This installation of the Quotables is a little different from the standard. I'm tossing in a few quotes at the end, but I'm going to use the majority of this space to go on a few rants.
#1: Ron Turner deserves some blame
Key word here is some. Ron's play calling has been good at times, bad at others. We all know this. However, I don't want to continually read this week that "Ron Turner deserves to be fired because he sucks." Blanket statements such as that don't prove anything.
Does he deserve blame for continually trying to run the ball when it's obvious that either Forte is still nursing an injury and/or our OL sucks? Yeah, somewhat. But he's also dialed up some good plays. Take the good with the bad.
And, just for good measure, think about 2008. We had a crappy offense all the way around, and yet we still were close to making the playoffs. Ron Turner was fantastic last year.
#2: Coaching is an issue
Anyone who's been around throughout the time I've been here know that I've supported Lovie Smith. The past two games have proven to me that Lovie is struggling getting the players prepared.
We were sloppy as hell during the Falcons game, which was disheartening because we had two full weeks to get healthy and prepare a solid gameplan. Granted, Lovie doesn't play for the guys, but it was clear that our guys weren't as prepared as they should've been.
This week was a complete disaster. The defense was continuously confused and was beat. They were flat-out beat. Carson Palmer had all the time in the world to throw and Cedric Benson ran around like he was playing at Texas. I'm severely disappointed with how we've played the past two games.
#3: Stop with the "former Bears that are doing so well"
This is something that's been bothering me for a while.
Seriously, can we stop with the "Bears don't develop talent" bit? Let's look at some of those players, shall we? Bernard Berrian? He's not a #1 WR, but Minnesota sure paid them like he was. And please remember that it came down to Berrian or Briggs. Johnny Knox has 224 yards and 3 TD's, while Berrian has 234 yards and 2 TD's. Berrian is making $13.4 million, while Knox is making at least 12.5 million less than that.
Mark Bradley? Injured all the time.
Justin Gage? Bad
Marc Colombo? Injured and bad with the Bears
Cedric Benson? Injured at times, immature, and drunk
Just stop. That argument is for the football stupid.
#4: Know what we are
We are a passing team. Our starting RB either has an injury or he has regressed in his second year. Our OL is terrible. Our DL can't get pressure. Our LB's are injury depleted and somewhat bad. Our secondary is a damn joke.
Cutler will have to carry the team this year. He's going to have to make plays, which means that he'll have some interceptions. Learn to love it, because that's the only way we're going to win.
As of right now, we're not a playoff team. Again, learn to love it. The only bright spots on this team is Cutler, Johnny Knox, and our ST.
Lovie on the game:
"The Chicago Bears should never lose a football game like that. I didn't have my team ready to go this week. We'll learn from this game. It was a total breakdown by us, but you move on. Experience teaches you a lot and we've been in this spot before."
Cutler on the game:
"I think it's really embarrassing. I'm embarrassed and I think everyone in that locker room is embarrassed. The coaches and the players are embarrassed."
Lance Briggs on the game:
"We suck, we sucked. They completely dominated us."