I know it early to start talking about them. But I think they have already made some of their most important moves for next year.
Marinelli will improve the D line play. Warren Sapp is supposed to work with Tommie Harris this off season as well.
I do not like the fact the it has taken Lovie the whole season to realize that someone other than Babbage needs to calling the defensive plays. I think it is a huge mistake for him to take over the play calling. He is bad in game coach now. He is going to be a lot worse when he has to divide his time between calling plays and coaching the whole team. He should have hired a new D coordinator. Keeping Babbage as Linebackers coach is fine. They played well under him before.
Now they only need:
Pass rushing DE
#1WR
Run stuffing DT
2 Safeties
1CB
1LB
Vet/2nd QB
2nd RB
2 OL. Might not need them next year is Chris Williams is healthy. They will need them the year after for sure.
And that is if they keep all the good players from this year. If they lose any they will have to be replaced as well.
If they can fix this Defense they can contend.
As this year has proven again. If you have a productive running game and a GREAT defense you will have a shot at the Super Bowl. Its still too bad that after all the talent and money spent on the Bears defense that they have sucked so bad the past 2 years. You have to have a top 10, if not a top 5, to contend for a Super Bowl.
Just wondering what others think.
FTB
I don't understand the 2nd RB thing unless I missed that the Bears cut Jones and Petersen. They are both good quality 2nd RB.
I think this has turned into a 2 running back league. It has been so for about 4/5 years now.
I like Matt Forte a lot and would like to see him play here for a few years. I do not want him getting his brains beat in.
Peterson is a reliable backup and a really good special teams player.
Jones was a 1 year contract. From what I saw of Jones he is done. Year 2 after knee surgery is usually the year things turn around if they ever do for a player. He does not play special teams well at all.
Kevin Jones 2008 stats:
Season Team Rushing Receiving Fumbles
G GS Att Yds Avg Lng TD Rec Yds Avg Lng TD FUM Lost
11 0 34 109 3.2 16 0 2 5 2.5 3 0 -- --
I tried to line the stats up better. They show up fine when writing the message. Oh well.
Garrett Wolf is the other RB and he appears to be a huge waste of a draft pick. He is a good special teams player at best.
Quote from: Sr. on January 15, 2009, 02:19:07 PM
Quote from: Tom McManus on January 15, 2009, 10:38:13 AM
FTB
91-80-6
;D
You don't have Favre's 22-10 record against the Bears anymore. We shall see what happens in the future. One of the few things Lovie has done right since coming to the Bears is beat the Packers. Lovie Smith's record against the Green Bay Packers stands at 6-3. Please do not make me point out anymore of Lovie's good qualities. It goes against my Lovie bashing. ;)