Biggs: Bears need a perfect storm to make playoffs

WindyCity

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@BradBiggs: Reality is it was going to take a perfect storm for #Bears to be serious contender this season. http://t.co/okcfACIbHK

It's hard to find rosy scenarios for Bears

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By Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune reporter
5:13 pm, October 26, 2013
A collapse was coming for the Bears. It was only a matter of when.

That is what happens when there is a faulty foundation, something Phil Emery inherited when he was hired as general manager in 2012. The hope was pairing coach Marc Trestman with quarterback Jay Cutler would buy enough time to cover up some of the deficiencies and fill some of the spreading cracks.

Now Cutler is expected to miss at least a month, and linebacker Lance Briggs figures to be out six weeks, casting a shadow over Halas Hall shortly after the Trestman era began with three consecutive victories. At 4-3, the Bears still would be feeling pretty good about a second-half run if not for serious injuries to the best players on each side of the ball.

Without Cutler, it's going to be challenging to remain in games with the window of opportunity for a once-great defense closing. It's not creaking shut. The frame is slamming and glass is shattering. A defense that has bristled at the talk of age for two or three years no longer can hide it.

Perhaps some dedicated practice time in Trestman's offense will help 34-year-old Josh McCown keep the offense humming after scoring 24 points in the second half of last week's loss to the Redskins. But the Redskins and their porous defense are not on the schedule again, and opponents are going to plan differently for McCown.

The reality is it was going to take a perfect storm for the Bears to be serious contenders this season. Who knows? Maybe McCown thrives until Cutler returns and the defense somehow gets off what is a staggering pace for points and yards allowed.

At this rate, the defense will allow 471 points (club record is 421 in 1997) and 6,256 yards (club record is 5,729 in 1989). But does anyone really believe a defense that is halfway to being historically bad is going to pull out of a nose dive, especially with Briggs missing?

A pair of victories over the struggling Vikings and Steelers after the season-opening upset of the Bengals created hope. But Emery had to know long ago — well before firing Lovie Smith and replacing him with Trestman — that this coming offseason would be his most challenging. Yes, there will be more obstacles than changing the head coach. Heavy lifting lies ahead.

Only 10 players remain on the roster from the 2006-11 Jerry Angelo drafts, and injured defensive tackle Henry Melton is one. Only five currently are starting — running back Matt Forte, defensive linemen Stephen Paea and Corey Wootton and struggling safeties Major Wright and Chris Conte.

Just like ignoring the offensive line in the draft from 2003-07 caught up with the Bears when Chris Williams and Gabe Carimi proved to be busts, a slew of unproductive drafts now is challenging the organization, particularly the defense. The Bears didn't get away from these issues when Emery replaced Angelo, they only adopted a new plan to recover from a series of errors and missteps.

Twenty-nine players are coming out of contracts after this season. Right now, Wootton might be the only one on a rookie deal that the Bears really want back, and he's a complementary producer. The process of revamping an aging defense began this year as linebackers Jon Bostic and Khaseem Greene were drafted. Both could start Nov. 4 against the Packers. An overhaul is ahead for the line and the secondary. We're talking about Extreme Makeover, Halas Hall edition.

That is why it is a bad idea right now for Emery to consider dealing anything close to a middle-round draft pick before the 3 p.m. Tuesday trade deadline. He has reshaped the offensive line and added playmakers in two offseasons, and he's going to need all the resources available to have a shot at finishing the job for 2014. That might be a tall order.

The onus is going to be on Emery to come up with difference-makers. He needs to turn more draft picks into players like Kyle Long and Alshon Jeffery. This season is far from over. The division race and wild-card hunt will be compelling, and no one is saying the Bears are out of it. In these nine games, Emery can focus specifically on what he wants to do with the impending free agents and sharpen a list of needs vs. one of wants.

The loss of Cutler and Briggs doesn't signal the end for 2013, but weaknesses are getting hard to hide. A good quarterback can make up for a lot of shortcomings, but a long stretch of bad drafts eventually catches up to every franchise.
 

Emanbears23

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Cool, lets get it done! We have 3 semi-easy wins over the next 4 games. Rams/Queens/Ravens are all easily, winnable. Play calling is going to be vital in these games.
 

WCL

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Yeah, Obama blamed Bush for everything that went wrong too. It will get old after a while.

douche.jpg
 

DaaBears

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Andy Reid and Bob Sutton have turned a 2-14 team last year into an 8-0 team. Their defense went from 28th to 1st in one year. The Bears went from arguable 1st in defense when putting together all the stats (3th and 5th) in the major categories to 28th. If you don't think that Emery's decisions and choices have anything to do with that, well then keep drinking the kool aid.
 

WCL

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Andy Reid and Bob Sutton have turned a 2-14 team last year into an 8-0 team. Their defense went from 28th to 1st in one year. The Bears went from arguable 1st in defense when putting together all the stats (3th and 5th) in the major categories to 28th. If you don't think that Emery's decisions and choices have anything to do with that, well then keep drinking the kool aid.

douche.jpg
 

AHSIllini32

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Andy Reid and Bob Sutton have turned a 2-14 team last year into an 8-0 team. Their defense went from 28th to 1st in one year. The Bears went from arguable 1st in defense when putting together all the stats (3th and 5th) in the major categories to 28th. If you don't think that Emery's decisions and choices have anything to do with that, well then keep drinking the kool aid.

Yeah! God damn Emery and his going all "Tonya Hardings Boyfriend" on Melton, Collins, Briggs, Tillman, and Cutler!!
 

DaaBears

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Tillman didn't play one game, and we won that game. Yes Melton and Collins are the only guys on that list that have missed a full game that mattered. If Melton and Collins took us from top few defense to #28 and sinking, god bless ya.

So Emery has nothing to do with the demise of the defense. None of these things possibly matter:

Drafting no impact defensive players in two years as of yet
Firing Lovie
Not being able to retain Marinelli
Not signing Izzy
Not signing Urlacher
Picking up a free agent middle linebacker who hasn't played more than 6 games in 3 years
Hiring Tucker
Having a new defensive coordinator come in and say, I am not changing anything
Poor defensive game planning

Do you think that possibly any of those things may have mattered?
 

JJMPB

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i can't see this team getting to 8 wins
 

nwfisch

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Tillman didn't play one game, and we won that game. Yes Melton and Collins are the only guys on that list that have missed a full game that mattered. If Melton and Collins took us from top few defense to #28 and sinking, god bless ya.

So Emery has nothing to do with the demise of the defense. None of these things possibly matter:

Drafting no impact defensive players in two years as of yet
Firing Lovie
Not being able to retain Marinelli
Not signing Izzy
Not signing Urlacher
Picking up a free agent middle linebacker who hasn't played more than 6 games in 3 years
Hiring Tucker
Having a new defensive coordinator come in and say, I am not changing anything
Poor defensive game planning

Do you think that possibly any of those things may have mattered?

The same Marinelli defense that allowed 600 yds to the Lions today?
 

nwfisch

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My favorite teams
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  1. Minnesota United FC
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  1. Chicago Bears
  1. Chicago Blackhawks
  1. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
He is not the defensive coordinator of Dallas. He will be next year.

I guess push comes to shove, I'd rather have a work-in-progress defense than a remedial offense. :shrug:

I'm greedy and want the best of everything though :D.
 

WindyCity

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The Lions winning was a real shot when we lose against the Packers they will be 2 games ahead of us.
 

cbo0485

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Tillman didn't play one game, and we won that game. Yes Melton and Collins are the only guys on that list that have missed a full game that mattered. If Melton and Collins took us from top few defense to #28 and sinking, god bless ya.

So Emery has nothing to do with the demise of the defense. None of these things possibly matter:

Drafting no impact defensive players in two years as of yet
Firing Lovie
Not being able to retain Marinelli
Not signing Izzy
Not signing Urlacher
Picking up a free agent middle linebacker who hasn't played more than 6 games in 3 years
Hiring Tucker
Having a new defensive coordinator come in and say, I am not changing anything
Poor defensive game planning

Do you think that possibly any of those things may have mattered?

Emery obviously takes his share of the blame, he's not faultless. But IMO as a whole, he's done more good than bad. And outside of Mclellin, his draft picks are looking promising right now.

Alshon looks to be very good And very young WR that will be productive for years.

Kyle long seems to be an amazing pick, even though everyone said he was a reach.

He completely re-made our offensive line in one offseason. We went from not bring able to protect jay at all, to giving up only 11 sacks through 7 games.

He brought in Trestman who has brought our offense into the 21st century.

He's helped us get younger in the linebacker group with Bostic and Greene. He hasn't ignored the defense at all.

I've never been excited about the bears front office and coaching staff, but I truly am excited about the future of this team. In the past it's says seemed that we would just patch up the team, hope the offense finds a way, and rely on the defense. And what has that gotten us? Missing the playoffs 5 of the last 6 years. At least now you can see we aren't just patch working the team back together every year and hoping for the best. I can't find the stats anywhere right now, but remember he stay where teen bays roster is full of like 40 people all drafted by the packers. And the bears was like 20. Being able to fill your team though the draft is he sustainable model because it consistently keeps your team young and you don't have to pay multiple draft picks for a single guy. And now with emery we are starting to see our draft picks actually contribute to he team in the first year or two. . We can see that emery is getting the team younger, building depth, and putting together a sustainable franchise for the long term.

Emery hasn't been perfect(Shea), but IMO the arrow is pointing up for the long term success of the franchise, and that's something I NEVER thought with Angelo.
 

WindyCity

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Somewhere deep down I know that we are not going to make the playoffs, especially afte Cutler got hurt.

It is just tough to move past what could have been with this offense if our defense had not fallen apart. We could have been an NFC force.
 

WindyCity

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Outside of McClellin and Hardin, Emery has been a rock star.
 

cbo0485

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Somewhere deep down I know that we are not going to make the playoffs, especially afte Cutler got hurt.

It is just tough to move past what could have been with this offense if our defense had not fallen apart. We could have been an NFC force.

I'm the same way. Deep down I think I know, but I'm doing everything I can to keep that locked up. I'm really hoping Marshall and cutler know something we don't, and he really does only miss 3 games.
 

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