Chicago Bears 2012 Offseason Thread (2 Viewers)

[Statcruncher]

Let me add one more final point, what's up with the grass at Soldier Field. I know it's been an issue for years and kind of understood it when Chicago was more of a grinding team, but is that really the best they can do? They might as well play on the ice at the United Center. Ridiculous.

I'm not saying the field is good, but it certainly held up better than any other bad weather game that I can remember. And I've been to most, if not all of them.

Yeah, I thought at the start it looked better than it had in previous years by this point in the season...especially with that weather and rain that long without having it covered.

Robbie Gould rips grounds crew

By Jeff Dickerson | ESPNChicago.com

CHICAGO -- Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould said the Soldier Field grounds crew made a critical error in leaving the stadium's playing surface uncovered in the hours leading up to a 13-6 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday night.

Weather reports all week called for a chance of heavy precipitation to hit the area before and during the Bears game, but as early as five hours before kickoff the field remained exposed to the elements. Rain began to fall in the area a couple of hours before kickoff and did not cease until after the game had gone final.

Bears kicker Robbie Gould discusses his frustrations with the Soldier Field grounds crew for not tarping the field before Sunday's game against the Texans.

"For some reason this season, and I don't know whose job it is, and I love our guys in the Chicago Bears organization that takes care of our fields, but I want to know this year who decided to keep the field so soft that it's been tore up the entire year," Gould said Tuesday night on "Football Night in Chicago" on ESPN 1000. "Let's put it to you this way: If I were a grounds crew superintendant, I think I would keep a little bit of an eye if they were calling for rain for six straight days, and I just might roll a tarp out on the field before the game.

"I don't know, maybe that's common sense. Maybe that's too tough to get done. I'm just saying I would do it. I would do it."

Soldier Field is owned and operated by the Chicago Park District, which has said it is open to the idea of switching to an artificial playing surface. However, the Bears continue to say they prefer a grass field.

One of the most accurate kickers in NFL history, Gould connected on 2-of-3 field goals in the wet and windy conditions against the Texans but missed a 48-yarder in the fourth quarter that would have made it a one-point game. For the season, Gould has hit 18-of-21 field goals, with all three misses coming at Soldier Field.

Gould hit a 41-yard field goal to beat the Carolina Panthers 23-22 on Oct. 28 at Soldier Field, but said Tuesday that the deteriorating field made that kick tougher for him and long snapper Patrick Mannelly.

"I don't know what's happening," Gould said. "This year our field has been real bad, it's been tore up. There have actually been some places on the field where some portions of it have actually sunk to a new low level, and the other spots are high. So take for instance the game-winning (field goal) against the Carolina Panthers. On the left hash, three quarters of the hash is really high and then it's like a cliff, it just falls off for like four or five inches.

"So when we made the kick, if you go and watch that kick on film we are outside the portion of the hash which makes it a lot tougher (in regards) to the timing and the rhythm of the snap for Pat Mannelly. He is the best long snapper in the NFL, so for him he makes it look it easy.

"But it's been really interesting to watch this year how bad our field has really been. I know we have talked about this every single year, probably every single show, can we please hire somebody ... can we please get somebody in there that watches a news report?"

Gould is not the first Bears player to be critical of the field conditions at Soldier Field.

Several high profile Bears' players have expressed their unhappiness with the natural grass playing surface in the past few years, including quarterback Jay Cutler who called the Soldier Field turf "one of the worst fields in the league" during a press conference in December 2010. Linebacker Brian Urlacher called the turf "a disaster" and advocated installing Field Turf in June 2011.

 

[flapgreen]

Let's do this!!!

 

[Raider Nation]

Did I mention how GREAT of a signing Campbell was? Emery has his #### together.

 

[flapgreen]

Did I mention how GREAT of a signing Campbell was? Emery has his #### together.

Dude...how long did it take you to find that? lol

 

[Raider Nation]

Did I mention how GREAT of a signing Campbell was? Emery has his #### together.

Dude...how long did it take you to find that? lol

45 seconds or so. Type "Campbell" into the thread search box on the upper right. Only 2 pages came up.

 

[flapgreen]

I was definitely wrong on quite a few things this season.

Maybe I wasn't after all.

 

[flapgreen]

Did I mention how GREAT of a signing Campbell was? Emery has his #### together.

Dude...how long did it take you to find that? lol

45 seconds or so. Type "Campbell" into the thread search box on the upper right. Only 2 pages came up.

My link

 

[flapgreen]

Just awful

 

[William Munny]

Beyond awful my man. Hope big ears is watching and embarrassed that he did nothing to help this train wreck o line.

 

[flapgreen]

Beyond awful my man. Hope big ears is watching and embarrassed that he did nothing to help this train wreck o line.

He had to listen to the coaches on some things...I guess. This was the wrong one, obviously. Everyone seen it except the Lovester and ticket scalper.

 

[flapgreen]

Carimi>You suck!

 

[Max Power]

Games like tonight are the reason I'm going to be so pissed when the Bears pass on OL during the early rounds of the 2013 draft. I don't even get my hopes up anymore.

 

[whitem0nkey]

I blame jay cutler's body.

if he smiled bears would have won

 

[flapgreen]

Games like tonight are the reason I'm going to be so pissed when the Bears pass on OL during the early rounds of the 2013 draft. I don't even get my hopes up anymore.

I'm hoping Emery has some balls and overrules Lovie and Tice on this next season, that's if Tice is still here. He's an embarrassment to OL coaches everywhere. Maybe now the few remaining supporters will open their eyes.

 

[ditka311]

Thank God Cutler didn't play. He would have been toast.

It's no surprise why the Bears have to pay 3.5 mil for a backup.

 

[flapgreen]

Emery seemed to believe that the offensive problems would be minimized by improving the wide receivers and eliminating the seven step drops. That obviously has failed. The line is every bit as bad as it was last year. They were not helped by the play of either Cutler or the wide receivers. It seemed like the receivers couldn't get separation. And Cutler was absolutely awful last night. I think Carimi may develop. At least he has upside. For some reason I believe that Lance Louis may be alright. Garza is below average in my opinion, as is Spencer. And J'Marcus Webb is a train wreck. There is no help for Spencer, Garza or Webb on the roster. Webb's back up is Chris Williams, who is no better. Although after this pitiful display the Bears might consider at least putting Williams out there. It appears that we will have to wait until next year to see if the Bears can improve this line.

I'm losing faith in Cutler. I've supported him to this point. Not only was his play terrible, but the episode with Webb was really a sign of immaturity and a complete lack of leadership. Can you ever imagine Peyton Manning putting on a display like that? Cutler is a streaky player, and at times looks very good. But when he gets pressured, or things aren't going well, he really melts down. That is not what you want to see in your quarterback. I was really starting to feel good about Cutler after he played so well last year. But last night all of his worst qualities were on display.

The only offensive players I thought played reasonably well were Bush and Forte. And now Forte is out with what I read was a high ankle sprain. I'm sure the Bears will play better than they did last night. But the Packers created a blueprint for how to beat the Bears last night. The Bears don't handle pressure well. Both the Lions and the Vikings can get after the passer. If they put pressure on Cutler he will make bad decisions and throw interceptions. The Bears need to show they can play well against a playoff caliber team. Last night they did not, and I am not particularly optimistic.

A few points, if I may:1) I agree that Webb is horrible. He's slow and has awful footwork. If the guy doesn't try to bull-rush, Webb looks like a drunk playing ring-around-the-rosie.

2) It's not Cutler I am losing faith in - it's Tice. I have been a big proponent of his but last night's play calling was awful. Terrible. You're on the road, in a hostile envirnment and instead of establishing the run early, you drop back against a great pass rushing team and take a sack....just like you did last week. Way to set the tone. Not only was the play calling horrible (and included ZERO roll outs) there were no offensive adjustments. Not one. Not 3 step drops, no quick hit slants, no "let's get the running game going", no WR screens...nothing.

3) In terms of Cutler "melt down" - it's fairly simple - and you could almost see it happening - right after he got blind-sided by Matthews when Webb whiffed. He went from expecting to be able to throw, to expecting to be sacked. He started having to move around too much in the pocket to avoid the rush, because NONE of the o-line could hold a block. There was pressure coming from all over - and Cutler started to assume it was going to be there.

4) I agree with some that say a team is never as bad as they look at their worst or as good as they look at their best. The Packers are a quality team playing with a sense of urgency on a short week. The Bears were a team that looked like they thought that the offensive game plan they used in week 1 was going to work in week 2. It didn't - and instead of adjusting they arrogantly refused to get away from it. That concerns me the most. That offense isn't going to be held to 10 points every week - but they're not going to score 40+ every week either. Their offensive line is simply not that good.

Right there with you.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

 

[flapgreen]

Waiting on Benson to come in to support Tice and the OL talent...not happening. We can expect him back after he thinks everyone forgot about this debacle, which will be next season.

BENSON>WHERE YOU, BRAH?

 

[Widbil83]

Games like tonight are the reason I'm going to be so pissed when the Bears pass on OL during the early rounds of the 2013 draft. I don't even get my hopes up anymore.

I'm not so sure anymore with how ####ty the early round OL draft picks have been in recent years.

 

[ditka311]

Isn't Clady a FA this year? I remember Cutler talking about possibly recruiting him. Hell, I would take some of the construction horses on the expressways they are rebuilding instead of this line.

 

[Max Power]

Games like tonight are the reason I'm going to be so pissed when the Bears pass on OL during the early rounds of the 2013 draft. I don't even get my hopes up anymore.

I'm not so sure anymore with how ####ty the early round OL draft picks have been in recent years.

I still have some faith that Carimi will get better. But the Bears need to do something, they have 1-2 games like this a season, and its usually on prime time.

 

[flapgreen]

Isn't Clady a FA this year? I remember Cutler talking about possibly recruiting him. Hell, I would take some of the construction horses on the expressways they are rebuilding instead of this line.

At least they wouldn't run backward.

 

[flapgreen]

Isn't Clady a FA this year? I remember Cutler talking about possibly recruiting him. Hell, I would take some of the construction horses on the expressways they are rebuilding instead of this line.

No way the Broncos let him get away.

 

[DoubleG]

Isn't Clady a FA this year? I remember Cutler talking about possibly recruiting him. @#!*% , I would take some of the construction horses on the expressways they are rebuilding instead of this line.

At least they wouldn't run backward.

Yep - Carimi would fall on his ### in a strong breeze. The O-line should have a nickname. I think we should call them "The Dryer" One end tumbles, the other spins, and the guards just fluff air and hold. Oh, and I think our center leads the league in false starts by a center...wtf is that even possible?And for that wonderful o-line, our o-line coach was "promoted" to OC. Ooof. Well, aat least some Bears execs got to see what a real o-line with a real OC can do tonight.

 

[Widbil83]

Games like tonight are the reason I'm going to be so pissed when the Bears pass on OL during the early rounds of the 2013 draft. I don't even get my hopes up anymore.

I'm not so sure anymore with how ####ty the early round OL draft picks have been in recent years.

I still have some faith that Carimi will get better. But the Bears need to do something, they have 1-2 games like this a season, and its usually on prime time.

Yep I agree we were talking about this tonight also. For the last 3 or 4 years it seems like the Bears always have a prime time game where they have the complete #### beat out of them.

 

[flapgreen]

SCREW YOU EVERYONE WHO HAS HAD A PART IN PUTTING TOGETHER THIS O-line!!! Screw you!!!

 

[ditka311]

Over/under on Jared Allen sacks next week? I think we should set the line at 4.5.

 

[Statcruncher]

Just checking in guys. After extensively poring over the game film I think I've discovered the reason the Bears aren't hitting their full potential. I think the big guys who are supposed to be stopping the other team's big guys are sometimes not getting the job done. Sounds crazy, I know, just look at the tape and pay attention to the trenches and tell me if I'm seeing things.

 

[flapgreen]

Just checking in guys. After extensively poring over the game film I think I've discovered the reason the Bears aren't hitting their full potential. I think the big guys who are supposed to be stopping the other team's big guys are sometimes not getting the job done. Sounds crazy, I know, just look at the tape and pay attention to the trenches and tell me if I'm seeing things.

None of the guys on the OL are stopping anyone. What do you mean by "the big guys sometimes aren't getting the job done?" Louis is the only guy playing even remotely good. This is so discouraging after this many seasons. As long as Tice and Lovie are here, it just seenms like it's never going to change. It's a shame, too. Lovie has built a great defense, but at the cost of a pathetic offense. It's not worth it anymore. We can't win without Cutler. He's lucky he hasn't been hurt more. Dude is tough as nails. I take back what I said about Cutler being a punk to Webb. After this many years of getting hammered, he's finally fed up with it. Good for him!

 

[Statcruncher]

Up until last night I was looking forward to the end of this season, but I think we now know how it's probably going to end. I'm more looking forward to the draft and offseason now to see what Emery does. He identified roster holes last year and aggressively filled them. Everyone clearly knows right now that the O-line is the biggest roster hole, and I can't wait to see what he does. I'm pretty much apathetic to Smith and done with Tice, so I'm hoping Emery can drive this bus.

 

[flapgreen]

I'm with you.

 

[William Munny]

Games like tonight are the reason I'm going to be so pissed when the Bears pass on OL during the early rounds of the 2013 draft. I don't even get my hopes up anymore.

I'm not so sure anymore with how ####ty the early round OL draft picks have been in recent years.

I still have some faith that Carimi will get better. But the Bears need to do something, they have 1-2 games like this a season, and its usually on prime time.

Yep I agree we were talking about this tonight also. For the last 3 or 4 years it seems like the Bears always have a prime time game where they have the complete #### beat out of them.

That's because they are playing good teams in prime time.

 

[whitem0nkey]

Mark Ditka sent to jail after failed drug test

 

[flapgreen]

Rushed 3 guys on the safety. Pathetic!

 

[DoubleG]

Rushed 3 guys on the safety. Pathetic!

I agree - pathetic. Why did San Fran waste the other two guys? They could have easily gotten to Campbell even if they had only rushed 1 and dropped 10, as long as the 1 lined up across from Webb, who would have let him go right by or Carimi, who would have gotten knocked over into Campbell.

 

[Biabreakable]

Hi there!

 

[flapgreen]

Same old crap from Lovie today. It's just one game. We like our players. Blah blah blah...

 

[flapgreen]

Games like tonight are the reason I'm going to be so pissed when the Bears pass on OL during the early rounds of the 2013 draft. I don't even get my hopes up anymore.

I'm not so sure anymore with how ####ty the early round OL draft picks have been in recent years.

I'm at a loss as well. Like with all of the other seasons, no one on offense progresses or gets better. They can't possibly allow Lovie to fire his 15th OC without him, too. I'm really at a loss. He's had years to get this thing right. He hasn't. The OL is the laughing stock of the league, AGAIN. We like our players, though.

 

[William Munny]

Surgery for Alshon.

 

[flapgreen]

It's over.

 

[DoubleG]

Surgery for Alshon.

2-4 weeks. He should be back in time for the NFL playoffs...if the Bears make them.

 

[DoubleG]

Same old crap from Lovie today. It's just one game. We like our players. Blah blah blah...

What do you expect him to say? "Tice is one crappy play caller aint he? And Carimi sucks and just rolls over like a pet dog and BOY WERE WE WRONG ABOUT WEBB, he's a complete POS at left tackle..."Yeah, that'd go over well.

 

[flapgreen]

Same old crap from Lovie today. It's just one game. We like our players. Blah blah blah...

What do you expect him to say? "Tice is one crappy play caller aint he? And Carimi sucks and just rolls over like a pet dog and BOY WERE WE WRONG ABOUT WEBB, he's a complete POS at left tackle..."Yeah, that'd go over well.

True

 

[Raider Nation]

Same old crap from Lovie today. It's just one game. We like our players. Blah blah blah...

What do you expect him to say? "Tice is one crappy play caller aint he? And Carimi sucks and just rolls over like a pet dog and BOY WERE WE WRONG ABOUT WEBB, he's a complete POS at left tackle..."Yeah, that'd go over well.

True

 

[flapgreen]

Same old crap from Lovie today. It's just one game. We like our players. Blah blah blah...

What do you expect him to say? "Tice is one crappy play caller aint he? And Carimi sucks and just rolls over like a pet dog and BOY WERE WE WRONG ABOUT WEBB, he's a complete POS at left tackle..."Yeah, that'd go over well.

True

I'd love to see love do that sometime. lol

 

[twistd]

I would like to praise Jay Cutler. Monday we saw just what a below average QB would look like with this collection of talent. There is no one at receiver behind Marshall. Jeffrey might develop, but everyone else is pretty useless. The tight end group is probably the worst in the league. And this offensive line is awful. And at times Cutler has made this piss poor group of players look very good. Even more impressive is that last year, when he didn't have Marshall, he made this offense look good. I believe that this demonstrates just how good Cutler has been. He gets a lot of criticism, but he has done more with less than perhaps any QB in the league. Just imagine what he could do if he had even an average TE, a decent second and third receiver, and an offensive line that actually could block someone.

 

[twistd]

Mike Tice has taken some heat because of the play calling. I am completely mystified by Mike Tice. He was the offensive line coach for an offensive line that was one of the worst in the league for the two years he coached them. Yet, he gets promoted to offensive coordinator. I hear him referred to as an offensive line genius, but his unit is awful. Now you may say he had no talent to work with, so he got a lot out of what little he had. But they have done very little to address that in the last two years. They drafted Carimi, they picked up Rachal in free agency, and they cut Chris Williams. So somebody seems to believe this group can develop. You would have to believe if Tice saw a major problem he would push for them to make some moves. It appears that he didn't. Emery was very aggressive in addressing the back up QB, the back up RB, and the void at WR. If the organization recognized that they needed help on the offensive line, you would think they would have addressed it. Even more troubling is that the offensive line has had no injuries. This group is this bad despite the fact that they are healthy, and they have played together since the beginning of the season. Imagine the train wreck if they had a couple of injuries. If the back ups aren't able to beat out the starters, and the starters are this bad, it might be monumentally bad.

 

[Power Monster]

LOL- same old lame saga for the massive monster's of the mighty midway. No OL and a defense that crumbles against the elite teams. On and on and on and on it goes. Season after season...

 

[flapgreen]

Tice very candid in today's press conference. I'll have to post some of his comments later.

 

[Statcruncher]

LOL- same old lame saga for the massive monster's of the mighty midway. No OL and a defense that crumbles against the elite teams. On and on and on and on it goes. Season after season...

You need to ease up on this. Out of 10 games the D has had one clunker. Carry on with the rest of your criticisms though.

 

[flapgreen]

Chilo Rachel left the team.