2011 NFL Season

[MDC]

Dear Mr. Cutler,

I am truly sorry. Nobody deserves this situation. I certainly understand if you want to retire or demand a trade, citing personal safety as your main concern. I recognize the downright embarrassing offensive unit (sans Matt Forte) is something straight out of a horror movie, and extend my deepest sympathies. Bear down? And rest up because next week you face Jared Allen.

Sincerely,

A rational bears fan

*scratches quill to parchment* I dub this Lost Season 2012, let's pack it up.

Cutler, Forte? Solid. Otherwise the team looks dead out there. No talent, no tools, just backups starting and starters sucking. Team needs a shot in the ass in the offseason and a total overhaul at a handful of positions. I wouldn't mind the coaching staff and management getting dismissed either. The organization is on the verge of driving off a cliff and nobody's slamming on the brakes.

The worst part is the serious potential for another 9-7 or 10-6 season where we miss the playoffs and nothing gets changed. Theres definitely 6-8 more wins left on the schedule and the Bears will finish with some promise, Lovie will stay, Angelo will stay, and theyll sit on 20 million dollars again this offseason instead of bringing in somebody who can actually move, unlike Frank Omiyale.

[CS85]

Dear Mr. Cutler,

I am truly sorry. Nobody deserves this situation. I certainly understand if you want to retire or demand a trade, citing personal safety as your main concern. I recognize the downright embarrassing offensive unit (sans Matt Forte) is something straight out of a horror movie, and extend my deepest sympathies. Bear down? And rest up because next week you face Jared Allen.

Sincerely,

A rational bears fan

Dear rational bears fan,

You are assuming that Mr. Cutler still has the ability to think coherently enough to reach such a decision. There is a fair chance that he has already been knocked so completely and irretrievably silly, that he has no real idea of what is going on.

Signed,

People watching Jay Cutler get knocked silly every week

Tonight was the first time in a game I've seen Cutler mentally shut it down. He played great when he did that but the frustration that was there in earlier games was gone, replaced by a vacant stare and rolling eyes. He knows the offense surrounding him has 2 good players: Forte and Carimi, otherwise it's a deadass bunch of talentless chumps that wouldn't be starting anywhere else in the league. Tack on a stubborn coordinator with an ineffective playbook and 4-12 is looking pretty realistic right about now. Especially if the defense keeps up it's horrific play.

[Sodboy13]

This drive is making my eyes bleed. The Bears have wasted 2 timeouts on pre-snap confusion (guaranteed to happen every Bears game), easily a dozen penalties on both teams this drive alone, all that just to up a 4th and 1.

The Bears blow. They BLOW.

update: they're now challenging and will lose, so in one bumbling idiotic drive the Bears have wasted all 3 timeouts. In the first quarter.

This was, perhaps, the Lovie-Smithiest sequence of events I've seen in his tenure. Lousy clock management, wanton indecisiveness, making the positively wrongest decision when he finally gets around to making one, and then wasting a challenge on a call any boob watching on a 13" SDTV (read: me) could see had no chance in hell of being overturned. For anyone wonders whether a coach can truly lose or win a game - here's your proof. Can't wait to hear all this not get discussed on "Bears Insider with Lovie Smith" tomorrow.

Also, the last time the Lions were 5-0, my 71-year-old dad was a senior in high school. Wow.

EDIT: I said earlier this season that 10-6 would be the worst possible outcome for Bears fans. I stand by that, and still find that outcome completely plausible. Pray for 4-12, but it's not bloody likely.

[The_Admiral]

Do you giggle every time you hear "Bear Insider"? How do you resist the urge to say "that's what we all wanna be"?

[Sodboy13]

Do you giggle every time you hear "Bear Insider"? How do you resist the urge to say "that's what we all wanna be"?

Oh goddammit, I never even thought about that. Probably because the first thing I've always associated with it is "It's not my show, but I'm on that show." But now it's all I'm going to be able to think of, and if you hear me trying to choke down the giggles during the 7:08 tomorrow night, it's completely your fault.

[CS85]

My bears rant:

I don't even really know what to do anymore. I love this team, I love this franchise to death. The history, the legacy, the tradition, all of it. But I think after years of this, I'm at a breaking point. How much do I have to go through as a fan with this poorly run organization before they stop :censored:ing around and put a good team together? One or two decent teams a decade isn't going to cut it! It's not like this is Jacksonville or some ailing franchise that players aren't enticed to come to. It's :censored:ing Chicago! People love this city, they love the Bears history, they come here to WIN.

...and yet here we are again, staring down the barrel of a top 10 pick season. A top pick that will surely be wasted on some poorly-scouted player with an injury history, or traded away for bargain picks in the late 1st/2nd rounds. Preceded by a free agency that chances are will turn a few heads, maybe make a headline or two but won't be the sweeping infusion of role players that this team is desperate for. No, it'll be just the same old Bears garbage, taking a giant steaming and handing it to the fans insisting that it's gold.

No sir, that's a turd. It looks and smells like .

No, no, that's a great team! We believe in the players we have, the coaches are such big names that they can take these guys to their full potential, right?

Wrong. For years, wrong.

Since the 2006 superbowl bed-wetting, they've tried to do the right thing: Cutler, Peppers, Forte, Carimi, Chris Williams, Chris Harris, acquire the names, find those stars to turn the ship around. It has failed, and failed miserably because that kind of can only take you so far. Now years later in 2011 it looks like the dam holding back the flood is finally crumbling.

There is absolutely 0 talent on offense outside of #6, 80, 72, and 22. Nothing. The receivers, tight ends, and the entire offensive line top to bottom (sans the rookie) are expendable and would not be starting anywhere else in the league, much less be on the roster. The receiving corps is a total myth, and you won't see a collection of WR's this puny and this poorly disciplined anywhere else in the league. No size, no hands, poor routes.

On the other side of the ball, Urlacher and Briggs play either lights out or lights off. I can't say they're not trying, but they're getting older, and getting older real, real fast. Peppers has been ineffective most of his duration here, he's on the wrong side of 30, is getting slower and isn't getting many holding calls these days. Idonije is a nice backup, but shouldn't be starting. Melton and Toeaina looked promising but are getting sat down for Okoye and Adams a lot more frequently now. Tillman, Moore and Jennings are about the only bright spots in the secondary, otherwise it's a boatload of trash. Meriweather is a total :censored:heel who can't tackle, cover, or make plays (he does draw penalties and give up big plays, however). Whatever good football Chris Harris was going to play, he's played it already. The guy is a step slow every play and seems a hell of a lot less eager to get physical at this point in his career. We can safely say Major Wright's Bears career will soon be at an end.

The arrow is pointing down at a steep, terrifying angle for this franchise if this perpetuates. Lovie, Martz, Angelo, they all need to be SERIOUSLY evaluated in the offseason and considered for buyouts. It's the easy thing to say, blame the management and coaches but the evidence is clear: The Lovie/Angelo machine will never bring this city a superbowl, and this aging team is getting left behind by all 3 teams in our division. Even the :censored:ing Vikings at 1-4 have a brighter future, meanwhile the Bears just keep on insisting the way they do things is right, when it's clear to everybody else watching that it's flawed. I want to have hope and not be so constantly negative about this team that I love, but hell....

...they are making it awfully hard.

[/rant]

[infrared41]

My bears rant:

I don't even really know what to do anymore. I love this team, I love this franchise to death. The history, the legacy, the tradition, all of it. But I think after years of this, I'm at a breaking point. How much do I have to go through as a fan with this poorly run organization before they stop :censored:ing around and put a good team together? One or two decent teams a decade isn't going to cut it! It's not like this is Jacksonville or some ailing franchise that players aren't enticed to come to. It's :censored:ing Chicago! People love this city, they love the Bears history, they come here to WIN.

...and yet here we are again, staring down the barrel of a top 10 pick season. A top pick that will surely be wasted on some poorly-scouted player with an injury history, or traded away for bargain picks in the late 1st/2nd rounds. Preceded by a free agency that chances are will turn a few heads, maybe make a headline or two but won't be the sweeping infusion of role players that this team is desperate for. No, it'll be just the same old Bears garbage, taking a giant steaming and handing it to the fans insisting that it's gold.

No sir, that's a turd. It looks and smells like .

No, no, that's a great team! We believe in the players we have, the coaches are such big names that they can take these guys to their full potential, right?

Wrong. For years, wrong.

Since the 2006 superbowl bed-wetting, they've tried to do the right thing: Cutler, Peppers, Forte, Carimi, Chris Williams, Chris Harris, acquire the names, find those stars to turn the ship around. It has failed, and failed miserably because that kind of can only take you so far. Now years later in 2011 it looks like the dam holding back the flood is finally crumbling.

There is absolutely 0 talent on offense outside of #6, 80, 72, and 22. Nothing. The receivers, tight ends, and the entire offensive line top to bottom (sans the rookie) are expendable and would not be starting anywhere else in the league, much less be on the roster. The receiving corps is a total myth, and you won't see a collection of WR's this puny and this poorly disciplined anywhere else in the league. No size, no hands, poor routes.

On the other side of the ball, Urlacher and Briggs play either lights out or lights off. I can't say they're not trying, but they're getting older, and getting older real, real fast. Peppers has been ineffective most of his duration here, he's on the wrong side of 30, is getting slower and isn't getting many holding calls these days. Idonije is a nice backup, but shouldn't be starting. Melton and Toeaina looked promising but are getting sat down for Okoye and Adams a lot more frequently now. Tillman, Moore and Jennings are about the only bright spots in the secondary, otherwise it's a boatload of trash. Meriweather is a total :censored:heel who can't tackle, cover, or make plays (he does draw penalties and give up big plays, however). Whatever good football Chris Harris was going to play, he's played it already. The guy is a step slow every play and seems a hell of a lot less eager to get physical at this point in his career. We can safely say Major Wright's Bears career will soon be at an end.

The arrow is pointing down at a steep, terrifying angle for this franchise if this perpetuates. Lovie, Martz, Angelo, they all need to be SERIOUSLY evaluated in the offseason and considered for buyouts. It's the easy thing to say, blame the management and coaches but the evidence is clear: The Lovie/Angelo machine will never bring this city a superbowl, and this aging team is getting left behind by all 3 teams in our division. Even the :censored:ing Vikings at 1-4 have a brighter future, meanwhile the Bears just keep on insisting the way they do things is right, when it's clear to everybody else watching that it's flawed. I want to have hope and not be so constantly negative about this team that I love, but hell....

...they are making it awfully hard.

[/rant]

It could be worse. Trust me on this.

[DCDuck]

It could be worse. Trust me on this.

You could be an Eagles fan.

[NJTank]

Coming to a fan shop near you the Jay Cutler pinata.

[infrared41]

It could be worse. Trust me on this.

You could be an Eagles fan.

Oh, it gets worse than that. Believe me.

[GFB]

My bears rant:

I don't even really know what to do anymore. I love this team, I love this franchise to death. The history, the legacy, the tradition, all of it. But I think after years of this, I'm at a breaking point. How much do I have to go through as a fan with this poorly run organization before they stop :censored:ing around and put a good team together? One or two decent teams a decade isn't going to cut it! It's not like this is Jacksonville or some ailing franchise that players aren't enticed to come to. It's :censored:ing Chicago! People love this city, they love the Bears history, they come here to WIN.

...and yet here we are again, staring down the barrel of a top 10 pick season. A top pick that will surely be wasted on some poorly-scouted player with an injury history, or traded away for bargain picks in the late 1st/2nd rounds. Preceded by a free agency that chances are will turn a few heads, maybe make a headline or two but won't be the sweeping infusion of role players that this team is desperate for. No, it'll be just the same old Bears garbage, taking a giant steaming and handing it to the fans insisting that it's gold.

No sir, that's a turd. It looks and smells like .

No, no, that's a great team! We believe in the players we have, the coaches are such big names that they can take these guys to their full potential, right?

Wrong. For years, wrong.

Since the 2006 superbowl bed-wetting, they've tried to do the right thing: Cutler, Peppers, Forte, Carimi, Chris Williams, Chris Harris, acquire the names, find those stars to turn the ship around. It has failed, and failed miserably because that kind of can only take you so far. Now years later in 2011 it looks like the dam holding back the flood is finally crumbling.

There is absolutely 0 talent on offense outside of #6, 80, 72, and 22. Nothing. The receivers, tight ends, and the entire offensive line top to bottom (sans the rookie) are expendable and would not be starting anywhere else in the league, much less be on the roster. The receiving corps is a total myth, and you won't see a collection of WR's this puny and this poorly disciplined anywhere else in the league. No size, no hands, poor routes.

On the other side of the ball, Urlacher and Briggs play either lights out or lights off. I can't say they're not trying, but they're getting older, and getting older real, real fast. Peppers has been ineffective most of his duration here, he's on the wrong side of 30, is getting slower and isn't getting many holding calls these days. Idonije is a nice backup, but shouldn't be starting. Melton and Toeaina looked promising but are getting sat down for Okoye and Adams a lot more frequently now. Tillman, Moore and Jennings are about the only bright spots in the secondary, otherwise it's a boatload of trash. Meriweather is a total :censored:heel who can't tackle, cover, or make plays (he does draw penalties and give up big plays, however). Whatever good football Chris Harris was going to play, he's played it already. The guy is a step slow every play and seems a hell of a lot less eager to get physical at this point in his career. We can safely say Major Wright's Bears career will soon be at an end.

The arrow is pointing down at a steep, terrifying angle for this franchise if this perpetuates. Lovie, Martz, Angelo, they all need to be SERIOUSLY evaluated in the offseason and considered for buyouts. It's the easy thing to say, blame the management and coaches but the evidence is clear: The Lovie/Angelo machine will never bring this city a superbowl, and this aging team is getting left behind by all 3 teams in our division. Even the :censored:ing Vikings at 1-4 have a brighter future, meanwhile the Bears just keep on insisting the way they do things is right, when it's clear to everybody else watching that it's flawed. I want to have hope and not be so constantly negative about this team that I love, but hell....

...they are making it awfully hard.

[/rant]

It must be awful to be a fan of such an incompetent organization. When was the last time the Bears played a meaningful game? Oh yeah, last year... for a trip to the Super Bowl you say? Oh, well they must suck this year then at their pathetic record of... 2-3 with losses to the last two Super Bowl champions and an up-and-coming Lions team? Wow... Bears fans should start wearing bags over their heads to next week's game.

Seriously, this is why most Bears fans piss me off.

[See Red]

It could be worse. Trust me on this.

You could be an Eagles fan.

Or you could have a QB controversy between Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow...

[DCDuck]

It could be worse. Trust me on this.

You could be an Eagles fan.

Or you could have a QB controversy between Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow...

You could be a Dolphins fan, in which case your QB controversy is between Sage Rosenfels and Matt Moore.

Eww.

[The_Admiral]

It must be awful to be a fan of such an incompetent organization. When was the last time the Bears played a meaningful game?

Meaningful games and organizational incompetence are not mutually exclusive, cognitively dissonant as it may seem. The Bears are a bumbling shoestring operation that wins roughly more than it loses in spite of itself, perpetuating the pervasive go-for-the-bronze mentality that allows the team in Green Bay to run a better organization than the team in the world-class city in every quantifiable and unquantifiable aspect.

[CS85]

It must be awful to be a fan of such an incompetent organization. When was the last time the Bears played a meaningful game?

Meaningful games and organizational incompetence are not mutually exclusive, cognitively dissonant as it may seem. The Bears are a bumbling shoestring operation that wins roughly more than it loses in spite of itself.

Thank you.

[Chicageaux]

My bears rant:

I don't even really know what to do anymore. I love this team, I love this franchise to death. The history, the legacy, the tradition, all of it. But I think after years of this, I'm at a breaking point. How much do I have to go through as a fan with this poorly run organization before they stop :censored:ing around and put a good team together? One or two decent teams a decade isn't going to cut it! It's not like this is Jacksonville or some ailing franchise that players aren't enticed to come to. It's :censored:ing Chicago! People love this city, they love the Bears history, they come here to WIN.

...and yet here we are again, staring down the barrel of a top 10 pick season. A top pick that will surely be wasted on some poorly-scouted player with an injury history, or traded away for bargain picks in the late 1st/2nd rounds. Preceded by a free agency that chances are will turn a few heads, maybe make a headline or two but won't be the sweeping infusion of role players that this team is desperate for. No, it'll be just the same old Bears garbage, taking a giant steaming and handing it to the fans insisting that it's gold.

No sir, that's a turd. It looks and smells like .

No, no, that's a great team! We believe in the players we have, the coaches are such big names that they can take these guys to their full potential, right?

Wrong. For years, wrong.

Since the 2006 superbowl bed-wetting, they've tried to do the right thing: Cutler, Peppers, Forte, Carimi, Chris Williams, Chris Harris, acquire the names, find those stars to turn the ship around. It has failed, and failed miserably because that kind of can only take you so far. Now years later in 2011 it looks like the dam holding back the flood is finally crumbling.

There is absolutely 0 talent on offense outside of #6, 80, 72, and 22. Nothing. The receivers, tight ends, and the entire offensive line top to bottom (sans the rookie) are expendable and would not be starting anywhere else in the league, much less be on the roster. The receiving corps is a total myth, and you won't see a collection of WR's this puny and this poorly disciplined anywhere else in the league. No size, no hands, poor routes.

On the other side of the ball, Urlacher and Briggs play either lights out or lights off. I can't say they're not trying, but they're getting older, and getting older real, real fast. Peppers has been ineffective most of his duration here, he's on the wrong side of 30, is getting slower and isn't getting many holding calls these days. Idonije is a nice backup, but shouldn't be starting. Melton and Toeaina looked promising but are getting sat down for Okoye and Adams a lot more frequently now. Tillman, Moore and Jennings are about the only bright spots in the secondary, otherwise it's a boatload of trash. Meriweather is a total :censored:heel who can't tackle, cover, or make plays (he does draw penalties and give up big plays, however). Whatever good football Chris Harris was going to play, he's played it already. The guy is a step slow every play and seems a hell of a lot less eager to get physical at this point in his career. We can safely say Major Wright's Bears career will soon be at an end.

The arrow is pointing down at a steep, terrifying angle for this franchise if this perpetuates. Lovie, Martz, Angelo, they all need to be SERIOUSLY evaluated in the offseason and considered for buyouts. It's the easy thing to say, blame the management and coaches but the evidence is clear: The Lovie/Angelo machine will never bring this city a superbowl, and this aging team is getting left behind by all 3 teams in our division. Even the :censored:ing Vikings at 1-4 have a brighter future, meanwhile the Bears just keep on insisting the way they do things is right, when it's clear to everybody else watching that it's flawed. I want to have hope and not be so constantly negative about this team that I love, but hell....

...they are making it awfully hard.

[/rant]

It must be awful to be a fan of such an incompetent organization. When was the last time the Bears played a meaningful game? Oh yeah, last year... for a trip to the Super Bowl you say? Oh, well they must suck this year then at their pathetic record of... 2-3 with losses to the last two Super Bowl champions and an up-and-coming Lions team? Wow... Bears fans should start wearing bags over their heads to next week's game.

Seriously, this is why most Bears fans piss me off.

Well, I have to agree with him especially on evaluating Angelo, Lovie, and Martz. I'll throw Angelo's name out there again for good measure and I seriously think know the guy has to go. Here's a team that seems to play under sub-par football no matter what game they're in. Where was the defense that showed up against Atlanta when they played Carolina? Oh wait, let me change ask a different question: Where has that team that played Atlanta been for the rest of the season? It's frustrating as a fan to see a team that has the tools to get the pieces to be successful completely come out and play under their potential week-in and week-out. That's where the frustration sinks in, atleast for me.

[See Red]

It could be worse. Trust me on this.

You could be an Eagles fan.

Or you could have a QB controversy between Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow...

You could be a Dolphins fan, in which case your QB controversy is between Sage Rosenfels and Matt Moore.

Eww.

But that controversy has them on the fast track to Andrew Luck, so it's not so bad. The Broncos probably aren't bad enough to finish with the worst record in the league.

[ninersdd]

Who would've thunk that the Niners-Lions game would feature the teams with a combined record of 9-1? Forte had a pretty good game tonight against the Lions, so if Gore can follow suit, then I think we can pull it off. Our O-line can't be a sieve like the Bears were tonight though, like when Dallas buried us 6 times in Week 2. Gotta admit, it was fun seeing people debate the blowout win by the Niners and it just feels good to be on the right side of a total crusher like that.

[Billy B]

Cutler really played a great game for what he had to deal with tonight. At one point he was 14-17 and he was getting hit on about 50% of his passes. I'm surprised he hasn't got hurt yet. Or at least just faked something so he didn't have to go back out there and get his ass kicked some more (which did not happen in the NFC Championship last year.) That offensive is absolutely horrible. It's not that they can't hold a block, half the time they can't even engage with who they're supposed to block. Doesn't make a difference if it's a passing play or running play, there are lineman getting through unblocked almost every play.

Even with a team that was close to winning the game to put them into the Super Bowl last year, I could not say that the Bears were a good football team. But they always seem to come up big when it's make or break time for Lovie or Jerry Angelo's job, and I don't expect them to disappoint this year.

[ninersdd]

It must be awful to be a fan of such an incompetent organization. When was the last time the Bears played a meaningful game?

Meaningful games and organizational incompetence are not mutually exclusive, cognitively dissonant as it may seem. The Bears are a bumbling shoestring operation that wins roughly more than it loses in spite of itself.

Thank you.

Heres an idea for the Bears offense: Don't continue to sign offensive players from the Cowboys not named Dez, Miles, or Jason.