Do you ever think of what "might have been" if we had a stud oline?

I keep thinking of how much different things could have been if Jerry Angelo had maintained an NFL-quality oline these past years. Can you imagine how different it could have been - and not just this year, but the past few years. Can you imagine if Cutler had come here to play behind an established solid oline with REAL wide receivers to throw to? Then you add a B.Marsh to an offense that is already stellar - and just make it even better.

I keep thinking of how it was so obvious, that the most "bang for the buck" to improve our team, was simply understanding how important an oline is for a team. It even impacts the defense (last Sunday was 'Exhibit A' for that one.....we could have sustained drives opening holes for Matt to run through, burning the clock up, and keeping our old "D" fresh).

It's almost criminal, how Angelo failed to value the oline here. When we do the "post mortem" on the 2012 season, I believe the lack of oline talent will be judged as our downfall. Again.

sure thats easy we could be 10 and 2 right now or even better the Texans game is one we could have also won with a good O line.

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Originally Posted by JJ-30

sure thats easy we could be 10 and 2 right now or even better the Texans game is one we could have also won with a good O line.

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Other than the LT position, the rest of an oline is not that difficult to draft. It would have been so easy to have a rock solid offensive line, if Jerry Angelo could have drafted better, and had a healthy respect for the importance of an Oline for building solid team. Even the defense is impacted by the offensive line's performance. A team that can consistently convert those 3rd downs, move the chains, eat the clock, put points on the scoreboard - and allow the defense to rest a bit - is a tough team to beat.

On a positive note, the oline can be fixed this off season, and I believe we will do better in recognizing true player talent. The downside is that the elite defense window is now closing. We missed our opportunity, due to the fact the Bears failed to have an offensive line that could allow our skill position players to play to their full ability. Once we get the oline in place, the defense is going to need some serious attentions (Urlacher is pretty much done, Peppers is showing age, and the next wave of Briggs and Tillman won't be too far behind).

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Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

I keep thinking of how much different things could have been if Jerry Angelo had maintained an NFL-quality oline these past years. Can you imagine how different it could have been - and not just this year, but the past few years. Can you imagine if Cutler had come here to play behind an established solid oline with REAL wide receivers to throw to? Then you add a B.Marsh to an offense that is already stellar - and just make it even better.

I keep thinking of how it was so obvious, that the most "bang for the buck" to improve our team, was simply understanding how important an oline is for a team. It even impacts the defense (last Sunday was 'Exhibit A' for that one.....we could have sustained drives opening holes for Matt to run through, burning the clock up, and keeping our old "D" fresh).

It's almost criminal, how Angelo failed to value the oline here. When we do the "post mortem" on the 2012 season, I believe the lack of oline talent will be judged as our downfall. Again.

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The first thing you do when building an offense is you get a great offensive line in place. An offensive line will make an average quarterback look good and an average runningback look great. Like you said, moving the chains on offense keeps the defense off the field and fresh.

I try not to think about it.. it just makes me sad.

Do you ever think of what "might have been" if we had a stud oline?

Well, I know that there would have been several taco, chicken and pasta all-you-can-eat places that would have had to shut down.

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Originally Posted by bearsinhouston

Do you ever think of what "might have been" if we had a stud oline?


Well, I know that there would have been several taco, chicken and pasta all-you-can-eat places that would have had to shut down.

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I never thought about the economic impact of Webb not being in Chicago. The entire meat-packing industry in Chicago could have tanked.

http://forgotston.com/wp-content/upl...ge-factory.jpg

Halas Hall employees preparing J'Marcus Webb's lunch.

I'm just glad that these OL retreads, experiments, and castoffs by the "guru" were a valuable lesson learned and that TALENT is what it takes to make an O line.

Since the window for the defense is all but shut it does bring more credence to getting another HC and to stop living by the definition of insanity doing the same also ran seasons over and over again expecting different results.

But think about this, kind of crazy. If our OL had been the center piece of the O like it was in 04/05 and they continued to try and bring in via draft/FA to keep it as one of the best, do we have Cutler; or Marshal? Would we still have Rex or Orton or Griese? Those guys behind a top 10 OL might have been able to produce enough to keep us going to the playoffs, even if not very far. Would we have had to pay Forte like a top 5 back if he had a specatcular OL and(no cutler here remember) is probably even more then 40% of the O?

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Originally Posted by Riczaj01

But think about this, kind of crazy. If our OL had been the center piece of the O like it was in 04/05 and they continued to try and bring in via draft/FA to keep it as one of the best, do we have Cutler; or Marshal? Would we still have Rex or Orton or Griese? Those guys behind a top 10 OL might have been able to produce enough to keep us going to the playoffs, even if not very far. Would we have had to pay Forte like a top 5 back if he had a specatcular OL and(no cutler here remember) is probably even more then 40% of the O?

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I have thought about this before. It's a great point. And I don't know how it would have unfolded.

Looking forward to the future, I want to believe Emery understands the importance of always having a decent OL, and he (hopefully) will be better drafting OL talent (fewer misses). Once a franchise has a decent oline, I believe it's not that tough to maintain one. In other words you don't let it deteriorate to the point you are in a full-blown crisis mode, like we have been in recent years.

This is what has frustrated me with Jerry Angelo's tenure here. He failed to be proactive. We just staggered from crisis to crisis regarding our personnel. Then, when he sincerely DID want to draft an oline guy high - he had too many misses. When you stir all that together, there is no way you come up with Super Bowl wins & a trophy case full of Lombardi's.