LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Over and over, coach Lovie Smith kept pointing out that the Chicago Bears are 5-9. If he’s trying to keep his job, he might want to use a different approach.
Smith said the poor performance “is on all of us” and he’s simply focusing on the upcoming Monday night game against Minnesota – not his future.
Considering general manager Jerry Angelo said Smith’s future hinges on performance and not money, mentioning the team’s record might not be the best idea.
The Bears have dropped eight of 10 after a 31-7 loss at Baltimore on Sunday, and according to STATS LLC, they’re the fourth team to miss the playoffs at least three straight years after making the Super Bowl. Speculation about Smith’s job status has been mounting with each loss, and Angelo simply added to it before the Ravens game.
He shot down an Internet report that Smith would return next season, saying that’s still to be determined, and vowed there would be no roster overhaul. Angelo called that “a positive, not a negative.”
Smith, meanwhile, reiterated he didn’t need a vote of confidence from Angelo.
“I’m not really interested in a whole lot of that,” he said. “We’re 5-9 right now. I’ve said it about three or four times.”
Actually, he said it 12 times during a 9 1/2 -minute news conference Monday, whether he was addressing his future, the team’s performance, or Jay Cutler’s struggles. He simply could not overlook it.
Question is: Can management?
Whether it’s Angelo, president Ted Phillips or owner Virginia McCaskey, can the Bears overlook what’s happened the past three seasons and give the coach – and, for that matter, the general manager – who led the 2006 team to the Super Bowl another shot?
Smith is owed $11 million for the final two years of his contract, and Angelo is signed through 2013. With Cutler at quarterback, the Bears thought they could get back into contention.
Instead, they fell apart.
Cutler leads the league with 25 interceptions after throwing three against Baltimore, and the running game ranks among the worst, thanks in part to a shaky offensive line. The defense has struggled, too, and the result is this: Four losses by 20 or more points. That’s the most for the Bears since they went 4-12 under Dave Wannstedt in 1997. He returned for one more season before being replaced by Dick Jauron, but Angelo wouldn’t commit to sticking with Smith.
