What looked to be a promising season, coming off a 13-3 season & a division title, has turned into a freakin nightmare. Injuries, injuries, injuries. We just lost our backup/dime corner for the season. Now we'll be using the backup's backup.
It's been unbelievable. Since mini-camp. Last year we had only 1 major injury & only a few minor ones. This year we've lost at least 20 games from our starters, & 15 from their backups, & their backups.
We've been using a less than mobile, injury prone qb who now has tendonitis & can't throw over 20 yards. We've tried his backup, but he can't stay in a game for a full half. His backup (Henry Burris)is so bad that we signed a street free-agent & he's already ahead of Burris on the depth chart. Not yet, but he will be in a week or less.
We have a defensive end that tripped over his dog in the off season (wink wink) & broke both wrists. Now, within the last 4 months, he's gotten 2 DUI's. Yeah, he tripped over the dog alright, the dog that bit him.
He's been a distraction since the dog incident. He hasn't performed up to even his meager standards & he was just given a 5 year $25 M. extension at the end of last season.
We have a converted running back playing corner (3 year experiment) that has a total of 5 passes defended in 25 games as a starter. He's in the middle of the 2nd of a 4 year contract.
We have a whole rotation of defensive tackles that are weaker than water. Not one of them commands a double team. Fullbacks blast right through the line & get blocks on Urlacher, opening huge running lanes and allowing running backs like James Stewart to look like a shoo-in for Canton.
We have an offensive coordinator that's so conservative, he makes John Ashcroft look like a bleeding heart liberal. If we ever go up by 3, he sits on it. Our defense has been depleted since day one. The offense needed to pickup the slack. Not a chance. No killer instinct.
We have a head coach that admits that he has very little to do with game planning & scheming. Ummmm, what? Then just exactly WHAT do you do? His press interviews leave me thinking of that duck in the AFLAC commercials...*shaking head* grblgrblgrbl Huh?
We have a GM in his second year that came in with all kinds of bluster. Cutting veterans right & left, signing free agents, extending contracts etc... Then he got his first chance at a full off-season. He forgot to check 2 tiny little boxes that ended up costing us a promising young reciever & cost us about $4M. above & beyond what we should have paid for a linebacker. (out for the season)
He signed a qb that hasn't been able to finish one 1/2 of football yet. To back him up, he signed a guy that had never taken one snap in the NFL, & rode the pine in the CFL. The guy's a joke. We had a NFLEurope qb in camp that was far more accurate than this clown, but they kept Burris because he was more mobile. Huh? Miller & Chandler are freaking statues, but you signed/kept them???
We're playing basically 16 road games this year. 8 on some of the slickest turf I've ever seen, at our "HOME" stadium. They all played it off at the beginning "It'll be ok. We'll adjust to it. It's only a 30 minute flight."
Yeah? But you're all still packing a bag & heading to O'Hare every Saturday. If we were winning, maybe not that big of a deal. Since we're losing, I guarantee, it's a huge deal.
I haven't felt this bad about the team since Dave Waanstadt said "Aaaap, all the pieces are in place". Then proceeded to go 4-12. If we lose to the Rams on MNF this week, it'll set a new record of futility for the oldest franchise in the game. 8 losses in a row. Not even the terrible teams of the 70's (R.I.P. Walter) were that bad.
It's so bad, that I don't want to win another game. I'm actually looking forward to the draft. Jerry Angelo may have screwed up with the veterans, but he got us 3 starters (one's out for the year) , 2 situational players, one inactive running back & one practice squad reciever. That's a pretty good draft IMO. I'm hoping he can repeat that performance with a killer Defensive tackle & a franchise qb.
Well, that's my rant. Thanks for the bandwidth. My fingers are out of breathe. :laugh:
Anyway, cheers
to a good finish to the season for the rest of you.