How The NFL Lockout Helps The Bears
CHICAGO (WSCR) Chicago Bears fans, and all NFL fans, are anxiously awaiting the end of the current lockout and labor dispute so their teams can return to business as usual and get back to preparing for the 2011 season.
While the legal teams battle it out in court rooms and mediation tables, players and coaches are barred from meeting and practicing, and that could prove to be disastrous for many teams.
"The longer this goes on, the uglier it's going to be from a football standpoint for teams like the Panthers, 49ers, Browns, Vikings, Titans: new coaches, new coordinators, new quarterbacks," Mike Florio, of ProFootballTalk.com, said on the Danny Mac Show. "That's going to be a mess, if we're slapping it all together on a three-week period."
LISTEN: Mike Florio On The Danny Mac Show
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While new coaches like Ron Rivera and Jim Harbaugh sit and wait to install their new systems, successful teams with established rosters and coaching staffs might see some benefit.
"I'll tell you what, Bears fans should be among those who are quietly hoping for that to happen," Florio said of a continued lockout. "Because you have a veteran coach, veteran quarterback, you have all the coordinators back, and you're going to have continuity. [They] played into late January. It's kind of like the bowl game mentality. One of the benefits to playing a college bowl game is that you get four extra weeks of practice to get ready for the next season. Those postseason practices and meetings and games, in a round about way, are going to be the replacement offseason workouts and training camp for 2011. So it helps the Bears. It helps the Packers. It helps the Patriots, Giants and Steelers if this lasts into the middle of August."
