Pixote

Down to two options, LA or Chicago, from what I understand.

Yes to which part? LOL Listening to all access as I type and they just said 1 week to go before TC, so next Friday.

AG is and I am sure will always be a Bears fan, just because he thinks TB will prosper this year does not mean he is a TB fan or has less loyalty to the Bears. There are a lot of teams in the NFL I believe will have good 2014 success, that certainly does not mean I am any less a Bears fan. I do not think TB is any more than an 8/8 team in 2014 but there is really no way of telling. The deck is stacked against them because of being in a tough division.

The way I look at it is IF he can stay healthy he can be a huge upgrade at safety. The 1st half of our schedule poses the greatest challenge from what I can project so IMO if Wilson can stay healthy for the stretch prior to our BYE week, it could give us a lift for that portion of our schedule and give our rookie a chance to learn from an outstanding player. To me it is a win win situation with little or no risk if it fails.

First off, great to have you join us. This should be a great year for the Bears. Have to agree with your points made. I am anxious to see this offense in year 2 of the new system. Cutler has to be excited to have some continuity, he has had so many OC's & systems thrown at him and until last year had little help from the OL along with marginal skill players surrounding him. Now, with an improved OL, a great compliment of skill players & the 2nd year of a proven system, it would seem if everyone stays healthy we should have an outstanding offense. Now we just need the defense to step it up.

I agree, I am sure Robbie meant just that, after the season is over, and did not mean to indicate he wanted the Bears season to end in January.

That would be great. I would enjoy having a chance to meet you.

Doing good, been busy with some doctors appointments & physical therapy I was putting off until I got under medicare. Nothing major. I usually hide out a lot during the period between the draft and training camp, posters always seem to get bored and get on each others nerves during that period resulting in a lot of trash talk, something I was never fond of. Now that training camp is getting closer I will try to get back into the groove. Great to see you posting also. I miss some of the original group that have disappeared.

I think possibly, since MT helped Clausen prepare for the combine when he first entered the league, he remembered some attributes which leads him to believe he is a "possible" backup for Cutler, so why not take a flyer on him and see how he responds in preseason? I like the fact that we are still looking for every opportunity to add depth to our roster. It also appears that there is excellent communication flowing between Emery and the HC & coaching staff. Emery is doing a great job, IMO.

LOL, I am sure you are just joking around, however, .... When I was working in a call center for a company processing credit card applications for Bank Of America... I was on the help desk answering questions from our "ace" phone reps when I got a call saying a caller was upset when he told them they could not apply for a credit card. I asked the rep why he told them that they could not apply. He told me that they lived in Hawaii. I said, SO? He reminded me that we could not process applications for CCs unless the applicant lived in the US. Needless to say they eventually had to let this rep go. LOL

What is the safest way to place a bet over the internet? Anyone have experience in this and could recommend a site to use? I do not see any way the Bears win less than 9 games, especially as easy as our 2nd half of the season is. Yes, we have some tough games to start but we certainly are a much better team this year than last year. Advice anyone? So if I play the over and win, what is the return on the bet? Again, I can honestly say, for the first time in over 50 years, I am a virgin, LOL.

I have to agree, I think Emery & the powers in charge did everything they could to add all the players needed to rejuvenate our defense. I am sure there were additional moves they would like to have made but were unable to pull off do to money in FA or players being drafted before we had the opportunity. That being said the number of quality players / prospects added to our defense is impressive and now that Tucker has the freedom to implement his schemes and hopefully with less injuries to our starters he had better come away with a top 10 defense. As far as I am concerned there are no excuses excepted for failure this time around. He got his mulligan last year. Anything less IMO is unacceptable and he should be replaced. With a top 10 D and the offense we now have (which should be even better in year 2 of the system) we should have a great year.

In an article on the Bears Website on an interview with Tucker:

Carey has also signed, 4 down, 4 to go... http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1...e8-c8780af8031f

I think the new CBA structure you mentioned was in use last year? Right? It makes it easier to sign draftees but does not mean there will not be hold outs. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/...e-top-10-picks/

Before the draft most on the forum felt the so called "experts" from ESPN, NFL.com, etc... who were projecting the draft were all clueless and or full of "it". Then we get into the draft and many get upset because we draft a player in the 2nd that many of the so called "experts" claimed should have been a 3rd round pick. So have we changed our minds about these "experts" or do we still feel they are clueless?

Here is a link from NFL.com that gives Emery's view on drafting "developmental QBs". In a nutshell, he says no. NFL.com Article on Emery's View on the QB position in the draft

I would like to see Michael Ford get some good reps this preseason. From what little I saw in Preseason last year and the few games I saw him in when in college, I think he could be the answer. Not sure on his ability to protect Cutler but was impressive, IMO, running the ball.

LOL, yes, Going senile I guess.

LOL, we posted at exactly the same time, so I deleted mine, no need for a duplicate. Interesting addition, so who starts? Garza or Brian?

I have to agree, given the same deck of cards to play with, I do not think Lovie's "D" would have been significantly better. I suspect his "O" would have been significantly worse than Trestman's. Combine the two and we would have had a top 5 pick in the draft.

I cannot say that I am a big supporter of Tucker, however, several things I would like to bring up. 1) We started the season with some significant injuries on defense, but were able to overcome the initial onslaught. In week 4 power rankings we were, by most experts, considered #5 - So before we started to accumulate more and more injuries, this defense was playing pretty damn good. I remember thinking at that point we had something special and was going to have a great year in all 3 phases of the game. 2) Some have said that Tucker threw his coaches under the bus. I doubt very much it was Tucker's decision. I assume that either Trestman, Emery or both felt that for one reason or another these two position coaches who were let go failed to perform. Maybe these two guys were malcontents with Lovie's firing? Maybe it was felt the lack of fundamentals by the "replacement" players were significantly attributed to these position coaches. I do not know. 3) Emery has already fallen on the sword. He admitted that in his haste to improve the offense, he failed to provide the team with enough quality depth on defense to overcome the injuries we were saddled with in 2013. In his defense, I do not know of anyone who would have predicted the type of injuries we saw on defense. I can also not blame him, at that point, concentrating on the OL and offensive in general. He could only do so much in one year. Now, let's see what he can do with the defense. If Emery can do for the defense line what he did for the offensive line last year, and get a solid draft to shore up the LBs & secondary, it will be interesting how this will turn around.

A lot of times you can simply hold down the control key and hit F5 to clear the cache for the page you are viewing. Worth a shot.

I have mixed thoughts on Tucker. The first 3 games of the season, as pointed out in interviews, were actually very good defensive performances, certainly good enough that if it were maintained at the same level we would have been 10-6 or 11-5 at the end of the season. The rub is with injuries we fell flat on our face. Emery has already said it is his fault for not having provided proper quality depth. However, the "backups" and some of the regulars showed such poor technique after those first 3 games I would have to believe some of the blame has to go on Tucker's shoulders as well. However you look at it, major changes need to be made, and Emery has indicated such changes are in the works, top priority in FA & the draft.

Jennings Cap Hits, per this article This is per Brad Biggs on the Tribune Website 2014 Base salary $1.355 million Roster bonus $6.045 million Workout bonus $100,000 Total cash $7.5 million Salary cap figure $7.5 million 2015 Base salary $4.4 million Workout bonus $100,000 Total $4.5 million Salary cap figure $4.5 million 2016 Base salary $4.9 million Workout bonus $100,000 Total $5 million Salary cap figure $5.0 million 2017 Base salary $5.3 million Workout bonus $100,000 Total $5.4 million Salary cap figure $5.4 million