Most Important Bears this Season and How They’ll Do
Being a premier sports franchise, the Chicago Bears are always a topic of discussion. Whether it is the off-season or if they are lighting it up during the regular season. You rarely see a week where the Bears aren’t mentioned in the news. As of late however, the Bears have been regarded pretty lowly from writers all over the sporting world. A recent PFF article rated the Bears as the 30th best roster in the NFL. No respect.
The Bears were simulated to go .500 this upcoming season while having one of the easiest schedules. Again, no respect. I get it, the Bears haven’t done anything to earn our respect, but still there’s enough talent on this roster to will them to a few more wins.
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My personal opinion is the Bears go 10-6 or 11-5 and sneak into the playoffs. Coach John Fox has taken every team he’s ever coached to the playoffs his second year. It’s only fitting he does the same with these Bears, but then again the NFL is far too unpredictable to make any predictions in early June. While it isn’t far-fetched that Bears make the playoff, as long as they have strong performances from a few players, I think the Bears are golden.
Pernell McPhee:
The Bears didn’t have many bright spots on defense last year. One of the few bright spots was Pernell McPhee. Although he didn’t jump of the stat sheet, McPhee’s presence on the field changed the way offenses attacked the defense. McPhee only tallied 6.5 sacks last year which isn’t good, especially when you’re the best pass rusher on the team. Injuries hampered McPhee’s ability to dominate games.
This year McPhee should look to rebound and give the Bears a legitimate contender for DPOY. He just needs to stay healthy and absolutely needs help from the other pass rushers on the team. Bears fans can only hope Leonard Floyd ends up being the poor man’s version of Aldon Smith (without the off field issues). The 2 would be great complements to each other with Floyd’s speed and McPhee’s power. Bears fans should expect a 12+ sack year from McPhee, he’s that important to their success.
Adrian Amos:
Adrian Amos is my candidate to make the leap this upcoming season. He had a very promising season as a Rookie. Most rookie safeties out the 5th round are special teams contributors. Not leading tacklers on their teams. Amos is the real deal. It is believed he’ll stay at his Free Safety role, depending on who takes the strong side. But Amos is great in the box and good in coverage.
What we need to see from Amos is a little ball hawking ability. Amos hasn’t recorded a pick yet, it’s odd to see a DB collect their first sack before they collect a pick. What Bear fans should hope to see from Amos is a strong presence in this weak secondary, he needs to solidify himself as the best DB and to do so, he needs to perform when it comes to creating turnovers. For a successful season 3 picks, 3 forced fumbles with 10 pass breakups should really get him noticed in the league and these expectations aren’t that crazy either.
Alshon Jeffery
When healthy Alshon Jeffery is a top 5 wideout. That isn’t a typo either. When Alshon is on the field he makes all the difference in the world. He averaged 90 yards a game while being injured! Injured! A healthy Alshon can only do more for us. He is a 100 catch WR. he just needs to stay on the field and he needs some help from the other receivers.
Kevin White will have a strong year and Zach Miller will fill in okay as the number 1 TE. With help like this Alshon just needs to make sure he gets to the games every Sunday. Currently, he’s working out in Florida but I’d rather seem him practice with the Bears at Halas Hall. Wherever his contract negotiations are lets hope Pace and Alshon get to an agreement soon. Alshon will crack 1300 yards and at least 8 TD’s this year. With another big wide receiver on the other side we can expect an encore performance of the 2013 season for the WR’s.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST
Captain Jay Cutler:
This wouldn’t be a Chicago Bears article if we didn’t mention Trigger Jay. The most polarizing figure in the franchise, the best quarterback to don a Bears uniform. This will be year 7 of Jay’s career in Chicago, and for the 7th straight year articles will be written about how this is Jay’s year. He has the weapons, Kyle Long is back at guard and his hair looks great.
Be all that as it may, but Jay will not post career high numbers this year, and that’s okay. Jay just needs to keep us competitive. With the game on the line in the 4th, I trust Jay to bring us the W. Since 2009 he leads all QB’s in 4th comebacks. and wins. For those of you saying he’s the problem. He’s not. He’s the lone player on the team that teams would go through to acquire. He’s a great leader and a great athlete and he will take the Bears to the playoffs.
He’s just another Bear that needs to make sure he stays healthy. When healthy, he gives the Bears a fighting chance in any game. Jay needs to have a performance similar to last year, with a few more TD’s. With this cast, Jay throws for 4000 yards, 28 TD’s to only 12 INTS. That’s pretty optimistic, since Jay has only eclipsed 4K yards and 28 TD’s once in his career. But because of his relationship with Dowell Loggains and his retooled WR corp, Jay will find a way to make this a good year and lead his Bears to the playoffs.