Rest In Peace Buddy Ryan

In 1981, Buddy Ryan almost lost his job as the defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears. The team was atrocious, and the team’s owner, George Halas, was cleaning house. Head coach Neill Armstrong was let go and Ryan was soon to be next. However, Buddy Ryan was so beloved and the team cared for him so much, that they wrote a letter to Mr. Halas pleading with him to keep Ryan on. It’s a move you don’t see too often in professional sports, yet it worked. What’s even stranger is that Halas brought in former Bears tight end Mike Ditka to become the team’s head coach, sticking Ditka with Ryan and not allowing him to hire his own defensive coordinator. Even though Ditka and Ryan were not the best of friends, Ryan’s players loved him and would go to the end of the world and back again for him. That’s the type of man that Buddy Ryan was. He was a smart man, and a well-respected one. He truly was one of the titans of the game of football, and he will be sorely missed.

Ultimately, keeping Buddy Ryan on as defensive coordinator was a smart move. Even though Ryan notoriously butted heads with Ditka, the two respected each other. Ryan had his defense and Ditka had his offense. Buddy Ryan installed what came to be known at The 46 defense. Commonly misconstrued as the four – six defense (and based upon the number of defenders who would rush the passer or drop into coverage at all times), Ryan’s 46 defense was based upon strong safety Doug Plank, who wore number 46. The basis of the defense is a constant barrage of men attacking the line of scrimmage; eight men would crowd the box with 6 men at all times on the line. And the defense worked.

Why It (Sort Of) Makes Sense To Trade Away Brandon Marshall

According to the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Bears are actively shopping wide receiver Brandon Marshall. As a lifelong Chicago Bears fan, I’m very upset by this news. Brandon Marshall is arguably the greatest receiver in the franchise’s history (from both the numbers he put up in his limited time here and from a pure skills standpoint, I dare you to name someone better) and when healthy, he’s one of the best receivers in the game. Plus, it’s just fun to scream MAHHHHHH-SHHHHHHAAAAALLLL every time he does something excellent. But from the Bears perspective and a GM perspective, it makes sense why they’d want to trade him.

The big reason to trade away Brandon Marshall is that he’s decently expensive. It’s almost the exact same reason the Philadelphia Eagles traded away LeSean McCoy. Marshall is currently under contract for the next three years, and he earns an average of $10 million a year. That makes him (on a yearly average) the 9^th most expensive wide out in the game. That’s extremely fair and market price considering Marshall’s skill set and considering his production during his tenure in Chicago, but also not exactly cheap either. According to OverTheCap.com, Brandon Marshall is set to cost a little over $9.5 million against the cap in 2015, a little under ten million dollars in 2016, and about $10.375 million dollars in 2017. While that’s not a ginormous, Jay Cutler-in-2014 chunk of change, it is still a decent amount of money that will come off of the books. And speaking of Jay Cutler, his contract nose dives over the next few years as his contract was extremely frontloaded. The Bears will save another two million from this year compared to last just the way Cutler’s contract is structured. I bring this up because the Bears will have a guaranteed $11.5 million freed up in 2015 based upon two players alone. That may not be enough to go out and get Ndamukong Suh, but it should be enough to get stud offensive lineman Mike Iupati or Orlando Franklin or a stud defender like CB Byron Maxwell, DB Devin McCourty, or DT Nick Fairley. I would love for the Bears to get help on their back seven on defense as they have had historically bad defenses the past two years, and trading away Marshall will help improve the defense. I contend the Bears have a few good pieces on defense currently on their roster, and a stud free agent acquisition and their 7^th overall pick in conjunction with the coaching of the excellent John Fox could easily be enough to bring the Bears to a respectable place on defense and therefore an above average team.

7 Days Later: An Honest Discussion About The Chicago Bears Firings and Jay Cutler

Irwin Weiner, a frequent Cover 3 contributor, and myself are huge Chicago Bears fans. With what has happened to this organization over the recent days and weeks, we felt we needed to discuss the topic. However, there are so many talking points and things to discuss, we couldn't just write one blog post or have just one podcast. Instead, we needed to have lengthy email chains over the course of several days. This is our discussion about everything from former head coach Marc Trestman and former GM Phil Emery to our thoughts on Jay Cutler and his contract.

IRWIN: Today on Monday December 29th, 2014 the Chicago Bears were one of a few teams to take part in the day known as "Black Monday" in the NFL.  The day after the regular season ends is known as "Black Monday" because that's the day that many teams will fire their coach after disappointing seasons.

This was not a surprise to you or me.  We both have discussed this for weeks and knew changes were coming at Halas Hall.  It was about time that George McCaskey, current Chairman of the Chicago Bears made a change.  We were hoping for smaller changes to come weeks ago in the likes of coordinator changes such as firing Mel Tucker, Aaron Kromer, and Joe Decamillis.  That never came, but today we got which was one of the worse kept secrets in Chicago, Marc Trestman was fired.  Everyone knew he was fired weeks.  This was reported weeks ago by multiple news outlets, and the way the team has been playing it was about time.  You just wonder if they ever thought about doing it before the season ended?

The one thing we didn't know was who else was going to be fired today.  It turned out General Manager Phil Emery (the man who hired Marc Trestman) was also shown the door, and offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer.  There is a lot on these three men and there performance in their respected time as a Chicago Bear.

Before we dive into each specific firing what do you think about the Chicago Bears cleaning house today and saying their tandem wasn't working? 

The Tough 2014 Away Games For The Chicago Bears

The 2014 NFL Schedule was released earlier today, so being the huge Bears fan that I am, I had to take a look for myself. The one major thing that stuck out in my mind is just how tough their away games are. I mean freaking brutal. I expected the Bears to have a tough schedule considering they have to play the AFC East, and NFC South but the Bears schedule is just insane. Let's take a look at the Bears away games:

September 14, at San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers have been to three straight NFC Championship games, have the best coach in the game, a great defense, and an offense that can move the ball. 

September 22, at New York Jets: This is by far and away the easiest away game of the Bears schedule. While I personally don't think the Jets will be that good in 2014, if Geno Smith takes a huge leap forward and Eric Decker and Chris Johnson turn out to be great additions, then the Jets will be a tough team to play.

October 5, at Carolina Panthers: Last year the Panthers finished 1st in the NFC South, earned the #2 seed in the NFC playoffs, have a tough defense, and one of the best quarterbacks in the game.

October 12, at Atlanta Falcons: While I have never been that big of a fan of Matt Ryan's Falcons, even when they kept finishing 1st in the division, they have always been a very good team at home. Plus, after the terrible season the Falcons had in 2013, you know they're going to return to "greatness" in 2014.

October 26, at New England Patriots: The Pats are one of the best teams in the NFL. Period. The Bears just have to hope Tom Brady and Bill Belichick injure each other the week before this game.

November 9, at Green Bay Packers: This game comes every year so of course it's no surprise, but unless Aaron Rodgers is injured and out of the game like he was last year, this game is guaranteed loss.

November 27, at Detroit Lions: THE THANKSGIVING GAME! I expect the Lions to come to play.

December 28, at Minnesota Vikings: OK, the Bears SHOULD defeat the Vikings, but never take a division game for granted. 

NOT DIVISIONAL HOME GAMES: Buffalo, Miami, Tampa Bay, Dallas, New Orleans. I don't expect any of those teams to be very good, so I wouldn't mind if the Bears played any of them at their home stadium. Also, the Bears face the Cowboys and the 49ers because they all finished second in their division. Of course the easier team (Dallas) they play at home and the tougher team (San Fran) they play away. 

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE CHICAGO BEARS AWAY SCHEDULE?

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What Should The Bears Do With Jay Cutler?

The short answer: Truthfully? I have no idea.

And frankly neither do you, because I don't think there is a correct answer to this question. Many Bears fans would disagree, and after back up Josh McCown defeated the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Monday Night in early November, a good majority of Bears fans decided they'd prefer to let Jay Cutler walk and stick with McCown.

After the 2013 NFL season concluded, that suggestion, which seemed extremely short sighted in the middle of the season, isn't a half bad suggestion at the end of the season. McCown started 5 games for the Bears and played in another 3. In that span he completed 66.5% of his passes, and he threw 13 TDs versus only one interception. He actually ended with THE BEST QBR out of every quarterback (including Peyton Manning) in 2013 with an 85.1 (out of 100).

However, during that span, he faced some pretty horrific defenses which included the Washington Redskins, Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys, and Minnesota Vikings. He struggled against better defenses such as the St. Louis Rams and Baltimore Ravens.

I think the bigger question isn't whether Josh McCown will replace Jay Cutler if the Bears refuse to go after Cutler / don't sign him, but which quarterback will. It's no guarantee that McCown will even resign with the Bears. Not only are there reports that McCown will retire, but he is also now a free agent. Last year McCown made $865,000. Chances are good that he'll be able to get a few more sheckles than that from any other team in the league. If the Bears choose to make McCown their starter, even for the short term, they will still have to pay him like a starter.

Let's say that the Bears think Cutler is worth less than what he's asking for and McCown doesn't end up playing for the Bears- something that could easily happen. Who would then play quarterback for the Bears?

With Or Without You: How The Bears Can Survive A Jay Cutler Injury

In 2011, through eleven games, the Chicago Bears were 7-3. They were on a roll and their schedule through the next 6 games was, for the most part, a cake walk. They were on pace to easily get the #5 seed in the NFC come playoff time. Then the injury bug struck them. They lost starting running back Matt Forte which was a bummer but could have been dealt with because the Bears had Marion Barber and Kahlil Bell. But then the killer injury happened- Jay Cutler broke his thumb during a 31-20 win over the Chargers. The cake schedule turned out to be a huge disaster as the Bears lost their next five games and finished the season 8-8.

In 2012, through ten games, the Chicago Bears are 7-2. They are on a roll, but their cake walk schedule is behind them. They face a really, really good San Francisco 49ers team this Monday Night and they still have the Packers left on their schedule (although it will be in Soldier Field) and three more divisional games. Jay Cutler is now injured again (I could write a whole other post about the play which gave Cutler his concussion  and the low fine that came from it, but I digress) but this will NOT be a disaster rest of the season like the Bears' 2011 season was.

Let me give you a player comparison:

PLAYER A: 60.1 completion percentage, 1.34 TD/INT, 4.6 TD%, 3.5 INT%, 7.2 YPA, 84.1 QB Rating

PLAYER B: 60.8 completion percentage, 1.45 TD/INT, 3.4 TD%, 2.3 INT%, 6.7 YPA, 82.8 QB Rating

You can probably already guess who these players are. Player A is Jay Cutler and Player B is Jason Campbell. Those are the career numbers of these two men. If you look at those numbers they are extremely similar. Jay Cutler can get more yards per play and is much more likely to throw a touchdown, but Campbell makes up for his ability to not throw a touchdown by turning the ball over less. There is no doubt that Jay Cutler is a better quarterback than Jason Campbell, but Jason Campbell is a starting-caliber NFL quarterback. I think, right now, he is a better quarterback than Mark Sanchez, Ryan Tannenhill, Blaine Gabbert, Matt Cassel, and Kevin Kolb.

I did a post back in May grading NFL's best off season moves and I gave the Campbell signing an A-. The only reason I didn't like it more was because of the money the Bears gave him. But that being said, that signing was great and every GM in the league (and myself) would have made that deal.

I thought the Bears were going to be fine in 2011 when Cutler went down because I liked the then Bears back up Caleb Hanie. When Cutler got injured during the 2010 NFC Championship game, Hanie came in and looked really good against a tough Packers team. However, that was the only thing I (and most other people) had to judge Hanie on. Boy was I wrong. Hanie was fucking atrocious and I can't believe he is not out of the league after the poor performances he showed while as a Bears starter. Jason Campbell is different. He was a starter for five and a half years and we have a really good sample size to judge what Campbell is. He is certainly no 1999 Kurt Warner but he is a solid NFL player and could legitimately lead this Bears squad for the rest of the year if he needed to.

Luckily, it looks like the Jay Cutler injury will only be a one week injury and even if Cutler was healthy, the Chicago Bears will probably lose to the 49ers in San Fran. However, Jason Campbell is a really good back up quarterback and people need to stop giving him crap.
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Box Score Tonight: Monday Night Football Bears vs. Lions

Box Score Tonight is a bit originally created by The "Bright" One on my old site. He would do the baseball stuff and I started to do the football stuff. It is extremely time consuming to do every weekend and since I am working full time and out of law school I have essentially stopped it completely. But with my beloved Bears playing last night I decided to write up a few things about the game:


- You know that scene in The Avengers where The Hulk grabs Loki and throws him around like a rag doll? That's what I saw when Ndamukong Suh grabbed Jay Cutler and threw him down on that awful sack

- Jay was clearly playing hurt after that play. I assume after hearing all the shit he got after sitting out that NFC Championship game a few years back he decided to play. I personally never questioned his toughness but the dude is a damn rock. That being said Jason Campbell should have played that second half. That's why he was brought in here for and was paid all that money

- I never was a fan of the Mike Tice hire to begin with but after the first six games he's been pretty solid. However, this Lions game for some reason brought out the worst in Tice. The offensive game calling was so timid and so simple that I thought the Bears had rehired Ron Turner for this game.The Lions secondary is atrocious and their front seven didn't play THAT great. This should have been a huge day for Brandon Marshall

- If you're Megatron and you're gonna get shut down, it might as well be by a guy who is so tiny that his nickname is "Peanut" right? Charles Tillman had a phenomenal game against Calvin Johnson and he was on him like white on rice for the ENTIRE game. He's challenging Houston's J.J. Watt as the Defensive Player of the Year

- Holy cow did Matthew Stafford look awful. The Bears D-line was not as dominant as it could have been (although still really darn good) but Stafford consistently missed wide open receivers for this entire game

- You know you're a bad offense when 2012 Brian Urlacher is making big plays and big stops

- I still believe in Illinois' own Mikel LeShoure but the Bears made him look silly as they do all running backs and after his inaugural game has not done much for fantasy owners or Lions fans. Joique Bell is a solid fantasy option as well as he is the clear LeShoure back up

- Jon Gruden is really bad at what he does. There must have been something in the Tampa Bay water 10 years ago because in a sea of great football announcers and analysts right now Gruden and Trent Dilfer sink to the bottom. Jon Gruden made John Madden sound like Cris Collinsworth in this game. I was all for only having two guys in the MNF booth but they should have kept Jaws- a man who is great at breaking down plays and have Gruden be the one that goes

- More great Jon Gruden stuff  with some of his quotes. (Although I really wish I had a transcript of the game so I could write a huge FireJoeMorgan-eqsue post): "The key to neutralize Devin Hester is not to punt", "The Lions must have read the scouting report on the Bears. They knew Jay Cutler likes to throw to Brandon Marshall.", & (after a Lions fumble) "That's what the Bears do. They allow you to run 10-12 plays and then expect you to make a mistake"

- I'm convinced the NFL is colluding against the Bears by giving them the worst audio equipment ever. That's the only logical explanation I can think of for burning a time out early in the first quarter for like 22 straight games. I'm seriously sick of them calling stupid time outs over and over again because the correct offensive play isn't called in on time. I haven't seen any other team call time outs for this like the Bears do.

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