Group Fail

Four weeks ago, the Bears were 7-3 and well on the way to their second consecutive trip to the playoffs.  Four weeks later, after consecutive losses to Oakland, Kansas City, Denver, and the Seahawks, hope has faded, and the Bears have been exposed for exactly what they are.

The deciding factor in the of the Bears early season success was the combination of Jay Cutler and Matt Forte.  For the first time in recent memory, the Bears were getting ridiculous levels of production from both their running back and quarterback at the same time. Their concurrent success served as the perfect band-aid for the multitude of inadquecies in Bears roster . The offense was putting up points, the offensive line was effective with Jay on the run, and Forte’s ability to both run and catch kept opponents off balance. With them gone, it has become painstakingly obvious how fragile this team truly is.

Make no mistake about it; this four game losing streak is much more than a team reeling from the loss of a star QB and RB. The fact that these games were all so winnable, despite our injuries, makes it even more obvious. How would these games played out if we hadn't wasted money on guys like Manemaluena, Chester Taylor, Roy Williams, Todd Collins and Brandon Merriweather? What would have happened if we could have picked up a backup QB based on talent, versus sticking with a bad QB because of a system? The truth is, the Bears losing these last four games is a culmination of a decade worth of bad hires, bad draft picks, bad contracts, and desperation moves on so many levels.

So whose fault is it? Just like with any awful situation, there is never one cause, never just one person to blame.

Bear with me for a moment, put coaching and player development aside, and just focus on the roster. Who messed it up? Jerry Angelo? Yes, but the situation we find ourselves in (again, roster only) runs much deeper than that.

Chicagoans, with our recent experiences in watching the Hawks, Cubs, and Sox, have become acutely aware how necessary it is for a GM to have an effective macro view; a core philosophy (specifically for drafting, trading, and free agent acquisitions) that focuses on the long term sustainability of a franchise. Without it, you have chaos. You have jobs with unclear roles. You have the Bears.

The GM of a football team is supposed to be the boss. No doubt there has to be some level of synergy with the coaching staff, but the bottom line is that the GM should make the roster and coaches should adapt to their roster.

Top GM’s like Green Bay's Ted Thompson, make decisions in the draft purely on talent. The Packers hired a leader that they trust, who in turn, has developed footballl philosophy that is the guiding factor in all decisions. His coaches and their subsequent schemes clearly are separate from his job of amassing talent. Whereas coaches and schemes change, talent is constant. The right talent can fit any scheme.

Can you imagine Ted Thompson trading one of his early round draft pick “hits” (like the Bears did with Greg Olsen) to appease his offensive coordinator? Not only did Jerry do just that, but he made matters worse by making a decision with long term ramifications in order to fit a scheme and offensive coordinator with a very uncertain future. This Bears move typifies the ineptitude we have come to expect. It is the antithesis of what you see from other successful organizations. The short term benefit was minimal or non-existent and the potential for regretting that decision in the long run, especially as Martz departs is huge.

If Ted Thompson fails to provide Mike McCarthy with players to effectively do his job, you would know exactly who is to blame. With the Bears dysfunctional system of "leadership", placing blame isn’t so simple.

To equate it to the Cubs, their future success or failure all rides with Theo. A big part of being a GM, regardless of the sport, is not only being willing to take on that responsibility, but to embrace that. This responsibility has escaped the Bears and is the main reason change has been so slow to come.

Ted Phillips deserves blame for hiring a GM that failed to take ownership of his position. Jerry is to blame not only for his bad personnel decisions, but also for  empowering the coaching staff and allowing them to affect far too many decisions with long term consequences. Not only that, but this involvement of Lovie and his staff, whether chosen or not, removes the convenience of them being able to simply blame Jerry. Their Input and schemes played integral roles in many of the awful decisions.

Despite the failures on all levels, it is unrealistic to think that Mike McCaskey is going to clean house from top to bottom. That said, what certainly must go is the codependency between the coaching staff and GM. Our current system of making major decisions fosters groupthink and muddies the water just enough to make sure no one is held accountable.

When an organization is structured so that nobody is to blame, everybody is to blame, and that certainly seems to be the case with the Bears.