He has some points, but how much can a team do? I'm still behind Cutler at this point.
FOX Sports Exclusive
Lovie's time has run out in Chicago
The Bears are in the midst of another late-season slide.
Greg Couch
Updated Dec 18, 2012 10:43 AM ET
It’s over for Lovie Smith. He knows it, too. He’s no dummy. He is never going to win a Super Bowl with the Chicago Bears. He’s never going to get there with Jay Cutler. Even his pet defense, now aging and easy to dupe, is never going to win one for him.
It’s not that he has been awful for nine years. He has done some excellent things. But when you keep driving in the same direction, eventually you run out of road. That’s where Smith is now as the Bears’ coach. He has nothing else to do, nowhere else to go . . .
But out.
It’s just time. The Bears need to fire him. It’s not an angry thing, but just a realization that it’s never going to happen in Chicago with Smith. He got the Bears close a few years ago, but has reached the highest height he ever will in this job.
From here, the Bears are going to have to start rebuilding the defense and also the big one: decide after next season whether to give Cutler another big contract. I wouldn’t do it, but it’s a good bet that the Bears will. They haven’t bothered to start developing anyone else, after all. They wouldn’t know how to do it, anyway.
And they are hanging on to their dreams that Cutler has magic. He doesn’t. But Smith’s defensive-mindedness surely isn’t going to make the most of Cutler. Neither will any assistant coach Smith ever hires.
It was just too much imagery Sunday. The Bears lost 21-13 to their rival, Green Bay, who won the division title right there on Soldier Field of all places. It was Green Bay’s sixth straight win over Smith.
Meanwhile, the Bears, once 7-1, have now lost five of six, and are likely to miss the playoffs entirely. It is a collapse even worse than last year’s.
You cannot miss the playoffs five times in six years and still be the head coach. Even the defense, Smith’s specialty, is letting down the Bears now.
Imagery? Cutler had the ball on the Bears' 3-yard line with just under a minute to go. Would this be his defining moment? The Drive? No. He did nothing, and the clock just kind of ran out on him.
On the Bears. On Smith.
“It’s been the same way all year,’’ Bears receiver Brandon Marshall said, pausing to fight off tears. “It’s the same thing every single game. We need to be held accountable.
“What I have to do is try my best to keep it together and not let this affect me . . . Right now, it’s affecting me way too much. I’m trying my all to do my job. So that’s it.’’
He fought off tears again, and then walked away. Marshall had talked about jobs, and re-evaluating everyone on the offense.
The thing that stands out about Smith? His terrible record of hiring assistant coaches. The best CEOs and leaders do not surround themselves with incompetence.
Bob Babich. Mike Martz. Mike Tice. All colossal failures.
When Smith came to the Bears, he wanted assistants who brought the rah-rah feel of college coaches. So he hired a bunch of guys without NFL experience. What happened? Of course, the players didn’t respect their coaches and ignored them. Smith put his friend, Babich, in as defensive coordinator, partly just as a puppet while Smith ran things.
That didn’t work, either.
Next thing you knew, the rah-rah plan was gone, and the Bears had three former NFL head coaches as assistants. Martz, architect of the Greatest Show on Turf, was the offensive coordinator. A guru.
Two years later, he was gone. A fraud. Now, Tice is coordinating the most uncoordinated offense imaginable.
Smith has set world records for firing assistant coaches, guys he hired. Cutler is on his third offensive coordinator in four years.
Surely, next year he’ll be on No. 4. And while Smith turns the offense over entirely to his coordinators, he doesn’t know what to look for in someone to do the job.
The Packers are just such a sharp contrast to the Bears. Neither team has an offensive line, really, but Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers seems to be able to overcome that. Cutler cannot.
Someone asked Rodgers about why the receivers have been so good, and he started talking about the front office’s draft choices, and the coaches developing them.
No one EVER talks about the Bears that way.
Smith has made the defense a source of a civic pride again. His Cover-2 schemes, and varying strategies and looks on defense — things Rodgers praised Sunday — show that he’s still a defensive genius. He has worked some sort of miracle in developing the defense’s belief that it can strip the ball any time it wants. And the locker room believes in him. He got to one Super Bowl, a loss, and two NFC Championship Games.
But the Bears don’t draft and develop the way the Packers do. They patch and paint. And that doesn’t work well anymore, especially when the painters are incompetent assistants you have hired.
The Packers are division champs, but they aren’t great. They aren’t going to the Super Bowl, either. But they brought in Rodgers and developed him slowly, until he was ready. You don’t always have to do that with quarterbacks anymore, apparently.
But by successful scouting, drafting and coaching, Green Bay has not only developed stars, but also solid depth and the continuity of a system. There is something solid about the Packers. And it allows them to get through the ups and downs of a long season.
“It’s been all about who’s hot at the right time,’’ Rodgers said. “You saw it with the Giants last year, and us, (and) Pittsburgh when they made their run a few years back.
“It’s all about how you’re playing late in December, and what your team’s health is like.’’
It’s not all Smith’s fault. He has gone years with a welcome-mat of an offensive line. And while I was strongly in favor of the move when the Bears gave up two first-round picks for Cutler, he is not special. He is certainly no Rodgers.
Cutler is just too flawed. But the Bears don’t think they’ve played that one out yet. Besides, they haven’t shown any ability to draft and develop a quarterback anyway.
This past season, the Bears re-committed to him, giving him his favorite receiver, Marshall. They gave him his favorite quarterback coach, drafted another top receiver, got rid of Martz. I suspect that’s the path the Bears will decide to continue.
But Bears new general manager Phil Emery is going to have to set his own direction, decide if Cutler is worth it. Whatever it is, it just has to be a different one from Smith’s. There is no more road for him.
Last edited by bearsinhouston; 12-18-2012 at 07:28 PM.
Not much I can disagree with on Lovie Dovie. Although I don't know that Cutler is as bad as this guy thinks; he is no Rogers by a long shot. He is fundamentally flawed....mentally being the word b/c he mentally breaks down under pressure in ways that Rogers doesn't. He's just as mobile, he's got a stronger arm, albiet less accurate. He's a hell of a gifted QB, but so was George, so was Couch, so just about any qb ever drafted that was expected to be a franchise guy. The difference in qb's at this level has more to do w/their mental accuman and ability to continue to develop and get better, and not just rely on their physical ability.
I have gone on record as saying they should keep Cutler, but need to draft in the mid rounds another qb(b/c you can get a ton of talent/upside in those rounds) to be the backup; if Cutler proves that he's not the answer 2-4 years down the line, at least you have a guy in the works that might be; and no you shouldn't wait until 2-4 years down the line to look for a good young backup. Get it now. Hell w/Farve GB drafted some of his backups in rounds 1 and 2; that tells you how imporant THEY think the position is. And I think their method has succeeded considering how many more SB's they have then us.
Not much I can disagree with on Lovie Dovie. Although I don't know that Cutler is as bad as this guy thinks; he is no Rogers by a long shot. He is fundamentally flawed....mentally being the word b/c he mentally breaks down under pressure in ways that Rogers doesn't. He's just as mobile, he's got a stronger arm, albiet less accurate. He's a hell of a gifted QB, but so was George, so was Couch, so just about any qb ever drafted that was expected to be a franchise guy. The difference in qb's at this level has more to do w/their mental accuman and ability to continue to develop and get better, and not just rely on their physical ability.
I have gone on record as saying they should keep Cutler, but need to draft in the mid rounds another qb(b/c you can get a ton of talent/upside in those rounds) to be the backup; if Cutler proves that he's not the answer 2-4 years down the line, at least you have a guy in the works that might be; and no you shouldn't wait until 2-4 years down the line to look for a good young backup. Get it now. Hell w/Farve GB drafted some of his backups in rounds 1 and 2; that tells you how imporant THEY think the position is. And I think their method has succeeded considering how many more SB's they have then us.
Ric, I empathize with your very logical goal. I really do. But do you think it's plausible to spend a "mid round" pick on a QB this spring? We don't have a 3rd. We have a boatload of other needs, mostly on O, that will be a challenge to fill in FA and the draft this year. Speaking only of players here not of coaches, we need a starting LT, a starting interior OL, a LB, a depth WR, a starting TE, and probably another depth OL too. We just don't have the luxury of drafting a developmental QB before 2014 at the earliest. I can't find a realistic scenario that puts this "need" in the top 5 right now.
MP I do. I don't see a buttload of other needs that cannot be addressed via FA also.
First, WR/RB depth can be done late draft,iand or FA. it's not required 1-4th, get that in the 5th and beyond.
TE is likely a FA move, there more then a few available, or you can grab a guy in the late rounds, again not really a position that HAS to be taken in the early draft.
OL is going to have to have a couple via FA, no choice there, this OL is already very young(carimi/louis/webb/brown all in their first few years in the league). I don't think you can afford to get 2 in the draft and go any younger(just my opinion). So LT in the first or 2nd.
MLB is the 2nd need and that can be gotten in the 1st or 2nd.
No 3rd.
I don't see the #2 qb on your team as a luxury pick, I see it as a necessity, and GB seems to agree. If you look around these guys in the 3rd 4th and 5th don't need a lot of development, anymore. These qb's coming out of college are running more and more like a tradition pro style O, and are more and more prepared, not to mention the league has made the job of qb easier.
Look at Cousins in Wash, 4th round pick, is looking solid for Wash isn't he? 2 rookie qb's for Wash, a team that lacks a ton of talent around them, how many of their wr's/te's are going to the pro bowl? Is their OL stocked full of pro bowlers?
Yates last year for Hous, 5th round pick, got Hou to the playoffs as the 3rd qb on the team. Ya this team is sick w/talent everywhere.
Wasn't Russel a 3rd round starting qb has his team on the verge of a playoffbirth. Hey is that team loaded w/talent at wr/te? Is their OL loaded w/pro bowlers? That OC only has 1 year w/that team also. That O is looking pretty solid though isn't it.
And there are more, young starters and backups proving their worth in the NFL over the last few years...not it's not a luxury, it's a need. Qb's, ecspecially Cutler seem to miss 1-2 games a year, and if that is the case you better have legit quality to back him up.
I'm fine if they end up firing Lovie. But Couch is an idiot. Cutler is plenty good enough to enable the Bears to be successful. He's not elite. Doesn't have to be.
The rest of the article is a remix of crap we already know. Nothing to see here.
Trestman - Kromer - Tucker - DeCamillis
I'm looking forward to seeing these guys coach. Hope they're good.
MP I do. I don't see a buttload of other needs that cannot be addressed via FA also.
First, WR/RB depth can be done late draft,iand or FA. it's not required 1-4th, get that in the 5th and beyond.
TE is likely a FA move, there more then a few available, or you can grab a guy in the late rounds, again not really a position that HAS to be taken in the early draft.
OL is going to have to have a couple via FA, no choice there, this OL is already very young(carimi/louis/webb/brown all in their first few years in the league). I don't think you can afford to get 2 in the draft and go any younger(just my opinion). So LT in the first or 2nd.
MLB is the 2nd need and that can be gotten in the 1st or 2nd.
No 3rd.
I don't see the #2 qb on your team as a luxury pick, I see it as a necessity, and GB seems to agree. If you look around these guys in the 3rd 4th and 5th don't need a lot of development, anymore. These qb's coming out of college are running more and more like a tradition pro style O, and are more and more prepared, not to mention the league has made the job of qb easier.
Look at Cousins in Wash, 4th round pick, is looking solid for Wash isn't he? 2 rookie qb's for Wash, a team that lacks a ton of talent around them, how many of their wr's/te's are going to the pro bowl? Is their OL stocked full of pro bowlers?
Yates last year for Hous, 5th round pick, got Hou to the playoffs as the 3rd qb on the team. Ya this team is sick w/talent everywhere.
Wasn't Russel a 3rd round starting qb has his team on the verge of a playoffbirth. Hey is that team loaded w/talent at wr/te? Is their OL loaded w/pro bowlers? That OC only has 1 year w/that team also. That O is looking pretty solid though isn't it.
And there are more, young starters and backups proving their worth in the NFL over the last few years...not it's not a luxury, it's a need. Qb's, ecspecially Cutler seem to miss 1-2 games a year, and if that is the case you better have legit quality to back him up.
OK, that's a very rosy scenario you paint there (filling all those needs with only 2 picks in the first 3 rounds and a much smaller FA budget than last year). IF it can be done, I have no objection to a QB in say the 4th. I'm all for maximizing depth and talent of course, but between the draft, FA, and players already in the pipeline we need...
I'm fine if they end up firing Lovie. But Couch is an idiot. Cutler is plenty good enough to enable the Bears to be successful. He's not elite. Doesn't have to be.
The rest of the article is a remix of crap we already know. Nothing to see here.
Yep, I agree. We need to surround him with a competent cast (players and coaches) before thinking about anyone else as a QB.
Cutler is not the problem. Yes, he has some problems, but we can still win with him, I'm convinced.
We got to the Superbowl with Rex Grossman and Brian Griese. If not for their F-d up kicker returner, SF is in last year's SB with Alex Smith. The Ravens won a Superbowl with Dilfer...DILFER!
It is what it is and always has been. Lovie has manged to stick only because he's like and respected by his players and his defense bails his ass out of jams until they get run into the ground later in the year or injuries happen that can't be overcome and those most always happen on offense. The defense compensates decently.
Here are the most telling and straight to the point statements he makes and they're all true.
But Smith’s defensive-mindedness surely isn’t going to make the most of Cutler. Neither will any assistant coach Smith ever hires. (Which is why Emery needs to find one)
The thing that stands out about Smith? His terrible record of hiring assistant coaches. The best CEOs and leaders do not surround themselves with incompetence. Bob Babich. Mike Martz. Mike Tice. All colossal failures. (I still believe that after Rivera was let go many potential OCs refused to work here because it became clear that it was Lovie's way or the highway and Lovie's way won't work offensively. I'm having a tough time coming up with other reasons for why so many have turned him down)
Next thing you knew, the rah-rah plan was gone, and the Bears had three former NFL head coaches as assistants. Martz, architect of the Greatest Show on Turf, was the offensive coordinator. A guru. Two years later, he was gone. A fraud. Now, Tice is coordinating the most uncoordinated offense imaginable. (That last statement is really a great way to put it. I can't imagine a better way to describe it. All we have had in 9 years are an incompetent OC (Shea), a mediocre one (Turner), a failed has been (Martz), and another incompetent never was (Tice). In 9 years we've managed to come full circle back to one of the worst Bears offenses I've ever watched run by one of the best QBs we've ever had. Cutler isn't to blame for Tice's monumental ineptitude)
Someone asked Rodgers about why the receivers have been so good, and he started talking about the front office’s draft choices, and the coaches developing them. No one EVER talks about the Bears that way. (Of course not but a guy whose never developed one really good WR is still coaching the WRs and overestimating their talent level with each passing year and why? Because he's another one of Lovie yes man cronies)
But the Bears don’t draft and develop the way the Packers do. They patch and paint. And that doesn’t work well anymore, especially when the painters are incompetent assistants you have hired. (Very true and maybe one of the main reasons JA was replaced. Were the picks really that awful or have we always had a staff incapable of teaching college kids how to play pro ball? It sure seems like that to me. Other teams make good lineman out of mid round picks and FAs and yet in 3 years we haven't been able to get Webb even close to being a competent LT and so far Carimi is benched and heading for bust status. What gives?)
But by successful scouting, drafting and coaching, Green Bay has not only developed stars, but also solid depth and the continuity of a system. There is something solid about the Packers. And it allows them to get through the ups and downs of a long season. (And therein lies the difference over these past 5 years. We didn't have this problem in the '80s when we had guys like Jim Finks and Jerry Vainisi in the front office and a very good coaching staff who could develop talent. All we can hope for is that we've turned a corner in the front office but unless we wipe out that entire offensive staff and hire new we're still stuck with the same old shit)
These are all statements I agree with but Couch goes too far in other areas. His evaluation of the problems with the culture Lovie runs and his hiring practices are pretty accurate but much of the rest isn't.
I'll still stick be what I said. The Bears aren't that bad a team. They just play badly on offense so let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. At least not yet. If Emery decides to give Lovie one more shot and if Lovie agrees to allow Emery to evaluate and recommend for hire his choice of OC and that guys staff then I think there is a good chance of turning this around in one year.
But if that doesn't happen we're screwed and the only thing that can possible help is to do what's suggested here and cut ties with Lovie and move on. Lovie cannot fix what's wrong with that offense or seemingly find anyone who can. If Emery can't or won't then it's back to life in the middle of the pack again.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap.
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
Everytime I read something by this dude, all I hear is..
.
┌∩┐(◣_◢)┌∩┐
America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." - Claire Wolfe
"Possibly, but it's not to early to start loading ammo!" - Loki
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Riczaj01 
