Mike Brown in a huge blow, although the Bears front office expected this (Archuleta signing). The guy plays at a HOF level when he is in the line-up, and is the true leader of the Bears defense. The Bears had a shot to be the best defense(stat-wise) in the league's history with him in the line-up, not so much now, although they are still dominant. Losing Dusty isn't a great thing either, as Tommie Harris still doesn't have the wind to play more than 40% of the downs.
I couldn't disagree more here.Don't get me wrong Brown is good and the defense is better with him, but he will now have had season ending injuries 3 of the last 4 years. The Bears defense knows how to play without him. He's a playmaker and those are difficult to replace, but the Bears have done a great job preparing for this. They have drafted some young guys that can step in and signed Arch. But calling Brown the true-leader of the defense is completely wrong. How can you be a leader when you are standing on the sidelines every week? The true leaders are Urlacher, Briggs, Tillman & Harris. Those guys go out each week and make plays.
The Bears defense is still a dominant group. They do lose something with Brown out of the lineup, but I think that you are overreacting a little bit here.