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2008 NFL Season Preview: Chicago Bears #26

July 9, 2008

Team: Chicago Bears


Division: NFC North


Last Year's Record: 7-9


Head Coach: Lovie Smith


Offensive Coordinator: Ron Turner


Defensive Coordinator: Bob Babich


Schedule: Sept. 7 @ Indianapolis (NBC) 8:15
Sept. 14 @ Carolina (Fox) 1:00
Sept. 21 Tampa Bay (Fox) 1:00
Sept. 28 Philadelphia (NBC) 8:15
Oct. 5 @ Detroit (Fox) 1:00
Oct. 12 @ Atlanta (Fox) 1:00
Oct. 19 Minnesota (Fox) 1:00
Oct. 26 Open Date
Nov. 2 Detroit (Fox) 1:00
Nov. 9 Tennessee (CBS) 1:00
Nov. 16 @ Green Bay (Fox) 1:00
Nov. 23 @ St. Louis (Fox) 1:00
Nov. 30 @ Minnesota (NBC) 8:15
Dec. 7 Jacksonville (CBS) 1:00
Dec. 11 New Orleans (NFL) 8:15
Dec. 22 Green Bay (ESPN) 8:30
Dec. 28 @ Houston (Fox) 1:00



Key Losses: Mushin Muhammed
Reuben Brown
Brendan Ayanbadejo
Bernard Berrian
Fred Miller
Adam Archuleta (haha, I put that one up just to make myself laugh, he is literally the worst safety in football and whatever team picks him up, their gm probably has down syndrome)

Key Additions: Marty Booker
Brandon Lloyd (Wow, way to get Rex some weapons boys).



General Disclaimer: The Bears are my favorite team, ever since I was a young Irish kid growing up on the South Side of Chicago. I actually went as Jim McMahon for Halloween one year. If at any point during my "objective" breakdown of the team sounds either cynical and bitter, or if I sound like a gigantic homer, specifically while praising Devin Hester, now you know why. If you want objective writing and analysis, read all my other team previews.



Offensive Breakdown: Rex Grossman is at this point like that hot girlfriend that will do something awesome for you like bake you cookies for no apparent reason, or buy you new golf clubs, but then she turns around and cheats on you with one of your friends or throws a tantrum in public. Shitty analogy, but he has an extremely strong arm, and when he was on fire for about the first 10 weeks of the 2006 season, he can actually resemble a quality NFL quarterback. There is plenty of bad to go along with the good however, and the Bears did not help him this offseason by letting his two best receivers walk for the craptastic tandem of Marty Booker and Brandon Lloyd (who was so shitty and such a deusche on the Skins he never saw the field). I for one, think that Kyle Orton is the better play at QB. He lacks Grossman's gun, but he doesn't turn the ball over and the whole team loves to play for him. Cedric Benson is thankfully gone, taking his drinking problem elsewhere. Another high draft pick that simply did not pan out, Benson was never really accepted in Chitown, so while he, like Grossman, showed flashes of brillance( ok maybe not brillance, but at least competence), its probably for the best that he's no longer in the fold. From all accounts, Matt Forte has looked pretty good in OTA's. The other Adrian Peterson is still here, and he runs hard and does a good job catching the ball out of the backfield. Garrett Wolfe is smaller than me, but he also made some big catches later on in the season.

The biggest headache for the Bears seems to be at Wide Receiver. Losing the Moose is bad, but losing Berrian to a division rival is unacceptable. The Bears decided to cover this up by picking up Marty Booker, who was the team's best reciever 6 years ago. To top it all off, they signed Brandon Lloyd, who truly sucks. On the positive side(if there is one), Mark Bradley has shown flashes of potential when he stays healthy. There is also the next great number 23 in Chicago, who can hopefully gain a little more polish and become a better receiver than last year. Earl Bennett and Marcus Monk are rookies from SEC schools that are both intriging, and may get more reps as the season goes on, and the team realizes the others suck balls.

In contrast to the receiver situation, Tight End looks to be a strong point. Greg Olsen showed that he can stretch the field in his rookie season, and Desmond Clark is about as steady as they come. The Offensive Line looked old and fragile for much of the season as they gave up way too many sacks, and could never be consistent in the run game. Olin Kreutz is still the anchor at Center, with Roberto Garza and John Tait back to man the right side. First Rouner Chris Williams was a badly needed upgrade at LT, but the line still is a question.

I don't even want to think about how bad the offense could potentially be, but if things break right, they could suprise people.

Defensive Breakdown: Alright, this is where I'll probably start to sound like a homer. The defense still looks very good, if not scary good. Maybe the Bears can catch lightning in a bottle and ride this unit to the playoffs, with all of the playmakers back on this side of the ball. The Defensive Line retains all three DE's, as they made it priority number one to resign Alex Brown. Brown played better as the season went on, eventually taking Mark Anderson out of the lineup. The rotation of these two, plus Adewale Ogunleye can all get to the QB, and also make plays in the running game. The trio combined for 18.5 sacks, with Ogunleye leading the team with 9. Tommie Harris looks to comeback from injury to regain his pro bowl form from two seasons ago. Playing on one leg last year, he was still better than the majority of DT's in the league. Dusty Dvoracek got hurt in the opener against San Diego, but he has the size and intensity to plug holes and let Urlacher and Briggs make plays.

A common theme with the defensive unit seems to be injuries. Brian Urlacher is still the face of the franchise, but he looked old and slow at times. Lance Briggs is still a tackling machine, and if these two are healthy the defense will be outstanding. Hunter Hillenmeyer also provides a steady influence outside.

I sound like a broken record at this point, but another Bear who needs to avoid the injury bug is FS Mike Brown. He's a pro-bowl caliber player, but gets injured every single year. Nathan Vasher and Peanut Tillman are a good, if not great tandem at corner, while Ricky Manning Jr. needs to regain his form from two years ago, and also not call people fags and get into fights at Denny's. The other safety spot should be taken up by either Brandon McGowan or Danieal Manning, two youngsters who will give up some big plays, but also make their fair share of them. Anything is an upgrade from Archuleta's stupid ass.

My Bears Special team's analysis could basically be summed up as follows: Devin Hester is really good, Devin Hester is really good, Devin Hester is really good. Like MJ, and Ryne Sandberg before him, he has already taken his place as another superstar number 23 in the city of broad shoulders. Robbie "Good as" Gould is one of the best kickers in the NFC. My only knack on him is that he doesn't have the killer leg strength to bust out a Field Goal from 50 plus yards. He did make 31-36 last year, and never misses the chippies. Brad Maynard shares my number and kicks a football a lot further than I do. One key loss here is All-Pro Brendan Ayanbadejo, who anchored the kick coverage units and made a lot of plays.

Position Grades:Quarterback: (C-) This grade could be a lot higher if Orton or Grossman can show any level or consistency.

Running Back: (C): AP is steady, and if they get anything from Forte they might be ok here.
Wide Reciever: (D-): This is probably the worst unit in the league. I'd say just throw 55 screen passes to Hester a game.
Tight End: (B+): Olsen and Clark are both more than capable, and I look for Olsen to have a breakout season.
Offensive Line: (C+): If Williams proves himself as a worthy first-round pick on the left side, the line could smash and mash like the Bear teams of old.
Defensive Line: (A-): The only question mark is Dvoracek. This unit should be able to get to the quarterback and then some.
Linebackers: (B+): Urlacher has to prove he hasn't lost a step.
Defensive Backs: (B): Vasher and Tillman should get a lot of picks from the amout of pressure the team generates. All of these guys are steady tacklers in the running game.
Special Teams: (A-): Until someone proves they can stop Hester, this is one of the best units in all of football.

Season Outlook: I've been actually dreading the start of football season just because I thought the Bears were going to be really, really shitty. "At least the Cubs are going to win the World Series," was my common quote when asked about it. I've been slowly and surely talking myself into the season however, and I feel like if things break right, this could be 9-10 win team. The defense will be great, as long it isn't on the field 3/4 of the game. If Mark Bradley, Earl Bennett, Marcus Monk, and Hester do anything at WR, look for this team to sneak into the playoffs. If not, then like I said, there's always the Cubbies.

Langston's Take: The Bears have yet another season to deal with the Jekyll and Hyde at QB. With Benson out as RB, the Bears have a great chance to take steps in the right direction.

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