Will the Bears Show Up Next Season?
The Chicago Bears are the only team in the NFL to have all 22 starters from last year return. Nevertheless, they did little to upgrade the team on the offensive side of the ball, with the exception of signing backup QB Brian Griese. Last year the Bears had the 2nd ranked defense in the NFL, yet gave up a staggering 28 points at home in a loss to the Carolina Panthers in the divisional playoffs. In my opinion, this had nothing to do with the defense not being up for the task on that day, instead it was a matter of the defense burning out from the amount of time they spent on the field all season long because of an ineffective Bears' offense. Today, on Chicagosports.com, there is an article written by John Mullin and K.C. Johnson which analyzes many of the potentially problematic areas for the Bears. I will take a look at each portion of their article and offer my analysis.
The first issue is what the article calls "scar tissue," which deals with Thomas Jones' trade demand as well as Lance Briggs' desire for a contract extension. I personally think that Jones is expendable and the Bears should take a gamble by sending him to Denver for disgruntled WR Ashley Lelie. This would satisfy both teams in that Denver would be getting the feature back they have been looking for and the Bears would get a bona fide 2nd WR who could learn from Mushin Muhammad and one day blossom into a star receiver. I read an article about Lelie on ESPN.com the other day which basically talked about how teams put too much stock in WRs who were chosen in the first round and never let them develop into 2nd receivers. Instead, these teams force them to be the focus of the offense right away. Lelie averaged 17.2 yards per catch in Denver, yet the Broncos always expected more out of him. The article gave me the feeling that Lelie could be something special. The Bears already have plenty of depth at running back with Benson, who showed flashes of why he was picked fourth overall, and Peterson, who I happen to think could start for a number of teams in the league. As for Briggs, he was asking for an extension which would have paid him more than Brian Urlacher. Briggs is an incredible talent, but I felt his asking price was unreasonable. I hope Briggs and the Bears can come to a compromise, because to see him in another uniform after this year would be nauseating.
The second topic was the battle between Rex Grossman and Brian Griese for the right to be the starting QB. Honestly, I do not feel this is even a contest. Grossman, in my opinion of course, is a special talent that only comes along once in a blue moon. And while that makes me, as a Bears fan, very happy, I also cringe at the thought of Grossman's career slowly resembling that of Mark Prior. Perhaps this excerpt from CNNSI.com will help to summarize the talent of Grossman: "The mere presence of a healthy Rex Grossman for 16 games is supposed to guarantee improvement on the offense. It should, because Grossman is in his fourth year and appears to be the real deal. Grossman gets rid of the ball faster than most NFL quarterbacks, reads defenses quickly and gets the ball to the right receiver, usually with great accuracy. But, because of injuries, Grossman hasn't played enough yet to justify the Bears' faith in him - only seven starts."
The third, and perhaps the most talked about topic since the end of last season is: which WR will help take some of the attention away from Muhammad? Although I previously talked about trading for Lelie, I feel that the Bears have two potentially special receivers already on their roster in Mark Bradley and Bernard Berrian. I felt Bradley was on his way to stardom before he tore his ACL in a thrilling overtime win against Detroit. Only time will tell how he rebounds from an injury like that. In many cases the player does not have the same burst in his first step, due to the psychological fear of pushing off the injured knee. Against Carolina in the playoffs, Berrian showed how good of a WR he can be. He is a bit undersized, but makes up for this with blazing speed, great hands and heart. In the divisional playoffs he made some incredible catches over the middle, sacrificing his body in the process. He is also a talented return man which gives the Bears a third option behind newly-drafted Devin Hester and Danieal Manning. However, I think that by drafting these two players, this symbolizes Lovie Smith's desire to have Berrian healthy and competing for the 2nd WR spot.
Bold Predictions:
1.) Grossman stays healthy all year long and earns a Pro Bowl alternate spot. The year after he will start for the NFC in the Pro Bowl.
2.) Dusty Dvorcek, a DT from Oklahoma University who was selected in the fourth round by the Bears, will be starting along his former teammate Tommie Harris by the end of the year.
3.) The Bears' fifth round choice Mark Anderson, a DE from Alabama will record 6 sacks in his rookie campaign.
4.) Cedric Benson will rack up 1,300 yards in his first full season.
I'm exhausted after this one. Post some comments, tell me what you think. Until next time...
posted by Ryan Anthony Dreyer at
1:10 PM
2 Comments:
Your comments regarding the 2007 Bears are both insightful
and concise, but they do not take into account the teo major
problems the Bears will confront
with the current alignment of
players:
On defense, they are not particularly strong in the secondary, relying on the cover-2 in 2006, a pass defensive system which will not
work as well in 2007 simply because NFL offensive coordinators caught up with the ploy by the last third of the 2006 season. In 2007 the bears will need to cover with talent
not with a system which was designed to overcome the lack
of overall talent. For a
positive outcome, the Bears, first and foremost, will need Brown to stay healthy at free-saftey or all bets are off: If he stays healthy and the 2nd year guys are thereby given the space to improve and the first year guys get some reps, I think
the bears will be alright in the end and go into the playoffs
as a real contender. If, on the
other hand, the secondary does not improve with its regular coverage, the Bears may not evem make the playoffs.
Offense: You are right, the Bears negelected to bring in
people to improve the offense,
so, like the Cubs faced, each
player, most especially Grossman and the tight end, whoever that may come to be, will need to improve their stats from last year as they do not have any recruits to
make the improvements necessary for the Bears to get to the next level.
In the case of the Bears, contrary to my pre-season observation of the Cubs who
went into 2006 with utterly
mediocre talent, I believe that
the Bears offensive players can
'all' improve over last year.
If they fail to do this, they will have underacheived, but that would not be a first for a Chicago team.
In short, it is clear to me that the Bears have not improved
themselves very much by the draft, unless the punt return
and kickoff return specialty
players make an impact in their first year. A real possibility,
actually.
Nor have they improved themselves substantially by free-agency: In fact, they
fell behind other teams in that regard.
So, look for improvement on both
sides of the ball, especially
offense which must improve at
virtually every position, or
be prepared for the Bears to barely miss the playoffs.
Actually I think that 2008 and 2009 should be where the Bears
really shine, but it is important to keep the team in
the playoffs in 2007 in order
to maintain momentum toward a
2009 Super Bowl victory.
One thing I do not understand,
and this really worries me:
As we know, the Bears did not open their free-agency checkbook
this year in order to sign the likes of Briggs, so why isn't he signed. I think 2008 and 2009 depends on what management
does with the likes of Briggs.
Listen up Mr Angelo.....If he is allowed to bolt, look for others to follow when their rookie contracts come due. Bad
momentum is as real as good momentum, on every level of the organization.
The Bears have to win this year! I hope you're right that they make the necessary improvements and steal the show. Great article! I thoroughly enjoyed your perspective.
George
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