balta1701-A

To be fair..."the Bears last 2 first round picks before Shea, along with a couple of late rounders and several free agent signings including a blocking TE" is a fair amount of attention. The problem out of there is that the 2 first rounders haven't yet performed like first rounders. One of them was hurt all last year and so is currently making his rookie mistakes, the other one looks like a goner. And for that reason perhaps more than any other, the GM who did those drafts is gone. If the Bears had a "Hit" on Williams, their line looks solid right now, and all people are asking for is "guys who can step in a year or two down the road or in the case of injury". Another thought edit: Perhaps part of the difference is that with the O-line, the bears have tried to plug in first round talent to basically try to go for the moon, while on the D, the Bears have added more players overall, but fewer with first round talent. If a 3rd round/2nd round D-Line or safety pick winds up released in 2 years it stings but it doesn't kill (The Bears have had several of those). But when a first round pick busts...that is a real killer.

That's what I'd do...but the team might want to set things in motion early thinking that a serious playoff run could cost them an extra $2-$4 million (and they'd probably be right). Hard to decide without knowing their finances.

Teams don't go into a season where they have the chance that a head coach they want to keep could become a free agent. They just don't. His extension status comes down to this season. Conversely, if the Bears finish 4-12, he's cheap and easy to fire this year with only 1 year remaining.

Yes. So this is literally the season where he's playing for an extension...they won't go into next season with a coach on a 1 year deal.

Great. Try to grab a guy in the 5th/6th round and count him as depth/an understudy/another backup guard for those years.

Do you really think a Center is a position they should be addressing in the top 2-3 rounds this year? Certainly depth there is fine, but you can find centers late in the draft, or by moving people there, or fairly cheaply in free agency.

If it was just a rumor, it's getting the wink wink, nod nod "Huge article" treatment in today's tribune.

Wouldn't the Bears have to clear a roster spot for Burress? I do like the more no huddle concept though.

If the Bears have confidence in this team, it could be the FO negotiating low also. An NFC championship appearance or more would definitely give him some serious leverage.

No NFL team is going to let the contract expire of a coach they want to keep. That's the "Bidding war" situation that teams woulnd't have any urge to get into. If you're going to fire the guy you fire the guy, if you're going to keep the guy, you sign hiim a year before his contract is up.

People make the same comments about the Bears stacking up on D-Lines and safeties all the time... but honestly...have you seen the Bears D Line and safeties performing lately? It's been...quality.

? where?

This is a road game the Bears need to win.

Of course, pro bowl voting only covers about the first half of the seaosn right?

The defense as a whole is at a disadvantage...but the matchup on the lines is a special case. If the defensive line is expecting a pass, they are at the advantage. They have many ways to attack, and the offensive line doesn't know which ones they'll choose on any given play. The play on the lines is the mirror of playcalling in general. In general, the defense is at a disadvantage because the offense knows what the play will be, and the defense has to react. That's why there are guys like safeties and linebackers on defense who just kinda fill voids and react, to keep big plays from happening. But if you look solely at the lines...if the D-line has to respect the run that's one thing. If there are 4-5 guys who have the job solely of getting to the QB, and there are 5 guys who have the job solely of protecting the QB, then the guy who doesn't know what's coming is on the O-line. The D could bull rush, speed rush on the outside, speed rush on the inside, run a stunt, fall away from the line leaving you useless in space, use some sort of a finesse move like a slap or a spin move to step around you...all you know as an O-lineman is "This guy is in front of me and he wants to get around me somehow". You can tell what a guys tendencies are, but if he has 2 or 3 different moves he's good at...you're in trouble on some plays. That's why, just like a defense has a safety to prevent the big play, a good offense will take some of those options away and maybe have a RB backup...to prevent the big play. That's also why every offensive lineman in history says they prefer the running game...they're the ones attacking, they're not being passive and forced to react.

With Wooten being healthy, having been in this system for several years, and actually performing, Shea's only going to be a backup rotating in, he's not going to get the majority of plays. He lost containment on that one long Romo pass, granted, but so far he's been effective more often than not, and he'll see what he did on that play today on film.

Oh, and...I SAW MARSHALL CATCH A BALL ON A QUICK SLANT AND RUN FOR 15 MORE YARDS!!! I've been wanting the Bears to throw that pass for so long I was starting to think it was somehow illegal.

That's what should happen! The Defensive line has the advantage at the snap on a pass because they know what they're going to do. The offensive line has to react to them, which means the offense starts off at a disadvantage. That extra TE/RB blocking is what you do to slow down/take away a few of the things that the defensive line might do. If it's 5 on 5, the defensive line has a huge advantage. Loved, loved, loved seeing highlights of Spaeth taking away the outside rush from Ware and forcing him into Webb in a first half replay clip.

Ok, I'm in the mood for a short rant. Watched most of the Packers/Saints game yesterday. Matthews got to the QB once, but for most of the game, he was bottled up. The Saints didn't really move the ball well with the running game, but they were able to move the ball through the air. Early in the 2nd half, the announcers noted that Clay Matthews had been quiet most of the game, and then they showed a halftime edit of how the Saints were bottling him up. They showed about 5 plays where he was blocked effectively...and on every single play they showed, someone other than the guy in front of him took a chip at him. It was either a TE or a RB, but as far as I could tell, from that entire clip, he was hit by a second person on every play where he was effectively blocked. And then on top of that, we look at the playcalling. The Saints were very pass heavy, in no small part because they fell behind early. They did continue the run somewhat, but Brees threw the ball 53 times, and got sacked only twice. 1 of those completions went for 80 yards, giving Brees a normal yards per pass mark for the game. The rest of the game though, was something else. One other stat that they showed early in the 2nd half...was Brees being only 1/2 or so on balls thrown longer than 20 yards, while he was piling up the completions under 10. Their scoring drives were 10, 12, 15, 11, 12, and 4 plays (missed FG in there). Contrast that with the Bears game plan against them. Cutler is near the top of the league in how often he looks downfield, but he's at the bottom of the league in effectiveness on those type of throws. The Saints had a challenge against the Packers yesterday, but the way they went after them couldnt' possibly have looked more different from the Bears. The Bears put their offensive linemen on islands and dared Clay Matthews to beat them. The Bears said they're going to look downfield and damn the torpedoes! The Saints said that their pro bowl loaded line wasn't going to be able to block Clay Matthews on their own, so they gave help over and over and over. They wouldn't give him the outside because they chipped him to slow him down on every play, limiting what he could do. And then...they gave him no time to get to the QB, because their target pass was under 10 yards almost every play. There's no reason the Bears can't do that. J'Marcus Webb might be the worst offensive lineman in the league...but unless he's a hall of famer, if you leave him on an island against Clay Matthews for the whole game while you try to throw the ball 30 yards, the QB is going to the turf. Just think about it...if you put Clay Matthews 1 on 1 against an averagea OT, would you be surprised if he got to the QB 10% of the time? I wouldn't, Matthews one on one seems like he'll beat a good lineman more than that. 10% of the time is 4 sacks/QB hits in a game, which is him starting to make real havoc. Worse yet, as far as I could tell, this was exactly what Tice and Lovie were talking about when they replaced Martz...that an O-Line needed to be treated as a system, not 5 guys on islands with no help. The Bears have the roster to do a better job than what New Orleans did. They have the wideouts, they have the TE's, they have blocking TE's who can help or chip on guys, and they have a better set of running backs than the Saints, particularly in the running game. They don't have the same caliber of offensive linemen, granted. I don't want to let them off the hook completely on that. And yet, the Bears I've seen so far seem to have no idea how to put together a game plan in the face of pressure. It's like they have no idea that the defense might try to get to Cutler and sack him. They'll get more of it tonight from Ware. Someone put a shoulder into him before going out on a 5 yard in route, please.

Will anyone on offense step up? Will Tony Romo live to see Tuesday or is the defensive line a little hungry? These are the questions...

The other thing I watched happen with the O-Line is that they changed the playcalling up to try to take the pressure off of Rodgers. There were a bunch of quick screen passes and well disguised run plays starting in the 2nd quarter. I didn't watch the 2nd half so I don't know if they gave additional help on the edges or not.

That only keeps everyone's job if they make the playoffs. If they make the playoffs, and the defense is still playing like this, they are an exceptionally dangerous team.

Forte officially out.

Hey, a football game! Something new to talk about!

Don't care who he chews out...chewing people out is fine. Just be smart enough that it's not on camera.