adam

Yep, I can't tell you how many times we have let teams back into games by first playing uber conservative on offense which would result in numerous 3 and outs, and then switch to prevent and allow teams to play pitch and catch all the way down the field for a score.

I was surprised to hear similar sentiments on ESPN (not like that is surprising). They kept saying, "I am sure Buffalo would love to be where the Bears and Eagles have been" and "be careful what you ask for" and "who are they going to get that is better". How many times did the Bears have back-to-back winning seasons under Lovie Smith (9 seasons)? 1 (2005-2006) We had back-to-back winning seasons once in the last decade. To me it is surprising that he lasted this long. He should've been given 3 years after the Super Bowl loss. What did the Bears do in those 3 years? 7-9, 9-7, 7-9, and no playoff appearances. He should've been fired after 2009, but since it was Cutler's first year, apparently he got a free pass. I also didn't like how he ousted Ron Rivera after the SB, and the defense has never matched the same dominance after that.

Final numbers for wins against winning teams: 2006 - 2 wins 2007 - 2 wins 2008 - 3 wins 2009 - 2 wins 2010 - 3 wins 2011 - 2 wins 2012 - 2 wins (Dallas going 8-8 reduced total by 1) So for 2012, we went 2-6 against winning teams. If we went 3-5 we make the playoffs. Amazing how a few plays in an entire season can impact coaching careers. If the Bears stop Seattle from scoring that last minute TD or hold them to something other than another TD in OT, and we win, who knows where we would be right now.

No, it was a team effort. Lovie was on the hot seat the moment Emery was hired. He either succeeded this season (and was well on his way after a 7-1 start), or failed (which occurred with a 1-5 stretch against playoff teams (2-6 overall).

I would prefer Arians or McCoy over Muschamp, and would prefer an NFL coordinator over a college coach.

After his performance this year, I can't see Emery paying him with Weems on the roster. Weems has been a ST stud and can handle return duties as well. Hester was electric in his prime, but he has lost a step or the rest of the league has gotten faster, because doesn't make anyone miss anymore. Sad to see his decline because I thought he had 2-3 good years left.

Yeah Peyton Manning carried that team for a decade, they should've won 2-3 with him at the helm.

Gruden built a Super Bowl team in Oakland, then got traded to Tampa where he beat his former team. So he essentially had 2 Super Bowl teams in 1 year, now that is efficient.

To me most decent coaches could've done what Lovie did with these players over his tenure. Any defense, with players like Urlacher, Briggs, Peppers, and Tillman would be good. Lovie gets some credit, but not all of it. Tillman alone accounted for most of "Lovie's ball hawking defense" as someone pointed out recently. Every year it seemed like we never lived up to expectations. This year as well, we had a top 5 defense and special teams, and an offense with Cutler, Marshall, and Forte, and we couldn't get it done. The Super Bowl loss was a missed opportunity as was the NFC Championship as home.

of the 14 UFA's, only 4 were technically starters, 5 if you count Hayes who came in when Urlacher went down. We will also have a bunch of guys coming off IR as well, which should help at least for depth. Cutting dead weight like Hester, Davis, and Spaeth will help as well. UFA's: Jonathan Scott* Chris Spencer Jason Campbell Josh McCown Kahlil Bell Brian Urlacher* Henry Melton* Nick Roach* Geno Hayes Israel Idonije Amobi Okoye D.J. Moore Zackary Bowman Olindo Mare

I LOL'd at this, very funny. https://twitter.com/BradBiggs/status/285797937827684354

Hilarious to see bitter former players. From Hunter Hillenmeyer: https://twitter.com/hthill/status/285781251074445312 5 wins my ass. This was a 13 win team taken down to 10 wins by Lovie.

Is this official enough: http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1...ab-51c753ac5fd6

From ESPN 1000:

Lovie was fired.

From a tradition and current roster standpoint, we have to be one of the best coaching jobs available in a long time. If some former HC's (Cowher, Billick, Gruden) were waiting for the right job, this one would be hard to pass on. Also, if we are looking for a College-level coach, they have a lot to work with right away.

This totally makes my day, I was sooo pissed yesterday thinking they would retain him for another mediocre season. I am liking Emery more and more everyday. I can't wait to see the candidates compared to what we have been accustomed to.

Trib: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0,1783180.story

Woo Hooo, celebrate!!! Rapoport: https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/285773351094452225 McClure: https://twitter.com/vxmcclure23/status/285774133453783040 Jensen: https://twitter.com/seankjensen/status/285774257944924161

I agree with you. I could care less about GB if we are going deep into the playoffs every year. However, if we can't beat them, we won't get very far. A season cannot be deemed a success unless you make the playoffs, and once you reach that level you have to take the next step. IMO, the Bears never recovered from the SB loss.

I believe he will be gone because the Tice promotion was only done because no "real" OC in their right mind would come to the Bears knowing Lovie was possibly a lame duck coach. Now after not making the playoffs after a 7-1 start, there is no way he will be retained. 1 playoff appearance in 6 years, one, uno. No Wild Cards, nothing. We lost to HOU in 2008 in Week 17 to miss out on the Wild Card, and there was this year. Just based on Lovie's own goals, he should be fired. Beat GB - FAIL, Win the Division - FAIL, Win the Super Bowl - FAIL.

We went 1-5 in 6 straight games vs playoff teams. He should be fired for that alone, not for beating up on teams with 5 or less wins. Our schedule turned out to be super easy this year. All we needed was to go 2-4 in that 6 game stretch to make the playoffs and we didn't. We lost back to back games vs Division opponents.

Schedule confirmed, last 2 games, NO and STL.

and they can't blame injuries this time. We never should've lost that Seattle game.

Wow you would rather have the same crappy coaching, then to hire Reid? Reid is sooo much better than Lovie, it is not even funny.