Bearstalk

It's been another tough year for the blue and orange but at least we have beating Green Bay on Brett Favre Day to smile about. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

NM

My biggest problem that I have seen while watching the game so far is that I haven't seen our CB's play near the line of scrimmage yet. Every time I look they are between 6-10 yards off. That is why Fitzgerald is even looking good.

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=4773

Impressive accomplishment: Smith registered his 50th victory in his 88th game as Bears coach Sunday (including playoffs), reaching the milestone quicker than Bill Parcells (89th game), Bill Walsh (91st), Chuck Noll (94th), Bill Belichick (111th) and Tom Landry (119th). http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=6177

I'm still fighting off the boredom of July so it's time to ask about what folks are expecting out of our players who didn't contribute much last year or who weren't even on the roster. Given how bad our D was there are plenty of opportunities for someone to garner attention in training camp. On offense it's a different story but there are some spots such as backup RB, 3rd WR, that figure to see some serious competition. I'm going with Kyle Fuller. I was very impressed by his highlight videos (game film not just highlights) and I think he's an excellent football player with outstanding instincts and smarts. I think he shows up early and often in camp, even aga…

Here are some free agent options going into next season. Some of these guys will obviously sign with their current team or be tagged, but there are a few intriguing options out there without having to break the bank: OT Matt Kalil, MIN, 27 Riley Reiff, DET, 28 WR Kenny Britt, LA, 28, 987 yds, 5 TD Terrelle Pryor, CLE, 27, 877 yds, 4 TD Kenny Stills, MIA, 24, 650 yds, 7 TD Robert Woods, BUF, 24, 527 yds, 1 TD Kamar Aiken, BAL, 27 TE Jack Doyle, IND, 26, 649 yds, 5 TD Ryan Griffin, HOU, 26, 432 yds, 2 TD DE/DT Jabaal Sheard, NE, 27, 5 sacks Andre Branch, MIA, 27, 6 sacks Mario Addison, CAR, 29, 8 sacks Devin Taylor, DET, 27, 5 s…

Year Wins Points Tot. Yds. Pass. Yds. Rush. Yds. 2013 2 55 734 524 210 2012 1 51 596 388 208 2011 1 43 623 475 148 2010 2 46 771 632 139 2009 1 32 627 497 130 2008 1 46 575 277 298 2007 1 23 441 254 187 2006 2 60 744 546 198 2005 1 45 502 274 228 2004 1 37 649 339 310 Notice anything? 700+ yards of offense = win. Over 250 yards of passing per game = win. In today's NFL, offense wins games. I'm so happy the Bears got rid of Lovie and his offensively-challenged style of drafting/coaching. Long live Trestman!

We need more of this. Good pre-snap read of the play by Howard and I think we'll see more from him next week. http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/vid...ea-58ab68e544b9

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/4883064-419...nefit-race.html

Lovie had stolen all the credit for the defense being dominant the past few years, when really the mastermind was Rivera. These past two seasons with lovies "right hand man" Babich we have been aweful on defense. HMM, well we were a top 5 defense with rivera, but lovie fires him and gives the job to someone who did jack shit to earn the job other then kiss lovie's cover 2 ass. Babich needs to go, and if lovie says one word, he should be shit canned as well. Personally, I'm for kicking lovie to the curb and calling chico in for the job he rightfully should have been handed a few years back. Chico was the man for the job and lovie took the credit for it, and it's obvio…

There was one play Harris made today that caught my eye, and it wasn't either of his two sacks. It was the tackle he made on the RB about 12 yards downfield. In the past we've seen him hustle to make plays after the RB got behind the Dline but he hasn't done that much this year, at least not running that far downfield IIRC. Tommie has been practicing during the last few weeks and seeing him run like that, along with a couple sacks is making think that perhaps he is getting back to 100%. We'll find out next week.

I previously saw the report from some guy (I think on CNNSI) talking about Nicks, Britt and Harvin slipping out of the 1st round. Honestly, I didn't think much of it. While it may have been on SI, it was still just the opinion of one guy, which seemed to run counter to what most everyone else thought. Now I am starting to wonder a bit more. I read the other day Rick Gosslin's 1st mock draft. I am not saying Gosslin, or anyone out there is so perfect they know for a fact what will happen, but Gosslin does have a pretty damn good record, though he will have more versions after this one. But in his 1st mock, all three of those WRs failed to be drafted in the 1st …

Zach Zaidman on the SCORE said something interesting tonight when talking about the defense. I'm paraphrasing, but he said, "A major problem with the defense, the way I saw it being in the locker room, there were far too many "Me's" and not enough team guys. Too many guys were worried about putting up big stats so they could get paid. There was the hang-over from the Super Bowl and other guys had just gotten paid." I thought this was interesting as hell. Previously we've just assumed the defensive woes were a combination of injuries, having a new OC, and playing a more difficult schedule. This sounds like there are more chemistry issues and conflict within the …

We can move the ball on offense. And can't stop anything on defense. Going forward however during the bye week: Defense: Briggs said at the beginning of the season that they should keep the same defense because it wasn't broken. My friend it is full broken. The playoffs aren't an impossibility but changes have to be made. Offense: I would keep Cutler out as long as necessary. We have enough weapons to score. It is tough to say he isn't the long term answer when there are not good options out there. But I would definitely draft a quarterback and not over invest in a Cutler contract.

To give Williams his chance. Its like watching a tank race nascar.

http://walterfootball.com/nflrumors.php There would be "panic" in the Bears' warm room if Aaron Donald is off the board, according to Todd McShay. ------------------------------- If this were Jerry Angelo's war room I'd expect a panic move if his targeted player were off the board. We're led by Phil Emery now and Phil plans for all situations. Besides that, we have so many needs there will be several options. If one of the top 3 LTs fell to us and we took him I'd live with that and move Bushrod to RT (likely next year). At #19 you are hoping your guy falls to you. At #14, in this draft, you will have a significant talent on the board when you pick. The ot…

http://www.chicitysports.com/2011/09/29/ph...-walter-payton/ Pearlman gives his side of the story. SI only illustrated a very small part of the book which showed the bad but there was PLENTY of good. Jeff delves into the good in this interview. Many are saying he wants to make a quick buck off the demons of Walter yet don't realize that is a very...very small part of the book. Anybody's opinion change after listening?

Okay, so most have seen that we have re-signed McClover. Question is, what does this mean? Right now, Williams is dealing w/ a foot injury, and if McClover was simply added to compensate in the short term for an injured LB, than his addition means absolutely nothing, and he will be gone by September cut downs. If this was not the reason he was added though, the implications could be interesting. One, at the LB position, we kept 6 last year. Urlacher and Briggs are pure locks, and Pisa I think is a virtual lock as well. Williams would seem to be the next more secure. You then have Roach, Hunter and Freeman. If we keep McClover, I have a hard time seeing us …

I just got the game yesterday and I have to say I have mixed feelings about the game. I haven't yet experienced everything the game has to offer but to comment on the gameplay itself, I think it took a minimal step up from last year. I like how much faster the game feels now compared to last years. The whole acceleration thing is great because it gives guys like Chris Johnson and AP an advantage over some of the average RB's because of there abilities to get to top end speed quicker than most. The animations are not too much different. They added a new sideline animation and a few RB animations when they are being hit but overall I feel like this is still lacking the real…