Is Harris more important than we want to admit?

[nfoligno]

Just thinking out loud here, but Harris missed two games this year. He missed one game when the staff benched him, and another yesterday after his bone headed move. The two games Harris missed happened to also be our two most humiliating losses of the season.

 

Now, when I have watched, I have seen VERY little from Harris. At the same time, I do have to step back and ask. Is his presence more important to this defense than we want to admit?

[DABEARSDABOMB]

Just thinking out loud here, but Harris missed two games this year. He missed one game when the staff benched him, and another yesterday after his bone headed move. The two games Harris missed happened to also be our two most humiliating losses of the season.

 

Now, when I have watched, I have seen VERY little from Harris. At the same time, I do have to step back and ask. Is his presence more important to this defense than we want to admit?

I've wondered the same, but I think it has more to do with the team just going up against better offenses than anything else. Although if I'm Tommie Harris, I'd be bringing up that point.

[madlithuanian]

The Harris that was around before aliens came in and replaced him with a poor facsimile thereof...

 

That Harris is long gone. May as well let his dumbass version clone go too...

 

Just thinking out loud here, but Harris missed two games this year. He missed one game when the staff benched him, and another yesterday after his bone headed move. The two games Harris missed happened to also be our two most humiliating losses of the season.

 

Now, when I have watched, I have seen VERY little from Harris. At the same time, I do have to step back and ask. Is his presence more important to this defense than we want to admit?

 

[nfoligno]

While I am not arguing that Cincy and Az have good offenses, we have made them look all-world. Further, not only were we pathetic against the pass, but we were also pathetic both weeks against the run. The worst rushing team in the NFL (Az) tore us up for close to 200 yards.

 

Look, at this point, I can't stand Harris either, but I do think this is something that has to be considered. Maybe it is a bit like Urlacher. Urlacher seemed a shell of his former self, but even that shell was significantly better than the alternatives. Since we lost Urlacher this year, those holes over the middle have grown to the side of the grand canyon.

 

No one questions that Harris is not as good of a player as he once was. What I wonder is whether that shell of his former self is still that much better than the alternatives. Understand, this is as much an indictment of the rest of our DTs as it is a potential positive comment on Harris.

 

I've wondered the same, but I think it has more to do with the team just going up against better offenses than anything else. Although if I'm Tommie Harris, I'd be bringing up that point.

 

[sussnk]

I think having Harris out AND having Url out at the same time is huge. Teams are gouging the middle of the bears D. Plus, QB's can just step right up to where Tommy should be. At the very least he would collapse the middle of the pocket, when the ends are rushing around the outside, they can get to the QB...Yesterday (and in the Cinncy game) the QB just steps right up and fires away!!!...The Lovie defense DEPENDS on that position.

[defiantgiant]

Nfo, I think you're right: there was a noticeable difference in the run defense when Harris was out. True, Benson is having a major renaissance in Cincinnati, but the Cards had the worst rushing offense in the league and they absolutely gashed the Bears sans Tommie.

 

Tommie may not be any good at rushing the passer any more, and he may not demand double-teams or beat single blocks any more, but it appears that he's still a little better at closing a running lane than Idonije, who seems to get the most snaps at under tackle when Tommie's out. That's not a huge surprise, considering that Izzy is down under 270 pounds after his aborted move to DE.

 

I still don't think we should keep Harris on board after this season; he's clearly a shell of his former self. But if the Bears need to start thinking about finding another starter at DT for next season, it clearly needs to be a guy who can play the run at least as well as latter-day Tommie Harris. Maybe that's Harrison or a bulked-back-up Idonije or even Toeaina, maybe it's a draft pick, but we can't go into next season with Anthony Adams as our only DT who can stop the run.

[nfoligno]

One thing that really bothers me here is the play of Harrison. Harrison was among those who many believed could really take it up a notch w/ the addition of Marinelli. In Harrison, you had a player who "fell" to us due to some red flags in the draft, but was otherwise considered a borderline 1st/2nd round pick. The thinking was, w/ a DL coach like Marinelli, Harrison would really develop.

 

Thus far, not only have I not seen that development, but he has looked pretty bad IMHO.

 

Nfo, I think you're right: there was a noticeable difference in the run defense when Harris was out. True, Benson is having a major renaissance in Cincinnati, but the Cards had the worst rushing offense in the league and they absolutely gashed the Bears sans Tommie.

 

Tommie may not be any good at rushing the passer any more, and he may not demand double-teams or beat single blocks any more, but it appears that he's still a little better at closing a running lane than Idonije, who seems to get the most snaps at under tackle when Tommie's out. That's not a huge surprise, considering that Izzy is down under 270 pounds after his aborted move to DE.

 

I still don't think we should keep Harris on board after this season; he's clearly a shell of his former self. But if the Bears need to start thinking about finding another starter at DT for next season, it clearly needs to be a guy who can play the run at least as well as latter-day Tommie Harris. Maybe that's Harrison or a bulked-back-up Idonije or even Toeaina, maybe it's a draft pick, but we can't go into next season with Anthony Adams as our only DT who can stop the run.

 

[Mongo3451]

One thing that really bothers me here is the play of Harrison. Harrison was among those who many believed could really take it up a notch w/ the addition of Marinelli. In Harrison, you had a player who "fell" to us due to some red flags in the draft, but was otherwise considered a borderline 1st/2nd round pick. The thinking was, w/ a DL coach like Marinelli, Harrison would really develop.

 

Thus far, not only have I not seen that development, but he has looked pretty bad IMHO.

I watched the Bengals play yesterday and Tank was a stud. Too bad he couldn't get his shit together here. BTW - Benson looked fantastic as well and yes - ditto. This is something else I blame the staff for.

[adam]

One thing that really bothers me here is the play of Harrison. Harrison was among those who many believed could really take it up a notch w/ the addition of Marinelli. In Harrison, you had a player who "fell" to us due to some red flags in the draft, but was otherwise considered a borderline 1st/2nd round pick. The thinking was, w/ a DL coach like Marinelli, Harrison would really develop.

 

Thus far, not only have I not seen that development, but he has looked pretty bad IMHO.

Yeah, where is all the Marinelli talk now? With Lovie doing the playcalling and Marinelli coaching the DLine, the performance of the defense has been unacceptable this year. Cincinnati has only one game over 23 pts besides the 45 they dropped on us. Arizona's highest total was 31 before putting up 41 against us. Embarrassing.

[nfoligno]

I blame the staff for much, but I still only place so much blame on them for these two players so much.

 

Honestly, what more could the staff have done w/ Tank? The dude went to prison, and still didn't seem to learn his lesson. Some will disagree and say the DWI that never happened didn't mean anything, but to me, it showed that he still hadn't learned that when you put yourself into questionable situations, the results are rarely good. When you drink, even some, and then get behind the wheel at 2am, you are putting yourself into a questionable situation, and that is what he did, and very shortly after being released from jail. This staff gave him numerous chances, but at the end of the day, he simply didn't seem to learn his lesson.

 

Similar w/ Benson. There are two areas I do question the staff. (a) I still do not believe we had the right scheme for a RB like Benson. Our blocking scheme was good for a RB like TJ or Forte, but not for a power runner like Benson. ( I still wonder if the staff could not have done more to intervene w/ the players. If Lovie brought in the team captains and told them this is our franchise RB, and they needed to try and do more to assist rather than the opposite, maybe things could have been different.

 

At the end of the day, it didn't work out w/ either player, but I still struggle to really place all the blame on the staff.

 

I watched the Bengals play yesterday and Tank was a stud. Too bad he couldn't get his shit together here. BTW - Benson looked fantastic as well and yes - ditto. This is something else I blame the staff for.

 

[defiantgiant]

At the end of the day, it didn't work out w/ either player, but I still struggle to really place all the blame on the staff.

Yeah, Tank's value on the field was severely undercut by the imminent likelihood that he would get busted again. And Benson simply wasn't the player that he is now. By his own account, he didn't start to take his career seriously until he was sitting at home and no teams were calling. After that, he says he started taking his diet/training/preparation seriously. Benson's clearly reinvented himself; but if it took not only getting fired, but getting fired and having to wait for two months by his phone for him to finally get the message, then there was no way he was going to turn it around in Chicago. Benson's always going to be a waste of a Chicago draft pick, but it's hard to fault the coaching staff for it.

 

That said, I absolutely fault Jerry Angelo for drafting him. Sure, Benson ran over a lot of teams when he was at Texas, but people already knew that he had questionable desire and poor work habits before he declared for the draft. Guys who are used to coasting on their natural talent and ability are rarely worth the draft pick: just ask a Carolina fan about Julius Peppers. Angelo should have red-flagged Benson as a guy who didn't really want to play football; then we could have spent that pick on DeMarcus Ware/Jammal Brown/Carlos Rogers/Logan Mankins. Hell, if Angelo was dead-set on a running back, we could have reached all the way down to day 2 and taken Frank Gore or Marion Barber or Brandon Jacobs. Those guys clearly wanted to play football, at least.

[nfoligno]

Yeah, Tank's value on the field was severely undercut by the imminent likelihood that he would get busted again. And Benson simply wasn't the player that he is now. By his own account, he didn't start to take his career seriously until he was sitting at home and no teams were calling. After that, he says he started taking his diet/training/preparation seriously. Benson's clearly reinvented himself; but if it took not only getting fired, but getting fired and having to wait for two months by his phone for him to finally get the message, then there was no way he was going to turn it around in Chicago. Benson's always going to be a waste of a Chicago draft pick, but it's hard to fault the coaching staff for it.

 

Just asking, but when did he say he took his career serious after sitting at home.... Everything I have read that he said was basically that he changed after being on a team where he felt cared for and part of the team. I remember when he was first with Cincy last year, and how often he talked about the difference in the teams and alluding to that being the reason for his improved play. Many bear fans blasted him for just such comments.

 

That said, I absolutely fault Jerry Angelo for drafting him. Sure, Benson ran over a lot of teams when he was at Texas, but people already knew that he had questionable desire and poor work habits before he declared for the draft. Guys who are used to coasting on their natural talent and ability are rarely worth the draft pick: just ask a Carolina fan about Julius Peppers. Angelo should have red-flagged Benson as a guy who didn't really want to play football; then we could have spent that pick on DeMarcus Ware/Jammal Brown/Carlos Rogers/Logan Mankins. Hell, if Angelo was dead-set on a running back, we could have reached all the way down to day 2 and taken Frank Gore or Marion Barber or Brandon Jacobs. Those guys clearly wanted to play football, at least.

 

I honestly don't recall so many red flags on Benson prior to the draft. It is hard to imagine today, but you make it out like it was well known that he was a flake in college, but I just don't recall reading close to such, and frankly, I followed him while he was in college.

 

Finally, I think you are using a tad bit of hindsight 20/20 when talking about who we could have, should have drafted. Its easy to look deep in the draft for the best RB taken, or ignore needs and say we should have taken this player or that, but it isn't realistic.

 

Here are the players taken after Benson: Cadillac Williams, Pacman Jones, Troy Williamson, Antrel Rolle, Carlos Rogers, Mike Williams

 

That doesn't look that impressive.

[AZ54]

Whisenhunt clearly stated after the game that Tommie Harris did them a big favor by getting kicked out of the game. I don't think Harris is that good, at least not like he was pre-injury, but I have to agree that he clogs up the middle and move laterally toward the ball better than any other DT we have right now.

 

I don't even know when Harrison is on the field, he just disappears. His training camp suspension was not because he was over weight it was because he was out of shape. I just think they spun it like it was a weight issue. It has to be a lack of conditioning and strength that killing Harrison, or he's just not motivated because we know he was capable of getting a push up the middle last year. Whatever the reason he's not getting it done on the field so we might as well get Gilbert out there so he can get some reps.

[fudgeripple2000]

My concern is that with all of this Tommie talk, the bears will fall into the same situation as with Tank. Will we quit too soon. When faced with a bad attitude the question is how do the bears get Tommie to realize his potential. Two ideas: Suspend him for punching the dude. No matter what happened before the punch, he acted selfishly. So hit him where it counts (paycheck). With the suspension make him show up for treatment and game film but no practice. The other option is sit down with the defensive captains and have them deal with it. Have the captains decide the punishment. I like the second because it brings teammates together and makes each player more accountable. Bottom line, I don't think we should sack him but something needs to be done to get into his head. I am tired of seeing former bears do well on other teams.

[jason]

Similar w/ Benson. There are two areas I do question the staff. (a) I still do not believe we had the right scheme for a RB like Benson. Our blocking scheme was good for a RB like TJ or Forte, but not for a power runner like Benson. ( I still wonder if the staff could not have done more to intervene w/ the players. If Lovie brought in the team captains and told them this is our franchise RB, and they needed to try and do more to assist rather than the opposite, maybe things could have been different.

 

Is that not also a coaching problem? A good coach would take a talented player and find ways to use him. A bad or average coach would simply use a player with talent.

 

Sounds like the typical junk from this staff: square peg, round hole.

[defiantgiant]

Just asking, but when did he say he took his career serious after sitting at home.... Everything I have read that he said was basically that he changed after being on a team where he felt cared for and part of the team. I remember when he was first with Cincy last year, and how often he talked about the difference in the teams and alluding to that being the reason for his improved play. Many bear fans blasted him for just such comments.

Here's the interview with Benson I was referring to. He talks about making a lot of personal changes after, "for the first time in [his] life, football was not there." He specifically touches on how, when he was making all these changes in his personal life, he didn't allow himself to even think about playing football, he just focused on being a better person. That tells me that, whatever his reasons were, this turnaround was something he wasn't going to do while playing pro football, no matter who he was playing for. By his own admission, the guy needed some time away from the game to get some perspective and get his head on straight.

 

I know he's also made some comments to the effect that he feels more welcomed in Cincinnati, and there's probably something to that. Mike Brown has made that team a home for a lot of guys who need a second chance; sometimes that's worked out badly (Odell Thurman comes to mind) and sometimes it's worked out really well (with Benson and with Chris Henry, before he broke his arm at least.) But after reading his interviews, there's no doubt in my mind that Benson was a very, very different guy when the Bengals first brought him in than he was when he left Chicago.

 

I honestly don't recall so many red flags on Benson prior to the draft. It is hard to imagine today, but you make it out like it was well known that he was a flake in college, but I just don't recall reading close to such, and frankly, I followed him while he was in college.

I wouldn't say it was "well known" that Benson was a flake, but I definitely recall some people questioning his drive and maturity. Here are the negatives from some scouting reports:

Sports Illustrated:

"Seemingly goes down rather easy at times or finishes the play running out of bounds."

"Made some very selfish comments...when asked to share the load at running back."

"...does not always show a fire in his belly."

About.Com:

"As was the case with fellow Longhorn Ricky Williams when he came out of college, there are questions surrounding Benson's desire to play football..."

"His leadership skills aren't exactly what you would like to see in a franchise back..."

"Cedric Benson is clearly a first-round talent, but teams might think twice before taking him at the top of the round because of questions about whether his heart is really in the game."

 

...again, I'm not saying it was everyone. Clearly there were a lot of people, myself included, who just saw a guy who piled up huge yardage in college. Obviously hindsight is 20/20, but there were some eerily accurate questions about Benson that were out there at the time, and it's Angelo's job to get answers to them before spending a #4 pick on him.

 

Finally, I think you are using a tad bit of hindsight 20/20 when talking about who we could have, should have drafted. Its easy to look deep in the draft for the best RB taken, or ignore needs and say we should have taken this player or that, but it isn't realistic.

 

Here are the players taken after Benson: Cadillac Williams, Pacman Jones, Troy Williamson, Antrel Rolle, Carlos Rogers, Mike Williams

 

That doesn't look that impressive.

Oh yeah, the other draft picks bit was shameless hindsight on my part. On balance, 2005 might have been the worst year to have a high first-round pick that I can remember. I'm not actually faulting Angelo for failing to look into a crystal ball and see that some fourth-round pick out of Notre Dame named Justin Tuck was going to be a superstar. That said, of the list you've got there, I would definitely prefer Carlos Rogers to Benson, and he was (if memory serves) considered very good when he was coming out of Auburn. That much isn't hindsight.

 

...but thank god we didn't draft Pacman, Troy Williamson, Mike Williams...man, that was a bad first round.

[nfoligno]

Here's the interview with Benson I was referring to. He talks about making a lot of personal changes after, "for the first time in [his] life, football was not there." He specifically touches on how, when he was making all these changes in his personal life, he didn't allow himself to even think about playing football, he just focused on being a better person. That tells me that, whatever his reasons were, this turnaround was something he wasn't going to do while playing pro football, no matter who he was playing for. By his own admission, the guy needed some time away from the game to get some perspective and get his head on straight.

 

I remember that article now, and re-read it. I guess the thing for me is, I just have never felt Benson sounded like a man who was humbled. In fact, didn't he say recently that he felt he was blackballed by the bears, or something like that. I person who changes because they are out of football usually does so because they have been humbled, and come to realize things they never would have if they were not kicked out of the game. Benson seems to believe he got hosed (IMHO) more than he believes he really screwed up. Just my opinion.

 

I know he's also made some comments to the effect that he feels more welcomed in Cincinnati, and there's probably something to that. Mike Brown has made that team a home for a lot of guys who need a second chance; sometimes that's worked out badly (Odell Thurman comes to mind) and sometimes it's worked out really well (with Benson and with Chris Henry, before he broke his arm at least.) But after reading his interviews, there's no doubt in my mind that Benson was a very, very different guy when the Bengals first brought him in than he was when he left Chicago.

 

...again, I'm not saying it was everyone. Clearly there were a lot of people, myself included, who just saw a guy who piled up huge yardage in college. Obviously hindsight is 20/20, but there were some eerily accurate questions about Benson that were out there at the time, and it's Angelo's job to get answers to them before spending a #4 pick on him.

 

I read to quotes, but cut them to keep this post clean. I remember some minor questions, but honestly, that is what they were at the time. Minor. Benson is college was fairly ripped, and few questioned his workout habits. Some might have questioned his running out of bounds at times, while others would point out it took Mack Brown a couple years to get Benson to do that. You have to remember, Benson carried the ball a LOT of times, and the staff had to teach him that he didn't always have to take a lick. I always wondered about questioning the desire of a player who carried the ball that many times.

 

He may not have been a leader, but he was actually one of the more popular players on the team, and was well liked.

 

The top knocks I recall on Benson were

 

(a) number of carries. A RB has only so many carries in him before he begins to break down. Benson carried the ball so many times, from HS to college, that there was concern his NFL career would be shortened.

 

( One time he was asked whether he would rather win the Heisman or the national championship, and he said the Heisman. That was VERY widely reported. What wasn't reported nearly so much was that he immediately explained that in his mind, if he won the Heisman, he would have carried the team to the title, thus in his mind, he was trying to say he wanted both, but it absolutely didn't come out that way, and he was blasted for it.

 

There were other concerns, but while some may have questioned his character, it sure was not a common concern. You can argue we should have known, and maybe we should have, but my point is that his character was not such a well known issue, and that when you have a player as talented (perception at least) as he was, you tend to overlook minor flags.

 

 

Oh yeah, the other draft picks bit was shameless hindsight on my part. On balance, 2005 might have been the worst year to have a high first-round pick that I can remember. I'm not actually faulting Angelo for failing to look into a crystal ball and see that some fourth-round pick out of Notre Dame named Justin Tuck was going to be a superstar. That said, of the list you've got there, I would definitely prefer Carlos Rogers to Benson, and he was (if memory serves) considered very good when he was coming out of Auburn. That much isn't hindsight.

 

...but thank god we didn't draft Pacman, Troy Williamson, Mike Williams...man, that was a bad first round.

 

But even w/ Rogers, if you go back to that season, we thought we had two very good CBs in Tillman and Vasher, right? Like you said, at the end of the day, that was one sorry year to have a high pick. In the end, while it didn't work out for us, you could easily make the argument that Benson was the best talent available at the time, but it simply didn't work out for us.

[nfoligno]

Like I said, when it comes to Benson, I think there is more than enough blame to go around, and yes, that is an area I blame the coaches.

 

One area I go back and forth on is to what extent the staff could have intervened in the locker room. Just throwing out there a what if. What if a bunch of veterans, captains on the team, were BFFs with Orton, and resented our trading him away for Orton. What if those same leaders of the team showed their hate to Cutler every chance they got, and essentially formed a Cutler hate group within the team. Should the staff intervene? Should the staff bring those leaders into the office and let them know Cutler is the frachise QB, and they need to get on board w/ that fact or leave town or simply let things play out?

 

I really don't know the answer to this question. On one hand, I think players are men and men need to work things out for themselves. On the other hand, when you have so much invested into a player, you need to get control of a situation.

 

I think the staff tried to let things handle themselves, and that didn't work, due to Benson not having the character to deal w/ those who simply didn't like him. I just wonder if Lovie could have done more to intervene.

 

Is that not also a coaching problem? A good coach would take a talented player and find ways to use him. A bad or average coach would simply use a player with talent.

 

Sounds like the typical junk from this staff: square peg, round hole.

 

[Lucky Luciano]

Like I said, when it comes to Benson, I think there is more than enough blame to go around, and yes, that is an area I blame the coaches.

 

One area I go back and forth on is to what extent the staff could have intervened in the locker room. Just throwing out there a what if. What if a bunch of veterans, captains on the team, were BFFs with Orton, and resented our trading him away for Orton. What if those same leaders of the team showed their hate to Cutler every chance they got, and essentially formed a Cutler hate group within the team. Should the staff intervene? Should the staff bring those leaders into the office and let them know Cutler is the frachise QB, and they need to get on board w/ that fact or leave town or simply let things play out?

 

I really don't know the answer to this question. On one hand, I think players are men and men need to work things out for themselves. On the other hand, when you have so much invested into a player, you need to get control of a situation.

 

I think the staff tried to let things handle themselves, and that didn't work, due to Benson not having the character to deal w/ those who simply didn't like him. I just wonder if Lovie could have done more to intervene.

 

well... here we agree.

 

it's pure conjecture with no supporting evidence to speak of but if true, and this coaching staff was in the least bit competent, they would/should have intervened when the rumors etc. came out that the defense was trying to hurt benson in practice and put the brakes on that situation immediately. that is their freaking JOB. to ready the team with the best players possible to win football games.

 

to play any kind of mind games with a player that highly drafted and taking up that much cap space is inexcusable and surely bound to hurt the team/franchise as a whole whether they were camping buddies with thomas jones or not.

[madlithuanian]

This team appear not to be mentally tough. It appears Cutler has the "never say die" gene fully in effect. However, I don't see that on the D. Alex Smith showed some of it after the game. This D is done I fear.

 

My concern is that with all of this Tommie talk, the bears will fall into the same situation as with Tank. Will we quit too soon. When faced with a bad attitude the question is how do the bears get Tommie to realize his potential. Two ideas: Suspend him for punching the dude. No matter what happened before the punch, he acted selfishly. So hit him where it counts (paycheck). With the suspension make him show up for treatment and game film but no practice. The other option is sit down with the defensive captains and have them deal with it. Have the captains decide the punishment. I like the second because it brings teammates together and makes each player more accountable. Bottom line, I don't think we should sack him but something needs to be done to get into his head. I am tired of seeing former bears do well on other teams.

 

[nfoligno]

Alex Smith? Did we trade for SF's starting QB and move him to S?

 

This team appear not to be mentally tough. It appears Cutler has the "never say die" gene fully in effect. However, I don't see that on the D. Alex Smith showed some of it after the game. This D is done I fear.

 

[NAMEDSONPAYTON2]

My concern is that with all of this Tommie talk, the bears will fall into the same situation as with Tank. Will we quit too soon. When faced with a bad attitude the question is how do the bears get Tommie to realize his potential. Two ideas: Suspend him for punching the dude. No matter what happened before the punch, he acted selfishly. So hit him where it counts (paycheck). With the suspension make him show up for treatment and game film but no practice. The other option is sit down with the defensive captains and have them deal with it. Have the captains decide the punishment. I like the second because it brings teammates together and makes each player more accountable. Bottom line, I don't think we should sack him but something needs to be done to get into his head. I am tired of seeing former bears do well on other teams.

Yes, that's what I want to see. Exactly. I WANT MORE DISIPLINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[madlithuanian]

Sorry, Alex Brown! I was hoping we traded HC's...

 

Alex Smith? Did we trade for SF's starting QB and move him to S?

 

[nfoligno]

LOL. Just having some fun. Knew what you meant.

 

Sorry, Alex Brown! I was hoping we traded HC's...

 

[defiantgiant]

Yes, that's what I want to see. Exactly. I WANT MORE DISIPLINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

You know, there was a time when I would have disagreed with this, but I think this team has shown a real lack of discipline recently. I still think Lovie's a good head coach, and the players clearly want to play for him: there was a survey of NFL players last year, and Lovie was like #2 among coaches that players would like to play for.

 

But I wonder if he's hard enough on his guys. We had a lot more guys playing up to their potential when Ron Rivera was here. Rivera's had some ups and downs as DC in San Diego, but he's definitely a hardass when it comes to motivating his players. I wonder if we really needed a DC who the players were afraid of, to go along with the HC that they love playing for.

 

I'm not going to join the Fire Lovie crowd, but I would love it if the front office brought in an outside DC to work with him. He's done enough as a head coach to warrant keeping him for that alone, but it's pretty clear that the team was better when there was an independent-minded coordinator working on the defense with him.