Bears: Inside Slant

[adam]

Pretty good breakdown of the season.

 

INSIDE SLANT

For the 2007 Bears, the excuses outnumbered the victories in their embarrassing fall from Super Bowl XLI to a 7-9 record and last place in the NFC North.

 

Among the factors cited for the disappointing follow-up were the "Super Bowl hangover" that has plagued losers of the big game the year after: injuries, old age and a lack of turnovers that traditionally have characterized Lovie Smith teams. Add to that the unfortunate trade acquisitions of defensive tackle Darwin Walker and safety Adam Archuleta, and you've got the recipe for a six-game drop-off.

 

The injuries clearly took a toll, starting with the season-opener. Former Pro Bowl safety Mike Brown and nose tackle Dusty Dvoracek, who had won the starting job after spending his rookie season on injured reserve, were both lost for the season with torn knee ligaments. Brown was the brains of the secondary and an emotional leader on and off the field. Dvoracek had already proven to be the team's best run-stopper.

 

Just as critical were the 12 games that Pro Bowl cornerback Nathan Vasher missed with a partially torn groin muscle. In his first three seasons, Vasher picked off 16 passes – the active leader on the team. Other injuries weren't as severe but chipped away at the defense, the heart of the team. Tackle Tommie Harris made his third straight Pro Bowl, but he wasn't nearly the same player as he played through knee and hamstring injuries much of the season but amazingly never missed a game. The training camp acquisition of Walker was supposed to provide insurance in the middle of the line, but the veteran missed five games with minor injuries and was a non-factor in at least five others. Counted on to be part of the solution, Walker was more like part of the problem.

 

When a torn triceps forced unrestricted free-agent pickup Anthony Adams onto injured reserve and out of the final four games, it meant that each of the Bears' top four tackles were seriously affected by injuries, and they missed a total of 24 games.

 

Without the anticipated push in the middle from the D-line and minus Vasher and Brown, the franchise's all-time leader with seven defensive touchdowns, the Bears weren't able to put the kind of pressure on opposing offenses that characterized their Super Bowl season, when they forced a league-high 44 turnovers. A flurry of takeaways late in the season, when it was too late, still enabled the Bears to finish with 33 – eighth best in the league.

 

Archuleta came up way short as a complement to, and then a replacement for, Brown, as he struggled in coverage, missed tackles and finally was benched for the final five games.

 

In the first 13 games of 2007, the Bears had a league-low nine interceptions. In 2006, the Bears forced at least two turnovers in 13 of 16 games. In `07, there were six games in which they had one or zero takeaways.

 

The Bears went into last season believing they were still youthful enough to keep their window of opportunity open for at least another year. At most positions, that is true, but signs of aging were evident along the offensive line early and often.

 

At 35, left guard Ruben Brown was unable to finish his 13th season when a persistent shoulder injury finally required surgery, and then understudy Terrence Metcalf played himself back onto the bench after five forgettable starts. Right tackle Fred Miller, 34, became more susceptible to speed rushers and false starts, but there was no one better to replace him. Left tackle John Tait will be 33 before the Super Bowl and would benefit from a move back to the right side, and center Olin Kreutz, who will be 31 by training camp, missed his first Pro Bowl in seven years.

 

Given the starting job at tailback all to himself for the first time, Cedric Benson was decidedly underwhelming. The fourth-overall pick in 2005 didn't resemble a legitimate NFL starter until his final two games, when he averaged 7.0 yards per carry, but he suffered a season-ending fractured ankle in Week 12. In his first nine games, Benson averaged just 3.0 yards per carry, although the offensive line must share the blame for that embarrassing number.

 

The offense was further handicapped when quarterback Rex Grossman played so poorly that he was benched after three games, precipitating the quarterback shuffle that has become synonymous with Bears football.

 

Brian Griese started the next six games and played decently before a minor left shoulder injury provided coaches with an excuse to give Grossman another chance. He performed much better for four games before an ankle injury ended his season. That gave third-stringer Kyle Orton a chance to start three games, and he did well enough to completely muddle the QB picture for next season.

 

QUOTE TO NOTE

"We have to play good defense, that's first and foremost. What's good defense here in Chicago? Good defense is takeaways, not giving up big plays, playing aggressive with top effort. Unfortunately we weren't able to get those takeaways, and we gave up far too many big plays on defense." – Bears GM Jerry Angelo

http://chi.scout.com/2/720848.html

[fenom283]

Sad but True Analysis

[shadevtx]

The hardest part of being a sports fan is the uncertainty of injuries, I think especially in football, b/c losing one player can end a season. My season ended in the third quarter of Week 1 when Mike went down...it's just not that much fun to watch da Bears without him running around making plays. Even DPOY Bob Sanders paled in comparison to the playmaking ability of Mike Brown...

 

That said, I also think several if not most of us were pretty optimistic about our off-season. The offense looked like it added the much needed speed, and Walker and Archuleta looked to be upgrades over Tank and Chris Harris, whom I think was our biggest mistake. He was prone to mental errors, but was growing within the system, and played physical. He could've filled that SS spot for the next 5 years. Now its a need, as well as several other positions, and I just don't see us filling them all in one off-season.

 

Personally (and this post is getting way too long), I think we fix the offense this off-season, and see if scoring more points and controlling the clock won't cloak a subpar (by our standards) defense...

[Wesson44]

The hardest part of being a sports fan is the uncertainty of injuries, I think especially in football, b/c losing one player can end a season. My season ended in the third quarter of Week 1 when Mike went down...it's just not that much fun to watch da Bears without him running around making plays. Even DPOY Bob Sanders paled in comparison to the playmaking ability of Mike Brown...

 

That said, I also think several if not most of us were pretty optimistic about our off-season. The offense looked like it added the much needed speed, and Walker and Archuleta looked to be upgrades over Tank and Chris Harris, whom I think was our biggest mistake. He was prone to mental errors, but was growing within the system, and played physical. He could've filled that SS spot for the next 5 years. Now its a need, as well as several other positions, and I just don't see us filling them all in one off-season.

 

Personally (and this post is getting way too long), I think we fix the offense this off-season, and see if scoring more points and controlling the clock won't cloak a subpar (by our standards) defense...

IMHO injuries killed this teams chemistry this year and provided us with a losing season. Next year if we re-sign Briggs and get all the players back from injury our defense will be Monsters again.

 

1. We will have O-Gun,Anderson,Brown,Bazuin,Idonije at DE'S.

2. DT we should have a nice rotation with Harris, Walker,Adams, Kennedy,Toeaina and Dvoraceck.

3. At LB Briggs(if re-signed) Urlacher,Hillenmeyer,Williams,Wilson.Roach,Okwo,McGlover,Ayanbadejo.

4. At corners it will be Vasher,Tillman,McBride,Graham,RMJ(if we don't cut him)FA/draft pick up.

5. FS D.Manning, Payne/Draft Pick(Philips(Mia) if possible)

6. SS M.Brown,McGowan, Payne

We cut Archuleta,Garay,

 

On offense we need to make some changes for sure. Grossman gives us the best chance to win if we get the blocking and running game to take pressure off him trying to win game all by himself as Farve did with no running game and WR'S. Maybe draft Flacco(Del). Look what happened to Green Bay once they got some WR, a RB and the Oline blocked better. Oh not to mention that their defense pretty much stayed healthy all year.

We need to move Tait to the RT spot cut Miller.Find a LT in the draft(Baker(USC) or as a FA(Gross form Car)). St. Clair did a good job at LG either get Faneca or one in the draft, cut Metcalf move ST.Clair to RG and have him and Garza battle it out See if Brown can better with his shoulder fixed if not draft another taclkle/guard.

Re-sign Berrian if not get Bowman/Hubbard in the draft and try to get Johnson in FA. Moose is slow and drops the ball too much(time to let him go) and use the speedy Bradley/draft pick. The running game sucked so look at Turner, Jones(DAL) as an option or maybe Jones,Mendahall(would be great)or one of the fast backs in the draft(we need speed back there).At FB McKie needs to be replaced he won't block bring in Runnells or better yet Ayanbadejo's brother(plays special teams too).