Living and breathing in the Second City
I’m ok with it. And not because I’m so certain the Bears’ defensive collapse in the Super Bowl (and the playoffs the year before) was Rivera’s fault. But I’m ok with it because it demonstrates Lovie knows that perception is everything. The last two years, the Bears defense has come up soft when it couldn’t afford to. Someone has to be held accountable and SOME change has to be made. It’s symbolic more than anything.
If the offense doesn’t improve this year you can bet Ron Turner will be on the block too … if he isn’t already.
3 Responses to “Rivera Fired!”
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The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
-Carl Sandburg
as long as they're using a high quality whey protein (preferably
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Rex Austin Barrow
February 20th, 2007 at 8:54 am
Ok, so the defense was not completely effective, but come on it was Manning? They were screwed from the start anyway. You want to have a shot at even making the playoffs next year? Start QB practice at gun point and teach that wet noodle of a quarterback you guys have that pressure is the name of the game.
Daniel Messick
February 20th, 2007 at 9:02 am
Agreed, it was symbolic more than anything else…he was not in fact fired, rather Rivera’s contract had ended, and Lovie chose not to re-hire him.
Leadership is important…I still believe if Dusty Baker would have gone out to the mound in the 8th inning of Game 6 in 2003 to calm Prior down, the Cubs would have been in the World Series.
The fact is, in the last 5 games or so, the defense was giving up big yardage, especially on the run…no adjustments seemed to be made…I realize the players job is to “get the job done,” but they also need a Defensive Coordinator who assesses and makes warranted adjustments…
Mike
February 20th, 2007 at 9:56 am
On Mike North this morning they were speculating that Lovie had allowed Rivera to take them out of Cover-Two.
It may be that Lovie is the one not making the adjustments. But his willingness to make changes to personnel when necessary makes me think that it was Rivera. Either way, we’ll find out for sure next year.
And Austin, yeah it was Manning. But the Bears are a defensive franchise and if you’re going to win a championship you’ve got to stop the Mannings of the world. Even if Grossman had played better we still wouldn’t have been able to keep up when their drive eat 10 minutes of the clock at a time.