Pixote

One of the greatest DCs of all time died of cancer. Jim Johnson in Philadelphia was an outstanding DC who will be missed by all who loved watching his agressive defensive style. Now that Kippen has retired in TBB and J Johnson has passed away, the NFL will be without 2 Defensive Coordinators who should both be in the HOF for their accomplishments. http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/NewsStory18048.html

I love this quote from footballguys.com

Things like this drives me nuts. If he was needing this surgery, did they not know until now? Couldn't this have been taken care of in January or February? I am not too worried, I like Bowman, Graham could be switched backj to CB, and DJ Moore looks promising. It is just that the timing drives me crazy.

DB, things at work have gone from slow, to slower, to crap-0-la. I need to scrap all FF league involvement this year as I may have to look for a part time job to supplement my income and I do not want to obligate myself to a FF team and then become an absentee owner. I will miss my involvement in FF this year as I dearly love it, but hopefully I will be back next year in full participation with all of you guys. In the same light, I may have to forgo my running of the Pick'ems this year and hope to be able to reopen it next year. I have not made a firm decision on this yet but the outlook is bleak.

We expect some insider info from you, LOL.

Unless he puts up HUGE numbers, I think it would be premature to say he would be worthy of a "Manning" type of contract. I hope Angelo has a wait and see approach with Cutler. If by the time we need to commit money to have it count against this years cap figure, he shows he is what we all hope him to be, then go for it and lock him in if you want and use up this years cap on his contract to make it more affordable in the future. Just MHO.

Why? Have the Bears overpaid a QB?

But...but...but... I have to feel we have WRs that can be as effective as Branch, Givens, & Imail. I think Hester will blow those three guys away with his play this year and will be a top 30 WR. I agree on Ward & Plax, but the other 3 I mentioned from the article were never anything special.

This article is one of my favorites in a series of articles that the Sun-Times has been running Pro Bowl WR not needed for Super Bowl winners In it there is this quote: It also quotes an article from John Clayton of ESPN where he says he feels JA & LS rank #4 in the NFL as GM/HC Combos: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/stor...&id=4336648

For what they paid Cassell I assume KC thinks they signed a franchise QB. I think whoever made the decision to pay him the huge contract they came up with may be in serious trouble because I think he will flop and at best be an average but grossly overpaid QB on a bad team.

I'd be curious to see what some of our rookies would do in punt returns. DJM was an excellent returner in college from what I understand from bowlingtwig. Knox has blazing speed and would be exciting to see returning PRs. I would like to see these guys auditioned for the PR duties as well as KO returns. Manning could be outstanding as our KR man but it would not be a bad idea to have DJM or Knox in line if needed for either KO or P returns.

Heck, future HOFer & MIN Viking Farve only threw 29 INTs in 2005 I wonder how many "near INTs" Farve had that year?

This whole thing about how Cutler is getting treated with kid gloves where Orton & Rex were roasted for their performance is kinda ridiculous. I assure you that if Cutler plays poorly as Rex did, he will be tarred and feathered along with the coaching staff. He is on his honeymoon now. Once he is under fire during the season he will be treated the same as Rex and Kyle. He will be applauded when he succeeds and criticized when he fails.

I think our Offense will be better than last year, but I do not think that will be the main reason we go to the SB this year (and yes, I do believe we will take the NFC Title). I think it will be our defense and STs that will take us to another chance to win the Big One. I think we will have a top 5 D and the number 1 STs squad this year. Urlacher will return to Pro Bowl form. Marinelli will have our front 4 kicking butt and taking no prisoners. Manning is going to be an enormous weapon on KO returns. Our Offense will improve, but not just because of Cutler. Our OL will be greatly improved. Our running game will be more effective with a great 1-2 combo of Forte & Jones. Hester will be in his second year as a full time WR and will continue to improve like he showed in the last few games of 2008. Greg Olsen is going to have a monster year. I am predicting a 12-4 season and undefeated in Post Season Play.

There you go getting me excited again. Hell, now I am going to have to try and find a way to wait 3 weeks for Training Camp to Open without going stir crazy. IMPOSSIBLE. Lock me up please before I snap. LOL

People criticizing Cutler seem to forget he is only 26 years old, has only been a starter for only 2 full seasons in a system with a terrible defense that forced him to gamble to try and catch up to teams that were scoring at will against them. In those two seasons he threw for a combined 8023 yds and has a Pro Bowl appearance. He has come no where near his prime. He is only going to get better with more experience, a better running game to support him, and a better D/ST to give him better field position and not force him to try and be the savior.

The thing I worry about is I love the prospect of K Davis. I think he could be a monster TE for us. When Clark hangs it up I would love to see Olsen & Davis in our 2 TE package. How do we carry 4 TEs?

I agree, keep it as much under wraps as possible in the preseason, and then surprise a few with an occassional 3-4. That would totally be cool. Might force a few time outs by the offense, ;-)

Seems like your main goal in joining the forum here is to promote VSN Writers, the Bleacher Report, & your avatar promotion. To be quite frank, it is becoming a bit irritating. The posters on this site post better articles in the attempt to start threads of meaningful discussion than almost all of what you are promoting. AZ54's last thread he started blows away your last two VSN articles.

AZ54, this is an outstanding article. This is one of the better reads I have had about the Bears in many many weeks. I hope DBDB or someone familiar with the news page publishes this article for all to read on the main page. Well thought out, good structure and organization, intriguing topic well supported and argued. I think the only thing in the article I would disagree with is that I think Mike Brown's departure had nothing to do with this game directly. His play had deteriorated over time due to injuries. I just think management felt it was time to accept the fact that his injury history dictated a need to move forward and develop younger safeties to contribute. He would be in a KC uniform today even if we had won this game, IMO.

What WR would not benefit from going to a team with a QB upgrade? What CB would not benefit from better Safety backup? Thigpen Is a #1 QB? You were that impressed with TE M Bennett? DJ Williams hasn't been able to showcase his talent in a 3-4 defense? How much time has he played in a 3-4? I am not going to go any further. A waste of time, as was my time reading this article.

August 30th, Sunday, would be perfect. I can draft anytime that day, morning, afternoon, or evening. Off on Sundays & Mondays from work.

I had also read this earlier. Good article. I hope Bowman continues to develop. He could be huge for us. I think Harrison will be a monster next to Harris. I think I am more excited to see the defense take over dominance as much as I am to see the "new" offense.

I agree, Plax & his representatives thought they were going to put one past Goodell & play 2009 in its entirety. Now they have screwed themselves. I doubt if Plax will play a single down this year unless they change gears and get this resolved asap.

Not only do you know about all the TIMES, but you learn a lot about other teams also, LOL.