Final Thoughts on Chicago Sports

Lovie Under Fire: A Conversation

With the Bears season on the line, it's time for another back and forth between me and my cousin, Jim. 

Mike:  I gave my thoughts, you give yours.

Jim:  Quick hit points, as opposed to breaking down the game, which both of us would agree was shit:

• I don't think Lovie Smith is a good coach.  Dare I say it, Dick Jauron was better at getting the maximum out of his roster.  I think you give Jauron this team and he'd have it at 5-3 even with the injuries.  Jauron is a better communicator and deals with the media better.  No, he never said anything relevant, but he doesn't look like a complete fool like Lovie does right now with respect to the Urlacher injury.  Jauron respected the media and the fans.  There I said it.  Jauron is a better coach than Lovie.  
• Angelo really should take a lot of the blame for this year's debacle.  Let's run down the list here...training camp trades eroding secondary depth, trading TJ for essentially nothing (why?, because he didn't get along with his prize RB), drafting one offensive lineman high since 2002 (who is now playing at a high level with Dallas), relying on Mike Brown to come back strong and stay healthy, picking up Adam Archuleta (no further comment needed), trading out of the first round in 2006 to select Daniel Manning, drafting Garrett Wolfe in round 3 (probably 3-4 rounds early, he wasn't even active last week), drafting Craig Krenzel (no further comment needed), and the list goes on.
• The players are who they are.  The O-line is old.  Benson is not capable of carrying the load.  Griese is Griese.  He's no saviour, he's no Tom Brady.  He's Brian Griese, a capable starter, but not capable of carrying the team for more than a week or two.  
• Defensively, they are fine on the front seven.  Tommie Harris shouldn't even be playing, but he is, and as you can imagine is not nearly as effective.  Teams appear to have figured out Mark Andersen.  Urlacher is getting older and the Cover 2 is not best for him at this stage of his career.  The corners, when healthy, are fine.  Maybe the worst starting safety duo in the NFL right now.  

Bottom line, just not a well run organization, from front office to coaching staff and I think their days as a contender are over.  Unfortunately I think we'll have to deal with 2-3 more years of Lovie and Co.

Mike: I'm not sure I agree with you about Smith or Angelo.  First of all, Dick Jauron was a moron.  Don't you remember?  He's probably a little better with the media, if only because he never remotely says anything of substance, but Lovie's not exactly bad in that respect.  He's simply loyal to his players which occasionally makes him sound like he's in over his head.

Jim: Loyal to his players?  I don't see it, unless you're referring to Tank Johnson, who made him look like an even bigger idiot.

Mike: Loyal to Grossman.  Moose.  Archuleta.  Berrian.  Miller.  Guys that are not producing.  

Lovie's in-game decision making is light years ahead of Jauron's.  I will say that Jauron was probably better at making half-time adjustments, though.  Overall I'd give Lovie the edge because he rarely makes the major blunders that directly cost the team games.  Jauron is still doing it in Buffalo.  (In the Dallas game, all he had to do was run the ball and the clock out and he would have won the game.  Instead, interception, big rally, loss.  I recall another horrible decision he made earlier in the season as well, costing his team the game, though I can't remember the specifics.  His 3-4 team should be 5-2.)

Jim: The Bills should not be 5-2, they are lucky to be 3-4, based on their injuries.  Have you seen them?  Similar to Bears, 9 guys on IR.  They lost at New England, at Pittsburgh, and the infamous squeaker loss to Dallas.  And to Denver on a last second FG.  At least they lose to good teams.     

Mike: The Denver game was a horrible loss for them.  That's a game they botched horribly with play-calling (and Denver is not exactly "good.")  That and the Dallas game.  3 return TDs and lose? 9 point lead with 20 seconds left and lose?   2 game swing = 5-2.  NOT a good coach.  I just don't see how you can blame Lovie so much.  He's not looking good right now, but he's still a lot better than Jauron.

With every recent Angelo decision, they seemed like good ideas at the time.  To witness:

• Mike Brown was healthy and playing great.  Still, he added Archuleta insurance and you, me, everyone thought that was a great move.
  
  Jim: Sure, I liked the Archuleta signing, but I'm Joe Schmoe in bumble F Ohio.  Angelo should have known what everyone else seemed to believe in the NFL...Archuleta was washed up.
  
  Mike: He played better before he broke his hand.  Still, 3 years looks like an awfully long time at this point.
  
• Kevin Payne and Brandon McGowan, the top 2 safeties in reserve, were outplaying Chris Harris and Dante Wesley in camp.  So much that the latter two became expendable.  Who knew Brown, Vasher, Payne, and McGowan would miss significant time, and that Archuleta would break his hand?  That's a pretty severe hit to any unit.  Chris Harris would have been released if they couldn't get that 6th rounder for him.   
  
  Jim: Probably right.
  
• Mike:  I wasn't a fan of trading out of the first round in 2006, but that move got the Bears Devin Hester and Dusty Dvoracek (who looked good in his one, uh, half).  Can you really argue with that??!? 
  
  Jim:  Well, they may have gotten both of them anyways.  We don't really know.  At any rate, Dvoracek has played one half of a football game in two years.  Hester is the most exciting player in football.  But he plays a position that allows him to be neutralized.  Someday he may be a great WR, but not right now.   He is what he is...the best special teams player in football. 
  
  Mike: And where would they be without him?  He's the biggest game-changer in football.  Only Brady, Manning, and maybe LDT mean more to their teams.   Yes, you read that right.  Would you trade Hester for even a first round pick at this point?  I wouldn't even think about it unless there was a top 3 pick at stake with three sure-fire superstuds in the draft.  Which there never is. 
  
• Supposedly Thomas Jones couldn't co-exist with Benson.  I have a hard time believing that, as they were a productive tandem last year.  But remember, Jones isn't exactly special.  He had the same yards per carry as Benson, and couldn't put a move on anybody to save his life.  You, me, and everyone were clamoring for more Benson last year.  We got it, and now we want a refund?  Purely revisionist history.  What the hell is Jones doing this year that's so special?  Oh yeah, nothing.
  
  Jim:  Angelo said himself that they could have afforded to keep Jones, but couldn't keep him because of the chemistry problem with Benson.  When people get paid money to make decisions and they turn out to be bad decisions, they should be called out for it.  What's wrong with that?  I don't know why Benson or Jones aren't nearly as effective this year, but I think both of them would be better off together on the Bears.  
  
  Mike:  Maybe.  All I know is Jones wasn't that great.  He was average at best.
  
• Wolfe was obviously drafted too early, but the team didn't really seem to have any holes and they were going for home runs.  Like with the Hester pick.  This one probably didn't work out.  Though in fairness I must say that the playcalling when he's in the game has been shit.  He's not a between the tackles runner in the NFL.  Get him the ball in space.  They've yet to do that even once.   
  
  Jim:  For a third round pick to be inactive on a gameday is unacceptable.  Period.   
  
  Mike: Yes, you are probably right.  Especially with Benson struggling.
  
• Columbo is doing OK in Dallas, but he's not exactly a stud tackle.  His QB makes him look better than he is.  Remember how Romo was constantly evading the pass rush against the Bears?  He makes his line look better.  Columbo wouldn't start over Tait.  Probably Miller, but I don't think he'd be too much of an upgrade.  And besides, at the time of his release he just didn't look good at all.   
  
  Jim:  He's not a stud, but he's a solid young RT.  Think a young Fred Miller.  Which, would actually be a good Fred Miller.  
  
  Mike:  Maybe.  But he was being outplayed by Fred Miller, Terrance Metcalf and John St. Clair at the time.  Columbo, as a (botched) first round pick was making too much money to be ultimately left inactive every week.
  
• The O-line is old, but still productive enough.  I really blame Benson.  He just lowers his head and tries to plow through the line before the hole is even there.  Peterson just looks so much better than him, it's not even funny.   
  
  Jim:  The O-line is old AND Benson is not good enough.  Seriously, I thought the O-line was old going into last year.  I thought they were lucky to get another productive year out of them in 2006.  
  
  Mike:  Look at Peterson run behind that line.  It's not the line.  It's Benson.

Bottom line is it's easy to pile on and find the flaws when the team is struggling.  But not a negative word was spoken about any of those moves at the time they were made.  The only two moves that drew criticism from me were a) trading out of the first round in 2006 (which netted Hester) and b) well, there is no b.  Everything else more or less made sense at the time.  They weren't indefensibly bad moves, that I assure you.

Oh yeah, sticking with Grossman.  But I even think he did OK with that move.  Grossman deserved his extended shot, and it wasn't until it appeared to look completely hopeless that he was pulled.  Lovie's timing in that regard was perfect.  It's not like they have Tom Brady on their bench.

Jim:  Lovie & Angelo are on my shit list right now.  That's obvious. 
 
I'll know for sure how I feel about Lovie by year-end.  Angelo, I'll still give him a pass, because for every Ced Benson, there's been a Tommie Harris.  For every Rex Grossman, there's been a Greg Olsen.  I think he got caught with his pants down this off-season and he'll make up for it next year. 
 
Lovie, if this team goes 5-11 this year, I will start the calls for his head.  

Mike:  Lovie gets a free pass from me.  A Super Bowl trip earns you at least one free year.  He's had to deal with lots of injuries, Tank Johnson, and a few underachieving stars.  He doesn't get a free pass next year, though.  Next year it's 10 wins or bust.