The Chicago Bears were like a McMahon family dinner in December of last season, losing their final five games and failing to score even 18 points in all but one of them. Jay Cutler, the twenty million dollar man, was benched for Jimmy Clausen and Marc Trestman was lamer than a lame duck, he was a lame duckling. Everything unraveled for a team that, with the talent they boasted on paper, should not have been being embarrassed the way they were. So what does 2015 hold for a team that quit on their head coach and may have the most overrated and overpaid starting quarterback in the history of the league? That is why the Nugget Blog is here, my friends. DUN-DUN.
Mike Ditka was rolling over in his NFL Countdown rolly chair last year watching HIS Bears play the way they did. A defense that used to be stingy, fierce and tough played like a bunch of teenagers in a gym class they had to take for class credit. Trestman probably added to that, seeing as how I don't think he could inspire a damn thing in to any of those players. John Fox should be a good replacement and honestly I think he will bring some much needed vulgarity to the team. Jay Cutler is as soft as (fill in the blank Nugget Blog Mad Libs) and might not finish the season out in the Windy City. Brandon Marshall is out of town. Matt Forte should be auditioning for a new team. Regardless of the influx, outflux and John Flux, the Bears are going through a transition. This team was a defensive team for most of the turn of the century and over the past few seasons, they made a weird shift towards offense. That backfired big time last season. What will The Fox do to turn that ship around?
2014 Photo Finish: 5-11, last in NFC North, 19.9 PPG (23rd), 27.6 allowed PPG (31st)
Offseason Hooplah and Report Card: Losing Brandon Marshall will hurt, but I don't think it will have the negative impact one would assume right off the bat. Marshall was a beast playing alongside Alston Jeffrey, but he is a loose cannon and worth less on the field than his temperament and off the field issues allow for. The bottom line: he's replaceable. Chicago is hoping that they did just that by drafting Kevin White with their first pick and time will tell. Personally, I like moving on without Marshall and don't really care who it was who was going to replace him. Marshall is toxic and expensive, two things the Bears need nothing to do with. Defensively, they made some nice additions, despite overpaying times infinity, in Pernell McPhee from Baltimore and Antrel Rolle to fill in at safety. Rolle is a veteran who despite his age will be the instant leader on the defense. McPhee is an inconsistent flash of a player who might show up one week and disappear the next. Had the deal been cut in half, I would have liked it about one hundred times more. But, they addressed some glaring holes and spent some money on someone other than Jay Cutler so for that, they get a B.
Draft Grade: A lot of people who are much smarter than me are buying high on Kevin White, the receiver out of West Virginia who is big and big play capable. Spending their first pick on a receiver was smart knowing that Marshall was not going to be in Chicago blue next season, however, I was still caught off guard. I was expecting defense but hey, they don't pay me to be in the press boxes and they don't pay me to call Jay Cutler a human lawn gnome and still draft him as my fantasy football quarterback every year. I am vowing, right here, today that I will not draft Jay Cutler in my fantasy football league this season. Cutler has screwed me more times than the squirrels I walk past on my way to work. And by that I mean the squirrels screw each other a lot. The Bears did take a defensive tackle second in Eddie Goldman who is young and probably a year or two away from making any impact. I do like Adrian Amos, the safety out of THE Penn State. Amos is a good dude who has played safety and corner and offers speed and versatility to a defense spread thin. All in all, they addressed their needs, just not as well as I'd hope. C's get degrees baby.
Shining Sleeping Star: I'd be dull if I went with Kevin White because he is a rookie and most people are probably picking him. I don't dull on the Nugget Blog, so save picking someone absolutely ludicrous (I have a reputation to withhold, duh!), I'm going with Cornerlius Washington, the defensive end taken in the 2013 draft. He recorded a sack and nine tackles in limited playing time last season, but more importantly he has shown that he has the raw talent to compete in this league. At this point, with a defensive line that isn't exactly Mount Rushmore, that is good enough to look good here.
Help Wanted: A common theme here at the tail end of the rankings would be having quarterbacks listed on the team Indeed page. But honestly the grass is always greener and that is the case with Señor Cutler. Why get rid of Jay Cutler when your pool of replacement quarterbacks looks like Josh McCown or Tavaris Jackson? Cutler is decent enough to beat out those third string fella's, he just isn't good enough to win anything real. The true position in dire need is the defensive line, as I hinted at before with our boy Cornelius. The defense is transitioning to a 3-4 scheme, which in and of itself is never an easy adjustment. They should have upgraded more through the draft here and they definitely should have signed some veterans for the line to help a young, inexperienced and untalented group. Though, realistically the only position not in a flux is running back.
Game on your Calendar: Week 12 against Green Bay is the obvious choice here because 1) divisional games are generally competitive even if one team sucks (cough, cough) and 2) its Thanksgiving!
Coach's Corner: John Fox was a surprise replacement for Trestman, who by the way is now the freaking OT in Baltimore so I have that to get amped about. Fox has seen success in Carolina and he's seen failure there. He saw success in Denver and he saw failure there. In short, Fox has had some great runs in the regular season and some dismal exits in the postseason. He won't be fixated on that playoff curse yet here, of Chicago sniffs the playoffs with this talent and last year's finish on their mind it would be a monumental step in the right direction. Fox is a tough, football coach but he is also going to butt heads with Cutler, I just know it.
The Nugget Crystal Ball: Chicago was 8-8 only a few seasons ago with one of the most terrifying offenses in the league. Now, they are coming off an awful 5-11 seasons that ended with a five game skid, a team is disarray that quit on their coach and a defense ranked dangerously close to last in the NFL. How much of that can be blamed on the coaching and how much was the talent and more importantly, how much of that was fixed in the offseason. John Fox will do what he can to instill a toughness in this team and Jay Cutler will fuck it up with an interception in overtime of a crucial early season game that will lead to a six game losing streak. Cutler doesn't deserve half of the 16 million dollar cap he factors in in 2015. I hope this team does well because I like Chicago as a city, I am a Matt Forte fan and I feel like Jay Cutler is my punk son that doesn't get along with me but keeps coming home anyways. So, the Prodigal Cutlers will finish in last again in an improving division and will have serious personnel decisions to make next offseason.
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