National Football League

Bears have serious management issues

Published Oct. 19, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

The Bears are the most mismanaged 4-2 ever.

The Chargers have major problems.

And the Cowboys are the Cowboys.

Plus, the best team in the NFL, the league’s reaction to violent hits and we talk to Alex Smith.

We hand out our week 6 SCHEINERS, SCHEIN 9 style.

1. Tough to Bear

I’ve seen it all. It’s over. And by “it” I mean the Bears season, the Mike Martz experiment, and Lovie Smith’s career in Chicago. And if that’s the case, say goodbye to general manager Jerry Angelo, too.

Let me channel my inner Dennis Green at the most appropriate time. The Bears are exactly who I thought they were. I don’t care about the Bears' 4-2 record. The Lions win was a gift. Dallas outplayed them. Carolina picked off Todd Collins four times. The Bears are a lousy team with no offensive plan. They are totally mismanaged on offense. The Chicago Bears will absolutely not make the playoffs. How can you watch this team and think they are any good?

The definition of insanity is doing the same wrong thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. Welcome to Mike Martz football. The game plan and execution against the Giants was pathetic and got Jay Cutler sacked 10 times, forcing him to miss the Carolina game after being knocked silly. So one would think that Martz, who was foolishly hired in the offseason despite being allergic to run plays, would use Matt Forte early and often to provide Cutler and his offensive line some needed balance. But despite Forte’s excellence the game before against the Panthers, Mike Martz was up to his old tricks. And the Bears embarrassed themselves in a loss to the very average Seattle Seahawks.

Think about it logically. You run for 218 yards against the Panthers. Your quarterback missed a game with a concussion. And Mike Martz calls exactly 12 run plays against a beatable defense. This is a fireable offense. This is why Martz should’ve never been hired in the first place. This is why the Chicago Bears genuinely miss axed offensive coordinator Ron Turner. Any rational Bears fan would agree.

The Seattle Seahawks, not the 2000 Ravens, sacked Jay Cutler six times. Pete Carroll and his staff coached the pants off of Martz. Carroll and company kept blitzing. They kept bringing cornerbacks and defensive backs. Martz didn’t make an adjustment. Chicago kept throwing and blocking with five. Tackle bust (thanks, Jerry Angelo) Chris Williams resembled a turnstile at guard. There was a stretch in the second quarter where Martz had the nerve to call 11 straight pass plays. How the heck does this happen? This is irresponsible, counterproductive to winning and Jay Cutler’s health.

Martz has full autonomy for the Bears offense and that’s the problem. But Lovie Smith is the head coach. How does he let this happen? It’s inexplicable.

After the game Lovie Smith told WBBM-AM radio in Chicago, "I did a terrible job in getting the team ready." Boy, isn’t that a major problem. According to the Seattle Times, this was Seattle’s first road win against a team with a winning record since September of 2007. Seattle had already lost two games on the road this year to Denver and St. Louis, not exactly juggernauts.

Look at Chicago’s upcoming schedule. The Bears will beat the Bills in Week 9 because, well, every team beats the Bills. But this week they have future Hall of Famer Mike Shanahan bringing his Redskins to Chicago. The Bears will get outcoached. There’s isn’t one cupcake listed in the final eight contests, including at the Lions who will looking to get revenge for “The Calvin Johnson game”.

The great Chicago Bears fans deserve so much better than this embarrassment, better than this coaching staff. This is the worst 4-2 team I’ve ever seen.

2. Amateur hour

Good news, Bears fans. You could root for the San Diego Chargers.

As we wrote earlier in the year, 2010 is shaping up to be the season the slow start and incredibly maddening and inconsistent play catches up to San Diego. I still firmly believe that, despite the Chiefs blowing a fourth-quarter lead in Houston, Denver blowing a fourth-quarter lead against the Jets, and the Raiders being the Raiders.

The Chargers are 0-4 on the road. The Chargers were down 17-0 to the Rams!!

How about St. Louis’ 17-play drive in the second quarter that chewed up the clock? The Chargers can’t make a stop. The Rams, the Rams, converted on four third downs on the sequence. It was a harbinger of things to come on the final St. Louis drive after San Diego rallied to make it 20-17. Steven Jackson sealed the win by shoving the ball down the Chargers' collective throats.

San Diego again looked ill-prepared. There were more issues on special teams, getting a field goal blocked.

Quentin Jammer indicted Norv Turner and the veteran leadership when he told the San Diego Union Tribune after the game “We were flat”.

You lost to Oakland for the first time in forever and you come out flat against a team with inferior talent? This was a game you should’ve won by double digits if you didn’t come out flat. And that’s coaching.

3. Can’t make it up

Really, Dallas Cowboys?

After getting burnt on an excessive celebration penalty in Week 5, Miles Austin is guilty of one against Minnesota? You total 11 penalties? More offensive line issues? Does Doug Free know who Jared Allen is? Does Tony Romo know who E.J. Henderson is? More issues on special teams after it doomed you against Tennessee? Losing a game in Minnesota when you have more total yards, more pass yards, and hold the ball longer?

But then again it is Jerry Jones and Wade Phillips. So maybe you CAN make it up.

4. Pop and sizzle

Last week at this time, we penned that the Falcons were the best team in the NFL. And Kevin Kolb carved them up. I could give you the numbers of 23 for 29 for 326 yards. Or I could mention what I see and what I have heard talking to players throughout the offseason, preseason and in season.

The Eagles are better with Kevin Kolb than Mike Vick.

5. Backseat coaching

The Broncos lost a ball game against the Jets. But I want to take a moment to give Josh McDaniels some credit for his game plan. He did two things he hasn’t done all year and it worked. McDaniels stayed with the run and unpredictably carved up the strong Jets run defense. And he got Tim Tebow involved without killing the flow. And the Jets didn’t stop him either. I expect to see more Tebow. And we should.

6. My guys

Deion Branch — Talking to Branch on Monday on Sirius NFL Radio, he said he felt “blessed” to be back in New England. Branch said Bill Belichick handed him a play sheet with 25 plays to study when he took his physical on Tuesday. That’s classic. And so was his nine-catch, 98-yard return to the Patriots in New England’s statement win against the Ravens.

Chris Long — The Rams defensive end is starting to get in a groove. He sacked Phil Rivers twice on Sunday in the Rams upset special. In talking to Long on Monday, he gave Steve Spagnuolo a lot of credit for his week-to-week demeanor. And Long says it is OK to talk playoffs in St. Louis, a stated goal in the preseason even if others laughed. Nobody is laughing now.

Alex Smith — A flawless second half finally equaled San Fran’s first win. And Smith faced the music on his 2010 season when we talked on Sirius NFL Radio on Monday. Smith knows he fans are frustrated and he says he would be as well. I feel terrible for Smith. He’s had a revolving door at offensive coordinator. Will he ever be a star? I don’t know. But I know I’d rather have Smith as my quarterback than Mike Singletary as my coach.

Chris Ivory — All the Saints needed was balance with a running attack to explode.

Aaron Francisco — Colts coach Jim Caldwell praised his “athleticism, concentration, and ball skills” when giving Francisco props for his game clinching pick in Washington. That could’ve easily been a Donovan McNabb touchdown with the wrong bounce.

7. My goats

Jack Del Rio — Way to show up on Monday night.

Jason Campbell — Did you watch this game? Campbell couldn’t complete the forward pass. A quarterback rating of 10 doesn’t even begin to tell the story.

Brandon Meriweather — His hit on Todd Heap was cheap and rightly irritated Bill Belichick.

Officials in Denver — Still waiting to find the pass interference on Antonio Cromartie, the pass interference on Santonio Holmes, or how you can justify unnecessary roughness on Jim Leonhard on a legal hit in bounds.

Norv Turner / Wade Phillips / Mike Martz – See above.

8. Your turn

@San_Diego_Jet @AdamSchein I'm a Jet fan, but don't you think Pitt has to be considered as best team in football?

The Jets are 5-1 and survived their “trap” game in Denver. Right now, I’d rank the top 3 Jets, Steelers, Ravens.

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