2010 Chicago Bears Predictions
Published by Jack Jones on July 23, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
After reaching the Super Bowl in 2006, the Chicago Bears have spent the last three seasons watching the playoffs at home.
Heading into the 2009 season, there was a lot of optimism surrounding the Bears organization after they acquired Jay Cutler from the Denver Broncos, but things just didn’t turn out the way they were planned, and the Bears finished the year at 7-9.
Without a draft pick in the first two rounds, the Bears have had to make upgrades via free agency and trades this offseason.
The Bears also made a couple moves on the coaching staff, bringing in Mike Martz to run the offense and promoting Rod Marinelli to head the defense.
Here is a preview of what the Bears will send out onto the field, plus my prediction on where they finish the season in the NFC North.
Offense: In Cutler’s first season with the Bears, it was a bit of a disaster, as Cutler threw 26 interceptions, but he did turn things around towards the end of the season. While most of the blame goes on Cutler, he did have a poor offensive line and inexperienced group of receivers, not to mention a running game that finished 29th in the NFL.
Speaking of the running game, the Bears went out and signed free agent Chester Taylor this offseason to take some of the load off of starter Matt Forte. While Taylor will be used mainly on third down packages, both of these backs have a chance to shine in Martz’s system, as both are excellent receivers out of the backfield.
The Bears are hoping for much better production out of their receivers this season, and it will start with Devin Hester and the progress he has made this offseason into becoming a more complete receiver.
Starting opposite of Hester will be Johnny Knox, who really played well in his rookie season grabbing 45 passes for 527 yards and five scores.
The Bears also like what they have in Earl Bennett and Devin Aromashodu. With the tight end used rarely in Martz offense scheme, Greg Olson could see a huge drop off in production in 2010.
The offensive line remains a concern for the Bears heading into training camp, as the only new addition to the unit was seventh round pick J’Marcus Webb, who won’t come close to seeing the field this season.
That means the rest of this unit will have to improve if this team is going to have any chance at competing in the North this season.
Defense: The Bears lost defensive ends Alex Brown and Adewale Ogunleye this offseason, but they landed one of the premier defensive ends in all of football in Julius Peppers, who will try and help this defense regain its form that got them to the Super Bowl.
Mark Anderson is the likely starter opposite of Peppers. With Peppers on the defensive front, don’t be surprised if you see a better year out of defensive tackle Tommie Harris, as teams will put most of their attention at stopping Peppers, leaving Harris to cause problems in the middle.
At linebacker, the Bears spent almost the entire 2009 season without middle linebacker Brian Urlacher, and the defense is instantly better with him on the field.
With Urlacher getting up there in age, outside linebacker Lance Briggs has emerged as the star of this unit and will be a huge factor in the Bears turning things around on this side of the ball.
Nick Roach really impressed last season and should benefit even more with Urlacher back.
In the secondary, the Bears bring back starters Zackery Bowman and Charles Tillman at the two corner spots, but I believe they have made an upgrade at safety by trading for strong safety Chris Harris.
The starting free safety job likely won’t be decided until training camp, with Al Afalava, Josh Bullocks, and rookie Major Wright all fighting for the starting job.
Prediction – 3rd NFC North: I like the Bears’ chances of being a much better team in 2010, but I don’t think they will be able to compete with the Packers and Vikings for the top spot in the North. I could see the Bears finishing around 8-8 or 9-7 this season, but I don’t think it will be good enough to make the playoffs.
If you plan on betting the NFL this season, than make sure you take the time each week to check out our live NFL odds for every game. If you want to see a complete look at the upcoming season, check out our 2010 NFL predictions .
Read more Chicago Bears news on BleacherReport.com
