Before the season started everyone thought with the new Bears pass happy offense orchestrated by Mike Martz that Jay Cutler would throw for a ridiculous amount of yards on the season spread out to a few receivers. This was because the Bears had no number one receiver so it seemed feasible that the Bears could have a few receivers hitting the 1,000 yards plateau on the season. With the regular season in the books let’s take a look at how the Bears receivers did stack up this season. Coming into this season we didn’t know who would emerge as the Bears number one wide receiver. Some thought it could be Devin Hester, Jonny Knox, and even Devin Aromashodu.
Well Knox emerged as the Bears number one receiver with 960 yards. He had 100 targets and averaged 18.8 yards per catch. He ranked 21st overall among wide receivers at the position. Not very good in the Martz pass happy offense. Knox showed this season he is never going to be a DeSean Jackson who ranked 12th among wide receivers with 1056 yards or Mike Wallace who ranked 5th among WR with 1257 yards. He is not a complete wide out like either of the mentioned elite players. Knox showed he is a one dimensional player who can run the deep route. This makes him a good second receiver, but not a number one.
Earl Bennett surprised most people by his strong play this season. Before the season started Sexy Rexy and I both agreed that Bennett was a good third receiver because he is solely a possession receiver, but he performs that job well. He emerged as a favorite target of Jay Cutler building off of the Vanderbilt connection and had 46 catches on 70 targets for 561 yards. Bennett came on in the 2nd half of the season, so his numbers next year should be better over the entire season.
When Mike Martz came he said he envisioned Devin Hester in a 3rd down role Lovie Smith quickly rejected that. However, in the long run Martz got what he wanted because it was best for the team. Hester is not a receiver and will never be a good one. He is fine on 3rd downs, and as a backup, but not as a Bears top three receiver. Hester caught 40 passes on way too many targets of 73 for 475 yards.
Two other Bears that were big in the receiving game were not wide receivers- tight end Greg Olsen and running back Matt Forte. Olsen caught 41 passes on 70 targets for 404 yards. Forte had slightly better numbers of 51 receptions on 70 targets for 547 yards with an average of 10.7 per yard.
My love for Devin Aromashodu is well documented. I thought he would emerge as the number one receiver if the Bears gave him the chance. The Bears wanted DA to play the slot and there is some controversy if he just wasn’t good in the slot or if he didn’t want to play it, but either way he lost the little respect the coaching staff had for him and got buried deeper on the bench. His chance of ever being good as a Bear is over so they may as well cut him so he has a chance to sign on with another team before his career is over before it ever got started. That makes me sad because he has tremendous talent.
Thus, the Bears have very good number two and three wide receivers in Johnny Knox and Earl Bennett. All they are missing is that number one receiver which hopefully they will find in free agency. That is a recap of the Bears wide receivers from the 2010-2011 season.
Showing posts with label Lovie Smith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lovie Smith. Show all posts
Ron Turner Is Fired!
SHA NA NA NA
SHA NA NA NA
Don't be afraid to sing along now!
SHA NA NA NA
HEY HEY GOODBYE!
Today Ron Turner along with essentially everybody with "offensive" in their title in the organization was just sacked today. GOI has long advocated for the firing of Turner and it is glorious that the day has come. I'm still worried that the shitty McCaskeys will just go ahead and hire another shitty coordinator, but Turner's firing is a step in the right direction.
This firing was also bittersweet because Turner was the only one fired. As much as we all wanted Lovie Smith gone, we all never should have expected it because he has a huge backloaded contract and he was owed a shit ton of money. But there is absolutely no reason to keep Jerry Angelo on the team. Yes, the Cutler trade was awesome, but the reason for this teams lack of talent is mainly because of Angelo. He is awful at drafting and guys like Greg Olson, Chris Williams, and Tommie Harris are all first round picks that are just average at best. He gave Urlacher a lot of money recently and all Urlacher has done since that contract was be crappy or sit on the sidelines.
Many expected Rod Marinelli to be promoted to defensive coordinator because it is clear that Lovie can not coach this defense but that didn't happen either.
This organization is awful and while they took a step in the right direction today, they NEED to overhaul this entire team if they want long term success.
SHA NA NA NA
Don't be afraid to sing along now!
SHA NA NA NA
HEY HEY GOODBYE!
Today Ron Turner along with essentially everybody with "offensive" in their title in the organization was just sacked today. GOI has long advocated for the firing of Turner and it is glorious that the day has come. I'm still worried that the shitty McCaskeys will just go ahead and hire another shitty coordinator, but Turner's firing is a step in the right direction.
This firing was also bittersweet because Turner was the only one fired. As much as we all wanted Lovie Smith gone, we all never should have expected it because he has a huge backloaded contract and he was owed a shit ton of money. But there is absolutely no reason to keep Jerry Angelo on the team. Yes, the Cutler trade was awesome, but the reason for this teams lack of talent is mainly because of Angelo. He is awful at drafting and guys like Greg Olson, Chris Williams, and Tommie Harris are all first round picks that are just average at best. He gave Urlacher a lot of money recently and all Urlacher has done since that contract was be crappy or sit on the sidelines.
Many expected Rod Marinelli to be promoted to defensive coordinator because it is clear that Lovie can not coach this defense but that didn't happen either.
This organization is awful and while they took a step in the right direction today, they NEED to overhaul this entire team if they want long term success.
The Break Out Game For Devin Aromashodu
All GOI readers should know by now that since I went to Bears training camp I have been a fan of journeyman wide receiver Devin Aromashodu. A few weeks ago when the Bears receivers weren't doing much I lobbied for him to get more playing time. I said
After Devin Aromashodu saw some action I thought he would get more playing time. Cutler has always said good things about him and likes him because he is a big, fast target, who has good hands. Then DA had a good game which I thought would get him more playing time but I wasn't sure because Lovie Smith wasn't big on him. With Hester out and Knox getting injured DA had more playing time in the game on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.
DA did get a lot of playing time on Sunday and showed why he should be out there even when Hester and Knox are healthy. He caught seven passes for 150 yards and had one touchdown catch to win the game! He looked liked a number one receiver. I don’t know if he will be that good, but he has a chance to be that on the Bears, and sure looks better than any other Bear receiver. I like Knox and his speed, but DA can go up and get the ball or stretch out using his length.
The Three big catches by DA:
I am excited to see the Bears play Detroit next week and see what DA can do against them. I am finally excited about the Bears for the first time since the season started thanks to him and Cutler!
I wish we would see more of Devin Aromashodu though. He was injured to start the season so he wasn’t given a chance. Devin Aromashodu was supposed to be ahead of Jonny Knox of the depth chart before his injury. He missed a few weeks, but has been back for a while. Now there is no playing time for him. I saw Devin Aromashodu at training camp and he looked good. He is tall at 6-2, fast, and seemed to have very good hands making some hard catches on the day I went. He has been on a few teams now for a reason, but I think if he was given a few throws his ways, he would wow Chicago fans. For now it is up to Devin Hester, Johnny Knox, and Earl Bennett to carry the load though.
After Devin Aromashodu saw some action I thought he would get more playing time. Cutler has always said good things about him and likes him because he is a big, fast target, who has good hands. Then DA had a good game which I thought would get him more playing time but I wasn't sure because Lovie Smith wasn't big on him. With Hester out and Knox getting injured DA had more playing time in the game on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.
DA did get a lot of playing time on Sunday and showed why he should be out there even when Hester and Knox are healthy. He caught seven passes for 150 yards and had one touchdown catch to win the game! He looked liked a number one receiver. I don’t know if he will be that good, but he has a chance to be that on the Bears, and sure looks better than any other Bear receiver. I like Knox and his speed, but DA can go up and get the ball or stretch out using his length.
The Three big catches by DA:
I am excited to see the Bears play Detroit next week and see what DA can do against them. I am finally excited about the Bears for the first time since the season started thanks to him and Cutler!
About Time For Devin Aromashodu
GOI readers should know that I am a fan of Devin Aromashodu. I saw him at training camp and liked him ever since. He was supposed to start the season as the third receiver, but started the season injured and needed to miss a few games. This opened the door for rookie Johnny Knox who took the opportunity and locked his spot as a starting wide receiver. I am glad we were able to see what Knox could do, but now we need to get more playing time for Aromashodu with Knox and Devin Hester. Devin Aromashodu was injured for the first few games, but then the Bears kept him inactive for several more weeks when he could have played.
Since training camp Cutler has said that he like Devin Aromashodu as a receiver. I saw him live at training camp and Aromashodu has very good hands, good height (he is the Bears tallest receiver), and he has good speed. He seems to catch anything in sight. A few weeks ago I said we need to play him now but the Bears have finally heard me. The Bears season is over. They are not going anywhere, so why not use the rest of the season to see what we have and evaluate our talent for next season.
Devin Hester is injured and had to miss the last game. That opened up an opportunity for Devin Aromashodu and he took advantage of it! Devin Aromashodu reffered to as
D.A. was thrown to 12 times, making 8 grabs for 76 yards and a TD. His touchdown catch was a really good hard catch. I don't think any other Bears receiver could have made that catch. Jay Cutler likes Devin Aromashodu and it shows. They are on the same page and if his playing time contiunes the future could be bright for the Bears receiving core if our offensive line gives them some time.
Lovie Smith said after the game that Hesther could have made those catches and more. I like Hester and he has great speed, but he couldn't make those catches. DA has great hands that Hester doesn't have. I hope DA continues to play when Hester returns. DA should split time with Earl Bennett or take it all together. I think a receiving core of Hester, Knox, and Devin Aromashodu would be really good next year if the offensive line can give Cutler time and change the game by having some type of running game because the Bears rank last in rushing in the NFL. Smith may not play DA that much, and may put Bennett ahead of him because the Bears and Lovie Smith look at Pedigree and where they were drafted for deciding playing time. Part of the reason why Smith is a bad coach and needs to go with Angelo. Lets hope Devin Aromashodu proves him wrong!
Since training camp Cutler has said that he like Devin Aromashodu as a receiver. I saw him live at training camp and Aromashodu has very good hands, good height (he is the Bears tallest receiver), and he has good speed. He seems to catch anything in sight. A few weeks ago I said we need to play him now but the Bears have finally heard me. The Bears season is over. They are not going anywhere, so why not use the rest of the season to see what we have and evaluate our talent for next season.
Devin Hester is injured and had to miss the last game. That opened up an opportunity for Devin Aromashodu and he took advantage of it! Devin Aromashodu reffered to as
D.A. was thrown to 12 times, making 8 grabs for 76 yards and a TD. His touchdown catch was a really good hard catch. I don't think any other Bears receiver could have made that catch. Jay Cutler likes Devin Aromashodu and it shows. They are on the same page and if his playing time contiunes the future could be bright for the Bears receiving core if our offensive line gives them some time.
Lovie Smith said after the game that Hesther could have made those catches and more. I like Hester and he has great speed, but he couldn't make those catches. DA has great hands that Hester doesn't have. I hope DA continues to play when Hester returns. DA should split time with Earl Bennett or take it all together. I think a receiving core of Hester, Knox, and Devin Aromashodu would be really good next year if the offensive line can give Cutler time and change the game by having some type of running game because the Bears rank last in rushing in the NFL. Smith may not play DA that much, and may put Bennett ahead of him because the Bears and Lovie Smith look at Pedigree and where they were drafted for deciding playing time. Part of the reason why Smith is a bad coach and needs to go with Angelo. Lets hope Devin Aromashodu proves him wrong!
Who Do You Blame For The Bears Problems?
The McCaskey Family
I was having a discussion about this with my dad. He blames the McCaskey family, the owners of the Bears. He blames their cheapness and lack of knowledge for the problems of this team. His argument is that the owners are the ones who determine the front office. They are the ones who hired Ted Thompson the Bears CEO/President and Jerry Angelo as GM. Thompson was an accountant that worked for the organization that the McCaskey's promoted to run the organization. They also were the ones who hired Jerry Angelo. Angelo was a former football player who had little to no experience being a general manager, but who was also within the organization and again, also cheap. He points to guys like Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder who "would never let this happen". Obviously Jones and Snyder have HUGE problems, but I think it's the idea more than the actual example that you should focus on. He also points to their cheapness for hiring guys like Ron Turner and the scouting department.
However, I don't totally but this argument completely. Certainly, there is a problem with all sports that hire former players to run their organization. Teams are more likely to hire a Kenny Williams than a Theo Epstein because of the "experience". Obviously, it's frustrating when a team does this, but I don't know that I'd put the blame on them. Next, I'm not 100% convinced that it's because of the McCaskey's cheapness that we have a poor coaching staff and scouting department. You can be cheap and still have a functional team- as long as you have smart people around you. But are we going to completely take the blame off the people you hire? Maybe hiring Angelo and Smith and Turner was dumb, but are they completely off the hook? If you're bad at your job, then you should be held responsible for your poor performance- and not pass the blame off.
Jerry Angelo
The guy gave huge contracts to an injury prone and on the decline Brian Urlacher and Tommie Harris. The guys went out and got a Orlando Pace in order to "improve" the offensive line. And in the draft, the guy ultimately making the decisions on who to draft is the GM. And since Angelo has been here, we have made some awful awful AWFUL draft choices. You can make the argument that a lot of the people on the field are because of the GM.
However, I believe a lot of the players Angelo gets is not his decision. Bringing in guys like Adam Archelta and Orlando Pace were mainly because Lovie Smith knew them during his stint in St. Louis. It seems to me that Lovie has his system and he tells the GM who to go out and get for his specific system. Sure the GM is the official guy who goes and signs players, but with Angelo, it seems that Lovie has this job more than the guy who has the title. And Aneglo did go out and get Jay Cutler, who is just amazing.
Lovie Smith
You can read the paragraph above as well as a previous post I wrote, chronically my hate of Lovie Smith.
To play devil's advocate, you can say that Smith does have a good system and proven in 2006, but the players on the field are just god awful. And the players on the field are the result of the GM.
The Players Themselves/ Jay Cutler
1) There are arguments of why Cutler is the reason for why this team is bad, but those arguments are flat out wrong. 2) If we're going to hold the coaching staff responsible, then we should hold the players responsible for going out on the field and being and at their job as well
I was having a discussion about this with my dad. He blames the McCaskey family, the owners of the Bears. He blames their cheapness and lack of knowledge for the problems of this team. His argument is that the owners are the ones who determine the front office. They are the ones who hired Ted Thompson the Bears CEO/President and Jerry Angelo as GM. Thompson was an accountant that worked for the organization that the McCaskey's promoted to run the organization. They also were the ones who hired Jerry Angelo. Angelo was a former football player who had little to no experience being a general manager, but who was also within the organization and again, also cheap. He points to guys like Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder who "would never let this happen". Obviously Jones and Snyder have HUGE problems, but I think it's the idea more than the actual example that you should focus on. He also points to their cheapness for hiring guys like Ron Turner and the scouting department.
However, I don't totally but this argument completely. Certainly, there is a problem with all sports that hire former players to run their organization. Teams are more likely to hire a Kenny Williams than a Theo Epstein because of the "experience". Obviously, it's frustrating when a team does this, but I don't know that I'd put the blame on them. Next, I'm not 100% convinced that it's because of the McCaskey's cheapness that we have a poor coaching staff and scouting department. You can be cheap and still have a functional team- as long as you have smart people around you. But are we going to completely take the blame off the people you hire? Maybe hiring Angelo and Smith and Turner was dumb, but are they completely off the hook? If you're bad at your job, then you should be held responsible for your poor performance- and not pass the blame off.
Jerry Angelo
The guy gave huge contracts to an injury prone and on the decline Brian Urlacher and Tommie Harris. The guys went out and got a Orlando Pace in order to "improve" the offensive line. And in the draft, the guy ultimately making the decisions on who to draft is the GM. And since Angelo has been here, we have made some awful awful AWFUL draft choices. You can make the argument that a lot of the people on the field are because of the GM.
However, I believe a lot of the players Angelo gets is not his decision. Bringing in guys like Adam Archelta and Orlando Pace were mainly because Lovie Smith knew them during his stint in St. Louis. It seems to me that Lovie has his system and he tells the GM who to go out and get for his specific system. Sure the GM is the official guy who goes and signs players, but with Angelo, it seems that Lovie has this job more than the guy who has the title. And Aneglo did go out and get Jay Cutler, who is just amazing.
Lovie Smith
You can read the paragraph above as well as a previous post I wrote, chronically my hate of Lovie Smith.
To play devil's advocate, you can say that Smith does have a good system and proven in 2006, but the players on the field are just god awful. And the players on the field are the result of the GM.
The Players Themselves/ Jay Cutler
1) There are arguments of why Cutler is the reason for why this team is bad, but those arguments are flat out wrong. 2) If we're going to hold the coaching staff responsible, then we should hold the players responsible for going out on the field and being and at their job as well
Does Lovie Smith Need To Get Canned?
What makes Lovie Smith a good coach? What makes him deserving to keep this job? And I don't buy the proposition that "Well, at least the Bears have never been Cleveland Browns bad." In the wake of this season and coming off of a horrible fucking loss to the fucking 49ers, it may seem that we all jump to rash decisions. But I'm trying to analyze this from a rational perspective. Plus, the term "winning cures all woes" applies to the latter, losing means someone needs to get fired. The team in not good, and frankly someone needs to be blamed and be at fault. In baseball, usually the hitting coach or conditioning coach or someone gets fired. And when of course that doesn't work, the manager gets canned soon after. Yet nobody blames the GM who can't draft and trades for guys who can't walk or play defense but have "a good average". Anyway, I digress. So when a football team, especially the Chicago Bears, does shitty and doesn't seem to get any better, who should get blamed. Does anyone deserve the blame. Yes, and that person is Lovie Smith.
Football, unlike most major sports, actually requires a lot of skill and effort from the managerial position. With baseball, if you have above average to great players, even managers like Joe Girardi and Joe Torre can keep there jobs. But in football (as all Ron Zook teams can show you), having great players doesn't necessarily means your team will do well. In fact, great coaching is able to heighten a teams strength and diminish the teams weaknesses. Have a great O-line but your using your back up QB that hasn't played in five years and no running game, dink and dump and do short passes to set up the long game (see Bill Belichick). Have a QB that can't throw 20+ yards, a shitty O-line, but great RBs, use a formation that no one has ever used before called the Wildcat and win 11 games (see Tony Sparano). Now every coach can't be great, but if you want to keep your job, you need to maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. And Lovie Smith hasn't done that.
In Smith's case, he designs the schemes (especially the defensive ones) and gets/ demands players for it. GM Jerry Angelo essentially works for Smith, he gets players that will fit with his system (and even better example see what Scott Pioli did for Belichick. Why draft a LB when you get get a "washed up" one in the free agent market that's much cheaper and will do the same job?). For the Bears, and I'm sure most teams, the players on the field are the result of the coach.
For Lovie, he wanted players to fit his Cover-2, or Tampa-2 scheme. He got lucky because he inherited Brian Urlacher- who fit his scheme perfectly for a while, Lance Briggs, and Tommie Harris and Alex Brown (when they were good). He then went out and traded for Wale Ogunleye, a guy coming off of a 15 sack season (I believe). For a while, Smith had the players to fit his system. His defense was young, in their prime, and he helped lead the team to a Superbowl. Plus, the team managed to make Nathan Vasher look like a pro bowler. Smith also inherited the offense to fit his scheme. He didn't need a QB, but he got a RB (Thomas Jones) and a damn fine rushing offensive line headed by Reuben Brown and Olin Kruetz. And for a while, this team was good which helped compliment the coaching. But then this team got old and Lovie's draft picks failed. I will give Lovie credit for Devin Hester and Johnny Knox, but two players doesn't make up for years of bad drafting.
Guys like Cedric Benson (trust me, he would have still sucked had he been a Chicago Bear this year), Mark Anderson, Dan Bauzin, Garrett Wolfe, and every safety the Bears has ever drafted under Smith have all not been very good. Even Greg Olson isn't that good and while Chris Williams is fine, he was injury prone in college and OL that went after Williams, like Jeff Otah, are far better plays than Williams is. Which leads me to my first point- Lovie Smith is terrible at drafting.
I hate when people condescendingly use "what have you done for me lately" Well, why is that a bad thing? I'm glad for what you've done in the past, but if the Bears are to keep Smith around, it's because he'll be able to help this team in the future. Keeping Smith around is like keeping Andruw Jones around for your baseball team because he was great once or starting Chris Chelios at age 75 because he was one of the greatest hockey players. Is the past accomplishments great? Absolutely. But if you're building a team for the future, you need personal for the future, not from the past. And if you can not draft to help keep a team good for the future, why keep you around.
Plus, the players that Lovie knows have been god awful. Adam Archeleta and Orlando Pace, guys that even the St. Louis Rams thought weren't good enough to play for them, have been just awful for the Bears. I've never seen Pace actually successfully block his defender and Archelta was so bad, the Bears benched him midway through the season.
My second point is coaching strategy. I hate this Cover-2 now. As I've said earlier, it used to work. But the players are not good now. Urlacher's out/ old and not good when healthy, Brown and Wale can't get to the QB anymore, and out DT's aren't doing shit. This enables opposing QB's to make better throws which emphasizes the weakness of our secondary. Lovie Smith flat out can not keep his precious Cover-2 because every team knows how to beat it, and does. This causes Cutler to look bad and the Bears to lose games... it's just not good. In fact, this is the quintessential time for Lovie to design a different scheme that highlights the defense's strengths and diminishes the weakness. Philly and New England are great at designing Blitz packages to get to the QB to make up for their diminished talent. Lovie tried to do this last year, but essentially all the blitz packages failed and it just meant less defenders in the secondary and easier for QBs to make throws. If Lovie truly wanted to keep his job, he'd find a way to make his defense work.
And lastly, Lovie is awful at in game preparation. I never see him make changes to the scheme during the game/ after half time. Good coaches realize and can see what isn't working and what is, so they change their plan, But Lvie doesn't do this and thus you never seem to see a Bears team do better in the second half. Also, Lovie is awful at challenging. This causes the Bears to lose time outs and gives the team less plays to work with. Although, with Lovie, he wouldn't be able to use his extra time outs wisely anyway. A perfect example of this is Thursday's game. How the fuck do you drive down the field to try and score a game winning TD as time expires and still have a time out left when the game is over.
I'd like to think I'm being rational and not overreacting to the Bears awful loss. In fact, I've written a post back in the day on what it takes to be a good coach, and wrote before the season started that Lovie Smith is a bad coach. I think if the Bears don't make the playoffs this year (which they won't) that the Bears need to find a coach that will help maximize Jay Cutler and can actually make the Bears good for the future
Football, unlike most major sports, actually requires a lot of skill and effort from the managerial position. With baseball, if you have above average to great players, even managers like Joe Girardi and Joe Torre can keep there jobs. But in football (as all Ron Zook teams can show you), having great players doesn't necessarily means your team will do well. In fact, great coaching is able to heighten a teams strength and diminish the teams weaknesses. Have a great O-line but your using your back up QB that hasn't played in five years and no running game, dink and dump and do short passes to set up the long game (see Bill Belichick). Have a QB that can't throw 20+ yards, a shitty O-line, but great RBs, use a formation that no one has ever used before called the Wildcat and win 11 games (see Tony Sparano). Now every coach can't be great, but if you want to keep your job, you need to maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. And Lovie Smith hasn't done that.
In Smith's case, he designs the schemes (especially the defensive ones) and gets/ demands players for it. GM Jerry Angelo essentially works for Smith, he gets players that will fit with his system (and even better example see what Scott Pioli did for Belichick. Why draft a LB when you get get a "washed up" one in the free agent market that's much cheaper and will do the same job?). For the Bears, and I'm sure most teams, the players on the field are the result of the coach.
For Lovie, he wanted players to fit his Cover-2, or Tampa-2 scheme. He got lucky because he inherited Brian Urlacher- who fit his scheme perfectly for a while, Lance Briggs, and Tommie Harris and Alex Brown (when they were good). He then went out and traded for Wale Ogunleye, a guy coming off of a 15 sack season (I believe). For a while, Smith had the players to fit his system. His defense was young, in their prime, and he helped lead the team to a Superbowl. Plus, the team managed to make Nathan Vasher look like a pro bowler. Smith also inherited the offense to fit his scheme. He didn't need a QB, but he got a RB (Thomas Jones) and a damn fine rushing offensive line headed by Reuben Brown and Olin Kruetz. And for a while, this team was good which helped compliment the coaching. But then this team got old and Lovie's draft picks failed. I will give Lovie credit for Devin Hester and Johnny Knox, but two players doesn't make up for years of bad drafting.
Guys like Cedric Benson (trust me, he would have still sucked had he been a Chicago Bear this year), Mark Anderson, Dan Bauzin, Garrett Wolfe, and every safety the Bears has ever drafted under Smith have all not been very good. Even Greg Olson isn't that good and while Chris Williams is fine, he was injury prone in college and OL that went after Williams, like Jeff Otah, are far better plays than Williams is. Which leads me to my first point- Lovie Smith is terrible at drafting.
I hate when people condescendingly use "what have you done for me lately" Well, why is that a bad thing? I'm glad for what you've done in the past, but if the Bears are to keep Smith around, it's because he'll be able to help this team in the future. Keeping Smith around is like keeping Andruw Jones around for your baseball team because he was great once or starting Chris Chelios at age 75 because he was one of the greatest hockey players. Is the past accomplishments great? Absolutely. But if you're building a team for the future, you need personal for the future, not from the past. And if you can not draft to help keep a team good for the future, why keep you around.
Plus, the players that Lovie knows have been god awful. Adam Archeleta and Orlando Pace, guys that even the St. Louis Rams thought weren't good enough to play for them, have been just awful for the Bears. I've never seen Pace actually successfully block his defender and Archelta was so bad, the Bears benched him midway through the season.
My second point is coaching strategy. I hate this Cover-2 now. As I've said earlier, it used to work. But the players are not good now. Urlacher's out/ old and not good when healthy, Brown and Wale can't get to the QB anymore, and out DT's aren't doing shit. This enables opposing QB's to make better throws which emphasizes the weakness of our secondary. Lovie Smith flat out can not keep his precious Cover-2 because every team knows how to beat it, and does. This causes Cutler to look bad and the Bears to lose games... it's just not good. In fact, this is the quintessential time for Lovie to design a different scheme that highlights the defense's strengths and diminishes the weakness. Philly and New England are great at designing Blitz packages to get to the QB to make up for their diminished talent. Lovie tried to do this last year, but essentially all the blitz packages failed and it just meant less defenders in the secondary and easier for QBs to make throws. If Lovie truly wanted to keep his job, he'd find a way to make his defense work.
And lastly, Lovie is awful at in game preparation. I never see him make changes to the scheme during the game/ after half time. Good coaches realize and can see what isn't working and what is, so they change their plan, But Lvie doesn't do this and thus you never seem to see a Bears team do better in the second half. Also, Lovie is awful at challenging. This causes the Bears to lose time outs and gives the team less plays to work with. Although, with Lovie, he wouldn't be able to use his extra time outs wisely anyway. A perfect example of this is Thursday's game. How the fuck do you drive down the field to try and score a game winning TD as time expires and still have a time out left when the game is over.
I'd like to think I'm being rational and not overreacting to the Bears awful loss. In fact, I've written a post back in the day on what it takes to be a good coach, and wrote before the season started that Lovie Smith is a bad coach. I think if the Bears don't make the playoffs this year (which they won't) that the Bears need to find a coach that will help maximize Jay Cutler and can actually make the Bears good for the future
Two Coaches Bears should target
Before the Bears season started there were low expectations for the Bears. This is because last season they didn’t look good and they didn’t upgrade the team. With that said this season turned out to be a disappointment because they showed flashes of being competitive, but always seemed to choke. For instance, they lost to Atlanta by a touchdown, not showing up for the last game of the Season against Houston. There supposed strength of being a strong defensive team turned out to be their Achilles heal and their offense showed flashes of being average if they had some receivers. There are two head coached recently fired that the Bears should consider adding to their staff.
The Bears will probably hire Rod Marinelli as their defensive coordinator. Lovie Smith and Rod Marinelli go back when they were mentored by Tony Dungy in Tampa Bay in the mid 1990’s. The current defensive coordinator of the Bears, Bob Babich is friends with Lovie, but after this season I think a change will occur. Lovie knows a change is needed for the defense and his former colleague is now available who has a long deserved resume for a defensive coordinator. Even though being the head coach of a 0-16 team isn’t something you want on your resume. Jerry Angelo was also in the front office as scouting for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during this time. Thus, they all have a history together.
The Bears should also should take a look at Mike Shanahan. Shanahan was recently fired as the head coach and director of player personal for the Denver Broncos after being with them for over 14 years. Shanahan is known for his offense experience. I don’t think Jerry Angelo or Lovie Smith will even think of Mike Shanahan because he will probably be looking for a head coaching job or for a role Angelo fills already. The Bears lack experience and the personnel in their organization to draft, sign, and run the offense because most of the organization is made up of defensive guys. So it would make sense to bring someone in who could complement the organization and provide another perspective. I don’t think Mike Shanahan is the best offensive guru out their, but the best available, and would help our offense. Sadly, egos will get in the ways so he won’t even be considered for a job like offensive coordinator.
The Bears will probably hire Rod Marinelli as their defensive coordinator. Lovie Smith and Rod Marinelli go back when they were mentored by Tony Dungy in Tampa Bay in the mid 1990’s. The current defensive coordinator of the Bears, Bob Babich is friends with Lovie, but after this season I think a change will occur. Lovie knows a change is needed for the defense and his former colleague is now available who has a long deserved resume for a defensive coordinator. Even though being the head coach of a 0-16 team isn’t something you want on your resume. Jerry Angelo was also in the front office as scouting for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during this time. Thus, they all have a history together.
The Bears should also should take a look at Mike Shanahan. Shanahan was recently fired as the head coach and director of player personal for the Denver Broncos after being with them for over 14 years. Shanahan is known for his offense experience. I don’t think Jerry Angelo or Lovie Smith will even think of Mike Shanahan because he will probably be looking for a head coaching job or for a role Angelo fills already. The Bears lack experience and the personnel in their organization to draft, sign, and run the offense because most of the organization is made up of defensive guys. So it would make sense to bring someone in who could complement the organization and provide another perspective. I don’t think Mike Shanahan is the best offensive guru out their, but the best available, and would help our offense. Sadly, egos will get in the ways so he won’t even be considered for a job like offensive coordinator.
Coaches Discussion Part III- If You Lovie Something, You Must Set Him Free
This is my final coaches discussion.
Lovie Smith is the head coach of the Chicago Bears. Why!? How does he still have a job, he sucks! Let me explain.
In Part I, I listed the four qualifications of what it takes to be a good coach. Let's go through these and see how Lovie Smith fits into these four qualifications.
1) Overall game plan. Lovie is defensive minded. So course his signature is punch-you-in-the-mouth stingy smash mouth defense, running the ball, and really good special teams. His defense is the Tampa 2. The cover 2 with an awesome middle linebacker to cover the middle of the field on passing plays yet still able to stop the run on running plays. The key to this is having an awesome front four.
Lovie has this plan and then asked his GM, Jerry Angelo, to get the pieces to have this work. For the beginning of Lovie's tenure he did have the pieces. He inherited Brian Urlacher and Angelo went out and got players like Thomas Jones, Wale, and helped get a good rushing O-line. And with this the Bears were able to go to the playoffs and the Superbowl.
But the big problem with this is two things. 1) YOU NEED A QUARTERBACK! Lovie was so caught up in running the ball that he neglected the QB position. This has turned costly to the Bears in the long run. 2) When the front four doesn't work, you need to shift your game plan. For the past two years our front four has not been able to get to the QB. This disrupts the whole Tampa 2 scheme. When this happens, YOU NEED TO ADJUST. Lovie failed to do this.
Also, his type of offense causes a lot of three and outs which puts more pressure on the defense. For a long while the Bears defense were able to handle the workload but now it's causing long term negative effects.
Let me tell you an example of Lovie's game planning. In 2005, when Lovie actually managed to make it to the playoffs. They faced the Carolina Panthers. The reason the Panthers made it to the playoffs that year was Steve Smith. Everyone knew this. Everyone. So what does Lovie do? He uses a single coverage on Steve Smith. While granted Peanut then was a great defensive back in coverage and did goof up and trip on the first play of the game (which IS NOT Lovie's fault), YOU CAN"T PUT ONE GUY ON STEVE FUCKING SMITH. YOU JUST CAN'T! What did Steve Smith do that day? 12 catches, 218 yards, 2 TDs. Of course Carolina won.
Overall grade: C+
2) Second half adjustments. Lovie is god awful with this. He can not make adjustments if his life depended on it. I don't have exact stats but I can tell you by watching a lot of games during Lovie's tenure I can tell you our fourth quarter play is fucking awful. I don't know what Lovie does during the halftime but it doesn't work
Overall grade: F
3) Ability to keep a cohesive locker room. Lovie is a cool, calm, collected guy. He's not an authoritarian by any stretch of the imagination. This causes his players to love him. And Lovie loves his players. But at some point, you need to be the bad guy and need to be a dictator and Lovie is not able to do that. He loves his players to a fault. The biggest example of this is Rex Grossman. While granted Grossman really was a rookie on a phenomenal Superbowl caliber defense, it is clear now Orton should have started. But how many times did we hear "Rex is our quarterback"? No, no he shouldn't have been. But to his credit, Lovie's job as a babysitter and making sure everyone plays nice and buys into his system has been excellent.
Overall grade: B+
4) Random game time decisions. Lovie is also terrible at this. I mean god awful. He doesn't know how to properly challenge plays, he is terrible at determining what to do on 4th-and-1, and he makes terrible decisions in the fourth quarter. Let's just take this year for example. Using the prevent defense in the Bucs game and the squib kick in the Atlanta game cost the Bears easy wins. Again, I don't have any stats to prove my case but I can tell you from watching lots of games that Lovie is bad at this.
Overall grade: D+
Now in all fairness the Bears record is not entirely on Lovie. The McCaskey's are terrible fucking owners and Jerry Angelo is a bad GM. Angelo is really bad at drafting (see Dan Bauzin, Garrett Wolfe, Chris Williams), really bad at trading and picking up free agents (see Chris Harris, Adam Archuleta), and really bad at distributing money (see Brian Urlacher, Tommie Harris). This doesn't help Lovie one bit. Ron Turner is also the worst offensive coordinator, probably ever (However, Lovie is not totally off the hook on this because he does have a lot of say in what plays Turner runs and whether Turner deserves to keep his job). But Lovie Smith does a bad job at the things he can control.
But in all fairness, I only pointed out the bad things Lovie has done. He really has done some great things. The Tampa 2 worked out so well in 2005 and 2006 which helped the Bears win the NFC North and make it to the Superbowl. The ability to run the ball has worked out well for the most part in Lovie's tenure and our special teams has really been an underrated part of the reason the Bears have won so many games. Lovie's game planning is also not terrible in every game. Like in the Tennessee Titans game this year, he knew Fisher would run the ball and that Kerry Collins sucks. So what did Lovie do? He put Mike Brown on the line to absolutely destroy the Titans running game and they forced Collins to put the game on his back. Unfortunately Collins did put the game in his hands and he did win the game but it was absolutely the right game plan to do.
But for the most part, every coach does do some good but you have to weigh it against the bad. In Lovie's case, the bad outweighs the good and Lovie deserves to get fired. He hit his peak in 2006 and it doesn't look like he can get the Bears back any time soon. Therefore, he needs to go.
Lovie Smith is the head coach of the Chicago Bears. Why!? How does he still have a job, he sucks! Let me explain.
In Part I, I listed the four qualifications of what it takes to be a good coach. Let's go through these and see how Lovie Smith fits into these four qualifications.
1) Overall game plan. Lovie is defensive minded. So course his signature is punch-you-in-the-mouth stingy smash mouth defense, running the ball, and really good special teams. His defense is the Tampa 2. The cover 2 with an awesome middle linebacker to cover the middle of the field on passing plays yet still able to stop the run on running plays. The key to this is having an awesome front four.
Lovie has this plan and then asked his GM, Jerry Angelo, to get the pieces to have this work. For the beginning of Lovie's tenure he did have the pieces. He inherited Brian Urlacher and Angelo went out and got players like Thomas Jones, Wale, and helped get a good rushing O-line. And with this the Bears were able to go to the playoffs and the Superbowl.
But the big problem with this is two things. 1) YOU NEED A QUARTERBACK! Lovie was so caught up in running the ball that he neglected the QB position. This has turned costly to the Bears in the long run. 2) When the front four doesn't work, you need to shift your game plan. For the past two years our front four has not been able to get to the QB. This disrupts the whole Tampa 2 scheme. When this happens, YOU NEED TO ADJUST. Lovie failed to do this.
Also, his type of offense causes a lot of three and outs which puts more pressure on the defense. For a long while the Bears defense were able to handle the workload but now it's causing long term negative effects.
Let me tell you an example of Lovie's game planning. In 2005, when Lovie actually managed to make it to the playoffs. They faced the Carolina Panthers. The reason the Panthers made it to the playoffs that year was Steve Smith. Everyone knew this. Everyone. So what does Lovie do? He uses a single coverage on Steve Smith. While granted Peanut then was a great defensive back in coverage and did goof up and trip on the first play of the game (which IS NOT Lovie's fault), YOU CAN"T PUT ONE GUY ON STEVE FUCKING SMITH. YOU JUST CAN'T! What did Steve Smith do that day? 12 catches, 218 yards, 2 TDs. Of course Carolina won.
Overall grade: C+
2) Second half adjustments. Lovie is god awful with this. He can not make adjustments if his life depended on it. I don't have exact stats but I can tell you by watching a lot of games during Lovie's tenure I can tell you our fourth quarter play is fucking awful. I don't know what Lovie does during the halftime but it doesn't work
Overall grade: F
3) Ability to keep a cohesive locker room. Lovie is a cool, calm, collected guy. He's not an authoritarian by any stretch of the imagination. This causes his players to love him. And Lovie loves his players. But at some point, you need to be the bad guy and need to be a dictator and Lovie is not able to do that. He loves his players to a fault. The biggest example of this is Rex Grossman. While granted Grossman really was a rookie on a phenomenal Superbowl caliber defense, it is clear now Orton should have started. But how many times did we hear "Rex is our quarterback"? No, no he shouldn't have been. But to his credit, Lovie's job as a babysitter and making sure everyone plays nice and buys into his system has been excellent.
Overall grade: B+
4) Random game time decisions. Lovie is also terrible at this. I mean god awful. He doesn't know how to properly challenge plays, he is terrible at determining what to do on 4th-and-1, and he makes terrible decisions in the fourth quarter. Let's just take this year for example. Using the prevent defense in the Bucs game and the squib kick in the Atlanta game cost the Bears easy wins. Again, I don't have any stats to prove my case but I can tell you from watching lots of games that Lovie is bad at this.
Overall grade: D+
Now in all fairness the Bears record is not entirely on Lovie. The McCaskey's are terrible fucking owners and Jerry Angelo is a bad GM. Angelo is really bad at drafting (see Dan Bauzin, Garrett Wolfe, Chris Williams), really bad at trading and picking up free agents (see Chris Harris, Adam Archuleta), and really bad at distributing money (see Brian Urlacher, Tommie Harris). This doesn't help Lovie one bit. Ron Turner is also the worst offensive coordinator, probably ever (However, Lovie is not totally off the hook on this because he does have a lot of say in what plays Turner runs and whether Turner deserves to keep his job). But Lovie Smith does a bad job at the things he can control.
But in all fairness, I only pointed out the bad things Lovie has done. He really has done some great things. The Tampa 2 worked out so well in 2005 and 2006 which helped the Bears win the NFC North and make it to the Superbowl. The ability to run the ball has worked out well for the most part in Lovie's tenure and our special teams has really been an underrated part of the reason the Bears have won so many games. Lovie's game planning is also not terrible in every game. Like in the Tennessee Titans game this year, he knew Fisher would run the ball and that Kerry Collins sucks. So what did Lovie do? He put Mike Brown on the line to absolutely destroy the Titans running game and they forced Collins to put the game on his back. Unfortunately Collins did put the game in his hands and he did win the game but it was absolutely the right game plan to do.
But for the most part, every coach does do some good but you have to weigh it against the bad. In Lovie's case, the bad outweighs the good and Lovie deserves to get fired. He hit his peak in 2006 and it doesn't look like he can get the Bears back any time soon. Therefore, he needs to go.
