We are in the 2nd season of the rebuilding effort. This morning it occurred to me that there is a wide range of opinions regarding the Bears fans on the state-of-the-team right now. Granted there are a lot of unknown factors that need to be solved. And how they solve those factors will determine the outcome. Could be good. Could be bad.
But in general, how far off do you see the Bears from being a playoff team?
As always, it is not an easy answer.
I would have said prior to this year that with our schedule and the LB improvements, I saw an entry into the post season this year. Obviously, that is not going to happen.
The problem in making any kind of educated (and I use that term loosely) judgement is that we do not know the cause of what is affecting the Bears. I suspect that much of it is coaching, and I am looking at Fox and Loggains on that, but the defense has not been lighting it up either. Players do seem like they are getting better, but still... there is something there also.
So if we rebuild the rebuild and get rid of Fox this offseason, which is a real possibility, the timeline moves out. Still could be 2018, but I think the best chance we have is for us to get the very best football mind in charge of the operations and make Phillips report to him as an asset rather than the guy report to Phillips as has been the case. Still think that will be a longshot given the long relationship between the family and Phillips. That could mean a very long time before we see respectability. Actually, we should see respectability, but a SB win might be a long time.
We are in the 2nd season of the rebuilding effort. This morning it occurred to me that there is a wide range of opinions regarding the Bears fans on the state-of-the-team right now. Granted there are a lot of unknown factors that need to be solved. And how they solve those factors will determine the outcome. Could be good. Could be bad.
But in general, how far off do you see the Bears from being a playoff team?
As always, it is not an easy answer.
I would have said prior to this year that with our schedule and the LB improvements, I saw an entry into the post season this year. Obviously, that is not going to happen.
The problem in making any kind of educated (and I use that term loosely) judgement is that we do not know the cause of what is affecting the Bears. I suspect that much of it is coaching, and I am looking at Fox and Loggains on that, but the defense has not been lighting it up either. Players do seem like they are getting better, but still... there is something there also.
So if we rebuild the rebuild and get rid of Fox this offseason, which is a real possibility, the timeline moves out. Still could be 2018, but I think the best chance we have is for us to get the very best football mind in charge of the operations and make Phillips report to him as an asset rather than the guy report to Phillips as has been the case. Still think that will be a longshot given the long relationship between the family and Phillips. That could mean a very long time before we see respectability. Actually, we should see respectability, but a SB win might be a long time.
I think most of us thought it would take 3 drafts and 3 free agencies, to seriously upgrade the roster talent. We have brought in some solid young players in 2 years. This morning I was thinking about how good sometimes comes out of rough experiences. Something good could come out of the horrific season. Obviously, no one in their right mind would WANT to have the two seasons like we have had under Pace as GM. But two things come to mind as positives.
1. Pace got a relatively high draft pick last season (not just in the first round). He brought in some solid guys, IMHO. And this season should provide an even better draft position to restock the cupboard with even more key young players. A top-3 draft pick (again, drafting high in every round) bodes well for us, because I do believe Pace can provide the talent we need. This will be the 3rd of the 3 years of the rebuild.
2. The injury woes this year were epic. But even that provided something good, because a lot of young people are getting serious playing time opportunities. We were not going to win much this year anyway... certainly LOL, not a deep playoff run.
Next season, with the 3rd of 3 drafts and free agent signings, and all of our injured players back (and that will include some very solid players) we should have quite a roster of solid gifted youngsters. We just need Fangio to stay and take that D to the next level (a top-5 defense is not out of the realm of possibility) and match that with a gifted OC on the other side.
We will have a new, young QB on board next year too. It should be a pretty exciting year compared with last year and this year. We will (finally) have a fun team to watch. I don't expect greatness by any means next year, but rather see a team completely restocked with young talent and led by two solid coordinators on D and O... and ST's too I guess. Even if Fox stays (which he very well may not stay) but if he does, he is really not "The Guy" if we have two solid coordinators running the show. Fox can just show up at the post-game interviews and talk about the same irrelevant stuff that nobody listens to anyway. Life will be good again.
p.s. Does this ^^^^^ qualify me for an honorary MSU degree?
Post by brasilbear on Nov 26, 2016 10:08:34 GMT -6
With the NFCN looking poised to free fall, anything is possible. IMO it all depends on how Pace addresses the QB question. With Cutler gone after this season (2 Mil in dead cap v 12 Mil in salary, numbers don't look good for Cutler), the clock starts running. Can the Bears get a QB before the rest of the roster starts aging out or deals with injury?
With the NFCN looking poised to free fall, anything is possible. IMO it all depends on how Pace addresses the QB question. With Cutler gone after this season (2 Mil in dead cap v 12 Mil in salary, numbers don't look good for Cutler), the clock starts running. Can the Bears get a QB before the rest of the roster starts aging out or deals with injury?
+1 Exactly. We really don't know... I agree. And I certainly don't expect a young draftee to come in and light it up right away. It will be very interesting to see how Pace addresses the QB position in the off-season. Anything can happen in football. We could very well be pleasantly surprised next season. I'm not one of those thinking we are doomed to years of rebuilding. The talent part of the rebuild should be pretty complete by next season. No team gets perfect talent roster-wide. Even the best teams have to work with less than ideal talent, but they do need to have a reasonable threshold of talent. We will have that "reasonable" threshold of talent next year.
Post by brasilbear on Nov 26, 2016 10:25:07 GMT -6
I don't think they are doomed to years of rebuilding. But unless Pace can find a QB, the Bears are going to be quite Jeff-Fisher like with a season or two of one and done. It could be a return to the Lovie years with Krenzel-Quinn-Orton-Grossman. What a waste of a DEF.
I would have said prior to this year that with our schedule and the LB improvements, I saw an entry into the post season this year. Obviously, that is not going to happen.
The problem in making any kind of educated (and I use that term loosely) judgement is that we do not know the cause of what is affecting the Bears. I suspect that much of it is coaching, and I am looking at Fox and Loggains on that, but the defense has not been lighting it up either. Players do seem like they are getting better, but still... there is something there also.
So if we rebuild the rebuild and get rid of Fox this offseason, which is a real possibility, the timeline moves out. Still could be 2018, but I think the best chance we have is for us to get the very best football mind in charge of the operations and make Phillips report to him as an asset rather than the guy report to Phillips as has been the case. Still think that will be a longshot given the long relationship between the family and Phillips. That could mean a very long time before we see respectability. Actually, we should see respectability, but a SB win might be a long time.
I think most of us thought it would take 3 drafts and 3 free agencies, to seriously upgrade the roster talent. We have brought in some solid young players in 2 years. This morning I was thinking about how good sometimes comes out of rough experiences. Something good could come out of the horrific season. Obviously, no one in their right mind would WANT to have the two seasons like we have had under Pace as GM. But two things come to mind as positives.
1. Pace got a relatively high draft pick last season (not just in the first round). He brought in some solid guys, IMHO. And this season should provide an even better draft position to restock the cupboard with even more key young players. A top-3 draft pick (again, drafting high in every round) bodes well for us, because I do believe Pace can provide the talent we need. This will be the 3rd of the 3 years of the rebuild.
2. The injury woes this year were epic. But even that provided something good, because a lot of young people are getting serious playing time opportunities. We were not going to win much this year anyway... certainly LOL, not a deep playoff run.
Next season, with the 3rd of 3 drafts and free agent signings, and all of our injured players back (and that will include some very solid players) we should have quite a roster of solid gifted youngsters. We just need Fangio to stay and take that D to the next level (a top-5 defense is not out of the realm of possibility) and match that with a gifted OC on the other side.
We will have a new, young QB on board next year too. It should be a pretty exciting year compared with last year and this year. We will (finally) have a fun team to watch. I don't expect greatness by any means next year, but rather see a team completely restocked with young talent and led by two solid coordinators on D and O... and ST's too I guess. Even if Fox stays (which he very well may not stay) but if he does, he is really not "The Guy" if we have two solid coordinators running the show. Fox can just show up at the post-game interviews and talk about the same irrelevant stuff that nobody listens to anyway. Life will be good again.
p.s. Does this ^^^^^ qualify me for an honorary MSU degree?
I think the part where you equated a new, young QB to a good QB gets you an honorary degree!
