When a season opens up with as many high expectations as the Bears did, it's not hard to start the finger-pointing game when things go wrong. We have all taken the time to try and pin-point things, but that task can be a bit overwhelming.
Enter Bears writer Jeff Dickerson: (an excerpt):
Football is the ultimate team game. You win as an organization, you lose as an organization. Instead of simply blaming one person (Ron Turner) for the Bears being 20-22 since the Super Bowl, take a step back and look at the big picture: It's been a collective effort, from the front office down to the players. Nobody should be immune from criticism, because everybody played a part in this mess.
Dickerson goes on to try and quantify (and qualify) why the boat is not only rocking, but also sinking since the Super Bowl:
After trading Thomas Jones to New York, the Bears handed the starting running back job to Cedric Benson (bust) in 2007.
Mark Anderson is promoted over Alex Brown in 2007 -- Anderson clearly couldn't handle the assignment.
Nathan Vasher got hurt versus Dallas in 2007 -- he never recovered.
Brian Urlacher dealt with major back issues in 2007, and missed almost all of 2009 with a dislocated wrist.
The Bears drafted Dan Bazuin (bust) in the second round in 2007.
The Bears drafted Michael Okwo (bust) in the third round in 2007.
The Bears drafted Garrett Wolfe (reach) in the third round in 2007.
And that's just 2007. Make sure you check out the full article for his complete run down.
Did he leave anything out? What do we need to see, starting right now, to right the ship before it is completely capsized?