The Bears’ 2001 season ended officially with Saturday’s 33-19 playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. But the “season” never really ends anymore for the Bears.
In the aftermath of the Eagles game, coach Dick Jauron was asked where he believed the Bears needed to improve. Perhaps not wishing to slight any players after such a nice season, Jauron politely demurred, saying simply that his focus until Saturday had been on the next game. Only now would he and the Bears begin the process of evaluation for 2001 and projection for 2002.
The 13-3 season answered various questions, large and small. The 2002 season will approach with new questions:
2001: The Answers
The Bears can win: Proving this was no small accomplishment for a franchise wobbling after seven losing seasons in its last nine, and even those winning seasons were 9-7 records in 1994 and ’95.
The real turnaround in 2001 was from a team that waited for and half-expected something to go wrong, and it usually did. The Bears had become an afterthought, the game on every team’s schedule of which would be said, “Oh, the Bears–that’s a win.”
No longer. The Bears went from expecting something to go wrong to looking around huddles for who was going to make something go right. The main reason beyond obviously improved talent was a chemistry that started in the off-season and grew, something too often missing in teams of the past decade.
Every week 15-20 players usually gathered at somebody’s house or a restaurant. “It might be an offensive lineman who’ll say, `Hey, any of you guys who are out, come on by the house and have something to eat’–place-kickers, everybody,” said Pro Bowl safety Larry Whigham.
“It’s a big family affair. And that plays a part in it. If somebody’s not doing their job, you don’t just get down on them. When you have a close-knit family, you try to pick them up. That’s the way we approached each other.”
They can develop and win with youth: Too often through the mid-1990s the team was slow to work young players into the lineup. The great leap forward in 2001 was fueled by youth, primarily from the last three drafts. Of the 22 year-end starters, 10 were from the 1999-2001 drafts and two others, center Olin Kreutz and safety Tony Parrish, were from the 1998 draft. A prime directive under general manager Jerry Angelo is that coaches be comfortable using young players, such as Anthony Thomas, and to get them on the field quickly.
Guard Rex Tucker was a Pro Bowl alternate in his third season and first as a starter. Third-year men Marty Booker, Rosevelt Colvin and Warrick Holdman received Pro Bowl consideration.
They cannot win with only one deep threat: The Bears and offensive coordinator John Shoop went back to basics after years of preoccupation with the pass. The Bears ran the ball nearly 47 percent of the time, a winning balance that had been lacking before Shoop.
But the average gain per pass play was a paltry 5.82 yards; only the 1-15 Carolina Panthers and 6-10 Cincinnati Bengals were worse. The Bears got 102 catches out of Booker in a breakout year but were toothless in the rest of their passing game for much of the season. Quarterback Jim Miller took the criticism for lack of scoring passes, but without Marcus Robinson, the Bears were not at the level of the elite teams on offense.
“I’ll say this: We’ll take any threats,” Jauron said. “I understand [Robinson’s] threat up the field. It’s definitely there and it affects a defense.”
2002: The Questions
What about Jauron’s contract? Angelo said Christmas Eve that the Bears would begin discussing a contract extension beyond 2002 for Jauron, the NFL coach of the year. Angelo did not say there would be an extension and Jauron has said nothing is set in stone.
Jauron will be back for 2002. And the pressure will be on Angelo, not Jauron, to get something done sooner rather than later. He probably will. But until the extension is done . . .
Who stays/who goes? The Bears will lose some of their free agents. Safety Tony Parrish and Pro Bowl center Olin Kreutz are unrestricted and play positions where the Bears and Angelo do not allocate major salary-cap dollars. Cornerback Walt Harris came back this season under a one-year deal but likely won’t be back for another.
“I think Jerry’s going to do a good job of getting our guys back here and [go] with guys who can help this team,” defensive end Phillip Daniels said. “He’s going to make his decisions and whoever comes back will have to be strong to help this team. That’s part of the business deal of this thing. Everybody won’t be back.”
If the Bears decide they cannot pay Kreutz, Harris and Parrish what the market sets as their value, part of the reason will be the coaches believe safety Mike Green and cornerback Jerry Azumah can replace them as starters. Bernard Robertson quietly had one of the best training camps of any Bears rookie and was shifted to center, putting a Kreutz replacement in the pipeline.
On Tuesday NFL teams will submit lists of five players from their rosters as part of the expansion draft for the new Houston franchise. Defensive tackle Keith Traylor and backup quarterback Shane Matthews are expected to head the Bears’ list, with cornerback Reggie Austin, tight ends John Davis and Dustin Lyman and receiver Ahmad Merritt among those under consideration. Houston GM Charley Casserly has said he doesn’t want players older than 28.
Running back James Allen, who rushed for 1,120 yards in 2000, does not expect to be back after losing his starting job to rookie Anthony Thomas.
Where will the upgrades be? In any business, sports or otherwise, if you aren’t moving forward, you’re losing ground. As good as the Bears’ season was, Angelo has targeted several priority areas for improvement.
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Defensive line and quarterback will be addressed either in the draft or free agency. Angelo brought defensive end and pass rusher Simeon Rice to Tampa Bay, where he played well as the season went on. Pass rushers are difficult to find, the Bears will be drafting toward the end of the first round, and Rice would like to play in his hometown.
The Bears investigated the contract status of New England quarterback Drew Bledsoe and have made a contract offer to former Stanford quarterback Chad Hutchinson. Illinois quarterback Kurt Kittner has impressed some scouts.
The Bears proved they could win with Jim Miller, who took about 80 percent of the snaps this season, then suffered a separated shoulder in the Philadelphia playoff game. There are not a large number of teams looking for a quarterback.
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End-of-season insight
Over the course of the past six months, the Bears have stumbled upon six key items that either answered old questions about the team or formed new questions that will need to be addressed in the off-season.
They can win: The Bears aren’t hopeless after all, turning in their first winning record since 1995.
Youth helps: Offensive rookie of the year Anthony Thomas is a shining example of how players chosen in the draft can immediately help make the team better.
Help needed: Even though Marty Booker picked up the slack when star receiver Marcus Robinson went down, more than one deep threat will be needed next year.
Will he ever get a new contract? It was announced on Dec. 24 that coach of the year Dick Jauron would go into negotiations with GM Jerry Angelo, but it has yet to occur.
Moving time: What players from this 13-3 team will be shuffled out to make room for roster upgrades?
New elements: What positions call for improvement, and whom will the Bears sign to accomplish that?