Bears Blitz

Published by Andrew Garda on March 13, 2012
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

It didn’t take long for the free-agency period to reach a fever pitch as the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins engineered the first big trade of the ‘season, with the Dolphins sending mercurial wide receiver Brandon Marshall to the Bears for a pair of third-round picks (one in 2012 and one in 2013).

We won’t get into the potential power move the Dolphins might be making for Peyton Manning. Just as interesting is the ripple effect this news should have on the rest of the NFC North.

Keeping up with the Lambeaus

You’ve heard of keeping up with the Jones’? Well, that’s the NFC East. Here, we keep up with the Packers.

The truth is that right now, everyone is chasing the Packers. The Bears—and more importantly, newly minted GM Phil Emery—just signaled that they’re stepping up their game. It’s a first step—and one of several—to become the dominant team in a tough division.

Detroit, Green Bay—even battered Minnesota—just got put on notice that things are changing in Chicago and they’d better step up their game.

Green Bay won’t change the way it does business—Ted Thompson loves his homegrown talent—but they’ll definitely amp up their efforts to get their 32nd-ranked defense shored up before the teams meet next year.

Don’t be surprised if the Lions make a power move to their secondary to stay ahead of the game. It will be a calm and collected play, but don’t doubt it won’t be made to keep the status quo in Detroit.

It will also be interesting to see if the Vikings try to get back into the headlines by adding someone for second-year quarterback Christian Ponder to throw to, or add someone on the defense to help stop Cutler and Marshall from passing all over them.

Free agency has a strategic element to it. Act and react.

Your move NFC North.

Secondaries need more fireproofing

It’s bad enough to have to face Matt Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Aaron Rodgers, Greg Jennings….. I could go on. Percy Harvin is no fun to see in your building either.

However, Chicago, despite Cutler, has never had that same passing threat. They haven’t had a 1,000-yard receiver since 2002. Nine years is a long time to go without a guy who can go long, though they were close a few times.

Meanwhile, Brandon Marshall has broken 1,000 yards five years in a row, topping 1,200 yards twice and 1,300 yards once. If he has any deficiency in his game, it’s that he doesn’t get enough touchdowns.

He moves the chains though and is a big-play threat.

So it just got tougher in the NFC North—which already had its fair share of torched secondaries in 2011.

As I mentioned before, teams will need to make some free-agency moves. Expect the Lions and Vikings to take a hard look at reinforcing their secondary and the Packers to find a way to pressure the quarterback even more.

Vikings in deeper trouble than ever

If you’re the Vikings, all of the above applies to you tenfold because you were already the weak sister in the division.

The Packers and Lions have good defenses and dynamic offenses. You have a second-year quarterback, an aging offensive line, a seriously injured (but rehabbing) running back and exactly one very good wide receiver. With occasional migraines.

Oh and your defense is starting to fray at the edges.

On top of it, the franchise is in a fight for a new stadium. Now the Bears just separated themselves that much more from you.

Whereas the Lions and Packers will likely play it somewhat cool and maintain composure as they shore up their weaknesses, don’t be shocked if the net result of this trade has the Vikings and Zygi Wilf make some splashes.

Don’t be shocked if they appear to be panic-induced either.

Bears still need to fix more

One thing that both the Bears and their fans know is that this isn’t the end, nor can it be. In order for the “Marshall Plan” to be effective, Jay Cutler needs time to throw.

It does them no good to have a quarterback like Cutler passing to a receiver like Marshall if they never make the throws.

The offensive line is a huge priority now, arguably even more than before. Chicago will have to be aggressive in free agency and make better decisions in the draft to build it up.

They also need to get Matt Forte happy and locked up for the foreseeable future. Let’s not lose focus here—Forte is as big (if not a bigger) a factor for this offense than Marshall is or will be. They need him healthy and happy.

This is a huge move, and a good one. It can’t be the last one for the Bears though.

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