balta1701-A

Here's the problem with calling Forte out for"missing cutbacks"...that field surface couldn't endure cutbacks. If he tried to cut back, he was going to fall half the time. How you deal with that? You need to be able to open up holes straight ahead, which I didn't see the line able to do, and you need to be able to open a slow-developing toss sweep to the outside, where the cuts aren't sharp. That's one area where I'd say the Texans outplayed the bears, they were able to open up those routes and clear space, even with Foster falling down a few times.

This one was bothering me a lot. On the first page of this thread, there are people days in advance saying "Its going to rain the whole game". How can your guys be so unprepared for wet footballs compared to the other team?

This thread needs to exist, and I'll be checking it regularly. You see a Cutlerian update, please put it in here.

That was a helluva kick, and those were terrible kicking conditions, which you've got to take into account when you decide whether to kick a FG or not. I wouldn't have put him out there for a 51 yarder and he nailed it.

So I'm a week ahead on Bears' opponents. Alex Smith was pulled in the first half of San Francisco's game today with concussion-like symptoms. Figure at some point there'll be some questions about his availability for next Sunday as a consequence.

This is only the 5th time since 1970 that two 1-loss teams have met in week 10 or later, according to espn

Ladies and gentlemen...it's on.

It's worth a ton more money for Urlacher to stay in Chicago than to go anywhere else next year also. He's a top endorsement guy in Chicago even if his play is declining and he can keep that role even if he retires. He's an addon if he goes anywhere else.

Soon, this award will be renamed "The Chicago Bears Defender" award.

After this game the Bears schedule gets suddenly brutal. This is both a trap game and effectively a must win...Win this and you've gone 7-1 in the first half, and a 4-4 finish puts you in the playoffs almost guaranteed. Lose this, and Houston and San Francisco can make you a losing streak.

If you drop the frequency of it, you will make your good LT look bad. These guys on the defensive line are just too fast, too strong for a single offensive lineman to handle them. If they can do anything they want, if they have inside, outside, and power rush all available to them, along with the numerous trick moves, they are going to be even a good linemen regularly if you leave them one on one. You have to disrupt that momentum and take away some of those options. It doesn't have to be a double team on every play...but the message I get by watching teams who rack up the passing yards is...there ought to be at least a chip attempt on the opposing team's best rusher on every single passing play that isn't a 3 step drop/slant or a screen. If you want to throw the ball down the field, you have to use your underneath options to hit the shoulder of that defender, break his momentum, or at least take away the outside options and force him into your lineman. A team that doesn't do that can still win, but they've decided they can win while giving up a fair number of sacks (that's the Packers way). Teams like the Saints, Patriots, who still want to look down the field without giving up the extra sacks, they hit that lineman with a TE or RB and then that guy becomes the underneath/check down option.

If Spaeth gets pushed out of position and winds up running into Webb, yes, that's on Spaeth for getting out of position. And no, the fact that you put a blocking TE on the side of your LT is not an indictment of Webb...that is...exactly what you should be doing against a team's better pass rushers, particularly from your QB's blind side. Teams that run effective O-Line groups do not leave their LT out on an island with no help against a team's best pass rusher unless the playcall has a quick 3 step drop/throw option. They add in help, or at least a chip and release. PIck whatever "Good LT" you want to see, this is what they do.

If the "Nobody would make a peep" line was true, then I should be able to go to the Bears offensive stats, particularly for when Cutler was playing last year, and find that the Bears were a very solid passing team overall. Do you think that's the case? Cutler had a 58% completion percentage and averaged 231 yards per game for the games he played last year. That would tie the Bears with Buffalo in passing yards/game if he'd done that the whole year, right in the 15th slot. If Martz was calling 10 plays in a row that torched a defense, I'd have been thrilled and I'd have complained a lot louder when he departed. He wasn't. The Bears passing attack was middle of the league with Cutler at best. You can blame this on players...but you can't tell me that the coaches have no impact on what players are brought in to play what positions.

Offensive lineman was the 3rd most expensive position to tag last year, $10.7 million. But, the Broncos probably have the cap space to cover htat.

I don't know about the portion of the game I didn't get/pay for...but if nothing else, having Brandon Marshall was a lifesaver for Cutler on that last drive. 2 quick slants where Jay just knew "if I throw an accurate ball, we will have a first down".

The Bears are a good team. I don't even know that if they'd lost this game here, people could dispute that. The question to figure out this season is whether or not they can be a great team.

The Bears are not the first team that can write this post about their game against Carolina. Carolina has lost their last 4 games by 2, 4, 5, and 1 points. The last ones were Atlanta, Seattle, and Dallas, and the first 2 of those teams have had decent seasons so far. Edit...and suddenly, just after I assume that Dallas is falling apart against the Giants and slighted them in the least...somehow...Dallas comes storming back and is threatening to join my list of teams with a decent season.

Think Cam Newton has looked "Down" in his past few games? Smash him between Peppers and Briggs and see what that does.

One bye week and it seems like forever since I've made a game thread. And yet somehow, I'm sure Tillman still had a pick-6 in there.

His failure to step up and grab either the LG spot or the LT spot also reeks of off-field and commitment issues.

I guess the question in that regard is going to be...will the Bears be in a position this offseason to extend the guys they need to (Cutler, Melton) and also make a big offer to a free agent OT?

While that's true...my rule of thumb is...I don't expect a guy from the 5th, 6th, or 7th round to step in immediately as a starter and not struggle...while I expect that a first round pick and often a 2nd round pick is being drafted to play in game 1 and maybe start.

To look at it another way...if you found a 2nd round quality Guard who could step in at that LG spot, that's one spot where the Bears could make a decent upgrade over this year. Possibly LT too, depending on whether Webb can repeat his performance from the last couple games. Depth on defense at those positions is fine...but 2 of the key guys you're replacing are LB's, and unless Te'o is on the board when you draft, typically teams can find LB talent in the middle rounds. Especially if it's someone you're not expecting to start for a year or two.

The DL shot upwards again from Shea this year, that's the numbers difference. I wasn't counting htis year's draft yet on the "New GM" grounds, did I fail to explain that? My bad.

I do like the trick of including 2003, exactly 0 of whose D-lineman are still on the Bears, but excluding 2002, where the Bears picked 2 O-linemen in their first 3 picks. If I equally arbitrarilly pick 2005...and go to the draft value charts, I find that since the 2005 draft, the Bears have spent about 1800 points on O-linemen and 1465 points on D-Linemen. That's what I mean by the Bears having put substantial value into trying to find O-linemen...the value of a first round pick (and in particular, a mid to late first rounder under the previous CBA) is enormous compared to all those other picks. And that's why it's so lethal when you spend 1100 points on Chris Williams and bust. The Bears could have put 2-3 2nd round picks into their offensive line for the value of Chris Williams. And furthermore, the balance is even stronger if you focus more on post 2006 when the Bears O-line needs were more obvious (but when D-line needs became apparent as well) 2004 is the year that really tips the scales the other way since 2004 is when Tommy Harris is drafted.