SVM-SS4_02042016

THE LISTPFW staff picks greatest Super Bowl champions ever

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WHO HAS THE EDGE?PFW breaks down Super Bowl matchups

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BOOM OR BUSTHub Arkush: With all the story lines, Super Bowl 50 could be one for the ages, or a blowout

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SUPER BEARS?How far is Chicago from title contention?

PASSING THE TORCH

As Peyton Manning looks to end his Hall of Fame career on top, Cam Newton

is ushering in a new era

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For the Denver Broncos, the road to Super Bowl 50 must come with many of the trappings of a return to the scene of the crime.

It was just two years ago that the Broncs traveled to Super Bowl XLVIII in blustery New Jersey as a favorite over the upstart Seattle Seahawks. Denver took a beating that can only be classified as some-where between aggravated assault and attempted murder.

Most of these Denver players have been there and are desperate not to do that again.

It also is a shot at vindication for Broncos boss and Hall Of Fame quarterback John Elway, who shocked the world by firing now Bears coach John Fox last season after he very nearly took Denver to another Super Bowl.

To the Panthers’ players, this is the road less traveled. Only five of them have played in a Super Bowl before, but all of them to a man believe they are the team to beat as they come off one of the most dominating NFL seasons in recent history.

While the Panthers only other Super Bowl trip in franchise histo-ry came in the 2002 season, at least

for head coach Ron Rivera, this will be like coming home.

Rivera was born in Fort Ord, Calif., and played his high school football in Monterey, an easy and absolutely gorgeous drive a little less than two hours down the Cali-fornia coast.

Rivera won a ring as a sopho-more linebacker on the legendary ’85 Bears Super Bowl champions. He lost one as the Bears defensive coordinator to Broncos quarter-back Peyton Manning in the rain in South Florida, when Manning was still at the helm of the Colts.

Talk about “been there and done that.” Rivera should know how to get his Panthers ready, and Manning – the first player ever to go to four Super Bowls with four different head coaches – will have a pretty good idea of the job at hand as well.

The wild card in this one will be the 2015 Most Valuable Player, Panthers QB Cam Newton.

They say, “It ain’t bragging if you can back it up!” Newton has done more of both this season than any player since Joe Namath – in-teresting comparisons between the two have been rampant all week long in San Francisco. That’s to the great delight of Panthers players and fans, but the disapproval of many others.

Many have taken the path that, if you don’t like Newton’s act, stop him and shut him up. That is easier said than done.

Many others point out they admire his skills and acknowledge his right to preen, they just feel he’d be that much better if he wasn’t his own biggest fan.

One of the best things about almost all Super Bowls is that, in the end, all that usually matters

is winners and losers, and nobody wants to lose.

For the Broncos, that means finding a way to pressure Newton but keep him in the pocket. That will be a much tougher trick than it was versus New England, since Carolina is the No. 1 running team in the NFL.

Denver must run the ball against one of the league’s best run defenses and Manning has to have enough magic left in that right arm to avoid interceptions and make enough plays to his receivers down the field to challenge Carolina’s only obvious weakness.

The Panthers must make sure the moment isn’t too big for them. History is cluttered with great teams that went to their first Super Bowl and found a whole new level of pressure.

They’ll also have to play two complete halves, something they’ve struggled to do all season long.

Carolina is a clear favorite. They’ve earned that. But this one has more than enough classic story lines to make it a Super Bowl for the ages.

Manning, Newton top long list of stories

By HUB ARKUSH [email protected]

@Hub_Arkush

FROM THE EDITOR

8Number of Super Bowl appear-ances for the Denver Broncos, including this Sunday, which ties for the league record. They’ve won two.

2Number of Super Bowl appear-ances for the Carolina Panthers, an expansion franchise that entered the NFL in 1995. That’s two more than the Browns and Lions, both of whom were in the league well before the 50-year Super Bowl era began.

114,400,000Estimated number of people who watched last year’s Super Bowl, a record.

BY THE NUMB3RS

Pro Football Weekly is produced by Shaw Media, the Daily Herald Media Group and the Chicago Sun-Times in partnership with other Illinois daily newspapers.

PRO FOOTBALL WEEKLY | Thursday, February 4, 2016 • ProFootballWeekly.com

• ChicagoFootball.com3

Picking the five best teams of the Super Bowl era is subjec-tive, of course, and it also can be complicated. For instance, how can the undefeated 1972 Dolphins or transformative 1968 Jets miss the cut? Both were great football teams and a part of Super Bowl history, but they don’t match up with and would have been signif-icant underdogs against the five best of the Super Bowl era. Buffalo is the only team to reach four con-secutive Super Bowls, but with-out a Lombardi trophy, we can’t build a case for them here. The 2000 Ravens have supporters who claim their defense was as good as the 1985 Bears, but the Trent Dil-

fer-led offense was flawed. This is our list of the five greatest teams in the NFL for a single season that won Super Bowls.

Hall of Fame coach Mike Dit-ka’s “Monsters of the Midway” featured arguably the most feared defense ever, Buddy Ry-an’s dominating “46,” with three Hall of Famers helping generate an unfathomable 61 takeaways while permitting an NFL-low 12.4 points per game. Walter Pay-ton, arguably the greatest run-ning back of all time, finished No. 3 in rushing (1,551 yards) and totaled 11 touchdowns for the league’s second-most prolific offense. Chicago’s point differ-ential of plus-258 is the widest

on this list. No team had more swagger and star power. And their 36-point blowout of New England in Super Bowl XX is the second-largest ever, the culmi-nation of a postseason in which the Bears allowed just 10 points in three victories.

Pittsburgh won four Super Bowls from 1975-80, but this group, anchored by “The Steel Curtain” defense surrendering the fewest points in the league, and Terry Bradshaw tossing 28 touchdowns for the most pow-erful Pittsburgh offense of this era, went 14-2 while dismantling opponents. Chuck Noll’s club was the first to three Super Bowl victories after topping Dallas 35-31 in Super Bowl XII. This club boasted nine Hall of Famers.

The first team to go 15-1, one year before the Bears, Bill Walsh’s group shut out Chicago in the NFC championship game. Joe Montana, Dwight Clark and Freddie Solomon propelled the passing game, with Roger Craig

and Wendell Tyler forming a ver-satile backfield behind an O-line with three Pro Bowlers. Feared Hall of Fame safety Ronnie Lott spearheaded the NFL’s No. 1 scoring defense, which sent four defensive backs to the Pro Bowl. Montana piled up 390 total yards and four touchdowns en route to a 38-16 Super Bowl XIX triumph versus Dan Marino’s Dolphins and his second Super Bowl MVP trophy.

Jimmy Johnson’s second con-secutive Super Bowl victory punc-tuated a 12-4 season, in which Dal-las overcame a two-week holdout by league and Super Bowl XXVIII MVP Emmitt Smith to begin the season; Troy Aikman missing two-and-a-half games with injuries, including exiting the NFC Cham-pionship game early; and Leon Lett’s infamous botched field goal recovery that wrestled defeat from the jaws of victory. Hall of Famers Smith and wide receiver Michael Irvin, and vertical threat Alvin Harper led a high-flying offense, and DE Charles Haley, LB Ken Norton and DT Russell Maryland anchored the defense, both units

finishing No. 2 in the NFL in scor-ing.

We couldn’t overlook the first or last great team of this era. Led by Vince Lombardi and Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr, Green Bay finished 12-2 in the regular season, with Starr earning his only MVP award for overcoming the NFL’s worst rushing offense with a league-leading 2,257 passing yards and career-high 105.0 passer rating. Lineback-er Ray Nitschke was the face of the league’s best scoring ‘D,’ holding opponents to just 11.6 points per game. Green Bay top-pled Dallas in the NFL cham-pionship, two weeks before destroying the Chiefs in the in-augural Super Bowl.

Pete Carroll’s “Legion of Boom” defense yielded a league-low 14.4 points and 172 passing yards per game while tallying the most interceptions (28), and budding star Russell Wilson pi-loted the offense en route to a 13-3 mark and 43-8 throttling of the Broncos in Super Bowl XL-VIII.

PFW’s five greatest Super Bowl champion teams of all timeBy ARTHUR [email protected]

@ArthurArkush

1985 BEARS1.

1994 COWBOYS4.

’13 SEAHAWKS, ’66 PACKERS5.

1984 49ERS3.

1978 STEELERS2.

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PANTHERSBRONCOS VS.GAMEDAY: 5:30 P.M. SUNDAY, FEB. 7 / LEVI’S STADIUM, SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA

SUPER BOWL 50 PREVIEWBy KEVIN [email protected]

@kfishbain

PANTHERS RUSHING OFFENSE vs BRONCOS RUN DEFENSE

We open with each team’s biggest strength, going up against one another in the trenches. The Broncos fin-ished the season as the league’s third-best run defense overall and No. 1 in yards per carry al-lowed (3.3). The Panthers were second in the NFL in rushing and 10th in yards per touch at 4.34. Jonathan Stewart has been stellar in the postseason, averaging 5.0 yards a carry on his 38 touches. Cam Newton is a much bigger threat as a run-ner than the Broncos’ previ-ous postseason opponents with his 10 rushing touchdowns in the regular season. Mike Shu-la is one of the most creative play-callers in the run game, using different formations and misdirection in the backfield. In the AFC Championship, the Broncos held the Patriots to 44 yards on 17 carries (2.6-yard av-erage). It starts on the line with Derek Wolfe and Malik Jack-son, two defensive ends who can knife into the backfield. Inside linebackers Danny Tre-vathan and Brandon Marshall are the Broncos’ tackle leaders, and Marshall had nine tackles for loss. Shula’s rushing attack vs. Wade Phillips’ front should be the best matchup of this game, one that goes to the team that had 100+ yards rushing in every game this season.

EDGE XPANTHERS

PANTHERS PASSING OFFENSE vs BRONCOS PASS DEFENSE

Cam Newton threw 35 touch-downs to only 10 picks this season despite a completion

percentage of 59.8. In two play-off games, he is completing 70 percent of his passes and has a 113.4 rating. The Panthers didn’t throw it a ton, so they were 21st in sacks allowed per pass attempt, but gave up only one sack in each of the two post-season games. With a focus on the ground game, the passing game can beat teams deep with play-action thanks to Newton’s strong arm, in or outside the pocket, and speedy Ted Ginn

on the outside (16.8 yards per catch). Newton also will attack defenses with the Panthers’ leading receiver, tight end Greg Olsen. The Broncos were first in the NFL in passing yards al-lowed per game and sacks, and tied with the Panthers (of all teams) for yards per pass play allowed. They harassed Tom Brady last week to the tune of 17 hits – seven for Demarcus Ware, four for Von Miller and three for Malik Jackson. Quar-

terbacks had only a 78.8 rating against Denver this season thanks to a trio of exception-al corners – the physical Aqib Talib, who could draw snaps against Olsen, Chris Harris Jr. and Bradley Roby. The Broncos certainly will try to get to New-ton, but can they contain him in the pocket? Extended plays may lead to big gains for Carolina, but this is too tall a task, even for the likely MVP.

EDGE XBRONCOS

BRONCOS RUSHING OFFENSE vs PANTHERS RUN DEFENSE

Won’t anyone think of the running backs? They’re people, too. With such a focus on Newton and Manning, what if this game came down to Denver’s ability to run the ball, taking the pressure off Manning? Gary Kubiak’s zone scheme has helped C.J. Anderson, especially down the stretch. He averaged 4.7 yards

AP photo

Luke Kuechly and teammates



“The Broncos offense has been struggling,

they’ve been counting us out ... Yes, we do

have the No. 1 defense. Those guys have done an extremely good job.

... Offensively, don’t count us out. ... We have

playmakers all over the field and we can go out and put up points as well. I like being an

underdog.”

Emmanuel SandersBroncos wide receiver

“We have to be on top of our game because we know [Peyton Manning] is going to be on top of his. We will have a good plan, and I’m sure there will be some back and

forth going on.”

Luke KuechlyPanthers linebacker

“Eight-year vet, finally here, man. Everything I dreamed of. A win, a

win in the game would

definitely really be everything I dreamed of.”

Aqib TalibBroncos cornerback

“Yeah, it’s a big game. The result of the game

is big, but when the ball is kicked off, it’s still

football. The field isn’t any bigger. The players

are the same.”

Jared AllenPanthers defensive end

“We’ve been the under-dogs all year. It’s nothing new to us. We just play ball. After Sunday, we’ll see. We’ll be ready to play though. You can

count on that.”

Darian StewartBroncos safety

“I don’t think this team needs any extra moti-

vation. ... We can’t wait. We’re eager for Sunday.”

Ryan KalilPanthers center

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

Von Miller

AP photo

AP photo

Peyton Manning

per carry in the regular sea-son and is running at a rate of 4.6 yards a touch in two playoff games. Ronnie Hillman has not been effective in his 27 playoff carries for 54 yards. Carolina counters with one of the NFL’s best defenses, especially up the middle. Luke Kuechly is as good as they come bringing down the ball carrier, if he can get past star defensive tackle Kawaan Short and his 16 tackles for loss. Even if Thomas Davis can play, he won’t be as effective, which is an issue for Carolina. The Bron-cos’ rushing attack has defi-nitely improved, but is it good enough to be successful against a Carolina ‘D’ that was fourth in the league against the run?

EDGE XPANTHERS

BRONCOS PASSING OFFENSE vs PANTHERS PASS DEFENSE

Which Peyton Manning will we see Sunday night in Santa Clara? Will he conclude his ca-reer with a vintage Manning outing, picking apart a fantas-tic pass defense, or will he be limited to the player we’ve seen most of the season, hoping to simply manage the game. Ei-ther of those Manning’s would work for Denver, as long as it’s not the one who threw 17

interceptions to only nine touchdowns during the regular season. We won’t recap all of Manning’s limitations, or go on and on about how his intelli-gence is such a weapon, but the numbers haven’t been good this postseason. He completed 55.1 percent of his passes, despite zero interceptions. Demaryius Thomas has only six catches in the two playoff games, with Owen Daniels catching the two touchdown passes. Those two throws last week against the New England Patriots had pin-point precision, helping allevi-ate the fact that they hung up in the air. Can that work against Carolina? Here’s what Man-ning is facing – the league’s best defense in terms of oppo-nent passer rating during the season (73.5). The top intercep-tion team with 24 picks. Josh Norman emerged as a lock-down corner with 18 passes defensed. Kuechly and Davis each had four interceptions. Kurt Coleman had seven. Of all the scenarios to consider in this matchup, the only one that gives the Broncos the edge is if the 2012-13 Manning walks out of the tunnel on Sunday. That’s not happening.

EDGE XPANTHERS

SUNDAY’S OVERALL EDGE

Analyzing special teams, the only noteworthy dispari-ty comes in kickoff coverage, where Carolina is 28th and Denver is sixth, so maybe the Broncos can get a big return. The issues for Denver on of-fense, though, are magnified in key situations. They were 25th in the league in third-down conversion percentage. Caroli-na was seventh. The most sig-nificant disparity is in the red zone, and what will hand the Panthers the ultimate advan-tage. Carolina was second this season, scoring touchdowns on 68.2 percent of red-zone trips. The Broncos were 28th, finding the end zone on 47.7 percent of trips inside the 20. And Den-ver’s defense is only 20th in the red zone. The Panthers are the better all-around team. The X-factor obviously is Manning, and the type of impact he has on this game. Denver’s defense could cause real problems if Newton becomes erratic, but the thought of the Broncos put-ting up the necessary points against Carolina’s defense does not instill much confidence. The Panthers are the clear fa-vorite in Super Bowl 50.

EDGE XPANTHERS

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Panthers QB Cam Newton has the athlet-icism to neutralize the Broncos’ fierce pass rush that made life miserable for Tom Brady in the AFC title game.

I’ve picked the Broncos all year and won’t stop here. The Panthers are better, but two weeks of prep favor Peyton Man-ning, Wade Phillips and Denver’s ‘D.’

Cam is NFL’s MVP for learning to thrive in pock-et; he’s Super Bowl MVP for escaping it, Denver’s rush. Peyton gutsy but too giving against opportunis-tic ‘D.’

Carolina’s offense is at a slight disadvantage against Denver’s ‘D’, but that Panthers defense should be way better than this version of Man-ning’s offense.

Hub

ARKUSH

Denver’s ‘D’ is out-standing, but matchups that worked against the Patriots favor the Panthers here. Newton, Short and Kuechly are the difference-makers.

Broncos 19 Panthers 30

ChicagoFootball.com

Kevin

FISHBAIN


ChicagoFootball.com

Arthur

ARKUSH


ChicagoFootball.com

Nate

ATKINS


ChicagoFootball.com

Bob

LEGERE


Daily Herald

Jon

STYF

Carolina was best team during year, but this is different. Denver’s defense is unmatched. Can imagine end of game with ball in Manning’s hands ...


Northwest Herald

Patrick

FINLEY

The Broncos are being criminally underrated, and an ugly game suits them here, but the Panthers have won 20 of their last 22 games. Make it 21 of 23.


Chicago Sun-Times

Jay

TAFT

The Broncos’ defense will slow Cam Newton early, but this is the Pan-thers’ time to shine, and an old Peyton Manning won’t be able to keep up late.


Rockford Register-Star

Kyle

NABORS

Don’t expect the Pan-thers to roll up big points again, but Cam Newton’s ability to make plays on the ground will make life more difficult on Denver’s defense.


Kankakee Daily Journal

Dan

McCALEB

I know, Carolina is the better team. But Peyton Manning going out on top is too good of a storyline to resist, especially with John Elway on his side.


Shaw Media

BRONCOS VS. PANTHERS STAFF PREDICTIONS Wednesday spread: Panthers -5!

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For those of you who thought the NFL had finally satiated its Los Angeles cravings, trust us, the drama, the arm-twisting, the back-room horse-trading, power plays and plot twists have just begun.

What we know is that the Rams will play in the Los Ange-les Coliseum beginning in 2016 and through 2018, and hope to move into the new Taj Mahal of football that Rams’ owner Stan Kroenke plans to build and have ready for the 2019 season.

We also know the Chargers will play the 2016 season in San Diego and spend the year try-ing to convince the city of San Diego they are worth keeping long term in a new football pal-ace of their own.

As leverage to gain the new stadium they’ve wanted in San Diego for years, the Chargers also have a guaranteed right to join the Rams in Los Angeles as “partners” in Kroenke’s devel-opment as long as they exercise that right before mid-January 2017.

The operative word there, of course, is partner. While NFL owners have promised to over-see those negotiations to guar-antee Chargers owner Dean Spanos a fair shake, the bottom line is Kroenke doesn’t need a partner, and would much rath-er have a tenant to help defray the costs of his new project without having to share a sig-nificant piece of the profits.

The problem in San Diego is, even with the extra $100 mil-lion the NFL has promised to kick in to get a new stadium, based on prior offers from the city, they and Spanos are still about $300 million to $400 mil-lion short of the funding need-ed to get a billion-dollar-plus palace built there.

The simple question for Spanos is, where does he gain more value and annual profit for his team?

The simple answer is in a true partnership and it’s clear-ly Los Angeles.

The problem is the distance between a “true partnership” and the deal Kroenke wants to negotiate.

Finally, there is the issue of the Raiders. If the Chargers stay in San Diego, Raiders owner Mark Davis then has a one-year window in which he can negotiate a move to L.A. as Kroenke’s “partner.”

The problem there is, nei-ther the NFL nor Kroenke want the Raiders in L.A., and while

Davis continues to be courted by San Antonio and Las Vegas with no hopes of getting a sta-dium built by the city of Oak-land or county of Alameda, ev-erybody wants the Raiders but nobody really wants Davis as a partner or tenant.

The legendary Al Davis’ son may be a very nice guy and could even be bundles of fun to have around, but he is nowhere near qualified to run an NFL team or capable of managing or overseeing the kind of projects Kroenke and Spanos envision.

What the other 29 owners would really like is for the Raid-ers to stay in Oakland, which is a growing area with great promise for the future in a new

stadium privately financed by new ownership.

But it’s Marc Davis’ team, nobody can force him to sell it and neither the NFL nor Oak-land will be playing the emi-nent domain card they played with back in the days of Al Da-vis’ wars with Paul Tagliabue and his fellow owners.

Just when you thought it was all over, now it’s time for the real games to begin.

Which coaches will start 2016 on the bubble?

No coach dodged a scarier bullet on “Black Monday” than Mike McCoy did in San Diego. He clearly is the choice of gen-

eral manager T o m T e l e s c o , who got him-self a contract extension last season. Injuries h a v e d e v a s -tated this ball c lub the past t w o s e a s o n s , but with Philip Rivers moving ever closer to the backstretch of his career, McCoy cannot afford another non-competitive season.

While he is one of the more respected coach-es in the league and has been a head guy forev-er, no coach has done less with more talent in recent seasons than Jeff Fisher has in St. Louis. It is near impos-sible to imagine Fisher sur-viving a first year in L.A. that doesn’t include a winning sea-son and perhaps even a playoff run.

Jay Gruden surprised an awful lot of folks in Washing-ton last year, but was it good coaching, a horrible division and cream puff schedule, or just good fortune?

Regardless, owner Daniel Snyder has the patience of a gnat and football savvy of a preschooler, meaning Gruden better have another winning season or he will be in big trou-ble.

Jim Caldwell earned anoth-e r s h o t w i t h the Lions’ 6-2 finish to 2015, but with a new G.M. in town, a s l o w s t a r t would practi -cally guarantee he doesn’t make it to the bye week.

The way we hear it, Jason Garrett lives to fight another day in Dallas solely because fir-ing him would have been a big-ger hit to owner Jerry Jones’ ego than keeping him.

THE WAY WE HEAR IT BY HUB ARKUSH

More Los Angeles drama still to come

St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke, above, applauds during a news con-ference at the Forum in Inglewood,

Calif. on Jan. 15, 2016. The Rams are returning to play in 2016 in the Los Angeles area. A new stadium is to be built on a site near the Forum.

San Diego Chargers Chairman Dean Spanos, right, watches warmups

before a game against the Jackson-ville Jaguars in Jacksonville, Fla. The

Chargers will stay in San Diego in 2016, but are considering a move to

Los Angeles.

Will Chargers stay in San Diego beyond next season?

AP photo

Mike McCoy

Jim Caldwell

Jeff Fisher

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SAN JOSE, Calif. – Greg Olsen had never felt rejected as an athlete before.

He hasn’t since.When the Bears decided to trade him

in July 2011 rather than consider extend-ing his contract, the tight end didn’t know what to expect. The Panthers had gone 2-14 the year before, fired coach John Fox and drafted Cam Newton No. 1 overall.

But Olsen signed an extension as soon as he moved, and has been instrumental in building the Panthers’ culture to the heights of Sunday’s Super Bowl appear-ance against the Broncos.

“Pretty much what happens is, they say, ‘We don’t want you. We don’t feel like we have a place for you. We don’t have a need for you. We’re going to get rid of you,’” Olsen said. “Any time that happens to guys in our world who tend to have a lot of self-confidence, you take that to heart.”

He tells the story with a smile.“Looking back,” he said, “that trade

from Chicago was the best thing to ever happen to me.”

Since the Bears got a third-round pick for him – a move then-GM Jerry Angelo

admitted was a mistake, despite the belief the tight end didn’t fit with Mike Martz’s offense – Olsen has been one of the game’s great tight ends.

He set career highs with 123 catch-es and 1,104 receiving yards this year. Among tight ends, only the Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski had more yards. Between Pro Bowl nominations last year and this, Olsen signed another contract extension.

None of that happens if he stays in Chi-cago.

“When I was there, I had some person-al success, to a point,” he said. “We had a lot of changes. We had three offensive co-ordinators. We had a lot of ebbs and flows of our team. We had a lot of moving parts at quarterback.

“But since I’ve come here, we’ve had so much consistency. I’ve been able to grow and kinda evolve as a player and have people believe in me, to let me go out and do what you brought me here to do.

“Across the board, from the organiza-tion to the community of Charlotte, and then obviously on the field professional-ly, it’s been a home run.”

The Olsens embraced Charlotte, and vice versa. Their son, T.J., was born with a rare congenital heart defect three-and-a-half years ago, and the Olsens spend their free time helping families, financially and otherwise, in the same situation.

“Changing teams and everything we went through there with our family and personally with our son, this would be a great exclamation point on an interesting – and kind of up and down – few years for us,” he said. “It’s been a great year for

us personally and now professionally we have a chance to make it truly special.”

The Super Bowl is dripping with Bears connections. Both teams once employed Fox. Denver has two Bears assistants from the Marc Trestman regime, while the Panthers’ Ron Rivera played for the 1985 Bears.

Panthers defensive end Jared Allen has two sacks in 12 games. Teammate Charles Tillman has a torn ACL and will not play.

Olsen, then, stands alone.“It’s his ability to go out and compete

at a high level,” Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis said, “when everybody knows that he’s the guy.”

He wouldn’t be the man without the trade.

“That was really the first time I’ve been really rejected in my sports career,” Olsen said. “But I learned a lot about, ‘Things happen for a reason.’

“I’m here at the Super Bowl five years later, playing the best ball of my career, playing on, hopefully we’ll find out, the best team in the league.”

Greg Olsen: Trade is ‘best thing to ever happen to me’

In the midst of the Bears’ 1985 season, which ended in the franchise’s only Super Bowl championship, right guard Tom Thayer had a conversation with Hall of Fame running back Walter Pay-ton that illustrates how the game has changed in 30 years.

“I remember walking out of the lock-er room one day with Walter, who was in his 11th year,” said Thayer, who was an NFL rookie on that team. “I asked Walter, ‘Why are you still playing?’ He said, ‘Because I’m not rich.’ ”

Payton was arguably the best player in the NFL during his prime, and at that point, before the 1982 season, he signed a three-year deal for $2 million – total. In the previous six years, Payton had AVERAGED 1,488 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.

Dallas Cowboys placekicker Dan Bai-ley now makes almost five times what Payton made then.

And if Payton didn’t consider himself rich, imagine how the rest of the league felt. The millions of dollars that today’s players “earn” before taking an NFL snap did not exist.

“I think back,” Thayer said, “and ev-ery day we went to work, from the first day to the last, we had to earn money. We didn’t have multi-million dollar bo-

nuses in the bank already when we were playing. Every dollar that we got paid to play we earned it.

“You never felt like you had the luxury of finally making it. That whole era of guys, even when you retired, you were only retiring to think about what your next career was going to be. ‘What is my next job? What am I going to do?’ ”

For Thayer, the next move was to the broadcast booth. For the past 19 years he has been the analyst for Bears radio broadcasts.

Thayer said retiring NFL players of that era were not like 60-something re-

tirees who wonder how they’ll fill their days once they stop working.

“It’s not because you’re trying to occupy your time, it’s because you need money,” he said. “No one gradauated from that era of football financially secure.”

But don’t, even for a second, believe that Thayer has any regrets.

His first season with the Bears was the second complete season Thayer played in 1985. He had already played in 18 regular-season games for the Arizo-na Wranglers of the old USFL, which played its games in the spring. Thayer took a month to catch his breath and then went to his first NFL training camp and played 23 games for the Bears, counting the preseason and postseason.

Despite playing three years in the USFL, Thayer was still an NFL rookie when he joined the Bears in 1985, three years after they had drafted him in the fourth round.

“Every day was intimidating for me,” Thayer said. “But it wasn’t because of the players, it was because of [offen-sive line coach] Dick Stanfel and [head coach] Mike Ditka.”

Thayer doesn’t recall feeling phy-scially or mentally beaten down by the grueling marathon he endured playing

football year-round in ‘85. He played seven more seasons as the Bears’ start-ing right guard, missing just five games.

“It helped that I was going to the Chi-cago Bears,” said Thayer, who grew up in Joliet as an avid Bears fan and was an All-American at Notre Dame. “Mike Ditka, Walter Payton, all the guys on the defense. There were so many reasons to be excited about it.

“I was super nervous every single day, and I knew nothing was guaran-teed. I knew everybody there were good football players, and they had already had a bad-ass attitude instilled in them from Ditka’s influence of being around there for a couple of years.”

That attitude flourished in ‘85 and manifested itself in some games, even before the opening kickoff, as Thayer fondly recalled.

“During warmups, the two teams would be on the side of the field going through their drills,” he said. “In those days, [defensive linemen] Steve McMi-chael and Dan Hampton would go to the other side of the field and face the opponent and just stand there and stare them down. Nowadays it would end up being a fight, but back then it was just Hampton and McMichael loving the sport.”

Retired Bear Tom Thayer reflects on playing days

By PATRICK FINLEY [email protected]

@patrickfinley

Former Bears tight end has been a star since his move to Carolina Panthers

By BOB LeGERE [email protected]

@BobLeGere

OPINION



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What would Chicago Bears fans give to see “The Beloved” back in the Super Bowl as soon as pos-sible?

Considering they’ve been there just twice in 50 years, 21 years apart with the most recent visit already nine years ago, I’d say the sky is the limit.

How soon might they be able to make that happen and how far away are they?

That’s a much trickier question.First of all, who are these guys?Will Matt Forte and Alshon Jeffery be

back? How much will they miss Adam Gase and Mike Groh? Can Dowell Loggains keep Jay Cutler’s arrow pointing up? Can Log-gains be a quality play caller in the NFL and will Kevin White be the player we all hope he is?

Let’s assume the answers to all those questions are yes. These Bears are at least two more seasons away from being a legit contender.

Here is problem No. 1: This year, the Car-olina Panthers were in the top 10 in every

major defensive category except passing yards allowed, in which they were 11th. They were second vs. the pass, fourth vs. the run, sixth in points allowed and first in takeaways.

Denver was in the top 10 in every ma-jor defensive category and first in yards al-lowed, first in passing yards allowed, first in sack percentage, and fourth in points allowed.

While Denver struggled on offense, Car-olina was second running the football and first in points scored. Carolina also was first in turnover/takeaway ratio while the Bron-cos were tied for 19th.

The only major defensive categories the Bears were even in the top 15 in were passing yards allowed, in which they were fourth, and total yards allowed, where they were 14th. But those numbers are skewed because the Bears were so awful against the run – 22nd in yards allowed and 26th in av-erage gain per run.

The Bears were 20th in points allowed and tied with Denver at 19th in TO/TA ra-tio.

They were just as bad on the other side of the ball, too: 21st in total yards, 11th running but 23rd passing, and just 23rd in

points scored.The Bears literally need to get better ev-

erywhere to contend. Here is why the Bears are struggling so badly:

For Carolina, Cam Newton, Greg Olsen, Ryan Kalil, Kawann Short, Star Lotulelei, Luke Kuechly, Thomas Davis and Josh Nor-man are all among the very best at their po-sitions.

The same can be said for Demaryius Thomas, Ryan Clady (when healthy), De-Marcus Ware, Derek Wolfe, Von Miller, Aqib Talib and Chris Harris, Jr. on Denver. And, of course, there’s the Peyton Manning factor.

I will save space by not listing the ob-vious top end star power on the Patriots, Cardinals and Seahawks, this year’s other

legit contenders.As a guard, Kyle Long is one of the best

in the NFL at his position, but as a tackle he is not yet. Forte will never see his 20s again, and Jeffery has to prove he can stay on the field long enough to deserve being in the conversation.

Who else on the Bears can you legit-imately discuss as one of the best in the league at what he does? Nobody.

The talent gap on the Bears right now is so severe the conversation isn’t worth hav-ing. That said though, the first year of the Bears complete overhaul appears to be a success.

In Eddie Goldman, Hroniss Grasu, Jeremy Langford, Adrian Amos and Bryce Callahan at the nickel, the Bears

HOW CLOSE AREBEARS TO BEING SUPER?

Chicago Bears rookie wide receiver Kevin White warms up before practice

drills during organized team activities

at Halas Hall in Lake Forest.

H. Rick Bamman - Shaw Media

By HUB [email protected]

Follow@Hub_Arkush

Bears quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains (left), David Falesand Jay Cutler enter Soldier Field before their Jan. 3 game against the Detroit

Lions. Loggains is now the Bears offensive coordinator.

H. Rick Bamman - Shaw Media



added five starters with Ryan Pace’s first draft. That’s outstanding.

It’s also fair to assume Kevin White will be a sixth starter when healthy.

The reason we never evaluate a draft for two or even three seasons is, whether or not they will be quality starters who can join the top talent at their positions remains to be seen.

Pace needs two more drafts like that in 2016 and 2017 to significantly close the talent gap on the NFL’s top teams.

To contend, the Bears also must do better than Pace did on his maiden voyage in veteran free agency.

Pernell McPhee could join the conversation of top outside rush line-backers if he can stay healthy and produce over a full season, but he’s never done it before in five years in the league.

Tracy Porter could be a depend-able starter at cornerback if the Bears choose to and can re-sign him.

Where does that leave this team?If Cutler can continue to ascend

and play near the level he did in 2015 with better talent around him, he can win playoff games in Chicago.

Cutler, Langford, Forte, Jeffery, Martlellus Bennett, Long and Matt Slauson may be players you can run a Super Bowl offense around.

I do not believe Charles Leno, Jr. can do the job by himself at left tack-le, and Jermon Bushrod is almost cer-tain to be a salary cap casualty this offseason.

If White and Grasu are the real deal, the Bears need two more start-ers on the offensive line.

If any of Forte, Jeffery or Bennett is gone, well ...

On defense, the Bears need huge upgrades at both defensive ends, both inside linebacker spots, at least one safety and at least one cornerback, or possibly both.

You tell me who’s currently on the roster to fill any of those spots and play at a very high level?

I’m not here to depress you folks, I’m here to inform. If Pace gets ab-solutely everything right – which would be a small miracle in itself – perhaps 2017 can be the Bears year.

With just a couple of missteps along the way, which in itself could win Pace an Executive of the Year Award, 2018 or 2019 seem like much better bets for the Bears to have a chance to be super again.

That, of course, relies on whether John Fox can get the job done. Con-sidering he took both of this year’s super clubs to the Super Bowl for their last visits, we’ll assume that’s the one spot that’s covered for now.

Chicago Bears defensive lineman Eddie Goldman

(91) walks off the field af-ter a Dec. 13 game against

Washington in Chicago.

AP file photo

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Y12 ‘Going to be one of the biggest blessings I’ve received’

By KEVIN [email protected]

Laquon Treadwell is expected to be the first wide receiver taken in April’s NFL Draft. When Roger Goodell steps to the microphone and says the name of the Ole Miss receiver who overcame a gruesome broken leg in 2014 to star as a junior, the cheers will be heard from down the road in Crete, Ill.

Treadwell led Crete-Monee to a 6A state title in 2012 with 85 receiving yards, 93 rushing yards and two touchdowns, and the significance of hearing his name called and his dream realized near his hometown is not lost on Treadwell.

“It’s going to be one of the biggest blessings I’ve received,” he said. “Grow-ing up in Chicago, knowing what people go through in Chicago ... having the draft in Chicago the year before, and now it’s back. 2016 will be an exciting year. I will enjoy every minute of it.”

Treadwell’s childhood made him “ap-preciate life” and the opportunities he was able to get.

“I’ve had friends die at a young age.

I’ve had friends get locked up. I knew all these people. I’ve seen the worst of the worst and I’ve seen some of the best of the best,” he said. “I’ve got to appreciate the opportunities I have more and the people that want to help me and have the best

interests and be loyal to the people that surround me, and be in it for the long run and appreciate it all.”

Knowing that many from the area have watched him since high school, Treadwell said he wants to “be a role model to kids

from Chicago who want to do what I did to show them it’s possible.”

“Growing up in the neighborhood, it was fun, but people started to figure out they had to make a living and they went the wrong route, and others tried the right route and ended up in the wrong situation at the wrong time,” he said. “It shaped me to the person I am today to appreciate to go out in a nice environment where people are smiling and having fun.”

Treadwell recovered from his broken leg to catch 82 passes last year in Oxford for 1,153 yards and 11 touchdowns. The skills are visible on tape, and NFL teams will start to learn about the person Tread-well has become in the coming months.

“He’s a very likable young man. He al-ways was in high school and even after,” said Jerry Verde, who was Treadwell’s high school coach and now coaches Ever-green Park. “They’re going to find it very easy to talk to him and I know they’re going to like what they hear. When your work ethic is advanced by a likable per-sonality, it only adds to your stock. I think that’s only going to pay dividends for him.”

AP photo

Laquon Treadwell

Crete-Monee’s Laquon Treadwell to hear his name called on Day One in Chicago

CARS815.com



A few days after the Bears’ season ended with a 6-10 mark, John Fox and Ryan Pace ex-pressed a desire to add play-makers, and not through big free-agent signings. They might sound cliché, but they believe in building through the draft, and the way the picks from their first draft stepped in and held key po-sitions made that belief clear.

Of the five first picks Fox and Pace made together last spring, only first-rounder Kevin White failed to start at least two games, and that’s because he missed the season with a shin injury. He should be a focus of the offense this year, but a team lacking big plays and key stops all last sea-son will hope to add more of those kinds of future game-changers starting with this year’s draft.

Here’s a look at the three big-gest needs the Bears have, as well as some starter-quality options they could have available when the draft rolls around:

Inside linebackerNo position on the roster had

a bigger dearth of playmaking ability in 2015 than the two in-side linebacker positions. The Bears went from Shea McClellin and Christian Jones to undrafted rookies John Timu and Jonathan Anderson, with none showing enough to be labeled starter-cal-iber at this point.

If the Bears wanted to be bold and address it right away in the first round, they could look at UCLA’s Myles Jack or Ala-bama’s Reggie Ragland. Jack is clearly the superior athlete, as he matches Ragland’s tackle-ma-chine nature but adds dimen-sions as a pass defender with four interceptions and 18 pass deflections in 29 career games; he even ran the ball at UCLA. But he’s a bit of a wild card, com-ing off a major knee injury that ended his upperclassman career at all of three games. He’s one of the elite talents in the draft who has worked hard to rehab, but

he looks like more of the rangy 4-3 ‘Will’ linebacker he played at UCLA than a tight tackler in a 3-4.

There’s some debate over whether Ragland is a first-round talent; Greg Gabriel, Chica-go Football’s draft scout and a former scouting director for the Bears, gives Ragland a sec-ond-round grade. Ragland is only average in coverage, an area where Bears inside linebackers must greatly improve, in part be-cause he only has good but not great speed.

No inside linebacker has been taken in the top 15 of the draft since the Panthers took Luke Kuechly in 2012. It’s hard to ar-gue a true 3-4 inside linebacker would be worth the investment this year.

But Ragland could certain-ly fall to the second, where the Bears also could give a look at Missouri’s Kentrell Brothers, a player who lacks ideal size but has the instincts, motor and play-making skills that consis-tently lacked in Chicago all sea-son.

Defensive endThe Bears found their nose

tackle in the second round last year, as Eddie Goldman looks like both the run-stuffer and enough of a one-gap pass rusher to build around. Doing so will mean find-ing effective five-techniques, and the Bears could probably use two for next year with neither free-agent Jarvis Jenkins nor Will Sut-ton earning for-sure roles.

This draft is top-heavy here, but both Ohio State’s Joey Bosa and Oregon’s DeForest Buckner are out of reach for the Bears. The next best option in terms of fit in the one-gap scheme is arguably Al-abama’s A’Shawn Robinson. He’s currently much more of a run-stuffer at an estimated 315 pounds, but his pass rushing still can be developed. He’s a talented player and is still only 20 years old. Rob-inson could be a wild-card pick as high as No. 11, but it’s also hard to find good value picks of potential starters here later.

Offensive lineDave Magazu received all

kinds of credit for his grooming

of Charles Leno Jr. at left tackle last season. But Leno was a sev-enth-round pick for a reason, with limited athleticism, and his inability to play on the right side makes the position a priority even if Kyle Long finds a home at left tackle. The Bears also could improve their right guard spot, where neither Patrick Omameh nor Vlad DuCasse solidified down the stretch last season.

Notre Dame’s Ronnie Stanley could be a great fit at left tackle in the first round, if he’s still avail-able. He could use some more

lower-body strength, but with his frame and an NFL offseason wait-ing, that should be no worry with the sheer athleticism he brings to the position.

Ohio State’s Taylor Decker might be a reach at No. 11, but he’s a strong, hard-working tackle who looks like he could play on either side in the NFL.

This draft doesn’t have first-round guards, but an athletic player like Washington State’s Joe Dahl could be a good complement to the power Matt Slauson plays with on the left side.

Myles JackBy NATE [email protected]

@NateAtkinsCF

Top of the draftBears have a few roster holes they could fill in 1st couple rounds

Reggie Ragland

AP photos

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Pro Football Weekly’s Kevin Fishbain and Arthur Arkush spent last week in Mobile, Ala., watching the Senior Bowl practices, along with GMs, coaches and scouts from all 32 teams. They recap what they saw, and who could appeal to the Bears.

FISHBAIN: In Ryan Pace’s first draft, Arthur, he took two players from the Se-nior Bowl – Jeremy Langford and Adrian Amos – and signed another one after the draft, Anthony Jefferson. Their needs are pretty focused on the front seven on defense, so let’s start with the defensive linemen we watched in Mobile. Any of them catch your eye as someone who could fit in Vic Fangio’s defense?

ARKUSH: Well, Kevin, our trip to Mobile confirmed it’s the right year to covet D-linemen, a position group talented

enough to bring eyesight to the blind. Alabama’s Jarran Reed, Illinois’ Jihad Ward, Louisiana Tech’s Vernon Butler and BYU’s Bronson Kaufusi are just a few of the studs whose size and athleticism seemingly fits the Bears’ 3-4 profile, and they’d look awfully good flanking Eddie Goldman. I know you also took a liking to Louisville’s Sheldon Rankins and Penn State’s Austin Johnson. With inside linebacker a dire need position, what sec-ond-level defenders did you observe who might strike Pace’s fancy?

FISHBAIN: Our trip to Mobile confirmed that it can be cold in Alabama, too. When I wasn’t trying to regain feeling in my fingers during Wednesday’s practice, I kept a close eye on Alabama’s Reggie Ragland, who I know already has won the hearts of many Bears fans – but that is for his abilities as an inside linebacker.

In Mobile, he wanted to show he can play off the edge, rush the passer and help in coverage. The more you can provide an NFL team, the better your draft stock, and Ragland understood that. Kentrell Broth-ers and Antonio Morrison (Bolingbrook’s finest) seem to have the desired physique and speed to play inside, too. Quarterback and wide receiver aren’t as high on the Bears’ list, but those are the players who get most of the attention at the Senior Bowl, like the cool kids in the lunchroom. I wasn’t one of the cool kids, Arthur, but who were the popular offensive players you noticed?

ARKUSH: Prior to last week, you might’ve had company outside the cool table with North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz, who’s gone from shunned by the FBS to as cool – and as far ahead of his Senior Bowl peers – as Miles Davis. But Jacoby Brissett (North Carolina State) and Brandon Allen (Arkansas) also showed well and might be more realistic mid-round possibilities. Given Eddie Royal’s disappointing debut, slot receiver and punt returner are question marks, and no DBs in Mobile had an answer for Ohio State’s Braxton Miller and Oklaho-ma’s Sterling Shepard. With Pace’s B1G leaning last spring, Minnesota’s mini KJ Maye also played big. If Matt Forte leaves, the bare backfield needs attention. And what about the defensive backfield? It wouldn’t be a Bears draft discussion with-

out talking about the need at safety, right?FISHBAIN: It’s a pre-draft tradition

around these parts to talk about the Bears’ need at safety, even though they have Antrel Rolle under contract and 16-game starter and playing-time leader Adrian Amos returning. Why not add a player to compete with Rolle, who didn’t make as many impact plays as the team hoped for when he was on the field? Cor-nerback has to be a position to discuss, too, and there were a few cover men we liked (great minds think alike, Arthur): Boise State safety Darian Thompson, and Alabama’s Cyrus Jones and LSU’s Jalen Mills at corner. Of course, this is just one tiny piece of the giant puzzle that Pace has to put together in the next few months as he prepares for his second draft. But this is his wheelhouse – scouting, which has to get Bears fans excited for late April, right?

ARKUSH: Absolutely. Pace’s predeces-sor, Phil Emery, was a self-described pro personnel specialist, and we all know the number of teams that win Super Bowls based off their activity in free agency versus the draft. If Pace’s first draft class continues to improve – and that includes Kevin White becoming the blue-chipper the Bears think he is – and they stack another draft class with as much promise as the last, well, then they’ll be cooking with gas and all those “ifs” might start becoming “whens.”

Senior Bowl draft prospects for Bears

ARTHUR ARKUSH KEVIN FISHBAIN

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