****Official 2014 Chicago Bears Thread **** (3 Viewers)

[Power Monster]

These reports just lend credence to what we have known for years - this ownership is pathetic. They are now regretting paying a king's ransom for an overpaid malcontent. I had a great laugh at this one. Again - why do people pay hard earned money to go see this clown car extravaganza? Trade Cutler? I mean really with this crap? Who is the moron that decided to pay this chump all this money? Keep counting the cash Prince Georgie Boy.

you say that now, but when they traded for cutler you probably peed yourself, and laughed about ripping off that idiot mcdaniels

Ummmm not really. I was optimistic to a fault because he was rumored to come with some attitude issues. I always raise a red flag when a team is willing to part ways with their pro bowl QB that was supposed to be the franchise stud. Adter the first two years with the Bears it became readily apparent that Jay boy wasn't right. McDaniels sure had some cards to work with in the ensuing draft and at this point he is having the last laugh

 

[IheartGuinness]

Hawks won.

 

[twistd]

Ian Rapoport ‏@RapSheet 12m12 minutes ago
Barring significant improvement, I’m told the #Bears plan to part ways with defensive coordinator Mel Tucker after this season.

There are a lot of people, me included, that were calling for Mel Tucker's scalp last year. But I wonder how much of this is Tucker and how much of this is Emery.

Statistically the Bears defense is as bad this year as they were last year. In total yards they are ranked 28th. Last year they were 30th. In points allowed they are dead last. Last year they were tied for 30th. Rushing yards allowed they are quite a bit better, but passing yards allowed they are dead last. The sack totals are up a bit but the interceptions are down.

So my question is, how much of this is scheme and coaching, and how much is personnel?

Last year, according to Pro Football Focus, not a single player on the Bears defensive roster finished in the top 20 at his position. This year there are three, they are Briggs at 8th, Ratliffe at 10th, and Tim Jennings at 19th. Kyle Fuller, the first round draft pick, started out well but now is ranked 107 out of 113 players at that position. After Jay Ratliffe, Pea ranks 30th out of 79, and Ferguson ranks at 52, and Sutton ranks at 72. At ILB Bostic ranks 24th out of 58, and DJ Williams ranks 41. The big free agent signings at DE rank as Jared Allen at 21st out of 54, Lamarr Houston is 26th, and Willie Young is 34th.

So the personnel seems somewhat better but the result is the same. There is a definite absence of playmakers on defense. Briggs is the best defensive player and he will probably be gone next year. So my worry is that Mel Tucker will move on and turn out to be a good defensive coordinator somewhere else. He was good in Jacksonville the three years prior to coming here. And we will get a new defensive coordinator and we will discover that this defense isn't any good because they have no talent on the defensive side of the ball. We will discover that Emery has done a poor job drafting defensive players and the free agent signings on defense have been mediocre at best.

I don't think Tucker has done a good job, but I don't think Emery has done a good job with the defensive personnel, and I think the defensive coaches have done a poor job developing the young talent. So getting rid of Tucker doesn't make the personnel better, and we can only hope that a new defensive coordinator brings in a much better group of position coaches.

 

[RBM]

Very disturbing hearing about the level of dysfunction right now. And we are stuck with two facts:

1 We will not win a championship with this current coaching staff

2 We will not win a championship with Jay Cutler as our qb

So what can be done? Will it be done (no)?

This is our fate as Bear fans.

 

[DaveL]

I agree with number 1 more than 2. What an embarrassment. The thing I liked most about Emery is everything was kept in house.

What's on the field is bad, but seasons like this happen. Coaches going to the media to hang their dirty laundry is something that should never ever take place in the organization.

 

[twistd]

These reports just lend credence to what we have known for years - this ownership is pathetic. They are now regretting paying a king's ransom for an overpaid malcontent. I had a great laugh at this one. Again - why do people pay hard earned money to go see this clown car extravaganza? Trade Cutler? I mean really with this crap? Who is the moron that decided to pay this chump all this money? Keep counting the cash Prince Georgie Boy.

you say that now, but when they traded for cutler you probably peed yourself, and laughed about ripping off that idiot mcdaniels

Ummmm not really. I was optimistic to a fault because he was rumored to come with some attitude issues. I always raise a red flag when a team is willing to part ways with their pro bowl QB that was supposed to be the franchise stud. Adter the first two years with the Bears it became readily apparent that Jay boy wasn't right. McDaniels sure had some cards to work with in the ensuing draft and at this point he is having the last laugh

I wouldn't credit McDaniels with being so clever. McDaniels launched Cutler so he could bring in Cassel. He didn't land him, but Cassel didn't work out so well. And McDaniels used one of the picks he got from the Bears to grab Tebow. That didn't work out so well either. McDaniels joins a long list of Belichick assistants who have failed as head coaches, Romeo, Charlie Weis, and Eric Mangini, to name a few. McDaniels face planted so badly as the Broncos head coach that he probably won't get another shot at a head coaching job. So I hardly think that McDaniels got the last laugh.

 

[twistd]

Very disturbing hearing about the level of dysfunction right now. And we are stuck with two facts:

1 We will not win a championship with this current coaching staff

2 We will not win a championship with Jay Cutler as our qb

So what can be done? Will it be done (no)?

This is our fate as Bear fans.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-biggs-aaron-kromer-bears-spt-1212-20141211-story.html

This is a link to the Kromer story to illustrate the dysfunction. This probably spells the end of Kromer as the offensive coordinator. Kromer is Cutler's fourth o-coordinator. And Cavanaugh is his third QB coach. Both will probably be gone after this season.

Truth is this dysfunction is organizational. You can't just replace the GM and the coach and fix this. There need to be changes all the way up the organization. I don't think that will happen. If Trestman is retained, it will be hard to find a good candidate who wants the d-coordinator job. It is like the trouble Lovie had finding an o-coordinator when his job seemed in jeopardy. Same thing if Kromer gets launched. This is a bad situation that seems to be getting worse.

 

[flapgreen]

 

[flapgreen]

http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=chicagobears&id=4696384&city=chicago&src=desktop&rand=ref~%7B"ref"%3A"http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FY13Tte1Rtc"%7D

 

[Papa John's]

This organization is a joke. Bears, Jets, Washington, Raiders ... Joke!

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

These reports just lend credence to what we have known for years - this ownership is pathetic. They are now regretting paying a king's ransom for an overpaid malcontent. I had a great laugh at this one. Again - why do people pay hard earned money to go see this clown car extravaganza? Trade Cutler? I mean really with this crap? Who is the moron that decided to pay this chump all this money? Keep counting the cash Prince Georgie Boy.

you say that now, but when they traded for cutler you probably peed yourself, and laughed about ripping off that idiot mcdaniels

Ummmm not really. I was optimistic to a fault because he was rumored to come with some attitude issues. I always raise a red flag when a team is willing to part ways with their pro bowl QB that was supposed to be the franchise stud. Adter the first two years with the Bears it became readily apparent that Jay boy wasn't right. McDaniels sure had some cards to work with in the ensuing draft and at this point he is having the last laugh

I wouldn't credit McDaniels with being so clever. McDaniels launched Cutler so he could bring in Cassel. He didn't land him, but Cassel didn't work out so well. And McDaniels used one of the picks he got from the Bears to grab Tebow. That didn't work out so well either. McDaniels joins a long list of Belichick assistants who have failed as head coaches, Romeo, Charlie Weis, and Eric Mangini, to name a few. McDaniels face planted so badly as the Broncos head coach that he probably won't get another shot at a head coaching job. So I hardly think that McDaniels got the last laugh.

I'm pretty sure miserable bears fans don't care about josh mcdaniels, but all that is pretty much pulled from your imagination, and using my own, I'd guess you don't credit him being clever because you're one of those people that feel nobody could be as clever as you.

the keystone move to get that franchise in the right direction was to launch cutler, and he trumped the richardson trade doing it, while probably having to wear kevlar every time he left the house because of it --- the bears will never come close to fleecing anybody else like that.

I remember people ripping him for drafting demaryius thomas, and how's that pick look now?

back in the 90s the cleveland browns hired a rookie head coach after winning only 3 games one year.

after a little improvement, and a couple years on the job, this guy made the controversial move of cutting their starting qb, bernie kosar, who was kind of a big name in cleveland at the time.

despite taking all kinds of grief from guys like you via telegraph, or whatever people used back then, this novice coach got them to the playoffs the following year with 11 wins.

it took maybe 4 years, but he took that team from 3 wins to 11 wins, and then was very fortunately fired despite this.

maybe they should've stuck with him -- just sayin'

 

[Mister Martie]

These reports just lend credence to what we have known for years - this ownership is pathetic. They are now regretting paying a king's ransom for an overpaid malcontent. I had a great laugh at this one. Again - why do people pay hard earned money to go see this clown car extravaganza? Trade Cutler? I mean really with this crap? Who is the moron that decided to pay this chump all this money? Keep counting the cash Prince Georgie Boy.

you say that now, but when they traded for cutler you probably peed yourself, and laughed about ripping off that idiot mcdaniels

Ummmm not really. I was optimistic to a fault because he was rumored to come with some attitude issues. I always raise a red flag when a team is willing to part ways with their pro bowl QB that was supposed to be the franchise stud. Adter the first two years with the Bears it became readily apparent that Jay boy wasn't right. McDaniels sure had some cards to work with in the ensuing draft and at this point he is having the last laugh

I wouldn't credit McDaniels with being so clever. McDaniels launched Cutler so he could bring in Cassel. He didn't land him, but Cassel didn't work out so well. And McDaniels used one of the picks he got from the Bears to grab Tebow. That didn't work out so well either. McDaniels joins a long list of Belichick assistants who have failed as head coaches, Romeo, Charlie Weis, and Eric Mangini, to name a few. McDaniels face planted so badly as the Broncos head coach that he probably won't get another shot at a head coaching job. So I hardly think that McDaniels got the last laugh.

I'm pretty sure miserable bears fans don't care about josh mcdaniels, but all that is pretty much pulled from your imagination, and using my own, I'd guess you don't credit him being clever because you're one of those people that feel nobody could be as clever as you.

the keystone move to get that franchise in the right direction was to launch cutler, and he trumped the richardson trade doing it, while probably having to wear kevlar every time he left the house because of it --- the bears will never come close to fleecing anybody else like that.

I remember people ripping him for drafting demaryius thomas, and how's that pick look now?

back in the 90s the cleveland browns hired a rookie head coach after winning only 3 games one year.

after a little improvement, and a couple years on the job, this guy made the controversial move of cutting their starting qb, bernie kosar, who was kind of a big name in cleveland at the time.

despite taking all kinds of grief from guys like you via telegraph, or whatever people used back then, this novice coach got them to the playoffs the following year with 11 wins.

it took maybe 4 years, but he took that team from 3 wins to 11 wins, and then was very fortunately fired despite this.

maybe they should've stuck with him -- just sayin'

tl;dr

 

[KCitons]

These reports just lend credence to what we have known for years - this ownership is pathetic. They are now regretting paying a king's ransom for an overpaid malcontent. I had a great laugh at this one. Again - why do people pay hard earned money to go see this clown car extravaganza? Trade Cutler? I mean really with this crap? Who is the moron that decided to pay this chump all this money? Keep counting the cash Prince Georgie Boy.

you say that now, but when they traded for cutler you probably peed yourself, and laughed about ripping off that idiot mcdaniels

Ummmm not really. I was optimistic to a fault because he was rumored to come with some attitude issues. I always raise a red flag when a team is willing to part ways with their pro bowl QB that was supposed to be the franchise stud. Adter the first two years with the Bears it became readily apparent that Jay boy wasn't right. McDaniels sure had some cards to work with in the ensuing draft and at this point he is having the last laugh

I wouldn't credit McDaniels with being so clever. McDaniels launched Cutler so he could bring in Cassel. He didn't land him, but Cassel didn't work out so well. And McDaniels used one of the picks he got from the Bears to grab Tebow. That didn't work out so well either. McDaniels joins a long list of Belichick assistants who have failed as head coaches, Romeo, Charlie Weis, and Eric Mangini, to name a few. McDaniels face planted so badly as the Broncos head coach that he probably won't get another shot at a head coaching job. So I hardly think that McDaniels got the last laugh.

I'm pretty sure miserable bears fans don't care about josh mcdaniels, but all that is pretty much pulled from your imagination, and using my own, I'd guess you don't credit him being clever because you're one of those people that feel nobody could be as clever as you.

the keystone move to get that franchise in the right direction was to launch cutler, and he trumped the richardson trade doing it, while probably having to wear kevlar every time he left the house because of it --- the bears will never come close to fleecing anybody else like that.

I remember people ripping him for drafting demaryius thomas, and how's that pick look now?

back in the 90s the cleveland browns hired a rookie head coach after winning only 3 games one year.

after a little improvement, and a couple years on the job, this guy made the controversial move of cutting their starting qb, bernie kosar, who was kind of a big name in cleveland at the time.

despite taking all kinds of grief from guys like you via telegraph, or whatever people used back then, this novice coach got them to the playoffs the following year with 11 wins.

it took maybe 4 years, but he took that team from 3 wins to 11 wins, and then was very fortunately fired despite this.

maybe they should've stuck with him -- just sayin'

So you're saying the only way the Bears right the ship, is if they hire Belichick.

 

[twistd]

These reports just lend credence to what we have known for years - this ownership is pathetic. They are now regretting paying a king's ransom for an overpaid malcontent. I had a great laugh at this one. Again - why do people pay hard earned money to go see this clown car extravaganza? Trade Cutler? I mean really with this crap? Who is the moron that decided to pay this chump all this money? Keep counting the cash Prince Georgie Boy.

you say that now, but when they traded for cutler you probably peed yourself, and laughed about ripping off that idiot mcdaniels

Ummmm not really. I was optimistic to a fault because he was rumored to come with some attitude issues. I always raise a red flag when a team is willing to part ways with their pro bowl QB that was supposed to be the franchise stud. Adter the first two years with the Bears it became readily apparent that Jay boy wasn't right. McDaniels sure had some cards to work with in the ensuing draft and at this point he is having the last laugh

I wouldn't credit McDaniels with being so clever. McDaniels launched Cutler so he could bring in Cassel. He didn't land him, but Cassel didn't work out so well. And McDaniels used one of the picks he got from the Bears to grab Tebow. That didn't work out so well either. McDaniels joins a long list of Belichick assistants who have failed as head coaches, Romeo, Charlie Weis, and Eric Mangini, to name a few. McDaniels face planted so badly as the Broncos head coach that he probably won't get another shot at a head coaching job. So I hardly think that McDaniels got the last laugh.

I'm pretty sure miserable bears fans don't care about josh mcdaniels, but all that is pretty much pulled from your imagination, and using my own, I'd guess you don't credit him being clever because you're one of those people that feel nobody could be as clever as you.

the keystone move to get that franchise in the right direction was to launch cutler, and he trumped the richardson trade doing it, while probably having to wear kevlar every time he left the house because of it --- the bears will never come close to fleecing anybody else like that.

I remember people ripping him for drafting demaryius thomas, and how's that pick look now?

back in the 90s the cleveland browns hired a rookie head coach after winning only 3 games one year.

after a little improvement, and a couple years on the job, this guy made the controversial move of cutting their starting qb, bernie kosar, who was kind of a big name in cleveland at the time.

despite taking all kinds of grief from guys like you via telegraph, or whatever people used back then, this novice coach got them to the playoffs the following year with 11 wins.

it took maybe 4 years, but he took that team from 3 wins to 11 wins, and then was very fortunately fired despite this.

maybe they should've stuck with him -- just sayin'

Here is a good article about what a tool McDaniels was in Denver. Cutler wasn't the only guy he pissed off.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/josh-mcdaniels-feud-history-jay-cutler-brandon-marshall-todd-haley/

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

Unlike many franchises in search of a new head coach, the Broncos had recently hovered around .500 and boasted some talented players, namely Jay Cutler, who was the organization’s first-round pick in 2006 and its ostensible “quarterback of the future.”

When you have a promising young quarterback like Cutler, your first order of business probably shouldn’t be to destroy your relationship with him. Yet that’s exactly what McDaniels did by trying to trade for Cassel, alienating Cutler to the point of no return. Ultimately, Cutler was shipped to the Bears for Kyle Orton, two first-round picks, and a third-round pick. One year later, McDaniels drafted Tim Tebow in the first round, essentially signaling he had already given up on Orton; Cutler proceeded to flourish in Chicago.

thx for that insightful article

 

[flapgreen]

Get ready for another beating to ensue.

 

[flapgreen]

Had no idea Tucker and Decamillis weren't Trestman hires. Why hire a headcoach but not let the coach pick his coordinators?

 

[KCitons]

I have the Bears winning tonight. 31-27

Yep, Im an eternal optimist. Or optometrist, I forget.

 

[flapgreen]

Looks like not even a game thread. Lol

 

[flapgreen]

Great start with ST holding penalty.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

flourishing

 

[The Tick]

Great start with ST holding penalty.

ST penalty followed by the 3 and out is our go to move. We are good at it.

They just decided to add a little flourish to it this week with the turnover.

 

[flapgreen]

Good god this is so bad.

 

[RBM]

Good god this is so bad.

The fake punt made me chuckle.

 

[flapgreen]

Bears offense bunch of heartless quitters. As much as I think Tucker should be fired, he's far from the only problem and firing him won't improve much. At least the D still plays hard

 

[The Tick]

Good god this is so bad.

The fake punt made me chuckle.

Made me pissed... took our best rookie out of the play!

 

[flapgreen]

Phillips and Emery should both be gone, but they won't be. Phillips makes the team boatloads of money, and Emery still has money on his contract. Same for Trestman. Still has years left on contract so he won't be fired either. Pretty sure Emery is 2nd to only Reggie McKenzie as worst GM in league. What a nightmare

 

[KCitons]

Flapgreen, are you going to become a London or LA fan?

 

[flapgreen]

As sad as it is, I'll always be a Bears fan. That's why I get so angry about this.

 

[The Tick]

Phillips and Emery should both be gone, but they won't be. Phillips makes the team boatloads of money, and Emery still has money on his contract. Same for Trestman. Still has years left on contract so he won't be fired either. Pretty sure Emery is 2nd to only Reggie McKenzie as worst GM in league. What a nightmare

No need for Phillips to be gone and won't happen, just needs to have football operations removed from under him and we either need a football executive that reports directly to ownership, or a GM with enough experience/power that can do the same.

That is possible to happen someday.

 

[flapgreen]

Sounds simple but it won't happen. Emery will be here for at least a couple more years. Trestman at least one

 

[flapgreen]

Get ready for another beating to ensue.

sup bro

 

[The Tick]

Coming out in that second half with a FIRE BABY!

 

[Cade McEnis]

I'm embarrassed to have ever been a part of this team.

 

[Limp Ditka]

As sad as it is, I'll always be a Bears fan.

It's sad for all of us, flap.

 

[-X-]

So pathetic...

 

[flapgreen]

I've never been a fan of a team from any sport with this much dysfunction. It's beyond understanding. They are completely lost and half the team has given up. The OC just threw the franchise qb under the bus last week. Nothing happens to him. Everyone called for Tucker to be fired last year. Nothing happened. The defense is giving up even more points this season. The GM has made countless bad decisions. Nothing will happen to him either. I don't really know what to think about Trestman. Looks way in over his head, which is hard to understand. Coordinator in NFL for years. Successful HC in cfl. Looks lost as HC in NFL. I'm at a loss, just like this team.

 

[-X-]

It'll be interesting to see how the draft goes, with it being in Chicago next year... Expecting many boos for every pick, especially if only minimal changes are made.

Go Falcons and Giants; win at least one so we can have pick #7 (again, not that it matters much with Emery picking). How sad is that?

 

[twistd]

Sounds simple but it won't happen. Emery will be here for at least a couple more years. Trestman at least one

Up until this past week I would have agreed with that statement. The Bears don't like to eat contracts and Trestman has two years left on a contract. But Kromer is probably going to go. Morrisey wrote a piece saying he believes that the Bears forced Kromer to own up to being the leak. They did some detective work and found out who the leak was and then punished Kromer by forcing him to apologize. That basically kills Kromer's future with this team. That is a petty and stupid move by the team.

So if Tucker is gone, and Kromer is gone, you have to imagine that most of the assistants will be gone. How do you fire the offensive and defensive coordinators, and most or all of the assistants, and keep the head coach? And if you were to try to keep the coach, who is going to be interested in the job as defensive or offensive coordinator for this team when you know Trestman is already on shaky ground? The same situation Lovie had a few years ago and that is how we ended up with Mike Martz as the offensive coordinator.

Then looking at Emery. The two biggest decisions in your tenure as general manager were the hiring of the coach, and whether to sign Cutler to a long term deal. You blew both decisions. Trestman, in only his second year, has already lost the locker room and seems to have lost control of the team. And word gets out that in the front office there is buyers remorse about this big contract you gave to Cutler. How do you recover from that?

It would be terribly out of character for the Bears to bite the bullet and clean house, considering all the contracts they would have to eat, but this time they may actually do it. The one most likely to stay, in my opinion, is Emery. I really don't see how you keep Trestman. And I think there will be more reason to move on from Trestman in the next couple weeks. My guess is that the Bears lose their last two games, and look pitiful doing it.

 

[flapgreen]

Now 8 of 16 most accurate passing games vs. the Bears since 1960 (min. 20 attempts) happened under Trestman/Tucker http://t.co/iAfATDGMSQ

 

[Statcruncher]

I don't know about canning Emery and Trestman to be honest. I look at the Bears roster before Emery arrived and I see a team lacking talent, and the sparse talent they did have was set to fall off a cliff age-wise. In my opinion he's he's done a great job of evaluating roster needs and doggedly attacking them. Some don't work out, but he's constantly churning players looking for a better roster, which the Bears have. Player-wise his 2 biggest misses IMO are Shea and Cutler. Missing on your first pick in your first draft stings, but at some point you've got to admit failure and move on. As for Jay, I was all for the contract when he signed. Jay was coming off a good first year with the QB guru at head coach and there was no reason to assume he wouldn't continue that trend as he spent more time in the system. Jay's performance this year makes that contract looks like a complete dog, however had Jay performed like he did last year no one would be saying a word. I honestly can't blame Emery for Jay tanking like he's always got money on the other team to win.

Looking at the coaches there's no doubt Tucker should have been gone last year. In his tenure in Chicago it just seems like the defense has been a collection of players in a pick-up game and are guessing where they're supposed to be and what their supposed to do. I know his first year here they tried to run as much of Lovie's system as possible to ease the transition, I'm not sure that really helped Tucker or the defense. Supposedly this year was his opportunity to run things his way, and there is zero improvement. There have been a lot of injuries and I don't know that Tucker has gotten a fair shake over the past 2 years, but he's got to go. He didn't have much of a resume when they brought him in and I haven't seen anything noteworthy since.

As for Trestman, reality has certainly hit. His game management leaves a lot to be desired. That being said, so did Lovie's, so IMO it's no worse than what it's been for years. As for play calling, I honestly don't think we've seen Trestman call a game this year the way he wants to call it. His offenses typically run through the QB, and that requires an accurate QB who makes sound decisions. It's clear that Cutler's regression has crippled this offense and forced Trestman to scale back the offense. There is no system that will be successful when you have a QB who doesn't appear to read defenses, refuses to check out of bad plays, stares down the receivers, holds the ball, and lacks the accuracy to put the ball where it needs to be or even hit a player in stride. Just like the 3rd play of the game last night. He's got MB open for an easy first down, instead he rockets an inaccurate pass that gets picked off. Trestman has some flaws no doubt, but he has been able to take average QB's and generate exceptional results. The problem is that Jay is not an average QB for whatever reason this year. I'm not ready to pull the plug on Trestman yet.

I really think the fastest way out of this hole is to trade/cut Cutler. I haven't played around with the numbers to see if eating that huge cap hit is even possible because I doubt they will do it. I firmly believe that until Cutler is not playing QB no matter who is GM/coach the Bears will underachieve. If anyone on this team can cause a cancerous rift in the locker room, it's got to be Cutler and his flippant attitude about his inability to protect the ball. If they axe Cutler now then they get 2015 to see if Trestman is a guy who got lucky the first year, or actually a decent coach who's been hamstrung by the QB play this year.

 

[flapgreen]

Pinning it all on Tucker and Cutler is the easy way out IMO. This team is in shambles and the GM and head coach are the two guys who have the most control. Emery has made numerous bad decisions and has drafted very poorly overall

 

[flapgreen]

I'm undecided on Trestman. It worries me that the team has crashed and burned this badly under his watch, though.

 

[Statcruncher]

Pinning it all on Tucker and Cutler is the easy way out IMO. This team is in shambles and the GM and head coach are the two guys who have the most control. Emery has made numerous bad decisions and has drafted very poorly overall

I wouldn't expect you to feel any other way flapgreen. You're probably ready to clean house 100%, including Staley the mascot. Say they do clean house, do you really think they could find a head coach who is willing to come in and work with Cutler?

 

[flapgreen]

That's not true. I said I'm undecided on Trestman. What I think is obvious is Cutler and Trestman has turned into a disaster. Keeping both isn't going to work and no one is going to give us anything for Cutler with that contract. That's on Emery. So if Trestman and Cutler isn't working, what do we do? They're not cutting Cutler so let's get that out of the way. I honestly don't know how to fix all of the problems on this team. I wouldn't know where to begin but they're in need of more than just a different qb

 

[twistd]

I don't know about canning Emery and Trestman to be honest. I look at the Bears roster before Emery arrived and I see a team lacking talent, and the sparse talent they did have was set to fall off a cliff age-wise. In my opinion he's he's done a great job of evaluating roster needs and doggedly attacking them. Some don't work out, but he's constantly churning players looking for a better roster, which the Bears have. Player-wise his 2 biggest misses IMO are Shea and Cutler. Missing on your first pick in your first draft stings, but at some point you've got to admit failure and move on. As for Jay, I was all for the contract when he signed. Jay was coming off a good first year with the QB guru at head coach and there was no reason to assume he wouldn't continue that trend as he spent more time in the system. Jay's performance this year makes that contract looks like a complete dog, however had Jay performed like he did last year no one would be saying a word. I honestly can't blame Emery for Jay tanking like he's always got money on the other team to win.

Looking at the coaches there's no doubt Tucker should have been gone last year. In his tenure in Chicago it just seems like the defense has been a collection of players in a pick-up game and are guessing where they're supposed to be and what their supposed to do. I know his first year here they tried to run as much of Lovie's system as possible to ease the transition, I'm not sure that really helped Tucker or the defense. Supposedly this year was his opportunity to run things his way, and there is zero improvement. There have been a lot of injuries and I don't know that Tucker has gotten a fair shake over the past 2 years, but he's got to go. He didn't have much of a resume when they brought him in and I haven't seen anything noteworthy since.

As for Trestman, reality has certainly hit. His game management leaves a lot to be desired. That being said, so did Lovie's, so IMO it's no worse than what it's been for years. As for play calling, I honestly don't think we've seen Trestman call a game this year the way he wants to call it. His offenses typically run through the QB, and that requires an accurate QB who makes sound decisions. It's clear that Cutler's regression has crippled this offense and forced Trestman to scale back the offense. There is no system that will be successful when you have a QB who doesn't appear to read defenses, refuses to check out of bad plays, stares down the receivers, holds the ball, and lacks the accuracy to put the ball where it needs to be or even hit a player in stride. Just like the 3rd play of the game last night. He's got MB open for an easy first down, instead he rockets an inaccurate pass that gets picked off. Trestman has some flaws no doubt, but he has been able to take average QB's and generate exceptional results. The problem is that Jay is not an average QB for whatever reason this year. I'm not ready to pull the plug on Trestman yet.

I really think the fastest way out of this hole is to trade/cut Cutler. I haven't played around with the numbers to see if eating that huge cap hit is even possible because I doubt they will do it. I firmly believe that until Cutler is not playing QB no matter who is GM/coach the Bears will underachieve. If anyone on this team can cause a cancerous rift in the locker room, it's got to be Cutler and his flippant attitude about his inability to protect the ball. If they axe Cutler now then they get 2015 to see if Trestman is a guy who got lucky the first year, or actually a decent coach who's been hamstrung by the QB play this year.

A lot of Trestman's former players sing his praises. Two in particular are Steve Young and Rich Gannon. Trestman has done wonders for QBs, McCown last year being another example. But he can't do much with Cutler. I think Cutler doesn't read defenses well and he makes bad decisions. I've seen a couple of really good examples in the last few games. Last night, early in the game, the Bears were in 3rd and 5. Forte was wide open in the middle of the field, right at the sticks. It was an easy first down. Instead Cutler throws deep to Jeffrey in to double coverage and it is incomplete. It killed a drive. Cutler is suddenly a lot more inaccurate than he has been in the past. Last night three or four of his first throws were off, either to the right or left or too high. His stats are the best he has had in his career, but when you watch him play he looks terrible.

That said Trestman has lost the locker room, or so it seems. There was a good article in the Tribune about how Sean Peyton reacted to his team losing to Carolina, versus how Trestman handled the Bears getting crushed by the Lions and the Cowboys coming in to this game. Peyton reacted with urgency. He called ten underachieving players in to his office and put them on notice. He benched Kenny Vaccaro and cut Joe Morgan after the loss to the Panthers last week. Trestman keeps saying that they are sticking together and they have had a good week of practice and then the team goes out and lays an egg, again. I think Trestman has met his match in Cutler. He just can't do anything with him, and he looks overmatched as a head coach. The team looks unprepared and undisciplined. I can't see how the team could have any confidence in Trestman going forward.

Getting rid of Cutler seems like a good thing. But there are a lot of obstacles to that happening. First of all, the Bears owe him $15.5 million guaranteed in 2015. If he is on the roster in 2015 he is owed $10 million for 2016. That is enormous amount of money to eat. And then you have all that dead money against your cap. You are going to have a hard time trading him because he isn't playing up to that contract. I wanted the Bears to franchise Cutler this year and see how he played. Then you could let him go with no financial penalties at all. But even if you were able to get rid of him suddenly you are right in the mix with Buffalo and St Louis and Tennessee and the Jets and the Redskins, teams all in search of a QB. The Redskins thought they had their guy in RG3, now they are looking. Tennessee has drafted Vince Young and Locker in the first round and swung and missed. The Jets and Buffalo drafted EJ Manuel and Geno Smith and failed. The Rams drafted Sam Bradford and failed. It is hard to find a QB, whether through the draft or in free agency. I'd bet, if Cutler was a free agent after this year, there would be a half a dozen teams scrambling to get him because he is better than what they have.

The Bears have won with mediocre QB play in the past, but that was with superior defense and special teams. Now their special teams are awful. I read something on ESPN that when they ranked defenses since 2006, there were 288 defenses and the 2014 Bears are ranked 282. So not only are they bad for this year, they are one of the worst defenses in the last eight years.

Probably what the Bears do is launch Trestman and his whole staff, keep Emery and Cutler. Then Emery will try and improve the offensive line and then focus on improving the defense. My guess is that we will have to watch Cutler for at least another two years because of that contract.

 

[RBM]

I'd rather keep Trestman than Cutler. Having said that, I'm not a fan of Trestman by any means. This is a very soft team and I put that on him.

 

[DaveL]

I'd rather keep Trestman than Cutler. Having said that, I'm not a fan of Trestman by any means. This is a very soft team and I put that on him.

I'd rather keep Cutler than Trestman. There's nothing wrong with having an above average qb and I believe that's what Cutler is (or can be). Trestman's mistakes as a coach I overlooked last season due to it being really fun and first year. But...and I can't believe I'm saying this, I think his time is up. The bad timeouts, the look of despair by everyone - it's like we quit 2 games ago. The Kromer situation. Whatever he's doing isn't working.

I know most are focused on Cutler, and rightfully so since the QB is generally the focal point. But this is everyone. I don't need to rehash how bad the D/ST are, O/D lines, safeties. Drops, false starts...sigh. So depressing

 

[RBM]

I'd rather keep Trestman than Cutler. Having said that, I'm not a fan of Trestman by any means. This is a very soft team and I put that on him.

I'd rather keep Cutler than Trestman. There's nothing wrong with having an above average qb and I believe that's what Cutler is (or can be). Trestman's mistakes as a coach I overlooked last season due to it being really fun and first year. But...and I can't believe I'm saying this, I think his time is up. The bad timeouts, the look of despair by everyone - it's like we quit 2 games ago. The Kromer situation. Whatever he's doing isn't working.

I know most are focused on Cutler, and rightfully so since the QB is generally the focal point. But this is everyone. I don't need to rehash how bad the D/ST are, O/D lines, safeties. Drops, false starts...sigh. So depressing

Oh I'd love to have both gone but I doubt that will happen.

And Cutler is not above average and never will be. He's not young and developing. He's a mental case with a bad attitude and a rocket arm.

 

[twistd]

I'd rather keep Trestman than Cutler. Having said that, I'm not a fan of Trestman by any means. This is a very soft team and I put that on him.

Trestman has a good resume, an a lot of supporters in former players. But this team appears to have quit on him. And he has no answers. There has been no significant changes since things started going bad in the Miami game in week seven. Since then they have gone 2-6. They have given up 265 points, an average of 33 points a game. They have scored 153 points during that period, and average of 19 points a game. This slide has taken place and Trestman just keeps doing the same things he has been doing.