It won’t be too much longer before NFL commissioner Roger Goodell tells the St. Louis Rams they are on the clock with the first pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.
At that point, the team will have a choice to make—should it select Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh or Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen?
The Rams need help at the quarterback position, but 1-15 teams have a lot of needs.
It tends to work out that way.
So adding Clausen—the Golden Domer with the golden arm—might not be enough. Perhaps the Rams will decide that no matter how talented a quarterback is, the need on the line is greater.
Of course, Suh’s presence alone won’t be enough to get the Rams back to the Super Bowl, either. But a case could be made that a top lineman or defense might actually make more of an impact than a top quarterback.
Both Clausen and Suh appear to be NFL-ready. Clausen was under the tutelage of former NFL offensive coordinator Charlie Weis during his time at Notre Dame, and the Irish did run a pro-style offense.
As far as Suh, well, his prodigious talent should help him acclimate to the next level quickly.
So it really depends on the Rams. Can they live with Kyle Boller or a free-agent retread at QB if Suh is able to create havoc on defense? Or are they better off with Clausen, a potential franchise quarterback who could lead them to success in the long term? Are both choices fail-safe? Or is one pick less likely to fail than the other?
The Rams have until April to settle on an answer.
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Ok, so it’s a little shocking that after a 5-0 start to the season, the Giants proceeded to lose five of their next six games.
And it’s nothing short of astonishing how the Giants were out-scored 85-16 over the past two weeks. College basketball teams give up fewer points in two games than the Giants defense managed to allow.
Fellow Giants fans, we never saw this one coming…but we probably should have.
The Giants are just two years removed from their miraculous 2007 Super Bowl run. However, their 2007 run was just that, a miraculous one-month run to the Super Bowl.
Needless to say, winning a Super Bowl is no easy task. However, winning a Super Bowl often has a lot to do with a team getting hot at precisely the right time of the year, which is exactly what happened for the Giants back in 2007.
But miraculous four week Super Bowl run aside, what have the Giants really accomplished since 2006?
They have given us nothing more than two .500 seasons (in 06’ and 09’) and a first round playoff exit (in 08’).
In essence, we have more or less been dealing with nothing more than an above average football team over the past four years…an above average team that managed to catch fire during one four week stretch in January of 2008.
That 2007 Super Bowl run was so gratifying to all of us Giant fans that we completely overlooked the fact that the Giants have gone 38-26 over the past four years.
Good, but by no means spectacular.
Had we not still had our heads buried in the 2007 Super Bowl run we might have seen the writing displayed on the wall as clear as day, and it would have read “a slightly above average football team” in letters the size of the new Dallas Cowboys’ video screen.
Sheridan has been shown the door.
Coughlin is now on the hot seat and Kevin “Old Predictable” Gilbride is sitting on a large pile of red hot coal.
The defense was a disaster in 2009.
We are lacking a legitimate all-purpose running back.
The offensive line was tossed around like rag-dolls for most of the season.
And Eli is, well, either Dr.Jekyll or Mr. Hyde depending upon which way the wind is blowing on any given day.
What happened with the Giants in 2009 was that a slightly above average football team had a few injuries and got into a slump.
It’s as simple as that.
Why?
Because we were never dealing with a great football team to begin with.
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That’s right, give me 10 minutes with Coach Cowher. I don’t care where, as long as I have a monopoly on his attention and he can’t leave until I’ve had my say. Put me in the urinal next to him, on an elevator with him, in a shared cab—it doesn’t matter. Just give me the opportunity for a brief intervention.
That’s right, I said intervention. That’s what we call it when we corner someone we care about to slap some sense into their head before they continue down some ultimately self-destructive path.
In the coach’s case, if the information on the rumorcoaster is even 10 percent true, the man who’s steel jaw came to symbolize the steel-mill, hard-hat, failure-is-not-an-option outlook of the Pittsburgh Steelers, even when the steel mills themselves were long gone from Steeltown, is apparently addicted to something that is clouding his judgement.
What is the Cowher drug of choice? I don’t know, glamor maybe? Now that he’s won a Super Bowl and has enjoyed celebrity TV status as a pigskin pundit he may think he’s no longer in the same league with another former steeltown. Maybe the white on his collar from the broadcast booth is blinding him to the true blue that will undoubtedly bleed through the next time he breaks a sweat—if he breaks a sweat.
Anyway, pretend with me that I’ve got him where I want him and eavesdrop on my conversation.
“Hey, Coach Cowher! Wow! Imagine sharing this restroom with you! Here I am little old John Howell, nobody from nowhere taking a leak in the urinal next to the great Bill Cowher! Man! How did I get so lucky?”
He gives me that signature Cowher sneer/scowl. That’s a good sign—I think. Hope.
“Hey, Bill. Can I call you Bill?”
Still sneering/scowling, not even a grunt of an answer, I decide I’d better ixnay the first name basis.
“Sorry. Forgive my familiarity. Coach Cowher.”
Still sneer/scowling.
I know I have to make my move fast because he’s starting to do the little dance we men do when such activities are almost completed.
“Ok, Coach, listen to me. You don’t know me. You probably don’t give a rodent’s posterior what a polywog like me thinks, but you need to hear me out. Two minutes.”
Still silent, he stops the sneer/scowl and gives me a look that says, I’m listening, against my better judgment, but if I don’t like what I hear, I may kill you with my bare hands at any moment. Shoot your trap at your own risk.
Ok, Bill. Oops. I mean Coach. Here’s the thing. You really have the itch to get back into coaching, but those fancy-ass jobs in Carolina or Tampa Bay aren’t open. It’s gotta be a big letdown. And yeah, you let yourself consider Buffalo for what—a half second—while Wilson and Brandon played footsie with you until your so-called better judgment snapped you out of it?
And then you decided you’ll just have to settle for another year of punditry because after all, everyone has standards and, my God, Buffalo? BUFFALO? (Read, PLAYOFFS? ala Jim Mora in beer commercial.)
Buffalo? What were you thinking?
“Exactly, Coach Cowher! What WERE you thinking when you slammed the door on the one opportunity that will make you an NFL legend the likes of Halas, Lombardi, or your Pittsburgh predecessor, Chuck Noll, perhaps? (Because as much as you achieved thus far, you’re still not on the level of these guys yet, and you won’t get there wearing a blazer with a network logo on the pocket. Trust me.)”
Finally he looks half interested with one eye while continuing to glare with the other.
“You don’t get it, do you, Coach?”
The one eye that had a glint of interest is slipping quickly back into glare mode with a bit of a seethe blended in, so I realize I’d better get to the point.
“Okay, here it is. Ready? Buffalo is the new Pittsburgh. Think about it. Rust belt town, built on heavy industry, but its manufacturing prowess and its sense of collective identity gradually slipped quickly away from the seventies on, just like Pittsburgh. But at least there’s football.”
“Pittsburgh had the great Knoll years in the 70’s when steel production started taking the fast lane to Japan. But then, after that, the Steelers and their hometown wallowed in mediocrity for years, wandering like the Israelites in the wilderness until you showed up. By then, the only hard hats worn in the Three Rivers area were Steelers helmets. Helmets, yes, but the Steel Curtain they once represented was long gone.”
He’s giving me that, “I kind of know where you’re going with this, but can you boil down the sociology lesson?” look, so I try my best to be concise.
“That’s right, Coach, things were drifting big time, like a rogue barge on the Monongahela, till you arrived. Then, right away, you helped the town and their beloved team find themselves again. Sure, you weren’t absolutely perfect. There was that thing with Cordell Stewart, after all, but basically, other than that “Slash” and burn issue, you did what only Bill Cowher could do for a Rust Belt town with an identity crisis
“You put the iron ore back into the Steelers. You heated up the old blast furnaces. And if there was any red to be found at Heinz Field it was blood, not ketchup. It took a few years of more or less continuous progress but eventually, you put all the pieces together, and got the old steel town another piece of hardware in the likeness of Saint Lombardi.
“And let’s face it. What you did was great. What you did was uniquely your doing, as no other coach could have done. But I know Vince Lombardi, and he was a friend of mine (not really on either count, but you get the allusion) and Coach, you’re no Vince Lombardi—yet.”
At this point Cowher’s standing there, still in his stall but staring straight at me as if he had just seen a vision of—I don’t know, Terry Bradshaw with hair? Anyway, I could tell I was getting through to him. I was on a roll. But who knew how long I’d have him like that, so I started sprinting for the wire.
“Which is why Buffalo is critical to your NFL legacy.
“Where did Lombardi ascend to gridiron sainthood? It wasn’t in Washington. It was in the most unlikely of places. Green Bay. Population 75,000 including domestic animals. Not exactly a garden spot, right Coach? Not Carolina, that’s for damn sure. Certainly not Tampa Bay.
“I mean really, Coach, are you getting soft? What is it with you? The Bill Cowher I know doesn’t want to be in shirtsleeves in Carolina in November or Florida without even a sweater after New Year’s. And what’s the big challenge in either town? Tampa Bay has won it all. No ground to break there. So explain it to me, Coach? Why NOT Buffalo?
“Buffalo is still stinging from four consecutive near-misses, from “Wide Right,” and after the four frustrations, the so-called Music City Miracle. Buffalo has lost a fifth of its population since Pittsburgh won their last Super Bowl under Chuck Noll. Buffalo’s weather is worse than its economy—though it could be said that both are better than perceived—but still.
“Coach, Buffalo is the only place Bill Cowher goes to become a legend. There are a lot of coaches who managed to win one Super Bowl in some panty-ass town where half the population didn’t even bother to turn on the TV when the team was in the big one. My God, you don’t want to be confused with Jon Gruden for Chrissakes!
“Coach, Buffalo is your Green Bay! If you were an airline pilot, it would be your Hudson River. How can you not see this! Sure, Buffalo needs you in the worst way, but you need Buffalo even more.”
“Okay, okay,” he shouts. And just as quickly he’s on his cell phone. Is that his wife, he’s talking to?
“Hey Hon, it’s Vince—I mean Bill. Yeah. No. Never mind. You wouldn’t understand. Listen, I need you to do something for me. Can you find that message from—yeah, from Ralph Wilson. Is it still there on my desk—no probably in the can. Yeah. Do you mind? I need his number. Hey, hold on, Hon! I’m sure they have nice houses in Buffalo.”
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It’s playoff time baby!
After 17 weeks, 23,896 mentions of Brett Favre, and two undefeated seasons down the drain, it has all come to this. There are now 12 teams with a chance to win football’s highest prize: the Super Bowl.
Trying to pick the winner is almost impossible. Who would have seen the Giants beating the Pats two years ago at the beginning of the playoffs? Nobody. It’s a crap shoot. That’s why any formula has a chance of succeeding or failing miserably.
My formula? Cheerleaders.
I’ve already gone and looked at The Hottest Cheerleaders of 2009, but that was mostly off the field and individuals. We all know that teams win games, not players.
So here are my playoff picks based solely on how hot the cheerleaders from each team are. Enjoy.
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The Washington Redskins finished the year 4-12 and earned themselves the fourth pick in the draft. New coach, new GM, new direction?
Jason Campbell should be worried about having a starting job next season.
Campbell has started 51 games in his career since being drafted in 2005. Many fans will point to his status as a first-round pick in relation to his production as reason to call him a bust. Those same fans contradict themselves by highlighting the abysmal offensive line as the prime weakness for the Redskins.
Then they try to rationalize by saying that it’s a team game, but the most important position is the quarterback. Aaron Rodgers was sacked more this season. So was Ben Roethlisberger.
Rodgers has a bad line in Green Bay, but if you’ve ever watched him, he gets sacked because he holds the ball too long. Roethlisberger is the same way. They hold the ball too long for the protection their line is allowing them. They both wrestle away from a fair share of sacks, but more often than not, they get out of one sack and into another.
The Redskins thought they could get away with an aging line and zero depth, and look what happened?
Chris Samuels’ career is over. Randy Thomas is at the end of his career with a second triceps injury in as many years. Stephon Heyer was undrafted for a reason. Derrick Dockery was released by the Bills for a reason. Casey Rabach had to suffer through an absurd amount of change at every position around him.
Green Bay and Pittsburgh also haven’t had major offensive system changes every year since 1999, which goes a long way for establishing consistency. Go figure.
Campbell got hit before he could hit the top of three step drops. On screen plays, he was getting hit long before the play could develop. He avoided a number of sacks by moving out of the pocket and running for yards.
Say what you want about every other quarterback in the league, Campbell played exceptionally well for the situation he was in.
For the best statistical comparison, look at Carson Palmer in Cincinnati. This season, he completed 60 percent of his passes for 3,094 yards, 21 touchdowns and 13 interceptions with a passer rating of 83.6. The Bengals finished 10-6 and won the AFC North.
Campbell completed 64 percent of his passes for 3,618 yards, 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions with a passer rating of 86.4. The Redskins finished last in the NFC East.
Palmer is widely regarded as one of the better quarterbacks in the league, a hair off the elite quarterbacks in the NFL. Campbell is considered average, at best, in the NFL. But who has the better statistics? Which team has the better defense? Which team has a top 10 running back?
Which team is in the playoffs?
There is a lot more to an NFL team than just the quarterback. The Ravens had a strong offensive line, a dominant defense and won a Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer. Dilfer completed 59 percent of his passes for 1,500 yards, 12 touchdowns and 11 interceptions with a 76.6 rating.
The Ravens relied on Jamal Lewis in his prime and a shutdown, scoring defense. The Redskins do not have either, so why does it fall on Campbell to pick up where the rest of the team has let down?
Campbell has improved his passing statistics every season he has been the starter for the Redskins. That is impressive given the high rate of turnover in the coaching staff and the inconsistency of the players around him. I would like to see Mark Sanchez or Jay Cutler, both pursued in the offseason, succeed at any level with the players Campbell had to work with.
The Jets constructed an offensive line over the last three to four years before drafting Sanchez. Cutler was shipped to Chicago because Denver got tired of his whining, and he led the league in interceptions. But no one sees Cutler as the problem for the Bears.
Double standards are easy to see through, and this is a double standard.
Campbell is a restricted free agent going into the offseason and I for one think he should be re-signed by the Redskins. It makes no sense to draft a young quarterback and have him get pummeled behind the Swiss cheese offensive line, lest he end up as the next David Carr. Let Campbell run the new offense of supposed incoming head coach Mike Shanahan and see what comes of it.
Who knows, maybe he’ll improve more and prove to be one of the few veterans on offense worth keeping. Sure, he misses some throws, but what quarterback doesn’t?
Redskins fans expect more of their quarterback than is physically possible to deliver because no one is perfect. When it comes down to it, Campbell has proven to be worth more than many fans are willing to give him credit for.
Bruce Allen and Shanahan have a tough road ahead of them, rebuild or not. But they could make things a bit easier by keeping a tough, smart and talented veteran like Campbell around just a bit longer.
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
There are good Super Bowl match-ups, and there are bad ones. Every year, fans fervently hope to get a good match-up. But a 12-team tournament could unfortunately lead to some duds. The good news this year is that even the worst match-ups could offer some value. However, there are obviously some match-ups that matter more than others, and these are the five least interesting possible match-ups.
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The Bears’ press conference is scheduled for 3pm ET, and will be streamed live on the team’s official site.
According to a league source, offensive coordinator Ron Turner will not be returning next season. Also gone is tight end coach Rob Boras, offensive assistant/assistant offensive line coach Luke Butkus, quarterback coach Pep Hamilton, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, and offensive assistant/assistant receiver coach Charles London.
Running back coach Tim Spencer and receiver coach Darryl Drake are expected to return.
Someone had to take the blame for the Bears’ failures, and the offense didn’t get it done with the new Pro Bowl quarterback in Jay Cutler. Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner and quarterback coach Pep Hamilton never had a good relationship with Cutler, and some have said Pep very rarely talked to Cutler. Cutler needs someone who fixes his mistakes by being demanding, because sometimes Cutler looks like he doesn’t care out there. Cutler needs to be a leader, and to be a leader you a need someone leading you.
We’ll soon find out whom the Bears will bring in as the next offensive coordinator and the next quarterback coach. These decisions are important for the success of the Bears over the next couple of seasons.
Jake Perper is the creator of www.BearsBacker.com and also covers the Bears for www.NFLTouchdown.com.
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
I’m going to ask a simple question: did the 2009 New York Jets earn their playoff berth?
My answer is likely going to be 100% different than yours, but part of the fun of following sports is supposed to be the debate that ensues from the games. And what I write here may spark a heated one.
For me, the 2009 Jets were not a playoff team.
I freely admit they had the no. 1 defense in the AFC and the no. 1 rushing offense in the NFL. Without doubt, those numbers alone usually spell success for any franchise.
Yet despite those stats, just two weeks ago the Jets stood at 7-7 with two games remaining against certain playoff teams—the Colts and the Bengals. The Jets looked to be the odd man out in the playoff picture.
For the Jets and their fans, an amazing thing happened over those last two weeks of the season. The Jets’ playoff-bound rivals laid down.
In Week 16, the Colts were winning 10-3 at halftime. After Brad Smith’s record-setting kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half, Peyton Manning marched his offense right back down the field and retook the lead, 17-10.
After that score, the Colts suddenly decided to rest their stars. The Jets jumped on this opportunity and took advantage of Manning’s replacement, the previously untested Curtis Painter who instantly fumbled away the Colts’ lead.
Despite what was said well after the game was over, it did not seem that the Colts’ starters were aware of the decision to turn the second half over to the second string like a preseason contest. Mannng and company looked upset, with lip readers everywhere seeing Manning tell his coach, “we’re losing now” as if to say, “we want to win this game, let me (us) back out there.”
That didn’t happen and the Jets won. It also put the Jets playoff hopes into their own hands.
To make it, they would need to beat the Bengals in Week 17. The Bengals, too, were a playoff-bound team with nothing to play for in the game against the Jets, especially given the fact that if the Jets won, the Bengals would be playing them again in a week’s time in the Wild Card game.
Las Vegas oddsmakers seemingly knew the Bengals were ready to lay down. They made the Jets a 10-point favorite in the game. Lo and behold, the Bengals did next to nothing and the Jets won with a shutout 37-0.
Yet now that the playoffs are set, and the Jets are in, Las Vegas has quickly changed it’s tune on the Jets-Bengals matchup . Instead of the Jets being favored by 10, oddsmakers have the Bengals favored by two or three points (which is simply based on their home field advantage, meaning they really see the game even).
This could have simply been a quirk in the schedule-making that played out perfectly for the Jets. You can’t fault the franchise for this. They didn’t make the schedule; they just played the games laid out before them and won when the needed to.
But let’s go one step further and play a little game of “what if?”
Go back to the 2008 season. The Jets appeared to be playoff bound with Brett Favre leading the way, starting the season 8-3. Then the wheels of the Brett Favre bandwagon fell completely off. The Jets finished 1-4 and missed the playoffs.
My contention has been that Favre intentionally lost those last few games. My reasoning for this—highly questioned by most—was written up six months ago here on the Bleacher Report.
In a nutshell, I believe the prima donna Favre didn’t want to reward the Packers in any way for being rid of him (which the Packers would have been had the Jets made the playoffs) and still wanted to beat his former team as a member of the Vikings. But the Jets would have never traded Favre to the Vikings because they would have sacrificed three first-round draft picks to make the deal.
What happened at the end of 2008 made Favre’s wish come true without rewarding the Packers. Due to his poor play, the Jets missed the playoffs. Once again, Favre “retired” and the Jets quickly cut him loose, allowing for Favre to unretire and walk into the starting job in Minnesota.
Of course, once Favre landed in Minnesota, it was revealed that his sub-par 2008 came about due to an “injury” —one that was never completely substantiated and one that seemed to surprise the Jets. Now 100% healthy, Favre was ready to lead the Vikings.
The Jets, for their willingness to take Favre off the Packers’ hands, got nothing out of the deal.
Had this “healthy” Brett Favre stuck around in New York another season and put up the type of numbers he did in Minnesota, where would the Jets be in 2009? Division winners? With a first round bye, perhaps?
But the 2009 Jets didn’t have Favre. They had rookie head coach Rex Ryan leading rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez out onto the field. Things didn’t look promising for the team.
As the season progressed, the Jets play was up and down. The playoffs appeared out of reach as even Rex Ryan mistakenly claimed a few weeks prior to the end of the season.
Then the Colts and Bengals laid down for the .500 Jets, granting them a 9-7 season. The exact record they possessed with Favre at the helm, albeit with one major difference: this year’s 9-7 record put the Jets in the playoffs.
What I ask is, was this all happenstance or did the NFL throw the Jets a bone? The NFL has complete plausible deniability here: hey, both the Colts and Bengals had nothing to play for. Who can argue with that?
Well, for some odd reason, the NFL can. Commissioner Roger Goodell has suddenly surfaced to claim that the league will now look into finding a way to ensure teams don’t tank games as appeared to happen at the end of the 2009 season (and in reality, happens nearly every season). Is this suddenly news because too many “conspriacy freaks” (like your author) are pointing out how this benefited one team over some others?
If the NFL orchestrated Favre’s move to the Vikings in some way (and it has been a financial boon for the league to have him there), couldn’t they have then rewarded the Jets for their troubles? Couldn’t the NFL, having witnessed the Jets struggle to reach the playoffs this year, tapped both owners of the Colts and Bengals and asked “why don’t you give the Jets a break here?”
Maybe I see too many coincidences here, and maybe I’m reading too much into what happened in the Favre/Jets/Vikings saga. But I’m not sold on the Jets’ playoff berth having occurred without those last two victories that came under unusual circumstances.
Call me crazy, I’m fine with that. But let’s just see where the Jets go after playing Saturday in Cincinnati.
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Sure, firing offensive coordinator Ron Turner is a step in the right direction. But what about the men who hired him in the first place? When will the Bears hold the feet of Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo to the fire?
Add to that the name of Bears president Ted Phillips, and you have the Three Stooges.
To the fans, today’s news that head case, er, head coach Lovie Smith will return is like a sharp slap in the face from the Bears organization.
Look, the Bears don’t care about you, only your money—and they know they already have that. With every game a sellout and many more waiting for a chance at season tickets, the McCaskey family aren’t concerned in the least about what we think.
Still, I believe I speak for most Bears fans when I say this stinks like rotten tuna. But no, there’s nothing fishy about this move. It’s plain for all to see.
It’s about the money, as always, with this organization.
All this does is postpone the inevitable. Why any decent offensive coordinator would want to come in knowing that it is likely a one-year gig is beyond me. Still, Mike Martz, former Lovie mentor, is the front runner to replace Turner, and he has expressed interest.
If the decision were up to Jay Cutler—and let’s face it, with all that the Bears have invested in this guy, why shouldn’t it be?—former Denver Broncos assistant Jeremy Bates would be the guy.
Bates worked under Mike Shanahan when the trio was with Denver. Bates is currently the offensive coordinator at USC but would be able to jump back to the NFL if given the opportunity.
Yet no matter who is hired and fired within the Bears coaching carousel, the core remains. The Lovie and Jerry show gets renewed each year despite poor ratings from fans like you and me.
Again I scream, where is the accountability? I’ll tell you where—it’s hidden in the cash left on the contracts of a coach and GM who have worn out their welcomes.
Finding scapegoats is a lot like applying band-aids where tourniquets should be. The root cause of the problem is not addressed, so ultimately, the bleeding will continue.
Yes, the Bears went to the Super Bowl under Lovie’s direction, as his few followers point out. But the league was weak that year, and the defense played very well under defensive coordinator Ron Rivera.
Whatever happened to the former Bears lineman? Oh yeah, he was fired too, by Lovie and Jerry. It seems they didn’t see eye-to-eye on the defensive scheme.
Which brings us to another point of contention and yet another reason that Lovie needs to go—the Tampa 2. That base package is obsolete. Yet with Lovie around, we’re sure to continue seeing it, since that is all he knows.
Yes, most teams run some cover-2 as a prevent defense, but as a base scheme, the Tampa 2 (and yes, there is a difference between the cover-2 and the Tampa-2) is used by only a small handful of teams.
That’s because that defense has been exposed. Still, it’s the defense that Lovie has cut his teeth on, so as long as he is here, it will be also.
Meanwhile, I hope you appreciate the snub you received this afternoon, Bears fans. In a billion dollar organization, you wouldn’t think that $11 million is such a high price to pay for improvement.
But what do the McCaskeys have to lose? It is, and always will be, a Bears town.
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The highly anticipated press conference at Halas Hall has confirmed the termination of offensive coordinator Ron Turner. He and 5 others will take the fall for the team’s lousy performance.
Fans across Bear Nation have been calling for change as of late, and although it’s not all the change most would like, it’s a start. Ron Turner has been coordinating an offense that has not ranked over 15th overall since beginning his second stint with the Chicago Bears.
Ron Turner left the Chicago Bears after working as the offensive coordinator from 1993-1996. He then resigned to take the head coach position for the University of Illinois’ football program, where he compiled a 42-61 record. After his termination there, Ron Turner was re-hired as the Bears’ offensive coordinator, where he has clearly continued to struggle as coach.
With poor offensive personnel, Ron Turner has been handed pardons the past four seasons. However, with a high caliber quarterback and former rookie of the year candidate at running back, there is really no excuse for the dismal performance that the Bears have displayed this past season.
Unfortunately for Bears fans, this is only a fraction of the problems that the 7-9 Chicago Bears face. It looks like the organization will try and fix the offensive woes before they begin the defensive “repairs.” However, Lovie Smith will still be in command of the 2010 Chicago Bears.
For Chicago’s sake, let’s hope that this is one of many changes the Bears will see this offseason. There may be some magic that can be recaptured from the 2006 season, but it is dwindling fast. All that can be said is that the Bears are never going to win with Ron Turner and are going to fail miserably once again with a (non) Cover-2 defense.
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