The 2012 season was the Chicago Bears' 93rd in the National Football League (NFL), as well as their ninth and final season under head coach Lovie Smith. The Bears played at Soldier Field for the 10th season since its reconstruction in 2001.
The Bears entered the 2012 season looking to improve on their 8–8 record in 2011. They acquired wide receiver Brandon Marshall from the Miami Dolphins, who had played with Bears Quarterback, Jay Cutler with the Denver Broncos from 2006 to 2008. The Bears were expected to be a wild card team by ten ESPN experts, and four NFL.com analysts predicted that the team would finish second in the NFC North. By the season's midpoint, the Bears had proven to be among the league's elite teams, having a record of 7–1 in their first eight games, something they had not accomplished since their 2006 Super Bowl season, along with a scoring differential of +120, which led the league. The team trailed the San Francisco 49ers in scoring defense with 15 points per game allowed, and third in scoring offense with 29.5, trailing the New England Patriots and Houston Texans. The defense also recorded six interceptions returned for touchdowns in the first seven games of the season, an NFL record; the Bears then recorded two more in the season, one shy of the record set by the 1961 San Diego Chargers. However, during the second half of the season, the Bears went 3–5, and after scoring 19 touchdowns in the first eight games, the Bears scored ten fewer in the second half of the season. Despite defeating the Detroit Lions in the season finale to have a record of 10–6, the Minnesota Vikings, who also had a record of 10–6, had a better division record than Chicago after they defeated the Green Bay Packers 37–34 the same week, thus earning the second wild-card spot and ending the Bears’ season. As a result, the Bears became the first team since the 1996 Washington Redskins to start the season 7–1 and miss the playoffs. On December 31, Smith was fired, and was replaced by Montreal Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman.
The Bears finished the season by leading the NFL in takeaways with 44, sixth in third-down efficiency (35.5 percent) and eighth in sacks with 41, while ranking third in the league in fewest points allowed with 277; Chicago was the lone team in the top five in that category to not qualify for the playoffs. The Bears also had a +20 turnover margin, second behind the New England Patriots; the Bears and New York Giants were the only teams in the top 11 of the category to not make the playoffs. This was the last winning season for the Bears until 2018.
Offseason
Organizational changes On January 3, the team fired eleven-year general manager Jerry Angelo. In the search for a new general manager, the Bears considered New York Giants director of college scouting Marc Ross, San Diego Chargers director of player personnel Jimmy Raye III, New England Patriots director of pro personnel Jason Licht, and Kansas City Chiefs director of college scouting Phil Emery, along with in-house candidate Tim Ruskell (Ruskell and the Bears would mutually part ways on January 30). The hunt later narrowed down to Emery and Licht, and Emery was ultimately chosen as the new general manager on January 28.
Offensive coordinator Mike Martz later resigned from his position, and on January 7, the Bears promoted offensive line coach Mike Tice to Martz's role. On January 8, Tim Holt was hired to take Tice's place. In the team's search for a new offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach after Shane Day's resignation, they originally considered former Bears quarterback coach Greg Olson (though he later declined) and Alex Van Pelt. Tice had expressed interest in hiring Dirk Koetter, who worked with Tice in Jacksonville, though Koetter would later be hired by the Atlanta Falcons. The Bears eventually hired former Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates. The team also re-signed special-teams coordinator Dave Toub back on the team to a two-year extension; Toub had been among the candidates for the Miami Dolphins head coach position, but failed to get hired.
The Bears, after head athletic trainer Tim Bream left for Penn State, promoted former assistant athletic trainer Chris Hanks to Bream's role, as well as director of rehabilitation Bobby Slater to Hanks's role. The Bears' scouting team was expanded after hiring Chris Ballard as director of pro scouting, Marty Barrett as college scouting director, while adding seven new scouts and four scouting assistants. Among the new scouts is former Bears cornerback Dwayne Joseph, who was hired as a pro scout.
Roster changes Chicago opened free agency with an NFC North-leading $24 million in cap space.
Acquisitions
The first transaction of 2012 was on January 6, when the Bears signed Donovan Warren, Reggie Stephens, and Draylen Ross to future/reserve contracts. On March 13, the first day of free agency, Chicago acquired wide receiver Brandon Marshall from the Miami Dolphins for two third round draft picks, along with Jason Campbell and Blake Costanzo. The following day, Eric Weems was signed, followed by Michael Bush eight days later. The final signing of March was New York Giants receiver Devin Thomas. On April 4, the Bears signed cornerbacks Kelvin Hayden and Jonathan Wilhite, and offensive guard Chilo Rachal on April 18. The following day saw Chicago signing Buccaneers linebacker Geno Hayes. The first signings of May occurred on May 10, when the Bears signed John McCargo, DeMario Pressley, and Cheta Ozougwu, and 13 days later, Nate Collins was signed. On June 15, the Bears signed Cornelius Brown and Cory Brandon. Two days later, Chicago signed Lorenzo Booker.
Departures
The first departures were on March 1, when the Bears released Anthony Adams and Frank Omiyale. Six days later, the Bears announced that they will not bring back quarterback Caleb Hanie, who was subsequently signed by the Denver Broncos. On March 23, the Bears lost Marion Barber to retirement, and unrestricted free agent Corey Graham to the Baltimore Ravens. Three days later, Zack Bowman was signed by the Minnesota Vikings, followed by Amobi Okoye to Tampa Bay on April 7. On April 19, the Bears released Max Komar, and Winston Venable was released on May 3. Eleven days later, Chicago waived Levi Horn, Reggie Stephens, and Andre Smith. On June 12, Donovan Warren was released, followed by Nathan Enderle and Mansfield Wrotto on June 14. On July 17, undrafted free agent Alvester Alexander was released.
2012 draft class
In the first round, the Bears selected Boise State defensive end Shea McClellin with the 19th overall pick. Though McClellin played defensive end and linebacker at college, Bears general manager Phil Emery stated that McClellin will exclusively play defensive end with the Bears. In the second round, the Bears traded their second round pick (50th overall) and their fifth rounder (150th overall) to the St. Louis Rams in exchange for their second rounder (45th overall), which was used on South Carolina wide receiver Alshon Jeffery. Emery considered Jeffery one of the best receivers in the draft, placing him ahead of Justin Blackmon and Michael Floyd. In round three, the Bears drafted Oregon State safety Brandon Hardin 79th overall, despite missing the entire 2011 college football season with a shoulder injury. Hardin's selection marked the eighth consecutive year the team spent a draft pick on a safety. In the next round, the Bears selected Temple tight end Evan Rodriguez. Though he played tight end, he was envisioned as a fullback by the team, and was primarily intended to be a blocker. Rodriguez stated that he has been a blocker at Temple during Al Golden's tenure as offensive coordinator. The Bears closed out the draft by drafting two cornerbacks, Nevada's Isaiah Frey (184th overall) and TCU's Greg McCoy (220th overall), despite the team already having six cornerbacks. McCoy was sixth in the nation in kickoff return yards, having averaged 30.6 yards per return, and scoring two touchdowns. Draft analysts gave the Bears draft grades mainly C's. The entire draft class was signed by May 15.
+ Draft Day Trades Round Overall Team Received 2 50 to St. Louis Rams St. Louis's second round pick (45th overall) 5 150
Undrafted free agents After the conclusion of the draft, the Bears announced coming to terms with eleven undrafted free-agents. Alvester Alexander, RB (Wyoming) James Brown, OT (Troy) Ronnie Cameron, DT (Old Dominion) Adrien Cole, LB (Louisiana Tech) Trevor Coston, S (Maine) Terriun Crump, WR (Western Illinois) Brittan Golden, WR (West Texas A&M) A. J. Greene, OT (Auburn) Jeremy Jones, S (Wayne State) Chris Summers, WR (Liberty) Ronnie Thornton, LB (Southern Mississippi)
Offseason workouts
Rookie minicamp 51 rookies worked out with the team at Rookie Minicamp, consisting of closed two-hour practices. The rookies included 6 draft picks, 11 undrafted free agents and 34 others. Chicago Bears 2012 Rookie Mini-Camp Roster Quarterbacks Matt Blanchard Ronnie Fouch
Running backs Alvester Alexander Embry Peeples
Wide receivers Joseph Anderson Willie Clark Terriun Crump Brittan Golden Alshon Jeffery David Mosley Keith Nichol Chris Summers Tight ends Evan Rodriguez Brandon Venson Alejandro Villanueva
Offensive linemen James Brown Mike Garrity A. J. Greene Tyler Hendrickson Jarvis Jones Anthony Mihota Trevor Olson Nick Pieschel
Defensive linemen Ronnie Cameron Myles Caragein T. J. Greenstone Eli Joseph Shea McClellin Josue Ortiz Jason Peters Zary Stewart Linebackers Josh Biezuns Adrien Cole Archie Donald Tyler Holmes Ronnie Thornton Youri Yenga
Defensive backs Trevor Coston S Isaiah Frey CB Brandon Hardin S Jeremy Jones S Greg McCoy CB Matthew Pearson S Brian Peters S Special teams Brad Fortney LS Kevin Goessling K Ryan Quigley P David Teggart K Philip Welch K Kyle Wojta LS Drafted players in bold Undrafted signees in italics
50 Total, 6 Drafted, 7 Signed, 37 Unsigned
OTA workouts
On May 22, the Bears began their organized team activity (OTA) workouts, with workouts being from May 29–31 and June 4–7, with a mandatory full squad workout in June. Under the new collective bargaining agreement between the league and the NFLPA, offseason programs will last 9 weeks, instead of the former 14 weeks, and will be in 3 phases. In the first phase, activities were limited to strength, conditioning, and physical rehabilitation, with only strength and conditioning coaches allowed on the field. Players cannot wear helmets, and footballs are limited to quarterbacks and their receivers. In the second phase, all coaches are allowed on the field, and players will perform 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 non-contact drills. In the third and final phase, players may wear helmets, but one-on-one drills involving the offense and defense are prohibited. Running back Matt Forté skipped the workouts due to a contract dispute. Middle linebacker Brian Urlacher, cornerback Charles Tillman, wide receiver Devin Hester and kicker Robbie Gould did not attend the workouts. Tight end Matt Spaeth, rookie receiver Alshon Jeffery, receiver Johnny Knox and cornerback Jonathan Wilhite were present, but did not participate. Julius Peppers held out of team drills, and Chauncey Davis was called to take first team reps at defensive end. Kyle Adams replaced Spaeth at tight end. Dom DeCicco and Nick Roach replaced Urlacher at linebacker. Patrick Mannelly also did not practice due to an injury.
Minicamp During Bears minicamp, Matt Forte still held out, and remained unavailable. Forte had a July 16 deadline to agree to a long-term deal, and eventually signed it on the day of the deadline. Newcomer Michael Bush was called to take Forte's place before the signing.
Training Camp