I don't even think trading for Cutler was bad. I think what happened after that was killing us. No Coach that really has faith in him, way too many OCs that couldn't find a way, still that same ownership that isn't caring about winning and the only Support for years was Forte.
The cost was just to high. I said at the time that he was clearly better then anything the Bears had recently at qb. Problem was the cost. Part of the OC's was on him, he wasn't willing to run their systems faithfully, some of that was on them. The ability to draft and put pieces around him was valid until around 2012, Forte, Marshal, Jeffery, a year later Bennett. That's some nice talent around him.
12 years ago we drafted Cedric Benson instead of Aarron Rodgers.
+1 And I could understand not recognizing some of the better QBs in the drafts over the years. But we whiffed on a number of guys over the past 30 years or so. Heck, we didn't have to draft a great QB... but a "good" quarterback would have been nice. A good QB can help a team 10 or more years. The Bears just need to get 'er done. Is is hard? Sure. But that's the GMs job. Bring in enough talent to win - including QB talent. I really don't want to hear the whining about how "hard" it is to draft. If you can't draft then you are no good to the team. And I don't want to hear about how "other" failed NFL teams have had a hard time getting a QB. I don't care about what "other" failed teams do. If we are gonna win we need a QB.
I am going to say something here that might hit a nerve with some on here. It's not just the Bears but the fans and many on here as well. The Bears and fans for as long as I can remember have always been Defense first then Special Teams and throw the Offense a bone now and then.
On the old board a while Lovie and JA ran the Bears. I was mad that the Bears hadn't addresses the need to draft a Guard and Tackle or for that matter any Offensive players. Only a few posters agree with me the rest attacked me pointed out how the Bears had a great draft with this Defense of Player and this Special Teams player being a great fit.
I was so happy when they hired Emery too bad he was the wrong guy. And then they hired Pace and Fox and most were happy because they come from Defense first backgrounds and I still think Pace and Fox such and should have been shown the door before last year.
My guess this year the Bears will go heavy Defense in both FA and Draft, I am going as far as to say the first two players signed and drafted will be Defensive players and maybe they should there are so good free agents and draft picks Defensive player out there, I am more interested in what they do after that
I'm w/you jj30, I have been on about the O not being good enoughf or a long time, and also was happy w/the theory of Emery/Trestman(both were wrong guys but the idea was correct). I'm still not happy about the Fox hire. Wrong guy for the wrong team.
I love watching a great defense. Watching the 85 Bears play was a thing of beauty. But I also love an explosive O. I love the long play. I love to see the WRs make circus catches (and we have one of the best NFL circus' in the league). I love to see a RB make tackler miss and punish others. I love to see a guy like Devin Hester in the backfield catching the ball.
All that stuff is big time exciting. It's called good football. We don't see it much.
I figure championship-level teams need to be pretty solid on offense AND defense AND special teams. Sure, one unit will be better than the others, but none of the units should suck. The Patriots had the #1 defense this year (scoring defense). But they were also a pretty decent offense too... a top-3 scoring offense. And the Falcons had the #1 offense and the #6 defense. Pretty strong on both sides of the ball.
Actually, the year Chicago won the super bowl in '85 we had the #1 defense and the #2 offense.
If the goal is to win super bowls here in Chicago, then we need to be a pretty strong team all-around.
Nah . They'll draft another Moses Moreno or Craig Krenzel in the 5th rd and say " we're trying " .... and " but at least we have a good defense " .
or trade for Rick Mirer..
This team better start 'getting it' - and I mean NOW . If Watson is sitting there , and they play it 'safe' and draft some fkn defensive lineman , then they can fk off . I'm tired of the chickenshit approach .
Then they'll go out and go 8-8 , and we'll be drafting 19th , and our one chance to draft a QB at the top of the draft will have been wasted . Then we'll wind up going 8-8 for umpteen years and have 'accomplished' nothing .
This team better start 'getting it' - and I mean NOW . If Watson is sitting there , and they play it 'safe' and draft some fkn defensive lineman , then they can fk off . I'm tired of the chickenshit approach .
Then they'll go out and go 8-8 , and we'll be drafting 19th , and our one chance to draft a QB at the top of the draft will have been wasted . Then we'll wind up going 8-8 for umpteen years and have 'accomplished' nothing .
I have thought about the exact same thing too. There will probably be a couple of QBs in this draft who will go on to have solid NFL careers for their teams. Most drafts have one or two like this, although not always. If one of these guys exist in this draft and is available when we draft at #3 we better pull that trigger and get him.
Granted the "experts" may say the guy is a "reach" at #3 of the draft. But think about this. If we can get a rock-solid QB to lead the team for the next 10 or so years, how on earth can that be called a "reach" pick? How important is a QB to a team wanting to win a super bowl? I'd say that guy is priceless to a team. Priceless. Yes, that means he's more than worth a #3 draft pick. Right?
The key (in my mind anyway) is for Pace to identify that guy in this draft. It may not be the guy we think is the best QB in this draft. That guy will be there at #3. There may even be more than one guy at that point who will be a stellar NFL quarterback. Pace just has to get it right and discern who the best guy is for us.
This team better start 'getting it' - and I mean NOW . If Watson is sitting there , and they play it 'safe' and draft some fkn defensive lineman , then they can fk off . I'm tired of the chickenshit approach .
Then they'll go out and go 8-8 , and we'll be drafting 19th , and our one chance to draft a QB at the top of the draft will have been wasted . Then we'll wind up going 8-8 for umpteen years and have 'accomplished' nothing .
Well, this is where I wanted the team to be. We had a really shitty year, and in return you want to have the ability to choose players in the draft that will make a difference to the team and help turn the team around. That is what happened. We have the third pick in the draft. We have a lot of CAP space. The team knows that is an enviable position. Pace said it in his talk to the fans. They have some real assets right now that they can not afford to screw up or we just go back to mediocrity.
If we would have picked 9-13, then I'd say our chances of getting a difference maker are much less and we are going to be looking at next year being the same with whatever Pace can pull off in FA.
For me, mediocrity is the worst. Year in, year out you just tread water. You don't know how to get better, but you do just good enough to have a mid pack record but never good enough to get into the post season. Year in year out. It like Chinese drip torture. Give me a horrible season with someone who knows what they are doing any time (now whether Pace with Fox as his partner "know what they are doing" is still a real question, but I believe in Pace anyway). Then you can put yourself in a position with a high pick to pull yourself out of the hole. That is what I wanted and that is where we are. Now they have to get it right and they know it. Getting a #3 pick is not easy to do and if we do this right, we won't be doing it again for a very long time.