What Happened to the Bears?
J J Pesavento |Dec 31,2007
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 What Happened to the Bears?
The question always asked when a team drops so far is obviously ,"What Happened?"
With the Bears, their downfall began in the offseason with the ill-advised trade of running back Thomas Jones to the New York Jets.
The trade would have made sense if Jones had made ridiculous contract demands or had just not been performing up to expectations, but that was hardly the case.
Jones had rushed for over 1,000 yards the previous two seasons with the Bears and had hauled in 118 passes during his three-year stint with the club. He had played hurt and still produced and was the most dependable player Chicago had on offense.
The reasons for the trade again make us wonder if sometimes the inmates run the asylum in the NFL.
After much speculation, it came out that 2005 first round draft pick Cedric Benson and Jones could not peacefully co-exist and since Benson had the lofty draft status, Jones became expendable.
The problem with the move is that Benson, despite how confident the orgainization may have been in him, had not proven he could be a workhorse at the NFL level. Jones had.
But nowadays top picks are paid a lot of money and expected to earn their salaries. So the Bears put all their eggs in the Cedric Benson basket and they promptly got crushed.
Granted, Benson was running behind an aging offensive line and the lack of a consistent passing game didn't help any. But Jones didn't have things all that much better, especially in terms of the passing attack taking heat off the running game. And yet he seemed to perform at a very high level.
No one wants a war in the locker room, but players are paid to do a job. If a player is concerned about playing time, then he should outperform the player ahead of him on the depth chart and win the starting role. Draft status should not entitle a player to anything.
However they want to slice it, the Bears blundered. They may say the trade was made in the best interests of the team. But how is trading away your most consistent player just because he and the backup do not get along in the best interest of the team?
The offense also suffered in other areas.
All summer the Bears proclaimed quarterback Rex Grossman was a new man and "Bad Rex" was a thing of the past. That lasted three weeks into the season and then Grossman was replaced by Brian Griese. Grossman got his job back later in the season, but Kyle Orton started the last two games for Chicago.
For the season, Chicago quarterbacks threw 20 interceptions and were sacked 41 times. And part of the blame for inept quarterback play has to fall on the shoulders of an offensive line that aged too quickly and was totally ineffective at times.
On defense, the Bears lost safety Mike Brown for the season after the regular season opener and were without cornerback Nathan Vasher for most of the year. Adam Archuleta was brought over in the offseason to shore up the secondary, but his play was severely lacking.
Pro Bowl standouts Tommie Harris and Brian Urlacher both had to struggle through injuries at times during the season and that didn't help.
Maybe the only bright spot for Chicago was the play of special teams ace Devin Hester, who continued to terrorize opposing teams with his electrifying returns. Hester scored six touchdowns on returns in 2007 and he may never get a shot at another one if teams are smart.
So now the Bears will look to fill probably too many holes in the offseason. The company line will be that they are confident in certain people at certain positions. Don't believe it.
The truth is that the Bears need a quarterback badly. Grossman is not the answer. Griese has been around the league for some time and there is obviously a reason he hasn't nailed down a starting job. Kyle Orton is the safe choice, but does he have what it takes to lead the team through the rough times?
The sad truth is that the Bears haven't had a true leader at the position since Jim McMahon. And Chicago fans know painfully well how long that has been. The Bears need to find a quarterback who will rise up and overcome adversity, not fold under the pressure of it.
The Bears may also want to think about shoring up the running back position. Benson may not be the player they thought he was and with Jones gone, depth is an issue.
And it is time for GM Jerry Angelo to get some studs up front on the offensive line. He may have to pay in free agency, but it will be worth the investment in the long run.
There will also be needs on defense. What the Bears do with linebacker Lance Briggs will have a big impact obviously.
They will also have to address the deep secondary and help for Harris up front.
In essence, a number of thinsg went bad for the Chicago Bears in 2007 and it will take more than a few changes to fix the problems.
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