take home message from me is this: try to maintain a consistent level of success on an annual basis, and if you do that, you'll still find yourself more often than not competing for a spot in the Super Bowl and the right to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

I've got nothing against being in the hunt year after year. The problem as I define it is being a paper tiger. Beating who you should beat is great, absolutely nothing wrong with that, a given. But when year after year you place as an also-ran. Not only an also-ran but one who cannot seem to correct their failings that is the problem.

With a parity driven league as it's being called you start to see teams hit the "reset" button much faster. Weather they are a near winning team on the verge or this year's Colts as an example they seem to go through the problem, analyze, decision making process much quicker in years past. It's easier to bridge the gap to the next level when your not dealing from the bottom of the draft/talent deck every year in most circumstances.

Lastly, I'd say is the body of work. Lovie and co. have a definite way they coach. As constant and as steady as they are they also create tendencies. Tendencies that can and have been exploited. The greatest tendency they have is the inflexibility of game-planning. Hoping that consistency will make up for adaptation. Knowing what my opponent WON'T adjust to is just as much of an advantage as what he WILL adjust to.

This I believe is their greatest fallacy.

Lovie knows what he's doing. The Bears are just playin' possum this season, making people believe we have a bad offense. It's the old "rope a dope" that Ali used to sucker victims in.

Lovie is gettin' ready to roll out the awesome "Hester Package" and then this offense will crush people. The only reason they're waiting to roll it out, is that after 6 or 8 games (certainly after we crush our opponent in the Super Bowl), it will be declared illegal by Goodell.

Lovie is smart as a whip. Cutler too. Jay's just faking being knocked silly on these hits we see him take. There was no concussion. It's all part of the plan. Brilliantly being orchestrated by the cerebral Tice & Lovie.

If you look closely at Cutler in this pic, you can definitely see he's winking at Tice. It's the old rope-a-dope executed to perfection:

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/...522970c-1024wi

Lovie Smith is a good coach. He wins more than he loses. But he's not the best coach. Sure, he'll get you to competing for a spot in the playoffs, but by the same token, he'll rip your heart out due to his strategic inflexibility. That sort of says it all.

Tice and the oline are in on the conspiracy too. They even have a song titled "The Hester Package is Coming to Town" (to the tune "Santa Clause is Coming to Town."

It's a real catchy tune (we all should probably learn to sing it by the Super Bowl).

Here Tice has the oline singing their hearts out. The refrain of the song is awesome. It's all about how we won't even NEED an oline when "The Hester Package" comes to town. The OL players will simply smoke cheap cigars on the sideline, drinking cheap wiskey (and woofin' down taco bell food too).

Webb cries a little every time he sings it. Says it must be heaven.

http://www.trbimg.com/img-1350968418...022215235/1280