Pixote

True, but up until this year he wasn't forced to line up in the A Gap 90% of the time 5 yds or less off the line of scrimage. He was out of position to use his speed. I bet you will not see this positioning used this year.

In the true nature of Chicago Politics, vote early, vote often (allows for voting more than once!) Vote For Matt Forte for ROY

I have to agree with you, as much as I have enjoyed watch MB play over the years, and he has to be one of my favorite Bears of all time (and I go back a few years, LOL) his play is not what it once was. Maybe JA is just paving the way for Brown to receive a very limited contract offer with advance warning. What I found more interesting, and no one seems to be listening to what JA is saying: Everyone seems concerned about JA & what will he do in FA. Some think he will not be active. Doesn't this statement indicate that he is trying to plan his budget for FA? What is on his shopping list? I believe he is just saying we have a lot of needs, we can not afford a big contract for MB at this point in his career, if his demands are too high, we will have to let him go.

Your are correct! Thanks for agreeing with us, LOL.

After reading the article it just basically gives the sports writer's view that it would be the best move for Angelo to make. The one quote I thought interesting is the possible contract ramifications. We look to be in good cap shape. I still think draft DE, Let Marinelli work with Ogun, Brown, & Anderson, then use the cap money for OL & WR, or even possibly a top Safety.

Outstanding article! I can see the intensity level of play rising through the roof. He is going to have these guys fired up and that will carry over to the secondary play. We will see a return of the defense we all love. I honestly think we will be back in the top 5 on defense this year. Now offense, who the hell knows?????

In a similar interview on the Score, Angelo said the evaluation process would take another couple of weeks and until this was completed off season priorities could not be determined. When asked about the OL he agreed there was concerns about the line because of age and injuries. I do not think any position can be ruled out yet until the staff has had a chance to do the post season evaluations. I also agree that Angelo has never tipped his hand when it comes to players he is interested in FA or the draft and when it comes to FA he has to be careful about tampering violations that might be involved.

Hey, MADMAN, you GENERALLY agree????? Ok, I have never known you to hold back, be at loss for words, be shy, afraid to express your opinion. Fess up, where do you generally "disagree"? LOL

I do not think we go after DL in FA. Harris will be a stud under Marinelli. Adams, Idonege, Harrison, & Dusty will also thrive under good coaching. Wale, A Brown, and MARK ANDERSON will also step up under Marinelli. We have the personel in place. MAYBE we go DE or even DT in the draft, as Angelo loves to draft these positions. If our DL comes out with the attitude & production I think they will, our LBs will be more effective and our CBs will be fine. Again, maybe in the draft. MAYBE a FA CB if one is available that Angelo likes. Now Safety is a position I do think we need to target in both the draft and FA, as well as OL & WR. I think that is where we will target our FA money along with a QB to replace Rex and a late pick (4th or 5th rd) RB to compliment Forte.

With our QB/Passing history, TO will never agree to come here. He would want a top QB/Passing offense to go to.

Here is another article, some rehash, some new, from the Official Site article just posted: Another Article about Warren Sapp & our DLC He is also very complimentary of Lovie. In the last sentence of the article he gives a lot of credit to Lovie for the success of the Tampa Defense during his era and their championship year. Good read, even if some is a rerun.

Ouch! I wonder why they call this a knee injury? Seems to me it is a hamstring injury not a knee injury? Also, I have heard of players with groin injuries where the muscle is completely detached from the bone (now that sounds really painful) yet they recover and play without any significant drop off in play. I wonder why it would be different with the hamstring? Because of the size of the muscle involved? I am guessing. I certainly am not a professional in these matters.

What exactly was Harris' injury that makes it so unique to DTs? I assumed it was just the same old knee injuries everyone gets playing football. If this is true, and I say IF for I do not necessarily trust these type of reports, then maybe instead of all the position coaches being replaced it is the medical staff advising Angelo that should be replaced.

99% ??????????? Maybe a bit of an exaggeration? I doubt if we would have extended his contract as we did if we felt his injury was going to effect the remainder of his career. At least I would hope not.

According to NFL.com the were 23rd in total defense (YPG) & 31st (PPG) before he took over. That year (2000) the team was also 1st in total offense (442.2 ypg) & 1st in total points scored with 540. Guess the offensive power of the 2000 Rams did the 23rd ranked defense (ypg) 31st ranked (ppg) no good that year. In 2001, STL was ranked #1 in total offense again (418.1 ypg) & 1st in total points scored with 503, but under Smith went from 23rd in total defense to 3rd in total defense (ypg) and from scoring defense from 31st to 7th best. I think this is quite an accomplishment. Yes, as the team lost it's steam on offense, the defense did drop off. This is not totally unexpected. We all know from experience if the offense leaves the defense on the field too long, it will be exposed and drop off statically. Was there other reasons for the drop off? I do not know and really do not care to go through that much research. If you look at the stats the defense that was dominating during that time period was TBB, with Marinelli in charge of the DL. I suspect Marinelli will be helping out a lot on the DC position with Lovie as well. Lovie values his input and will work with him on the defense as Babich takes care of the LBs. Let's hope we can be productive on offense to the point where Lovie's defense can excel.

I do not think it will change responsibilities for Turner at all, this is the only part of the article which I personally think is stupid. The rest makes sense, but certainly isn't any more than we all knew.

Well, my guess is it is because Marinelli & Sapp have strong ties. I am not sure he would have done this for Lovie as he obviously would not have as strong a tie with a LBC from his former team, but Marinelli, that is a different story. Sapp will work with Tommie, our 3tech DT. I am sure Marinelli will be working hard with the other players. Do you expect Sapp to coach the entire DL for the Bears? Marinelli has to do something to earn his check, LOL.

I have a few - some have yet to update their sites as it is a bit early. Draft Countdown is one of my favorites but the current draft they show is from 12/15 and has us selecting 14th, I am sure they will update soon. Walter Football is another of my favorites. It currently has a 3 round that is interesting. Football's Future is another real good site, was last updated 12/30, and has us picking Maclin at 18, which seems to be a popular projection amoung many sites. Consensus Draft Services is another interesting site. Draft Dog.com Is a site I just began looking at and not bad, has a 2 round draft posted, last updated 1/3. This is a new site for me but looks promising. Now if you want a Looooooong list of draft sites, I came across a site called DC Pro Sports Report The mock draft there is nothing of interest but if you go down the page it has a chart that has an extensive list of draft sites with links to each. I would have to guess over 100 links are there (I am too lazy to count them).

Personally, it seems the only thing that will make many of the posters happy is for Smith to be fired along with Angelo. I am not pointing a finger at you, or anyone else. Those I speak of know whom I am talking about. Sure, Babich retains the title of DC, but he is actually being demoted to LBC. He was LBC when Urlacher was at his best. He will be in a position he has succeeded in before with us. Believe me, everyone in the league knows he is DC in name only and has been demoted. Yes, Marinelli was HC for one of the worse teams in NFL history, but he was also the DLC for over 10 years with one of the best defenses during that time period and is still considered by many as one of the best DL coaches in the business. Is there anyone more qualified in the cover 2 DLC you would want over Marenilli? Didn't quite a few posters say they wanted Lovie to take control of the Defense? Isn't that what he just said he was going to do? Why is everyone pissed about this? Despite what was said by some, he was a kick butt DC in STL. Criticize him if you want for not doing it sooner, but he is stepping up and taking responsibility and I hope he succeeds. I do not know enough about the DBC signed to make comment. Hopefully he will work out. At least he isn't a college coach with no NFL experience. We questrioned why our DB coach was fired. We are guessing either a scape goat or conflict with HC, maybe he just sucked as DBC, I do not know. Maybe it is simular situations in Houston?

nfo - you say: I see in his bio this little blurb: So he took a team ranked 23rd in total defense, with 7 new players and 2 rookies to deal with, and improved them in his 1st year as DC to 3rd in total defense, (run defense improving from 13th to 3rd, pass defense improving from 27th to 10th, and allowing 12 points a game less than the year before he took over). Yep, sure sound like he sucked as a DC. (And yes, they got a tremendous number of turnovers and take-a-ways also). I personally look forward to him taking over a lot of the DC responsibilities.

I would not be at all surprised to see Smith's involvement in the Defensive game planning increase, and also feel that Marinelli will have a lot of input as well. I read one of the many articles on the Marinelli signing indicating the there would be changes in the play calling responsibilities with a three headed monster, the pecking order being Smith, Marinelli, and Babich as the 3rd in the line. If Babich remeains as DC I feel he is, as I said before, a lame duck place holder in name only. Hopefully, with all the changes going on in staffs of other teams, eventually Babich will be replaced by a highly qualified DC. I know, wishful thinking. But one can always hope.

I would hope that both Smith & Angelo are feeling enough heat where they will make the required moves to correct the decline in our defense & improve our offense if for no other reason to solidify their reputations as HC & GM.

I think that is a bit of a reach. If they hadn't gotten Berrian I am sure they would have sought another FA WR. I am sure they would have traded for Allen no matter what happened with their desire to add a WR for they felt all they needed for their defense to be "tops" was a pass rusher.

I just read another article about the Maranelli signing. This one at ChicagoTribune.com It is definately worth reading. Some of my favorite points in the article:

If I remember it was the old "he is a cancer in the locker room" arguement.