Uncoordinated

Disclaimer: Bears talk.

The big mea culpa at the end of the season sends the offensive coordinator on his way, and removes Lovie from the defensive coordinator position. We all know now that Lovie has an iron-clad lock on his defensive scheme. He's passionate about it to get rid of Ron Rivera over it and defended it yet again at this most recent press conference. Two problems here.

First, all we know about Lovie's offensive scheme is "we get off the bus running the ball." This statement came about when we had Thomas Jones, who could actually run the ball, and a line who knew how to block for the run. Since then, what have the Bears done to support that game plan? Hire Jay Cutler. Hm. The new offensive coordinator will have to have a complete, balanced plan in place, I think.

Second, Lovie's defensive scheme is old. The "Tampa 2" wasn't even being used by Monte Kiffin AT TAMPA by the time he left. The problem with this scheme is that you need key players with the right mindset to pull it off. I still believe that Tommie Harris could come back and have a few good years up front, but if not, that's a difficult position to fill. If we get Urlacher and Briggs back, that's a stout middle with plenty of solid backup. The safeties we had this year were okay, but it seemed to be a rotating cast. Definitely no standout there, although I'd be interested to see Charles Tillman move to safety. It makes sense on a few levels - he's smart, athletic, and knows the system.

It's pretty obvious that money did matter to the Bears in this decision. The offensive and defensive coordinators would, presumably, be operating under Lovie's schemes and overall game plan. Firing them (himself included) indicates that it was the coordinators who didn't get the job done this year. With that in mind, I still don't understand how he continues on (defiantly, even) as head coach. If everyone in my group at work gets fired for poor performance, you better believe the manager will come under fire, too.

There's a lot of hypocrisy coming out of Halas hall these days, but his remaining contract is the only reason I can imagine why he's still the head football coach. For that bold-faced lie alone, Ted Phillips should be removed from his post.

I'm not a Lovie hater, I just don't think he's an effective head coach. I wonder if he'd be successful as a defensive coordinator anymore, either, if that was his only job. Reality is, his defense wasn't prepared this year, and the whole team seemed flat going into every game. The games we won seemed like the flukes, not the other way around, and that's the main problem.