Though the Bears season isn't officially over yet -- they need the Vikings to lose on Sunday against the Falcons before taking on the Packers Monday night -- there are better odds that Britney Spears will be elected the first female President of the United States in eight years then of the Bears making the playoffs this season. Still, even if the Bears don't make the playoffs there will still be positives to take away from the 2008 season.
While the defense has continued to struggle for the most part in 2008 after a down year in 2007, the team has somehow managed to find an offense this year thanks to the growth of Kyle Orton and rookie running back Matt Forte. Together those two have helped the Bears score 23.6 points per game this season. It's not exactly a remarkable pace, but it is better than the 20.8 points they scored per game last season.
Of course the biggest reason the Bears offense doesn't score more points is because they don't have a legitimate threat at wide receiver. While Devin Hester has grown into the role nicely, he is not now, nor will he ever be a number one. Well, unless guys start going to the Pro Bowl for drawing pass interference calls. Marty Booker has been reliable when healthy, but he's too old to really be a difference maker while Brandon Lloyd has had a very hard time working his way out of Lovie Smith's doghouse even though he may be the most talented receiver on the roster. Then there is Rashied Davis and his amazing ability to drop any pass thrown his way. The team also has rookie Earl Bennett, but apparently he killed somebody in Lovie Smith's family because he can't even sniff the field on offense.
So if the Bears are going to become a legitimate threat to get to -- and hopefully win -- another Super Bowl, they're going to need a top-notch target for Kyle Orton to throw the ball to. Thankfully, there shouldn't be a shortage of those types of players available this offseason. T.J. Houshmanzadeh will be a free agent and there's no doubt he's going to want out of the mess that is the Cincinnati Bengals franchise right now, and the Bears could be an attractive option for him. There's also Anquan Boldin of the Arizona Cardinals who asked to be traded earlier this year if Arizona didn't re-sign him to a contract extension. He didn't get it, and it's possible the Cardinals may look to trade him.
There's also Cleveland's Braylon Edwards, who recently expressed his displeasure of playing in Cleveland. While Edwards leads the NFL in dropped passes right now, he's still head and shoulders above anybody the Bears currently have on their roster. A change of scenery for the 25-year old from Michigan could be exactly what he needs to get his career back on track.
Whoever becomes available during the course of the offseason, Jerry Angelo would be well served to look into bringing that player to Chicago in 2009. The team can talk about how it's goal each season is to win the Super Bowl, but until they bring in some talent to catch Orton's passes, they never will.
