MORRISSEY: Sixth straight loss to Packers signals it’s time for change

MORRISSEY: Sixth straight loss to Packers signals it’s time for change

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/footb...or-change.html

BY RICK MORRISSEY rmorrissey@suntimes.com December 16, 2012 9:48PM


Change is coming to the Bears. It has to be.
You don’t lose to your archrivals six consecutive times and stand still. You don’t play as poorly as the Bears did Sunday and have people hold on to their jobs.
Receiver Brandon Marshall, bless him, seems to understand that right down to his soul. On the verge of tears after the Packers’
21-13 victory, he cut short a postgame news conference and walked away from the lectern. That he’s in his first season with the Bears should shame the people who have been around here a long time. He grasps the emotion of the rivalry. He gets what’s at stake here. I’m not sure some others do.
‘‘It’s the same thing every single game,’’ Marshall said. ‘‘We need to be held accountable. What I’ve got to do is I’ve got to try my best to keep it together and not let this affect me. Because it’s starting to affect me more than it should. I love this game. I’m very passionate about this game, and right now it’s affecting me way too much. I’m trying my all to do my job. That’s it.’’
With that, he walked away, three questions and less than a minute into his session with reporters.
Losing at home to the Packers will do that to someone who cares. As far as the specifics of what was bothering Marshall, we’ll have to hazard a few guesses.
The Packers ran 71 plays; the Bears ran 48. The Packers were 7-for-17 on third-down conversions; the Bears were 0-for-9. The Bears had to settle for a field goal after getting to the Packers’ 1-yard line on second down late in the third quarter.
All that should be enough to bring a caring Bear to the point of tears.
Perhaps Marshall didn’t fully understand what he was up against with this franchise and this season until Sunday. He had called out the Packers’ defensive backs during the week, in essence putting all the pressure on himself. He might have been under the impression his teammates were going to raise their games when, in reality, they were suffering from catastrophic hydraulic problems.
If the Bears win their last two games — at the Cardinals and at the Lions — they will have a 10-6 record. Does this look or feel anything like a 10-6 team? Bill Parcells used to say you are what your record says you are. Had he watched these Bears with any regularity, though, he would have claimed he was misquoted.
The Bears lost by eight points, and it might as well have been 80 or 800. That’s how it felt. Even when the Packers inexplicably, incomprehensibly and just plain stupidly tried a backward pass on a punt return and lost the ensuing fumble in the fourth quarter — with an 11-point lead! — it never felt anything like a momentum shift. It felt like a dead horse and a bone-dry canteen in a desert.
The offensive line isn’t good, Jay Cutler and Matt Forte are what they are and the intersection of all that is the mediocrity that was visited upon Soldier Field on Sunday. That’s how a 7-1 record has turned into an 8-6 record.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers looked rusty at the start, but he was 23-for-36 for 291 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions at the end. That’s how a team wins the NFC North title on the road.
What you really need to know about the Bears on Sunday took place hundreds of miles from Chicago. The Redskins won with a backup quarterback. The Vikings won without a quarterback, period. Both those teams are fighting for their playoff lives. The Bears are fighting to stay awake. Their two remaining games, both against lower-tier teams, aren’t givens. Not even the Cardinals, who lost 58-0 on Dec. 9 to the Seahawks.
That’s where the Bears are, friends.
Coach Lovie Smith is the one who put a premium on the rivalry against the Packers. He’s the one who said beating the Packers was the most important thing for the franchise each season. So now he has lost eight of the last nine to the Packers, dropping his career record against them to 8-11.
‘‘You don’t want to lose to your rival year in, year out,’’ Cutler said. ‘‘Then it’s not a rivalry anymore. It’s a domination.’’
Time for change. I can hear it approaching. It sounds a lot like the Packers’ fight song.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Riczaj01

MORRISSEY: Sixth straight loss to Packers signals it’s time for change

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/footb...or-change.html



BY RICK MORRISSEY rmorrissey@suntimes.com December 16, 2012 9:48PM


Change is coming to the Bears. It has to be.
You don’t lose to your archrivals six consecutive times and stand still. You don’t play as poorly as the Bears did Sunday and have people hold on to their jobs.
Receiver Brandon Marshall, bless him, seems to understand that right down to his soul. On the verge of tears after the Packers’
21-13 victory, he cut short a postgame news conference and walked away from the lectern. That he’s in his first season with the Bears should shame the people who have been around here a long time. He grasps the emotion of the rivalry. He gets what’s at stake here. I’m not sure some others do.
‘‘It’s the same thing every single game,’’ Marshall said. ‘‘We need to be held accountable. What I’ve got to do is I’ve got to try my best to keep it together and not let this affect me. Because it’s starting to affect me more than it should. I love this game. I’m very passionate about this game, and right now it’s affecting me way too much. I’m trying my all to do my job. That’s it.’’
With that, he walked away, three questions and less than a minute into his session with reporters.
Losing at home to the Packers will do that to someone who cares. As far as the specifics of what was bothering Marshall, we’ll have to hazard a few guesses.
The Packers ran 71 plays; the Bears ran 48. The Packers were 7-for-17 on third-down conversions; the Bears were 0-for-9. The Bears had to settle for a field goal after getting to the Packers’ 1-yard line on second down late in the third quarter.
All that should be enough to bring a caring Bear to the point of tears.
Perhaps Marshall didn’t fully understand what he was up against with this franchise and this season until Sunday. He had called out the Packers’ defensive backs during the week, in essence putting all the pressure on himself. He might have been under the impression his teammates were going to raise their games when, in reality, they were suffering from catastrophic hydraulic problems.
If the Bears win their last two games — at the Cardinals and at the Lions — they will have a 10-6 record. Does this look or feel anything like a 10-6 team? Bill Parcells used to say you are what your record says you are. Had he watched these Bears with any regularity, though, he would have claimed he was misquoted.
The Bears lost by eight points, and it might as well have been 80 or 800. That’s how it felt. Even when the Packers inexplicably, incomprehensibly and just plain stupidly tried a backward pass on a punt return and lost the ensuing fumble in the fourth quarter — with an 11-point lead! — it never felt anything like a momentum shift. It felt like a dead horse and a bone-dry canteen in a desert.
The offensive line isn’t good, Jay Cutler and Matt Forte are what they are and the intersection of all that is the mediocrity that was visited upon Soldier Field on Sunday. That’s how a 7-1 record has turned into an 8-6 record.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers looked rusty at the start, but he was 23-for-36 for 291 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions at the end. That’s how a team wins the NFC North title on the road.
What you really need to know about the Bears on Sunday took place hundreds of miles from Chicago. The Redskins won with a backup quarterback. The Vikings won without a quarterback, period. Both those teams are fighting for their playoff lives. The Bears are fighting to stay awake. Their two remaining games, both against lower-tier teams, aren’t givens. Not even the Cardinals, who lost 58-0 on Dec. 9 to the Seahawks.
That’s where the Bears are, friends.
Coach Lovie Smith is the one who put a premium on the rivalry against the Packers. He’s the one who said beating the Packers was the most important thing for the franchise each season. So now he has lost eight of the last nine to the Packers, dropping his career record against them to 8-11.
‘‘You don’t want to lose to your rival year in, year out,’’ Cutler said. ‘‘Then it’s not a rivalry anymore. It’s a domination.’’
Time for change. I can hear it approaching. It sounds a lot like the Packers’ fight song.

---

Time for Lovie to go. Yes, Tice has utterly failed. Bates, this isn't a 7-on-7 passing league. You've done great working with two players, but what about the rest of the WR's involvement in the game week in and week out? Oh, speaking of which, Drake has utterly failed year in and year out as well.

All said, when there's multiple coaching failures the boss, at some point, has to be held accountable.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Riczaj01

MORRISSEY: Sixth straight loss to Packers signals it’s time for change

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/footb...or-change.html



BY RICK MORRISSEY rmorrissey@suntimes.com December 16, 2012 9:48PM


Change is coming to the Bears. It has to be.
You don’t lose to your archrivals six consecutive times and stand still. You don’t play as poorly as the Bears did Sunday and have people hold on to their jobs.
Receiver Brandon Marshall, bless him, seems to understand that right down to his soul. On the verge of tears after the Packers’
21-13 victory, he cut short a postgame news conference and walked away from the lectern. That he’s in his first season with the Bears should shame the people who have been around here a long time. He grasps the emotion of the rivalry. He gets what’s at stake here. I’m not sure some others do.
‘‘It’s the same thing every single game,’’ Marshall said. ‘‘We need to be held accountable. What I’ve got to do is I’ve got to try my best to keep it together and not let this affect me. Because it’s starting to affect me more than it should. I love this game. I’m very passionate about this game, and right now it’s affecting me way too much. I’m trying my all to do my job. That’s it.’’
With that, he walked away, three questions and less than a minute into his session with reporters.
Losing at home to the Packers will do that to someone who cares. As far as the specifics of what was bothering Marshall, we’ll have to hazard a few guesses.
The Packers ran 71 plays; the Bears ran 48. The Packers were 7-for-17 on third-down conversions; the Bears were 0-for-9. The Bears had to settle for a field goal after getting to the Packers’ 1-yard line on second down late in the third quarter.
All that should be enough to bring a caring Bear to the point of tears.
Perhaps Marshall didn’t fully understand what he was up against with this franchise and this season until Sunday. He had called out the Packers’ defensive backs during the week, in essence putting all the pressure on himself. He might have been under the impression his teammates were going to raise their games when, in reality, they were suffering from catastrophic hydraulic problems.
If the Bears win their last two games — at the Cardinals and at the Lions — they will have a 10-6 record. Does this look or feel anything like a 10-6 team? Bill Parcells used to say you are what your record says you are. Had he watched these Bears with any regularity, though, he would have claimed he was misquoted.
The Bears lost by eight points, and it might as well have been 80 or 800. That’s how it felt. Even when the Packers inexplicably, incomprehensibly and just plain stupidly tried a backward pass on a punt return and lost the ensuing fumble in the fourth quarter — with an 11-point lead! — it never felt anything like a momentum shift. It felt like a dead horse and a bone-dry canteen in a desert.
The offensive line isn’t good, Jay Cutler and Matt Forte are what they are and the intersection of all that is the mediocrity that was visited upon Soldier Field on Sunday. That’s how a 7-1 record has turned into an 8-6 record.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers looked rusty at the start, but he was 23-for-36 for 291 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions at the end. That’s how a team wins the NFC North title on the road.
What you really need to know about the Bears on Sunday took place hundreds of miles from Chicago. The Redskins won with a backup quarterback. The Vikings won without a quarterback, period. Both those teams are fighting for their playoff lives. The Bears are fighting to stay awake. Their two remaining games, both against lower-tier teams, aren’t givens. Not even the Cardinals, who lost 58-0 on Dec. 9 to the Seahawks.
That’s where the Bears are, friends.
Coach Lovie Smith is the one who put a premium on the rivalry against the Packers. He’s the one who said beating the Packers was the most important thing for the franchise each season. So now he has lost eight of the last nine to the Packers, dropping his career record against them to 8-11.
‘‘You don’t want to lose to your rival year in, year out,’’ Cutler said. ‘‘Then it’s not a rivalry anymore. It’s a domination.’’
Time for change. I can hear it approaching. It sounds a lot like the Packers’ fight song.

---

Time for Lovie to go. Yes, Tice has utterly failed. Bates, this isn't a 7-on-7 passing league. You've done great working with two players, but what about the rest of the WR's involvement in the game week in and week out? Oh, speaking of which, Drake has utterly failed year in and year out as well.

All said, when there's multiple coaching failures the boss, at some point, has to be held accountable.

Yes Tice is by far one the worst OC we have had. I don't get what your talking about when it comes to Bates, Bates is the QB coach and works mostly with Culter. As for Drake, I am not a big fan of the guy but its hard to coach a player if he can't practice and that has been the case most of this year with all but one WR.

As for Lovie if you have been a Bears fan for any number of years you know Lovie knows nothing about the Offense. That being said I really don't care for the idea of letting Lovie go. But this just might just be the right time, if not this year regardless of what we do next year unless we win the SB, Lovie should go.

My reasoning is simple, with key players getting up in age it might be time to move away from the Tampa 2, and as long as Lovie is here that is just what our Defense will play. If we lose Lovie we could lose Marinelli, Bates as well as Toubs and of course our great OC no play calling Tice.

If Emery keeps Lovie, Lovie must have to give up control over the Offense and who is picked as the next OC. The new OC as well as Lovie has to know regardless of what happens to Lovie at the end of next season, the OC as long as he has put a danm good product on the field next year, will be here regardless of who the HC is in 2014. Then Lovie and Marinelli need to understand that the Defense has to be reworked to fit the players, regardless of what scheme they use.

Emery as the GM has to be the most active GM in FA, he has to sign O linemen, TEs and maybe even another WR as well as what ever Defensive player are available. What ever can't be filled by trade(and we all know has some of these) or FA signings, needs to be address in draft, especially defensive players that can take over for our older defensive players as needed.

This team is not that far from being a repeat SB winning team, all we need to do is clear up the mistakes that Tice and JA have left on thiis team and move on.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rakk

Time for Lovie to go. Yes, Tice has utterly failed. Bates, this isn't a 7-on-7 passing league. You've done great working with two players, but what about the rest of the WR's involvement in the game week in and week out? Oh, speaking of which, Drake has utterly failed year in and year out as well.

All said, when there's multiple coaching failures the boss, at some point, has to be held accountable.

---

I totally agree that it is time for a change. When Lovie came out last week and said te team was in good shape I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. We haven't won against a truly good team all year. We were lucky to get some soft teams to play. I fear however that the McCaskey's don't care as they are going to get their monies worth. It's us the fans that are being short changed.
The NFL has become an offensive league instead of a smash-mouth league. We need an offensive guru to take the team by the reins.
Enough said as I'm getting pissed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JJ-30

Yes Tice is by far one the worst OC we have had. I don't get what your talking about when it comes to Bates, Bates is the QB coach and works mostly with Culter. As for Drake, I am not a big fan of the guy but its hard to coach a player if he can't practice and that has been the case most of this year with all but one WR.

As for Lovie if you have been a Bears fan for any number of years you know Lovie knows nothing about the Offense. That being said I really don't care for the idea of letting Lovie go. But this just might just be the right time, if not this year regardless of what we do next year unless we win the SB, Lovie should go.

My reasoning is simple, with key players getting up in age it might be time to move away from the Tampa 2, and as long as Lovie is here that is just what our Defense will play. If we lose Lovie we could lose Marinelli, Bates as well as Toubs and of course our great OC no play calling Tice.

If Emery keeps Lovie, Lovie must have to give up control over the Offense and who is picked as the next OC. The new OC as well as Lovie has to know regardless of what happens to Lovie at the end of next season, the OC as long as he has put a danm good product on the field next year, will be here regardless of who the HC is in 2014. Then Lovie and Marinelli need to understand that the Defense has to be reworked to fit the players, regardless of what scheme they use.

Emery as the GM has to be the most active GM in FA, he has to sign O linemen, TEs and maybe even another WR as well as what ever Defensive player are available. What ever can't be filled by trade(and we all know has some of these) or FA signings, needs to be address in draft, especially defensive players that can take over for our older defensive players as needed.

This team is not that far from being a repeat SB winning team, all we need to do is clear up the mistakes that Tice and JA have left on thiis team and move on.

---

That sums up my feelings exactly. JJ, you have a nice balanced view of the Chicago Bears. I always enjoy your posts (even when I sometimes don't agree with you, I can always see your logic).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JJ-30

Yes Tice is by far one the worst OC we have had. I don't get what your talking about when it comes to Bates, Bates is the QB coach and works mostly with Culter. As for Drake, I am not a big fan of the guy but its hard to coach a player if he can't practice and that has been the case most of this year with all but one WR.

As for Lovie if you have been a Bears fan for any number of years you know Lovie knows nothing about the Offense. That being said I really don't care for the idea of letting Lovie go. But this just might just be the right time, if not this year regardless of what we do next year unless we win the SB, Lovie should go.

My reasoning is simple, with key players getting up in age it might be time to move away from the Tampa 2, and as long as Lovie is here that is just what our Defense will play. If we lose Lovie we could lose Marinelli, Bates as well as Toubs and of course our great OC no play calling Tice.

If Emery keeps Lovie, Lovie must have to give up control over the Offense and who is picked as the next OC. The new OC as well as Lovie has to know regardless of what happens to Lovie at the end of next season, the OC as long as he has put a danm good product on the field next year, will be here regardless of who the HC is in 2014. Then Lovie and Marinelli need to understand that the Defense has to be reworked to fit the players, regardless of what scheme they use.

Emery as the GM has to be the most active GM in FA, he has to sign O linemen, TEs and maybe even another WR as well as what ever Defensive player are available. What ever can't be filled by trade(and we all know has some of these) or FA signings, needs to be address in draft, especially defensive players that can take over for our older defensive players as needed.

This team is not that far from being a repeat SB winning team, all we need to do is clear up the mistakes that Tice and JA have left on thiis team and move on.

---

On Bates. Cutler to Marshall is working like a charm, just as in Denver. But Cutler is not finding open targets outside of Marshall with any consistency. After the punt fumble recovery yesterday, Cutler had a wide open (Davis? can't recall which TE) but was clearly set on going to the end zone regardless. As a QB coach, and you're QB isn't going through his progressions when he has time, you have to fix that. That's coaching, unless your player is just blowing you off week in and week out, in which case you're useless. Kinda defeats the purpose of having a coach.

Regarding Drake. No he hasn't had much to work with. However, after four years of trotting out Hester as starter, he still has no sync with Cutler. Again, if I'm a position coach, and one of my players clearly is not performing to standard, I have to take action. Go into the coaches meetings and say, "My guy is not capable of doing what you're asking" or something. Also, if you can't get your player to get on the same page with the quarterback after four years, then either you suck as a coach or your player is completely incapable. Either way, it falls on you as the coach. A coach has to react when a player makes the same mistake repeatedly. Evidently, the player doesn't realize what he is doing, and that's where the coach has to step in and fix it. It's like a boxer in the ring.

Speaking of what Morrissey wrote in his column about Marshall, did you notice the utter lack of urgency in the offense every play in the 4th Q?

You know, a "must win" game against your key rival is on the line in the late 4th Q...and the team approached the line of scrimmage looking like it was in a August practice in shorts. The lack of passion, fire, effort, and discipline was right there to see on TV. The fans at SF saw it too, and booed. Besides Cutler, Marshall, and Forte everyone else was basically just running out the clock.

Contrast that with what you saw from both offenses in the Sunday night game. Night and day difference in coaching.

The worse part of these loses is that I keep losing bets with asshole packerfans. lol