2011 Chicago Bears season

The 2011 Chicago Bears season is the franchise's 92nd overall season in the National Football League, and the 8th under head coach Lovie Smith. The Bears, defending NFC North Division champions, will seek a return to the playoffs after falling in the NFC Championship Game to their arch-rivals the Green Bay Packers. The club was scheduled to partake in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game but due to the lockout, the game was cancelled. The Bears traveled to Wembley Stadium in London to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL International Series and will play the Packers on Christmas Day evening in the only scheduled game on that day.

Offseason
After the 2010 season ended, the NFL entered its longest work stoppage in history. The lockout began after a failure to reach an agreement between the owners and the union in early March. Both sides agreed to extend the deadline another week. However, the talks broke down and the union officially decertified, after which a group of 10 players filed an antitrust lawsuit against the league. After months of failed negations, the two sides finally reached an agreement in late July. The owners announced on July 21 that it had approved a new collective bargaining agreement by a 31–0–1 margin (the Oakland Raiders abstained). On July 25, the players association's executive board voted to approve the new collective agreement and the players voted to ratify it on August 4. The delayed start to the season brought free agency and the opening of training camps to coincide. This gave clubs a short period of time to get a full roster signed before camp opened.

2011 draft class



 * Draft Notes: Washington traded its second- (#53) round pick this selection to Chicago for Chicago's second- (#62) and fourth-round (#127) selections.
 * The Bears forfeited their seventh-round selection, due to the use of a seventh-round selection in the 2010 Supplemental Draft.

Undrafted free agents
Following the end of the lockout, the Bears announced coming to terms with 26 undrafted free-agents.

Additions

 * On July 29, the Bears signed former Dallas Cowboys WR Roy Williams, former Pittsburgh Steelers TE Matt Spaeth for a three-year deal, former Jacksonville Jaguars P Adam Podlesh for a five-year deal, and former New York Jets DE Vernon Gholston.
 * On July 29, the Bears agreed to three-year contracts with DE Jake Laptad, TE Draylen Ross, RB Dan Dierking and T Mike Lamphear.
 * On July 30, the Bears signed former Dallas Cowboys RB Marion Barber and former Houston Texans DT Amobi Okoye.
 * On July 31, the Bears signed former Seattle Seahawks C Chris Spencer.
 * On August 2, the Bears resigned TE Desmond Clark on a 1 year deal.
 * On September 4, the Bears signed S Brandon Meriweather.

Departures

 * On July 28, the Bears released TE Brandon Manumaleuna after a failed physical.
 * On July 30, the Bears waived G Herman Johnson
 * On August 1, the Bears waived P Richmond McGee and DT Sean Murnane.
 * On August 2, the Bears waived S K.J. Gerard.
 * On August 3, the Bears waived TE Draylen Ross.
 * On August 8, the Bears waived RB Dan Dierking and QB Matt Gutierrez.
 * On October 27, the Bears released S Chris Harris.

Trades

 * On July 28, the Bears traded TE Greg Olsen to the Carolina Panthers for a 2012 third-round draft pick.

Coaching changes

 * On January 31, defensive line coach Eric Washington left the team to take the same position with the Carolina Panthers.
 * On February 3, the Bears hired Mike Phair as their new defensive line coach.

Training camp
The Bears held training camp once again at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois. The club has held annual training camp activities at the university since 2002. The franchise opened up training camp with an expanded roster of 90 players. Over the next month players will compete for spots on the final roster. By August 30, the club will cut down players from 90 to 75 after the third preseason game. It was though announced on August 20, the roster cuts would be changed from 75 to 80 players. The franchise will then have to make another round of cuts at the conclusion of the fourth preseason game on September 3. The final roster will consist of 53 players. The Bears wrapped up training camp with a final public practice on August 19 before heading back to team headquarters in Lake Forest, Illinois. The practice marked the end of the team's three week training camp in Bourbonnais.

Soldier Field turf issue
The club had scheduled an evening practice at Soldier Field in front of fans in an event called "Family Fest". However, the event was cancelled hours before the event was scheduled to begin due to the unsafe playing conditions at Soldier Field. This is not the first incident related to the playing surface at the stadium. Brian Urlacher and other players have called for the surface to be changed from natural grass to artificial FieldTurf. Chicago's mayor Rahm Emanuel has called on the Chicago Park District to find a permanent solution to the decades-old turf battle at the venue. However, Bears chairman George McCaskey has stated on record that the playing surface at Soldier Field will not change from grass to an artificial surface. McCaskey cited less injuries occur on natural grass and therefore believes the natural grass surface prolongs player careers. He did admit a poorly maintained grass surface is unacceptable and promised the club will take a more active role in maintaining the playing surface so the field can be for home games. In Week 13, the field was resodded for the Bears-Chiefs game.

Schedule
Even though the league was in the midst of the lockout, the NFL announced the Bears' preseason schedule on April 12, 2011. The schedule contained the traditional four opponents and a fifth game to be played during the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2011 induction weekend. The first scheduled preseason game for the Bears was to be the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game against the St. Louis Rams. However, with the lockout lingering into late July resulting in a delayed start to training camp, the NFL cancelled the game. The Bears won their first preseason game defeating the Buffalo Bills 10–3. The offensive line struggled in the game while giving up nine sacks over the course of the game. The Bears continued their preseason campaign with a visit to New Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey to take on the New York Giants. The offensive line improved in the game by allowing only one sack of Cutler compared to the nine they gave up in a game last year. Cutler even joked about the experience by responding "Yeah, upright" to the question asked to him if this game against the Giants felt any different than last year's debacle. Cutler did express pleasure with the performance of the two young tackles, Webb and Carimi, when asked to assess their performance during preseason. The team did however fail to score twice inside the red zone in the 1st half against the Giants in a 41-13 loss. The game also saw the Bears had a punt blocked by the Giants and newly signed WR Roy Williams drop the first two passes thrown to him in his Bears career. In the third game, the Bears's first team offense showed more effectiveness than in previous games. The offensive starters racked up 239 yards in the first half. The team wrapped up the preseason season against the Browns by sitting out many key starters with instead going with various second-, third-, and even fourth-stringers in a very warm and humid night in Chicago. On September 4, a day after rosters were trimmed down to 53 men, the Bears signed former first-round draft pick and two-time Pro Bowler safety Brandon Meriweather, who was released by the New England Patriots the previous day. In response to adding Meriweather, the Bears released corner back Joshua Moore to keep the roster at 53 men.

Schedule
The Bears' regular season schedule was announced on April 19, 2011. One day earlier (April 18), the NFL announced that the Bears will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the International Series at Wembley Stadium in London, England, on October 23.

Week 1: vs. Atlanta Falcons
The Bears opened up the season against the Atlanta Falcons at Soldier Field. The Falcons were the top-seeded NFC team in 2010, and were picked by many to be a Super Bowl contender. The Bears dominated the game against the Falcons, forcing 2 turnovers, and battering quarterback Matt Ryan for five sacks. Brian Urlacher recorded an interception and returned a fumble for a touchdown resulting in Urlacher being named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week. Defensive end Julius Peppers recorded two sacks and forced a fumble. Jay Cutler in his first game since the criticism of the NFC Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers, had a solid performance throwing for 312 yards and 2 touchdowns. Cutler did have a pass tipped in the fourth quarter that was returned for an interception by Kroy Biermann. Falcons running back Michael Turner finished with 100 yards on 10 carries, but 53 came on one dash and the low carry total is what mattered. Ryan was forced to throw 47 times as the Bears made the Falcons one-dimensional by getting out to a 16-3 halftime lead.

The victory places the Bears at 1–0

Week 5: at Detroit Lions
Coming off their home win over the Panthers, the Bears flew to Ford Field for a Week 5 Monday Night duel with their NFC North foe, the Detroit Lions. After a scoreless first quarter, Chicago trailed in the second quarter with Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford completing a 73-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Calvin Johnson. The Bears would answer with a 44-yard field goal from kicker Robbie Gould, followed by quarterback Jay Cutler fiding tight end Kellen Davis on a 9-yard touchdown pass.

Detroit responded in the third quarter with Stafford completing an 18-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brandon Pettigrew, followed by running back Jahvid Best getting an 88-yard touchdown run. Chicago tried to rally in the fourth quarter with a 49-yard field goal from Gould, but the Lions pulled away with kicker Jason Hanson nailing a 31-yard field goal.

With the loss, the Bears fell to 2-3.

Week 8: Bye
After the game across the Atlantic, the Bears would have a bye week upon their return to the United States.

Week 9: at Philadelphia Eagles
Coming off their bye week, the Bears flew to Lincoln Financial Field for a Week 9 Monday night duel with the Philadelphia Eagles. Chicago delivered the game's opening punch in the first quarter as quarterback Jay Cutler found tight end Matt Spaeth on a 5-yard touchdown pass. The Bears added onto their lead in the second quarter with a 51-yard field goal from kicker Robbie Gould. The Eagles would answer with kicker Alex Henery getting a 47-yard field goal, followed by linebacker Brian Rolle returned a fumble 22 yards for a touchdown, yet Chicago closed out the half with a 2-yard touchdown run from running back Marion Barber.

Philadelphia took the lead in the third quarter with running back Ronnie Brown getting a 4-yard touchdown run, followed by running back LeSean McCoy getting a 33-yard touchdown run. The Bears replied with a 38-yard field goal from Gould. Afterwards, Chicago regained the lead in the fourth quarter with Cutler connecting with wide receiver Earl Bennett on a 5-yard touchdown pass, followed by Gould's 22-yard field goal. The Eagles tried to rally, yet the Bears' defense held on to preserve the victory.

With the win, Chicago improved to 5-3.

Week 11: vs. San Diego Chargers
Quarterback Jay Cutler broke his thumb, which some sources say will keep him out for the remainder of the regular season.

Week 12: at Oakland Raiders
In Caleb Hanie's first NFL start, he threw 3 interceptions and 2 touchdown passes in a 25-20 loss.

Regular season
stats are updated through the end of Week 12.

Statistical league rankings

 * Total Offense (YPG): 339.0 (16th)
 * Passing (YPG): 217.0 (20th)
 * Rushing (YPG): 121.8 (10th)
 * Points (PPG): 26.2 (6th)

Stats will be added after Week 12.
 * Total Defense (YPG): 369.1 (23rd)
 * Passing (YPG): 270.5 (30th)
 * Rushing (YPG): 98.6 (8th)
 * Points (PPG): 21.2 (16th)

Weekly awards

 * MLB Brian Urlacher was named NFC Defensive player of the week for games played during Week 1.
 * RB Matt Forte was named FedEx Ground Player of the Week(Running Backs)for games played during Week 4.
 * WR Devin Hester was named NFC Special Teams player of the week for games played during Week 4.
 * WR Devin Hester was named NFC Special Teams player of the week for games played during Week 6.
 * OLB Lance Briggs was named NFC Defensive player of the week for games played during Week 7.
 * WR Devin Hester was named NFC Special Teams player of the week for games played during Week 10.

Monthly awards

 * WR Devin Hester was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for games played during the month of October.
 * DE Julius Peppers was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month for games played during the month of November.

Career

 * WR Devin Hester set the Bears and NFL record for Most career punt returns for touchdowns with 11 on his 69 yard punt return touchdown during Week 4 against Carolina Panthers at Soldier Field.

Current depth chart

 * Current official depth chart announced by the club before the first game of the season against the Atlanta Falcons