From: scotty@bu.edu (walid tamari)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.australian
Subject: chicago.bears2
Date: 11 Dec 92 15:20:53 GMT
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5


             The Chicago Bears do indeed find themselves in a whole lot of trouble these days.  They are currently 4-9 and stand alone in the NFC Central division cellar.  Many Chicagoans do not know what exactly has gone wrong.  Afterall, this was a 12-4 ballclub only one year ago.
              Let us first start with the offense.  In order to be a successful offensive unit, it is the quarterback's duty to provide leadership and 
 results on the field.  Jim Harbaugh has been mediocre at best and has recently been replaced by the inexperienced and untested P.T. Willis.  Harbaugh has 
 thrown more interceptions than touchdowns this year and has been sacked 35
 times.  Those are certainly not the statistics of a playoff bound quarterback and it should now be clear as to why the Bears are not headded to the playoffs and are being forced to spend Christmas day at home with their families.
              Running back Neal Anderson has turned out to be the biggest 
 disappointment of all this season.  Neal is averaging a weasly 3.5 yards per
 carry and is looking scared every time he carries the football. This is 
 coming from a running back who only one year ago averaged 4.7 yards a pop and 
 was second in the league in touchdowns.  Neal Anderson is no longer in the top echelon of running backs in the league and can now be looked upon as mediocre
 at best.
              Brad Muster is the Bear fullback and has performed reasonably 
 well.  However, he has sat out three games because of his horrendous back
 and his days do seem to be numbered indeed, even though he is only 26.
              The three Bear ecievers are Wendell Davis, Tom Waddle, and 
 Anthony Morgan.  Waddle and Davis have prevented Harbaugh from looking like a 
 total bum with 53 catches apiece.  However, the big disappointment here has
 been Morgan who was revered by many as the next Willy Gault.  He has certainly been a far cry as he has only caught nineteen passes all year.
              Part of the problem to the Bear lackluster offensive showing has
 been the performance of the offensive line.  Tom Thayer, Mark Bortz and Keith
 Van Horne are all 35 years old and all are windind down their carrers.  Their
 reaction time has slowed down immensely as has their endurance.  They often 
 have performed well as a unit for one half together only to totally break down in the second half.  Everone tries to avoid it, but the years are taking their
 toll.  Also, Troy Auzenne and Stan Thomas have done a subpar job in filling
 in for the departed duo of Jimbo Covert and Jay Hilgenberg.
              Now, this is where the real problem lies.  The Bear defense this
 year is rannked twenty- third in the league.  Last year, the defense was 
 ranked as high as twelvth in the league.  Let us start with the defensive 
 line.  
             Steve McMichael, William Perry and Richard Dent all played big
 parts in the 1985 Bear Super Bowl season.  But, that may be a major part of
 the problem.  1985 was eight years ago.  Perry is the youngest of the three at
 thirty-two.  Defensive Coordinator, Vince Tobin has applied a scheme that
 expects an unrealistic level of performance from these three musketeers.  Dent
 is still an outstanding pass rusher but he has slowed down against the run.
 WWilliam Perry is still every running back's worst nightmare to run into, but 
 he is too slow to apply a consistent pass rush to even the most immobile of
 quarterbacks.  McMichael still pass rushes and defends the run but at a much 
 lower level than expected.  I'll say it once again, everyone tries to avoid it
 but the years are taking their toll.  Trace Armstrong rounds out the defensive
 line and is not and will never be pro- bowl material.
            The linebacking trio of Wilber Marshall, Mike Singletary and Otis
 Wilson is no longer.  Only Singletary remains and he too, is playing in his 
 final year.  He has slowed down immensely and has collected only 54 tackles 
 this season, a 33 tackle drop from the previous season.  Jim Morrissey and 
 John Roper round out the linebacking corp.  Morrissey has always been just
 average at best while Roper has been very disappointing.  He is a player 
 who is supposed to be playing in his prime, but has demonstrated little 
 enthusiasm and has been benched as a result.
            The Bear secondary has performed well but is often said to be 
 undersized.  Donnell Woolford and Lemuel Stinson have collected five
 interceptions each.  Mark Carrier is having another pro bowl type season, 
 while Shaun Gayle appears to be slowing down.
            So, as every die hard is supposed to say when the team they love is
 performing poorly, "until next year."