Around the Division: Chicago Bears
Going in to last year’s season, optimism in Chicago was at its peak in recent memory, fresh on the heels of the acquisition of Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler from the Denver Broncos. Now, just 16 regular season games removed, expectations in the Windy City have tempered to a mild breeze. Not to take away from Cutler’s talent, the man has a strong enough arm to make Over the Top‘s Lincoln Hawk jealous, however, his receiving corps was pretty much on par with Stallone’s supporting cast in the movie. Just ask Rotten Tomatoes, there’s still room for a solid 70 improvement. The 2009 passing attack depended heavily on converted kick-return phenom Devin Hester and Cutler’s Vanderbilt teammate Earl Bennett and second-year speedster Johnny Knox. Unfortunately for Bears fans, there are very few new faces split wide to catch Cutler bullets. Some may cite the late season emergence of Devin Aromashodu as a sign of marked improvement, hauling in 12 passes for nearly 200 yards and 3 touchdowns over the course of the final 2 games, but it’s hard to pin a city’s hopes on the emergence of a 4 year journeyman selected in the 7th round of the 2006 Draft. Last season’s mix of receivers resulted in 26 Cutler interceptions, the third most in recent NFL history over the past 15 years. So why then should there be any optimism in Midway?First year offensive coordinator Mike Martz seems to elicit passing production wherever he lands, with Cutler standing as the direct beneficiary this season. While Cutler’s final numbers were disappointing, he may have been under-shined by second year running back Matt Forte. Expected to take the next big step towards the league’s elite, Forte floundered to a 4 score season averaging well under 4 yards a carry and amassing under 1,000 yards on the ground. The Bears brought in Chester Taylor from Minnesota to help out in the run game, with hopes the competition the spark will ignite Forte back to his old form.