Every week feels the same with the Bears

Flashback to the beginning of this website in late 2009.  The second entry reads like this:

It’s true that the receivers stink. It’s true that the offensive line is below par. It’s true that the coaching seems to be worse than ever (what was with the first half challenge of Knox’s obvious fumble?!?!). It’s also true that none of the above will be getting better now that the Bears are stuck with Cutler for 5 years and don’t even have a 1st round pick for a couple of years.

No early picks means no rebuilding of the o-line through the draft, and good luck trying to acquire a good o-lineman in his prime through the free agent market. Basically, it’s going to be Jay Cutler and his “unlimited potential” throwing to guys wishing they were average. In case you haven’t noticed, Cutler historically hasn’t been able to get his teams to overachieve, so don’t look for that to happen anytime soon.

That was written over TWO YEARS AGO and exactly nothing has changed, which of course is no surprise because even yours truly predicted it right on this award-winning website.  Ok, so this website hasn’t won any awards, but it should win something for being able to point out the Bears’ flaws faster than management.  Jay Cutler’s injury only helped proved the point that everything around him was bad and simply wasn’t going to get better because Chicago entered into a deal with the devil that ensured the ONLY way to achieve success was if Chicago remained completely healthy at all skill positions including quarterback.  The NFL being the NFL, sane people know an injury-free season for a team short on depth is impossible.  Therefore, what’s the best way to improve a franchise?  That’s right, add talent with depth a priority.  Instead, Chicago let depth die and the team pinned all its hopes on a QB not known for overachieving (which is absolutely necessary to win a Super Bowl with the team around him).

With Cutler, the Bears beat a sub-.500 playoff team last year and then lost to a Packers team riddled with injuries in the NFC Championship.  Without Cutler, the Bears have difficulty just holding onto the ball long enough for the punter to help out in the dreaded “battle of field position.”  Scoring is primarily the job of the defense and special teams.  As much as Lovie loves to preach about takeaways, add up the number of teams winning Super Bowls relying on defense as an offense.  It’s the same number as the amount of playoff victories the Bears will experience this season.

What do fans get then?  Without Cutler, a very bad football team.  With Cutler, a borderline good football team.  The biggest problem behind it all is the flawed concept of trading away the future for a player not equipped to win by himself in the present.  That’s nothing YOU the reader don’t already know.  If you see Jerry Angelo, would you mention it to him?

Unfortunately for Chicago fans, I foresaw a late season slump including a loss to the shockingly competitive Denver Broncos.  Now with Cutler and Forte out and Tim Tebow winning games despite defying every ounce of NFL logic, it’s not looking good for the Bears this Sunday.  Stranger things have happened (such as a Tim Tebow winning streak in the NFL), but I just don’t see a Caleb Hanie-led offense scoring enough off of Denver’s defense to win.

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It took over a decade for New Orleans to climb out of the hole Ditka put them in when he traded away the entire future for Ricky Williams.  Now the Bears traded away a big part of the future several years ago for Jay Cutler, an above average QB with a strong arm, questionable leadership skills, and a mediocre career QB rating.  Cutler himself proved to live up to his end for much of his career in Chicago so far, but so did the lack of depth.  The Bears haven’t been able to develop a star receiver, and attempts at converting Devin Hester to a  “go to” guy on offense have been a failure.  The defense has been good but has shown its age at times, and if Matt Forte isn’t dominating, the rest of the offense stalls in a hurry.  Now, with Cutler likely on the shelf for at least the rest of the regular season, the competitive but shallow talent pool in Chicago will be in the hands of Caleb Hanie.  Can he make it work?  We’ll see.  Should this be a surprise to Chicago fans?  No, not when the owner willingly trades depth for one player.  In the NFL, it’s not a matter of “if” one player will get hurt, but “when.”  Now is Cutler’s “when,” so the Bears will find out what kind of talent he truly has around him.

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That job was made infinitely easier for Jay Cutler thanks to some much needed protection.  Cutler’s jersey hardly got dirty, and as a result, another “W” is put on the left column.  Cutler hardly had Pro Bowl stats, but maybe Martz and the rest of the staff is starting to realize that balance is the way to win games.  Proper balance on the ground and through the air are necessary to keep Cutler jersey from getting grass stains, and the Bears exhibited it perfectly in the first quarter, getting Matt Forte involved heavily in the first drive.  That’s all it took to open up the medium range passing game, and suddenly Cutler had the extra second or two to make good decisions and see the field better.  The results?  No interceptions, 30 points, and a road win.

This site predicted a huge Chicago victory against the Lions this Sunday.  Hopefully this week, I’m right.

Hmmm, they don't look that intimidating...

My preseason prediction figured the Bears to lose a close one tonight, and after looking at all of the data, it’s still hard to argue against that informed opinion.  The Eagles simply have more talent, but as they have shown earlier in the season, talent doesn’t always equate to victories.  Here’s hoping the Bears to sneak one by the lovers of cheesesteaks.  Now for my unwarranted, more detailed predictions hopefully to be proven incorrect by a more positive final score:

• both teams will score a special teams TD
• Cromartie will intercept at least one Jay Cutler pass
• it will be McCoy, not Vick, who will prove to hurt Chicago the most

Final predicted score, Philly 24, Bears 20.  Prove me wrong Chicago, and you’ll be (gasp!) in position to make the playoffs!

For 2011, however, the Bears can be considered the smarter franchise.  Why?  Someone in Denver thought it would be a good idea to bench that average QB not for the second string QB but for the third string QB just because his name is Tim Tebow and seemingly just because Broncos fans know how to chant his name.  Needless to say, everything the scouts have said about him is true (basically summed up as “he is not an NFL quarterback”) and the results have been embarassing for Denver.

Meanwhile, Chicago keeps plugging along with its mediocrity, hoping to find some answers to Michael Vick Monday night and somehow get into playoff contention like last year.  This time around, however, it’s going to be a lot harder with both Green Bay and Detroit playing better football.

Look kids, Big Ben... Parliament

‘ello gov’nor!  Time to sip a spot of tea and take in the Bears from London on Sunday.  The Bears made the horribly poor tactical decision of flying in days later than the Bucs, so expect a sluggish, sloppy game.  I’ll stick with my original prediction of a Bears victory, but the results won’t be nearly as attractive as last week’s steamrolling of Minnesota.

The one question I have for Chicago media is why does Roy Williams keep popping up in interviews and quotes everywhere?  He has accomplished nothing for this team, yet he always seems to be the voice of the team.  There are plenty of players worthy and deserving of a Q&A session, so give someone else a chance to utter clichés.

Look for Matt Forte to score the Bears only TD on foreign soil, but me thinks it will be enough against Tampa Bay who will have feasted on a little too much fish and chips to manage double digits.  Like the 1983 White Sox, these Bears will try to do a little “winnin’ ugly.”  Here’s hoping they don’t embarass themselves in front of the locals. 

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Cutler deserves this entire box for last week's effort

It’s painful to say, but reality is reality: the Detroit Lions have more talent and depth than the Chicago Bears.  We already know that the Packers are deep as well (look no further than last year’s Super Bowl win despite a plethora of injuries), but this Sunday’s matchup against Minnesota is a winnable one.  Sure, Adrian Peterson will be on display, but in recent years, the NFL has shown that elite running backs don’t necessarily translate into elite teams.  Detroit’s depth got to the Bears, as it seemed they trotted out an endless supply of fresh defensive linemen in the second half, all of whom overmatched Chicago’s front line.

This week, however, if Jay Cutler can get a little protection (an enormous “IF”), the Bears have a fighting chance to score a few times down the field and hopefully prevent some of the big plays while on defense.  For starters, the recent demotion of both starting safeties should help, but it might also help to actually make an effort to tackle a receiver or a back rather than simply running alongside trying to punch the ball out for 30 yards.  When it works, great.  When it doesn’t, it causes more trouble than it’s worth.

Kudos should go to Jay Cutler for last week’s gritty effort in the face of constant silver and blue.  Scrambling for his life, Cutler managed to escape unharmed and mistake free, albeit with another loss.  Of course, this is no surprise, because as readers of this website are well aware, trading for Jay Cutler ensured that mediocrity was the future in Chicago for years to come with very little left in the way of player development.  Perhaps the guy paid like a #1 receiver who is actually a #3 receiver at best can return a kick or two and return the Bears to .500 for a week at least.

From gossipcop.com

Ever since Jay Cutler put on a Bears jersey the first time, this site made it perfectly clear that Chicago wouldn’t be able to get to the next level because Jay was a “fine” QB but not a franchise QB and, more importantly, without any help surrounding Cutler, the Bears were destined for mediocrity.  Here we are, years later, and nothing has changed.  When you trade away first round picks and have a history of difficulty in developing draft picks in general, the only way to improve the team is through free agency.  Julius Peppers was a great signing, but a lack of money and available free agents severely limits the strategy.  Other limits are self-inflicted, like paying Devin Hester as a prime receiver when he is only a special teams marvel.

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In the end, what you have is a team with enough talent to squeak by a bad team with a star like the Carolina Panthers.  What you also have is a team with enough weaknesses to allow themselves no mistakes if they want to avoid losing to bad teams like the Carolina Panthers.  In short, what you have is a mediocre team.  If Coach Green is around, you might put a hand on his shoulder and assure him that they are who we thought they were.

Will this mediocre team prevail against an upstart Lions team?  We’ll find out Monday…