How’s your health?
The optimism stemming from the relative health of the Chicago Bears that prevailed through the first few weeks of training camp turned into another gut-wrenching period of preseason bewilderment as the Bears lost their so-called savior quarterback to injury for the third time. When Wrecks Grossman’s ankle crumbled on the floor of the Edward Jones Dome you could almost hear the wheels on general manager Jerry Angelo’s chair squeak as he rolled across the floor of his skybox in search of a piece of paper to begin updating his resume. And yet, there was Angelo after the game telling us “We’re going with the hand we dealt ourselves” when the truth is he’s been the only guy holding the cards since last season ended and he could have arranged them any way he liked.
Not that Angelo was completely oblivious of his need to stack the deck. Knowing that last year’s offense more closely resembled the Bears version of Jerry’s Kids than an NFL scoring machine, Angelo made several moves in an attempt to turn things around. Fair or not, Angelo fired Terry Shea for being the mastermind of the injury-riddled 2004 debacle, and Ron Turner, the last offensive coordinator to direct the Bears to playoff victory, was brought back as Shea’s replacement. Cedric “The Malingerer” Benson was drafted to be the workhorse for Turner’s bruising inside running game. Fred Miller and Roberto Garza were signed to shore up an offensive line that gave up a franchise record and NFL worst 66 sacks. Muhsin Muhammad was nabbed less than a day after his release by the Panthers to restore a #1 receiver to the roster. And yet, that pesky backup quarterback problem remained.
Or did it? Angelo had to know his failure to sign a competent veteran reliever placed the proverbial bulls eye squarely on his back. Still, given Wrecks’ history it’s doubtful Angelo was deluded enough to think his anointed starting quarterback could make it through an entire season unscathed and the 2005 Bears could still survive using the league’s QB entrails. So Angelo ignored the veterans available on the scrap heap and instead grabbed Kyle Orton when he was stunned to find him sitting there on the second day of the 2005 draft, and the Bears headed to Bourbonnais with 2004 holdover Chad Hutchinson and Orton as numbers two and three on the depth chart.
And what is it they say about dumb luck? Orton was clearly the Bears most effective signal caller in the few short glimpses we were treated to during the preseason, eventually vanquishing Hutchinson and simultaneously resurrecting the search for a bona fide number two as Jeff Blake was tabbed to be the stopgap backup. But when the coin is flipped in Washington this weekend, will Orton be able to hold his own against NFL starters for an entire game? Turner wants to reestablish the Bears running game and if he succeeds it’ll make Orton’s job a whole lot easier, but after his extended holdout will The Malingerer get up to speed fast enough to be of much help, and can the tandem of Thomas Jones and The Malingerer be effective against the eight man fronts they’re sure to see as opposing defenses dare Orton to throw? In one year head coach Lovie Smith and defensive coordinator Ron Rivera have done a great job reshaping the defense into what looks like a top unit, but will they wear down while Orton experiences his NFL growing pains and makes the rookie mistakes that are inevitable? To find out, read…
***
9/11 @Washington – Rookie quarterback Kyle Orton becomes the Bears first opening day starter since Zeke Bratkowski subbed for an injured George Blanda in 1954. All Zeke did was follow up an 85-yard TD strike with two straight picks, prompting old man Halas to decide Blanda wasn’t that hurt after all. Here’s hoping Orton doesn’t suffer the same fate. L 0-1
9/18 LIONS – Local radio’s plans to bring in Vince Lloyd to call the Bears offensive play-by-play were scrapped
with the release of Chad Hutchinson, disappointing the legion of Lloyd fans who
had longed to hear his signature description:
“the wind up, and the pitch.”
The Bears’ climb out of the NFC North cellar begins today. W 1-1
9/25 BENGALS – Cincinnati returns all 11 offensive starters from an improving 8-8 team, including a line that gave up no more than one sack in half their games. A Bears defense that wants to consider itself elite has to start by controlling games like this.
W 2-1
10/2 BYE -
Maybe the White Sox will have
clinched the division by now.
10/9 @Cleveland – Coming off the bye and facing the worst run
defense in the league, today would be a good day for The Malingerer to start
earning his fat paycheck. W 3-1
10/16 VIKINGS – With All-Pro center Matt Birk on IR for
the season, Tommie Harris caves in the middle of the line while Alex Brown and
Adewale Ogunleye each force fumbles from scrambling Daunte Culpepper’s tiny
little hands. W 4-1
10/23 RAVENS –
Avenging 2001’s opening day loss, the Bears take on Ray Lewis and company and
make their fans recall the days when the offensive line routinely made LT look
decidedly average. This won’t be close if Kyle Boller can’t improve on the
showing of his sophomore season. W 5-1
10/30 @Detroit
–Rather than risk injury on the Lions Field Turf playing surface, the Bears
place Urlacher, Briggs, Ogunleye, Harris, Orton, Muhammad and both Browns on
the inactive list. L 5-2
11/6 @New Orleans –The Bears travel distance to this road game will be about 40 miles if the Saints home opener is any indication. W 6-2
11/13 49ERS –The
NFL decided to broadcast this game on local Public Access stations after tape
of last year’s Sunday night telecast was used in an Ambien commercial. W 7-2
11/20 PANTHERS – Our guests from tobacco road are not amused to discover turn down service in Chicago includes a mint on their pillow instead of the pack of Marlboros they’ve grown accustomed to during their travels of the NFC South. L 7-3
11/27 @Tampa Bay
–Chucky, who’s becoming upchucky every
time he looks at his sieve of an offensive line, sticks his head in the
Buccaneer cannon to avoid watching the Bears rip his quarterback apart. Lucky
for him that the big gun never goes off. W 8-3
12/4 packers –The
Billy returns to Chicago in his foundering quest for a second Super Bowl ring.
That would equal Jim McMahon’s career mark, who got his second on the day The
Billy won his first. Sadly for The Billy, he won’t be a champion as often as
The Punky QB until he grabs number two, and today doesn’t help him at all. W
9-3
12/11 @Pittsburgh
– Kyle Orton gets a firsthand look at last year’s phenom Ben Roethlisberger
while Jerry Angelo observes how the Steelers blueprint looks in year two.
Unfortunately, the Bears could have used that experience today. L 9-4
12/18 FALCONS –
Preprandial beverages in the South Lot take the edge off the December evening
chill while the aftereffects of Marko’s Polish feast keep the inside of the
coveralls warm. Bears run defense stifles NFL’s top rushing team as Michael
Vick can’t lose shadow Lance Briggs and Dez White drops balls in familiar
places. W 10-4
12/25 @green bay
–It’s the passing of the torch (or something else) as the Bears again leave
what is to become their annual midfield gift at Lambeau and the packers
solidify their hold on last place in the NFC North. Now, now Brett, it’s not
nice to complain about your present. Merry Christmas, indeed! W 11-4
1/1 @Minnesota –
The Bears enlist the help of former kicker Hans Nielsen, who easily blends in
with the staff at the Vikings pregame hotel as he sneaks in to turn off the
heat and replace the beverages at the team meal with glögg. A division title at
stake? W 12-4
***
Whoa! Pass the brownies and hot sauce. The Fritos are on the counter.
I’m having a tough time understanding why the so-called experts are picking the Bears to again finish last in their division when their first string defense looked scary good during the preseason while the offense finally has a coordinator with a proven NFL track record and a quarterback who looks like he can execute the plan. This is the same team that limped out of training camp in 2004 with hamstrings that resembled utility-grade round steak and piled on the injuries like they were sprinkles on a do-it-yourself sundae cart. Angelo’s handpicked triad of Hutchinson, Jonathan Quinn, and Craig Krenzel as Wreck’s replacements last year looked like he used an old Triad Guide as a scouting reference and still the Bears still found a way to win five games. For perspective, recall that the last time the Bears came off a five win season these same so-called experts also doomed the Bears to another year of futility as the divisional doormat, and all the Bears did was stay relatively healthy on their way to a 13-3 record and the final NFC Central crown.
But staying healthy is the key to that equation, and that’s why, even more so than Ron Turner or any player, the most important additions to the Bears since last year may be the hiring of Rusty Jones as strength and conditioning coordinator and the return of former strength coach Clyde Emrich to the staff. Emrich, the weight room architect of the 1985 Bears, originally joined the team back in 1974 and stayed until he was pushed aside during the Wannstedt regime. He’s been brought back to assist in implementing the total conditioning plan Jones used in Buffalo for twenty years, a period that produced 25 Pro Bowlers and ten Bills playoff teams. The early returns on their combined experience reveal a Bears roster that made it through the preseason in their best shape in years, without any of the strained muscle injuries that had become a common theme of recent training camps. Hello, Rusty Jones, goodbye rusty stars?
Not that bringing back Ron Turner isn’t also reason for hope. The success of Steve Walsh and Erik Kramer, hardly candidates for Canton, in Turner’s first go around indicates the system may be just what Lovie Smith needs to complement the other side of the ball. Jerry Angelo has finally decided he wants a quarterback who can make plays, welcome words to any Bears fan, but who says you can’t win with a caretaker quarterback? The Ravens won a Super Bowl despite Trent Dilfer under center, leaning heavily on their running game and a ferocious defense. Sound familiar?
And to those who say Kyle Orton lacks the experience necessary to succeed this year in the NFL, remember that Kurt Warner was bagging groceries after a college career in something called the Gateway Conference and a stint in the Arena league when the Rams called, Tom Brady was a sixth round afterthought with a Big Ten pedigree like Orton when he came off the bench to lead the Patriots to Super Bowl glory, and Ben Roethlisberger of the vaunted Mid-American Conference took over for an injured Tommy Maddox and won 14 straight starts in taking the Steelers to the Conference Championship. So, after three generations, why not the Bears? They’re way overdue to catch lightning in a bottle.
But if Orton does come up short, the debacle of another Grossman injury puts the focus squarely on Angelo for not securing a solid veteran backup at the least and more specifically failing to foster a true QB competition. It won’t matter that the defense is once again kicking ass and has regained their swagger, or whether the hole at left tackle has finally been plugged, or who the team uses to kick off to the fifteen-yard line. Injuries happen in football; not being unprepared for them at the most important position on the field two years running is inexcusable.
This is finally Angelo’s team, and if it fails to succeed this year based on bad QB play Ted Phillips has to dump him. Since jumping on board shortly before the 13-3 2001 season, Angelo’s teams have gone 4-12, 7-9 and 5-11. Anywhere else that kind of record gets you fired; in Chicago, your boss rewards you with a raise and a contract extension through 2008. Heck, sweaty Teddy extended his own deal for the same term at the same time! Let’s party!
Having a long term plan was admirable in the days before free agency when you could draft your own guys and be sure they’d be around long enough to succeed, but it’s been over forty years since Dallas owner Clint Murchison handed the 13-38-3 Tom Landry a 10-year contract extension and told him to build a winner. The Bears might have had the youngest team in the NFL last year, but now that they finally have some talent they can’t afford to wait until their kids qualify for AARP benefits before doing something with it. Contracts expire, players move on, guys get hurt. When it’s finally time to pry open that playoff window, you have to be ready to jump through. The Bucs did after Angelo left. The Titans came up just short. It wasn’t that long ago. Look where they are today.
The defense is ready now. The running backs are in place. The offensive line boasts two guys with Pro Bowl experience and solid starters across. There is an All-Pro wide receiver to mentor a promising group. How could there not be a competent backup quarterback?
And if sweaty Teddy won’t make a move, who knows what Clan McCaskey might have in store? Could The Miser be preparing himself for a return from exile? Could it be one of the lesser McCaskeys ascending to the throne? Perish the thought!
Because, as I say, it’s always darkest before the dawn. Jerry Angelo’s existence as Bears GM may be hanging by a thread, but after turning his first three 2005 draft picks into potential playmakers Cedric Benson and Mark Bradley and pass rusher Adewale Ogunleye, he struck gold in the fourth round.
The Kid’s a player. Kyle Orton is the real deal. The defense is going to win a lot of games for the Bears this year; it’s up to the offense to keep it close. If Orton can just do that as a rookie, your playoff invoice will be here sooner than you think.
And as for my health?
My health feels good.
The Last Bear Fan
September 8, 2005