Tag / Brian Urlacher

by admin

Another One Bites The Dust

lance-briggsFor the third straight off-season, the Bears have told a long tenured fan favorite that his time with the team has come to an end.  Lance Briggs, who was drafted by the Bears in the 3rd round of the 2003 draft, became a starter his rookie season and was been one of the anchors of the vaunted defense under former coach Lovie Smith.  Over the past seasons, under new (and now former) coach Marc Trestman, Briggs has appeared in just over half of the Bears’ games due to injury.

Briggs announced last November that his time in Chicago was likely winding down and sources close to the Bears reported this week that Briggs was officially informed that he will not be offered a contract for the upcoming 2015 season.  With a new coaching staff and new defensive scheme coming in, Briggs was thought to be a poor fit.

The 7-time Pro Bowler finishes his Bears career with the fifth-most games played and the second-most tackles in franchise history.  He may find himself in the same situation Brian Urlacher did 2 years ago: looking for work and forced to retire before he was really ready.

by jim

Devin Hester, You Were Ridiculous

devin-hester.22For the second time in as many off-seasons, the Bears have decided to cut ties with one of their all-time greats, announcing that they will not attempt to resign Devin Hester for the upcoming season.  Drafted in the second round of the 2006 draft, Hester quickly made an impact, returning a punt for a touchdown in his first game and recording six touchdowns over his first thirteen weeks.  As the Bears made their first Super Bowl appearance since their victory over the Patriots in Super Bowl XX, Hester returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown.

The following season, in an attempt to exploit his explosiveness, the Bears moved Hester from cornerback to wide receiver.  After returning both a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns in week 12 against the Broncos, Hester, in less than 2 seasons, became the leading kick returner in Bears history.

In 2011, Hester became the NFL’s all time leading punt returner after breaking Eric Metcalf’s record with a TD return against the Panthers.  Two years later, Hester returned a punt 81 yards for his 19th career return touchdown, tieing Deion Sanders for the NFL record.

Yesterday, Hester announced that, despite his desire to retire as a Bear, he would not be returning for a 9th season.  The Bears confirmed the news today, and they will once again head in to a season without one of their franchise stars.  Last season, their first without Brian Urlacher, the defense fell apart, causing them to once again miss the playoffs.  Hopefully they can do a better job in replacing Hester and his production.

by admin

A Legend Retires

011209bears_urlacherAfter 13 years in the middle of the Bears defense, and less than 3 months after a messy divorce left him as a free agent looking for a new home, Brian Urlacher announced his retirement yesterday.  Urlacher played 182 regular-season games over those 13 seasons and led the team to their second Super Bowl appearance following the 2006 season.  Urlacher missed significant time due to injury in the 2009, 2011, and 2012 seasons, and, days before his 35th birthday, he said in his announcement that he was “sore” and “tired of working out.”

While the Bears had already moved on without Urlacher, it will be nice to not have him play out his career in some strange uniform, as many others have done before him.  Only six Bears have had a longer Bears career without having played anywhere else: Hall of Famers Walter Payton and Bulldog Turner, Doug Buffone, Jim Osborne, Keith Van Horne, and the long snapper supreme Pat Mannelly.

by jim

Fire Lovie?

A month ago, things were looking bright at Halas Hall.  The Bears had started 7-1 and looked to be running away with the NFC North.  4 weeks later, they are now 8-4 and are 10 minutes and 14 points away from 8-5.  The late season fade has been a recurring theme in the later seasons of the Lovie Smith era, and the Bears are still looking for their first December win since 2010.  Is it time for the Lovie era to come to an end?

Smith has been coach of the Bears since 2004 and is the fourth-longest tenured coach in the NFL.  His early success, including a Super Bowl trip following the 2006 season, has given way to more recent mediocrity, as they have made the playoffs only once since losing that Super Bowl.

There are plenty of excuses as to why the Bears have lost (or about to have lost) 4 out of their last 5 games.  The offensive line, a patchwork of bad retreads on its best day, has been decimated by injuries.  The defense, which was outscoring many offenses in the early part of the season, has started to show its age and is now without Brian Urlacher for perhaps the remainder of the season.  Other teams, however, lose key personnel and are able to recover.  For the Bears, the trend has been to fall apart at the first sign of adversity.

If the Bears fail to win a playoff game for the 5th time in the last 6 seasons, I don’t see how you don’t make a change.  Smith already has more coaching wins with the Bears than anybody not named Halas or Ditka, so it will not be an easy call to make.  Smith is also beloved by the McCaskey family, which will make it even harder.  But the window to win with the aging defense is closing fast and it may take some new blood on the sidelines to make it happen.