Chicago Bears: 5 Things They Must Fix for Next Season
Published by Todd Thorstenson on December 22, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
To say that the Chicago Bears season has completely fallen apart would be the understatement of the year.
The Bears, who once looked like a lock for a wild-card spot in the NFC at 7-3, are now on the outside looking in as they stand at 7-7 after a four-game losing streak.
However, it’s no secret that the downfall of the Bears this season has been the injuries.
When you lose your starting quarterback and top running back—who is arguably one of the best backs in the league—it’s going to leave a mark.
In the Bears case it has not only left a mark, but rather a divot the size of the Grand Canyon.
First they lost quarterback Jay Cutler to a broken finger on his throwing hand that he sustained in the Week 11 win against the San Diego Chargers—which incidentally was the last win the Bears have had.
Two weeks later Matt Forte—the Bears biggest offensive threat—went down with a knee injury against the Kansas City Chiefs and that’s when the Bears realized that they might have a problem on their hands.
However, that problem was even bigger than they could have imagined.
Without Cutler and Forte in the lineup for the last three weeks the Bears have put up a total of 27 points, and seven of those points were scored by the defense.
So 20 points actually scored by the offense in three games—I’m pretty sure that’s not good.
Backup quarterback Caleb Hanie simply hasn’t gotten it done, and it seems as if every other facet of the Bears offense has collapsed as well.
Running back Marion Barber has filled in adequately at running back for Matt Forte, but his blunders against the Broncos were unforgivable and probably sealed the Bears chances for a playoff spot.
The offensive line seems to be regressing back to where they started—which is bad, in case you were wondering—and the receiving corps is basically non-existent.
Sadly, even the once stout defense has looked shoddy recently, and injuries are starting to mount up on that side of the ball as well.
As the Packers get ready to pound the Bears into oblivion and officially end their season on Christmas day, it is time to look at what they need to do heading into next season.
Here is a look at five things that must be addressed in order for the Bears to improve next year.
