When I was a sophomore in high school, my JV football coach opened practice with telling us his new philosophy was going to be K.I.S.S. — Keep It Simple Stupid. The thought was that the less we had to think on the field, the better we would play. It might have worked if he didn’t then try to install Gary Crowton’s spread offense after the team ran the Wishbone the year before. The Bears aren’t going from the Wishbone to the spread, but they seem intent on simplifying what they’ve done in recent years and the result should be fewer big mistakes.
Mistakes were ultimately what did the Bears offense in last year.
The Bears have one of the best defensive coordinators in the league, but he alone won’t make the defense respectable.
No team upgraded any position more than the Bears did by replacing Mel Tucker with Vic Fangio. Tucker is one of the worst defensive coordinators in the history of the league and Fangio is pretty good. That’s a huge jump, but it might be the only jump they made. You could argue that the team’s talent level is about the same as it was the last two years.
Yes, they added Pernell McPhee to pressure the quarterback, but they also lost Stephen Paea (six sacks) and it would be a surprise if Willie Young had anywhere near the same impact he had a year ago, registering ten sacks. Is that a net positive for the Bears?
The final installment of Andrew Dannehy’s optimistic training camp preview.
#2 Vic Fangio.
There has been so much talk about the offense, but it doesn’t matter unless the Bears get their defense figured out. Fangio isn’t a miracle worker. He’s also not Mel Tucker. The difference between the two can’t be overstated.
We’ve seen teams take huge jumps in the standings by adding new defensive coordinators. Just last year, the Vikings went from having the worst scoring defense in the league to the 11th-best because of Mike Zimmer. We’ve seen similar results from the likes of Wade Phillips and Dom Capers and Fangio himself helped the 49ers go from middle of the pack to elite.
The Bears secondary is still a disaster — at least Chris Conte is gone — but their front seven should be pretty good. All the talk about changing schemes is stupid. Fangio is a good coach who will find a way to make it work. He did last year in San Francisco when most of his talented players were on the sideline.
They won’t be elite next year, but don’t be surprised if they jump into the top-20, that really should be enough for them to win more games than they lose.
#1 The Relationship Between the Coach & QB.
The Bears have a good coach and a good quarterback. Teams with both almost always end up being good.
Andrew Dannehy continues his look at why the Bears will exceed expectations in 2015.
#4 Contract Years.
Alshon Jeffery and Matt Forte are the team’s two best skill position players and both are looking for a big pay day. The last time Forte was in this position, he was having the best year of his career and was on pace, before injury, to finish with one of the most productive seasons ever from a back. We haven’t seen Jeffery playing for a contract yet, but you can bet he saw the money handed out to Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas and wants to get his.
If both players have monster seasons, in addition to the other players they have, the Bears offense is going to move right along. Now, add in the fact that Marty Bennett also wants a new contract and Jay Cutler is essentially playing for his NFL life.
Nobody on the Bears was motivated last year. After a relatively successful offensive showing in 2013, they got arrogant. They can’t afford to do so again this year.
#3 John Fox.
Fox has been through this before. He’s taken over two teams that were disasters the year before, one going 1-15 the other 2-14, a 5-11 team shouldn’t be a problem, right?
In both of the previous instances, the Panthers and Broncos won six more games in Fox’s first year and this Bears team has significantly more talent than those teams did.
The Bears issue wasn’t/isn’t talent, it was all the X-factors that the really good teams don’t even worry about anymore. There was no chemistry and no leadership, Fox has proven he can help with both problems.
The expectations for the Bears are at Wannstedt-level lows, but there are several reasons to think that they’re going to be better than almost everyone is predicting.
The common predictions for the Bears are ranging everywhere from 4-12 to 8-8. Not crazy when you consider they went 5-11 last year, but to describe them merely as a team that had that record last year is missing so much of the picture. As awful as they were just a short time ago, the Bears have some stuff going for them and that stuff might just be enough to get them into the playoffs in 2015. Here are five reasons why the Bears are going to be better than you think.
#5. THEY CAN COMPETE IN THE NFC NORTH.
There has been a general assumption that the NFC North is a great division, but both Detroit and Minnesota have major weaknesses that could be their downfall.
The 2015 Chicago Bears could end up needing Marquess Wilson more than many think.
While nobody seems overly concerned with Kevin White’s health, the fact that he’s barely practiced since the Bears drafted him should be worrisome. Alshon Jeffery has had various injury issues in the past. When the Bears top two receivers were struggling last year, they didn’t have an answer. It should almost be expected for that to happen again this year and, if it does, they’ll need Wilson to step up.
If Ka’Deem Carey ever becomes a productive NFL running back, he will be an outlier. This is something the Bears know and part of the reason why they are making him earn a job, despite being a high draft pick just a year ago.
NFL running backs usually have good size and speed, or at least one of the two. Carey has neither.
Maybe it was just a fist bump. Maybe it didn’t mean anything. But maybe it was a sign that, for the first time in his Bears career, Jay Cutler will have a head coach who can pick him — and the rest of the team — up when things aren’t going well. Maybe it was a sign that the Bears have a coach who understands the ups and downs that happen on game day and knows how to react to them. Maybe it was evidence that Cutler finally has a coach who can bring the best out of him.
The Bears downplayed Kyle Long playing tackle during their offseason program, but their intent is clear and they should make the move permanent.
The difficult part of moving Long to tackle is already done. He was one of the best guards in the league and the previous regime convinced him that’s where he would be best in the NFL. He stated he did not want to change positions yet there he was in a changed position. That tells you all you need to know about John Fox’s ability to communicate with players and Long’s willingness to do what is best for the team.
Following the 2013 season, a buddy of mine ran into a Broncos player at a booster event for a major university. My friend had one question for the player: What is it like to play with Peyton Manning? His response was he doesn’t play with Manning, he plays for Manning. He said Manning was the team’s head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterback. Everything they did revolved around what Manning wanted them to do.
John Fox was a successful head coach before he ever coached Manning. There are no questions about him. Adam Gase, however, is still a mystery that could prove crucial to the Bears season.
