balta1701-A

(rimshot)

IF that's just a freak injury it could set up for him to have a better year this year. Maybe even why they didn't cut him.

Supposedly today they identified a rental car involved in a second murder (committed last summer) as having been rented by Hernandez as well.

I think if that's his statline there's a good chance he's not in Chicago in 2014.

First degree premeditated murder charges and ordered held without bail to prevent him from fleeing. He got hit with something heavy.

First degree, premeditated, held without bail. Somewhat serious it seems.

Hernandez was taken away in handcuffs this morning and the Patriots just released him.

Arrest warrant issued for Hernandez on charges of obstructing an investigation.

Who on the team has named a starter?

If BB knew that in a week, Hernandez would kill someone...I think that makes him somewhat liable as well...

There are now reports that Hernandez was destroying evidence before the warrants were served.

Link

I do keep saying it's the position he'd be the best @.

The question is whether "Scott slightly outplaying Webb in practice" = Webb falling flat on his face (the terminology the writer used). I believe it probably does.

You can tell me I'm in correct, but I think the answer is "no". I think the Giants battered the Patriots with their front 4, that was key both times, the Patriots O-line couldn't slow down the Giants D-Line and that allowed them to get pressure without blitzing. I don't have stats for that one game, but neither the Giants nor Patriots were heavy-blitzing teams that year.

I think it's quite clear that no one on that line is being handed a job, with the exception of Bushrod. Everyone else is on a short leash.

Well of course the roster was better with Urlacher on it last year, the Bears weren't exactly overflowing with LB depth. Who even started when Urlacher went down for the last 4 games, was it Geno Hayes?

No way he's "Just lucky". They must think he has a shot at being effective in this system or he'd already be gone, but it's a very good thing that no one on that line has a slot being handed to them.

Russell?

5th in the league in yards given up, 3rd in the league in points/game. I think "Very good" sums that up. I'm not going to call a defense "great" if it's only top 5, but that's my prejudice.

I've been one of the ones positive on this defense, but I think I'll say it this way here: The Bears have the horses right now to be better on defense next year than last year. It will be tough to do, as this poster notes, because they had some guys make some huge plays last year. But they still dealt with injuries and had several notable holes to deal with. It's hard to be better than a very good defense, but they have the ability to do that. In the end, whether or not they are will come down to coaching and health. They have more talent on defense right now than they had going in to camp last year.

If the coaches can't get the players ready to go by game 1...that is an actual failure by the coaches. I'd buy that excuse in a lockout shortened season. This roster has been effectively together since March; they'll have 6 months before the first game (4 months for the rookies). If they need more practice to learn the playbook, then they should practice more.

There are 3 guys on the D who could legitimately be expected to lose something because of Age, Peanut, Briggs, and Peppers. Moore probably also won't put up those INT numbers again. But there's plenty of room for improvement as well. The LB corps ought to be seriously upgraded in the non-Briggs spots, and they might well be able to keep Briggs fresher and healthier as well. The D-Line hasn't lost anyone other than Izzy, and with this signing, they have a chance to be stronger, particularly if McClellan can step up. And in the secondary, they have a group of young safeties who might well be expected to legitimately get better next year as well.

And it's possible this could just be the one "Dealing with the media" case that Belichik isn't really prepared for.

IIRC the Bears have actually tried to be "More aggressive" before, in years like 2008-2009 they sent more "Extra" pass rushers after the QB tahn any other defense in the league. It didn't work at all, but they've tried that. Rather than being more "aggressive", I'm hoping they're more "athletic". The retooled LB corps should, hopefully, give them a chance to cover more ground than they did last year in the middle of the field, and they have the horses to maintain or even improve their pass rush (if SMC could play like a first round pick next year that'd be great).