It’s been a busy day for the Chicago Bears.

Just hours after the team announced that it had fired long time general manager Jerry Angelo, offensive coordinator Mike Martz announced his resignation. After his meeting with head coach Lovie Smith, Martz announced that he would not return to Chicago citing “philosophical differences over how the team could run its offense.” In a move not unrelated, quarterbacks coach Shane Day also chose to not return.

Right off the bat, commentators and fans alike wondered if Martz and the Chicago Bears could co-exist. Martz has always been a pass-oriented coach, while the Bears entire organization has always been committed to being a running team. Martz’s tenure was full of questions surrounding his play calling and pass/run balance. It seems that the discrepancy between Martz and the organization has finally caught up and they have chosen to go their separate ways.

While I’ve certainly had my questions about some of Martz’s decisions over the last two seasons, you wonder how this move will affect the development of the Bears offense. If I’m honest, prior to the injuries of Jay Cutler and Matt Forte, the offense looked decently threatening. For the first time in Martz’s time with Chicago, the offense starting looking like they were “getting it.” Combining with Jay Cutler’s clear improvement in the ball protection category, the offense looked like one that was good enough to carry the team far. It speaks to Jay Cutler’s quality that all of the Bears receivers virtually disappeared once he went down. Hopefully, the fact the players will all have to learn another offense won’t set back the progress they have made. Though, I have a feeling it will.

I would have liked to see Martz stick around. Had Cutler and company actually had a strong receiver to lead the corps and a consistent offensive line, I think they would have excelled. As it was, the final five games prior to Cutler’s injury saw the Bears score 39, 24, 30, 37, and 31 points. This was an offense that was getting the job done with virtually no consistent presence at receiver and an offensive line that varied greatly in quality from week to week. Whether that was Cutler, Forte, Martz, or a combination, the results were there. I hate to see Martz go right now. While I don’t have major problems with either, I think I would have rather seen Lovie Smith go before Martz.

It’s a business I guess.

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

Sources

Martz Resigns

Chicago Bears general manager Jerry Angelo was fired on Tuesday after the Bears fell out of playoff contention and finished their season with an 8-8 record.

Speaking of the decision Chicago Bears president Ted Phillips called it a “a difficult day” before naming director of player personnel Tim Ruskell as the interim leader for the team.

In a statement Phillips revealed:

“It was almost 11 years ago that I hired Jerry Angelo as our general manager. I was proud of that decision then, and I think Jerry achieved a lot as our general manager in the last 10-plus seasons,” Phillips said. “On a personal level, I knew him very well. He’s a wonderful man, high character. I’ve enjoyed every day working with him. I’m gonna miss him. But at the same time, we need more. The decision was made that we need to keep up the pace with our division rivals.”

The Chicago Bears are not giving exact reasons for their decision to fire Jerry Angelo, although they have hinted at bad NFL draft day choices, instead the club is focusing on the future with a GM search already underway.

In a vote of confidence for head coach Lovie Smith the Chicago Bears front office are said to be looking for a new GM that will mesh well with Lovie while providing a “strong character and work ethic.”

According to Phillips the team will not rule out any candidates as long as they agree to keep Lovie Smith as the Chicago Bears head coach for the 2012 season.

Jerry Angelo was in his 11th season with the Chicago Bears as the teams general manager and the season was off to a quick 7-3 start until quarterback Jay Cutler broke his thumb, quickly ending the Bears playoff hopes.

Do you think the Chicago Bears needed to fire Jerry Angelo in order to build a better team for the future?

Read More: Julius Peppers (DE – CHI), Jay Cutler (QB – CHI), Lance Briggs (LB – CHI), Devin Hester (WR – CHI), Marion Barber (RB – CHI), Kellen Davis (TE – CHI), Matt Forte (RB – CHI), Henry Melton (DL – CHI), Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers

The Chicago Bears have released their latest injury report, and in addition to Jay Cutler and Matt Forte — both of whom are rehabbing serious injuries — several other Bears were held out of practice on Thursday. Running back Marion Barber (calf), wide receiver Devin Hester (ankle) and linebacker Lance Briggs (ankle) did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday.

Lovie Smith hopes to get Barber, Hester and Briggs back on the field Friday.

Tight end Kellen Davis (back) and defensive lineman Henry Melton (shin) returned to practice on a limited basis after being held out on Wednesday. And defensive end Julius Peppers fully participated after missing Wednesday’s practice for reasons not related to injury.

For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago. For more in-depth coverage of this week’s game, visit Bears Blog Windy City Gridiron and Packers blog Acme Packing Company. For more from around the NFL, head over to SB Nation’s NFL news hub.

The Bears have had chances to win every game during this playoff-crushing four-game losing streak. Chicago points that out at every opportunity.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Chicago Bears linebackers Lance Briggs (55) and Brian Urlacher (54) go through drills before the NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers Sunday, Jan. 23, 2011, in Chicago.

Brian Urlacher wasn’t in much of a mood to talk Sunday. He said a simple “No” to three straight questions after the 38-14 loss to Seattle on Sunday before I asked him how frustrating this four-game losing streak was.

“I don’t know what happened to us,” Urlacher replied. “We’ve been in all these football games, with chances to win all of them. This one got ugly late, but it’s not like we’re getting destroyed out there. We had a chance to win most every football game we’re in. We’ve just got to find a way to win these games. That’s what’s disappointing. We had a chance to do that and just aren’t doing that.”

Indeed, the Bears led 14-7 at the half. But after gaining only 84 yards the entire first half, Seattle outscored Chicago 31-0 in the second half. Some of that was due to Caleb Hanie interceptions, but the Seahawks also moved the ball so much better in the second half. The game changed even before Hanie started throwing interceptions to every Seahawk in sight. Seattle tied the game with a touchdown drive on the first possession of the second half. From then on out, the game was Seattle’s.

What happened?

It’s simple: Seattle changed its game plan and Chicago didn’t.

“They saw we were in more man to man, so they came out running more boots than they did the first half and throwing the ball more,” said cornerback Tim Jennings, who was burned on a long touchdown pass. “They came out with a whole different game plan.”

Seattle is not exactly the most imaginative team in the NFL, but even the Seahawks adjust better than the Bears. Nor is this only a Lovie Smith problem. From Dave Wannstedt to Dick Jauron to Lovie Smith, the Bears have been behind the curve for 20 years in halftime adjustments or surprising game plans. The one exception is special teams, where the Bears have been as good and innovative as anyone, but it would be nice if just once we could read about the Bears catching another team off guard, rather than the other way around.

Oh, wait. It did happen once. Chicago completely surprised Philadelphia by rolling its cornerbacks up at the line of scrimmage and playing aggressive pass defense. That worked great for three weeks in a row and helped the Bears get to 7-3, when for a brief moment they looked like they might be the second-best team in the NFC behind Green Bay.

It’s way past time to pull another surprise. Chicago has so many problems without Jay Cutler. Caleb Hanie (or perhaps Josh McCown) at quarterback. J’Marcus Webb and Lance Louis at offensive tackle. Roy Williams and Dane Sanzenbacher at receiver. Jerry Angelo at GM. With problems everywhere they look, the Bears can’t afford to be out-coached, too.

Read More: Chicago Bears, Kansas City Chiefs

Charles Tillman, Zackary Bowman and D.J. Moore are all dealing with a variety of injury issues as Lovie Smith will continue to plug and play the members of his secondary this week. His Bears will prepare to face off against a Kansas City Chiefs squad with a quarter who is still wet behind the ears in Tyler Palko and possibly a familiar face if Kyle Orton puts down the clipboard and steps in at quarterback for Palko.

The Bears wanted Orton on their side, but the former Chicago signal-caller as snagged by the Chiefs first.

Here is the full injury report for the Bears as they prepare for the Chiefs on Sunday:

Out: QB Jay Cutler (thumb)

Did not participate: CB Charles Tillman (knee)

Limited participation: CB Zackary Bowman (groin), CB D.J. Moore (ankle)

For more insights and analysis on the Chiefs, check out SB Nation blog Arrowhead Pride. For more insights and analysis on the Bears, check out SB Nation blog Windy City Gridiron.