The Bears are entering the loooooongest NFL regular season in history.
With two bye weekends for each team, bumper-to-bumper football will stretch for 18 weeks. The Bears’ 1993 season figures to be a test of patience, fortitude and endurance. A new coaching staff, a new system and many new players make a .500 season sound more optimistic than plausible.
Still, Dave Wannstedt and his coaching staff appear suited to reverse the fortunes of a club that finished 5-11 last season. The former Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator has the ear and full endorsement of club President Michael McCaskey, something that appeared to be lacking in the 11-year association of ex-coach Mike Ditka and McCaskey.
“I think Mike Ditka and I worked very well together for a lot of years,” said McCaskey, who fired Ditka in January. “I don’t think a team can win 100 games in a 10-year span unless you’re doing a number of things well. I think we drafted well, and that’s a credit to (former personnel director) Bill Tobin and the scouts. I think we were very well-coached.”
But Wannstedt is the Bears’ coach for the `90s, even though 1993 might be a get-acquainted season. McCaskey also is rolling up his sleeves for a hands-on approach.
“I have been very involved in the operation of the club,” said McCaskey. “It’s my family that owns the team, and it’s my responsibility as the CEO to do that. It’s my full-time job. That’s the way it’s been for the last 10 years. And it will be that way for the next 10 years.
“The media have made too much of the Bears trying to model themselves after somebody else. It’s not that way at all. We have always looked for the best organizational structure, the best set of policies and procedures to do our job.”
McCaskey’s off-season moves seemed to test his courage and build his confidence as an NFL executive.
“It’s the most dramatic change of my career,” he said. “I think it’s working out very well. There’s still a lot of blood and sweat and toil ahead. But I like the way all of us are doing our jobs and communicating and trying to make ourselves into a championship ballclub.”
The NFL preseason is seldom a portent of regular-season results. But the Bears’ 1-3 summer record exposed several obvious flaws.
“I would like people to feel a sense of eager anticipation about this season,” McCaskey said. “I don’t expect all the learning improvement to be fully evident in the first two or three games. But I think you can expect continual improvement over the year simply because we have a lot of young players developing and a new system on offense and defense. It’s going to take the players a while before it becomes completely second nature.
“I think you’ll see a lot of players playing hard and aggressive and smart. I think we’re going to see a lot of victories this season.”
The Bears’ attempt to create a championship team will, in part, involve observing the blueprints of winning organizations such the San Francisco 49ers and the Cowboys.
“The philosophy of our passing game actually is the 49ers’ style,” says receivers coach Ivan Fears. “But it has a lot of Dallas Cowboys in it now. And a lot of New England Patriots and Kansas City. And a doggone lot of Don Shula and Miami. It has a blend of everything. But the basis was the San Francisco style. There are a lot of timing routes.”
New offensive coordinator Ron Turner hopes quarterback Jim Harbaugh, running back Neal Anderson and wide receivers Wendell Davis, Tom Waddle and Curtis Conway can carry out the staff’s best-laid plans.
Wannstedt’s obsession with energizing this team with more speed and quickness at positions such as wide receiver (Curtis Conway and Anthony Morgan), linebacker (Vinson Smith, Joe Cain and Barry Minter) and cornerback (Anthony Blaylock and Jeremy Lincoln) is calculated to give the team more opportunities to win a game with a kick return, a long pass reception, an intercepion return, a blocked punt or a key quarterback sack.
“I have never worked for Bill Walsh,” Turner said of the former 49ers coach. “But Dennis Green was with him for so long. And I was an assistant to Dennis at Northwestern and at Stanford. I believe in the stuff they’re doing and adapted that to my beliefs. I think our players really like the offense and believe in it.”
Harbaugh stumbled through a so-so preseason but says: “I like the timing offense. For me, it’s just a matter of polishing it and disciplining myself to get the ball off quickly and make the reads as fast as I can.
“Over the last 10 years, the 49ers have been an awfully tough team to stop because they execute so well. I have watched a lot of film of Joe Montana (now with Kansas City) and Steve Young. A lot of things they’re doing, we’re doing. There are differences and variations. But it’s a similar package. We look at a lot of their films, check their footwork and see what kind of reads they make and what kind of tempo they run their offense at.”
The first-team offense failed to score a touchdown in the first half of a preseason game in which the Bears went 1-3.
Backup quarterback P.T. Willis had more success with the new offense than Harbaugh. Perhaps that was because Willis worked in a similar system in college at Florida State.
“I like the fact that we have a lot of options in the new offense,” said Willis. “It’s getting back there as quick as you can and getting rid of the ball. It’s not getting back and holding the ball and waiting for somebody to get open. That’s good for any quarterback.”
But Wannstedt continues to defend Harbaugh’s status as the No. 1 quarterback.
“Jim’s doing a good job,” said Wannstedt. “I think he’s right where he needs to be. When we go into the opener, Jim needs to be confident what he can do with his wide receivers and his running backs. And that will only come from full-speed game situations.”
A shaky offensive line will not inspire Harbaugh’s confidence. Former No. 1 draft pick Stan Thomas was traded after it became evident he would not make the final cut. Starting left tackle Troy Auzenne injured his knee in the final preseason game. And James Williams, a defensive player the first half of last season, is the first offensive tackle off the bench.
“Things are starting to come together for us,” said Williams. “This is a close-knit group.”
A CAPSULE LOOK AT THE BEARS
After the preseason, the Bears’ defense clearly vaulted ahead of the offense. Here is a capsule look at the Bears’ two units:
Offense
P.T. Willis had a superior preseason, but Jim Harbaugh keeps his starting job.
The big question is who will run the ball. Neal Anderson nursed a bad hamstring all summer, and Darren Lewis will start Sunday against the Giants.
The offensive line is hurting; Troy Auzenne’s injury is the latest.
Defense
Dave Wannstedt’s trademark as a Bear coach will be defense. He starts with experienced but aging defensive line that has some depth. And his secondary appears to be a solid group.
The weak link looks to be the linebackers. Dallas transplant Vinson Smith is expected to become a starter soon. But the rest of the players here, especially Dante Jones and Ron Cox, will be on the spot if the defense is to hold up for 16 games.
