Chicago Bears Missing Their Terrell Owens

The Bears have yet to take the field this preseason, but it is already easy to predict how they will finish the year.

This is not over-hyping the addition of Jay Cutler. That has been done enough. This isn’t overestimating the impact of the change in coaching on the defensive end. Its bigger than just those things.

There is one simple reason why the Bears are going to be so easy to predict this season. Its because they are the Philadelphia Eagles prior to Terrell Owens.

Remember those Eagle teams? They always seemed destined for greatness. They were stacked at almost every position. Let’s see, they had a star quarterback in his prime, and they would win consistently. But in the end, they always fell short in the conference championship games or the Super Bowl.

The reason that Terrell Owens is so important to this comparison is despite his flaws, he was the tipping point for the team with his amazing talent at the position.

Owens gave them a star receiver, something that Philadelphia was lacking, and put them into the big game. The Bears of 2009 don’t have a Terrell Owens, sans how positive Bears personnel feel about Devin Hester.

Instead, the Bears have assembled the Midway version of a Todd Pinkston, James Thrash and Freddie Mitchell esque corps.

When you look at both teams, the comparisons are endless.

From 2001 to 2003, the Eagles had a healthy Donovan McNabb who was mobile and accurate. The Bears have finally added a quarterback that can do all of those things. He may not be as mobile as McNabb, but he also isn’t a stick planted in the back of the pocket without a prayer of escaping the oncoming rush like Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman.

At running back, the Eagles ran with Duce Staley and then upgraded to Brian Westbrook.

Westbrook’s explosiveness made him an asset running between the tackles, and he could still get outside and catch a pass if needed. He was a rookie in 2002, and started to get the majority of the carries in 2003.

Like Westbrook, the Bears grabbed Matt Forte with a non-first round pick, and turned him into a feature back that had other teams wishing they had pulled the trigger on the Tulane grad.

When Westbrook was in his prime, he was a top five running back in the league, and is currently still among the best. With Forte exhibiting as much skill as he did in his first season, he is currently right up there.

On defense, the Eagles sat near the top from 2001-2003 in points allowed.

Led by a strong, fast front seven that played well above their youthful experience, the Eagles were one of the toughest teams to move the ball against. The line totaled 135 sacks in those three seasons. With leader Brian Dawkins roaming the line as almost an extra linebacker, the Eagles still managed to play amazing pass defense to keep points off the board.

The Bears may not be as dominating as those Eagles teams were, but they could be close.

This is still one of the top teams against the run, and even a small improvement against the pass should have Chicago near the top of the defensive rankings again.

After all, the Bears are also sporting a young defensive front, and should have a dominating linebacker core again.

How many similarities can there be?

The Bears saw first hand how good the 2001 Eagles were, even though that team didn’t make it to the Super Bowl. Philadelphia derailed one of the greatest dream seasons that Chicago has ever put together.

Given the way the Eagles performed that season and the next two, it would be no disappointment to equal those teams.

And if the Bears find their T.O., there is no telling what could happen.

Lovie Smith’s Defense: Coaching Tree Spreads Roots in Chicago

What is the difference between 5-3 and 7-1? For the Bears it was a little under seven minutes.

The Bears collapsed against Tampa Bay during the final six minutes in game three of the 2008 season, necessitating an overtime period that ultimately went to the Bucs.

Against Atlanta, a late 10-point comeback was spoiled by a slacking defense that gave Jason Elam a chance to do what he does best—connect from long distance to break opponents’ hearts.

Ask any Bears fan about those games and two harsh words will come from their lips: Bob Babich.

For right or wrong, Chicago’s defensive coordinator took the majority of the blame for those two games, missing the playoffs, and generally ruining Chicago’s strong defensive tradition.

The last part might be harsh, but the fear caused by the icy stares of frozen Chicago linebackers wasn’t there last season. Someone has to have their head on a pike for that.

 

Babich not (totally) to blame

Before taking Babich to the guillotine, it is important to remember that he helped build the recent incarnation of the defense into what it was.

No position is synonymous with Chicago more than linebacker, and as the linebacker coach, Babich has been an important part of shaping that group since 2004.

The hated coach helped turn Lance Briggs from just another third-round draft pick into a four-time Pro Bowl pick. He re-energized Brian Urlacher, who looked like he might never have another great season after his injury-plagued 2004 campaign. And, he has found a way to plug holes left by free agency and injuries.

Babich isn’t the anti-hero in the grand scheme of things. It is only when you compare his performance to that of Ron Rivera that the real disappointment happens.

Rivera was the golden child, but he shone too brightly for the Bears, and threatened to rock the chain of command. That is why he is gone.

Babich as a replacement hasn’t proved to be the right answer. As a result, Smith will be calling the plays even though Babich still has the coordinator title.

Smith lost confidence in his protégé, who coached under him with St. Louis before coming over to the Bears, because of last season’s repeated failures.

 

Long line of defensive minds

It isn’t like this defense to fail, at least not when you consider where it comes from.

Babich studied under Lovie Smith. Smith learned his craft from Tony Dungy, the architect of the Tampa-2 version of the Cover-2 defense. Dungy was tutored by Monte Kiffin, Chuck Noll, and Dennis Green.

Failing, when these guys have taught you everything they know, is a slap in the face to the history of defensive football.

That is why Smith is so adamant that the defense return to form this season.

“I don’t think anything will change as far as our philosophy on winning football games,” Smith said earlier this preseason. “We have to be able to play great defense; not good defense, great defense. And we plan on doing that.”

To assist with that plan, former Detroit Lions head coach Rod Marinelli was brought on board.

 

Lions loss is Bears gain

Despite the snickers that came with that announcement following Marinelli’s disaster of a season in the Motor City, the hiring is a solid win for the Bears.

Marinelli expands the Dungy brain trust in Chicago, having spent six seasons as the defensive line coach under him.

Plus Marinelli is going to bring back the pass rush, an area where Chicago stumbled last season, recording only 28 sacks, and worse, forcing only 10 fumbles.

Stripping only 10 balls from the opponents is a far cry from the 20 that led them to the Super Bowl in 2006.

While the Lions were not a success under Marinelli, the coach will bring a new attitude to the front line, which will help ease some of the pressure the rest of the defense felt trying to cover for the lack of a rush.

After all, this the man that helped Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice become stars in Tampa. Without Marinelli, both players have struggled to have the same success that they had with him as their coach.

It just remains to be seen what he can do with the Bears’ crop of young pass rushers.

As when Smith arrived in Chicago five years ago, there will be doubts that a change of faces will help to improve things, especially given the recent history of those mugs.

But Smith proved that he knew what he was doing before. With the hiring of Marinelli and the change in Babich’s role, the head coach is taking a chance, hoping that he can turn the strength of the team around.

And maybe he will make his mentors proud in the process.

Roberto Garza: Unheralded Leader of the Chicago Bears’ Offensive Line

Roberto Garza has been a fixture on the offensive line for the Bears since coming over from the Atlanta Falcons in 2005. The starting right guard, Garza has become leader within the veteran unit.

That squad has drawn fire for its protection over the past few seasons and the success of the line will be crucial to the Bears with their new offense.

The gregarious Garza would make for a great feature, especially since the offensive linemen are overlooked heroes on the gridiron.

Given the chance, here is a list of questions that Garza would take during my interview.

 

2009 Offense

1. What is going to be the biggest change for the offensive line in 2009 with Jay Cutler at quarterback compared to last season with Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman?

2. The Bears finished in the middle of the pack in terms of sacks allowed last season, and that wasn’t good enough for many fans. What improvements are we going to see this season to better that mark?

3. The line is now a mix of long-time veteran starters and a number of young rookies.  What responsibility do you have to help the young players adjust to the NFL and improve the depth?

4. How much of your role now is that of a coach?

5. What is going to take to get the Bears back over the hump and into the playoffs? Back to the Super Bowl?

 

History

1. You have had the opportunity to play alongside one of the best centers in the game with Olin Kreutz. What have you learned from Kreutz during that time that has helped to improve your game?

2. In your time in the NFL, what is the memory that sticks with you?

3. What is your greatest achievement so far in your career?

4. Who was your favorite player growing up? What do you do in your career to emulate them?

5. Describe your ultimate play.

6. What goals do you have for yourself going into this season? For the remainder of your career?

Background

1. You came to the NFL from Division II.  Based on what you have learned over the past seven seasons, how different is the adjustment from Division II to the NFL as compared to Division I?

2. How prepared were you for the rigors of the NFL from your time at Texas A&M–Kingsville?

3. Is there added pressure on you to succeed being one of less than 20 Hispanic players in the NFL?

4. What will it take to increase interest in the Hispanic community and create more players?

5. You made the cover of the Madden ’09 Spanish edition. Could you describe what that meant to you, being recognized in that way?

6. Do you worry about the Madden jinx?

 

Quick Hits

In one or two words, react to the following:

1. Twitter
2. The Green Bay Packers
3. Favorite post-game meal
4. Best Mexican food in Chicago
5. Best Tex-Mex in Chicago
6. Best Texas BBQ anywhere
7. Playing for a team with a long history like the Bears

Chicago Bears’ Playbook Should Get a Makeover with New Look Offense

It has been quite a few years since the Bears playbook changed significantly.

Not since the Bears became one of the first teams to use the wide receiver screen as a significant portion of the offense has Chicago truly surprised their opponents.

Sure, there have been wrinkles, such as adding Devin Hester as a receiver with the hope that his speed translated from special teams to the passing game.

But for the most part, Chicago has been the Chicago of old: Run on first down, run or short pass on second down, run or long pass on third down, and hope to do it again.

Ron Turner may be many things; groundbreaking is not one of them.

Yet with the new personnel, the stagnant swamp that was the Bear’s playbook could see a significant spring cleaning this season.

 

Channeling Bill Walsh

Turner can start simple: Throw more on first down.

It isn’t that the Bears never throw on first down, but when they do it seems to surprise their own players as much as the defense.

With Jay Cutler coming on board, the Bears now have a stronger, more accurate arm in the pocket. Cutler completed 62.3 percent of his passes last season and did even better than that when throwing on first down.

He can do the same for the Bears by connecting with a slot receiver cutting across the middle.

Normally, this would seem the wrong way to go for the Bears. They haven’t had the right kind of receiver to do this.

But this job doesn’t call for the flashy No. 1 wide out that the team is still lacking. This job calls for a different set of skills. Chicago now has two receivers on its roster that fit the bill.

The first is second-year receiver Earl Bennett, still trying to establish himself with the team.

Never one to shy from contact, Bennett could be the surprise weapon for the Bears in this role. After all, he has already caught passes from Cutler once before back at Vanderbilt.

The other receiver who can help in this role is Juaquin Iglesias who the Bears added in the third round of this year’s draft.

The former Oklahoma Sooner doesn’t have the skills to go deep on the NFL level, but he does have the ability to bang across the middle. Going up against linebackers will be a much better experience for Iglesias that trying to beat NFL corners and safeties.

Sure, this seems like the West Coast offense in its most simplistic form—the way Bill Walsh first envisioned it—but it is the West Coast offense unlike the Bears have ever run it.

Open up the rest of the offense

The change in first-down attack will allow Chicago to use the rush more effectively.

The key to getting the most out of Matt Forte is not running him more; too many backs have been run into the ground that way.

Instead, Forte will gain strength by making the defense think twice about focusing all their effort on the run. Having that first down pass attack will do just that.

Forte was able to gain a little more than four yards per rush on second and long when the defense knew he was coming. There is no telling how well he can do without the defense’s front seven stacked against him.

The extra carries for Forte will come, but they are better utilized after the Bears are out to a lead rather than as the main thrust of the attack.

Another reason the Bears struggled so often on offense last season was that they were locked into a set of plays keeping them within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage.

Cutler didn’t have that issue with the Broncos. Denver attempted to break out of that zone about 15 times per contest in 2008.

The lack of a star receiver will hurt Chicago as they go deep, but unknown players have stepped up for the Bears in this spot before. Now the leading receiver in Minnesota, Bernard Berrian was nothing before becoming a long target for Chicago.

And yes, the Bronco receivers are an upgrade from what Chicago has on its roster, but improving on Orton’s 35 percent completion rate over 10 yards isn’t too much to ask. Coming anywhere close to Cutler’s 46 percent mark would be cause for open celebration in the streets.

 

A new paradigm

At times last season, Chicago’s offense seemed as if it were on life support. Fans lamented the play calling that left them scratching their heads and yelling at their televisions. Were it not for timely turnovers, the Bears would not have sniffed 9-7.

But Jay Cutler has found a way to jump start the heart of not only a city but also his team, igniting their hopes with a strong first practice.

Adding a new passer alone is not the right answer. Chicago needs to make changes that go beyond the new man behind center. They have to utilize pieces of the team that have gone idle for too long.

Yes, it is time for a new paradigm at Soldier Field, one that will keep fans jumping out of their seats for the right reason, like a long touchdown set up by a pass on first down.

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