Plenty of reasons for Bears' nosedive this season

Q. While there have been many factors, what are the one or two biggest reasons for the Bears' nosedive this season?

A. Inconsistent production on both sides of the ball led to an inability to play complete games. The result was a few dramatic, bail-out wins; but more often it was losses defined by a handful of ill-timed defensive breakdowns and an offensive inability to take advantage of the best field position in the NFL.

Bottom line: Too many field goals instead of touchdowns, no running game to drive the offense, missed opportunities, missed tackles, dropped passes, too many injuries, and a defense built on takeaways that failed to force enough fumbles or interceptions.

That's more than one or two, but I couldn't stop myself.

Q. What position should receive the highest priority in the off-season in terms of upgrading, and what steps should be taken in that process?

A. The top priority should always be building and/or upgrading the offensive and defensive lines. Without that foundation, nothing else matters.

Drafting a quality, powerful tackle to be one of the cornerstones of the offense would appear to be the top off-season need. Depth can quickly be eroded up front defensively, so I don't think the roster can ever have enough defensive linemen, especially tackles.

Next, the focus should shift to quarterback, running back and safety.

Q. What are the positive signs that point to a possible bounce-back season in 2008?

A. Tommie Harris, Brian Urlacher, Charles Tillman, Nathan Vasher, Adewale Ogunleye, Alex Brown and Mark Anderson provide a solid base to work with on defense. Games have been close, so this not a team getting blown out every week.

The improvement on offense must begin with the running game. Without a return to a productive, dangerous running attack, the development of the rest of the offense will be slowed.

Look at the league. Last-to-first turnarounds and first-to-last disasters happen routinely. So, if you start with that premise, there's always hope.

Assuming this team is blessed with good health, a good draft and smart personnel decisions in free agency, it can bounce back.

Q. Look into your crystal ball and predict what will happen in the off-season with the following players: Lance Briggs, Bernard Berrian, Rex Grossman, Darwin Walker and Cedric Benson?

A. My crystal ball is cracked. I can't see into it. But, of all the names you have here, Benson seems to be the best bet at returning because he's under contract and will likely compete for a job, assuming he's healthy.

Given the free-agent market, it might be unrealistic to expect both Briggs and Berrian back in 2008.

As for Grossman, my guess is there will be an attempt to sign him, but he may find a better market than you might think out there in this quarterback-starved league.

Q. Are there any silver linings in this season?

A. Yes. Devin Hester proved he was not a one-year wonder. He's uniquely gifted and will give the Bears great field position one way or another for years to come.

It's now up to the organization to get the offense fixed so the Bears can properly take advantage of what Hester gives them.

With Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen, the Bears have one of the best tight end tandems in the league.

Q. What is the bigger surprise, the Packers being 12-2 or the Bears 5-9?

A. No question, it's the Bears. That's a big fall from being the NFC champion.

Since Brett Favre, regardless of age, makes every skill player around him better, the Packers were going to be dangerous, especially with that defense. I didn't anticipate 12 wins, but I thought they would be the biggest obstacle for a repeat division title for the Bears.

Q. Who or what was the most pleasant surprise this season and the biggest disappointment?

A. The most pleasant surprise was Devin Hester's 6 touchdowns, 5 on returns and 1 on offense. To think he would be able to carve out so much history in two seasons and generally be regarded as the best return man in NFL history is simply amazing.

The biggest disappointment was the running game. It never got rolling and there are a lot of reasons, starting with Cedric Benson not maturing into an impact player after a strong finish to the 2006 regular season.