Da End of Da 2010-11 Bears

Well, the Bears certainly over performed WAY beyond anything I would have ever thought for this team especially after a mostly horrid pre-season. The Bears made a big splash (probably THE biggest splash) in free agency this past off-season signing their own version of the Big Three with Peppers (should be up for Defensive Player of the Year), Chester Taylor (under used and primarily addition by subtraction from the Vikings), and Brendan Manumaleuna (saw him about 10 times all season). Peppers was a HUGE pickup, but when you spend what Angelo spent on a new QB, WHY don't you do something, anything really to improve a very suspect O-line or an inexperienced WR group with no clear "go-to guy"?

While Mike Tice (one of 4 head coaches on the Bears coaching staff) worked miracles with the scraps including former first round pick (14th overall) Chris Williams putting together a workable O-line, Angelo's total ineptitude with the draft certainly stretched his coaching skills.

I don't know who the Bears WR coach is, but after watching Johnny Knox AGAIN not go after a ball in tight coverage and allowing yet another interception, he needs to be fired. I know Hester and Knox are not the sharpest tools in the shed, but after two years, you'd think a starting NFL WR would know you cannot just let the defender have the ball on a pass in tight coverage. Would the NFC Championship Game have gone differently if Hester had actually finished his route on that first series instead of beating his guy and then inexplicably slowing down allowing Cutler's pass sail well over his head on what would have been a sure TD.

Speaking of Cutler, what a HORRIBLE job of reporting by Fox on Cutler's condition coming out of halftime. Granted, I'm sure Lovie had a lot to do with that which is understandable, but late in the 3rd quarter shouldn't it have come out that he had a serious knee injury and the Bears doctors had ruled him out of the game? Personally, I'm stunned with the reaction particularly by all the NFL players sitting home on their couches watching this game just like the rest of us. I know Twitter is fairly new to the NFL and particularly the players but just because you have an account doesn't turn you into a journalist requiring you to report on anything football related. Isn't there some type of brotherhood out there amongst players? Too bad the Bears don't get to face the Jaguars this year as that bunch of LOSERS seemed to be the most vocal regarding Cutler's injury although the only guy I had honestly ever heard of was Maurice Jones-Drew. WHAT are these guys even talking about? At the point of their Tweets, they have ZERO clue what's going on so why say a word? Like I said, too bad the Jags aren't on the Bears schedule for 2011...I'm sure Urlacher who REALLY came out swinging about these "critics" would have LOVED to have a shot at him.

So what have we learned and what's the plan for 2011? Here's my list of rhetorical asked and answered questions:

• What happens with the Bears coaching staff?

What started out as one of the "hottest seats" of all head coaching positions following 3 straight seasons without making the playoffs turned into a pretty good situation for Lovie Smith. Going into the bye week, it didn't look too good as the Bears were 4-3 after a couple of horrible home losses to Seattle and Washington.

Well, there was a meeting of the minds during that perfectly timed bye week and the Bears turned things around quickly and made it all the way to the Championship Game playing for their namesake's trophy (George S. Halas Trophy). Even though the worst nightmare happened as the Bears were forced to watch their northern rival Packers take "their" trophy on the Bears home field, my hope actually is that they keep the big name guys completely intact BUT do NOT extend Lovie until he can do this again. My fear is that Lovie has earned himself (at least in the eyes of the inept owner and more inept GM) an extension even though he still has another year on his contract.

• What happens with Jerry Angelo?

He too escapes the hot seat with the team's run to the NFC Championship Game...unfortunately. The scary similarities between this guy and the Cubs Jim Hendry is unreal and gives me a very uneasy feeling regarding the future of this team. The number of gaffs this guy has made during his tenure really should have set this franchise back several years. It is primarily thanks to the will of a few players like Urlacher, Briggs, Devin Hester, and Kreutz. There are a few other players that have helped out of course too. Johnny Knox is one for sure as a 5th round pick as the Bears picked him up as part of the Jay Cutler trade.

• What about a QB controversy in Chicago?

Yes, Caleb Haney played quite well under horrible conditions starting with the fact he was unbelievably named as the 3rd string QB. This isn't unbelievable because he's so good but that Todd Collins had been so unbelievably bad. Collins' 2-to-1 ratio doesn't relate to TDs-to-Int; rather this is completions (10)-to-interceptions (5). By the way, he had the same number of TD passes you had - ZERO but in many more attempts.

Most people said "Cutler better be hurt" considering he sat out of the second half of the biggest game of his entire life and it turns out that yes, he indeed was hurt with a strained MCL. He will be back next year and there is no QB controversy going into next season.

For me, it's all about talent evaluation on BOTH sides...pre-draft and then on the team itself. I mentioned Johnny Knox both positively and negatively above. Did you know Johnny Knox was on the practice squad last year before Devin Aromashodu got hurt in the preseason? Well Knox finished with 5 receiving TDs which was good for 2nd on a pathetic 7-9 Bears last year. This year he was 400 yards ahead of the next closest Bears receiver in yards (yes, even ahead of supposed #1 WR Devin Hester) and this time led the team in receiving TDs. If Aromashodu hadn't gotten hurt, he could have ended up on some other team's roster.

So I started writing this shortly after the NFC Championship Game and now I'm finishing it up after the Super Bowl. How do you think the Bears "brass" are feeling about their decision to let the Packers win that game in Week 17? The Bears starters played the whole game so the only thing the team didn't do was apparently game plan for the Packers. HUH? That means it wasn't about the safety of the players or keeping them healthy for the playoffs rather just giving the coaches a week off from doing their jobs...makes sense and worked out great guys...THANKS! So let's extend Lovie and watch as even the Lions pass up the Bears next season. The NFL has never looked so winnable in my eyes and the Bears BLEW their opportunity to REALLY make something of it...instead they watched their division rivals work through 14 guys including 6 opening day starters go on IR and STILL win the Super Bowl. Do they think it will easier next year? The Vikings will be done with the circus that is Brett Favre, the Packers will almost certainly be healthier, the Bears will almost certainly be less healthy, and the Lions are another year removed from Matt Millen's "reign" as GM. I see three more years similar to the three years we had between Championship Game appearances.

GO BULLS and GO HAWKS!