Bearstalk

First, let me say it has been a joy watching him all these years and I am glad he tied the return touchdown record today. That being said, he has clearly lost a step and I would not pay him more than the veteran minimum next year to return. Peace

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.

The news will come today on Cutler, if it is season long, are we now rebuilding for the future? Cutler would be a big loss, but I think our main problem is a porous defense with no bright light in the future. Our top two playmakers are hurt, hopefully not for long. Peppers is average at best. Safeties suck a big one. Bostic, Bass, Frey, are a few names to watch going forward, but not much in the well. The end result of bad drafts are showing now with not many backups looking like players. Stars are getting older. Low lights-Peppers, Wright,Conte, Tillman hurt all the time, lack of depth at DT. Highlights-entertaining games but, fear will be …

Consistently Briggs has been a great player. Really sucks to lose him. Get better Briggsy. This will give our young linebackers a chance to step up and get some development time.

In the locker room, as per Michael C. Wright. I am sure we will find out soon. I wonder if it is players or coaches or both.

PEr WSCR, torn groin muscle

But i would not mind throwing a third rd pick at washington and try to get cousins if they don't bring cutler back.. he too has an arm, escapability, and is smart with the ball... not to mention a former spartan who isn't new to playing in cold weather...

I have had some time to reflect on the Cutler injury and I wanted to ask the board something: What do you really expect from your backup quarterback when your starter is likley to be out for an extended time? I would say that most backups are such for a reason; either they are in the development stage or have not succeeded on the big stage in other locales. Not every backup can come in and perform like Frank Reich; usually their performance tends to gravitate towards the Caleb Hanie end of the spectrum. For me, the best I can hope for from McCown is a .500 record. I don't think he will win every game with Cutler out. Your thoughts? P.S. I don't th…

http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/2013/1...eak.html#page/1

PFF ranks us second to worst in pass blocking (6th best at run block, though). The bottom 3 on pass blocking: Long, Bushrod, Mills in that order. Mills being the worst as well as PFF's worst tackle in football. He leads the league in QB hurries surrendered by a fairly large margin; Bushrod is 10th worst and Mills has allowed twice as many. Slauson has been our best lineman, according to their stats, with nobody else having a markedly positive impact. Jay getting the ball out so quickly is what's making this line look so good....If we move on from Jay it's gotta be someone who gets rid of the ball just as quick as he does. I don't have the stats at hand, I stole …

In the spirit of some of the discussions here regarding whether McCown can 'carry the team' (long term - this season) or otherwise. McCown and the playoffs? So if I understand it, the burden is more on Trestman at this point than McCown to produce. Again, the 'operator vs scheme' discussion.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/story/_/id/...turn-jay-cutler That would be crazy if true, not to mention AWSOME!

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/...ew-linebackers/

With the off week and injuries I looked at the 2014 draft. Walters has us drafting a CB.DT,then a QB names Fales from SJS. A west coast type QB: accurate, decent arm, some mobilty. Sounds like they got the positions right, the QB sounds interesting.

I'm not sure I ever saw this on the site before... http://www.stack.com/2013/09/26/can-you-pa...ditioning-test/ I plan on trying this soon. I don't think it should be an issue.

Are any of these even remotely possible? http://www.sportsworldreport.com/articles/...jason-babin.htm Pretty fun to dream.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/...-than-expected/

I'm really just throwing this out there to play Devil's Advocate... But I had a chat w/ a freind who's a Bears fans and he thought it might be possible that Briggs is a horrific play caller. His playe is obviously excellent...but maybe, just maybe...he's not remotely a defensive leader. Could our struggles be a result of him putting guys in bad positions, unlike Url, who put them in good positions, etc. I'm not sure GB and DET are the games to test that odd concept. But I think the Ravens could be a test... I really don't think there's much vaidity to it, but just thought I'd throw it on the wall and see if it sticks...

http://espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/story/_/id/...s-chicago-bears

Walter Payton aka Sweetness road off into the sunset. R.I.P. good sir, you are still the greatest football player of all time.