The moves that the Bears made this offseason have been talked about plenty and the expectations for the Bears this year are staggering. The trade for Brandon Marshall was the headline, but other moves are also part of the reason why the Bears are being looked at as serious winners in the season to come. The drafting of Shea McClellin and Ashlon Jeffrey, the firing of Mike Martz, and the re-signing of Matt Forte.
It's not hard to see that the Bears struggled last year. They were a .500 team last year even though they were 7-3 after the first ten games of the season. That was when Jay Cutler got hurt. After Cutler's injury, the team failed and lost their next five games until the Bears were able to win the final game of the season. Before Cutler's injury, the team was hitting its stride and they were playing the best football they had in awhile. Yes, the injury did occur on Cutler trying to tackle after throwing an interception, but he was having a great game and played great before that. This is another reason why the Bears are optimistic about the coming season. The Bears are gearing their offense around Cutler being a franchise quarterback with Matt Forte, the franchise running back, as an asset. The offense looks a lot better going into this season compared to last season.
Now that the Bears have Cutler, Marshall, Forte, and others on the offense the Bears believe that they can finally have an offense to compete with the great offenses in Green Bay and Detroit. The chemistry between Marshall and Cutler shown in Denver is a great sign going into this season along with the chemistry they have shown in training camp. Forte has been one of the better backs in the league and was just signed to a contract that he really wanted. The combination of Forte, Bell, Bush, and possibly even Armando Allen will form a great running game. The Bears receivers are much better than they were last season. The addition of both Marshall and Jeffrey help make the Bears receiving corps more solid. Now Devin Hester can be the receiver that he is which is someone that will be able to succeed in certain sets but will never be the number one receiver. Earl Bennett will be able to succeed out of the slot position, and his chemistry with Cutler is also excellent. Knox won't be back this year, but right now the Bears aren't feeling too lost without him. There are only two big holes in the Bears 2012 offense. Those holes are the offensive line and tight ends. The offensive line has been known to be bad for the last three seasons that Cutler has been there, but they are hoping to be better this year. Gabe Carimi will be back and the Bears are confident in the other members of the line. The tight ends are not one of the bright spots of the Bears offense. After trading Greg Olsen last year, the tight ends on the Bears have not been satisfactory. Other than a few bad spots, the Bears offense will look to be one of the best out there in 2012.
The Bears defense will be as solid as it has been in the past years. It is not as good as it was in 2006, but it is still solid. The big names are still there including Urlacher, Briggs, and Tillman. Peppers and the rest of the defensive line will continue to be one of the best in football. Even with Urlacher and Briggs, the linebackers seem to be a little shaky as the Bears are still uncertain if Roach can be a solid third linebacker. The safeties and cornerbacks are a bit of an issue for the Bears, but should be capable of being good enough to help the Bears win some games this year.
With the combination of the new offense and the solid as always defense, the Bears do seem like a team that can win quite a few games this year. They do have tough teams in their division like the Packers, but the Bears might even be good enough to beat the Packers. Even if the Bears don't win the division, they can make the playoffs by being the wild card team and still have a good chance at going far in the playoffs. The hype around the Bears is real. Fans shouldn't get too excited, but there is obviously some things to be excited about. This season for the Bears could be great.
