CrackerDog Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 As you know, I try to remain an optimist when it comes to the Bears. Here are a few thoughts that may help you remain one too. So, have at it, I'm not happy with what I've seen from these guys for the last few years either, but here are the things that keep me hopeful for next season... We needed a new OC. I don't think anyone here was in love with Turner. Now we'll get one. And hopefully whoever it is will be able to make the best of our new QB. Cutler seems to be involved in this process. This can be a good thing or a bad thing. You don't want the inmates running the asylum but he did seem to be right, all along, about DA. What the heck, let him pick an OC or his QB coach from the pool out there. Can't hurt. Probably. Say what you want about Lovie's lack of fire on the sideline, I defy anyone to name a coach who would've done much better than 7-9 with this offensive line and as many injuries as we had on defense. Face it, losing your franchise MLB on opening day doesn't make it a picnic for the rest of the year. We found two new WR's this year who could develop into real stars. When's the last time you could feel that way about this team? Olsen grew a ton this year and our O Line came together toward the end of the season. I'm not giving up on the Lovie Cover Two scheme like many of you already have. You need the horses to run it. Maybe Lovie and JA will find a new DC that Lovie feels comfortable enough with that he'll be allowed to be somewhat independent in his decision making. That was Rivera's issue, IMO, Lovie didn't have a track record with him and he questioned his calls despite the results. Lovie always felt he would've done better. AND, the last few years may have been humbling enough for Lovie that he'll be more tolerant of non-Lovie type decisions. Marinelli may work on him to run more line stunts, etc. The leadership of this team is now on a short leash. They know it. Some folks do their best work under the gun. We'll see. Worst case, Jerry and Lovie are unemployed next year at this time. Best case, they'll have been given some new toys to play with in the off season, via free agency, and they'll have vindicated ownership's vote of confidence. Also along these lines, if they do succeed, what happens in most places is your staff is raided for talent and you lose your best coordinators to the marketplace. But these guys will have all proven themselves to be failures as head coaches. I know that sounds funny when you say it but if they work well together (assuming some of the rumors are true about who we're bringing in, etc.) we'll be able to keep this band of misfits together. Well, guys, that all I got. I look forward to the second day of the draft and the minicamps. Until then you probably won't hear much more from me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madlithuanian Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 No real agrument agasint what you're saying. I just still look at the upcoming season as a waste of time. If the "real" regime were to be put in place, we would be a year ahead of the curve, now we will be a year behind. I simply hope that a few we hire end up being keepers and that we see improvement from Cutler. As you know, I try to remain an optimist when it comes to the Bears. Here are a few thoughts that may help you remain one too. So, have at it, I'm not happy with what I've seen from these guys for the last few years either, but here are the things that keep me hopeful for next season... We needed a new OC. I don't think anyone here was in love with Turner. Now we'll get one. And hopefully whoever it is will be able to make the best of our new QB. Cutler seems to be involved in this process. This can be a good thing or a bad thing. You don't want the inmates running the asylum but he did seem to be right, all along, about DA. What the heck, let him pick an OC or his QB coach from the pool out there. Can't hurt. Probably. Say what you want about Lovie's lack of fire on the sideline, I defy anyone to name a coach who would've done much better than 7-9 with this offensive line and as many injuries as we had on defense. Face it, losing your franchise MLB on opening day doesn't make it a picnic for the rest of the year. We found two new WR's this year who could develop into real stars. When's the last time you could feel that way about this team? Olsen grew a ton this year and our O Line came together toward the end of the season. I'm not giving up on the Lovie Cover Two scheme like many of you already have. You need the horses to run it. Maybe Lovie and JA will find a new DC that Lovie feels comfortable enough with that he'll be allowed to be somewhat independent in his decision making. That was Rivera's issue, IMO, Lovie didn't have a track record with him and he questioned his calls despite the results. Lovie always felt he would've done better. AND, the last few years may have been humbling enough for Lovie that he'll be more tolerant of non-Lovie type decisions. Marinelli may work on him to run more line stunts, etc. The leadership of this team is now on a short leash. They know it. Some folks do their best work under the gun. We'll see. Worst case, Jerry and Lovie are unemployed next year at this time. Best case, they'll have been given some new toys to play with in the off season, via free agency, and they'll have vindicated ownership's vote of confidence. Also along these lines, if they do succeed, what happens in most places is your staff is raided for talent and you lose your best coordinators to the marketplace. But these guys will have all proven themselves to be failures as head coaches. I know that sounds funny when you say it but if they work well together (assuming some of the rumors are true about who we're bringing in, etc.) we'll be able to keep this band of misfits together. Well, guys, that all I got. I look forward to the second day of the draft and the minicamps. Until then you probably won't hear much more from me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connorbear Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 The leadership of this team is now on a short leash. They know it. Some folks do their best work under the gun. We'll see. Worst case, Jerry and Lovie are unemployed next year at this time. Best case, they'll have been given some new toys to play with in the off season, via free agency, and they'll have vindicated ownership's vote of confidence. Thisi is the most important piece. Time to put up or shut up. Peace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongo3451 Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 The leadership of this team is now on a short leash. They know it. Some folks do their best work under the gun. We'll see. Worst case, Jerry and Lovie are unemployed next year at this time. Best case, they'll have been given some new toys to play with in the off season, via free agency, and they'll have vindicated ownership's vote of confidence. Thisi is the most important piece. Time to put up or shut up. Peace Sorry, wasn't this last season? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 I agree with everything but the Olsen comment. I didn't see much growth this year. With how everything was setup (solid last year, addition of Cutler, etc), he didn't live up to the hype. Besides for the 3+ TD increase (he had 3 TDs in loss to ARZ), he barely improved over last year's stats and his blocking has never been that good. I would've liked to have seen Celek/Davis-type numbers from him this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connorbear Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Sorry, wasn't this last season? Phillips basically said the other day it is playoffs or clean house. That is what I was thinking of with that comment. Peace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongo3451 Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Phillips basically said the other day it is playoffs or clean house. That is what I was thinking of with that comment. Peace I was just being sarcastic. We all thought it was make or break for Lovie when he took over the defense. He placed his head firmly on the chopping block, said the D would be better and failled to deliver again. It's easy for Phillips and ownership to clean house after they have played us for fools and saved having to eat Lovie and/or Jerry's salaries next year. They came out and said money was not a factor and the question wasn't asked yet.(HMMMM) Give me a month or so and I'll try to discuss more positive issues, but right now I'm still tasting crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearSox Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 By cleaning house, I hope that means Teddy leaving as well as he doesn't know jack shit about football. Hopefully the McCaskey's final wake up and hire someone who knows a thing or two about football to be the president of football operations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connorbear Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 By cleaning house, I hope that means Teddy leaving as well as he doesn't know jack shit about football. Hopefully the McCaskey's final wake up and hire someone who knows a thing or two about football to be the president of football operations. Teddy has made a crap load of money for the McCaskeys. If things fall apart, I see him being moved back to his finance role. He will not be fired. Peace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chitownman Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 The problem is that the family is having blind faith in their accountant to run the business from a business point of view and that is not able to be a reality. Phillips does need to return to the financial side of things and do what he does best which is counting and crunching numbers. I am still not convinced that Angelo nor Smith are the right pieces to the puzzle and we are stuck with them both for at least another year. Until Virginia realizes that she needs to find someone that she feels comfortable with to run this historic and extremely proud franchise, we the fans will be stuck with the status quo for quite a while. I understand that points that Cracker Dog is making in his thread here however, the reality tells me that we are just plain destined to be mediocre for quite a while to come. Until their are true football people helping the McCaskey family with this organization, flashes of brilliance with an occasional sniff at the post season is what we will always get to deal with. For now we have to accept things as they are because we unfortunately do not have the ability nor clout to make a change. Phillips said they were listening to the fans however, keeping Angelo and Smith is not listening to the fans. It is having blind faith in non football people telling you that what you have will work best for the organization and that even if they alienate some of the fan base, there is too much still for this team that they will still make some sort of profit so what ever happens is all right because the bottom line is that this is a business and the object of business is to make money which Da' Bears are. Until the McCaskey family realizes that this is not an ordinary business and you are not supposed to follow the A-Typical plan for running a business, the better off we'll all be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madlithuanian Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 I agree... The problem is that the family is having blind faith in their accountant to run the business from a business point of view and that is not able to be a reality. Phillips does need to return to the financial side of things and do what he does best which is counting and crunching numbers. I am still not convinced that Angelo nor Smith are the right pieces to the puzzle and we are stuck with them both for at least another year. Until Virginia realizes that she needs to find someone that she feels comfortable with to run this historic and extremely proud franchise, we the fans will be stuck with the status quo for quite a while. I understand that points that Cracker Dog is making in his thread here however, the reality tells me that we are just plain destined to be mediocre for quite a while to come. Until their are true football people helping the McCaskey family with this organization, flashes of brilliance with an occasional sniff at the post season is what we will always get to deal with. For now we have to accept things as they are because we unfortunately do not have the ability nor clout to make a change. Phillips said they were listening to the fans however, keeping Angelo and Smith is not listening to the fans. It is having blind faith in non football people telling you that what you have will work best for the organization and that even if they alienate some of the fan base, there is too much still for this team that they will still make some sort of profit so what ever happens is all right because the bottom line is that this is a business and the object of business is to make money which Da' Bears are. Until the McCaskey family realizes that this is not an ordinary business and you are not supposed to follow the A-Typical plan for running a business, the better off we'll all be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 1. I don't know that Olsen has really improved, per se. 2. I think the WRs have been there more than once, and just needed a competent OC or stud QB. Enter Cutler, without the competent OC, and results happen. 3. Regarding who could have done better than Lovie this year given the limitations in personnel, are you serious? Half the coaches in the NFL probably would have done better, because they wouldn't have had a limp-dick OC, and they wouldn't have been wedded to the horrible idea of the Cover-0. As others have said, the best part is that Lovie and Co. are on a short leash this year...as they should have been before this season even began. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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