Bears fans spent a better part of the day on Monday wondering how good this team really is.  At 5-3, ,they’re keeping pace with the Packers and in the discussion for an NFC playoff berth.  But the “soft” part of the schedule has concluded and it’s time to take a step up in class with teams like the Patriots, Jets and Eagles among the second half opponents.   Lovie Smith had this to say at his Monday presser:

“We’re 5-3 right now, and a lot of times it seems like we’re 2-6 or something like that,” Smith said. “We’re a good football team, and, in time, we’ll prove that more and more.

“I like our position.”

When he said it feels like 2-6, he probably should have stopped there.  After that, my bullshit meter went off the charts.  More after the jump.

(more…)

We’re going to try to make an effort here at Bear Goggles On to bring back Bear Dawn.  We’ll link a handful of Bears stories that you might like to start your day and get you caught up on the relevant Bears news of the day.   I’m hoping to get Gavin back in the mix as his schedule allows, but in the meantime, you’ll have to settle for me.  On with the links:

• Rick Telender thinks the Bears just beat up their little brother.  What’s the matter Rick, you actual want them to pick on someone their own size???  They’ll have plenty of chances in the second half of the season, but you may just realize that the Bills were someone their own size.
• The Tribune’s Vaughn McClure gives you the obligatory Izzy Idonije is a Canadian and played well in Canada story.
• Steve Rosenbloom is on point as usual, wondering what if the Bears hadn’t had two weeks to prepare for this 0-7 team.  That’s a scary question.

(more…)

No, Devin Hester has not become the newest Angel in Victoria’s Secret ad campaign.  The image above was taken from the Windy City Flyer’s new Red Bull sponsored website.

What could you find on the site?  Devin chimes in on health care, the economy and global warming.  Ya think?!?!  For those who crave more shirtless photos of Hester or some pics of Hester modeling his Red Bull gear around town, this is the place for you.

There is also a brief bio and some stats while Devin also shares some of his pre-game rituals and answers 23 questions.  He’s #23. Get it?  Soooo clever.

What’s not on the site?  Any action photos like this one:

Todd Sauerbrun tackles a bunch of air as Devin Hester is en route to another return TD.

or his electrifying Super Bowl XLI kick return like this:

Now all we need is for Devin to get back to returning kicks like the best to ever do it back from a couple of years ago.  Stop trying to make him a #1 receiver and let him do what he does best.

BEAR DOWN!!!

There’s no doubt that the Bears’ search for the OC and DC positions has gotten very desperate. Now more than ever, we need some objective analysis of who our next options are.

Don’t fear, Mike Burzawa has a list of coordinators for the Bears to look at. Make sure to check it out! 

ChicagoBears.com

Larry Mayer starts his first of nine positional reviews: This time, it’s Jay Cutler. 

Chicago Sun-Times

Sean Jensen goes back in history and details the Cedric Benson fiasco.

Sean Jensen: Lovie has to deal with an obvious obstacle in hiring new coordinators: Long-term security.

Rick Morrissey wants Lovie Smith to hire his buddies. That way, the Bears will finally clean house in 2011.

(more…)

To be fair to the author of this piece, Dan Parzych, I have no idea if he’s a media newbie. But if you want to lower your IQ reading ridiculously stupid articles, I have a treat for you.

Young Danimal decided to rank the 20 teams that made the Super Bowl within this decade. Naturally, I was curious to see how low the Bears ranked. Unfortunately, Danimal ranked the 2006 Bears as #11. Fair enough. However, he also ranked the 2006 Colts as #13.

WHAT?! We got waxed in that game! But we were better than the Colts? Oh, ok.

Now, I do have a bit of empathy for Young Danimal. I’ve done a lot of draft-type Big Boards and Mock Drafts, and I’ve gotten ripped for my rankings before; that’s been ok with me, because my ego isn’t tied into being Mr. NFL Draft. But, I know his pain. However, I’ve also never made such a hideous mistake in my rankings like that, so I’ll still join the masses and laugh.

(more…)

The Wall Street Journal has an excellent article looking at Cutler’s interceptions and what it means going forward. Have no fear, Bears fans: 14 of the 23 HOF QB’s have led the league in interceptions.

Think about it. Cutler’s playing with a porous offensive line, a non-existent running game, and a group of young, raw WR’s. Of course he’s going to struggle! Step away from the ledge and pray (hard) that the Bears management fixes those problems in the offseason. They won’t, but we can at least hope.

(more…)

Ok, now I’ve officially had it. I’m going to give you two quotes, and you tell me who said it:

1) “As I look at our eight losses, three of them were legitimate losses. The other five, we were right there. We had opportunities.”

2) “No reason to think we can’t make (the playoffs in 2010).”

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the current (and hopefully future pink-slipped) coach of the Chicago Bears!

Let’s go through what’s wrong with those statements….first, all eight were legitimate losses. We sucked this year. Regardless of what happened in those games, they ended in losses. Bottom line. As for the second statement, it’s such a moronic claim to make. With our current offensive line, defensive line, and secondary, we’re going to be bad for years to come unless we make major changes.

(more…)

I’ve supported Lovie Smith at times when others were calling for his head. After past seasons, I thought we were a few pieces away from being a good football team. Now? Lovie Smith is a joke. Yesterday was an awful performance. At times, we looked as though we were a legitimate team. The flip side of that coin was watching players committing stupid penalties or just getting flat-out beat.

What coach calls a timeout, then challenges a play that was clearly called correctly? That bumbling ignorance cost us two timeouts we could have used at the end of the game. But no….we’ll be left listening to his “press conferences” today listening to how he believes we have a good football team.

(more…)