The 2008 season was the Chicago Bears' 89th season in the National Football League (NFL), and the fifth under head coach Lovie Smith. They finished the 2008 season with a 9–7 record, improving upon their 7–9 record from the 2007 season. The Bears failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
Offseason
Offseason transactions
Following their 7–9 finish in the 2007 season, the Bears were faced with many issues to address heading into the 2008 NFL season. In an interview, Jerry Angelo, the team's general manager, stated the Bears will seek to bring stability to their offense by creating competition for their current running backs and quarterbacks through free agency and the upcoming draft. The team's running game ranked near last in almost every statistical category, while the Bears had to rely on three different quarterbacks to finish the season. Additionally, the Bears were faced with many questions pertaining to their aging offensive line, which was ridden with injuries and inconsistent play throughout the 2007 season. A week before free agency started, the Bears opted to extend Alex Brown's contract, who recorded three sacks, two tackles for loss, one interception, five pass breakups, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery after reclaiming his starting job. The same day, the Bears parted with Muhsin Muhammad, Fred Miller, and Darwin Walker. A few days later, Jerry Angelo stated the franchise would not re-sign Ruben Brown, and suggested the team was in the process of rebuilding their offensive line. The Bears then focused their attention to their quarterbacks; re-signing Rex Grossman, and extending Kyle Orton's contract for another year. The team considered releasing Brian Griese in order to avoid a $300,000 dollar bonus, but eventually traded him to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a sixth round draft pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.
Finally, the Bears were left to deal with their top three free agents, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Bernard Berrian, and Lance Briggs. Berrian left the Bears to play with the Minnesota Vikings, agreeing to a six-year contract worth $42-million dollars. On the same day, the Bears signed Briggs to a six-year, $36 million contract. The Bears also decided not to pursue Ayanbadejo, and allowed him to sign with the Baltimore Ravens. With their top-two wide receivers gone, the team re-acquired Marty Booker, who had been released from the Miami Dolphins. The Bears also signed former Washington Redskins wide receiver Brandon Lloyd. The team then signed restricted free agent Rashied Davis to a one-year, $927,000 tender on April 18, and later signed him to a three-year contract worth $5.86 million. The Bears then released safety Adam Archuleta after the 2008 NFL draft.
The Bears were forced to also part with Cedric Benson after two run-ins with the law in Austin, Texas. Benson was first arrested for allegedly operating a boat while under the influence of alcohol. Only weeks after the incident, he was arrested again for reportedly driving while intoxicated. Benson denied the allegations that he was drunk and claimed that he was mistreated by the police on the first occasion. Angelo and Smith voiced a general sense of disappointment towards Benson's actions, and eventually opted to terminate his career with the organization. With Benson's departure the team had lost their passing (Griese), receiving (Berrian), and rushing (Benson) leaders from the previous season.
The Bears were reluctant to sign free agents to fill vacancies on their team. Angelo stated that he believed "free agency begins at home". The team invested a great deal of money in order to re-sign various players, including place kicker Robbie Gould, defensive tackle Tommie Harris, tight end Desmond Clark, and wide receiver Rashied Davis. Various veteran running backs, such as Kevin Jones, Ron Dayne, and Shaun Alexander, were reportedly interested in filling Benson's absence, The team acquired P.J. Pope and rookie Matt Lawrence for competition and depth, and later Jones in mid-July.
NFL draft The Bears held the fourteenth overall pick in the 2008 NFL draft. In addition to their six other regular picks, the team acquired an additional third-round draft pick as a result of a trade with the San Diego Chargers. The Bears also traded third-round picks with the San Francisco 49ers, and obtained their fifth round pick as a result of attempting to negotiate with Lance Briggs's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, before the trading deadline in October 2007. The League has also awarded the Bears with three compensatory picks, which are all in the draft's seventh round.
As widely speculated by many draft analysts, The Bears used their first three draft picks to select offensive players. The team drafted Chris Williams from Vanderbilt to address holes in their offensive lines, Matt Forte from Tulane to help solidify their running game, and Earl Bennett to assist their wide receiver corp. Other rookies, such as Craig Steltz and Marcus Monk were drafted to provide additional depth and competition to their respective positions. The team also acquired several undrafted rookie after the draft. Caleb Hanie and Nick Hill were signed to add competition and extra depth to the Bears quarterback position. The Bears signed Williams, their last unsigned draft pick, on July 23, 2008.
As of the 2012 season, half of the drafted rookies (Marcus Harrison, Ervin Baldwin, Chester Adams, Joey LaRocque, Kirk Barton and Marcus Monk) are not on the team, with every 7th round pick (Baldwin, Adams, LaRocque, Barton, and Monk) by the team being gone by the end of the season (Baldwin is the lone exception).
Undrafted free agents Name Position College Zac Atterberry Punter Lindenwood Cody Balogh Tackle Montana Trey Brown Cornerback UCLA Joe Clermond Defensive end Pittsburgh Caleb Hanie Quarterback Colorado State Nick Hill Quarterback Southern Illinois Matt Lawrence Running back UMass Gerard Lee Defensive end Oregon State Shane Longest Kicker St. Xavier Leslie Majors Cornerback Indiana Nick Osborn Defensive end San Diego State Ryan Poles Guard Boston College Marcus Stone Tight end NC State
Mini camps The Bears held several scattered mini-camp and Organized Team Activity (OTA) workouts throughout May, and up to mid-June. Brian Urlacher, who had previously stated he would forgo the team's mini-camps in order due to issues with his contract, was among several Bears players to attend the training sessions. All players who were previously injured in the previous season, including veteran safety Mike Brown and cornerback Nathan Vasher, were cleared to practice. The Bears concluded their mini-camp sessions on June 18, with rookie Matt Forte as the team's top running back.
Training camp All members of the Bears reported to the team's summer training facility at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois, except for Devin Hester, who missed the first two days of camp due to a contract dispute. Chris Williams, the team's top draft pick, missed the camp's first weekend after sustaining a minor back injury. He was later diagnosed with separate injury, a herniated disc, which required minor surgery to repair. The Bears had not given a time table pertaining to Williams' return. His fellow offensive lineman, Terrence Metcalf was also required to have surgery to repair his knee, and is also sidelined indefinitely. The Bears held their last training camp session of the summer on August 15, 2008. Lovie Smith was generally pleased with team's progress, and stated, "Guys were fighting for positions. All of them have stepped up and we'll just keep that evaluation going. To me, a successful camp a lot of times is when you get out injury free and we've done that for the most part. And again we've gotten good work done."
Gallery
Staff
Chicago Bears 2008 staff Front office Owner – Virginia Halas McCaskey Chairman – Michael McCaskey President/CEO – Ted Phillips General manager – Jerry Angelo Senior director of football administration/general counsel – Cliff Stein Director of pro personnel – Bobby DePaul Director of college scouting – Greg Gabriel
Head coaches Head coach – Lovie Smith Football operations assistant – Andrew Hayes-Stoker
Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Ron Turner Quarterbacks – Pep Hamilton Running backs – Tim Spencer Wide receivers – Darryl Drake Tight ends – Rob Boras Offensive line – Harry Hiestand Offensive assistant/assistant offensive line – Luke Butkus Offensive assistant/assistant wide receivers – Charles London Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Bob Babich Defensive line – Brick Haley Linebackers – Lloyd Lee Defensive backs – Steven Wilks Safeties – Gill Byrd Defensive assistant/assistant defensive backs – Eric Washington
Special teams coaches Special teams – Dave Toub Assistant special teams – Chris Tabor
Strength and conditioning Director of physical development – Rusty Jones Strength and conditioning – Jim Arthur Assistant strength and conditioning – Ryan George
Roster
Preseason
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 Kansas City Chiefs L 20–24 0–1 Soldier FieldRecap 2 at Seattle Seahawks L 26–29 0–2 Qwest FieldRecap 3 San Francisco 49ers L 30–37 0–3 Soldier FieldRecap 4 at Cleveland Browns W 16–10 1–3 Cleveland Browns StadiumRecap
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 7 at Indianapolis Colts W 29–13 1–0 Lucas Oil StadiumRecap 2 September 14 at Carolina Panthers L 17–20 1–1 Bank of America StadiumRecap 3 September 21Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 24–27 1–2 Soldier FieldRecap 4 September 28 Philadelphia Eagles W 24–20 2–2 Soldier FieldRecap 5 October 5 at Detroit Lions W 34–7 3–2 Ford FieldRecap 6 October 12 at Atlanta Falcons L 20–22 3–3 Georgia DomeRecap 7 October 19 Minnesota Vikings W 48–41 4–3 Soldier FieldRecap 8 Bye 9 November 2 Detroit Lions W 27–23 5–3 Soldier FieldRecap 10 November 9 Tennessee Titans L 14–21 5–4 Soldier FieldRecap 11 November 16 at Green Bay Packers L 3–37 5–5 Lambeau FieldRecap 12 November 23 at St. Louis Rams W 27–3 6–5 Edward Jones Dome Recap 13 November 30 at Minnesota Vikings L 14–34 6–6 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Recap 14 December 7 Jacksonville Jaguars W 23–10 7–6 Soldier Field Recap 15 New Orleans Saints W 27–24 8–6 Soldier Field Recap 16 Green Bay Packers W 20–17 9–6 Soldier Field Recap 17 December 28 at Houston Texans L 24–31 9–7 Reliant Stadium Recap
Standings
Week-by-week results
Week 1: at Indianapolis Colts
The Bears began their 2008 season by recording an upset victory over the Indianapolis Colts at the newly opened Lucas Oil Stadium. The team won the Super Bowl XLI rematch, by a score of 29–13. The Bears offensive attack featured the debut of rookie running back Matt Forté, becoming the first Bears rookie running back to start a game since Walter Payton in 1975, coincidentally against the Baltimore Colts (Anthony Thomas also started as a running back for the Bears in 2001). Forte carried the ball 23 times for 123 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown run. The Colts and Bears exchanged field goals, and then Joseph Addai was dropped for a safety. A Robbie Gould 25-yard field goal on the following drive ended the 1st half.