It had to happen, you can't start out 7-1 and not make the playoffs. Throw in the fact that in the last 6 years the Bears made the playoffs only once. So I get it. You also have to consider that anytime a new GM comes in like Phl Emery, he wants his own guys, so conceivably if the Bears had made the playoffs and lost their 1st game, Lovie Smith still would have gotten the axe. In life, not just sports, it's all about accountability and everyone knew that this season, Lovie was coaching for his job.
Before I give my high opinion (which lets be honest it should be fact) on the 10 plays that doomed Lovie. Allow me to give the brief argument in Lovie's defense. In his 9 years he has 81 wins, so for the people that's exceptionally bad at math, that's 9 wins a year, with only 3 playoff appearances, he is in my opinion a little unlucky, with a break or 2 he could have had 5 playoff appearances. Last year I thought that Bears team was the best of any of his teams including the superbowl team of 2006 but alas injuries to Cutler and Forte ended that season in which they started 7-3.
Here's also something to look at Bears fans, in loving Lovie being canned. here are the superbowl winning quarterbacks in Lovie's 1st 8 years
Ben Rothlisberger (2)
Eli Manning (2)
Tom Brady
Peyton Manning
Drew Brees
Aaron Rodgers
I do not think that Jay Cutler, Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton are near those QB's. Most teams that's been competitive but not super bowl quality has either a good offense or a good defense but not both, therefore you need a great quaterback to cover your deficencies. Enter Jay Cutler!!! The Bears gave up 2 1st rounders and a second rounder for Jay because they believed he was an elite QB. He has the physical tools of an elite QB but to date he is not elite.
I'd rather blame Cutler.
The Bears has lost ONLY 2 games since Jay Cutler has been in uniform for them (4 years), in which they scored at least 21 points and has NEVER lost when scoring more than 21 points in that time. Consider this as well, the Bears have only lost 2 games when Jay Cutler has played at least a DECENT game, not good, not great, but decent!!! Arizona in 2009 in which they were down 31-7 at half, but I'm giving him a pass because he threw for almost 400 yards and this past year against Seattle which we will talk about later. In 2009 the Bears lost 21-15 and 10-6, 2 very hard fought games on paper but when you see that Cutler threw 9 combined interceptions in those games and another game in which he constantly over threw receivers in a 24-20 loss, that's the difference between 10-6 and 7-9. You could also make a case for how well coached Lovie's team was for keeping the games that close. Now this doesn't fall all on Cutler, his offensive line and receivers has felled him numerous times and obviously the Bears has proven to be very mediocre without him in the line-up.
Make no mistake about it, the Bears losses were more about Cutler being ineffective/injured more than Lovie Smith's coaching performance. So yeah sure, replace Lovie, but now you gotta get a guy who can elevate Cutler's game but also keep the defense playing at a high level. Otherwise if you get a great offensive guy and a mediocre defense you just flipped the script. The Bears already had Lovie for one more year why not just play it out. Oh well, it is what it is and these 10 plays doomed you Lovie
10.The hiring of Mike Martz. I'm clearly cheating here, but here me out. Bringing in offensive coordinator Martz meant getting rid of a well above average tight end in Greg Olson, because Martz doesn't use a tight end in his system. This year they got rid of Martz and so now they went back to a tight end, which turned out to be Kellen Davis. Now think back to how many dropped passes Kellen Davis had this year that would have kept drives alive. The drop he had against the Texans that looked like it would have provided points in a low scoring game, comes to mind, if you must need a play.
9.Green Bay's fake field goal Game 2. Now the Bears were gonna be hard pressed to win this game anyway because the Pack were pretty much in must win mode. They had lost their 1st game at home to the 49ers and another home loss especially to the Bears could have been detrimental. That being said c'mon Chicago, you have Julius Peppers, he's awesome at blocking kicks up the middle, no need to put an all out kick block in on that play. Kudos to Green Bay for an excellent play called
8. Catch the ball Bears/Vikings game 13. This game has the most plays on the list. Alshon Jeffrey's touchdown drop in the 3rd quarter of the Vikings game put a huge dent in the Bears comeback plans. Level of difficulty for this catch... minimal, but it was still enough time for them to come back, but this one wasn't ...
7. Catch the Ball damnit Bears/Vikings game 13. Devin Hester's touchdown drop all but sealed the Bears fate. 4th quarter down 2 scores this was a walk in the end zone for Hester, which would have at the very least put Minnesota in a pressure situation, level of difficulty for this catch... none
6.Fumble!!! Bears/Texans game 9. Michael Bush was just finishing off a big run against the Texans that would have put the Bears deep in the Texans territory on their very 1st drive. It didn't quite work out that way, he fumbled and took away easy points, which you gotta think would have had an effect on a game that ended 13-6 in favor of the Texans.
5. It's all about the angles Bears/Packers game 14. The Bears had just scored a TD and was up 7-0, the momentum was on their side and they had the Pack 3rd and long. Then Rodgers scrambled and hit Randall Cobb for a long pass. Sure it was a great play, but the Bears blew coverage. Cornerback D. J. Moore could have let Randall catch the ball and tackled him short of the 1st down, but he tried to play the ball when he didn't have to and it ended up being a huge momentum swing, Most people would say that Rodgers made a great play and leave it at that, but that's not how the Bears play, which is why this play is so high on my list. The Bears make you become deliberate on offense, making you drive all the way down the field to score, D.J. took an unnecessary gamble. A 7-0 lead and getting the ball back would have done wonders for the Bears psyche against a team that has dominated them of late. So of course the Packers scored, Bears turnover, etc.
4.I root for the Packers one time and this is the thanks I get Packers/Vikings game 16. Yes the Bears needed help, cause they couldn't get it done themselves, but it's my list and this play should never have happened. The Packers had taken the Vikings best punch and battled all the way back to tie them up after being down practically the whole game. It was mid 4th quarter, the Vikings was deep in the Packers territory and the Packers had just seemingly stopped the Vikings on 3rd down forcing a field goal, but nooooo, cornerback Tramon Williams was whistled for going hands to the face of the Vikings receiver. So instead of kicking a field goal, they get an automatic 1st down and score the go ahead touchdown. In my opinion (fact) Aaron Rodgers surely would have led Green Bay down for the go ahead touchdown (BTW the next drive he did lead them to a TYING TD) which would have put huge pressure on Christian Ponder to do the same. Why this play bothers me so much, was that it was an intimidation, 'I don't back down from nothing' play by Williams when earlier in the game they showed Adrian Peterson rambling his way and guessed who backed down?!!!... arrggghhh, Fuck the Packers!!!
3. Not a pick 6 homie, Bears/Vikings week 13. Generally if a team is better than you, they can overcome one bad momentum changing play, but 2 is asking a bit much. But that's just exactly what Cutler did, he threw one interception at the beginning of the game that was returned to the Bears 5 yard line, then in the 2nd half he threw another one that was returned for a touchdown. I'm sure everyone is gonna point to Adrian Peterson rushing for 150+ yards, but after that 1st big run in the 1st quarter, they held him in check. I don't care which interception you want to put in the #3 spot but that's 2 touchdowns that Cutler gave up, the Bears loss 21-14 you do the math, I'm sure Lovie has.
2. Cutler gets Pacquiaoed' Bears/Texans game 9. Make no mistake about it , Jay Cutler is the most important player on the Bears team and late in the 1st half, in a tight fought ball game, Cutler got laid out on an illegal hit. That hit put Cutler out for the rest of that game, which was very winnable and out for the following game against San francisco which probably was not so winnable, but still, that's a game and a half without your most important player
1. Kick the field goal Lovie!!! Bears/Seahawks game 12. Bears force a fumble, their 1st drive they score a touchdown, get the ball back, have the ball for 8 minutes and 30 seconds drive to the 16 yard line and instead of kicking it, to go up 10-0, they go for it, get stopped and the next thing you know instead of being up 2 scores they're down 10-7 at the half. No doubt, Russell Wilson played an astounding game that day, but you wanna know how many games the Bears have lost when leading by 10 point,s at anytime in the game, in the Cutler/Smith era... 0!!! On that 1 play Lovie forgot who his team was and it cost him his job!
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