Lucky Luciano

the difference in today and days past is the number of franchises that exist in the NFL today. since 1976 they have added 5 franchises to the NFL. with a 52 man roster that is a 260 player PER YEAR reduction in talent. that means that anyone drafted after #27 in the first round is in reality 2nd round talent. this reads the same for each round after. SUMMARY: they 'ain't makin' anymore football players than they were 50 years ago. it's not like baseball where you can bring in out of the U.S. talent. it's a U.S. based sport where nearly 100% of the talent is created in this system. so if anybody mentions we need more franchises they are completely nuts or just plain greedy (like corporate NFL). we don't have enough talent to go around as it is.

everything you list here is important information on hopefully how this franchise moves forward. to me a key point is how he will react to whoever he has running the defense and understands the nuances of what needs to be done to succeed and not just coast along as lovie did over his entire tenure in chicago. if he can refocus marinelli especially on how our DB's play and certainly his blitz packages it could work out. at this point i am happy with what we have done. i especially like the hire for OC as this gives us a HC who can groom qb's and an OC, kromer, who really understands how to work with your OL. it sounds like a great combination. emery so far (his drafts will eventually define his success or failure) has done his job well. i like the quick hire of our OC. that to me was certainly a major plus. trestman is certainly a risky choice but the rewards could be huge.

i guess i missed the restrictions that posters are allowed to comment on in this thread. why don't you post that list so myself and others don't waste our time commenting on items you personally don't like.

here is the conundrum... are you talking about the cover 2 (the steelers or bucs used) or are you talking about the lovie 2? because i can tell you with authority the difference is HUGE. i have beat my brains out for over 5 years trying to convey that the system lovie smith implements is NOT the same. with the steelers of the 70's the cover 2 was NOT the primary defense under carson. it was implemented under certain situations against specific opponents offenses no different than the 46 is now. he adjusted during game time as to what worked. he also had the horses to make his version of it work and keep offenses guessing where they were coming from. my god he had some of the best defensive talent in NFL history. the tampa 2... again this cover 2 defense is NOTHING like what we ran under lovie smith. IMPORTANT: they had a perennial pro-bowl CB in barber who could play man and bump and run off the LOS. his bookend CB also could play pretty well because the bucs had a perennial pro-bowl safety in lynch and some decent talent along side him at FS to make up the difference. they also had warren sapp who consistently collapsed pockets along mcfarland who was a pretty good tackle in that system. they had 2 pro-bowl linebackers to go along with their DB's and had a killer DE in s. rice chasing qb's to kingdom come. under lovie smith we had about 1/2 of what it takes to make that system work even IF it wasn't figured out. after mike brown started breaking down we had NO safeties worth a tinkers dam who are key in this type of system, we had not a single CB who could play bump and run off the LOS which is CRITICAL in this system and especially since the new chuck rules. we never, never, never play/played our corners up to bump any receivers off their routes because they were never taught how to by lovie or just plain good enough to do it and our safeties were not good enough to compensate for this failure. our DE's were rarely in double digit sacks until pepperman and our tackles after t. harris broke down were pathetic. that is why under the lovie 2 we always had a vacated zone 5-8 yards off the LOS for an easy completion by anybody. why do you think we made nobody qb's look like they belonged in the pro-bowl? because lovie smith was going to run this system come hell or high water because he didn't have enough football brains to adjust it or go with something that worked with the PERSONNEL HE HAD!!! you can not rely year after year on the same system of defense, or offense for that matter, without changing how you attack your opponent. you have to evolve or even devolve to an older scheme at times just to mix it up and keep your enemy guessing. which brings me to this... the lovie cover 2 as we know it will NOT work consistently against good offensive teams. they will run you into the ground and keep up those extended 5-7 minute 3rd and 4th quarter drives that keeps your offense on the sidelines when they should be doing the same to our opponents. especially with aging players the defense is just out of gas by the start of the 4th quarter!!! final NOTE: parts of the cover 2 can be used in a defensive scheme just like i mentioned the 46. it just can't work the way we run it consistently and anyone who believes that marinelli is some savior that is going to bring our defense to all-world status without serious change is sadly mistaken.

i STILL say if you want PROVEN quality that not only knows offense, can create good qb talent out of nothing and can dictate DEFENSE to a DC mike holmgren was the best pick.... period. again we want to limit our HC to knowing nearly nothing except his narrow vision expertise. it's similar to lovie's complete lack of offensive knowledge that got us to where we are now and yet here we go again only on the offensive side this time. just once i would like a good HC who has done it in the NFL and done it well. we keep getting the chances and just keep flushing em.

i just don't see the GOOD talent we have as some magnificent plus anymore. they are old. if not now when we get a fresh coach with a fresh set of eyes and outlook then when? i see absolutely no reason we can't adjust our defensive scheme to any other out there at this time. we have an entire offseason and the draft before training camp and i just can't believe that the players we have on this roster can't possibly play anything but the lovie 2 crap. and if that is so then it is imperative that we get rid of that talent now no matter who it is. year after year we keep beating the dead horses because it supposedly will kill our chances to win next seasons superbowl if we make the needed changes or draft the player that needs to develop. i can truthfully say right now that there is a one in a thousand chance the bears win the superbowl with the talent we have and a new coach in one season. so let's freaking build now for the future DECADE instead of tying off bleeders with the hope it's really going to make any serious difference.

yea, really. how many games this season did we play before we ever even seen a line stunt? how many times during a game did we take our best pass rusher in peppers off the end to play the tackle position? why do you suppose that is? this is what our tackles did for sacking the quarterback this season even considering peppers is a HOF defensive end getting double teamed 75-85% of the time... idonoje 7.5 sacks - how many of these were from the left defensive end position? 2.5 rams 2 detroit .5 titans 1 cards 1.5 sacks against teams with winning records - .5 SF 1 MIN 11 games after the bye week = 5 sacks - 1 DET .5 TEN .5 SF 1 MIN 1 ARIZ 1 DET melton 6 sacks .5 jax .5 carolina 5 sacks against teams with winning records - 2 IND 1 GB 1 DAL 1 MIN 11 games after the bye week = 1.5 sacks - .5 CAR 1 MIN paea 2.5 sacks .5 rams .5 det .5 titans 1 sack against teams with winning records - seahawks 11 games after the bye week = 1.5 sacks you ask how does this reflect on the DC? count the sacks and if you can find a statistic (i don't know where to look) for DT pressures on a qb throughout the season this sack stat alone for the final 11 games is beyond pathetic. it reeks of no adjustments being made to compensate for opponent offenses watching game film and changing their tactics and blocking schemes while we plod on the same way as always. our rushing defense? opponents averaged 4.2 yds per carry against us rushing for the season. we were ranked 14th in the NFL if i'm not mistaken. in 11 games after the bye week there were THREE games in which we didn't give up more than a hundred yards in rushing. TWO against the mighty lions and the other against the formidable cardinals. marinelli has 2 HOF players on defense in peppers and url. a multiple all-pro pro-bowler in briggs. a good #2 CB in peanut and he has improved our defense how? plus how much was him and how much was lovie? why would you want to saddle a NEW coach with old garbage like we did emery when he got here? if the new coach wants a new system GIVE IT TO HIM. marinelli is a stop gap in my opinion that we might as well dump now for a better candidate with a fresh set of ideas like the niners seem to be doing. do we have the players? yea why not? or are we somehow married to this lovie 2 crap until every premium defensive player retires?

count me in as wanting a serious change in our defense and it's philosophy. whether our defense was dictated by marinelli or lovie smith it is not a defense that causes any concerns to the upper tier offensive teams in the nfl. it's the most predictable and easy to defeat defense in the entire nfl no matter what the rankings look like. just what has marinelli accomplished that puts him in the rarefide air? the blitz packages are ridiculous and the backward movement of our linebackers nearly every down is even more so considering that was figured out in 2007 by every NFL coach there is and now used by an aging linebacker corp who need all the help they can get and this gives them nearly none. the non-contact or super soft zones by our corners on and off the LOS is indicative to colossal failure in every sense if you play good coached offenses in post season. are our memories so completely fogged over that the last superbowl we were in is just a distant haze? doesn't anyone remember THIS season and the ease opponents moved the ball against us in the final two minutes of any half? all of our linebackers worth a dam are 30+. without urlacher (even considering his career is or nearly over) or briggs what does our defense look like? we have no tackles who can create pressure up the middle and our star DE is old and on his last leg. can anyone imagine how pathetic this defense would be without peppers? for everyone interested in hiring an offensive oriented head coach what you are handing him is a defense that opponents can move the ball on at critical times. what does the bend and don't break defense do? it takes your offense off the field throughout the game and keeps them from scoring points. it causes your defense to be worn out by mid third quarter even IF you have a young defense which we are not even close to having.

cutler or any quarterback we may envision needs more than an average or worse a mediocre line. these blows they are taking add up over the long term like body blows in a heavyweight fight. everyone looks at rogers in green bay and infer if he can take it so should ours. in reality they are cutting rogers career down by years with the abuse he is taking and all it takes is just one hit to end his career completely. but in the packers defense i also must confess that the packers understand this and DO draft high quality prospects to make their line more than average nearly every year. we have never done that in my memory. EDIT... i take that back. one GM in memory did keep drafting OL until they were of high quality and that GM was Jim Finks. the problem was that they let him walk and idiot mikey ant then angie showed up and that was that. having a mediocre offensive line also limits our offense in the running game and puts wear and tear on any high quality running back we have or may get. this also limits our superbowl contention chances. final note: we do NOT want cutler or any other franchise qb in chicago having to roll out or conceive some oddball trick plays to keep him healthy because our OL is subpar. to do this is franchise suicide!!

i have not followed long's career but IF he is young enough (isn't he still in his 20's?) and if there are no INJURY issues and he grades out top notch i would give him the keys to the ferrari any-day-of-the-week before a defensive tackle. to me that is a no brainer. the position we are in right now on the draft board dictates that unless you want to give up most of your draft we will not be drafting in the top 5 where the primo LT's are. so for me i take that in-his-prime free agent top player at LT and draft his replacement who would need some time to develop in a lower round over the next 3 years. that way we have a top LT and can groom someone with no urgency 2-4 years to replace him. i ALSO draft in the 1st-3rd round a killer guard or center. this is a MUST do. we need some YOUNG real quality talent in the middle of our OL. that is not a luxury it is a critical need right now. we then have carimi to fight for the RT spot or this scott guy. then do it again next draft. if we picked up a quality guard or center in rounds 1-3 we can go after that defensive player if we have to let melton go.

one other very, very important aspect of bringing in holmgren... i am in total agreement with you on him being a qb guru. if, and this is a very big IF, cutler is not the guy to be our future franchise player holmgren is the guy to know it. it makes this next season with cutler on contract for one more year the most important decision involving the direction this franchise takes since halas/finks hired jim mcmahon. if cutler is not the way to a superbowl holmgren will know it sooner than anyone i can even think of and save this franchise MEGA cap money for the next 3-5 years and find that guy who can. we missed out hiring shanny 2-3 years ago. we can't blow this one too. this hire does so much on so many levels it's like winning the lottery for chicago. we have been waiting for over 40 years to find this good of a prospect. if we win multiple superbowls under a holmgren regime emery will be able to write his own ticket in chicago. this scenario is what GM's dream of.

i certainly hope you are wrong. especially on holmgren. he's not only the safest pick this franchise could make but also the best, smartest pick of every possibility out there including cowher. this is not some unknown assistant that's never been there done that and certainly not a college coach with no NFL experience who in my opinion is really a serious gamble that i would NOT take. he has WON a superbowl and brought the seahawks to one superbowl and playoff contention. that in itself is no small feat when considering that franchise. he is NOT some burnout retread with no upside. his experience in all areas of the NFL is something maybe no other coaching prospect has or has had in decades. he is certainly up to speed with what is going on in the NFL from a management perspective and a coaching perspective. look at the list of assistant coaches he brought to green bay when there. how many of that group went on in their own right as head coaching material? that says a LOT. his personnel in seattle was also good. see that numbskull up in green bay coaching now. very few coaches can boast of bringing together that kind of talent as assistants consistantly. to name a few... billichek, fisher, and cowher. this guy could with some fresh player personnel get this teams offense up to speed quicker than anyone i can think of in the entire nfl and more importantly KEEP them there!!! another major plus is this guy at least understands what it takes to make your defense respectable and would NOT rely solely on what a coordinator does or does not do. this is a plus we have been missing for decades. he has the fire and the passion to WIN and does not accept mediocrity. he also has something to prove to the rest of the NFL. he could be the only coach to bring 3 different teams to a superbowl. his main drawback (and maybe the ONLY) was his decision to wear both hats as coach and GM in seattle. he has learned his lesson on that front and gives emery total GM control of this franchise especially since leaving cleveland and wishing to resume coaching. this is the guy if you want to win multiple superbowls. will it happen in one season? probably not but give it 3 and with emery making good picks we should be contending for a decade IN superbowls.

here's to hoping we give mike holmgren a call. emery should have NO problem with the walrus trying to usurp any GM power from him. holmgren would be a great help in the war room draft day and make it run very smoothly. he would be a very good talent evaluator to work with emery. he has coached in this division and understands any and all weather considerations. IMPORTANT: can put together fantastic assistants with some real talent. he has a mission to beat green bay who right now is the top contender in our division. and MOST of all he is very offensive minded so can put together some real NFL caliber schemes and he can coach qb's to be better and there is no way in hell cutler or anyone else steam rolls this guy. right now this is my top choice along with cowher.

i agree with your statement. i am not specifically talking about a LT but i really can't imagine one with less talent in rounds 1-4 than webb wasn't available. but is it even possible a quality first round pick guard or even a 2nd round pick guard isn't seriously better than anything we have? even a real killer first round all-world center aka like pouncy in pitt would be well worth the pick whether 1st - 4th round. that was the pick if a REAL left tackle prospect wasn't there. i am NOT anti emery at this point. i too liked a lot of what he said and his demeanor. i like the fact he ended lovie's contract right away instead of dragging it out like in the past. i am just commenting on some red flags that need to be watched to be sure we don't end up with another mike mccaskey/angelo scenario.

i agree that it may take a transition into a 3-4 and i am not even indicating that i would want to go that way. but if there is a killer head coach (cowher) or a DC that a new coach would choose i believe it is not in our best interest not to go that route or limit it in any way because of our current roster. our defense quite frankly is OLD. anybody blowing up our D to change it over or make it a slow transition to that can't be far off the mark as of 2013. we have no real big playmakers on defense under 30. they will be gone within 2 years anyway by attrition.

i did listen to the press conference and maybe i am interpreting it the wrong way but this is what i have taken umbradge with: that he implied he couldn't be objective because he is close to this team or is a fan so obviously wasn't able to evaluate the results. that he would have to rely on an outside firm to confirm in his mind that there were real problems with this offensive line. to me this is his job. that is what he gets paid to do. to detach himself from personal feeling to evaluate the real talent level of this franchise and react accordingly. it was stupid to say something like this. with that said, a press conference this time of year could be just smoke, mirrors or misdirection, i get that. but trying to justify not drafting offensive linemen last year to me was ludicrous. the entire world knew this was a bad OL at last seasons end and most 5 YEARS before this. our QB was beaten to a pulp and our running game was seriously bad. even with a poor FA market for offensive linemen he SHOULD have realized the situation and improved it in the draft. it's true that carimi was still an unknown and replacement was not a viable option in the first 3 rounds without more information. that does not excuse webb at LT even with no options in free agency. add to that IF there was no options better than webb in the draft at LT (which i seriously question) the smart GM's move was to draft a very high prospect, impact guard or even center. this would have been instant improvement throughout the line to protect the only franchise player on this entire team. if they drafted a guard he is of the quality (even as a rookie) better than every guard on our roster by default (yes including louis). if he drafts a center we improve two spots on this nightmare. we place garza back at a position he came to chicago to play - LG. i hear people saying "well, we can't replace all five linemen in one year". that is probably correct. so why in the hell would you NOT at least start revamping the weakest and most important positions on your team last season? this is the exact mindset that jerry angelo applied for 10 years and we are now reaping that whirlwind. again i take umbrage: he SHOULD be able to understand and see where the problems are without any assistance. he is a former scout for god's sake. he was paid then to evaluate exactly what he saw on the field and on game film. his comparison to the 9ers is just plain stupid and should never have been made. if this guy is worth jack s&!% he should KNOW that any of these other items like dropped passes etc. are NOT viable if you are evaluating linemen. YES if you are evaluating your receiving corp AND/OR your quarterback it's important but how can that possibly be pertinent as to how long a lineman can hold a block or even MAKE one? it's just silly and talking down to us like idiots. isn't this an oxymoron? again, this is the angelo mindset. a priority on playmakers. although playmakers are a factor you can not ignore your lines or you will forever end up like what you have seen from this franchise for years. it took us since kramer to even field a qb of quality that could win it all on his hook and yet we do nothing to preserve his health or career since he has been here. of course it's difficult to find offensive linemen in FA. you have to draft them. there is no other way in this day of salary cap you can afford more than one primo FA lineman. how can he justify not doing so? first of all, RT was not even a draft need THEN with our previous first round RT just coming off injury. it was LT or interior linemen!!! like i said previously i know a lot of this is BS before we hit free agency and the draft and that DOESN'T bother me as long as it is BS. the real problem i had was his identification of our needs before we drafted last year and his insistence, whether crap or not is to be determined, of the same pitfalls he made last year this year also. and finally, i'm not trying to wrack you or break your balls on this but even you are saying "everything can't be done overnight". i realize that and that is why it should have started LAST year to correct a position that usually takes a year to three to see top notch results. i at least have figured that part out. hopefully he has too.

i'm rooting for a no hire yet. would really like to see an interview in chicago for reid. if he or holmgren couldn't get the most out of cutler and this anemic offense who could?

just heard unconfirmed on the score... he was hired? hope not, he was high on my list as our next HC.

in my opinion this is not a good idea in regards to the 3-4 or the 4-3. no matter what coach you decide to go with is for the long haul. to limit a coach because of the immediate roster does not fit a specific scheme is not the way to make this important of a decision.

i'm not pretending anything. if you want to exclusively believe what any 'expert' tells you over what you have seen with your own eyes then more power to you.

dude... that i could live with. but the detail he put into it didn't sound that way. here's to hoping you are right. salut'

just so i get this right... you have no idea how any professional athlete is playing or compares to other athletes in quality unless you hear it from a coach or GM? you have no idea what any professional teams needs are unless the owner, GM or coach tells you what they need? you believed everything lovie smith and jerry angelo stated to the media? is that correct? ok, if i see our TE davis drop 50 passes in a season and lovie smith tells me in a press conference he compares to the best TE's in the NFL i should believe him because he is an expert? do you? if lovie smith tells me rex grossman is our starting qb and is a top quality player that can win a superbowl for us i should have believed him? did/do you? on another note i don't know anything about flying a 747 either but if a pilot drunk-on-his-ass tells me he can fly that day as good as if he was sober i should believe him and get on board because he is an expert? in other words seeing webb miss about 100 blocks and nearly get cutler killed over the last 2-3 years isn't a big enough picture for you to determine if he is good or bad unless emery or angelo told you that he was bad? dude, statistics are a useful tool to coinside with many other useful tools in making analysis. but the litmus test is seeing with your own eyes. and if you don't believe what you see and just believe what someone tells you you saw, no matter WHO it is, that is concerning.

i understand your feelings on this and although it IS too early to judge and in truth he didn't have the time or his scouts in place the reality is that he SHOULD have recognized the need on our OL as a top priority to protect our franchise player in cutler. even IF every tackle on the board for 4 rounds was worse than webb (which i truly find impossible to believe) then a primo guard was the top priority EVEN in the first round and at the worst down to round 4. i will give him the #2 pick in a projected very good WR but even that pales to the reality of protecting your qb.

i agree with your overall judgement on this but i HAD to comment on the red flags that are popping up.

to me that is disturbing. how could you watch the tape over the last 3-5 years on this offensive line, how could you watch the games live this season and not be able to make a real unbiased judgement on how this offensive line is playing and the quality of the starting players??? even if it were your own brother on the field you have to call it like you see it. there is no bizzaro world or alternate universes to cloud your vision, it is what it is. NOTE: i agree this stats inc. could be a valuable tool but my god, don't you rely on what you actually see? in regards to the 49ers reference... 1. this stat quoted for pass protection is misleading as most stats can be without real individual context... who is the qb? how much experience? how much time has he to throw? how quick is his release? where is the pressure coming from? how often? how much pressure was from an individual game (competition)? how mobile is he? are injuries factored in to your line play? how young is your offensive line? how many knock downs? hurries? and on and on. 2. the bears are rated 16th in run blocking and in my opinion that is a stretch considering their 3rd and short statistics and their failure rate in the red zone. do you know what the run blocking rating for the 49ers is? they are rated first in the nfl for run blocking. that goes a long way in comparing two different teams offensive lines and emery should know better than quoting such nonsense. http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol sorry but i don't value anyones opinion higher than mine when i can see with my own eyes the reality of any situation. webb was not bad, he was horrendous. carimi was not bad, he was horrendous. whoever our left guards were were bad. garza was NOT good. if emery really believes that then welcome jerry angelo v 2.0 in regards to our offense. summary: i DO like a lot of what emery has said and his attitude but some of this really has raised at least one red flag to go along with his draft which i consider not very good at this point. i know it will take time to fully evaluate it but to me picking a tweener DE in the first round and a whatever useless position rodruges (sp) is in the 4th round when we have REAL need for a center AND guards is simply unacceptable. this is true espcially since we cut clutts to bring this Hback or whatever he is into chicago for a limited nothing role that did NOTHING to help our offense.