Here's what's wrong with the Bears:

[St. Jarvitude]

I'm going to break it into Offensive and Defensive:

Offensive

In terms of the passing game, I've traced the problem to one of two things:

• John Shoop isn't giving Kordell the flexibility to make reads and adjust the play at the line of scrimmage. One particular example of this was on 3rd and 11 in the first quarter. Green Bay was blitzing up the middle with what looked like all three linebackers, leaving a gaping hole for a quick slant underneath. At this point, Kordell could have, and should have, adjusted David Terrell (in the slot) to run a quick in or a quick slant and rely on his breakaway speed to move the chains. Instead, Kordell left the play (a stupid screen to Anthony Thomas which resulted in negative yardage) and the Bears failed to convert.


• Kordell isn't reading the defense. See ahove.

I'm going to lean towards the former. Madden pointed out during the game that Shoop had told Stewart to ignore his reads on the defense and look to Marty Booker and Desmond Clark on the majority of plays. Kordell is used to the more traditional (and better, imho) system of reading the defense at the line, adjusting the play (if necessary), and then giving each receiver a look after the snap.

The Bears actually looked like a competent passing team in the fourth quarter, until the final pick of the game. Stewart was finding the open man, and delivering it to him effectively to move the chains. Had the line provided just a second more protection on each play in the Bears' final push, who knows what could have happened?

The key to the Bears' running game is simple: give Anthony Thomas the ball. Backfield by committee works just about as well as bullpen by committee: it doesn't. Even if the A-Train is a little slow at first, once he pounds the defense into bits he can roll over them. Inside, outside, he can get it done. Adrian Nobody and Rabih Whatshisface should be at most spell HBs.

A healthy offensive line is a must for the Bears (or any team) to succeed offensively.

Defense

This is certainly trickier. The Bears defense is merely a shadow of 2001's. They give up too many big plays on the ground, and too many little plays in the air. Brian Urlacher should be placed either on man coverage on the tailback, or in a deeper underneath zone. Bobby Knight has the athlecticism to blitz on every play and still be able to stop the run. Warrick Holdman is the wild card in the linebacker corps: he can blitz or cover a tight end/fullback in man or zone coverage.

What the Bears need up front is a Ted Washington who can free Brian Urlacher up to stop the run. Sacrifice Warrick Holdman to the blockers if need be; Urlacher's speed and drive is useless if he's being pancaked by a tackle.

You may be surprised to hear me say that I have no problems with the Bears secondary. The Color Brothers (Mike Green + Brown) can lurk in the zone effectively, and R.W. McQuarters can cover 90% of receivers in man. Jerry Azumah is my only concern ... it might be a good idea to put in Tillman or Roosevelt Williams in at RCB to switch some coverage up.

I really believe the Bears have a lot of raw talent. It's time for the coaching staff + veterans of the team to step up to make the team work.

Thanks for reading my rant :)

[HuckleB]

1. Don't get so technical...

They signed Stewart. That's all anybody needs to know about the Bears.

[tabasco]

2. True story

Kordell stinks and has zero leadership ability. The only reason he ever won any games was the #1 rushing offense and #1 defense of the Steelers. Sorry, none of those conditions exist in Chicago, and I doubt you will get one win with KS at the helm.

[topdog08]

6. No leadership ability? I don't think Kordell is the problem.

How many games is he into the season with a new team? Give Kordell a chance. Is he gonna be MVP? Not likely. Is he the best QB the Bears have had in years? I think so. Now, if they had a decent offensive line or defensive secondary, they might be alright. The secondary has talent, but their coverage sucks. Getting beat once or twice is no problem. Leaving receivers wide open in the end zone again and again is not easy for any team to recover from. It seems like whenever I watch a Bears game they are always getting beat on the big pass plays. Free safety is the position I think they need some leadership in. They need a Mark Carrier or a Rod Woodson. They never got beat on pass plays so bad when they had Carrier.

[Proudlib]

3. Good Points

"One particular example of this was on 3rd and 11 in the first quarter. Green Bay was blitzing up the middle with what looked like all three linebackers, leaving a gaping hole for a quick slant underneath. At this point, Kordell could have, and should have, adjusted David Terrell (in the slot) to run a quick in or a quick slant and rely on his breakaway speed to move the chains. Instead, Kordell left the play (a stupid screen to Anthony Thomas which resulted in negative yardage) and the Bears failed to convert."

I'll give another which also occurred in the first quarter.

Kieth McKenzie ran up to the weak side letting everyone in the stadium know that (a) a corner blitz was coming and (b) Dez White (or was it Terrell-they both stink) would be one on one with the safety who rotated over to cover him which meant that (c) the only thing between the reciever and the end zone was that lone safety who had absolutely no deep help. The other saftey was on the other side of the formation covering the strong side. Rather than audible to a fly or deep fade, Kordell stayed with the 5 yard button hook which was dropped anyway. The long and the short of it is that there was no option to go for the home run (see Manning, Peyton) when the defense basically dared the Bears to do so.

[anti_shrub]

4. Steeler fan adding his 2 cents

Kordell has a habit of trying to hard to make plays, and bad things usually result. He panics way too easy for an NFL starting QB, which is sad because he really can be something special when he's on his game.

The Bears offensive coordinator obviously has no clue how to build an offense around Kordell. An option pass in the pros? Does he take a notebook to high school games?

[SmileyBoy]

5. Here's what's wrong with the Bears: THEY SUCK!!!

They truely do suck more than a $300 Oreck.