Third and Short: Bear with these bad news Bears
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Updated: June 16, 2008
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In this edition of Third and Short, our experts consider the Chicago Bears. NFC champions two seasons ago, the Bears seem to be in a steady state of decline ever since.

Bill Williamson: Now that the Bears have released Cedric Benson, what will happen to the team's running game?

Let's get this straight: Losing Benson isn't a major hit.

It's not like the Bears just cut LaDainian Tomlinson because of off-field issues. Benson, cut after two alcohol-related arrests in five weeks, was a disappointment on the field as well as being a problem off it. The No. 4 overall draft pick in 2005 was penciled in as the starter because the Bears didn't have many options.

Yes, now they have fewer options. But replacing Benson shouldn't be overly difficult. The first option appears to be second-round pick Matt Forte. The Tulane product was impressive in the minicamp season and might have beaten out Benson in training camp anyway.

Of course, the Bears, whose other current tailback is the small Garrett Wolfe, do need another running back even if Forte is the eventual answer. The team has a tainted pool of veterans at its disposal. The available tailbacks include Shaun Alexander, Kevin Jones, Travis Henry, Ron Dayne and perhaps LaMont Jordan, if Oakland cuts him. None of these options is perfect, and each comes with warning signs.

The best bet might be Jones, who is coming off a knee injury. He is likely the best fit for the Bears. If the team wants to go with Forte, maybe the big, bruising Dayne could help in a reserve role. The options aren't great -- but neither was the option of keeping Benson.

SNIP-

Mike Sando: With all the on-field concerns and off-field distractions, what can we expect from the Bears this season?

On the field, expect the Bears to be as consistent as their quarterbacks. Rex Grossman has started more than seven games in a season once. He was hot and cold then -- the Bears made it to Super Bowl XLI -- and it's tough to envision sustained excellence from him now that Bernard Berrian and Muhsin Muhammad are catching passes elsewhere.

The Bears' history with Grossman suggests we'll see Kyle Orton this season as well. Orton posted 5.1 yards per passing attempt in 2005, his lone season as a full-time starter. The Bears will need much better than that to become a playoff team with a legitimate shot at advancing.

Unable to upgrade at quarterback in recent seasons, the Bears also have watched the running back situation deteriorate. They might not miss the recently released Benson, but the decision to trade Thomas Jones a year ago still seems like a mistake. When the Bears were at their recent best in 2006, Jones was the player opposing defenses had to worry about. His departure exposed Benson and, to a degree, the quarterbacks.

The Bears focused on upgrading their offensive line this offseason. That made sense, but a quick look at their skill-position players offers little encouragement. Some of the team's most productive players over the years -- Jones, Berrian, even Bobby Engram -- are enjoying prominent roles elsewhere. Their rushing and receiving leaders in 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2004 are free agents or playing elsewhere. The Bears brought back Marty Booker, who led them in receptions from 2001 to 2003, but he hasn't approached 1,000 yards in a season since leaving the Bears.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3443720

Urlacher's situation is also chimed in on as well. Cant really disagree with this assessment. On offense, this team could be downright awful and it's still mind boggling they haven't drafted a QB since???

There are, indeed, a lot of uncertainties on offense. Sometimes that's going to happen...and sometimes it's for the best. The Packers had a lot of uncertainty at the running back position going into last year and it worked out just fine. The Bears have more uncertainty than I'd like, but it's not all gloom-and-doom.

Who did we lose? Benson? A bust of the highest order. Fred Miller and Ruben Brown? Over the hill and still jobless. Muhammed? Over the hill and just plain horrible. Berrian is the only guy we lost that MIGHT start for the majority of teams out there (and that would be as most team's number two guy). Still, he was WAY overpaid by the Vikes and I don't begrudge the Bears for not keeping him.

So, we're starting fresh on offense. We'll probably have a rookie running back, a rookie receiver and a couple of rookies along the line. If we were an offensive juggernaut last year I might be worried, but we sucked. At least this year we'll have the potential for improvement at key areas.

We'll work on QB next year .

B-N-D

PS: The article actually gives a pretty fair assessment, although I had to chuckle about them mentioning Bobby Engram as a key loss for us. His last season for the Bears was what, 1999?

I think the Bears will be terrible on offense. I was looking through various rosters, and I'd probably say only the Dolphins and 49ers have a worse group of players on the offensive side of the ball. The Chiefs have some good skill position players, but their offensive line could be so bad that they could wind up in the same area as the Bears.

But the Bears defense should bounce back and AT LEAST be a top 10 unit in the league. If the unit can be a top five unit it may be good enough to push them into a playoff spot.

And the Bears play great special teams. And no, it's not just Devin Hester. They obviously place an emphasis on special teams and they flat out do a great job in this area.

If they play like they did on defense last year they will probably only win 5 or 6 games. But if the defense plays great, I could see them winning as many as 10 games. I think that's as high as they can go, I don't think they have the receivers or running backs that they did two years ago to push them anywhere close to Conference Championship status. I like Forte and Bennett as strong future possibilities though.

quote:

Originally posted by PackerJoe:
I think the Bears will be terrible on offense. I was looking through various rosters, and I'd probably say only the Dolphins and 49ers have a worse group of players on the offensive side of the ball. The Chiefs have some good skill position players, but their offensive line could be so bad that they could wind up in the same area as the Bears.

But the Bears defense should bounce back and AT LEAST be a top 10 unit in the league. If the unit can be a top five unit it may be good enough to push them into a playoff spot.

And the Bears play great special teams. And no, it's not just Devin Hester. They obviously place an emphasis on special teams and they flat out do a great job in this area.

If they play like they did on defense last year they will probably only win 5 or 6 games. But if the defense plays great, I could see them winning as many as 10 games. I think that's as high as they can go, I don't think they have the receivers or running backs that they did two years ago to push them anywhere close to Conference Championship status. I like Forte and Bennett as strong future possibilities though.

Fair analysis. Our defense and special teams should keep us in games.

I expect us to be in a lot of close games early, which will likely influence the rest of the season. If most tilt our way, I could see us contending for a playoff spot. If they tilt the other way, I could see the defense quiting on the offense halfway through the year.

If that happens, things could get ugly.

B-N-D

I said it then, I'll say it now, the Bears lost their top player on offense when they let Thomas Jones go. Now the Bears are trying to turn Devon Hester into their #1 WR. That seems shaky at best. Again, they are handing the reigns to an unproven player.

If Urlacher's back is as bad as some reports are saying, I don't see the Bears making it to .500 this coming season.