lemonej

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What you are saying that of the group of players I mentioned that Harris is incorrect. I thank you for the correct info. Is it fair to say that this team's evaluation of DL maybe higher than that of RB? Right now Forte is just as important to this current set of Bears as Payton was or even Neal Anderson in his prime. IMO the only D-lineman that is more valuable to the Bears than Forte is Peppers an All Pro.We are talking about the players who this team has rewarded under this GM and the number has been overwhelmingly for defensive players and even when they have persued players via FA again the number is slanted towards defensive players. Based on what is happeneing right now Forte deserves this team to at least keep talking to his representation because on the field it is obvious he is not distracted.

We have seen in games where he has adjusted in the past season at the half. Dallas when Cutler was getting hit repeatedly, Carolina when Cutler was looking for birdies and he started to feature Forte and against the Jets when he took shots down the field when it looked as though the Jets were lining up one on one with the Bears WRs and that allowed them to get Forte isolated on routes in the passing game.What most of us are complaining about Martz IMO is that when he can clearly see that some plays are at risk versus a defense he stubbornly continues to call them. Like GB ,Det and NO. Like Jason is saying take what is working its not about balance if the run is being stuffed take what the defense is giving you but I will add when you are up late try to slow the game down for the other team and run some clock and empty backfield sets with Forte split out wide doesn't make sense IMO. I remember so well in the playoff game against Seattle how the one position that Martz supposedly ignores was utilized and actually jump started the game for the Bears. He is a very smart man that tends to get stubborn. This is a different kind of NFL now but when the game needs to be won you need to be able to run the ball and the defense needs to be able to stop the other team.

Its heartwarming when one of our Bears brothren from abroad gets a chance to witness the team live and see a victory. Since you are such a loyal fan I am very happy for you.

Great Post!

Agreed and with more familiarity with what they are doing and injuries causing depth problems especially at RB, the Lions are showing signs of vulnerabilty and a lot of that can be tied to their playing with a lot of emotion which causes big let downs when you lose.With a suspect secondary and fair O-line injuries could change this team's fortunes quickly. If this team becomes one dimensional because of the injuries at RB. That will allow teams to tee off on Stafford and as Thom Brennaman says"That is a recipe for disaster". If you notice it always seems the Bears approach the season like a turtle racing a rabbit, slow and steady and at the end they have a chance to win(or rip our hearts out).

IMO if Forte was a defensive player he would have gotten his deal by now. JA has a very low value of RBs going back to A Train, trading Jones and dumping Benson. Cutler is the only offensive player that I can recall that JA locked up quickly. The only other playmaker signed to a deal was Hester but, Vasher,Harris,Alex Brown,Mike Brown, and Urlacher all got deals beforeseasons end or whatever the salary cap deadline is which doesn't apply this year.

I agree and Tampa started to run blitz in the 2nd half and the play when Barber tackled Cutler in the 4th qtr was obviously a run blitz based on the formation and with no audibles or blitz recognition the play was blown up because Barber almost took the snap from center.The Bucs also started to load up the box but if the Bears continued to run to one of the edges with a lead blocker instead of calling some of the empty backfield plays when it is obvious that this OL could use some help. I really don't care if they passed in the 2nd half but some of the pass plays that Cutler threw picks on the WR was surrounded by defenders (Thats on Cutler) and it seemed that he was the only WR in the route from what the replay showed. BTW is it me or does it seem that some of the Bears WRs don't understand how to help run clock by staying in bounds late in games?

After lots of black coffee and a whole 8 hours of work and of course (For you Mad L) "The Hair Of The Dog" I'll explain my reasoning. LT Williams has shown better movement in a close space and might be ready to assume the position that he was drafted to play. Also its a bye week and a Mon Nite game to have enough practices to give it a try. LG Spencer quietly he has shown more than I ever expected from him when I thought that he was here to play center. C Garza he has been steady as a rock with minimal mistakes. At times he has struggled with calling some of the protections or maybe his linemates as well Cutler have been slow to recognize what they are seeing. RG Lance Louis Wow the guy who I was totally against in the starting lineup is arguably playing the best. I almost want him to stay at RT. RT Carimi if he is fully recovered (Columbo paranoia) put him back where you drafted him to play and honor the unwritten rule of not losing the starting position due to injury. BTW Some of the replays on the Forte runs has shown Louis,Spencer and Spaeth doing outstanding jobs either creating a crease or sealing the edge.

With Stafford being injured(Day to Day) and the growing faction of NFL players calling out Suh the bloom on this rose may be fading.This all may be attributed to their very emotional coach.Best injured as well as the whole league is starting to see what it is the Lions are doing. The other thing I like is that they don't have a bye this week and the Bears can prepare for both the Eagles and Lions their next two opponnents.

LTChris Williams LG Chris Spencer C Garza RG Lance Louis RT Gabe Carimi IMO Webb should be the odd man out if Tice's decree that he will put the best 5 on the field. BURP!

My top 3 Rodgers begrudgingly Forte Megatron My reasoning is simple Rodgers is clearly the best QB in the league and those that continue to ride the Brady wagon will realize that when he is pressed he makes mistakes like any other ordinary QB.Rodgers OTOH improvises better than any QB in the league.Forte being 46 % of the Bears O and the total leader in yards from scrimmage gives him consideration and the amount of scoring plays that Calvin Johnson has makes him a candidate.

Of Sayers 56 TDs didn't 22 of them come in his rookie season? If that is the case then the remaining 34 came in 6 years. Sayers was on kickoff,punt returns and started at RB. RBs generally get more touches than WRs so again as a person who actually have seen both players careers I feel comfortable saying that Hester is the greatest returner in the NFL that I have ever witnessed playing.Back when Sayers (My Chilhood Idol) played teams knew he was the man on the Bears similar to Payton but once the Bears got the ball they couldn't avoid him getting the ball. When Hester has his prime opportunities kickoff and punt, teams can simply kick away from him which again enhances the case for Hester.

This near comeback was strictly based on turnovers(Ints) and suspect play calling.Once the Bears were up by 16 the run calls moved between the tackles.The pass plays with what looked like one receivers routes also limit the QBs abilty to have check downs.When the Bears built the lead in the first half they were destroying the edges especially the offensive right and defensive left. I thought Lance Louis and Chris Spencer had outstanding games. On almost every big run both of those two had either key blocks to seal the edge or open up a lane to run through. The suspect play calling on defense was when Marinelli continued to bring extra rusher when it seemed obvious that Tampa was isolating their TE one onone against the Bears safeties and they were catching safeties matched up against their WRs. Two plays, the Winslow TD and Briscoe both were against Conte and Harris. The Bears for most of the first half and part of the 3rd qtr controlled the game but the two coordinators almost gift wrapped the game for the Bucs.

It was Roman Harper I believe who not only was not fined on the play but also not penalized. He was penalized afterwards during the game for a hiy on Cutler.

As usual you bring it(Truth) and I have to say that could that kickoff rule change have anything to do with Hester?That safety crap is nonsense.Large men running full speed towards each other is going to result in injuries. I believe whoever is on the rules committee proposed this change to directly affect Hester and Cribbs who are currently the 2 most electrifying returners in the game.

As the son of a truck driver there are really no words that can offend me when I was exposed to the colorful language at an early age. I do believe that if you are at a keyboard and typing vulgairties then maybe you should check yourself but, if its in the heat of the moment lol.... You have a right to take someone to task about one of your personal heroes and like I said when I responded to his post,what did he expect?

I watched a recent Saints game either last Sunday or the previous one because the Bears game was on Mon and Sun Nite and Kreutz was not on the field. So the fact that he was going to be sitting on the bench may have been a bitter pill to swallow.

Deon also had KO and Punt returns also so it is more impressive that Hester is doing his deal on kicks and punts only and Hester is like really close to that total number right now. Then we must also take into account that the HOF is similar to the Pro Bowl voting.With quite a few former Bears able to vote and Deon Sanders stomping for him I like his chances down the road since he is long from being done.

Don't change your deal DTG. Don't give Pearlman credit for crap. He followed you to continue to create more buzz and I'm sure that if he really wanted to participate in real Bears discussion he wouldn't be inviting people to email him @ whatever his email address is and intstructing people what to type in and what he won't respond to.

If you ask me who has been fortunate enough to watch all of the players whose records he has surpassed and none of those guys are in the hall. If he is able to surpass Rod Woodson and Deon Sanders in total returns, they would be hard pressed not to vote him in. I was totally in the Gayle Sayers camp as the Bears greatest returnman after Hester's rookie year but since then I am totally on board as saying that he is the greatest returner that I have ever seen. My football viewing goes all the way back to 66.The Bears alone have had quite a few guys that could electrify the crowd. Sayers,Cecil Turner, Ron "Gingerbread Man" Smith,Ike Hill, Charley Wade, Willie Gault, Dennis McKinnon,Dennis Gentry,Nate Lewis and Glyn Milbyrn. Besides Sayers all the other guys only had moments with the team. I named all these guys because some of us can remember them. Cecil Turner I believe was the first guy who's record for the team returns went down by Hester. Gingerbread Man Smith never called for a fair catch on punt returns so I believe he is the only guy in my Bears' history not to call for a fair catch.

Flea you have one score not accounted for so shall I add Hester to make it 7 TDs?

I'm not surprised and I'm not overjoyed either. Like I have said before he was done and should have realized so.

This long winded self promoting post is just that long winded and self promoting. First of all some of the rumors about Payton being a "Ladies Man" are old news.Former NFL players and pain killers old news as many of the 63 Bears openly talked about taking injections on the sidelines during games.Dick Butkus famously was shot up so that he could continue to play.I'm sure that if you asked Dan Hampton who routinely was off for the minimum of 4 weeks after an arthroscopic surgery how he was able to play,I'm sure he would say that pain killers helped.The fact that Payton's liver did him in is also a tell-tale sign that he might have had a few pain killers too many in his system, since that is the organ that has to filter what we put in our systems.All I want to know is why it took this long for you to decide that you should "Out" this info? I have know idea what you expected the reaction to be when you come on a Bears message board after attacking one of the top 5 iconic figures in Bears history. I personally have never read a tell all book about any celebrity/sports figure /politician etc., so I for one will not spend my money for your book ever even if it shows up at my local resale shop for $.49. I could care less about Payton's conquest off the field because that was his business. When he was on the field in a Bears uniform he gave his all and thats all that most true Payton fans care about.

I'm not a fan of them giving up anymore draft picks even if the GM has struggled making picks. If these teams really want to move these players wait them out.