Chicago Bears: A Brown Out in Chicago?
Published by Bryan Dietzler on April 5, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
By now all Bears fans know that defensive end Alex Brown, an eight year veteran who spent his entire career with the Bears has been let go by the organization. For a lifelong Bears fan like myself and one that has liked Brown ever since he came to Chicago this is a little bit of a bitter pill to swallow and even though the Bears have done a lot to try to convince everyone that this is the right move. I still don’t believe that it is the best move.
The biggest question now is, who is going to take over now that Brown is gone? We know that Julius Peppers has the ability to play on both sides but he can’t be in two places at once so the Bears are going to need someone to help shore up the opposite defensive end position. The guy that they hope will step up is Mark Anderson and even though he had a strong finish to the end of the 2009 season, there are still a lot questions surrounding him and his ability to finally be a starter.
Anderson had a great rookie season with the Bears (incidentally this was their Super Bowl season) and looked like he was well on his way to becoming an All-Pro at the defensive end position. Then something happened and after being given more snaps (in place of Brown) Anderson seemed to struggle. His production dipped and the Bears finally decided to reduce his snaps and keep Brown in the game more often. Although Brown wasn’t spectacular, he was much more effective than Anderson.
When you compare the two side by side, Anderson is a much better athlete than Brown is but isn’t as physical. He is not as good of a run defender as Brown has been for the Bears and this will cause problems. Brown has also been much more aware of what’s going on around him but with more experience, Anderson should be able to get that way as well.
So ultimately, the departure of Brown may not be as good of a move as the Bears have planned it to be, but it all depends on how well Anderson does. If he doesn’t fill the bill as the starter, the Bears really only have Israel Idonije (with solid veteran experience) to step in and play opposite Peppers. However, they may start counting on second-year end Henry Melton much more this season to help bolster the position. Melton, if you remember, was injured during preseason last year and didn’t see a single snap during the regular season and with a lack of experience, just how much can he contribute?
Hopefully Anderson can step up to become the player that he was in 2006 and more. Right now, to some, the loss of Brown may not look that serious. However as the season wears on and the Bears start to have problems getting to the quarterback because Peppers is getting double teamed or hides for a few games, it appears that they have no one on the other side to step up and get to the quarterback on a consistent basis. The Bears may have made the wrong move.
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