Lucky Luciano

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.

a few things he said about this teams offense and offensive line gave me reason to pause. his reliance on this 'stat'? analysis to determine how our offensive linemen played was not what i wanted to hear. his assessment of webb, if i heard this correctly, was mindboggling. in my opinion this guy is the worst tackle in the nfl or close to it. how could you rate nearly anyone lower than him and not DRAFT someone even on a longshot pick to replace him? his assessment of key offensive players (RB OR WR) seemed to eclipse the reality of how to build around the KEY, key player who is a qb and keep him HEALTHY. what good is it to have these 'key' type players if your quarterback is on IR and you are playing your third stringers? how can you make the qb position work efficiently with no running game due to poor run blocking? it's astounding this came out of his mouth. he mentioned specifically our tackles needing consistency while saying we had adequate talent at our interior line. HUH???? you can't possibly be serious. we need not just one guard we need TWO and a freaking real CENTER!!! garza is average at BEST, louis is average at best and unknown, spencer would struggle to average and did he forget about chileo? in another breath he lauded davis as our TE. how is that remotely possible?? what is this guy watching??? i am hoping this was just some lip service of not burning your bridges just yet but if not... whew, we still have some real problems in upper management.

here are the top coaches i would like to see in chicago (sean payton is off the market): 1. bill cowher: although defensive minded this guy still can coach and knows how to surround himself with good personnel. maybe the only defensive minded coach i give the keys to the franchise to. 2. andy reid: i understand the problems in philly but this guy can still coach and has tons of experience. a new venue may be just what he needs to succeed. 3. mike holmgren: another very good coach but BAD gm/coach. in truth i would bring him in with NO reservations at all as a head coach. he knows qb's and knows how to get the most out of an offense. brings in good support coaches also. i would also like him in the position that sweaty teddy is in even with the cleveland situation. 4. a dark horse is seriously jimmy johnson. this guy can work with a very young group of players and sift out the flotsam. a proven winner with an offensive mind. 5. a very dark horse... brian billick. never did a lot with the ravens offense but i still think this guy knows offensive football. just maybe. i have chosen the above because... i want a good proven coach who has done it before. call them retreads or whatever you want. i am TIRED of on the job training for head coaches. at this point we need someone to move us UP the ladder. we have never hired a head coach in this franchises modern history who has been a head coach in the NFL. it's time. some others will surface but for now this is my short list.

shirley you jest? although both of these hammerheads would fit the chicago bear definition of a franchise qb, if we ever want to see a superbowl in this century just say NO to these types of pretenders. tim tebow? bobby douglas was better than this guy. he's not a starting qb, not a #2 qb and not a #3 qb. sanchez? didn't we already have him here in cade mcnown? if either one of these qb's turns into even a 'good' qb it will be a decade from now and if i'm wrong i'll eat my own foot. for god's sake if we are THIS desperate for a qb hire about 10 GOOD scouts over the next 3 years just to evaluate good quaterback talent in the college ranks and DRAFT them!! EDIT: which we SHOULD do anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i have been a strong advocate for hiring a GOOD progressive (not ditkaish) offensive minded head coach with NFL experience for a long, long, time and i still am pushing for this scenario especially in light of today's NFL rules. shanny is the case in point or even kubiak (our GM's/owners missed both giving lovie their support and "confidence"). but... there are a few really good head coach candidates in the NFL that i could and would/would have, targeted HARD who are defensive minded but bring a lot more to the table than the lovie mindset of complete ignorance of the offensive side of the ball. they understand what it takes to win in the nfl and surround themselves with 'superior' talented coaches to compensate and work in their system. one was jeff fisher who we passed on to continue with the lovie death spiral. you can say whatever you want, this guy can put together very good staffs who work very well together on both sides of the ball. he also puts together a good system when losing key coaching personnel and players and has worked with idiot owners before so would have been able to work in chicago well. he also motivates players to play hard. the other is bill cowher. from what i have seen he is a great player motivator who gets his teams ready to play on sunday afternoons. he can adjust well not ONLY in weekly game prep but can adjust on the fly during a game. he doesn't need to look at the game film 3 days later to see what isn't working. he has coached in one of the toughest divisions over the years and done more than just ok. his biggest attribute might be his ability to bring good coaching staffs together who really know how to coach players to be better. even through attrition he lands on his feet with good coaches when his staff might move on to other teams and good ball players when he loses key players to free agency or injury. in my opinion, since shanny is gone, this is my absolute top pick for the bears head coaching position to move this franchise up the ladder to win superbowls and not just 'make the playoffs' or lose that miracle superbowl appearance every 10 years. if our GM is worth a can of spit and can supply cowher with good draft picks we could start challenging the rest of the NFL for that top spot within the next 3 years. the second choice for me would be payton. he has a ton of experience coaching and the results are credible. a TOP choice pick for chicago to move ahead. next: i really would like andy reid as our head coach and if he is mentally ready to continue at this point with all the turmoil in his family then he is my third choice. it might be a hard call on him though at this time. it would take some serious conversations with reid through our GM to determine this. my next choice would be a flyer on bruce arians. it's a fair sized gamble at this point as he has never put together a staff of his own. he does have a lot of NFL coaching experience though and is an offensive minded coach who has worked with the best qb's. a LOT would depend upon emery as to whether arians would succeed or not. after this it is a crap shoot on coordinators moving up. i would seriously stay away from any college rank coaches to lead this franchise from where it is at right now. it's just to risky especially considering the absolute lack of quality players currently on this team.

right now marshall is the best player on offense in both performance and attitude. NOBODY, with the possible exception of cutler, tries harder to move the chains than this guy. it's his attitude that he will not be stopped and fights for every inch on the field. we need about a half dozen more players like him.

those are good choices. also throw the moon cowhers way and get him out of retirement. even as a defensive minded coach he surrounds himself with good coaching talent. in my opinion if we had launched lovie and company 2 years ago and gone after shanny we would be sitting pretty well right now. we also missed the boat in my opinion on passing up on fisher. whatever happens we need a change for the better and not some knucklehead with his first NFL job cause he works cheap.

we had nearly 10 years of poor drafting that has left this franchise with nearly nothing in drafted talent. our roster is swarming with 2nd and 3rd tier players on BOTH sides of the ball and players at the ends of their careers. the only talent what-so-ever with maybe 1-2 exceptions has been brought in as free agents or drafted by someone else than jerry angelo. to let that GM continue on as long as he did falls DIRECTLY onto CEO mike mccaskey and his crony ted phillips. they have run this franchise into the freaking DIRT that will take a good GM 3-4 years to turn around in the draft even IF we currently have one!!! the coaching staff in this franchise should have been FIRED at the very least 2-4 years ago. yet the mccaskey family gave lovie and his garbage coaching staff(s) their vote of confidence and support. this falls directly on them. so... you can blame lovie (who sucks) or any of his staff (who sucks even harder) for this mess but in reality it's the people who hired him and kept him here for nearly a decade. so thank the mccaskey family from the top down for NOTHING!!!!!

i agree with most of what you stated. little bum to me is and has been a very good defensive coordinator throughout the decades but has the buddy ryan syndrome as a head coach. i would have taken (and still would) phillips in a new york minute as our DC. to me he is light years ahead of lovie and lovie's entire system of defense. capers seems to me to be capable as DC and appears to be able to figure out whatever coaches and personnel we throw at the packers. we have been out-coached and out-ownered/VPPP/GM'ed year after year for decades and it shows that we have no clue how to plan ahead further than the immediate season.

i will concede i am poor to say the least at math. but if i did it correctly, i used these percentages as the NFL as a whole which included the 33 teams. maybe these are wrong too? LOL... like i said math is not my forte. it looks way more convincing with your out of the top 20 percentages though.

i too am not going to count carimi out just yet. we'll wait and see and HOPE he pulls out of this rookie slump. although... a serious concern came up for me in the last game. it's a question of balance. it's one of the most IMPORTANT things a rb or offensive lineman can have to become good +. at times he was just off balance and plain knocked on his arse. this should NOT happen.

i'm not sure this link to the bleacher report is supporting your assumptions. Bleacher Report - Top 20 Offensive Tackles in the NFL: Using Advanced Stats to Select the Best OTs 20. Marcus Gilbert - 2nd round - RT 19. Joe Staley - 1st round - RT, LT 18. Matt Light - 2nd round - LT 17. Michael Roos - 2nd round - RT, LT 16. Duane Brown - 1st round - LT 15. Andre Smith - 1st round - RT 14. Trent Williams - 1st round - LT 13. D’Brickashaw Ferguson - 1st round - LT 12. Eric Winston - 3rd round - RT 11. Bryan Bulaga - 1st round - RT 10. Andrew Whitworth - 2nd round - LG, LT 9. Tyron Smith - 1st round - RT, LT 8. Sebastian Vollmer - 2nd round - RT 7. Jake Long - 1st round - LT 6. Eugene Monroe - 1st round - LT 5. Branden Albert - 1st round - LT 4. Joe Thomas - 1st round - LT 3. Jason Peters - undrafted free agent - TE, RT, LT 2. Tyson Clabo - undrafted free agent - bounced around on practice squad till falcons - LT 1. David Stewart - 4th round - RT what this reads like to me is... 1. that of the top tackles left or right in the NFL 11 of these were drafted in the first round; 5 were drafted in the 2nd round; 1 in the 3rd round; 1 in the 4th round; and TWO were undrafted free agents. a total of 51.5% of the top tackles were first day draft picks (rounds 1-3). a total of 3% were drafted in round 4; and to cap it off 6% were undrafted. those are staggering percentages. 2. left tackle: over 27% were first round draft picks; 9% were 2nd round picks; 0% were 3rd round picks; 0% 4th round picks; 6% were undrafted. or a total of over 33% of the best of the best were first day picks and in this case rounds one and two. these percentages speak volumes of where you want to look for high quality offensive tackles.

i agree with both. is tice the next human sacrifice to fall on lovies sword? fisher to me is one of the better coaches in the NFL today and that situation in tenn was dismal.

agree but it just isn't a surprise. isn't the definition of insanity of doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results each time? this is on our management. letting mikey run this franchise as the CEO into the sewer after his 'demotion' for running this franchise into the mud previously. this is on the owners for hiring a president of football operations who knows even less about football than they do in ted phillips. this is on sweaty teddy for hiring jerry angelo and giving him his confidence long after he should have been fired. this is on the mccaskey family for hiring a ticket promoter relative in george to REPLACE mikey the idiot child who gave angelo AND lovie smith his seal of approval. this is on jerry angelo for poor drafting and and even worse coaching hires and standing firmly by his poor decisions. this is on lovie smith who has never had a creative football thought in 10 years. he has never realized that a GOOD team will dismantle your style of defense with scalpel precision CONSISTENTLY. ignore the offensive side of the ball in an era when it has evolved into an offense oriented game. lovie who has overseen the hiring of multiple coaching staffs by friends and cronies instead of hiring competent coaching staffs. of being incapable of any input or direction on the offensive side of the ball when it's obvious it is going down in flames for MULTIPLE years. this "D" has been figured out since the turn of the century. every team in the NFL can use last years game film to devise a game plan against us. our DC is the same learn-on-the-job coach as our OC is. where is the genius in marinelli's play book? are our defensive linemen really any better than when he started as our DC? is the scheme any better or different than lovies from 8 or 9 years ago? how about tice? who on our OL is better? they can't even scheme the basics. how is tice an offensive line guru after seeing what has transpired? look at our LT. has carimi gotten better? as i have said for the past umpteen years all of our linemen are playing different positions than they should be. gruden may be the only announcer to comment on this i can remember. we have a 'decent/average' though aging LEFT guard playing center and before that RIGHT guard. a 7th round RT playing LT, a college LT playing RT, a RG, chilio, playing LG. it just seems ludicrous that these people don't get it or at LEAST try changing it after this long.

i can't imagine our OC didn't try to compensate with a different blocking scheme or maybe switch tackle positions? how could it have possibly have made it worse? i can't imagine that our OC didn't send SOMEONE in to replace either of our tackles by the 2nd quarter to at least SEE if they could be worse and if they were then they are truly wasting a roster spot. maybe move garza over to replace chilio at left guard and put spenser in at center but for god's sake do something even if it was wrong. our tackles were horrendous, our guards weren't much better, and our center? at best he was just bad. carimi was just plain getting beaten like a rented mule but it was hard to determine if he was worse than webb. at one time both our tackles got pushed 5 yards behind the LOS and met at our QB for a sack at the same time. i don't think i have ever seen that before. after seeing just how really, really bad our starting offensive line is, how bad must our back-ups be? how could they possibly be collecting an NFL salary if our offensive coach will let something like what we saw continue? can't anyone in this entire franchise judge offensive line talent? how could they possibly believe this OL was solid going into the season??