The Chicago Bears won four division titles and reached the Super
Bowl while Jerry Angelo was general manager. They also crumbled in
a big way this season.

Now Angelo’s out.

He was fired Tuesday following a team collapse marked by
injuries to Jay Cutler and Matt Forte and a drug scandal involving
Sam Hurd.

Angelo had been on the job 11 years, but the Bears called for
change after an 8-8 season. A questionable draft record and an
inability to fill big holes, particularly on offense, led to his
ouster.

His dismissal comes after a wild season in which the Bears at
one point seemed a lock to make the playoffs. A five-game losing
streak spoiled a 7-3 start, keeping Chicago out of the playoffs for
the fourth time in five years, and Angelo wasn’t the only one on
his way out on Tuesday.

The Bears also confirmed that offensive coordinator Mike Martz
and quarterbacks coach Shane Day won’t be back. Martz had an
expiring contract, and there had been plenty of speculation he
would be gone after two seasons.

Coach Lovie Smith, however, appears safe for now. The team said
on its website he will remain in his job and “continue to evaluate
his coaching staff.”

Angelo was signed through the 2013 season, but he was undone on
a number of fronts. The next GM will inherit a team that could use
help on the offensive and defensive lines, at wide receiver and in
the secondary. Forte’s rookie contract is up. Pro Bowl linebacker
Lance Briggs would like a new one even though he has two years left
on his six-year deal.

Still, the Bears believe they can make a run next season. Angelo
won’t be the one overseeing it, though.

“I have tremendous respect for him and am sorry to see him go,”
Smith said in a statement. “But I also will embrace the opportunity
that comes with change. As I said yesterday, we have an excellent
core in place. I look forward to working with a new general manager
to bring a championship to Chicago.”

Cutler broke his right thumb trying to help make a tackle
following an interception during a victory over San Diego on Nov.
20, and the Bears didn’t win again until the season-finale at
Minnesota on Sunday.

It didn’t help that Forte sprained a ligament in his right knee
against Kansas City on Dec. 4, leaving the offense without its two
best players. Those would be blows for any team, but they were
crippling for Chicago. Throw in Hurd’s arrest on federal drug
charges in mid-December, and what looked like a promising season
turned into a disaster for the team and organization.

The injuries exposed a glaring lack of depth as the Bears
tumbled out of playoff contention.

The low point might have been the loss at Denver when Marion
Barber ran out of bounds late in regulation. That stopped the
clock, giving the Broncos enough time to tie the score. If that
weren’t enough, he lost a fumble in overtime, helping set up the
winning field goal.

Meanwhile, backup quarterback Caleb Hanie was a bust filling in
for Cutler, going 0-4 as the starter before the Bears turned to
Josh McCown.

Chicago claimed Kyle Orton off waivers after Cutler went down,
but Kansas City had priority and got him. The Bears then brought in
Josh McCown, and Angelo left himself open to second-guessing when
he decided not to go after Donovan McNabb once Minnesota let him
go.

The lack of a reliable backup quarterback, continuing issues on
the offensive line and the inability to land a top-tier receiver
increased the heat on the general manager.

Roy Williams struggled to hold onto the ball and get open in his
first season with the Bears after an unsuccessful run in Dallas.
Hurd, another Cowboys import, was quickly waived after being
charged with trying to set up a drug-dealing network following his
arrest with more than a pound of cocaine.

The arrest only compounded Angelo’s problems. Now the Bears are
picking up the pieces.

For all the criticism, Angelo did have successes. The Bears won
those four division championships, including the 2006 team’s run to
the Super Bowl and last year’s trip to the NFC title game.

He traded for Cutler and signed Julius Peppers. But he also had
a spotty draft record that included such high-profile
disappointments as Cedric Benson and Rex Grossman.

Former first-rounder Chris Williams has mostly struggled, and
first-round pick Gabe Carimi missed most of his rookie season with
a right knee injury. Angelo also was unable to find a top receiver,
through the draft, a trade or free agency.

Chicago didn’t have anyone ready to step in when a solid but
aging line that helped the Bears reach the playoffs in 2005 and
2006 began to go downhill.

Martz called for deep drops and Cutler took repeated poundings.
That changed after Cutler made his feelings clear. The Bears
started getting the ball out of his hands quicker, handing the ball
off more to Forte and piling up wins. But just when it looked as if
they had saved their season, everything came apart.

With the Chicago Bears deciding to fire general manager Jerry Angelo, it added another question to a team that already has a lot to be answered for next season. Here’s a look at a few issues the Bears will have to address.

Find A New General Manager

I guess this is a pretty obvious one, but it’s certainly an important one. Angelo has been the Bears GM since 2001. It will take a little time for a new GM —whoever that might be—to settle in. Eric DeCosta ( Baltimore Ravens ), Les Snead ( Atlanta Falcons ) and Steve Keim ( Arizona Cardinals ) have been mentioned as possible replacements.

Signing Matt Forte

This is a question mark that shouldn’t exist, but it does. The Bears have seemingly torqued off Forte a bit by not signing him to a long-term contract prior to the season. With Forte’s injury in the latter half of this season, he made sure he was 100% before he returned. He was eventually placed on injured reserve. If the Bears lose Forte, it would set them back considerably. Ideally, the presence of a new GM will make Forte willing to negotiate again.

Does Lovie Smith Stay as Head Coach?

While the Bears have said that Lovie Smith is safe for the time being after firing Angelo, I’m not totally convinced. I’m constantly going back and forth on what I think about Smith and if I want him to stay the Bears coach. Prior to injuries, the Bears were putting together quite a solid campaign, so it’s hard to want to fire a coach because the team couldn’t recuperate from losing its two best players. However, many times a new general manager wants his own coaching staff in place. Whoever the new GM is, he will have to decide if he wants Lovie and company along for the ride.

Johnny Knox’s Back

Following Knox’s horrible injury against the Seattle Seahawks, no one was sure if Knox would play again. While subsequent surgery and news coming from Knox’s camp is that he will be able to, he’ll have to go through a great deal of rehab. After an injury like that, you never know how it will affect the long term development of a player. While Knox may not be the best receiver on the field, he’s been a major part of what passing threat the Bears have had. With no receiver showing much promise in house (other than maybe Earl Bennett), how Knox recovers will be important.

An Aging Defense

Players like Brian Urlacher, Julius Peppers, and Lance Briggs are tremendous football players. Though, they won’t be around forever. With the exception of a few players, the Bears defense is getting old. Not only has the defense not performed consistently well the last few years, but there doesn’t seem to be much depth behind them. Isreal Idonije and Henry Melton appear to be on the rise, but the linebackers don’t have much behind Urlacher and Briggs. The defensive backs, while not “old,” simply don’t get the job done on a consistent basis. This is something the new GM will have to address.

This certainly isn’t a catch-all list (Mike Martz, Roy Williams, and the offensive line could be added as well), but it begins to show how many questions this Bears team has as it enters the offseason.

Brian is a lifelong Chicago Bears fan, having lived in Illinois his entire life and having followed the NFL throughout.

Sources

Bears Fire Angelo, Smith Safe

Despite the Chicago Bears’ season ending with a meaningless game against the rival Minnesota Vikings, the game might have meant something in an indirect way.

First a little about the game itself. The Bears fell down 10-0 early on only to come back and make it 14-10 on a touchdown pass from Josh McCown to Roy Williams and an interception return touchdown by Charles Tillman. The Bears wouldn’t trail again. The Bears ended up with a 17-13 victory, but it took some timely plays (Julius Peppers blocking Ryan Longwell’s field goal attempt) and some fortunate ones (the Vikings botching a snap on another field goal attempt). The Bears tried to give this one away a couple of times. In the end, after D.J. Moore intercepted Joe Webb’s pass at the Chicago 30, it was over.

The game itself meant very little. Both teams were out of playoff contention and were locked into their respective third and fourth place finishes within the NFC North. However, one side note that could come out of this game is the settling of the Bears backup quarterback situation next season. While Josh McCown hasn’t performed extremely well in his two starts, he’s been surprisingly competent for a player who hasn’t played steadily for four years. With another solid enough start (15 for 25, 160 yards, one touchdown, and one interception), McCown has seemingly secured the backup position for next year. Combining his performance with Caleb Hanie’s lackluster one, McCown seems a little more secure.

Ideally, Jay Cutler won’t get injured next season and the choice of McCown won’t mean anything. My hope is that the Bears will try and add a piece or two (and sign Matt Forte to a long term contract) to a team that was legitimately strong prior to injuries. If the Bears can stay healthy and upgrade at a position or two, the Bears could make good on Brian Urlacher’s claim of the team vying for a championship.

For now, the victory is a dim ray of pleasure on an otherwise disappointing season.

Brian is a lifelong Chicago Bears, having lived in Illinois his entire life and having followed the NFL throughout.

Sources

Bears Top Vikings

• WHO: Chicago Bears (7-8) at Minnesota Vikings (3-12).

• WHEN: Sunday, noon, Fox.

• OPENING LINE: Bears by 1.

• RECORD VS. SPREAD: Chicago 7-8; Minnesota 6-8-1.

• SERIES RECORD: Vikings lead 52-47-2. Last meeting, Bears beat
Vikings 39-10, Oct. 16.

• NFL RANKINGS: Bears’ offense, overall (20), rushing (8), passing
(26); Bears’ defense, overall (18), rushing (6), passing (28);
Vikings’ offense, overall (18), rushing (4), passing (28); Vikings’
defense, overall (25), rushing (12), passing (29).

• FACTS & FIGURES: Bears have won four straight in series,
their longest since six in a row from 1983-86 and longest overall
in this rivalry since Vikings won four straight over 1997 and 1998
seasons. … Bears have only won at Metrodome once since 2002,
19-16 in 2006. These teams didn’t play at site, now known as Mall
of America Field, last season because of roof collapse that forced
game outside to TCF Bank Stadium on University of Minnesota campus.
… Home team has won 16 of last 19 meetings. … Bears averaging
35.5 points in Past four games against Vikings. … In 10 games
against Vikings, WR/KR/PR Devin Hester has nine of his 30 career
TDs, five receiving and four returning. He scored twice in last
meeting. … RB Kahlil Bell, filling in for injured Matt Forte
(sprained right knee), had career-high 121 yards rushing last week.
Vikings have given up 302 yards rushing in Past two games. …
Bears have lost five straight since starting 7-3. … Vikings QB
Christian Ponder expected to play after being knocked out of last
game with concussion; RB Adrian Peterson is having surgery to
repair tears in ACL and MCL in left knee. … Vikings trying to
avoid matching worst finish in their 51-year history, 3-13 in 1984.
… Jared Allen has 18 1/2 sacks, four off NFL single-season record
and 2 1/2 short of team single-season record. … TE Jim
Kleinsasser will play in his last game, ending 13-year career. He
has played in more games than any TE in Vikings history.

- By The AP.

LAKE FOREST — Although most of the blame for the Chicago Bears’ epic collapse is going the offense’s way, the defensive players insisted on taking a share of the responsibility for the six-game slide as well.

“Especially the last two weeks, 38 and 35 points, that’s not going to win very many games, I don’t care who’s playing quarterback for you,” Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Urlacher said.

“We haven’t gotten any takeaways in two weeks, no pressure on the quarterback. You’re not going to win a lot of games doing that. At times we’ve held up our end of the bargain, but at times we haven’t.”

The 73 points given up by the Bears is the worst two-game total for a Chicago defense in 13 years. Last week, the defense was dominated by a rag-tag Green Bay Packer offensive line missing its top three tackles.

“We were right there before things kind of started slipping away,” defensive end Israel Idonije said. “We were in a great position, and we were just really poised to do something special. For that to slip away makes it tougher.”

Last week, the Packers opened and closed the first half with touchdown drives against the Bears and put together three straight scoring drives to ice the game in the second half.

The Bears also faded in the second half in Week 15 at home, and to a team (Seattle) they were supposed to beat. The Seahawks outscored Chicago 31-0 in the second half. Still, 14 of those points were on Caleb Hanie interceptions returned for TDs, and the Bears defense did only surrender 286 total yards.

But no matter how they look at it, this latest stretch for Chicago has not been an enjoyable one.

“You can say we did our job,” Urlacher added, “but we won’t say we did.”

Cornerback Charles Tillman, recently named to his first Pro Bowl, said this defense — this team, for that matter — is close to being great.

“This team we have is very capable. This is a championship team,” Tillman said. “Even though we’re not going to make the championship this year, we’ll take a shot at it next year.”

Bears reporter Jay Taft can be reached at 815-987-1384 or jtaft@rrstar.com.