I don’t remember the last time I didn’t care if the Bears won or lost a game, especially on Monday night. It also didn’t help that I was in a fantasy football semifinal against someone who had Greg Olsen as their last active player for the week and I was up 20 points (and yes, the other person did have Brian Westbrook). The need to recap the Bears from week-to-week has become ultimately unnecessary for the 2007 season and with games against Green Bay (looking to secure the #1 spot in the NFC) and New Orleans (looking to obtain a wild card berth), the Bears should finish 5-11 this year. It’s been disappointing, but if you read between the lines, it was so cut and dry as to why the Bears are simply not that good of a team. Then again, if you’re going to lay an egg for a season, this couldn’t be a better year. I don’t think anyone has a shot at beating New England or even Indianapolis for that matter. Here’s the storyline of the 2007 season and what the Bears look forward to next in 2008…

Offense

If you’re looking for one reason why the Bears have one of the worst offenses in the NFL, it has to be the offensive line. Yes, all Bears fans know how bad the line is, but it goes a lot farther than anyone could have imagined. They accounted for the revolving door at QB and more than likely created problems for Cedric Benson in terms of demonstrating his value as a first-round pick. The combination of Grossman/Griese/Orton were dead in the water due to the fact they never really got any protection (especially from the tackle position) and Benson/Peterson/Wolfe never had anywhere to run because there was nowhere to go. The run sets up the pass and the pass sets up the run. If you fail at one of these aspects, you have a problem. If you fail at both, you have a crisis. Tait was acquired in 2004 and Miller in 2005 to help solidify the offensive line and allow a young quarterback to progress and have the necessary protection to excel in the passing game. In some cases they did just that, but for the very most part, their performances in a Bear uniform could best be summed up as below average. They’ve seriously aged before our very eyes and while other teams such as Green Bay suffered with young and inexperienced lineman, the Bears depended on older veterans to carry them and never looked towards the future in terms of replacements (no, John St. Clair is not the answer). Now the Bears look to the draft or possibly an expensive free agent market to acquire average tackles that will take a season or two to fit into the system. If there is one guy who is the cornerstone of the Bears offensive line, its always been Olin Kreutz. Unfortunately, 2007 maybe a year he’d like to forget. Also remember he’ll be in his eleventh year as the 2008 season starts.

The jury is still out on Cedric Benson, but based on his status as a first round pick, he’ll be around a few more years to the shigrin of Bears fans. Adrian Peterson didn’t solidify his ability to be a number one back, but then again look who he had blocking for him. Garrett Wolfe at times has demonstrated that he could be another Warrick Dunn, but he may never get a real shot at a number one role with the Bears and with Ron Turner as offensive coordinator. As for Turner, I hope he moves on and is let go by the Bears. He calls a game and schemes like its 1994 and not 2007. He shouldn’t take all the blame, but his play calls have been VERY suspect. His inability to use Devin Hester more in the offense (besides screens and reverses) took one of the biggest weapons in the NFL out of the equation on offense. He found out his tight ends were key components of the passing game against Green Bay, then we never really saw them again (and no, routes in the flats are not what we were envisioning). He used the no-huddle to perfection, then opted not to use it late in the game against New York who was suffering from injuries in their defensive personnel. Instead of using Olsen more on every down, he stuck with Desmond Clark who often drops passes, accounts for stupid penalties, and runs like a goose. Using Olsen was the gameplan, but despite his proven ability to catch tough balls, he was often left unused.

In terms of receivers, let Muhsin Muhammad leave. He’s old, has no speed, or even the ability to even catch the ball at times. He’d probably still make a good #3 or #4 receiver on another team and its no doubt he has value as a possession receiver, but the Bears need a number one type guy. I like Bernard Berrian as he’s developed into a decent wide receiver, however, not at the money he’ll be asking for in the offseason. I think he’s replaceable, but the Bears depth at receiver may force him to re-sign at a contract well above his talent. As for Mark Bradley, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

The biggest question will be at quarterback. Do they keep Grossman or let him delve into the free agent market and attempt to acquire someone like Derek Anderson or Donovan McNabb? Getting either of the two will be a hard bargain and nearly impossible with Anderson more than likely signing a mega deal with Cleveland and it doesn’t help that they’re playoff bound. McNabb may be drawn to his hometown, but in reality, may be more suited going to the Vikings or simply remaining an Eagle as either of those two options put him in reality check of making the playoffs. I say keep Grossman and if possible, provide a deal with heavy incentives versus a long term and inflated contract. The Bears more than likely wont be able to sway a good free agent quarterback to Chicago and the learning curve for a draft pick or up-and-coming free agent quarterback could be 2-4 years. The problem may be that other teams will find good use in Grossman and may find some attributes which may help their team excel in the passing game or at a minimum, let him compete for a starting job in camp. If the Bears do keep Rex, they better make revamping the offensive line their number one priority in the draft and in free agency. He may never be the gunslinger he was at Florida, but he’d be a better game manager and has more development than someone like Tavaris Jackson (who has a running game). Besides Olin Kreutz, I would hope that all of next year’s lineman would have different names and numbers on the back of the jerseys.

Defense

You could say the defense created their own monster from their 2006 performance and developing a mirage in thinking they could be the “best ever” as Adam Archuleta pointed out in training camp. Things never started in the right direction and it all happened in week one with the loss of Mike Brown and then Nathan Vasher in week three. Then injuries to Dusty Dvoracek, Darwin Walker and a partially injured Tommie Harris hampered any hope at the tackle position. Mark Anderson was fabulous in 2006, yet disappeard in 2007. The one bright spot the Bears had this year was Adewale Ogunleye who showed he still can be a force to be reckoned with at end. The Bears defense proved that when you’re too overagressive, it can easily be schemed to create big plays for an offense. The blitz packages used never worked (until last night) and due to the lack of pressure from the defensive line, Urlacher/Briggs/Hillenmeyer were often left exposed to be blocked by offensive lineman and in one-on-one situations with running backs or worse, receivers.

Two words can easily sum up the Bears defense: poor tackling. Looking back, just think of how many big plays were given up due to missed tackles. Maybe the Bears should be in pads all week in 2008.

In the end, the defense suffered more from personnel moves. Giving up on Tank Johnson (although understood), letting Dante Wesley go to New England, and trading Chris Harris to Carolina at first seemed to be non-important deals, but in the end, it seemed to be one more factor in the defense’s demise. I don’t see Lance Briggs coming back next year, but hopefully the Bears can utilize Jamar Williams at his position and allow him to mature just like Briggs did. Hopefully, Bob Babich will learn from this year and scheme a bit better next year. I’m also hoping the defensive play from last night was something the Bears can look upon going into next season. If there was one bright spot, it was at the corner position. Unfortunately, Vasher has been out since week 3, but he made an impact immediately last night and Tillman has been exceptional all year.

One last thing….Danieal Manning Jr. IS A BUST. He is absolutely horrible. Please, please, please either get rid of him or release him immediately. He is not a long term answer at free/strong safety and is one of the primary reasons the Bears had trouble stopping the run this year. Whether it was his missed tackle last night on Robert Ferguson or going the complete opposite way on Maurice Morris’ touchdown run against Seattle, the guy CONTINUALLY makes mistakes. Unless the Bears can acquire another experienced safety in free agency, they may have to keep Mike Brown despite his past with injuries.

Special Teams

Special teams can haunt teams or simply cause them to be just average. Fortunately, Bears are exceptional at it. Devin Hester is the primary reason and is already a Hall of Famer. He did his job by either returning punts/kickoffs for touchdowns, forcing teams to kick short to avoid him, or simply kicking the ball out of bounds giving the Bears superior field position. Robbie Gould was as good as gold like last year and delivered when needed. Brad Maynard may look like an old man, but he still is one of the best punters in the league with his placement and usage of the sideline. The Bears don’t have any problems here and they just need to make sure Dave Toub stays….forever.

Overall

You could say Bears fans should have seen the writing on the wall last year and the fact that this team got a tad lucky in making it to the Super Bowl. They easily could have lost that game against Seattle and put the NFC Championship in New Orleans and we may never have seen them in Miami. What the Bears did in 2006 is what the Packers (and even Vikings) are doing in 2007. The difference is that both Green Bay and Minnesota are young teams and more than likely will continue to grow as the Bears look for answers. Hint: This could be a long and drawn out rebuilding phase.

The Bears need to react and react fast. Minnesota, Green Bay, and even Detroit are going to be formidable opposition for the next few years and have made strides while the Bears have taken one step forward and two steps back. The mantra was all about the Super Bowl appearance in 2006, but the reality of their problems in 2007 became more and more evident from week to week. Unfortunately, it took forever for this team to adjust and make necessary changes. Instead of gift wrapping positions, let guys compete for them in training camp. We’ve already seen that draft status means nothing on this team. Let’s hope 2008 is a much better season.

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