Bears Blitz

Published by Timothy Hockemeyer on July 17, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

The end appears near for the NFL lockout.  Immediately upon it’s demise, a mad scramble to sign the leagues free agents, both veteran and undrafted, will commence.

There have been no shortage of articles and blogs around the web about what and who teams should be focusing on once that frenzy starts.  And there is no shortage of speculation about the Chicago Bears and their free agency moves.

Chicago is likely to have a ton of cash that they not only will have available to spend, but will have to spend under a new cap minimum that has reportedly been agreed upon for the upcoming collective bargaining agreement.

It is rumored that the salary flour could be as high as $120 million, leaving the Bears with about $37 million that they would have to spend towards the cap this year.  That is a lot of cabbage that the Bears will have to use to sign free agents, if that is the case.

The general perception one gets from reading the countless articles and blogs that can be found around the Internet on the Bears needs when free agency starts is that Chicago’s first priorities have to be wide receiver and left guard.

These are certainly the two biggest needs the Chicago offense has.  The Bears offensive line was atrocious last season, though it did show marked improvement as the season wore on and they did draft tackle Gabe Carimi in the first round of this years NFL Draft.  Meanwhile, the wide receiver corps of the Bears might be the least respected unit in the league and cannot even determine who the team’s number one receiver actually is.

But are these the most important needs on the team?  I submit the argument that they are not, but that the defense should be the top focus when the lockout is lifted.

Some will undoubtedly argue that the Bears defense was fantastic last year, ranking fourth in the league in points allowed and holding the World Champion Green Bay Packers to just 41 offensive points in three meetings.

Meanwhile the offense ranked 21st in the league and managed all of 30 points in those same three contests with the Pack.

So why would I argue that the defense is the biggest need?

Don’t get me wrong, I think both sides of the ball—and the special teams unit, for that matter—need and should get attention.  I’m not arguing that the Bears should ignore the offense in favor of the defense.  I’m arguing that the defense should be the first priority on the list, not the only priority.  

Here’s why: 

First, is that while there seems to be a perception change in recent years that it is offense that wins championships rather than defense, defense does in fact seem to still be the defining factor.

Last year, the Super Bowl was waged between the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked scoring defenses in the league.  No team with a defense ranked lower than sixth even made the conference championship round of the playoffs.

Where were the top two offenses?  The Patriots, who were the leagues top ranked scoring offense, were one-and-done, losing to the wildcard Jets, who were the leagues sixth ranked defense.  And the Chargers, who were the leagues second-ranked offense, didn’t even make the playoffs.

In fact, eight of the top ten defenses were among the 12 teams in the playoffs.  Only five of the top offenses made the cut.

And how did those teams fare?  The only top 10 offensive team to win a playoff game were the 10th ranked Packers, who also happen to have the second ranked defense.

In 13 playoff games last season, the higher ranked defense won 11 contests.  The higher ranked offense won five games, including the Super Bowl.  But as noted above, Green Bay was the second-ranked defense in the league beating the top-ranked Steelers.

Chicago made the NFC Championship game with the young and inexperienced offense because of their stout defense.  The best medicine for that offense is experience.  A shiny new receiver and guard would certainly help—and I certainly hope that those needs are addressed, as well—but the biggest improvement to that offense will come from experience in the second season of learning Mike Martz complicated offensive system.  The offense is young and inexperienced and has not hit it’s peak.

But the defense has needs that must be addressed to stay in playoff form.  Unlike the offense, the defense’s best parts are over 30 and have reached their peak.  At this point, the way to improve the defense, which has played in the same system since Lovie Smith arrived in 2004, is to infuse it with new and younger talent.

The Bears’ best defensive tackle, the highly underrated Anthony Adams is a free agent, as is starting strong safety Danieal Manning and starting strongside linebackers Pisa Tinoisamoa and Nick Roach.  Additionally, the Bears are sorely in need of a corner to play opposite aging veteran Charles Tillman, as well as having no viable replacement for Brian Urlacher should he be injured.  

The Bears’ most valuable backup, Hunter Hillenmeyer, was released by the Bears when the team decided that his concussion history made it a risk for him to play.  Adding in the free agency status of the aforementioned Roach and Tinoisamoa as well as that of Brian Iwuh and Rod Wilson, the Bears now only have two linebackers contracted, Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs.

The safety spot is questionable if Danieal Manning, the musical position specialist who the Bears finally allowed to develop in the strong safety spot last season, leaves through free agency, which is rumored to be the case.  

The Bears drafted safeties Major Wright in 2010 and Chris Conte in 2011, so the replacement may be there, but veteran backups Josh Bullocks and Craig Steltz are also free agents that the Bears are not expected to re-sign.  Do they have faith enough in Wright or Conte to step into Manning’s shoes, thus leaving them open to signing UDFAs and lower level safeties out of free agency, or will they be forced to sign a veteran free agent to replace the speedy safety?

Cornerback is perceived to be the biggest weakness in the Bears’ stifling defense.  Charles Tillman is a perfect fit for what the Bears do on defense, and nickelback DJ Moore made significant strides in that spot.  But Tim Jennings is the best of the rest, and that’s not saying much.  The Bears badly need a physical corner to play opposite Tillman and give the defensive line a bit more time to get to the quarterback.

Chicago is expected to re-sign Anthony Adams, who manned the middle of the line to a league leading performance in defending the run between the guards.  Adams might be highly underrated by the sack-drunk media, but you better believe that coaches and general managers around the league noticed what Adams has done for the Bears run defense over the past few years.  And Chicago has a reasonable amount of depth at the position, with Matt Toeaina, Henry Melton and newly drafted strongman Stephen Paea. 

Underachieving DT Marcus Harrison is expected to join former standout turned injury casualty Tommie Harris in the ranks of the released. So the Bears will have a hole in the defensive tackle rotation even if they re-sign Adams.  But if Adams slips through the Bears’ paws, the DT rotation could be in trouble.

In order to compete in the NFC North, the Bears will have to maintain their defense.  If they ignore it in favor of the offense, they might sell a few more jerseys, but they’ll be doing it at the expense of their fans and players championship dreams.

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