Why the Chicago Bears Need to Get Rid of Lovie Smith as Soon as Possible
Published by Joe Willett on October 18, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears have been playing well above what was expected prior to this season, not only leading the NFC North, but being tied for the best record in the entire NFC at 4-2. The way that they have won their games, however, has left much to be desired.
While they have been able to squeak out some very impressive victories, they have been unable to put teams away and have seemed unprepared week after week, and this mostly falls on one person.
Lovie has been making bad coaching decisions all season and routinely the Bears offense has come into the game looking unprepared and not in their rhythm when the game starts.
They have been lucky enough to hit their stride a couple times, but it got to a point against the Seattle Seahawks where they were unable to find any sense of timing and that falls on bad coaching.
Although the players need to hold accountability for how they play, Cutler did not seem like he was fully prepared for this game, and there were multiple miscommunications where he expected a receiver to go one way and he went the other; that falls on coaching.
Defensively, the Bears have yet to fix their issue of giving receivers a buffer at the start of a play, this was especially crucial on a third down play late against the Seattle Seahawks where Zachary Bowman gave Mike Williams a big cushion, and he was able to easily pick up the short third down; that falls on coaching.
While it obviously isn’t the best thing to give a receiver a five-yard cushion on third-and-short, if the coaches are telling a player to play that way, it isn’t his fault.
There has also been questionable play-calling throughout the year.
Against the Lions, he decided to go for it on fourth-and-one from the goal line down by one in the fourth quarter, nearly costing the Chicago Bears their Week 1 victory.
Another issue was just last week against the Seahawks when he had Robbie Gould attempt a 54-yard field goal late in the game instead of going for it on fourth down. Although it wasn’t a short fourth down, you should know what your kicker’s limits are, and 54 yards was obviously too far for Gould in that situation.
These play-calling issues can cause big problems for the Bears down the line in close games, and if the Bears expect to be a playoff team then they need to fix these coaching issues.
Now, there are problems with who is starting on the offensive line. While Chris Williams was out, there were multiple starting lineups attempted, none of which worked. When Williams rejoined the Bears, it was expected that they would return to the formula they decided on before the season, but that isn’t what happened.
They played Williams out of position at left guard, leaving Frank Omiyale at left tackle and rookie seventh-rounder J’Marcuss Webb at right tackle. This formula did not work out, as Cutler was sacked seven times; keep in mind that is nearly twice as many sacks as they had in the previous four games combined.
I’m not sure why they don’t put Webb back on the bench for now so that he can learn and get better, put Omiyale back at right tackle and put Williams at left tackle, or even switch Williams and Omiyale on the left side to at least fix one issue.
Williams shouldn’t be playing left guard, he is completely out of position there and is much more comfortable at either tackle position, which he played throughout college and up until now in the NFL.
The Bears need to fix their offensive line issues, and although some of that falls on Mike Tice, the starters are chosen by Lovie Smith and he needs to realize that this current group isn’t getting the job done since some people are playing out of position.
The one issue that is seemingly keeping the Bears from being a legitimate contender (okay, other than the offensive line) is coaching. Lovie Smith either needs to start making better decisions or stop being the coach of this team.
Otherwise, the Bears will continue their long run of being a .500 team, and although it could be worse, with the talent on this roster, it should be a lot better.
I’m Joe W.
Read more Chicago Bears news on BleacherReport.com
