Season Officially Over... Random Thoughts

Now that our season is officially over (with just a meaningless game against Minnesota remaining), I'd like to say good riddance to 2011.  What a miserable year.  This was a year that saw us lose FOUR TIMES to Green Bay, lose Jay Cutler, lose Matt Forte, etc, etc, etc.  Instead of droning on about what could have been, I'd rather go with some random thoughts about the current and future state of the Bears.

• Kahlil Bell ran well yesterday.  With 23 carries for 121 yards, he showed patience, burst and vision.  However, hearing people praise him the way they are after a game with 2 fumbles feels like the way people praised Caleb Hanie after an NFC Championship appearance with 2 INT's.  Just saying.
• The 7-3 Chicago Bears proved that this was a team with a lot of talent.  The 7-8 Chicago Bears proved that this is a team without a lot of depth.  We need better depth at QB, WR, S, CB, DE, LB.  Well, pretty much everywhere except RB, DT and, surprisingly, offensive line.  We need more talent at offensive line, but our depth is not bad with Lance Louis, Edwin Williams, etc.  Actually, scratch that, we need one more lineman, just enough to finally push the miserable Frank Omiyale off the roster.
• Josh McCown didn't play that badly last night.  He was far from the hero that some are making him out to be, but he was a definite upgrade over the play we've been getting from Caleb Hanie.  With that being said, however, how wonderful would it be to sign Kyle Orton to a backup role in the offseason?
• Please draft a wide receiver in the first round this year.
• I'm hearing more and more that Mike Martz may remain in Chicago next season.  I'm very much hoping that that's not the case.  I'd like to see a more physical ground game, a TE who provides a mismatch in the passing game (I thought Kellen Davis could fill that role and it still has to be determined if it's his skill level or Martz' scheme that has prevented that) and a big, physical wide receiver who can force defenses to roll coverage and give Jay a big target with a large catch radius when he's running for his life or just has to get rid of the ball quickly.  A promotion of Mike Tice might bring all those things while keeping the same terminology in place and not setting the offense back.  
• I wish the Carolina Panthers would've sucked a little more.  Remember, we have their 3rd round pick from the Olsen trade.  With the issues of depth I mentioned earlier, that could be a valuable pick.
• This might've been the best job Lovie Smith has done since he's been in Chicago.  He's seemingly had more fire and been tougher on players than I've ever seen.  The way he handled Henry Melton is a perfect example.  He made adjustments and played more man than in recent years instead of sticking to zone schemes to a fault (think the Patriots game last year).  The corners have pressed more and that has also been beneficial.  It's a shame that the job he's done won't be recognized as a result of injuries but, for the first time since the '06 season, I'm happy and completely satisfied that he'll be our coach next season.
• Another note on Martz.  While watching the MNF game, I just saw a 3rd and 1 where the Saints were set up to run the ball.  Brees saw a corner playing off of Jimmy Graham and threw him a quick slant for an easy conversion.  For those who don't know, Martz does not allow any audibles to be called.  Ever.  If he calls a run and they put 11 men in the box and don't cover the wideouts, you'd still better run the play he called and hand the ball off.  That kind of egotistic approach is completely unacceptable and needs to be removed.

Well, that's it for now.  I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and let's hope for a better 2012!