Thread: Dropped passes are killing us. Poor run-blocking killing us.

if you think about it losing to the vikings and putting it all on the packers game(I dont see us losing to the cardinals....) and beating the lions which we can very much do helps us out because it gives the vikings more reason to try when they play the packers in there hopes of a playoff runs it gives us a better chance to top them for Divison champs also getting a 3 game win streak going into playoffs will be nice boost.

While I don't disagree that we need upgrades, if anyone thinks the reason we are 8-5 is on Davis/Hester you are sadly mistaken. They are not key kogs in the operation, and are not going to win or lose games for you; they are merely polish on a nice car. We are 8-5 right now b/c our coaching is inept our OL his brutal, and the D is no longer capable of winning games on it's own. Davis/Hester are luxury items to move around, which is fine....but when building a SB team they are not what needs to be dealt with immiediately, the OL and coaches are.

stay centered folks. you're talking about throwing out the horse shoes on an old mare b/c she cannot win a race anymore.

Originally Posted by MPBears68

I don't for a second think that "Hester and Davis are alone responsible" for this teams meltdown. Of course not. There are a number of factors and moving parts here.

The HC & OC are failures.
The OL is a shambles.
When the D plays less than "elite" ball (which means 3+ takeaways), the O usually can't score enough points to win.
Jay is under frequent duress and presses to make plays. Poor decisions and inaccurate picks result.
The running game has failed to live up to its full potential (see: OL & OC)

etc., etc., etc.

Not scapegoating and not ignoring the above issues. But the lack of quality depth among the receiving corps is most definitely an issue that has been exposed game after game.

Green Bay has had terrible OL woes all year too.
Their D is overall nowhere near as good as our is.
Their RB corps has been a revolving door crapfest.
Their leaders on defense (Woodson & Mathews) have been hurt too.
They lost their #1 WR (Jennings) most of the year and their #2 WR (Nelson) part of it too.
They even were hung with a loss on a bad last minute call by replacement refs.

Yet, with better coaching and better receiving depth they have been able to pull ahead of us and their arrow is pointing up rather than down now.

Changes, players and coaches, need to be made. Serious changes, not just window dressing.

Better coaching and better depth, and better ownership. But all of that takes years to develop, Emery cannot fix this in one year; and if he keeps reaching for players like he did w/Shea it will take even longer.

But the problems start w/Coaching, and OL. As bad as GB's OL is, it's still not worse then the Bears. I still am on record that these coaches wanted to prove they didn't need Forte to be a major factor and were now an elite passing team b/c of Cutler/Marshal/Jeffery, and they failed miserably at it.

Ric, my thought on that is that the coaches wanted to prove that they had an exciting passing game with the new toys. Either show Emery that his guys were the right guys, or maybe show they had the ability to take top tier players and use them effectively.I might be wrong, but they invested in Bates, Marshall, Jeffrey -- basically a retool of the passing game and they wanted to show everyone what they could do with it more than trying to downplay Forte. They not only showed they could not, but they showed they were not smart enough to realize they could not and go back to using Bush. He is the best RB weapon with the line we have. Him and Forte around the end if he can get there.

Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

Maybe it is a combination of a lot of things that individually are "no big deal" but collectively they end up with a failed season. All of the points that have been mentioned in this thread are valid points. But I don't think it's as simple as just the oline, or just Lovie, or just Emery not getting the oline fixed. When I rant about Hester, I realize this is just a relatively minor problem. But it's just indicative of the bigger picture of failure - because to me, one of the major contributing factors that has hurt the team, has been personnel failures. In the end, you either have the talent or you don't.

We don't.

By the end of this season, Emery should have a crystal clear picture of our problems (both coaching and player personnel). We do, IMHO, have a lot of good things here. It's not like the entire team is garbage. We do have a lot of solid pieces that can help us build a winner here in Chicago. Emery seems to have the gears to build a winner here. But it is not something that's going to happen overnight. Although, some of these things CAN be fixed pretty easily in a single off-season. Not everything, but the ship can be turned around by the 2013 season.

I'm ok if Emery thinks we need to gut the team, but all I want, is to be thoughtful about this. Don't amputate the patient's leg if he needs a tonsillectomy. But if the leg DOES need to go, then that's fine to.

Just get it right this time. Just, for once, I'd like the Chicago Bears to get it right.

I doubt Emery thinks we need to "gut" the team and I don't either. I have come to believe that we need to amputate the coaching staff on the offensive side though. That means HC to OC down to the positional coaches. The only guy there who should stay is Bates because Cutler obviously wants him as QB coach (OC, I don't know enough to know).

As far as players go, there is way better talent here, the OL excepted, than a mediocre final record would otherwise indicate (see: failure, coaching). Sticking purely to on-field personnel, there aren't many changes I would make to starters or key non-starters.

The OL is the clear exception. We need two new starters and Carimi needs to play like a real 1st rounder next year.

We do need to draft a SLB/MLB potential guy. Even if Urlacher recovers some in his play after a full offseason w/o surgery and rehab, he is still on his last legs. Youth is needed there.

The safeties are fine and young. Depth there too.

CBs are excellent. Tillman should have a few good years left.

The DL looks good with Paea, Melton, Collins, Wooten, and hopefully Shea anchoring. Pep and Izzy should have another year or two in them now that there's a good rotation.

Forte, Bush, Allen...all set there.

TE is a mess. Definitely need a starting upgrade there and get ERod more involved as a receiver next year.

The top half of the WR corps is damn good (when healthy and utilized properly). Jeffery looks like a star in the making with a little more time (he only played half a season). Bennett is a solid experienced possession guy with reliable hands. Marshall is better than any of us imagined--one of the leagues elites. Problem is, the floor drops off after that. There isn't a single plausible NFL pass receiver in the bottom 3. Emery needs to fix that by finding us our TY Hilton or Randall Cobb equivalent as a #4 man.

My rants about Davis and Hester are similar to yours. They aren't the "whole enchilada" problem-wise by any means but they are A) consistently failing to produce what is needed/required and B) very expendable, especially if the few million bucks in cap space freed up by ditching them is otherwise put to good use. (See: above needs)

That's all I'm saying.

Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

The good news is that the offense is "fixable" this off-season. Our 2012 season was doomed before it began, due to the fact we didn't fix the offensive line. But this is something that will be fixed this off-season through the draft AND free agency.

Clearly we need to acquire WR's and TE's who can catch a football. I worry that I'm going to have a heart attack before this season is over - watching Hester, the "hands of stone" drop another key pass. The guy is killing our team. Here's the deal. I don't care where he is on the WR depth chart. If he can't reliably run routes and catch a football, then he's no good to us. Yes, even the #4 WR has to be able to actually CATCH a football. I'd rather have a slow guy who can catch reliably, than a fast guy who can't run routes or catch a football.

But I think these things ARE fixable this off season.

when you say fix the oline this offseason based on what standard? Cause this season supposedly they fixed the oline by getting rid of Martz and promoting Tice, cutting Omyale, and signing Rachal. And everyone celebrated it. Well how about next offseason they get another OC and some more garbage bin bums like Rachal is that good enough? Or are you expecting legit talent to be brought in?