Bears Blitz

Published by TAB BAMFORD on November 11, 2009
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears have a lot of problems, but would adding another one actually help fix something?

That sounds like I’m advocating two wrongs making a right, but in this case it might be crazy and a good idea.

Let’s back up and look at the Bears. They’re sitting at 4-4 and haven’t looked very good in three weeks. They have a miserable, hard schedule coming up, starting Thursday night in San Francisco. There’s almost no chance these Bears make the playoffs.

The offensive line in Chicago might be the worst in the entire NFL, which has led to Matt Forte struggling and Jay Cutler hurting. Nobody on the Bears’ offense wants to admit it, but the line needs a five-man overhaul next spring to keep Cutler out of a wheelchair before his 30th birthday.

The Bears defense has been hurt and bad, too, but this article’s discussing the offense, so we’ll skip that side of the ball.

Hold on, there’s one piece of this pie I should mention. Tommie Harris was ejected for punching a guy in the face on Sunday. He’s been an issue all year, and made public his immaturity on Sunday. We’re still waiting for the NFL offices to send him his fine and/or suspension notice.

Everybody OK with that covering the defense? Great. Back to the offensive issues.

Coming into the 2009 season, one of the many blind areas Bears GM Jerry Angelo neglected to address while he was throwing out his resume to acquire a franchise quarterback was running back. And it quickly became a glaring issue.

Nobody had confidence in Garrett Wolfe and Adrian Peterson being the only backups to overworked Forte, so the Bears gave last year’s recycling project, Kevin Jones, another contract to get in shape and come back strong.

It looked like that was a smart move. Jones looked as strong and fast as he had since his rookie year in Detroit. Until the final preseason game, when he was lost for the season with a leg injury.

So that tandem nobody had confidence in was all the Bears had left to back up Forte behind a miserable offensive line. The gamble on the depth chart failed.

Sunday, Wolfe ended up in the hospital with what appears to be a pretty internal injury. So now the Bears are looking at trying to make a playoff push (cough, with Ron Turner calling the plays? really?, cough bull…) with just Forte and Peterson.

Where is Dr. Evil when you need someone to say “riiiiiight?”

Enter Larry Johnson.

Usually, the picture of the savior is the knight in sparkling armor riding to the rescue on a white stallion.

In Johnson’s case, it’s the dark knight in unwashed pajamas on a rented donkey hoping for a job. But work with me here, he might help save part of the Bears’ season.

Johnson’s a free agent because he’s an idiot. He Twittered himself out of a job, and a couple million dollars, and is begging for a second chance. He’s almost 30 years old, with diminishing skills, and he needs work.

Have I mentioned that the Bears have one decent running back on their roster right now?

Here’s my thinking in Cliff Notes format:

Bring in Johnson for cheap. He’s not getting big money at this point in his life/career.

Johnson needs to redeem himself to have a job in 2010. Forte’s the future for the Bears. Let Johnson get his butt kicked behind the terrible line 60 percent of the time in games against Baltimore,Minnesota, and Philadelphia. Keep Forte alive for next year.

Johnson brings depth to the Bears and a need to perform. The Bears give Johnson a chance to earn a call back for next year and can save their real running back’s life in the process.

If you can ignore Johnson’s stupidity, isn’t a marriage between Lovie Smith and Larry Johnson a great idea?

Well, probably not in Johnson’s tweeting eyes…too soon?

Read more Chicago Bears news on BleacherReport.com