All Entries in the "Bears" Category
Lovie going nowhere soon?
In the haste to draw conclusions about Lovie Smith’s job status, let me be the first to tell Bears fans frothing at the mouth what they want to hear. Smith is going to be fired. Eventually.
The Bears once fired Mike Ditka. The Cowboys fired Tom Landry, Smith’s idol. It’s inevitable. It’s the NFL. It’s also not likely to happen soon no matter how much blood you smell in the water around the Bears’ sinking ship. Besides the $11 million owed Smith for the final two seasons on Smith’s contract after this one, it likely would cost the Bears $40 million over five years to hire the next big-name coach. Do you really think any of the football czars being fantasized about would work for less? History says the McCaskeys just aren’t the type of owners to commit $50 million to a head-coaching position, no matter how raucous the public cry becomes. In this economy, can you envision a family business paying two head coaches an average of $13.5 million apiece for two seasons?
Popularity: 9% [?]
Cutler and QB coach have frosty relationship
Very few have job security in a disappointing season and the focus after the results of two of the last three weeks is on defense right now. But offensive coordinator Ron Turner’s situation and that of staff on that side of the ball will come under even greater scrutiny if this season and the offense do not ramp up dramatically.
I’ve noted before that Turner is in a borderline no-win situation, having been handed the keys to a Ferrari in the form of Jay Cutler. If the offense does well, it’s Cutler. If it doesn’t, it’s Turner.
Cutler has what one source told CSNChicago.com is a “frosty relationship” with quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton, who will be at some risk over that. And if Turner goes, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand could as well.
The defensive staff was torn up by the roots and made over last offseason. Special teams under coordinator Dave Toub are excellent and likely won’t be blown up other than Toub getting a much-deserved look as a head coach at some level.
That leaves the offensive staff. No Vanderbilt or Denver team with Cutler as its starter finished better than .500. If this Chicago team doesn’t, Turner could well be shown the same exit corridor that Mike Shanahan was after last season’s 8-8 mark with the Broncos.
Popularity: 11% [?]
Mulligan: Fire Lovie now
The head coach of a football team has a weird job. He’s the man in charge and the unquestioned ruler of his world, but the real power belongs to the players. A coach’s minions determine his fate — his subjects control the length of his reign — if a crop fails, the king is to blame. If the defense fails, the defensive coordinator is to blame.
All of which leaves Bears coach Lovie Smith with nowhere to hide following Arizona’s crushing 41-21 victory over the Bears on Sunday at Soldier Field. Is it the players fault that the defense couldn’t come close to stopping the Cardinals? Was it a fault in scheme? Is it the play-calling? No matter the answer, just one man is responsible for this debacle — the guy wearing the crown. And the emperor was unclothed on this day.
Popularity: 10% [?]
Hester has arrived
Anyone who doesn’t think Devin Hester is a legitimate No. 1 receiver hasn’t been paying attention to the past three games.
In that time, Hester has 21 catches, and only the Cardinals’ Larry Fitzgerald has more. Hester’s 21 receptions have produced 265 yards. Maybe even more impressive, in the past two games, Hester has been targeted by Jay Cutler 17 times, and he has 15 catches, meaning that he’s getting open and he’s catching everything close.
For the season, Hester has 35 receptions, 10 more than the nearest teammate, Earl Bennett. Hester has 454 receiving yards, 120 more than Bennett, who is second. That puts Hester on pace for 80 catches and 1,038 yards, which look a lot like go-to-guy numbers.
Popularity: 7% [?]
Vasher making the switch?
In the constantly evolving secondary — the Bears have made more changes at safety under Lovie Smith than quarterback — Nathan Vasher got a chance with seven snaps last Sunday in the blowout at Cincinnati. Smith is hammering at the need to get takeaways, and Vasher has 19 career interceptions after a pick on the lone play he had at Atlanta on Oct. 18. With Kevin Payne fading fast since his blown coverage in the opener at Green Bay, Vasher has an opportunity when Danieal Manning moves from free safety to nickel back in the sub package.
Popularity: 9% [?]
Changes coming
Josh Beekman replacing Frank Omiyale at left guard is not the only personnel change made this week by Bears coach Lovie Smith. A league source confirmed Hunter Hillenmeyer will replace Nick Roach at middle linebacker, with Roach moving back over to the strong side linebacker spot.
Hillenmeyer, in his seventh NFL season, is believed to have a better grip on the mental aspects of playing in the middle. Roach struggled at times making proper checks on the field, although the coaching staff also played a role in the on-field confusion, habitually sending in calls late from the sidelines. With more experience under his belt, Hillenmeyer may be better suited to improvise in those difficult and fast-paced situations.
Jeff Dickerson-ESPN Chicago.com
Popularity: 8% [?]
Splitsville?
Harris, once a model citizen and defensive cornerstone, has now officially become an overpaid, overrated pain in the hind end.
Coach Lovie Smith sent as strong a message to Harris as the soft-spoken coach is ever known to do when he benched Harris Sunday, then told reporters Monday, “There isn’t anything wrong with Tommie. Tommie didn’t play this week. It was more a coaches’ decision as much as anything. He has had some soreness. He didn’t practice all week. I thought we had better options.”
(Harris is making comments) like a player either itching for another suspension or someone who wants out of his contract. And the Bears seem to be acting more and more like a team that might just be considering it, as wild as that may have once sounded. The Bears paid Harris a $40 million extension two offseasons ago, and a $6.67 million roster bonus last February, in the hopes that his career would return to form under new defensive line coach Rod Marinelli . Another $2.5 million roster bonus is not due until June 1.
But not only is Harris not helping the team — and hasn’t since the Super Bowl season — he now appears to be hindering it.
Does it make sense to cut loose a 26-year-old three-time Pro Bowler who still has more raw talent than most, even though we rarely see it anymore? It does when the player becomes a source of division. It does when the head coach chooses to sit him for a key game while admitting he could have played. It does when the evolution of his position, the key spot in Smith’s Tampa 2, is held up while everyone stands around and tries to figure out if he is ever going to return to form again.
Melissa Isaacson-ESPN Chicago.com
Popularity: 7% [?]
Haugh: Lovie safe
As a public service to save the next fed-up Bears fan from picking up the phone or clicking “Send,” please remember that Lovie Smith has two years and about $11 million left on his contract after this season.
Popularity: 9% [?]
‘Healthy’ Tommie Harris out
Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said Thursday morning on WSCR-AM (670) that defensive tackle Tommie Harris ”is healthy.”
Popularity: 9% [?]
Omiyale’s job safe
Frank Omiyale will not lose his starting left guard job for the Chicago Bears.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Blackballed?
Ex-Bear Cedric Benson sounded like a man looking forward instead of behind until someone pushed his button Wednesday, asking if his former team “blackballed” him.
Popularity: 7% [?]
Cutler to make $30M in deal
The Chicago Bears and quarterback Jay Cutler agreed to a two-year extension that will keep him with the team through 2013, and a source confirmed it will pay him $30 million in new money.
Popularity: 5% [?]