Lovie Smith has certainly had his problems to deal with this season.  No offensive line, a poor running game, costly interceptions, bad defense, and lots and lots of penalties.  These issues have definitely contributed to the lack of success this year.

When looking at Lovie Smith, what do you see?  Sure, you see a blank stare filled with ineptness, but what’s really missing?  Smith is missing the one aspect that should be required among all Chicago Coaches: Facial Hair!

Check out some of these coaches who have experienced success while coaching in Chicago:

Mike Ditka and Phil Jackson proudly wore facial hair while experiencing great success in Chicago.  White Sox World Series Championship manager Ozzie Guillen and Blackhawks Coach Joel Quenneville apparently got the memo and wears facial hair while on the bench.  Clearly, Quenneville’s mustache is an important factor in the Blackhawks dominance this season.  They should easily be the next Chicago team to bring home a title, thanks to the mustache of course.

It doesn’t seem like much, but apparently a mustache and facial hair play a critical role in success among Chicago coaches.  That being said, it is clear that if the Bears are to win a championship any time soon, they need to make a move for a coach who sports a mustache.  Doesn’t Bill Cowher have a stache?

Eagles – 24

Bears – 20

The Bears failed to close out a winnable game last night at home against the Eagles.  Ahead 20-17 late in the game, the Bears defense allowed the Eagles to march down the field for a go ahead touchdown drive.  With the offense given one final chance to lead the Bears to a win, a second down throw by Jay Cutler was tipped by a defender and picked out of the air by another Eagle for his only interception of the game.

The Best thing about Cutler’s performance last night was that he only threw one interception.  Other than that, he was awful.  He finished 24/43, with 171 yards, one touchdown and one interception.  Hidden in the stats however is the fact that Cutler horribly missed three wide open receivers throughout the game.  One of those misses came on what could have been a go ahead touchdown pass to Johnny Knox, who had sped past the defender and into the open field only to see the pass from Cutler sail over his head.  Cutler’s confidence appears to have disappeared.  Hopefully it can return in the near future, especially after some staff changes such as an offensive coordinator change.  With Turner gone next season, Jay would be under his third coordinator in 3 years and it’s a possibility that his development may suffer.

Matt Forte continued to struggle while Kahlil Bell, the recently promoted practice squad player, ran for 81 yards on 4 carries.  Bells first career carry came early in the second quarter and he broke through the line and raced for 72 yards before being tackled deep in Eagle territory.  He continued to run hard in limited action after that and raised questions as to whether Matt Forte is a featured back like previously thought.

The defense gave up 24 points while creating three turnovers.  They allowed the Eagles to take a lead late in the game but redeemed themselves when they got the ball back for one more offensive drive.  Briggs continued his pro bowl level season as he recorded 11 tackles and a sack.  Also, Zack Bowman is developing into quite the ballhawk, recording an interception in his third straight game.  Unfortunately, he is still a below average cornerback and gets beat too much.

Lovie Smith continued to spew his typical optimism after the game and reiterated to the media that there is still plenty of football to play.  Someone needs to tell Lovie that there are only 6 games left and the Bears essentially finished in what turned out to be a pathetic season.  On the bright side, Lovie only has two years left on his contract and Ron Turner is almost certain to be gone after this season.  The Bears need to bring in a competent staff quickly and get this team playing at a high level.  Right now, the current regime is not getting the job done.

Cardinals – 41

Bears – 21

The Bears took the field today in a game that would likely determine what they were all about this year.  Instead of coming out of the gates and making a statement, the Bears defense came out looking unprepared and pathetic.  This scene has become all too familiar for Bears fans this year, as the Bears defense failed to stop the Cardinals offense on their first 6 possessions.  Once again, it appears that Lovie did not have his team ready to play when the game started.

Lovie is proving how ineffective he really is and that he has completely lost his players.  This was never more evident than when Tommie Harris punched a down Cardinal lineman on the fourth play of the game.  Tommie was subsequently ejected and will likely be fined and even suspended.  The Bears should consider suspending him for the rest of the season for his attitude today and his overall play this year.  He is worthless for this Bears team now.

Lovie Smith, like against the Bengals, did not have the defense ready to play.  The Cardinals came out and hit the Bears right in the mouth, scoring easily on the first drive.  The defense gave up first down after first down while the Cardinals league worst running game ran wild.  By halftime, the Cardinals had 21 first downs.  The Bears had 20 first downs in the game in which they had a good offensive performance.

Lovie also failed to call any double coverage on Larry Fitzgerald.  Instead, he left Charles Tillman alone to cover and get dominated by one of the best receivers in the league.  It is mind boggling how the Bears did not double Fitzgerald on even a few plays to try to slow him down.  With Lovie calling the shots on defense this year he needs to be held accountable because this defensive playcalling and execution is awful.  There are no excuses right now.  Lovie simply can’t get the job done as a head coach or defensive coordinator.

The Bears responded quickly after allowing the first touchdown though.  Jay  Cutler drove the Bears down the field and hooked up with Olsen on a beautiful pass in the end zone.  Ron Turner did not call a single run play on that drive and only ran the ball with Forte 5 times in the game.  However, the Bears defense was unable to hold onto the tie as the Cardinals again marched right down the field for an easy score.  The Cardinals continued to score on their next 4 possessions.

The only good thing from today’s game was the success of the passing game.  Cutler finished with a 98.6 rating, 369 yards, 3 touchdowns, and a pick.  Devin Hester and Earl Bennett each had over 90 yards receiving and Greg Olsen found the endzone for all 3 of the Bears touchdowns.  The young group of receivers combined with the talented Jay Cutler continues to improve ever week.  This will be a good group to watch in the upcoming seasons.

The Bears players should be embarrassed after today’s loss and about their recent performances lately.  The Bears have been blown out twice in the last 3 games and have a tough next 3 games ahead including a Thursday night game in San Francisco.  The Bears will only have 3 days off until then and they’ll have to make the trip out west.  Expect the Bears to look tired and unprepared again as they battle the 49ers.  After San Francisco, the Bears return home to face the Eagles and then head to Minnesota for the Vikings.  We could easily see the Bears with a 4-7 record after this stretch unless some big changes happen with the team.

Bengals – 45

Bears – 10

Only a week after a disappointing loss to the Falcons, the Bears returned to action only to show how pathetic of a team they really are.  In a game where nothing went right for the Bears, the Bengals easily jumped out to a 31-0 lead before the Bears even knew what hit them.  With the Bears secondary often out of place and confused, Carson Palmer completed 20 of 24 passes for 233 yards and 5 touchdowns.  Cincinnati scored touchdowns on their first 4 drives and were not even held to a punt until late in the game.  When the Bears finally made a stop and forced a punt, a running into the kicker penalty gave the Bengals a first down.

Cedric Benson ran wild as he looked nothing like he did when playing for the Bears. He racked up 189 yards and a touchdown while Bears defenders could do little to slow him down.  He tore through the Bears’ front 7 like it was nothing.

Again, Cutler failed to protect the ball well.  He threw 3 interceptions and fumbled the ball twice on shotgun snaps.  When your quarterback is playing like that, it’s going to be hard to win a lot of games.  In his defense, it’s tough to make good throws when the line can’t block for you, but Cutler still needs to stop forcing so many throws.

Defensively, this was easily the worst performance of recent memory.  For the second straight game the Bears failed to record a sack.  The lack of pressure up front allowed Palmer to relax in the pocket and pick the secondary apart like they were a high school team.  Zack Bowman and Charles Tillman are really proving they are worthless as starting cornerbacks.  Meanwhile the front seven did little to slow down Benson on his way to an excellent game on the ground.

There really is not one positive aspect that came out of this loss.  Lovie Smith simply failed to have his team ready to play.  The players don’t seem to respond to Lovie anymore.  He is unable to motivate them and the result is a game like we witnessed today.  Aside from the poor offensive line and offensive play calling, Lovie Smith is a huge problem for this team.  Lovie is a good coach, but he isn’t good enough to get the job done in Chicago.  He is consistently getting out-coached while not motivating his players enough to play hard and win.  If this continues for the remainder of the season the Bears need to think about dumping Lovie and bringing in a real head coach with a real defensive scheme as well.  Lovie’s cover 2 can’t get the job done for the Bears.  Too many teams know how to rip it apart while Lovie fails to make the proper adjustments to stop the bleeding.

Bears- 17

Giants- 3

What a difference one week and two offensive starters can make.  After another week of practice the Bears took the field, this time with Matt Forte and Greg Olsen in the starting lineup.  The improvements from last week were noticeable right from the start.  The Bears third offensive play featured Cutler hooking up with Earl Bennett with an absolute strike on 3rd and long to pick up a first down.

The Good:

Jay Cutler: Cutler finished up completing 8 of 13 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown.  He threw a few risky passes and one almost ended up in an interception, but overall he had an excellent performance.  Also, while rolling out, he hurled a ball 60+ yards to a wide open Devin Hester who misjudged the ball and could not catch up to it as it landed incomplete.

Earl Bennett: Bennett finished up with 2 catches for 42 yards and looked like a legitimate #1 receiver throughout his time on the field.  His first reception was the previously mentioned strike from Cutler on 3rd down and his second catch was just as impressive as Cutler was rolling out.

Matt Forte: Forte was back in action tonight after missing last week’s game but he seemed to pick up right where he left off last season.  He broke through for 2 great carries of 17 and 32 yards (TD) and finished up with 9 carries for 58 and that one touchdown.  He seemed to have the same great vision that led to his success last year and also brought in a 9 yard reception.

Offensive Line: The run blocking looked poor at first but quickly improved to provide great holes for Forte to run through.  In pass protection they were just as good, providing plenty of time for Cutler to make his throws.

Defense/Defensive Play Calling: It looks like Lovie Smith called a great game on D tonight.  The Giant’s starters could not get anything going on offense aside from a few good Brandon Jacob runs.  There was consistent pressure from the D-line, especially from Alex Brown and Adawale Ogunleye.  Brown forced Eli Manning to fumble early on as he came around behind him on the rush and tipped the ball out of his hand.  Eli also was not able to find wide open receivers on short routes each time he dropped back.  Overall it was a great performance by the D as they allowed only 3 points in the game.

The Bad:

Devin Hester: There seemed to be some miscommunication between Cutler and Hester on a 3rd down in Giants territory early in the game.  It appeared that Hester broke the wrong way on a comeback route and Cutler threw it wide of him.  Later, as mentioned previously, a wide open Hester misjudged a deep pass thrown by Cuter.  This is unacceptable for a “#1 receiver.”  Hester continues to look lost while running routes and tonight he was clearly outperformed by Earl Bennett.

Brian Urlacher: On two instances early in the game Urlacher was ran over by Brandon Jacobs.  While Brandon Jacobs is an absurdly huge running back, Urlacher is no slouch himself.  He needs to be the guy who can bring down those big backs instead of getting trucked like it’s nothing.

Overall this was a great performance by the Bears.  The offense seemed to gel nicely with Cutler at the helm and the defense looked to have their act together as well as they wreaked havoc upon the Giants offense.  There is still room for more improvement before they take the field next week in Denver and hopefully the Bears bring the same intensity then as they face off against former Bear Kyle Orton.