Dramatic finish to Super Bowl XLIII shows Bears' need for wide receiver(s)

TAMPA, Fla.–The entire NFL has officially entered the offseason.

Well, everyone not headed to Honolulu for the Pro Bowl any way.

We’re going to fire up Four Down Territory again beginning Tuesday after we make our way home. We’ve already got a host of questions to pick through and we’ll need more as the week moves along.

Our initial reaction coming out of Raymond James Stadium Sunday night is that the Bears really need to address the wide receiver position. Look at what the top teams in the league had, look at how they challenged one another in the closing minutes of a riveting fourth quarter. It comes down to playmakers. The Bears have one, they hope, in the making in Devin Hester. And nothing else.

General manager Jerry Angelo, who was in town for the weekend, says the club needs to maintain focus on the quarterback, and has admitted to shortcomings in that area as he approaches eight years on the job. But just as much as the Bears have lacked stability at quarterback, they’ve suffered a real lack of playmakers.

Between Larry Fitzgerald and Santonio Holmes you saw the kind of gamebreakers the Bears don’t have and can’t rely on when a game is on the line.

It was a terrific game, a better one than a lot of people, this writer included, expected.

There are plenty of issues and we’re going to do our best to cover them as we move forward to the combine in a little more than two weeks. Stay tuned.