Hester is now the top WR in Chicago.
By Mike Gill
Two seasons ago, the Bears were in the Super Bowl. Last year they were one of the worst teams in the league. So what are expectations in the Second City for this years team? “Your guess is as good as mine,” said Bears beat reporter Jeff Dickerson of ESPN Radio 1000 in Chicago.
The Bears will again have major questions at the quarterback position. Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton will battle it out for the top spot with no current clear-cut leader. “Rex throws the better deep ball and can stretch the field more,” said Dickerson. “Orton is the safer pick, he doesn’t turn the ball over.” While both guys have their flaws, they are are not going to get much help from their wide outs. “Devin Hester is going to be their number one guy,” said Dickerson. Hester has a grand total of 20 catches and 299 yards. “Letting Bernard Berrian leave was a mistake,” Dickerson said. “They should have franchised him.” Instead they went out and got former Redskin Brandon Lloyd. “He has looked good in camp,” Dickerson explained. “But can that translate to Sunday’s is the question.”
One guy they are excited about on offense, is rookie running back Matt Forte. “He has looked spectacular, Dickerson said. “He has shown power, speed and good hands.” The Bears also brought in former Lion, Kevin Jones. Dickerson says Jones is getting back into form and running hard.
The problem with the running game could be up-front. The Bears are a mess on the offensive line and drafted Chris Williams from Vanderbuilt in the first round to try to help that problem – he will now miss the season with a back injury.
Any success that the Bears may achieve should come on the defensive side of the ball. “In terms of personnel, they are right there with the 2006 defense,” said Dickerson. The 2006 team was dominated by their success on defense and if they want to think about the playoffs, their defense will have to dominate again. “They really have a lot of good players on this defense,’ added Dickerson.
Brian Ulracher, Lance Briggs, Alex Brown and Tommy Harris are just some off the good players Dickerson was referring to. Those players were all around for the Super Bowl loss two years ago and know their defense is good enough to win championships. While they say defense wins championships, the do need some help from their offense. ‘The best way to ruin a good defense, is to over work them,” said Dickerson.
The Windy City might not have a lot of high hopes for the Bears, strangers things have happened says Dickerson. “Right now, this is not a playoff team, but there are always surprises along the way. Maybe they win 8-to-9 games, but this is the Vikings division to lose.”
I agree, the Bears will struggle to much on offense and it will just wear out their defense that should keep them in some games early in the season.
Next up : Baltimore Ravens
This is a series called “2-A-Days” that will preview two teams per day every day this month, where Mike Gill will interview a beat writer or radio personality who covers the team on “The Mike Gill Show” on ESPN Radio 1450 , weekdays from 3-6pm
I really liked Lloyd at Illinois and then in S.F. Never really understood why he got buried on the depth chart in Washington, but thought he was a good pick up by the Bears. That being said…this team’s going to be terrible.
I can’t see how this team scores 10 points per game.
Defense and special teams.