Lovie is a Battlefield: Why Bears Coach May Be Untouchable

Two Bears got axed - and I bet some (most?) fans wish there was a few more (Lovie & Ted Phillips ring a bell).

Whatever you do, Bears backers, don't hold your breath. Lovie is not going anywhere. In fact, I could see Lovie here for a couple more multi-year contracts.

Some reasons:

1. When the Bears top brass ridded themselves of Angelo as General Manager, they said that Lovie would have input over who was hired. You think he'll recommend someone who is likely to fire him?
2. He has two years left on his deal. Knowing Bears ownership, do you really think they'd fire him AND pay him?
3. His 3-3 playoff record may not mean much to you, but the Bears' brass loves his 71-57 and 3 division championships in his 8 seasons as coach. And outside his first year (5-11), he hasn't had any worse than a 7-9 record as coach. This is good enough for the Bears ownership - as long as their bottom line is being met.

Some might argue that having a bad year here and there (5-11 or worse) and getting some top-5 picks would benefit the organization, but the Bears' track record with drafts under Angelo makes me think it wouldn't have amounted to much.

The Bears have been just above mediocre for Lovie to avoid being fired many of the years, often taking a step up in the year that everyone in the media/public speculates could be Lovie's last, which is never the case.

Lovie will continue being coach, likely beyond 2013, unless the Bears just totally fall flat on their face (a la Dick Jauron). The McCaskey/Phillips group loves the guy and can justify keeping him if he leads them to a division title every 3 years or so (something previous coaches like Jauron & Wannstedt couldn't provide). However, I believe this to be a trying task in the next 5 years if the Packers continue to churn out talent the way they have. Rodgers is not going anywhere.

Perhaps those Lovie bashers get their wish if the Packers and Lions continually finish ahead of them in the NFC North (a possibility). The next Bears GM will have to ensure that he does a better job of finding talent that Lovie can develop.

The next Bears GM that.....yes....will be Lovie-recommended.

I wonder how the GM will feel having the coach, a man who in most organizations he'd be able to fire, as his boss.

Why the Bears give their coach this power, I have no clue. This kind of power makes me think he may be untouchable.

Just figured you should know, Lovie-haters, that he isn't going anywhere.

Happy New Year!

Shooting the Star: How Jerry Jones Has Lost His Way (Plus Week 1 Playoff Picks)

I had a friend tell me a couple months ago that Jerry Jones was heading towards becoming the next Al Davis. I thought it was a good point at the time - now I think it's a fantastic point.

Earlier this week, Jerry Jones reiterated that he was going to stay the owner/president/general manager/vice lord/whatever titles I'm missing of the Dallas Cowboys.

Quoth the vice lord: "The facts are that I've spent 22 years doing this exactly the same way."

Good point, oh wise one.

Problem is, your team has one playoff win in the playoffs the past 15 years - only Detroit has had less playoff wins in the NFC in that time frame.

His dynasty was mostly inherited when he bought the Cowboys in 1989, at which point Dallas was on the precipice of its success thanks to the Hershel Walker trade. In case you don't know, Walker, a stud Cowboy running back at the time, was traded to the Vikings (along with 4 future draft picks) for 5 players and 8 (edited, wrote down 13 originally)!!! future draft picks.

A few of these guys did some stuff. You may have heard of Emmitt Smith. Possibly Darren Woodson. Alvin Harper for those of you who know Michael Irvin's compliment in the Super Bowl days.

Since their last Super Bowl, not much good has come from the Cowboys organization.

Here are the list of starting QBs since Aikman retired in 2000, according to Wiki:

Tony Romo (77 starts), Quincy Carter (31), Drew Bledsoe (22), Vinny Testaverde (15), Jon Kitna (9), Chad Hutchinson...remember him Bears fans? (9), Anthony Wright (3), Brad Johnson (3), Ryan Leaf (3), Clint Stoerner (2), Stephen McGee (1), Drew Henson (1).

All you need to know - Quincy Carter started nearly 2 seasons-worth of games since the last of the big Cowboys left. Better yet, their best quarterback (yes, he is their best QB since Aikman) -Romo - wasn't even a drafted player. Thank Sean Payton for bringing him into Dallas when he was the offensive coordinator there.

Back to the point...Jerry Jones should not be holding so many titles. If you see your coach (i.e. Mike Shannahan) or owner holding so many titles, it usually comes at the expense of the quality of the team. Shannahan has yet to have success outside of the Elway/Terrell Davis-era of the Broncos. The same thing happened with Al Davis, who had success early as an owner/general manager from the mid 60s till mid 80s but completely tailed off from the mid 90s until his death in 2011.

Sometimes, people take on too many roles within a company, and it ends up hurting the product. No one knows how these guys may have done with actual GMs in their bad stretches, but one could deduce that these guys should not have held on to their multiple roles at once.

But as any area of life with business goes, sometimes power gets the best of people. "The facts are that I've spent 22 years doing this exactly the same way" becomes the justification for staying in your multiple positions.

The business-owner in him, a man who swings his junk around as if he wants to win more than any other owner, should be ashamed for pretending the past 15 years of his business have been successful enough for him to keep things "exactly the same way".

Week 1 Playoff Picks

Houston -3 vs Cincy
NYG -3 vs Atl
Det +11 at NO (NO wins but doesn't cover)
Pitt -8 at Den

This sets up NO at SF, NYG at GB in the NFC; Hou at Balt & Pitt at NE. I could see 2-3 road teams winning in round 2 if this were the set-up.

Go Niners!