The Onion

There are so many layers of Beardom to discuss this off-season, it is hard to know where to begin. With only a couple of days since the Super Bowl, it is going to take some time for this all to settle and digest. With this in mind, I am going to shoot off some visceral quick thoughts that stand out, and leave the analysis for the days and months ahead -

Lovie Smith runs a clean program - and Virginia likes respectable, steady guys at the helm (Smith, Jauron). I like him. But I don't think he's a formidable tactician. If another team was willing to pay up big (e.g. draft picks a la Tampa and Gruden), I'd let him go.

If Dallas wants Riviera, fine, take him. Against Indy, we blitzed something like only 6 times, despite the fact that Peyton's QB rating gets cut in half when blitzed. The secondary sat back and let Peyton pick us apart. He was so focused on not giving up the big play that Indy just nickel-and-dimed us to death. Someone explain to me how the Bears success on D this year can be attributed to Chico's scheme? It was about as basic a D and unimaginative a scheme as I've seen. Comparing Chico to the last Bears Super Bowl D coordinator is like comparing Michelangelo to a 3-year old's finger painting.

Ron Turner. I keep coming back to 2nd and 1 from Indy territory in the third quarter when the Bears D had been on the field most of the game. The Bears are in striking distance of a first down for the first time in a couple of series. Get the stinking first. So what does he call? A pass. Rex blows the snap. Its 3rd and 12. You would think after his illustrious career at Illinois he would be able to see that his club.....oh, I forgot....he left the program in shambles.

So, enough bagging on the coaching staff without some actionable opinions -

If I'm Bears management, here is what I do:

Lovie - give him a decent discretionary bonus for taking the Bears to the Bowl for the first time in over two decades, but don't give him a big extension. If another team is buying his kool-aid, negotiate some picks for his services.

Chico - someone else will be duped into giving him a job for more bread somewhere else. Good riddance.

Turner - relieve him of his duties effective immediately.