Broken Wings » It seemed as if was only yesterday

when the Bears were plowing through the NFC. A three-game win streak capped by a suffocation of the Vikings had Chicago riding high and expecting greatness. They were a contender. They were going places http://www.thebearslockerroom.com/authentic-jim-mcmahon-jersey , maybe even South Florida. This was a tight-knit team to be feared. Unfortunately this is the NFL, and nothing lasts forever in the NFL (unless you have access to Tom Brady’s $19.99 Lazarus Pits, of course).On offense, the Bears can’t do anything right. When they manage to create a successful play, or heaven forbid string together two consecutive moderate gains, pro football’s No. 25 offense by DVOA sputters with the agony of an engine on its last legs. If you exclude teams that aren’t trying to win, or never counted in the first place—sorry, Dolphins and Washington—the Bears have a bottom-six attack. Matt Nagy’s bumbling, inept group hasn’t ranked higher than No. 23 overall in almost two months of action. The 40-year-old coach has something of a Sophie’s choice regarding a way out of his ongoing nightmare. He either sticks with Mitchell Trubisky, a quarterback who has routinely proven incapable of making the simplest of reads and throws, or he rides with perennial backup Chase Daniel and the obvious physical limitations of a journeyman. The former isn’t showing any signs of progress or hope. The latter caps a very finite ceiling on whatever potential the Bears believed they once possessed. Barring clear divine intervention, it’s not likely this offense transcends past the NFL’s bottom feeders any time soon.There is a silver lining for Nagy. It appears his off-season obsession with fixing the Bears’ incompetent special teams play from last year paid off. (The question of whether he can multi-task remains to be seen.) Chicago is No. 1 in special teams DVOA for the first time since Dave Toub was still coordinating the third phase back in 2011. Fresh off an “Augusta Silence” summer experience, Eddy Pineiro is perfect on extra points (11-of-11) and has missed but one out of 10 field goal attempts. He’s given the Bears legitimate stability at kicker; a once unthinkable prospect after last January, and after the horrors of Parkey’s, Barth’s Tarik Cohen Jersey , and Nugent’s Past. Factor in generally solid punting from Pat O’Donnell (occasional blocked punts aside) and more cohesive downfield coverage, and you see why the Bears rank so highly. Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor’s breakthrough in the NFL happened when he was one of Toub’s assistants late last decade. For him to emulate one of his mentors has to be heartening, regardless of the Bears’ overall on-field failures. The sky might be falling at Halas Hall, but at least Tabor and company have a thin dome to protect themselves. While Robert believes in the existence of Brady’s Lazarus Pits, he is not the child of Ra’s al Ghul. Follow him on Twitter @RobertZeglinski. You can’t take a picture of this, it’s already gone. LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Eight kickers walked onto the practice field at the end of Friday’s rookie camp session as the Chicago Bears began trying to solve their greatest problem through a mass offseason kicking competition.Coach Matt Nagy lined the 70 rookies at the weekend camp along the 50-yard line behind the eight kickers, watching as each attempted a 43-yard field goal, the same distance Cody Parkey missed with a double-doink to end Chicago’s season in a 16-15 playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.Out of a snap and hold, without a pass rush, only two of the eight kickers made the 43-yard field goal.Back to the drawing board?“This is going to be a little bit of a process,” Nagy said.It already has been.The Bears had Chris Blewitt, Elliott Fry, Redford Jones, John Barron II Womens James Daniels Jersey , Casey Bednarski, Emmit Carpenter, Spencer Evans and Justin Woo on hand for the start of this competition at rookie camp after holding several tryouts already in the offseason. Blewitt, Fry, Jones and Barron were the kickers who had already been signed, and the other four were brought in for tryouts at the rookie camp.Only Barron and Evans made the 43-yard kick. When the kickers had competition amongst themselves away on another practice field, Fry and Jones stood out.Fry was a kicker in the Alliance of American Football and went 14 for 14 with Orlando, and is the only one of the eight with any real professional experience.Nagy was immediately asked about the poor performance after practice.“I’m surprised you’re starting with that question,” Nagy said, laughing.Nagy said it was no coincidence they started the post-practice competition from the 43-yard line, and the kickers are well aware.“They know, they already know,” Nagy said. “They know loud and clear why.”The Bears have hired a kicking consultant now to help them solve the problem.They’ve added Jamie Kohl, who conducts kicking camps. Nagy said Kohl has a good relationship with Bears special teams coordinator Chris Tabor.“It’s like a consultant, but he’ll be here not every day http://www.thebearslockerroom.com/authentic-aaron-lynch-jersey , but he’ll be here throughout the season,” Nagy said. “We’re excited about that.”Nagy called it a case of adding, “somebody that has expertise in that, and understanding a lot more than I know.”Parkey last season kicked six balls off the uprights including the playoffs. When he kicked four in one game off the uprights at Soldier Field against Detroit, the Bears sent him to Soldier Field to practice.Nagy said there are no current plans to send these kickers to Soldier Field for their competition, but it could be something they’ll consider.The goal for the kicking competition held at the end of practices is to create pressure.“We want to be able to see as much as we can in game situations how they handle that, too,” Nagy said. “Because it’s one thing to be able to go over and bang 8 for 8 when it doesn’t really matter. But what about when it matters. Ya know?”There is no timetable for reducing the number of kickers at the moment.“I think that’s really gray for us,” Nagy said. “We start with a lot. In the end, end with one. Right?“So how are we going to do it? If a guy has a rough day, does he bounce back and have seven good days? Does he not? I don’t know.”Nagy said after last weekend’s draft that he’s over the 43-yarder Parkey missed now, and doesn’t mind people mentioning it in his presence.“It doesn’t hurt me. It’s fine. It’s good,” Nagy said. “So you (reporters) can say it. We’re good with it. So use it. Talk about it. It’s a healthy thing.“So we feel good about it and we’re gonna get this thing right.”