Chicago

Where did it all go wrong for the Chicago Bears, and how did they get to this point? This is the first time in 10 years the Bears have posted double-digit losses, and head coach Marc Trestman must go if the team wants to win again in 2015. 

It's been said a fish rots from the head down. Trestman's inability to run a balanced offense, utilize the weapons given to him and hold defensive coordinator Mel Tucker accountable should cause his demise. 

This Bears team can compete for a playoff spot in 2015 with a few tweaks, but it starts with the coaching staff.

Phil Emery and the Bears brass must admit they made a mistake with Trestman, cut their losses and bring in a veteran coach who can get the most out of the talent on this team. 

Former Denver Broncos and Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan has been a rumored name should the Bears part ways with Trestman, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. 

Shanahan is an experienced coach who could possibly get the most out of quarterback Jay Cutler. He also drafted wide receiver Brandon Marshall and has a great history of running the football effectively. 

While Shanahan comes with flaws, he's a solid bridge to an eventual team rebuild three seasons from now. There's too much veteran talent and money invested in key player to think about purging them all. 

It's going to be difficult to trade Cutler and get anything decent in return. Given his remaining salary and his play this season, he will likely garner a mid-round pick at best. 

Moving Cutler leaves a giant hole at quarterback. Considering the free-agent options are thin this year and the top rookies will be gone by the time the Bears draft, it's wise to hang on to Cutler for at least another year. 

Many people are going to want current San Francisco 49ers head coach and former Bears quarterback Jim Harbaugh. The 49ers will likely let him go at the end of the season, according to Florio. 

Harbaugh has been a successful coach at San Francisco and Stanford, but he also has a volatile personality. Can he and Cutler coexist? Will he and Brandon Marshall clash? 

While Harbaugh is a good coach, he seems to wear out his welcome everywhere he goes and still has no championships to show for it. Given the conservative style of the Bears organization, he might not be worth the risk or the high price tag he brings to the table. 

Shanahan might be the best guy right now to get Cutler and this offense back to respectability. He will play to Cutler's strengths while running the football and will bring stability to an offense that desperately needs it. 

In his 20-year coaching career, Shanahan's offenses have averaged above the 70th percentile in both overall yards and rushing yards. His defenses have trended slightly above average, which is really all this team needs right now. 

On defense, the Bears need to start their youth movement right away. Linebackers Christian Jones and Jon Bostic are pieces to build around, but they need help on the inside. 

Brock Vereen and Kyle Fuller are two young pieces in the secondary, and they would benefit from a defensive style that plays to their strengths. It's time for this vanilla 4-3 base defense to leave with Tucker. 

The Bears could transition to a 3-4 but would be wise to run a more hybrid style until they can further develop their front seven. 

Defensive end Lamarr Houston is best suited for a 3-4 when he comes back, and youngsters Ego Ferguson and Will Sutton are good rotational pieces up front. 

The Bears lack a run-stuffing nose tackle, a reliable middle linebacker and a playmaking strong safety. Luckily, they will be sitting pretty in the 2015 NFL draft and should address all three areas early on. 

The NFL is a league of parity. A five- or six-win team can bounce back the next season to win 10 or 11 games without surprise anybody.

Could Shanahan convince his old friend and current Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak to come to Chicago? The Bears could perhaps pry Kubiak out of Baltimore by giving him a promotion to assistant head coach. Kubiak could then take over the team when Shanahan is ready to make his exit in about three years. 

With the talent on this roster, the Bears need a good kick in the butt, not a complete overhaul. Shanahan is the man to do it. He should be hired fairly quickly after the end of this season. 

The Chicago Bears have sure managed to make things interesting even with their 5-9 record. Starting quarterback Jay Cutler is out in favor of Jimmy Clausen, and the team now must face a Detroit Lions team poised to win the division.

In order for Clausen to succeed, he's going to need time in the pocket, his tight end to get open quickly and his defense to not put him in an early hole.

Cutler was sacked seven times in the Week 15 meeting against the New Orleans Saints. It will be important for left tackle Jermon Bushrod to slow down disruptive pass-rusher Ezekiel Ansah.

Ansah comes into this game with 7.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. He had a sack and a safety in the first meeting against the Bears. Bushrod has to slow down Ansah enough for Clausen to go through his progressions and find the open receiver.

Clausen's coming into this game very cold. He hasn't had a start since 2010, so he will need all the time he can get as he tries to adapt to the speed of live game action.

While the Lions bring pressure from all angles, it's Clausen's blind side that will cause him the most trouble due to lack of game experience.

If Bushrod can hold up his end long enough, Clausen might have enough time to look for Martellus Bennett over the middle of the field.

Bennett has to be Clausen's security blanket in this game. He comes into this game with 24 receptions over the past three games and figures to continue to get a heavy dose of targets.

Strong safety James Ihedigbo will likely get the task of trying to slow down Bennett. He has great size and speed and is having an outstanding season with four interceptions, two forced fumbles and over 60 tackles. 

Bennett must use his strength to fight off the line and savvy to know when to sit down on a route and make himself a viable target for Clausen.

With Clausen being very rusty, it's important that Bennett shield his body away from Ihedigbo, who's going to want to jump the routes for a quick pick-six.

In the first meeting, rookie Kyle Fuller was embarrassed by wide receiver Calvin Johnson. Johnson had 11 receptions for over 140 yards and two touchdowns.

Fuller might not shut Johnson down, but he cannot let him have that big a game again. Fuller needs to be more physical at the line of scrimmage with Johnson. The only way you are going to slow him down is bump him off his spot and hope the pass rush gets to Matthew Stafford in time.

If the Bears have any shot to win this game, Bushrod has to protect the quarterback, Bennett has to have at least eight catches and a touchdown, and Fuller has to hold Johnson to around five catches for under 100 yards.

Those are high hopes of course, but, hey, it can happen, right?

There's a warm cheer sweeping throughout the city of Chicago this week, but it's not the holiday season.

It's baseball.

Forget the summer of 2014. December is the highlight of the Chicago Cubs' 2014 season by far.

The Cubs crossed off their No. 1 goal for the offseason and inked LHP Jon Lester to a six-year, $155 million deal, beating out the Red Sox, Giants and Dodgers for Lester's services. The team also brought back starting pitcher Jason Hammel, who posted a 2.98 ERA in 17 games for the Cubs as well as traded for two-time All-Star catcher Miguel Montero.

So Back to the Future 2 was correct, right? The Cubs are 2015 World Series champions?

Umm...let's not get ahead of ourselves here. There's a lot of questions remaining on the North Side, and unfortunately for countless desperate Cubs fans, those questions will remain unanswered in the near future.

The signing of Jon Lester and Jason Hammel has prompted many fans to proclaim the team an immediate contender for the World Series in 2015. Chris Emma of CBS Chicago even went as far as to proclaim that the Cubs are in "win-now mode," arguing that the Cubs young prospects are ready to become the core.

Unfortunately, that's just not how it works. Although the Cubs do in fact have a tremendous amount of talent in their youth, that talent must first be fine-tuned and developed in spring training and the regular season before the team can even begin to think about making a run in October.

Last season, the Cubs called up top prospects Javier Baez, Jorge Soler and Arismendy Alcantara. Though Soler played well and hit an impressive .292, Baez and Soler hit .169 and .205, respectively.

According to RotoChamp, Baez is expected to hit between .207 and .226 next season; certainly not the numbers needed to help a team contend for a championship. 

Many of the Cubs' most touted and talented prospects haven't even played in the majors yet. That includes SS Addison Russell, 3B Kris Bryant and OF Albert Almora. While it's possible that all three of those names may be on a Cubs championship roster, it's unlikely that they will come to the big leagues ready to win a championship. Fans need to remember that it takes a great deal of development to succeed at the major league level. When was the last time a team of rookies won a World Series?

Perhaps the ongoing renovations to Wrigley Field will help to improve the team as well. Provided, of course, that the renovations are actually done on time. When the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees moved to their new stadiums in 2006 and 2009, respectively, both teams went on to win the World Series.

With such an abysmal season of Chicago Bears football combined with the desperation of a World Series title for the Cubs, it's easy to understand why Cubs fans think that they could win the World Series next season. Realistically speaking, the chances are still quite slim even with the addition of Jon Lester. The success of the team ultimately lies on how well and soon the team's prospects develop and improve. 

Ideally, the Cubs will be a playoff contender and a competitive team throughout the season. But the only way for that to happen would be a drastic improvement on offense from Baez combined with immediate success from multiple prospects.

Again, Cubs fans have every right to be excited about the future. But fans also need to be realistic in their expectations of the team as a whole and the prospects. Quite frankly, expecting a team composed of numerous rookies to be a winning team now is an enormous leap from reality.

Perhaps a better slogan for 2015 would be "the doorstep to the future."

CHICAGO — For once, the story around Derrick Rose has nothing to do with basketball or his health. It's about something bigger.

Before the Chicago Bulls' Saturday night game against the Golden State Warriors, Rose came out of the tunnel for warm-ups wearing a shirt that read "I Can't Breathe." It was a reference to last week's non-indictment of a New York City police officer in the choking death of Eric Garner.

The shirt was an unusually bold political statement from the normally soft-spoken Rose, speaking volumes without saying any words at all. He declined to address reporters after Saturday's game, but spoke at length at the team's practice facility on Monday about his decision to wear the shirt and why the Garner story resonated with him.

"I had the shirt made, my best friend Randall brought it to the game, and I decided to wear it," Rose said. "It wasn't any one [person's] idea, I just thought I wanted to support something that happened. That's what made me wear the shirt."

If there's anybody a story like Garner's or the recent shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, would hit home with, it's Rose, who grew up in the notoriously dangerous neighborhood of Englewood on the South Side of Chicago. For Rose, making a statement wasn't just about Garner's death. It was about something he knows all too well.

"I grew up and I saw it every day," Rose said. "Not killing or anything like that, but I saw the violence every day. Just seeing what can happen. If anything, I'm just trying to change the kids' minds across the nation and it starts here."

One of those kids is Rose's own two-year-old son. He talks often about how becoming a father has changed him, and his relationship with his son has informed his need to speak up on this issue.

"I'm a parent now," Rose said. "I had a kid two years ago. It probably would have been different [before his son was born]. I probably wouldn't have worn the shirt. But now that I'm a dad, it's just changed my outlook on life, period.

"I don't want my son growing up being scared of the police or having the thought that something like that could happen. I have a cousin, that easily could have been him, or that easily could have been one of our relatives. It's sad that people lost their lives over that."

Since Rose wore the shirt on Saturday, his message has reverberated around the league. On Sunday, LeBron James called Rose's gesture "spectacular" and hinted that he might wear a similar shirt on Monday night when the Cleveland Cavaliers play the Brooklyn Nets.

"(James) is a huge figure," Rose said. "And he grew up in a neighborhood like that. It means a lot for a star to come out and say something, especially a megastar, so I'm happy about that."

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau didn't know about the shirt beforehand, but for him, it was no surprise coming from the superstar who in September donated $1 million to After School Matters, a local charity focused on providing after-school activities for children in impoverished neighborhoods.

"I think it's a great message," Thibodeau said. "It's about equality and justice for everybody. So I think you guys know the type of person Derrick is. I'm sure he'll explain it further. Derrick's a great person. I think you guys know what he did earlier with the after school program. He wants to stand for something and it's important to him."

Rose's statement may have been out of character for him, but he isn't the first NBA star to speak up on a social issue. Many players were outspoken about this spring's Donald Sterling racism scandal, and in 2012, James' Miami Heat teammates took a group photo wearing hoodies in honor of Trayvon Martin.

"Usually I'll stay out of politics and stay out of police brutality," Rose said. "I'm not saying all cops are bad or anything, I'm just saying what happened those days [in New York and Ferguson], it was uncalled for and I think that it hurt a lot of people. It hurt the nation.

"But my biggest concern is the kids. I know what they're thinking right now. I was one of those kids. When you live in an area like that and you've got no hope, and police aren't treating you any way, I'm not saying all police are treating kids bad, but when you live in an area like that, it gives you another reason to be bad. So my biggest concern is the kids and and making sure that my son grows up in a safe environment."

Recently, the St. Louis Police Department reprimanded some St. Louis Rams players for walking out on the field before a game making the "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" sign as a show of support for the protesters in Ferguson.

So far, Rose hasn't faced any of the same resistance or backlash, and he hopes it stays that way.

"I'm just happy that the league hasn't said anything," he said. "The franchise hasn't said anything. I'm happy that everything has been positive."

As an NBA superstar, Rose has a massive platform to be a voice for these issues. The Bulls' last superstar, Michael Jordan, shied away from politics entirely during his playing career, famously remarking that "Republicans buy shoes, too." Rose isn't following in those footsteps—he has a voice, and he's going to use it to speak out on the issues that matter to him.

"I'm just happy that people paid attention to it," he said. "I think it touched a lot of people because I grew up in an impoverished area like that, and that stuff happens a lot of times. It touched a lot of people and I wanted to make sure I got my point across."

Sean Highkin covers the Chicago Bulls for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @highkin

As the Bears' latest loss played out on national television against the Lions, it became clearer than ever this team isn't going to the postseason. Now with a quarter of the season left, the Bears must try to salvage something out of this mess. 

As the Bears continue to twist in mediocrity, it's time to inject some new life and excitement into the team especially on defense. 

Head coach Marc Trestman might be playing for his job at this point but this team needs to see what they have in their young players. 

Ego Ferguson, Will Sutton, Brock Vereen, Christian Jones and Kaseem Greene should all get a considerable amount of playing time going down the stretch. 

Free safety Chris Conte can't stay healthy and the Bears need to know what they have in Vereen. He hasn't been consistent this season but that ultimately could be because he hasn't seen consistent playing time. 

Defensive tackle Stephen Paea is having a Pro Bowl season and will be a free agent at the end of the year. It would be wise for the team to take a look at Ferguson and Sutton as much as possible before having to decide whether to pay Paea or let him walk. 

As for the linebackers, it's realistic to think of Jon Bostic as a solid starter going forward but Jones can possibly grow into more than a special teams player and the jury is still out on what Greene brings to the table. 

On offense, the focus shifts to the offensive line. Jordan Mills has had his chance to prove himself at right tackle and just hasn't gotten it done. It's time to let Michael Ola and Charles Leno take snaps there to see if either guy can be the starter going into next season. 

The young players aren't the only ones being evaluated. Linebacker Shea McClellin is in danger of being let go and receiving the full bust label. Cornerback Tim Jennings could be a cap casualty as he's having a down season and even beloved kicker Robbie Gould's price tag could be too much for what he's produced this year. 

General manager Phil Emery's job is likely safe for now. If he wants to keep it that way then he should be watching Marc Tresman like a hawk over the last four games. 

It's going to be interesting to see how this team responds to him knowing their season is slipping away. Will they still believe in his message, fight hard on the field and compete in every game? If not then Trestman might be coaching his last four games in Chicago.