Angelo, Lovie not to blame for current state of Bears

When the dust finally settled from Sunday's embarassing, awful, terrible, no good, very bad (you get the idea) loss to the Seahawks, the Bears were left at 7-7 on the outside of the playoff picture looking in with little to no hope things could be saved.

After winning five straight games and sitting at 7-3, things looked great, but starting Caleb Hanie at quarterback with Jay Cutler on the sideline and Matt Forte joining Cutler on the sideline a couple weeks later and all playoff hope has left Chicago. Now, Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune, starts firing people. Well, I can't say I'm surprised, but I wouldn't go as far as he does.

Rosenbloom is pretty good with what he does at the Trib, but he's off on this one. He wants to get rid of Hanie and Bears General Manager Jerry Angelo. The Hanie move has obvious reasoning, but the Angelo one struck me. His reasoning? He is the guy that brought in Hanie and stuck with him over the last four years as the backup quarterback.

Well, Hanie should probably go. But that isn't necessarily on Angelo or even Lovie Smith and Mike Martz. Most fans don't realize the backup quarterback gets the least practice and reps of anyone on the team. That's why teams across the league don't spend big money on their backup QBs and most go with rookies or guys that have started somewhere else, even if they have struggled. You know what you are getting and those guys know what to expect when they are stepping in. The first-string QB takes every rep in practice while the backup may take reps, but running the opposition's plays for the scout team. Not the same, at all and he's not being evaluated on things properly that way. Look around the league and you will notice this.

As for Angelo, I would have been fine with him "retiring" or being fired years ago, but if you are going to fire him and/or Lovie after this season, Bears ownership would be off base. The season was going smoothly at 7-3 with the team winning five straight and looking to be on the brink of something special. As I told a fellow bar patron yesterday, you don't fire management over injuries, and that's what you'd be doing if you let Angelo or Lovie go after this.

The arguement is that they should have brought in a veteran QB to take over after Jay. Well, I'm with them for not bringing in someone. Despite losing out on Kyle Orton (props for beating the Pack bro!), Hanie was probably their best bet, even in front of Donavon McNabb. You only need to look to Carson Palmer in Oakland to see how that went when he got to town and there just wasn't enough time left in the season after Jay went down to work out the kinks with a completely new quarterback.

Jerry's drafts haven't exactly yielded talent that has stuck with the Bears. To be honest, free agency has bailed him out over the years. When the team needed a playmaker and Tommie Harris was past his prime, the Bears went out and got the biggest fish on the market in Julius Peppers. When the team needed a quarterback, he did make the big trade for Jay Cutler, too. That move didn't have immediate impact, but for nothing of Jay's doing, the offensive line was in shambles and he couldn't stay on his feet long enough to make a worthwhile decision. And when he did he threw interceptions because he was trying to carry the team and do too much.

Lovie has shown time and time again that this is his team and every single player on the roster respects him. The old phrase goes "A team is the sum of all of its parts" and he has done more with so little in years past than anyone in the NFL. Again, I think Martz and Cutler were finally starting to go places and think you shouldn't mess with much at the top.

This team needs more offensive line help. Gabe Carimi will be a force when he gets healthy next season and Roberto Garza is the backbone of the line. They just need some quality guards. I'm still thinking a true No. 1 receiver is what the team is lacking. On the other side of the ball, there's no getting around the age of the defense. So Angelo will have to draft well for once and get depth at safety and on the defensive line.

So no, Steve Rosenbloom, don't line up the firing squad and start sending everyone packing. Just trim the fat and shore up some places. The team you want to evaluate is the one after 10 games not the one these last four weeks.

Blame for Bears loss to Raiders goes beyond Hanie

A fake pass, leading to a "clocking" of the ball which led to an intentional grounding call was a fitting end to the first chapter of the Caleb Hanie Experience for the Chicago Bears this season. It was a rough day for Hanie, and in talking with all non Bears fans today, they are leaving the team for dead. Newsflash to the uninformed: This team will bounce back and in a big way.

I make it sound like I'm a big homer and a fan, but in the first start of Hanie's career, you almost have to expect some growing pains, not only for him, but for the play caller, who, in this case, is Mike Martz. Late in the game, Hanie finally showed the flashes the Bears coaches had been talking about, connecting on an 81-yard pass that set up a touchdown. Prior to that, he started making great connections with Johnny Knox that kept the team in the game.

That said, there was more negative than positive to take away from this game for Hanie and it has to be expected. This is a guy who has been the backup quarterback for four years and hasn't played a meaningful minute in a game aside from the NFC title game last season when he had a touchdown and two interceptions. We'll have to give him some time to get things together. Another week of taking the reps in practice and getting the work in the meeting room and I expect to see vast improvements. I'm sure playing this week's game at home against the Chiefs should help, too.

As for the blame going beyond Hanie, Martz shares quite a bit of that with Hanie. With a guy making his first start one would think you would work with him and simplify things, especially early in the game when he's still getting his bearings in the game, and focus on the running game. The fact that Matt Forte had just 12 carries for 53 yards and Marion Barber 12 carries himself, says otherwise. That has to be the strength of the offense right now. Hanie showed Sunday he can throw the ball and down the field, but cannot be asked to shoulder the load.

The goal for Hanie is simple, just don't lose the game. Martz's playcalling on the seven yard-line didn't do Hanie any favors and led to the interception and 90-yard return that set up a Raiders field goal at the end of Sunday's first half. When you have one of the best running backs in the NFL you have to utilize him. Barber was effective between the tackles on Sunday, as well, creating quite a double threat that should have been utilized more.

Do you want me to heap any blame on the defense? Sorry. they forced six field goals, but did allow the Raiders to get inside the 30 yard-line seven times. That's bending, sure, but when they were on the field as much as they were they were gased and tested against a physical group of Raiders. It's a product of the offense not being able to move the ball, going three-and-out on five of the first nine possessions (Of the other four, three resulted in interceptions).

Of course, Peanut Tillman and Brian Urlacher took some of the blame in the media. It shows what kind of team this is, taking some of the pressure off Hanie and the offense now that Jay Cutler is out. But it was unnecessary. They did their job, for the most part. they gave up one touchdown and the offense had chances throughout to seize this game.

Looking forward to the Chiefs, you have to expect a similar game. Close to the vest and defensive dominated. The Chiefs are in the same boat as the Bears and Kyle Orton could be making his return to Soldier Field. One thing we know, he doesn't make mistakes with the ball which forces Hanie and the offense to take care of things and not turn it over.

I'm not all out on Hanie, but he needs to remember the simplest things that the end of the game showed. He doesn't have to do it all. He just can't lose the game for the Bears.

Offense to blame for Bears lack of success against Packers

Jay Cutler and the Bears offense doesn't have an identity three weeks into the season and it's a problem.

After an offseason which pointed to an offense moving toward becoming more run oriented, the Chicago Bears have ran the ball and after running the ball just 12 times in each of the last two games, one has to wonder where that mindset has gone. It's a bigger question when the best player without argument on offense is the running back, Matt Forte. Forte has even been called the best player on the offense by Mike Martz, the guy calling the plays as the offensive coordinator, and it has to make the "whispers" that were surrounding his future in Chicago a lot more audible.

I normally don't get on my soapbox and say one guy either needs to change or go, but this might be the time to do so with Martz. Last season it took a stern talking to from Lovie Smith to focus more on the running game, the team took off and won eight straight en route to an NFC North title.

When a guy like Forte is responsible for over 50 percent of the offensive yardage through two weeks of the season, you know he's important and a guy the quarterback turns to in a tight spot. But to let him pretty much vanish against the Packers when it was needed doesn't make sense. Now, I get the Packers may have had a linebacker shadowing Forte when he released out of the backfield which wouldn't have given him a chance to get many yards, they are not going to do that every time and even when they do, he's a player that can create on his own in space, so you have to give him a couple chances. Especially when the running game isn't working. Essentially, those dump offs would work as an extension of the run game to give him a chance to contribute.

As for the loss to the Packers and not running, they fell behind by quite a bit and were forced to be more pass happy, which I'm not upset with, but for Forte to not be thrown to as much as he was is a problem to me. Especially when the ball was thrown down field it was either over thrown or dropped by a receiver. I don't fault Cutler for some of those overthrows, as the receiver fell down on a couple of them. The drops, however, are inexcusable but an issue all their own.

Sticking to Martz and the gameplan, with the time Jay had to throw in the first half, there were still too many three and outs. Part of that has to fall on Jay for not executing, but let's be honest, he wasn't that bad. I just don't see him and Martz seeing eye to eye on this thing. It's very clear in his quote tonight in the Chicago Tribune when he says "Until we get more consistent, I guess we don't (have an identity as an offense)."

The mistaken identity has something to do with the interceptions from Jay. Last year he threw 11 interceptions on passes that were intended for Johnny Knox. That leads one to believe he wasn't where he was supposed to be and/or he didn't fight for the ball. Well, Sunday Roy Williams was targeted four times and a whopping two of those times the pass was intercepted. I'd say there is some miscommunication there. Cutler has said it himself in the postgame, they need to get their timing better. If Roy is not on the field in the Red zone, he shouldn't be on the team. Plain and simple. 

One other thing I need to call Martz out on is his trick plays. They don't work. Throw them out of the playbook. Especially the ones involving the Wildcat formation. I like the idea of running the play and giving Forte a chance to run with it more than I actually like the play. It's just going to expose some other part of the offense that doesn't work. (See Devin Hester jumping the start)

Whatever the relationship is between Cutler and Martz, it's still not working right. The job of the coaching staff is to put the players in the best position to win games and right now, that's not happening on the offensive side of the ball. Whether it be Cutler, Williams, Forte or Knox, something isn't right and needs to get hashed out and soon, if they want to stay in this race with Detroit and Green Bay.

Matt Forte ranks 24th in the NFL in carries through three weeks. He needs to get more rushes for the Bears offense to have its identity.

An un-Bearable performance against Saints

A photo can't do justice to how ugly a performance by a team was, but maybe that one will come close. Jay Cutler was running for his life all game, Mike Martz only called 12 running plays to take some of the pressure off him and the defense was picked apart by Drew Brees and all that was very clear in the 30-13 final.

Things started out fine for the offense, which behind Cutler, scored on its second drive of the game and took a 7-0 lead on a Cutler TD pass. What followed from there was a beat down in every sense of the word. The Saints racked up six sacks of Cutler and had him running for his life most of the game. An offense would normally keep a defense off balance by calling some running plays and letting Matt Forte get things done on the ground. Forte, who played his home games when he played at Tulane at the SuperDome, was the only player who did much of anything, catching 10 passes, as Cutler could do little more than check down time after time. That's good for no one and, while it helps Forte when he goes back to the bargaining table with Bears GM Jerry Angelo, does little to develop the offense.

Cutler looked dejected after the game. The sack pictured in the photo at the top of this post came off a blown block by tight end Kellen Davis, the player kept around because he was a better blocker than Greg Olsen. Huh? I don't think Cutler needs to defend his performance. How often can a guy get whacked and keep getting up before his actions speak for him. I wrote last week, the key was in his hands and arm, but that was me having faith in this offensive line to figure things out. Clearly that's not happening. After the injury of Cabe Carimi, things will likely get worse before they get better for Jay heading into next week (Gulp!).

And now, the injuries are starting to pile up beyond Carimi, as Earl Bennett, Roy Williams, Chris Harris and a growing number of players missed the entire or part of Sunday's game. Coach Lovie Smith expects to get most of them back, but Carimi is expected out for at least two weeks with a knee sprain and Bennett has a bruised sternum.

Yet, as rough as it were, the score was 16-13 deep into the third quarter, but then things fell apart.

As for the defense, I can't get on Brian Urlacher for a bad performance. To be clear, he didn't have a bad game at all, in fact, he played decent. But, football is team game and the other 10 guys around him had some hiccups. Specifically, Henry Melton, who I called out last week after he had a great game, to back it up with another strong showing to cement his place as a solid player. Well, no tackles means he fails. And Julius Peppers and the rest of the defensive line is right there with him. It's like a tale of two games as it was a completely different showing from the defense.

It goes beyond the line, too, as the secondary was torched for a 79-yard touchdown with Harris out and Major Wright in the game, showing he didn't have a clue what he was doing. Then, when he got injured Brandon Meriweather didn't know what was going on either.

It may come as a bit of a shock to some, but one game doesn't make a season and we knew the weakness of the team would be exposed at least a couple times throughout the season. This was just the first test, and it did not go well. Lovie has made it clear things will be addressed with the offense. Last year when he did that, the team won eight straight games. Sometimes he's got to pull the reigns on the Mad Scientist he's got for an offensive coordinator. With the Packers coming to Soldier Field next week, it has to get addressed sooner rather than later.

Fixing the Bears: What's the biggest key?

Two days removed now from Jay Cutler's historic interception fest with DeAngelo Hall and things are starting to come out about what the Bears saw and why they went after the former Falcons and Raiders DB.
Mike Martz told WBBM Chicago Hall just "guessed" and they had planned on going after him all game coming in and he guessed right throughout the second half.
Well, that's all fine and dandy, but I guess Jay must have gotten shell shocked with what what going on after the first couple that he could not make the adjustments in his head and make better throws when the rush was around him.
Martz does not throw Cutler under the bus in the interview, and actually talks him up.
Things are pretty clear though heading into the bye week for the Bears. They are ranked No. 5 in total defense and No. 30 in offense. That's why they are 4-3 and still in first place of the NFC North.
Going forward, things need to get better. If there is a way to cinch up the offensive line, that needs to be done. Mike Tice (yes former Vikings coach) runs that unit and to be honest, he's kind of in the same boat as Brewers manager Ken Macha was with pitching. There isn't much help there to work with and guys are just being taken to task. It's not so much they are missing one or two fundamental keys they can work on, it's much more than that with this crew.
But I look back at the Carolina game when the Bears HAD to run the football to get ahead and rely on Matt Forte to get them where they wanted to go. Well, with Jay back from injury, they went right back to a 65-35 pass-run split and at time forgot they had he and Chester Taylor in the backfield. It's been rather disappointing at times. The line showed, if for just a little bit, they could run block. So maybe they need to build some confidence that way and it will lend itself to the pass blocking. I"m just thinking out loud here.
The schedule doesn't lend itself to much more time to figure this out and the losses could start to pile up if things continue to go south in the second half of the season.


Now to turn attention to my other favorite sports team, the Brewers. Word from my guy Tom Haudricourt, is that the Crew has narrowed its list of candidates from eight to four. Only two of the four finalists are known, at the moment, though with White Sox bench coach Joey Cora (above) among them. The other is former D-Backs manager and current Mets scout Bob Melvin (below).
Since we know just two guys, I'm going to talk about those two, one of which I'm pretty high on, the other I'm kind of lukewarm on.
Cora would be coming from Chicago where he has seen how Ozzie Guillen has handled the Sox the last few years. Say what you will about Ozzie, but I'd guess those guys in the clubhouse love him because he gets every single one of those guys as players and can relate to them (after they figure out what he's saying, of course). Cora likely plays a big role in that, too, just a few years removed from being a player himself. That might be the one thing missing with Macha. The guys didn't really get along with him in the clubhouse and didn't really have his back. Makes it rather hard for guys to get motivated after he says something they don't find much sense in.
On the Melvin side, he has been away from the game a bit and his last stint at manager ended with him getting fired into a season and did not really show much after some of his talent went away. I know a coach and manager is only as good as what is around him, but it kind of shows what he really meant for the team: not much.
I'd almost lean toward the fresh face to breathe some life into the position and let the young players flourish. We went the old manager and bringing them back into the game before and he didn't really sync up with Ryan and Prince and it ended badly here. The second interviews are going down as we speak in Milwaukee and GM Doug Melvin, Asst. GM Gord Ash and owner Mark Attanasio are working on the matter. I'm hoping they make the right decision.


Today is opening night in the NBA boys and girls. To be real, I'm not really that into the NBA (but I could go for a game of the new NBA Jam about now). There is one storyline I am watching though, and that is how LeBron James and the Heat will fair this season and how will they be perceived. Early on it looks like the "Evil Empire of the Association" has been born. But with Dwyane Wade and King James being two of the biggest names in the game and with big endorsers, Nike and Jordan can't sit back and let their names be tarnished for long. I'm sure you've seen the ads by now, but here they are for D3 and King James.


And now King James:


We're pretty ACTION PACKED today, but I have one more thing before we get to the Nussies. Today, Oct. 26, 2010, is the 25th anniversary to the date in the first Back to the Future that Doc Emmit Brown is at Twin Pines Mall and has a run in with some Pakistanis. I encourage you to watch it if you call yourself a fan. I know I will be! GREAT SCOTT!

Alright, time for the Nussie Hunter portion of the broadcast. I was on the subject of Jay Cutler earlier and it's well known now that he is dating former The Hills star Kristin Cavallari. Well, she posted on her Twitter the other day that the two of them carved pumpkins. Be sure to check out the photo here (Shouts to BearsGoggleson.com).
I figure since we put one side of the couple at the top of the page, why not put the side you and me would rather look at, here. Then check out more pics of her, here.

Mike Martz looking better and better as Bears OC

Mike Martz was officially announced as the Bears offensive coordinator earlier this week and I haven't had a chance to sound off with my thoughts on the move. I'll be honest, initially I thought he was the worst possible choice for the spot and couldn't get it done again calling plays from the booth. But the more I thought about it and read his thoughts and poked some of the guys close the Bears situation in the Chicago media, I started to think it could work and I'll tell you why.
Looking at the numbers from his time in San Fran and in Detroit he was the reason Jon Kitna through for 4,000 yards and helped Sean Hill become a competent quarterback for the Niners. He is a quarterback guy and reading the comments from Jay Cutler on ChicagoBears.com today, he's on board with it and is in sync with Mike on what he sees with the offense.
Now, changes will be made to the look of the offense, but know Cutler is the guy Martz is there to work for and push to get the most out of him that he can. I actually like the weapons around him on the field, the biggest need is going to be offensive line help which will allow Matt Forte run the ball. And we can't forget Kevin Jones, who missed all of 2009 with a knee injury. Look for both of those guys to have great years in 2010.
I'm on board with this now, too, and think, while it took 27 days to hire him, the right guy was hired. That's all that's important. Now all that's left is going to be a Defensive Coordinator to work with Lovie and this defense that played without its best player almost all of last year.
There is some work that needs to be done in the defensive backfield and the loss of Adewale Ogunleye and death of Gaines Adams needs to be addressed, but my feeling is that they'll be OK.


It is Super Bowl Week and I have to give you an awesome pic from my boys Covino and Rich. Which one of these guys looks like the NFL player? Yeah, not the one that is right!
"That shirt comes with a one-year guarantee. You are guaranteed to not get ass for one year wearing it." Well, that is, of course if you're not a Super Bowl MVP! Haha.


Continuing on the Super Bowl tip, here's the Go Daddy commercial that was banned. I'm not sure why. Can you tell me? Yeah. Besides sucking, I don't know.

Alright, today's Nussie Hunter has a bit of a story behind it. Some high school kid started a campaign to get to ask UFC Octagon girl Arianny Celeste to go with him. He made a series of videos. Here's the first one. Awesomely bad, for sure! Haha.


You can watch the second and third vidoes with Connor asking her to the prom, here. And her response? Well, that's here. You have to scroll down and I couldn't figure out how to direct link or embed (because the site sucks), but it's easy once you're there.
Well, I can't really have a Nussie Hunter without a photo of our lucky lady. Well, here is Arianny Celeste!