Squib Kicks and more tears

 

I’ll start by saying I have never really liked the squib kick in the game of football.  I understand the concept of taking away the potential 85 yard touch-down return but it only makes sense to use it when a field goal won’t hurt your team.  The Bears were up by 1 point with 11 seconds left.  The key things at that point of the game was the time on the clock and field position.  A squib kick hands the other good field position. Add in a quarterback that has a lot of expertise in game winning throws at the end of the game and you are asking for trouble.  Hey Lovie, why don’t you ask Virginia Tech about Matt Ryan’s end of game passing abilities. On top of that, both starting cornerbacks were hurt at that point in the game.  On top of that, Bob Babich, for some reason, continues to have his corners give the receiver a 8 to 10 yard cushion off the ball.  On top of that, Jason Elam has been one of the better kickers in the league for a long time now.  On top of that, Tommie Harris is a shell of his former self and the rest of the defensive line is providing zero penetration. On top of that, the Cover-2 doesn’t work without penetration and also provides no safety valve for a deep ball.  On top of that…I could go on but I won’t.

The Bears looked like they were turning the corner with a great win of Philly and a sound beating of Detroit after 2 awful weeks against Carolina and Tampa.  Thankfully, I was on vacation for those games and the copious amount of beer I consumed at Hooters numbed the pain of watching Brian Griese throw the ball 67 times against the Bears.  The Bears schedule, on paper, is somewhat in their favor for a run to win the division and make the playoffs.  The problem is, the Bears have been up for the 2 top teams on their schedule so far, the Colts and the Eagles but have shown up for only 3 quarters against Carolina, Tampa and 1 quarter against Atlanta.  Instead of being 6-0 or at the very least 5-1, they are 3-3.

The good news is that Kyle Orton is getting better and better and Matt Forte has been pretty solid.  The bad news is the defense has been inconsistant once again. Plus, the injury bug is starting to creep in once again on defense.  3-3 could turn ugly pretty quickly if they can’t figure things out soon.  The first step should be to show Babich the door.  He has overtaken Ron Turner as the Bears’ worst coordinator and that is sad.

Now we can get things started…

The Bears signed their 1st round draft pick (14th overall), OT Chris Williams to a 5 year deal today just hours before the first training camp practise. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Williams and John St. Clair are in a position battle for the starting left tackle spot.

The left tackle spot isn’t the only position battle that will start 3pm (CST) this afternoon.  The offense will see position battles at QB, RB, all the WR spots, LT, LG and TE. Here is a little preview of what will be going on in camp this summer.

Quarterbacks

Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman are fighting for the QB1 spot.  Both showed flashes of being a legit starter last year along with flashes of being completely awful.  This position battle probably won’t be resolved anytime soon.  Coach Lovie Smith has stated that he doesn’t have a time line to decides who will win the starting job.

Running Back

Rookie Matt Forte looks to be in the lead for the starting running back position, with a stellar showing in the OTA’s.  Forte received praise from a lot of the veterans of the team, especially Tommie Harris and Brian Urlacher.  Newly signed Kevin Jones and veteran Adrian Peterson will challenge Forte for the starting position.  Garrett Wolfe is also in the mix, but will probably see spot duty or come in as a 3rd down specialist if he makes the squad.

Left Tackle

Rookie Chris Williams and veteran John St. Clair will battle it out for the starting job.  Chris Williams gives the Bears their first legit left tackle in a long time.  Aging veteran John Tait moves from left tackle to right tackle, where he had been a solid starter but was always regarded as a better right side starter. 

Left Guard

Terrance Metcalf, Chester Adams and BC Alumni Josh Beekman and Ryan Poles will battle it out for the starting left guard spot. 

Tight End

Both Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen will have significant playing time this year, so this really is a position battles in name only.

Wide Receiver

As camp opens today, Coordinator Ron Turner stated that Brandon Lloyd and Devin Hester will be the starters at wide receiver for the first practise.  Mark Bradley, Marty Booker, Rashied Davis and 3rd round pick Earl Bennett will be vying for a position.  We’ll have to wait and see how the battle for the weakest wide receiver squad in the league pans out.

Defense

There really aren’t any position battles to speak of on defense.  The defense, which was decimated by injuries last year looks to get back to being the dominant squad it was during the ‘05/’06 seasons. 

I’m going to try and give camp updates daily as news and time permits.