Are the bears a bad 8-3 team?

[eMarkM]

Life long Chicagoan and Bears fan here. This team only looks like a bad team because Orton is just plain awful. They are winning in spite of him. During this streak he's keeping his mistakes down, and he has had some good moments, but they run whenever possible because the coaches can't really trust him to carry them in any way.

The offense isn't too bad, just the passing game. They have a solid running attack, great run blocking and great pass blocking. Orton has all the time in the world back there to sail it ten feet over the receiver's head on his longer passes. Of course, besides Muhammad they have nothing much in terms of receivers, but Orton is the main reason people are saying they are a "bad" 8-3 team. Any time this guy throws for more than ten yards I start to cringe.

I think everything else is in place for this team to really contend for the SB, but I don't think it will be this year. The D is shaping up to be one of the great ones for a single season. I haven't been this excited to see the Bears punt so I can watch the D since the days of Da Coach. You double team Ogunleye, and Brown goes off. The Bucs got sick of that and started doubling Brown and Ogunleye gets the sacks. No one can stop both of these guys at once, the Bears don't need to blitz to get pressure.

I don't know if Grossman is the answer either. We don't really know how healthy he is, so the point now is moot. He certainly has the better arm and knows the offense better since he's been through three training camps. But his lack of game experience and his fragility are a concern. Short of Orton getting hurt (I'll give him credit for at least being healthy, something Bear QBs have had terrible luck with) or him actually blowing a game with a truly awful performance, I'm afraid this is who we're going to the playoffs with.

I don't think any modern team has had a passing attack this poor and made it to the Super Bowl no matter how awe inspiring their D was. Unfortunately, I don't think this year will be an exception. It seems like every game the Bears are one big play away from losing. If the Bears D doesn't hand Orton the ball in the red zone, they can't score touchdowns and they're going to have trouble beating playoff teams even in the weak NFC.

This team kind of reminds me of the Bucs prior to winning the Super Bowl (where Bear GM Angelo was before) when they had a good running game with Alstott and Dunn, a terrific defense, and a poor QB in Shaun King. It was enough to get them to the playoffs, but with unreliabiltiy in the passing game, they couldn't take that final step. When they went with the journeyman Brad Johnson they went on to win it all. He didn't need to be spectacular, just solid. Same for the Bears, a solid QB will do, but not mediocre.

[lastchance]

Some people are comparing this team to the 2002 Bucs and the 2000 Ravens. They're wrong.

This Bears defense is the best in the league, and is comparable to those two teams, but their offense is incredibly bad, especially their passing offense. Those teams had average offenses that could score 20 or 25 points a game. This team can't because of their non-existent passing game.

If Rex Grossman comes back as an average QB, not a good QB, but an average QB (think Brad Johnson right now), the Bears would be the best team in the NFC (right now, NYG + SEA are better).

That's how much Kyle Orton sucks, and that's why the Bears won't go to the Super Bowl, at least right now.

[bottomset]

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Not sure where you get the "5th or 6th best team" thing, as it never came up, but they were the #1 Seed in the NFC that year I believe, and got stomped at home.

Oh, and they got lucky in that 49er's game.

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They were the #2 seed and lost to an Eagles team basically because Miller got knocked out of the game. Really I think the Vikings team that went 15-1 and was blown out by the Giants was really a bad team because blah, blah, blah. Or was that the team that blew the game to a Falcons team that played good defense, ran the ball and never scored many points.

Here is the point about the Bears this year. They have the best defense in the NFL and one of the best offensive lines. Is the quarterback a rookie who barely survives most games and trying to grow a beard, yes. Can they control the clock and play great defense, yes.

Outside of the Colts name one team in the NFL that doesn't have a glaring weakness somewhere. Because I can't find one.

The Bears finish the season playing Pittsburgh, Atlanta, the Packers twice and the Vikings to end the year. And acording to the ESPN guys, who picked the Vikings to win the divison, they are on fire and are making a great run.

I'm not sure if that will be enough to make them a legit team, but let us know when it meets your standards.

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um the 2000 Vikings started 11-2, needed just 1win in the final 3games to clinch homefield and lost out, getting the #2 seed, they played the 12-4 giants on the road and lost 41-0, before the giants got stomped by the ravens

in 98 MN had the best offense ever, a solid defense, and went 16-2 losing 2games by a FG .. also that was the game Dennis Green decided to not go for the win with 1:30 in the 4th QT tied, and that offense [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] ..

[Jack of Arcades]

The 2002 Bucs had a pretty good offense going into the playoffs. The Ravens actually got *worse*

[Homer]

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As far as I am concerned, the giants are on the other end of the opportunism/luck spectrum. They could VERY easily be 9-2 right now.

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The chargers and cowboys could easily be unbeaten right now, or one of them 10-1 since they played eachother.

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Hell, the cowboys could easily be 5-6.