Bears bungled O-line from the start

[ParkerBear7]

www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-1015-dan-mcneil--20101014,0,4337913.column

 

 

chicagotribune.com

 

Bears bungled O-line from the start

 

Knowing it was a weakness, they should have pushed the linemen harder in training camp

Dan McNeil

 

8:39 PM CDT, October 14, 2010

 

As the Bears scramble for ways to keep their knocked-loopy quarterback vertical, it's laughable coaches are being praised for "adjusting." Guys with whistles are being termed "flexible."

 

I think a better word is desperate. Slap 'em on the back if you want, but all I see is the rearranging of deck chairs on the Titanic that is the Bears' offensive line. The nine first-half sacks allowed against the Giants two weeks ago was the first iceberg of note.

 

What the Bears are doing is conducting training camp more than six weeks after it closed. Applaud nothing.

 

This week's game of "Musical Bears" is merely another exhibit of general manager Jerry Angelo's poor draft record and Lovie Smith not making use of his training camp at Olivet Nazarene Country Club.

 

The biggest concern of the offseason — and by a mile — was protecting Jay Cutler. Smith, Mike Martz and Mike Tice whiffed by not having their big uglies get nasty in Bourbonnais and prove themselves. A little live action between the bags instead of "thud" would have served well for a team with inexperience and positional changes up and down the offensive line.

 

So here it is Week 6 and Tice is singing the praises of Chris Williams, his left tackle turned right tackle turned left guard, as a potentially fine run-blocking guard. Good to know it took only 2 1/2 years to find a job befitting the 14th player chosen in the 2008 draft.

 

And it's by necessity, not because Williams has done anything noteworthy. Roberto Garza (out with a knee) has played poorly but at least has a few skins on his wall during his pro career.

 

Williams doesn't. In many ways, he's a rookie. He spent his first year in the tub with back issues. He played some right tackle last year, until late December when it occurred to the Bears that Orlando Pace was a bad idea.

 

Now he's a run-blocking stalwart at guard. Sure he is.

 

We haven't seen Williams since he strained a hamstring in Week 2 against the Cowboys. I don't know how one injures a hamstring without moving one's feet, but he did. And the Bears protected Cutler better after Frank Omiyale shifted from the right side to the left.

 

If that's where Williams remains, he effectively becomes a guard drafted in Round 1. You know the type of players who've been worthy of that? Guys like Alan Faneca, Steve Hutchinson and Logan Mankins. Dollar to a doughnut says Williams never will be mentioned with that company again.

 

It's a good thing the Bears have another NFC punching bag on their itinerary this weekend. The Seahawks are a bad team and the Bears will get an even firmer grip on the North title when they jump to 5-1 Sunday.

 

Meanwhile, the Packers continue to trot out replacements for their offensive stars, and the Vikings are trying to overcome Brett Favre on the field as much as off it.

 

Remember that lucky horseshoe Dick Jauron had in pocket in 2001, when the Bears won 13 games before getting smoked by the Eagles in the playoffs? He loaned it to Smith this year.

 

Enjoy the gift horse when it arrives, but it would be a good thing if Coach Smugly — almost a lock to return for the final year of his deal next season — doesn't count on it again.

 

If you're going to pack up all of the football gear before hitting I-57, use it. Find out who's who.

 

Week 6 is a little late on the draw.

 

Dan McNeil hosts "The Danny Mac Show" from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays on WSCR-AM 670.

 

Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune

[balta1701-A]

1/2 of his logic here is correct, the other half is completely missing. The Bears should have, and probably well did know that their line was going to be a problem in TC.

 

However, he offers zero useful suggestions for anything. The headline says "Should have pushed them harder in TC". Really? How on Earth does he know that they weren't pushed hard? It's entirely possible that things like Williams's injury could have come from being pushed too hard.

 

This article is just a guy being cranky. That's all it is. He has a right to be so, but there's no earth shaking revelation there.

[Guest TerraTor]

Shit can only stack so high. There isnt a top guy on our line, so how much could be expected

[defiantgiant]

1/2 of his logic here is correct, the other half is completely missing. The Bears should have, and probably well did know that their line was going to be a problem in TC.

 

However, he offers zero useful suggestions for anything. The headline says "Should have pushed them harder in TC". Really? How on Earth does he know that they weren't pushed hard? It's entirely possible that things like Williams's injury could have come from being pushed too hard.

 

This article is just a guy being cranky. That's all it is. He has a right to be so, but there's no earth shaking revelation there.

 

Yeah, you hit it right on the head - what exactly were the Bears supposed to do in training camp that was going to cure this group's lack of proven talent? The Bears were wrong to think that Tice's coaching could cover up their subpar players, but that's hindsight. The real mistake they made back in offseason/training camp was not bringing in another lineman. Rob Sims was available for a 5th and a 7th, but they went forward with Lance Louis and Johan Asiata instead. Jammal Brown was available for a conditional 3rd/4th, which would have given the team the flexibility to move Omiyale back inside and some insurance in case of injury, but they decided to go with Webb and Shaffer. Basically, they left themselves with zero depth behind Garza and no proven starter at the other guard spot. And that was before Williams got hurt.

 

It's not the coaches' fault for failing to pull a starter and two start-worthy injury replacements out of a bunch of rookies and scrubs. That's asking too much of your o-line coach, no matter how good he is. It's the front office's fault for thinking they could get by with obviously subpar talent and little to no depth up front.

[jason]

Yeah, you hit it right on the head - what exactly were the Bears supposed to do in training camp that was going to cure this group's lack of proven talent? The Bears were wrong to think that Tice's coaching could cover up their subpar players, but that's hindsight. The real mistake they made back in offseason/training camp was not bringing in another lineman. Rob Sims was available for a 5th and a 7th, but they went forward with Lance Louis and Johan Asiata instead. Jammal Brown was available for a conditional 3rd/4th, which would have given the team the flexibility to move Omiyale back inside and some insurance in case of injury, but they decided to go with Webb and Shaffer. Basically, they left themselves with zero depth behind Garza and no proven starter at the other guard spot. And that was before Williams got hurt.

 

It's not the coaches' fault for failing to pull a starter and two start-worthy injury replacements out of a bunch of rookies and scrubs. That's asking too much of your o-line coach, no matter how good he is. It's the front office's fault for thinking they could get by with obviously subpar talent and little to no depth up front.

 

Agreed again. Training camp was too late, actually a few years too late. This should have been addressed in AT LEAST the last two drafts. Total JA fail...but HEY! We sure did get a ton of quality Defensive Linemen. Right?

[lemonej]

I was at TC on Aug 3rd and reported on this site that the groups that were working the hardest during drills was the O-line and D-line. The guy that seemed to be working the hardest to me was Lance Lois which might have been one reason why he got a starting nod coming out of camp. The one thing he did that I noticed then that translated into the season with Lois was he was falling down a lot because of poor balance. If I who have no real knowledge of line techniques saw this from some bleachers on the sidelines, just solidifies what you guys are saying about talent on this line. Like I said before the line as constructed now has a size that Tice likes which tells me that he tried it someone else's(Lovie) way but now has some leverage to imprint his choices. The run heavy game plan last week seemed more of Tice's style also. It will be interesting to see what the plan of attack will be this week with Cutler back.I have felt all along that if they would run the ball a little more that Cutler would not be taking as many shots when he goes back to pass because teams will have to honor both aspects of the offense.

[Mongo3451]

Agreed again. Training camp was too late, actually a few years too late. This should have been addressed in AT LEAST the last two drafts. Total JA fail...but HEY! We sure did get a ton of quality Defensive Linemen. Right?

Agreed with your agreement. 1 million percent agree with the rest. To add, Lovie is NOT off the hook. It's his responsibility to develop talent and tell the GM what he needs. (special note to the DL comment above)

 

Lovie is going to "luck ass" out again and get to keep his job. This team we have is not a good one. After this week, we could be the worst 5-1 I have ever seen.

[defiantgiant]

Agreed with your agreement. 1 million percent agree with the rest. To add, Lovie is NOT off the hook. It's his responsibility to develop talent and tell the GM what he needs. (special note to the DL comment above)

 

There's no way Angelo didn't know that Lovie needed a better offensive line. The mistake was in thinking (whether it was Lovie, Angelo, or both) that Tice could do it all himself. Maybe if they had needed one starting lineman, but you can't ask your line coach to pull three of your five starters out of thin air. I suspect that it was a combination of Angelo being unwilling to devote resources to the o-line (see: the rest of his career in Chicago) and Lovie thinking too much of his coaching staff. Whoever was responsible, it's an inexcusable mistake.

[adam]

Agreed with your agreement. 1 million percent agree with the rest. To add, Lovie is NOT off the hook. It's his responsibility to develop talent and tell the GM what he needs. (special note to the DL comment above)

 

Lovie is going to "luck ass" out again and get to keep his job. This team we have is not a good one. After this week, we could be the worst 5-1 I have ever seen.

 

Yeah, but everyone is playing pretty sloppy this year. You could say that about a bunch of teams. New Orleans is 3-2 coming off the SB and the combined record of the teams they beat is 1-13. The Bucs, Redskins, Jaguars, Texans, and Cardinals all have winning records but have negative point differentials. Arizona is -50 and is still 3-2. The ViQueens and Boys are both 1-3 and both were NFC favorites before the season.

 

 

[LT2_3]

There's no way Angelo didn't know that Lovie needed a better offensive line. The mistake was in thinking (whether it was Lovie, Angelo, or both) that Tice could do it all himself. Maybe if they had needed one starting lineman, but you can't ask your line coach to pull three of your five starters out of thin air. I suspect that it was a combination of Angelo being unwilling to devote resources to the o-line (see: the rest of his career in Chicago) and Lovie thinking too much of his coaching staff. Whoever was responsible, it's an inexcusable mistake.

 

I think it's a matter of what they were allowed to do, and what they chose to do.

 

I think they were told before the offseason that they had the draft and free agency with a large budget in an uncapped year. However, they were NOT allowed to trade future draft picks.

 

I think Angelo, Ruskell, Lovie Martz, Marinelli, and Tice all sat down to discuss what areas needed to be addressed and which of those areas could be most effectively be addressed in free agency and our current draft picks.

 

I think they set their sights on Peppers for the defense, and picked up 2 solid blockers in a RB and a TE - considered a 6th lineman. I think they made those decisions because there weren't really any Olinemen available in pure free agency, and they had the safety position ear-marked for the 3rd round pick.

 

Were there OL available that you could say "this guy is a starter on any Oline?" I can't think of any that were available. There was Faneca, but he's old and there were reports that he'd already lost a step. Also, Faneca was released after the draft so our wad had been blown. I thought that we all wanted to get away from the aging FA OLinemen quick fix anyway.

 

Had they been allowed to trade future picks, they probably could have traded next year's first rounder for a 2nd this year and picked up G Zane Beadles or G Vladimir Ducasse - who happens to be the guy that was chosen by the Jets that made them comfortable releasing Faneca. By not being able to trade future picks, they weren't able to move up in the draft to get a quality prospect.

 

On a little side note, Tice said in an interview that he figured it would take 6 games for the Oline to really gel as a unit. Injuries have set that timetable back a bit, but the group of guys that we currently have CAN get a lot better - and we're 4-1 and leading the division right now.

[AZ54]

Faneca is a bust in AZ, at least relative to the expectations they had for him. Can't think of any Cards fans who think he was a great pickup and I haven't seen anything out of him that Garza hasn't been doing for us (good and bad).