The excitement is building as we are less than a month away from Chicago’s professional football team packing their cars with clothes and entertainment, as they begin the trek towards Bourbonnais, the home of training camp for the Chicago Bears.
There has been a lot of enthusiasm surrounding the Bears since they lost five of their last six games following injuries to quarterback Jay Cutler and running back Matt Forte. Most of the build up to the 2012 season is surrounding newly acquired wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who the Bears traded for this offseason. Marshall brings a true number one receiver to the city for the first time in years, maybe decades.
The Bears also went out and drafted wide receiver Alshon Jeffery in the first round of the NFL Draft to add even more depth to a once thin position.
Don’t let the moves made at the receiver position, ones that should have been made years ago but have long gone ignored, cloud your judgment on this offense. The thing is, the same problems with the offensive line exist. Not much was done to improve on the quality of players up front and without tremendous growth from a group that showed some improvement last season, quarterback Jay Cutler may find himself on his back quite often again.
There was also this from Cutler earlier this month on WMVP-AM’s Waddle and Silvy Show, “The offensive line is definitely going to be a concern….You always want to be pro-Bears and compliment your teammates and stuff but…over a three-year career here, the line is definitely at the forefront of my mind every year. Until we get those front five hammered down, we’re still kind of up in the air offensively, even though we’ve got some really, really talented guys on the outside.”
Over the past two seasons, the Bears have given up 101 sacks, including a league-worst 52 in 2010. This will be the make-or-break season when it comes to many of these guys, as offensive coordinator Mike Tice will now have had three seasons to work with many of these guys.
Certainly the upgrade at receiver was something that was a long time coming in Chicago. However, it hasn’t been the Bears only problem over the past decade, and it seems that once again, the offensive line concerns have gone ignore yet again. For the sake of Cutler and coach Lovie Smith, Bears fans are surely hoping it will be enough to get by with.
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