When you’re on a budget – and we know the Misers of the Midway always are – it’s best to do a little research before going on a shopping spree to be sure you’re getting the best bang for your buck.

Last season the second biggest disappointment for the Bears, besides Jay Cutler and his knack for throwing the ball to the other team, had to be Matt Forte.  You can blame the O-line or playing with a bum wheel, but the fact is that the Bears had no one to spell and/or compliment Forte.

Let’s assess the expected crop of Free Agent Running  Backs the Bears might consider to bolster their backfield:

Darren Sproles

This little waterbug is likely to be a hot commodity on the free agent market.  His diminutive stature (5’6″ and 185 lbs) makes it a stretch to think that he could be a primary back, so that might cost him a few bucks, but heading into an uncapped year, that will hardly make a difference.

Sproles i’s quicker than a hiccup and sometimes tougher to stop.  Mike Martz has wet dreams about this type of running back.  Can you imagine the screen plays he could run with him?  Would be the perfect compliment to Forte in the backfield and I can hardly imagine what Dave Toub could do with his unique talents on special teams?   (more…)

Gould signed with the team as an undrafted free agent out of Penn State in 2005 and became a fan favorite for his mixture of professionalism and personality. He frequently makes himself available to media and fans and has stayed humble through his popularity. He is mindful of his days getting cut by the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens and keeps a positive attitude.

He was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2006 and has made 84 of 99 field goals for his career, an 85% success rate. His most notable kick came in the playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks at Soldier Field in overtime that led the Bears to the NFC Championship Game. Gould has the fourth highest career field goal percentage in NFL history behind kickers Nate Keading, Mike Vanderjagt, and Shayne Graham. In 2006, Gould scored 143 points, ranking him 23rd for most points scored in a single season in NFL history. His 143 points also ranked him 2nd only behind LaDainian Tomlinson‘s 186 points for most points scored in the NFL that season. Last season, his 126 points was good enough to rank him 8th in the NFL in points scored.

In 2006, Gould’s 32 successful field goals ranked him in a tie for 1st with Jeff Wilkins for most field goals made that season. In 2007, his 31 successful field goals ranked him in a three way tie for 2nd for most field goals made with Mason Crosby and Shayne Graham, and trailing Rob Bironas. Those are big numbers for a kid that was working as construction worker in Pennsylvania three years ago before signing with the Bears.

I would love to see the San Diego Chargers defeat the New England Patriots and get the AFC trophy, but with a banged up LaDainian Tomlinson and gimpy Phillip Rivers the Chargers may have to hope for another miracle from their back ups Michael Turner and Billy Volek. Although, if you told me the fate of the Chargers season would rest on a touchdown drive led by Volek and Turner I would probably tell you their season would end early. Somehow they managed to manufacture a game-winning drive in the face of the NFL defensive MVP Bob Sanders. Is it even feasible to imagine the same thing could happen to the Patriots? I’m grounded by the reality that the Colts defense was missing several key players and had been over performing down the stretch. The reality is with the amount of injuries on the Indianapolis Colts it should have been no surprise that they were ousted by a team using replacement parts.

Now the Chargers are thrust into the same role the Colts played this past weekend. They go into the AFC championship game banged up and possibly missing pro bowl players that are key to their team. When you take L.T. and Antonio Gates off the field, what do the Chargers have left on offense? Chris Chambers is going to lead this team past the Patriots?

Normally I don’t waste my time writing on the AFC but I make the exception because of how much I despise the Patriots. I despise the way they disregarded the old NFL unspoken rule against running up the score against opponents. I despise the way they managed to horde so much talent on one team much the way basketball teams were for many years and contributed to the drop off of the NBA. I despise that Tony Romo gets criticized for taking his celebrity girlfriend on a trip but there is no accountability for Tom Brady dating supermodels and having children with different women. I despise the way they play the game more like a video game than real football.

I already know what all the Patriots fan are saying, if you don’t like it then find a way to beat us. That’s the part that really disgusts me. Even with their bastardized version of football, no one has been able to find a way to stop them. It’s also the reason why it will never be duplicated. The main reason the Patriots offense has been so good is the matching up of a great receiving corps, mostly due to the horrible trade made with the Oakland Raiders to get Randy Moss. Shame on the Raiders for giving up Moss to the Patriots without making the Patriots give up some talent in return. It was a fluke that probably will never be able to be repeated by any other team. They also have a benefit of a defense made up of some of the best defensive players in the league. Somehow Junior Seau has been an ageless wonder and still manages to contribute. Eventually this team will get too old and too expensive to keep together and balance will be restored to the league.

So should I admire the Patriots for putting this team together? I don’t think so, that still doesn’t excuse the way they humiliated teams for their own ego.

The New York Giants played a great game against the Dallas Cowboys but you have to admit the Cowboys didn’t look like the Cowboys on Sunday. They looked confused and couldn’t get a balance on offense, mostly due to allowing the Giants pass rush to have their way with Tony Romo. Brett Favre has many more years under his belt on knowing how to avoid a pass rush, plus a Packers offense that has shown they can rely on the pass and spread the field. So as far as I’m concerned the Packers already have their place set for the NFC trophy.

That’s possibly what makes the Packers and Patriots match up so compelling. While the Packers have shown they can take over a game with running back Ryan Grant, it wasn’t too long ago they were winning games by passing the entire game, much the way the Patriots have been winning. The possibility of a shoot out Super Bowl will be exciting and fun to watch. If the Giants upset and get into the Super Bowl, the Patriots defense will be able to confuse Eli Manning and take control of the game. Favre is old, but has a lot of wisdom when it comes to playing the game and the Super Bowl.

So you tell me, do Bears fans root for the Patriots to run the table and make NFL history by mocking the league, or do you root for the hated, rival Packers, even though they may be the last saviors of the league by giving the Patriots their own style of pass happy offense and suffocating defense?

The only team left with a dominant running game is the San Diego Chargers due mostly to the ability of LaDainian Tomlinson to take over a game by himself.  Even the Seattle Seahawks with ex-NFL MVP Shaun Alexander has developed into a pass first offense and put the ball in the hands of Matt Hasselbeck when the game is on the line.  I thought the Jacksonville Jaguars would lose this weekend due to their one-trick pony running offense.  Ironically, they won because of a run play…..by their quarterback.  When the Steelers defense dropped back to defend the pass they left a bowling ball lane for David Gerrard to run through and burn them. 

So where does this leave the Bears?  With an offense that is struggling in every aspect they need to figure out in a hurry how they are going to identify themselves.  Lovie Smith talks about getting off the bus running on opponents, but the trend in the NFL is to get off the bus passing.  When you look at all of those teams they have a few things in common.  They all have quarterbacks that stand confident in the pocket and are ready to make big throws and lots of them.  They all also have runnings backs that are very opportunistic and make plays when they do get the ball.  So far the Bears are 0-2 on the list. 

Last year at this time we were all riding on the highs and lows of the Rex Grossman adventure ride through the playoffs.  He is amazing at times and frustrating at others.  It sounds like the Bears are willing to give Grossman another shot and it may be the Bears best chances of winning.  As much as Grossman is frustrating to watch, there is not much else out there.  The cries for Donovan McNabb are only pushing up his value and could require giving up massive talent to bring to Chicago.  It doesn’t help that word is coming out of Minnesota that the Vikings are going to try to put together a package to convince the Eagles to trade them McNabb.  Just as the Bears are not willing to commit too much to Briggs, it could cost the Bears too much as a team to obtain an often injuried McNabb.

The Bears best option this off season may be letting go Lance Briggs and putting the franchise tag on Bernard Berrian to save money and keep one of their top receiver threats.  Re-signing Grossman will likely include an incentive heavy deal if he can perform.  That would leave money to shore up three positions that are more important to building a winning team, running back, offensive tackle, and safety.

Say what you will about Rex Grossman but the biggest reason for the Bears lack of offense is Cedric Benson.  He shows no burst coming out of the backfield, no ability to shed tackles, and no big play ability.  He is best suited as a back up running back.  That means the Bears need to solve their problems through draft or free agency.  Depending on how the first round plays out, the Bears should try to grab one of the offensive tackles coming out this year.  It is a good looking crop and could make an immediate impact.  The second round will be open for either a running back or safety, again depending on the level of talent left on the table.  As we have seen, draft day can leave big suprises open in the second round and maybe the Bears can get lucky. 

I think the best option would be taking tackle and safety in the draft and signing a running back.  After watching the Chargers game I’m loving the thought of Michael Turner in a Bears jersey.  His hard running style would suit the Bears offense well and can pick up where Thomas Jones left off. 

There has been a lot of talk of bringing Pittsburgh guard Alan Faneca to Chicago.  I’m actually indifferent towards this one.  As you can tell I love lineman and they are the core of every team.  However, I also understand this is a business.  Faneca is an amazing guard and would be a big boost for the Bears, but their need is at tackle, not guard.  Roberto Garza and Ruben Brown are great veterans.  Brown had a rough year and tried to play out the season with essentially one arm due to hiding an injury.  When fully healthy he is a great lineman and leader.  He basically told the Bears he will come back and play for any offer they want to give him.  The only problem is Brown is already old and would be a short term fix as opposed to Faneca that is four years younger.  This one comes down to money.  Signing Faneca would be a great long term fixture, but signing Brown would give room to make a bigger free agent splash.  We’ll have to wait and see what the Bears decide.