Incomplete pass

Oh, Bears.

Jeremy Bates, the 33-year old rising star who was the quarterbacks coach for Jay Cutler in Denver and last season the offensive coordinator for the USC Trojans, has opted not to take over the Bears offensive play calling, reportedly because the chance to join Slippery Pete Carroll's staff in Seattle provides more stability than signing on to a likely one-and-done regime in Chicago.

That was the guy I wanted. He was also the guy that our franchise QB wanted. And if we'd have gotten rid of Lovie Smith for, say, Bill Cowher, we would have had him (although, in fairness, Cowher may have opted to bring in one of his own guys like a Chan Gailey).

But I was also interested in Tom Clements, the Green Bay Packer's quarterbacks coach who has worked wonders with Aaron Rodgers and worked with Favre before that.

Well, the Packers, who have Clements under contract, denied the Bears' request to allow them to speak with him, reportedly because they didn't want him calling plays for an NFC North rival. Now I don't feel bad for taking so much glee in their fall to the Cardinals.

It's looking more and more like Martz. And maybe I'm crazy, but he's the last guy I want. Well, not the LAST. That would be Mike Tice, who's reportedly being considered for some kind of position on the staff (please say it's offensive line coach, at best).

The one guy who's still out there that I really like is Bill Musgrave, quarterbacks coach from the Atlanta Falcons. The guy has done wonders with Matt Ryan and Matt Schaub (while at University of Virginia). Musgrave also has been an offensive coordinator in this league, and he's well generally well regarded.

One other name being tossed around that I find intriguing is Jedd Fisch, currently the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who coached wide receivers when Cutler was in Denver. But there are rumors that Shanahan might come calling on him. And I never liked anyone named Jedd.

Now what?

I predict Lovie and Jerry Angelo stay put, but they replace Ron Turner and relieve Lovie of the D-Coordinator duties.

The free agent market is tougher to predict. No idea what's going to happen with the collective bargaining agreement. But players I predict will not be with the Bears next season include Nathan Vasher, Adrian Peterson, Orlando Pace, Rashied Davis. I think Olin Kreutz stays. Tougher to predict, in my mind are the fates of Adewale Ogunleye, Danieal Manning, Mark Anderson, Pisa Tinoisamoa, Jamar Williams, Josh Bullocks, and punter Brad Maynard. We could lose all those guys. Probably won't lose 'em all, but probably will lose a few.

In my mind top FA targets are a quality offensive lineman and a ball hawking free safety. In my dreams they're Logan Mankins from the Patriots and Oshiomogho Atogwe from the Rams. I think those two guys would immediately make a HUGE impact on this team.

The end is (thankfully) near

One more game to go until that staggering, lumbering beast that is the Chicago Bears 2009 season is finally put out of its misery. After the year began on such a high note with the trade for Jay Cutler (which I would still make every time), to be where we are now, as an organization, is particularly disappointing. There was an article in the papers yesterday in which Alex Brown said that people just don't understand how devastating the loss of Brain Urlacher was to this team and he basically blamed the wasted year on that injury.

I put some credence into that, but I also believe you can't ever use injuries as an excuse. Injuries are part of the game and they happen to everyone. But I believe that Urlacher definitely helped to give that defense a personality and toughness that they seem to lack without him.

Other than Briggs, I don't think there are people on our defense that really instill fear in anyone. Urlacher, whatever you want to say about him losing a step or being overrated, brought the fear. He also brought an maybe held people more accountable than the other defensive leaders did. With Mike Brown run out of town and Urlacher suddenly out of the picture, there was definitely a lack of leadership and an identity crisis that went down on that side of the ball.

So you had a defense in the midst of an identity crisis. On the other side of the ball you had an offense equally confused about who they were supposed to be. You had three new starters on the offensive line. You had a new hotshot quarterback but not a single receiver with any meaningful experience in the league. You had Matt Forte regress and become not much of a factor. You claim you get off the bus running—you've always been that team—but suddenly you can't run. You want to throw but you're not set up to be a throwing team. You're built to run, except you just bought Orlando Pace who can't run block anymore, you have Chris Williams who you drafted to play left tackle playing right tackle, and you're new starting left guard, Frank Omiygale, has never played guard.

There were some good things about the win against Minnesota last week. Chris Williams looked like he can maybe be a left tackle in this league. Cutler reminded us why we like him. Devin Aromashodu looks like he may be a real receiver. On defense I think Zack Bowman continues to improve. Craig Steltz looked pretty good I thought. Tommie Harris had his best game of the year.

But we've still got more questions than answers at this point. And without picks in the first two rounds of the draft and the uncertainty of the salary cap situation looming, there aren't a lot of moves the Bears are going to be able to make to improve in the near term.

What if?

Let's just say we still had Kyle Orton. Or let's say we had traded for Philip Rivers or Aaron Rogers instead of Jay Cutler.

Do you think the Bears would be any better?

I don't.

Watching Cutler go out and play it safe on Sunday night made me want to puke. Jay Cutler is a gunslinger. Let him do what he did last year when he made the Pro Bowl for the AFC. The AFC, the conference that has quarterbacks like Peyton Manning, Phillip Rivers, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Carson Palmer...Cutler was up there with those guys.

Now he plays for the Bears. He's our bright and shiny new toy and we're breaking him in the first year.

Ron Turner ought to be absolutely ridden out of town on the third rail. If I see that bubble screen to Hester ONE MORE TIME I'm going to throw my television out the third story window of my building.

Jay Cutler isn't the problem. Does he deserve some of the blame? Absolutely.

But he has wide receivers who don't run good routes, who are never open, who don't fight for the ball. Greg Olsen, who was supposed to be his best weapon, looks like a big, slow wide receiver who can't block.

He has an offensive line that can't stop anyone.

He has no running game. Running back Matt Forte hasn't done anything this season ... you know you're not doing well when undrafted rookie runner Kahlil Bell comes in and makes you look like a second stringer.

Lovie Smith took over the Defense. They've looked better the last couple of weeks, but terrible before that.

How's that trade for Gaines Adams looking right now? How 'bout drafting Jaquin Iglesias in the third round? Or pool jumper Jarron Gilbert in the second?

I don't believe in what the Bears are trying to do any more. I think Jerry Angelo got cocky after a one-year-wonder team made it to the Super Bowl, and wasted draft picks on guys like Garrett Wolfe and Dan Bauzin and Jarron Gilbert, luxury picks for teams that already have all the pieces in place. I think that our system, the Tampa-2, has been passed by in a league where if you don't evolve you die.

I think you've got to do something drastic to shake this franchise out of this funk or your going to be in a 5-year tailspin and you're going to waste the best quarterback this franchise has had take the field in my life time.

Bear down.

Looking ahead

Don't let Lovie's "5 losses won't keep us out of the playoffs" talk fool you. This season is over. The only real excitement left will be seeing whether or not Ron Turner keeps his job (how 'bout Charlie freakin' Weis as your next Bears O-Coordinator? Though the smart money is probably on Mike Martz...).

With no picks in the first two rounds of next year's draft, here's my wish list for free agent signings this off season (assuming the player's union and the owners hammer out a new salary cap agreement)...

Offensive Line:

Logan Mankins, OG, New England Patriots

Winston Justice, OT, Philadelphia Eagles

The market for guards has become inflated, and he won't come cheap, but Logan Mankins would shore up the interior of that line. He would immediately be your best lineman.

Winston Justice struggled famously earlier in his career, giving up four sacks in his debut start against the Giants, but he's putting together a very solid season this year, and at only 24 he could be a long-term solution at right tackle, allowing Chris Williams to slide over to the left side. Pace will be gone after this season.

Wide Receiver:

Brandon Marshall, WR, Denver Broncos

The bidding for Vincent Jackson (WR, San Diego Chargers) is going to be too high. Marshall will come at a bit of a discount because of his off the field problems and his sub-par performance this season. But the history and rapport with Cutler is there. He would be a legitimate number one receiver if you can live with his baggage. Marshall, Knox, Bennett ... get Devin Hester back to returning kicks ... that would give you some real fire power.

Defensive Secondary:

O.J. Atogwe, FS, St. Louis Rams

Richard Marshall, CB, Carolina Panthers

O.J. Atogwe is another guy who isn't going to come cheap, but he's exactly the kind of playmaking FS we've been coveting forever. At 28, he's got some milage left. He would be a perfect fit for the Bears defense.

Richard Marshall has been a tackling machine for Carolina the past three seasons. He's consistent and doesn't give up big plays, is a physical corner, and is only 24.

Blueprint for a sad season

There are still eight games to play ... The way it looks right now, here's my predictions:

@ 49ers W

Eagles L

@ Vikings L

Rams W

Packers W

@ Ravens L

Vikings L

@ Lions W

I think the game against the 49ers this Thursday and the game against the Pack December 13th could easily go the other way. But if we're able to sweep the Lions, beat the lowly Rams, beat the Packers at home, and find a way to rebound and beat Mike Singletary's 49ers this week, we could finish .500 this season. I don't see it getting any better than that under any circumstances. And I think 6-10 or worse is a real possibility.

So what's gone wrong this season?

1. Offensive Line. In 2002 we drafted Marc Columbo and Terrence Metcalf on the first day of the draft (rounds 1 and 3, respectively). Since then the only other offensive lineman we've drafted on day one has been Chris Williams in '08, in the first round, though he has not played like a first round pick up to this point. They were surprised by the retirement of John Tait and had to scramble. They came up with Orlando Pace, which seemed like a good idea at the time, but at the midway point of this season it's clear that he's no longer a good option as a starter in this league. It wouldn't surprise me if he retires following this season. How much does Garza have left in the tank? Or Kreutz for that matter? You've got a real problem on the o-line and Frank Omiygale isn't the answer. Football is won and lost in the trenches. We've taken lots of shots at the defensive line. Not so much on the offensive line.

2. Wasted draft picks. Michael Haynes. Cedric Benson. Rex Grossman. Dan Bauzin. Mark Bradley. Tank Johnson. Those players were chosen in first or second round of the draft between 2003-2005 and Bauzin in 2007. None of those players are currently with the organization. That ain't good. That is not a recipe for building a winner. And we have only one pick on the first day this year. Given the way we draft on day one maybe that's not such a bad thing...

3. Coaching. Since Ron Rivera was unceremoniously forced out of Chicago following the Super Bowl loss to the Colts, the defense has taken a nosedive. Period. So Lovie takes over the defense this season. And we hire Rod Marenelli to coach the defensive linemen and John Hoke to coach defensive backs (moves which, admittedly, I applauded at the time), and we thought that was going to make up for our defects from a year ago. Not even close. Coaches can't make plays. It's up to players. They haven't. Or maybe they haven't been put in a position to make plays? And, no matter what happens with the rest of the staff, I sincerely hope Ron Turner is looking for employment after the season is over.

If we go 8-8 this year, I think they'll probably retain Lovie et al. If it falls of the tracks and ends up 6-10 ... I think there are going to be some lovely homes up for sale in the Lake Forest area. And maybe that would be for the best.

You can already hear the Mike Shanahan, Bill Cowher mumbles starting.

Well, at least we beat up on the Browns

I don't ever remember feeling so down on my team after a 24-point victory.

I was too despondent to post after the whooping we took at the hands of Cedric Benson and the Bengals. I mean, ouch. That game hurt worse than any I remember in the last several seasons.

But the Browns are sure a remedy for whatever's ailin' ya. Wow. Do they stink or what? You want to talk about a franchise with the arrow perpetually pointing down, they are it.

And yet, if it wasn't for five takeaways by the Bear defense in that game, it could have been a much different story. Our offense sure couldn't do much. Even against the lowly Browns. And especially in the red zone.

I'm still awfully concerned about the offensive line. I was glad to see Josh Beekman replace Frank Omiygale, but Orlando Pace is still looking terrible and Chris Williams should not be on playing the right side. You need a mauler at right tackle. At best, Williams is a finesse guy. At worst, he's soft. The jury is still out.

I'd like to see the Bear yank Pace, move Williams to the left where his technique and frame are better suited to play, and insert either Kevin Shaffer, or even Omiyale (who had played exclusively tackle in his pro career until the Bears decided he was a guard) at right tackle.

We better do something. Watching that Minnesota D come after Aaron Rodgers scared me. If we can't get some better play out of that offensive line Cutler may just get killed.