AZ54

I see us matching up very well against Atlanta. I don't see their defense stopping our offense. Yes, you heard it here first. Not saying we'll put up 40+ pts but I think 25-30pts is doable. I don't see our defense giving up that many points against them. Just avoid the big plays and keep it all in front of 'em and the D will be fine.

Bears last year couldn't find success on 4th and short up the middle. Kreutz heads to New Orleans and they can't find success on 4th and short up the middle. At least they made it easy for us Bears fans to forget all the chatter about how cheap they were with Kreutz, and all in week 1. Kreutz will always be one of my favorite Bears but even lining up next to N.O. "better OGs" isn't enough to mask the deficiencies in his game these days.

Meet Hall of Fame player: RANDALL MCDANIEL Class of 2009 Guard >>> 6-3, 276 (Arizona State) 1988-1999 Minnesota Vikings, 2000-01 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Is Spaeth too tall? Maybe, but players at a lot of NFL positions along the lines (both sides) are taller these days than they were 10-15 years ago. I don't think the mismatch is always as great as believed. Regardless, he made some great blocks containing the end on many running plays in the preseason. He does not get tossed around like Greg Olsen did.

Sanzenbacher is very instinctive in how he runs his routes. He does those little things that QBs (and coaches) like in how he comes back towards the ball, or shifts away from a defender. After watching replays of him (gotta love the DVR) I can see why Cutler likes him. Jay knows he can throw away from a defender and Sanz will step into spot at the last moment. It has to make Cutler a lot more comfortable throwing into traffic. Earl Bennett has some of that ability as well but for Sanz to display it so early in camp is rare, at least among Bears WR history. I'll add that I wasn't very high on him when the early reports came out but after watching him against some 1's in preseason he still looked good even though he's not that fast. I don't expect him to become something he's not, but I can see how he could be a solid backup WR for us, and eventually end up as a 3rd/4th WR in the league. It's not always about how fast you are, I know you have to have some of those guys but you also need others that know how to get open. If anything, watching Devin Hester's development has proven that.

He isn't worth what Deangelo Williams isn't worth.

Don't want Osi over 30, coming back off knee surgery, and wanting a huge contract.

J. Moore is still eligible for the practice squad.

I disagree over your premise that we only complain about the players. Over the years I've been reading this board there has been plenty of digital ink spilled complaining how the Bears were too cheap to pay good players and that it hurt the team. I think most of us look at each individual situation and evaluate it based on player performance and pay relative to other players/teams around the league. As far as I know, nobody on this board has come out stating that Matt Forte does not deserve a new contract, including me. In fact I've seen more complaints about the Bears dragging out the process but there has been plenty of debate over what the terms of his new contract should be. Of course Forte hasn't demanded a trade.

LOL, I thought about those days but I was a kid back then. About all I can recall from then is thinking that those guys didn't look like they knew what they were doing.

Not at all. You have the freedom to shop your talent and you found a higher bidder. Your employer and you both chose to accept the risk that comes with a "at will" position where either side can terminate the agreement at any time. Briggs too has the freedom to work anywhere he wants. He does not have to work in the NFL and he can walk away tomorrow. He chose to sign that contract and received a huge bonus for doing so (unlike you). He does take the risk that the club will decide they don't want him anymore but in that instance he walks away with that huge bonus money. What you forget is that the club accepted the risk that his performance would stay at a high level for that many years.

I am not comparing my job to an NFL players, not even the money. I am comparing behavior. Briggs publicly threw the entire Bears organization under the bus years ago then the Bears rewarded him with a bigger contract than anyone else offered him. Briggs had more value to the Bears and the Bears honored that. Briggs could have pursued a 3 or 4 year deal with lesser money upfront so he could hit FA again but he wanted the long term deal with bigger bonus. His choice not mine, and now that he made it and got the reward he wants to throw the team under the bus again. This is not the type of locker room leadership I want on the roster. It's one thing if he made a request to team, even if everyone knows he would like a raise, but to rant and rave and then officially demand a trade is total BS IMO. What this team needs is some competition at LB and we're going to get that next year, early in the draft.

I'm surprised we're keeping 5 UDFAs. There is no way the Bears keep Reed and Addison on the roster for the entire year. My guess is that Reed is the better player right now stays and Addison, reportedly a better athlete who needs more time to develop, heads to the practice squad once the Bears sign a backup LB. Also, one thing I didn't realize was that after the first week of the season teams can sign veterans w/ 4 years experience to a non-guaranteed contract. At this point I don't think the Bears have any interest in any veteran Oline so we can take that off the table. Definitely backup LB help is needed. This DeCicco experiment is just that, an experiment that is best done on the practice squad. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Bears doing something at safety, or CB. Did we really keep a FB? What's up with that? Seriously, this is Mike Martz running the offense. Will he even be active on game day? I'll be watching to see how this plays out in week 1.

Why can't we throw something at Michael McCaskey?

1) Unlike Chris Harris and Lance Briggs I have never been given a huge signing bonus that is mine to keep regardless of how well I perform. 2) I have asked for pay raises, certainly, but I didn't do so through the local newspaper and TV networks, nor did I even tell my coworkers. 3) I didn't sign a contract. 4) If I were too stupid to know how to read a contract I would at least maintain enough common sense to never make that so obvious to the entire world.

One way or another, it's always the beginning of the end when the negotiations show up publicly. They're either close or very far apart.

I don't know, I've read some good things about Addison but I haven't seen it.

The deal is he was so good they drafted a rookie early to take his place. Happens all the time with older players, especially those who play a speed position. Alex was never fast coming off the edge, can't even see him being as effective now as he was when he was with us. Let's see what the rookie does this weekend. If he doesn't flash anything, I wouldn't mind having Brown back as our 4th DE.

The good thing is it set the market at what I think is a reasonable price. He's not Gore, no Pro Bowls, Gore has had to earn his accolades on a bad offense with QB issues as well so there's a solid comparison. Forte hasn't quite measured up to what Gore has done but he's not far behind and neither should his contract. I think the Bears will look for something a little longer term though, probably 4 years as suggested above. I'll say 4 years $32 mil and the guarantee in line with Gore's contract around $13-14 mil.

Translation: Taylor knows he needs to stay professional to help his chances at getting another job.

They've gotten a lot better on the pull blocking. Still some misses but compared to the first game where they struck out as often as Sammy Sosa it's a big difference. All these blocking schemes with someone pulling I don't think Carimi always knows his assignments. By the way, did you notice the passing play where we pulled to blockers (OG, TE) simlulating a run play? I don't recall any of that last year so it seems Martz is getting more confident in the Oline, or at least wanted to test them in that scenario. Carimi missed his assignment, or at least seemed confused on which guy to block between the DE and LB and blocked neither.

I thnk they've already decided to stick with the younger Addison and work to develop him, or, more likely, they are content to work with Henry Melton as the 4th DE and will keep an extra DT.

Welcome back! I would say a lot has changed simply because Cutler had 43 pass attempts with only 1 sack. Roy Williams still drops a lot of passes only now he's dropping them for us. On D #91 has really picked up his game and has 3 sacks in the preseason.

To clarify...Taylor is not in the Bears plans other than the fact they plan to try to trade him.

Word is the Bears will hang on to that punter until the last minute to try to trade him. Teams will need a punter and he can kick. I bet the Bears are successful. As far as I'm concerned, if he's better than Podlesh then keep him and trade Podlesh. It's doubtful the Bears will do that after giving Podlesh all that money but I want the best team on the field. I suspect Taylor not getting playing time against the Titans is the Bears keeping him healthy while they work to find a trade. I doubt there will be any offers but it doesn't hurt to ask.

I watched the NFL Network replay today. Haven't had to slow things down and see how our Oline did but my initial thoughts are that those guys were much better than anything we've seen last year or this year. Oline ------------------------------------------------- It was odd listening the Titans broadcasters (Eddie George in particular) compliment our Oline multiple times. They flat out said they never thought the Bears could run the ball against the Titans Dline. Again, I felt Carimi was the worst of the 5. He's young and he'll get better so I'm not worried and at times he delivers some great run blocks. I know they've both been the source of much angst on these pages but I really like how our two athletic guards are shaping up. They are both getting better when they pull they show good quickness adjusting to where the defenders are and/or finding the right guy in the open field to hit. Chris Williams has quietly been.... good. It's like that old adage, if they aren't talking about the Oline that's a good thing. JWebb...for the first time that I can recall he actually drove a guy into the ground. He is starting to play with some attitude and the athleticism that Tice has been talking about since last year is starting to show up. I never saw it last year. It wasn't a perfect game for the Oline but it was pretty good overall. ---------------------------------- For the first time I have seen the Martz offense in a Chicago uniform. Yards were coming in big chunks both runs and passes. Cutler has really grasped what needs to be done out there. Last year on blitzes he held the ball too long. Much has been made about Martz and the lack of audibles but against the Titans (and against the Giants) when blitzes happened Cutler took the hot read and the WR made the adjustment and was ready. For teams blitzing the Bears this year it will be much more difficult to be successful. This is without game planning! Sanzenbacher....this kid is very crafty in the way he runs his routes. Coming back to ball on angles that make it difficult for defenders to track, of finds soft spots in the zone. He looks very natural out there and he's making similar reads as Cutler is. I see why Cutler likes throwing to him. Love him or hate him, Roy Williams will be a big part of our offense. But he won't be the #1 option. This year the ball will be all over the place. Number of receptions leader: Earl Bennett. Receptions yards leader: Hester. Forte has better lateral quickness and more pop to his cuts. Once he makes his cut he is surprising defenders with how quickly he is on them and arriving with more power. When there's no hole on the stretch plays he's still gaining 2 or 3 yards before they can bring him down. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Defense ---------------------------------------------------- Melton looked much better this week. He and Amobi and going to cause some damage upfront. Big Toe will too. As is his usual practice, Peppers was not fully engaged in that game, he wasn't fighting off blocks to make plays. He will once the real games begin. With a couple guys inside being able to get penetration this year I expect a big difference in the entire Dline once the lights go on in week one. We really need Wootton to come back healthy. Gotta have a 3rd guy in the DE rotation. ---------------------------------------------------------- Major Wright ....not yet seeing the instincts. Perhaps he was more conservative in his approach to the game after being burned last week. We need more out of him.