Bears have more problems than just the search for a new offensive and defensive coordinator. What started out as such a promising year ended up being a realization of our worst fears. An aging defense that has game changing talent getting injured or weren’t playing to their potential. An offensive line that is downright offensive and no high draft picks in this year’s draft to start fixing what should have started to be fixed years ago.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Jay Cutler trade was still the right decision. We have core players in key positions that can help the Bears become a formidable threat on the offensive side. Quarterback, Tight End in Greg Olsen, Running Back in Matt Forte, and hopefully the play of recently shifted tackle Chris Williams is a sign of things to come.  Kahlil Bell was a pleasant surprise as a change of pace back for Matt Forte. I have a feeling that despite the contributions Adrian Peterson makes on special teams, he might become a casualty this off season.

The Wide Receivers played better than expected, but when is playing above zero expectations a sign of strength. Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith both acted like we were strong in the position. Can we officially say that the Devin Hester experiment on offense is over? How hard is it for a team to have the best in any position? We had a game changing talent returning kick offs and punts where opponents were scared to kick to him. He is an instinctive downhill runner that is creative. He is not a route runner that has to locate the coverage and shift accordingly. How nice was it that every time he returned a kick that we had the opportunity to score or play on a short field?

Earl Bennett was a pleasant surprise. He made some big catches, showed good hands and good chemistry with Cutler. Johnny Knox was a great surprise; I would love to see more of him, Devin Aromashodu, Juaquin Iglesias in the preseason.  The wide receiver core has the chance to make strides this year, but still tough to determine whether there is a true number one out of the group.

The offensive line is in shambles. The Orlando Pace signing, while I thought was a smart one, didn’t pan out. The new signings of Frank Omiyale, Josh Beekman and Kevin Shaffer didn’t pan out either. That was a direct correlation to the run game not being effective at all. Olin Kreutz, the man in the middle has given the Bears some amazing years. He is the heart and soul of that unit, but this past year, the number of quarterback exchange problems, penalties and missed assignments have risen to an alarming level. He’s clearly lost a step, but by no means the first place that needs to be fixed.  Roberto Garza has regressed from the previous year.  How can Jay Cutler be the savior, if we can’t protect him or run the ball?

On the defensive side, Lovie has finally been forced to hand over the defensive play calling responsibilities. While lacking a true dominant edge rusher, and a defensive tackle in Tommie Harris who has the ability to disrupt an offense and disappear, the defensive front will need to have some inspired play by the youngsters to help anchor the defense this upcoming year.  Jarron Gilbert and Marcus Harrison need more playing time. They need to be able to show the Bears if they can stick or not. It was unfortunate that they didn’t get more playing time in the final games when evaluation should be the sole focus of the coaches.  Don’t get me started on Gaines Adams!

The next line is our strongest. Our linebacking core suffered major injuries to Urlacher, Pisa, and Hillenmeyer. Still with Briggs bringing the energy and the shear will to the bunch, they were at times very good. I hope the new Defensive Coordinator considers switching to a 3 – 4 and play to the Bears strength. Dom Capers switched that Green Bay defense to be very good by the end of the year. I am not expecting those types of results, but I do feel we would be more effective and can disguise our weaknesses better.

Our cornerbacks are a source of concern. Bowman, Corey Graham have shown some promise, but are they true starting cornerbacks? It seems that with the lack of a true shut down corner, and no consistent pass rush leaves our secondary out on an island. It makes the line backers drop a little deeper, and then the defense gets run on. While Tillman is not a true top notch corner either, he is absolutely a huge asset for us with his ball stripping abilities. His ability to punch out the football is amazing and a tremendous asset.

Our safeties are a work in progress. Manning has the physical abilities to get it down, while Afalava, a promising young rookie learned under fire this year. I see much better things from him in this upcoming season.

With the lack of talent at the corner position or an effective pass rush from the front four, the Tampa 2 defense shows its weaknesses.  Either upgrade in talent or change the scheme to fit the talent is needed.

The Bears special teams feature two of the top skill players, adequate coverage teams and blockers. Brad Maynard and Robbie Gould are clutch and consistently perform at a tremendously high level. They are a tremendous asset to this team.

Overall, the team has some pieces in place, but more that aren’t. The concerns at the wide receiver, offensive line, defensive line and corner backs were well documented and most likely won’t be resolved without high draft picks in the near future. The most troubling trend is that this is a team that doesn’t have top notch talent across the board, but that doesn’t excuse the penalties, the late hits, the lack of discipline on either side of the ball that kills any momentum the Bears might establish. Lovie is too weak on his players, lets the veterans work at their own schedule and is not pushing the team to get rid of those problems.

That is one thing the Bears can control! The reduction in penalties is a place to start when the team knows it is going into next season with the same roster.  We don’t have the talent, but we can stop beating ourselves and for once make the other team beat us! I understand the salary cap issues, the potential lock out and other scenarios that caused the Bears to not fire Lovie with the uncertainty looming. The one way to right this ship now is to start moving older pieces of this puzzle and start picking up draft picks, give this team some cap space to grab premier talent in free agecy.

With the potential of an uncapped year in 2010 and the looming lockout in 2011, where does this franchise go? If changes in the front office, the roster are not taken, we are looking at another painfully lackluster 2010 and beyond from our beloved Bears.