Do you ever notice the guy or girl in the office that continues to make the same mistake? Most of you will allow the poor person to just continue on with their ineptitude as you just worry about how YOU get through your day. But some of you will offer a suggestion to that person to try and make their life easier. What do you usually hear? Something like, “Thanks for the suggestion” and that’s it, but there are a few that will add something to the end like, “Thanks for the suggestion, but I prefer to do it this way.”
The Chicago Bears remind me of this because they’ve never been willing to invest into building a pass-oriented offence and it usually kicks them in the rear once we get into the season. Sure, they’ve had division-winning seasons and even made it to the Super Bowl in 2006, but they’ve always relied on strong defence to get them there. They’ve always won in spite of their offence and 2010 will be no different if they are successful.
The statistics don’t lie. The Bears were bottom five in rushing yards per game and in time of possession. Teams would stack up against the run to make sure that Matt Forte would not beat them single-handedly, so it forced Jay Cutler and the passing offence to make the big plays. With no big-time players at the wide-receiver spot, that was just simply asking too much.
The Bears could very well have a quarterback that plays for them for the next 10 years in Cutler, but the problem yet again is that he has no receivers to throw to. You would have thought the Bears would have invested some time, effort and money to alleviate their problem at this position, but the listed starters right now are Devin Hester and Johnny Knox. The question arises again: Can Hester play like a number one receiver in the NFL? Greg Olsen might represent the most consistent option from the tight-end spot.
The running game should be solid with Forte as the starter and Chester Taylor has the new third-down back as he comes over from Minnesota. The offensive line is stacked with talent down the left side and at the centre position, but with two relative rookies on the right side, there could be problems.
As I said before, defence is what’s going to allow this team to be successful. The addition of Julius Peppers from Carolina is huge for a defensive line that is already talented. At the linebacker spot, they have to hope that guys like Brian Urlacher and Pisa Tinoisamoa can stay healthy. They played a combined 3 games last year due to injury. On paper, the Bears are stacked with depth at the linebacker spot. The secondary is strong as well.
Two players to look out for in camp are Cutler and Devin Aromashodu. Cutler has a ton of pressure on his shoulders to lift this team back to playoff contention. However, he has no pressure behind him when it comes to quarterbacks trying to take his job. Is it a nice relief since it’s one less thing to worry about or a curse in disguise because he won’t be in the proper competitive mindframe? Aromashodu emerged in the last four games of the year for the Bears when there was nothing to play for. Can he build off of that season-end performance?
2010 Prediction: 8-8