2010 Chicago Bears Preview

2009 Record: 7-9, (3-3 vs. NFC North)

Key Departures: Alex Brown, Adewale Ogunleye, Orlando Pace

Key Additions: Chris Harris, Brandon Manumaleuna, Julius Peppers, Chester Taylor, Major Wright (R)

The Chicago Bears had yet another disappointing season in 2009, failing to make the playoffs for the third consecutive year since going to the Super Bowl in the 2006 season. However, the Bears did manage to end on a good note by defeating the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions in weeks 16 and 17 respectively. Head coach Lovie Smith, who’s now on the hot seat, hopes that their winning ways late in the season will roll over into 2010 and end their postseason drought.

Offense:

The expectations that everyone had of Chicago’s offense clearly weren’t met last season. Quarterback Jay Cutler, in his first year with the Bears, passed for 3,666 yards, 27 touchdowns, and a league-leading 26 interceptions (six of which were in the red zone). Running back Matt Forte took a step back from his breakout rookie season by rushing for only 929 yards and four touchdowns. However, he did finish with 1,400 total yards from scrimmage. Wide receiver Devin Hester led the team with 757 receiving yards, while tight end Greg Olsen finished with a team-high eight touchdown receptions. The Bears’ offensive line had trouble in both pass protection and opening holes for Forte. Cutler was sacked 35 times last season, while Forte only had two 100-yard games. To fix these problems on the offense, Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo brought in offensive coordinator Mike Martz, who is famous for coordinating the 1999 Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams offense, also known as the “Greatest Show on Turf.” Along with a new offensive coordinator, Chicago also welcomed running back Chester Taylor and tight end Brandon Manumaleuna. Taylor, who spent the last four seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, is versatile enough to fit in Martz’s offensive scheme as a receiver out of the backfield, and will complement Forte very well in the running game. Manumaleuna is one of the league’s best blocking tight ends. Going into his 10th year, the 6’ 2”, 295-pounder played under Martz’s system for five years before playing the last four seasons with the San Diego Chargers in a similar offensive scheme. As far as the passing game, many have questioned whether or not Chicago’s receiving corps could come close to the production of the Rams offense that had future Hall of Famers Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt and Marshall Faulk. Hester, Johnny Knox, Devin Aromashodu, Earl Bennett, Rashied Davis, and the rest of Chicago’s offensive weapons will have plenty of chances to prove to everyone that they can thrive in this offense. Another uncertainty is the role of the tight ends. History shows that Martz rarely uses tight ends as receivers in his game plan, but on the flipside, Martz has never had tight ends with the talent of Olsen and 12-year veteran Desmond Clark. In addition to a new offensive coordinator, running back and tight end, the Bears brought in offensive line coach Mike Tice. Tice, a former head coach of the Vikings and assistant head coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, coached an offensive line in Minnesota that produced Pro Bowlers at each o-line position. Although Tice is expected to help improve the Bears’ offensive line, a glimmer of hope was seen late last season when Chris Williams was moved from right tackle to left tackle after Orlando Pace, who was released this off-season, was sidelined late in the year. The starting o-line is projected to have Williams at left tackle, Frank Omiyale at right tackle, 13-year veteran Olin Kreutz at center, Roberto Garza at left guard, and second-year man out of San Diego State Lance Louis at right guard. Louis has turned a lot of head at training camp, which is why Garza was moved from the position that he has played for the past two years.

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Defense:

The biggest story on the defensive side of the ball was the acquisition of the most sought after free agent this off-season. Defensive end Julius Peppers signed with the Bears, along with Taylor and Manumaleuna, on the first day of free agency. The five-time Pro Bowler has a career total of 81 sacks. With more attention being focused on Peppers and a healthy Tommie Harris on the defensive line, other Bears d-linemen can get a chance to flourish. Fifth-year defensive end Mark Anderson is the most obvious player to get his chance to take advantage of the talent along the defensive front. With the release of veteran defensive ends Alex Brown and Adewale Ogunleye, a lot of pressure will be put on Anderson to duplicate the performance of his rookie season when he set a Bears rookie record with 12 sacks. Breathing down Anderson’s neck for the starting defensive end spot opposite Peppers is Israel Idonije. Regardless of whether Idonije starts, he will be an important part of the d-line rotation. While Harris will be at the three-technique position, it will be between Marcus Harrison and Anthony Adams for the nose tackle position. The only thing on the defensive side of the ball that might be more anticipated than the play of Peppers is the return of middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. Urlacher’s broken wrist that ended his 2009 season is fully healed, and with the entire year to rest his body, the six-time Pro Bowler should be at the top of his game this up coming season, along with weak side linebacker Lance Briggs, who has made the Pro Bowl for the past five consecutive years. The only question with the linebacking corps is who will start on the strong side. It seems that it will be between Nick Roach and Pisa Tinoisamoa. Roach showed a lot of promise last year filling in for both Tinoisamoa and Urlacher, and might be the slight favorite to get the starting spot. In the secondary, both cornerback spots will be filled by eight-year veteran Charles Tillman and Zackary Bowman, who was tied for fifth in the NFL with six interceptions. Tim Jennings, Corey Graham, D.J. Moore, and rookie Joshua Moore will be competing for playing time behind Tillman and Bowman. For now, Danieal Manning and Chris Harris are slated to be the starters at the strong safety and free safety positions respectively. Harris, who last played for the Bears in Super Bowl XLI, was traded from Chicago to the Carolina Panthers in 2007, and is back for his second stint with the team. Third-year safety Craig Steltz will more than likely be behind Manning on the depth chart for strong safety, while six-year veteran Josh Bullocks and 2010 third-round draft pick out of Florida Major Wright will battle it out in training camp for the second-string free safety spot.

Special Teams:

As no surprise, kicker Robbie Gould, the third most accurate kicker in NFL history, and punter Brad Maynard, the league leader in punts inside the 20-yard line since 1997, will continue to be key components for Chicago’s special teams. Long snapper Patrick Mannelly is entering his 13th season with the Bears, and is on pace to break Chicago’s all-time consecutive games played record, which is 111 games held by Alex Brown. In the return game, Knox will be handling the kickoff return duties. The second-year receiver/return specialist was one of two Chicago Bears players selected to the Pro Bowl last season. Although he hasn’t had a touchdown return since the 2007 season, Hester still has the ability to dictate field position, and will continue to be the primary punt returner.

On paper, the 2010 Chicago Bears should be a better team than last year. However, with a new offense, and new faces at key positions on defense, it may take some time for the Bears to get accustomed. Hopefully, training camp and the preseason will be just enough time for Chicago to get used to everything, because the clock is ticking for Lovie Smith. The seventh-year head coach will get his chance to see just where his team is when they travel to face the San Diego Chargers for their first preseason game of the year.

By Clyde Speller
ProFootball-fans.com Chicago Bears Correspondent