So I'm back from a longer than expected hiatus. And I will try to keep up better, but I've been busy/lazy lately. Anyway, I'll be talking about other things than Bears in the future, but I thought I'd at least conclude my season long series.
Well at least the season ended on a good note. Wins against 2 division opponents is never bad. Now we wait to see who our coordinators are going to be. The Bears kind of took the same approach as the Illini, give the head coach 1 more season to prove himself and fire the coordinators. Either way its looking like Lovie must make the playoffs to keep his job. As far as personnel, I would start with both lines. The offensive line needs to improve. I really don't have any answers, but we can't have a non-existent running game and Cutler getting knocked around every other play. The D-line needs to provide better pressure on the QB. The Bears finished just over average with 35 sacks. Other needs would be a safety to solidify at least one safety position and a solid, experience receiver to help make the Cutler-receiver connection more stable.
Offensive MVP: Greg Olsen. This is a very reluctant pick. I don't really think there was an MVP, but if I have to pick I'll go with Olsen who led the team with 8 TD receptions. He also had 60 receptions for 612 yards. He still needs to make some plays on balls thrown his way. Olsen kind of wins this by default. You cannot pick Cutler with all the picks he had. The O-line as a unit was dreadful early in the season. They improved in the latter half of the season with Chris Williams having a particularly good game against Jared Allen and the Vikings. Forte improved with the O-line and as Kahil Bell appeared. The receiving corp didn't have consistent play or receptions which hurt them. Hester was injured. Knox started out hot, but still made rookie mistakes. Bennett is probably the runner-up. I can't recall him dropping too many balls and has played well, but often disappeared in games (not that it's his fault).
Defensive MVP: Lance Briggs. This was an easy one. The Bears only Pro Bowler, who is not playing in the Pro Bowl, led the team with 93 tackles. Briggs was the most consistent player and is also fairly easily the Bears overall MVP. To think there was a time where he was almost certainly going to be an ex-Bear. Runners-up include Tillman and Hillenmeyer who filled in adequately for Urlacher. Tillman was the Bears best corner and played through injuries all season.
Special Teams MVP: Robbie Gould. This also was a fairly easy pick. Besides a notable miss in the 2nd Minnesota game, Gould was pretty much automatic making 24 of 28 kicks and hitting every extra point. Brad Maynard had a decent season as well averaging 41.4 yards per punt. Kick coverage was good, but too often seemed to give up a big return. Kick and Punt returns were fairly good with a cast of Hester, Bennett, Knox, and Danieal Manning providing good returns.
Rookie of the Year: Johnny Knox. No doubt here Johnny Knox had 45 receptions for 527 yards and 5 TDs. He also returned 32 kicks for an average of 29 yards and 1 TD. Al Afalava gets an honorable mention for starting at safety and learning as the season progressed.
Most Improved Player throughout this Season: Chris Williams. As I mentioned before Williams had a very good game in Minnesota and began to get settled once he moved to left tackle. He played a lot better compared to how he and the rest of the line looked in the beginning of the season. Honorable mention to Zack Bowman who seemed more confident as the season progressed. Again compare the first Lions game where he was torched by Calvin Johnson to the 2nd game where Johnson still played well, 86 yards and 1 TD, but was not as big of a factor.
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