balta1701-A

2 words. Franchise tag.

Fixed that for you. Seriously, with the way both of them have run lately, and the expected conditions, the more powerful, straight ahead down the field type runner that Benson is will in most cases be more effective than the dancing type back that Jones is (lotta moves + snowy field = guy who might just get stuck). Unless he's not doing anything at all, on paper, the conditions say Feed Benson the ball.

The Bears may not need help to stop Hasselbeck. Why? Because they've got another friend trying to give them a hand. Sunday Snow 60% chance of precipitation 30° F | 22° F -1° C | -6° C Sleet/Snow with a 60 percent chance of precipitation in the afternoon on Sunday. Local time of course. If that forecast doesn't change, then it'll be really, really tough for those QB's to do anything. In other words, the game will 100% be decided on the ground.

The Tillman v. Vasher debate comes down to one simple question; what kind of player can the Bears find in the draft the next few years? Tillman and Vasher each clearly fill different roles. Vasher is much better on speedy recievers (i.e. he should be the guy covering Steve Smith), while Tillman does a darn good job on bigger, more physical guys, such as the game against the Giants where he took Plaxico Burress basically out of the game. You find a speedy cover corner in the draft, you consider trading Vasher. You find a solid big corner, you consider trading Peanut.

This game will be decided by the running game, and the running game will totally be decided by that matchup.

Shaun Alexander vs. the Middle of that Bears defense. If the Bears stop Alexander, a couple picks from Rex won't kill them.

Key matchup: Shaun Alexander vs. the depleted middle of the Bears run defense. Very simple, the Bears win that matchup, and the Bears will win the game. The Bears secondary should have had time to heal, and if the Seahawks have trouble running the ball the Bears pass rush should be able to get around the corner.

How much of that is Lovie's fault though, with the money that team has committed to offense? They're paying pro bowl offensive linemen, 2 pro-bowl receivers, a pro-bowl caliber tight end, a 3rd receiver who's on IR this whole season, and one of the best quarterbacks in history. You can do a lot of things on defense, but if you're guaranteed to lose every good player on defense you draft after 5 years or so because you have so much money tied up in offense, there's only so much you can do. Especially when you throw in the occasional injury to the defense or high draft pick spent on offense to fill in a void from a retirement/guy leaving as a FA.

I'd rather have a QB who comes out and says yeah, I just wasn't prepared for a game that meant nothing than a guy who comes out and blames losing a game on his O-Line or something like that.

There is a very simple rule in the playoffs that is about as close to iron clad as you can get: Defense wins. I learned a stat after the Raiders/Bucs super bowl a few years ago. The #1 offense in football has met the #1 defense in football in the Super Bowl something like 7-8 times. The #1 offense has won one time. (If I'd known that before the game, I would have put some money on the Bucs). The Saints are nice, high powered, and all that. But the fact is, the Bears have a significantly better defense than the Saints do, while the Saints have a better offense. In that matchup, I'll take the defense. But the problem is, if the Bears do get to the Super Bowl, I think it's pretty likely they run into a defense better than them unless Peyton Manning gets on an incredible roll. The Chargers, Ravens, and Pats all can outplay the Bears on defense unless someone gets suspended for steroids or injured on those squads. I'll take the Bears losing in the Super Bowl to one of those 3 teams.

Well, let's throw one more thing out there...if the Raiders and the Cardinals wind up being the 2 top possible suitors for him, which is certainly plausible...why in the world would he actually take either of those jobs? Seriously, when is the last time that being hired as manager for either of those teams was a good thing? If he's this much in demand, he may very well want to either hold out for the Giants/Steelers jobs, or even just sit out another season and wait for a better slot to open up. Hell, eventually Parcells, Holmgren, and Gibbs are all going to retire.

And probably the highest defensive scoring superbowl in years too.

Yes, you fully should have expected it, and you should have expected better perfomance out of Grossman, which is exactly what the Numbers say the Bears have gotten, even with the gunslinger/turnover problem around midseason.

Orton still threw 13 INT's last year, in FAR fewer pass attempts than Grossman had this year. Orton threw the ball 368 times last year for 13 INT's, Grossman threw 20 INT's this year in 480 attempts. At that same # of attempts, Orton would have been expected to throw 17 INT's last year. It's also worth noting that while Orton may not have thrown the INT's, he turned the ball over in another fashion; giving the ball back on downs. The Bears in 2005 with Orton were the 30th ranked team in the NFL in 3rd down percentage, and that's not because they were getting them on 1st/2nd down; the Bears also ranked 30th in total number of 1st downs. So Orton wasn't being picked off as much, but he sure turned the ball over a lot on downs. Even with a decent running game and a 1300 yard rusher in Jones in 05, the Bears were 25th in the NFL in Time of Possession in 2005. Orton in no way kept the defense off the field or helped them get rest. Conversely, the Bears are 12th in Time of Possession in 2006.

Well, in case you were worried he didn't see it, He did.

Griese could win the Super Bowl for the Bears this year, because for the Bears, the QB spot will do very little to determine whether or not the Bears even win a playoff game, just like last year. Last year, Rex Grossman put together what was to my eyes a very good performance against a solid Carolina defense in the playoffs, put up over 20 points on them, when the offense had struggled to get to 10 all year. But, that wasn't enough. Why? Steve Smith. Brian Griese or Rex Grossman or hell even Kyle Orton could take this team to the Super Bowl because the thing that is going to decide whether or not the Bears get to the Super Bowl will be whether or not the Bears defense shows up. They don't have to score a ton, but they need to force some turnovers and keep the other team held to that 15 or so points per game they've given up most of the season, not go around giving up 30's to the other team. The running game is also another very important factor, but mainly is important because of how it can keep the defense off the field and resting. The QB play is to my eyes the 3rd most important factor in whether or not the Bears will succeed. If the defense dominates and the running game is solid, a couple picks and a lot of incompletions won't kill this team. If the defense doesn't dominate and the running game isn't there, Griese/Grossman could throw for 400 yards and it won't matter. If the opponents are scoring 25+ points, the Bears are in real trouble no matter who is at Quarterback.

I'm sorry, but the Bears would be out of their minds to replace Lovie Smith at the end of this season. Absolutely out of their minds. Even if they get crushed in 2 weeks.

I believe that a Lions victory over Dallas knocks the Packers out of the last playoff spot.

On the Defensive ROY side, he's damn close to the top.

The only problem is...you have to see a Lions game.

Linkity.

Well, if he said that, he's wrong, he lost for the same reason his team lost to the Chargers in the regular season, to the Patriots all those times...they don't handle heavy blitzes well, either on the offensive line or in the QB/playcalling spot.

Linkity.

Cook County Officials are now saying that this mess violated the terms of Johnson's parole.

Lance Briggs. There is also nothing stopping him from holding out next season to force a trade.