Bears Gab

Despite a loss in Super Bowl XLIV, the Colts have the inside track on winning Super Bowl XLV according to bodog.com. The Bears are right now 35/1 to win the SB in the 2010 season. Below are all the odds on all the teams making the Super Bowl in Dallas in 2011:

Indianapolis Colts 13/2
San Diego Chargers 8/1
New England Patriots 10/1
New Orleans Saints 10/1
Pittsburgh Steelers 11/1
Dallas Cowboys 12/1
Green Bay Packers 12/1
Minnesota Vikings 12/1
Philadelphia Eagles 16/1
Baltimore Ravens 20/1
New York Giants 20/1
New York Jets 25/1
Tennessee Titans 25/1
Atlanta Falcons 30/1
Cincinnati Bengals 30/1
Arizona Cardinals 35/1
Chicago Bears 35/1
Houston Texans 35/1
Carolina Panthers 40/1
Miami Dolphins 45/1
San Francisco 49ers 45/1
Seattle Seahawks 45/1
Denver Broncos 50/1
Jacksonville Jaguars 50/1
Washington Redskins 50/1
Buffalo Bills 100/1
Cleveland Browns 100/1
Detroit Lions 100/1
Kansas City Chiefs 100/1
Oakland Raiders 100/1
St. Louis Rams 100/1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 100/1

The 2009 season of NFL football ended in spectacular fashion last night with the underdog, come from behind, red-headed step child team winning the Super Bowl.  Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints. 

Friends of mine say that the decision to run an on-side kick to start the second half may go down in history as the most gutsy play call ever.  I disagree.  I think winning the on-side kick may go down as the luckiest outcome to an otherwise UNWISE play call.  Regardless, I liked the outcome.

With the Super Bowl over and the season finished, it is time to start looking forward.  Of course the truth is, for us Bears Fans we have been looking forward since halfway through the season.  The calls for the firing of Ron Turner, Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo could be heard loud and clear.

Going into the hibernation of the off season.  What do we have to look forward to.  We have a revamped coaching staff.  New Offensive Line coach, new Offensive Coordinator,  both former Head Coaches.  We have a head coach who was demoted from Defensive Coordinator, and a defensive coordinator who was promoted from Defensive Line Coach.  And, that isn’t all the new additions to the coaching staff…just the major ones.

Next up?  The Bears need to determine what are their most glaring weaknesses.  Once they know that, they can target in the 3rd and later rounds of the draft, target free agents and scout the lesser watched football leagues. 

Over the next few weeks I will be putting together my own lists of weaknesses and courses of action for addressing these weaknesses.  

What I would like to know is what you the reader think are the most glaring weaknesses (aside from coaching and management…we are all well versed in this).  Along with your list of weaknesses, please let the rest of us know the best way to fill that weakness.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the Bears will have a new QB coach later on today – Shane Day:

Shane Day will become the Bears new quarterbacks coach later today, according to multiple league sources. Day, who has been the 49ers quality control assistant the past three years, met Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz when Martz was San Francisco’s offensive coordinator in 2008. Before that, he was quality control/assistant quarterbacks coach at Michigan for three seasons.

Today the Chicago Bears have announced that all the coaches are in place for the upcoming season.  With the promotion of Rod Marinelli comes the addition of Eric Washington as the defensive line coach and Shane Day as the quarterbacks coach.

The searches are over.  The speculation is over.  Lets hear what you have to say about the promotion and the hirings.

It looks as if the Bears plans for Defensive Coordinator were foiled when Fewell went to NY.  The evidence? Rod Marinelli was promoted to DC today as announced on www.chicagobears.com.

Newly promoted Defensive Coordinator for the Chicago Bears

Marinelli will also still be the Assistant Head Coach.  For all hoopla, all the waiting, all the bad press and all the rejections, the Bears could have had this done and over with 3 weeks ago. 

I don’t know how many people were predicting Martz and Marinelli as the final pieces of the puzzle.  Personally, I am not too sure about this one. 

Let’s hear what you…the readers have to say!

The hiring of Mike Martz as the Bears offensive coordinator has everyone in Chicago talking. There’s been more buzz around the team in the last week than there was the entire last half of the actual season.

My wife got sick of me talking to her about Chicago’s newest Mike; so let me share my random thoughts on the Martz hiring with ya’ll…

First and foremost, I’m happy for the poor Chicago media.

In Martz, they finally have an actual sound-byte-worthy personality to make their jobs easier. No more having to recycle Lovie’s now historic “Get off the bus running” mantra. No more obsessing about Jay Cutler’s facial expressions, posture or short answers to their intelligent questions. Martz could even help keep Steve Rosenbloom’s content fresh…and that’s saying something.

I’m probably in the minority here, but I’m okay with the length of time it took to hire Martz.

I like the idea they researched other candidates, even though Martz may have been Lovie’s guy all along. USC’s Bates surfaced first because his team’s season was finished the earliest. The Bears talked to Chargers TE coach Chudzinski a couple days after his team’s kicker shanked 3 field goals in a playoff game. They interviewed QB coach Rogers after the Vi-queens choked away their last best chance to get back to the Super Bowl. I’ll give Angelo and Lovie credit for at least expressing interest in guys who were still coaching in the playoffs…and not some dude(s) from the Lions, Raiders or Rams.

David Haugh at the Tribune suggested that the hiring of Martz makes it the ideal time to install field turf in Soldier Field.

He could be on to something there. But I’ve got to admit, it makes me nervous. The dozens of cow-patty-sized chunks of sod could be our defense’s last best line of defense in deterring opposing teams’ playmakers during next year’s playoff run. (Just to clarify – I’m referring to the opponent’s playoff run, not the Bears’).

Call me kooky, but I don’t think Martz’s “Greatest Show on Turf” Rams had nearly the talent advantage over the current Bears as some folks want you to believe.

I think an experienced, Vanderbilt-educated Jay Cutler compares favorably to a former grocery-store-clerk-turned-Iowa-Barnstormer Kurt Warner. The Rams had Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt and Az Hakim. The Bears have Aromashodu, Knox and Hester. And I’d take Earl Bennett as a #4 WR over Ricky Proehl any day. They did have Orlando Pace in his prime. We have…a dude named “Frank.”

In case you’re keeping score, I’m 4 for 4 on my coaching staff predictions so far.

I guess that qualifies me for a job in the Bears’ front office.

With the Super Bowl just days away, we here at BearsGab.com are giving away a free FLO TV! All you have to do is simply answer the following 20 Super Bowl Trivia questions, and send your answers to matt@nflgridirongab.com

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We will pick a winner and announce it next week here on the site. Enjoy!

1. Where was the first Super Bowl Played between the Packers and Chiefs?

2. Who scored the first touchdown in Super Bowl history?

3. Who is the leading lifetime rusher in Super Bowl history?

4. What team has won the most Super Bowls with 6?

5. Who is the youngest head coach to have ever won a Super Bowl?

6. What wide out caught the game winning TD with less than a minute to go in Super Bowl XXIII?

7. What kicker missed the game-winning field goal in the final seconds of Super Bowl XXV?

8. Where was Super Bowl XX held?

9. Name the four current Franchises that have never been to a Super Bowl

10. Who was the MVP of Super Bowl XVI?

11. What was odd about the first points scored in Super Bowl IX?

12. Where was last years Super Bowl (XLIII) held?

13. Name the four coaches to have lost four Super Bowls

14. What Falcon took back a kickoff for a touchdown in Super Bowl XXXIII?

15. What Colt kicker hit the game-winning kick in Super Bowl V vs Dallas?

16. Who was the MVP of Super Bowl XIV?

17. How many touchdowns did Steve Young throw in Super Bowl XXIX?

18. Who was the coach of the Colts when they lost to the Jets in SB III?

19. Who sang the National Anthem at last years Super Bowl (XLIII)?

20. What WR came up a yard short of the game-tying TD on the final play of Super Bowl XXXIV?

The NFP is reporting that the Bears talked today to Shane Day about their vacant QB coordinator job:

The Chicago Bears took a step toward finalizing their offensive coaching staff today when they interviewed Shane Day for the vacant quarterbacks coach job under offensive coordinator Mike Martz. Day is believed to be Martz’s first choice for the job even though he’s never held the position before. He worked the last three years as a quality control assistant for the San Francisco 49ers.

The Tribune reports today that it looks and sounds like Mike Martz wants to get TE Greg Olsen more involved in the offense in 2010:

Some would say the tight end position is not an integral part of Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz’s offensive scheme after watching Pro Bowler Vernon Davis of the 49ers catch only 31 passes in 2008 when Martz directed the offense, but Martz didn’t sound like a guy ready to squeeze his tight ends out of the equation. “Like all the positions, you take a look at what you have at tight end and who that guy is and what they can do and then you go from there. In the past, we’ve always had these big, physical tight ends who really we tried to utilize in the running game and as pass blockers and then as wide receivers, Greg Olsen is different.”

The Bears have finally hired someone to run their offense, as reports are the team has inked former Rams coach Mike Martz to try and right the ship that was a disaster last season in Chicago.

Lovie Smith used to be Mike Martz’s defensive coordinator when the latter was head coach of the St. Louis Rams. Now, according to a report from the Chicago Tribune, Martz is returning the favor to be the Bears’ new offensive coordinator under Smith.

Martz, known for his mad scientist ways of concocting a no-holds barred prolific passing game — which helped the Rams get to two Super Bowls with Kurt Warner as their gunslinger — is now charged with getting Jay Cutler back on track.

Cutler has everything Martz wants in a quarterback, including a strong arm and a fearlessness to fire the ball downfield, regardless if it results in the occasional turnover. As an analyst for the NFL Network this past season, Martz called out Cutler for having an unpleasant post-game demeanor. Cutler may need some tough love to deliver as the Bears’ franchise quarterback, and Martz can provide it.

Martz was able to win the job over another finalist, Vikings quarterbacks coach Kevin Rogers.

In addition to getting Cutler’s head on-straight, it’s important that Martz works to get the offensive line up to speed to handle the volume of passes. Although it helps Orlando Pace is a familiar face at left tackle, the Bears could use an injection of athletic youth to help better protect Cutler.

There was word that GM Jerry Angelo wasn’t all that high on Martz, but something he must have said or done changed his mind enough to give in to allow Martz to come aboard and join the club. It will be interesting to see how much of an impact he has on Cutler and his second year with the Bears.