bradjock

Does anyone remember the game vs. the Giants in '05 I believe where Alex Brown sacked Warner 3 or 4 times? That game gave Alex a nice pay raise and sent Warner's ass to the bench in favor of Eli. If he came to Chicago, would we get the pro-bowl caliber Warner or the punching bag. Warner's great when he has the guys he has now, or in St. Louis when he had Marshall Faulk, Issaac Bruce, and Tori Holt. Hester would make one helluva of a #3 deep threat for him . . . unfortunately Hester would be his #1 and Bennett or some rookie his #2. NFO mentioned the major upgrades we'd need for him to be successful and I agree with that. The only problem is, how are we going to do all those things? Hell, if we had a #1 WR, and a much improved offensive line, Orton would be real damn good. If Warner came here he'd be retiring much sooner and we'll still be talking about what QB to bring in. This move would be bad for Warner and for the Bears.

Does anyone remember the game vs. the Giants in '05 I believe where Alex Brown sacked Warner 3 or 4 times? That game gave Alex a nice pay raise and sent Warner's ass to the bench in favor of Eli. If he came to Chicago, would we get the pro-bowl caliber Warner or the punching bag. Warner's great when he has the guys he has now, or in St. Louis when he had Marshall Faulk, Issaac Bruce, and Tori Holt. Hester would make one helluva of a #3 deep threat for him . . . unfortunately Hester would be his #1 and Bennett or some rookie his #2. NFO mentioned the major upgrades we'd need for him to be successful and I agree with that. The only problem is, how are we going to do all those things? Hell, if we had a #1 WR, and a much improved offensive line, Orton would be real damn good. If Warner came here he'd be retiring much sooner and we'll still be talking about what QB to bring in. This move would be bad for Warner and for the Bears.

Does anyone remember the game vs. the Giants in '05 I believe where Alex Brown sacked Warner 3 or 4 times? That game gave Alex a nice pay raise and sent Warner's ass to the bench in favor of Eli. If he came to Chicago, would we get the pro-bowl caliber Warner or the punching bag. Warner's great when he has the guys he has now, or in St. Louis when he had Marshall Faulk, Issaac Bruce, and Tori Holt. Hester would make one helluva of a #3 deep threat for him . . . unfortunately Hester would be his #1 and Bennett or some rookie his #2. NFO mentioned the major upgrades we'd need for him to be successful and I agree with that. The only problem is, how are we going to do all those things? Hell, if we had a #1 WR, and a much improved offensive line, Orton would be real damn good. If Warner came here he'd be retiring much sooner and we'll still be talking about what QB to bring in. This move would be bad for Warner and for the Bears.

Why do you think we'd replace Beekman or Garza with a rookie? Considering we have major needs at FS, QB, DE, WR, and tackle, I can't imagine we'd spent a 1-3 round pick on a guard. While that would be nice, it's far from a priority.

That does seem pretty damn stupid of us to let that money go. That being said, most of the guys you mentioned really weren't worth extending. J. Williams: Given a shot at Hunter's job and was beaten out by Nick Roach. Was he even on special teams at the end? D. Manning: Worthless until the end of the season. He seems like a great nickel-back & kick returner. But we need to see more. M. Anderson: Who??? D. Dvoracek: In 3 seasons he's played in 13 games and he was invisible after the first few weeks. A. Peterson: A man worthy of an extension, but he'll come relatively cheap. N. Roach: Extremely inconsistent. Give Hunter his job back. That leaves John St. Clair, and it's possible we made him an offer and he wanted to see if he could get some big "Left-Tackle" money on the open market. The way those guys get paid is ridiculous. So while I agree with you, I don't think you can throw money at guys just for the sake of getting rid of it.

Have you heard anything about Buenning??? Is he still recovering? Can he return to his pro-bowl form? I haven't heard a damn thing about him other then I think he got some mop-up duty the game Green Bay beat the hell out of us. Isn't he a free agent? If he can return to form, that would be huge for the Bears.

You're damn right this is a major point of discussion. When Rivera was here, our defense carried this team and was viewed as tops in the league. With Rivera gone, our defense has been ranked 21st & 28th. The ONLY major change the defense has seen since that time is with the defensive coordinator. Babbich seems to view things with a sort of "tunnel-vision." Last year we could stop the pass but not the run. This year we could stop the run, but not the pass. Statistically, our defense was tough as hell the first quarter. By round 2, teams made adjustments and started to burn us. When the hell did Babbich ever make an in-game adjustment? We're losing the game, getting killed by the slant pass, yet our corners continue to drop back. Rivera leaving + Babbich Hired ='s defense sucking. This team EASILY makes the playoffs this year if we were close to top 10, like we all expected. It sucks not being in the playoffs. And this defense has sucked for 2 years straight. No more excuses. It's tough for me not to think that if Rivera were still calling the shots, we'd still be playing.

Hell yes! I couldn't agree more. IMO he makes a better LG then Beekman. Not to mention, what if Chris Williams sucks? Or gets hurt again? It's a nice luxury to have a quality tackle as a back-up. Considering he can play the guard position, I'd think signing him would be a necessity. Christ almighty, we're still back Terrance Metcalf for nothing. I hope we find the money for this guy. He can't be that expensive.

Good for Cassel. It's weird when you think how fate touched him. He's been in the league for 4 years making the minimum. So that's a little over a million altogether? Tom Brady gets hurt, he has the luxury of passing to Randy Moss and Wes Welker, so he's set to make close to 15 million. If Tom Brady gets hurt, he'd never have made that much in his life-time. Either way, he would suck with the Bears and it would have been a mistake for us to go after him. Our group of WR's aren't exactly the same caliber.

The problem with our linebacker's blitzing is that seemingly every time we did, our secondary dropped back in coverage. Just off the top of my head, Matt Ryan & Kerry Collins both did that all game against us. They'd stare right at the linebacker, and throw a quick 9 yard pass before we could get close. There were times our lb's could go unblocked and still not get close. That's why I personally don't blame our defensive line as much. Of course it all comes down to the scheme . . .

Not to mention that Rivera's defense brought us 11 & 5 record followed by a 13 & 3 record + Super Bowl appearance. And he was let go??? That's inexcusable. I could be mistaken, but I think our defense was ranked in the low teens Rivera's rookie year. Rod Marinelli and his 32nd ranked defense wouldn't give me much confidence either. Connor mentioned that he wanted to see how it played out, but media believes that Lovie is sticking by his idiot DC, and I have to believe that if Babbich were to go, it would have happened by now. Unbelievable.

Last year around this time, most of the experts pre-drafts had us taking QB Andre Woodson at this time. Of course, by the time the draft rolled around: 1. We'd already given new contracts to Kyle Orton AND Rex Grossman making the idea of drafting a QB at #14 improbable. 2. Andre Woodson had been bad enough in the combine that he slipped to the 6th round. How the hell does a guy go from being projected at #14 overall to #198??? While I can't wait for the April 25-26th draft, I just wanted to rant for a moment that I hate all the pre-combine speculation . . . and I'm bored and pissed that the Vikings are winning in the second quarter.

San Diego was horribly burned on the one play where they were trying to substitute. Other then that, Ron Rivera's defense looked damn good against Indy. In fact, it's amazing how the San Diego defense has improved since he took over. Is there any doubt at this point that it was a huge mistake to let him go? To be honest, when it happened I was ok with it and thought our defense could be even better. Damn I was wrong.

Half the time when I'm posting, I'm watching TV, my two year old is trying to pound on the key-board, and I'm shit-faced drunk It's much easier to hit the "add-reply" button rather then proofreading. It's more of a lack of effort then stupidity. So I don't hold it against anyone for making stupid typos. And I'm too lazy to get Pix's spellchecker.

I don't know who the scouts were, but last off-season the Bears viewed Beekman as being better at center. During OTA's Beekman played center. Not to mention During the first week of training camp, Kreutz was injured, and Beekman became the #1 center while he was out. I don't remember the exact time-table, but what happened was: --Kreutz returned --Williams suffered the back injury forcing us to move St. Clair to LT permanently (we'd planned on starting him at LG) --Terrance Metcalf got injured, and we discovered that Beekman wasn't as bad as Metcalf. Thus Beekman kept the job. I view Beekman as being a good back-up who can play both guard spots and center.

First off, I'm sure LT would tell you that if we really wanted to find money to pay Boldin, we could make it happen. That being said, it would really hurt our ability to make other moves. When you throw in that we'd probably need to give up a first and 3rd round pick . . . that's just irresponsible. Especially when we have needs at safety, DE, o-line, and QB. Either way, I agree with you, it ain't going to happen. That being said, why does everyone assume the Cardinals won't pay both? They've got that new stadium and this is the first time the Cardinals have made the playoffs since they were in Chicago or something like that. Washington & Dallas have proven you can always find a way to pay a guy if you really want to.

1. Beekman's a fringe starter at best. The guy works his ass off, but he's not very big and he's not very fast. Regardless of where St. Clair plays, we need to sign him as insurance for Chris Williams. Not to mention Tait may be gone after next year. He's not what I want in replacement, but he can play the position. 2. Thanks for pointing that out about Rashied Davis. You're correct. According to rotoworld he signed a 3 year 3.87 million $$$ contract. He's one of those guys like Adrian Peterson who are great for rounding out your roster and can do multiple things, as long as you don't expect too much from them. The Sun Times reported that Nick Roach is an exclusive rights free agent but he's expected to return.

At this point for me, the biggest question is what free agents of our own to we resign? Especially since some of these players we're talking about will have their deals redone, or like Asomugha, get the franchise tag slapped on them. Luckily for the Bears, we're a 9 & 7 team and we don't have major holes to fill, other then WR. From the free agents I can think of: John St. Clair: He's solid & versatile. I'd like to see him become our starting LG. Not to mention, how much can we really trust Chris Williams to be healthy AND good. We need to bring him back. Brandon Lloyd: He's in a contract year and refuses to suit up until he's 100%??? See ya jackass. Dan Buenning: We didn't hear a damn thing about him. I'm really curious to see where he stands with the team. I leave this as a ??? Mike Brown: Unless we find a better safety, we might as well continue to run him out there. Payne looks ok, Steltz is mediocre, and I never want to see D Manning do anything but play the nickel and return kicks. Sign him. Brandon McGowan: We're likely to draft another safety so it's unlikely we'll have room for him. Let him walk. Rashied Davis: LOVE him as a #5 WR and ST's player. Sign him.

Agreed about Asomugha. I love to have him, but we already have one of the highest paid defenses in the league, and we aren't very good. I don't see how throwing even more money at the problem will fix it. I want to see us continue drafting corners. Don't forget that Zach Bowman will be back.

Pix, I was thinking the same as you about moving Vasher to safety, but considering he sucks in run support, and great at ball-hawking, he'd be ideal at free safety. Hell, he'd pretty much lost his job to Corey Graham to begin with, so what's there to lose? He looks as though he has better speed then Mike Brown, Kevin Payne, Steltz, or any other FS candidate. Not to mention, I think we've found our nickel-back in Dannieal Manning. He looked great there towards the end of the season, until the last game when we tried playing him as the FS also, which he once again proved he couldn't handle. I disagree with moving Tillman. Tillman will never be great, but he's good, and he's by far our best cornerback. Sure he got burnt by Andre Johnson, but who didn't this season?

What's even more disturbing is the Sun Times is reporting that DB's coach Wilkes had conflicts with Babich. So Ron Rivera has conflicts with Lovie. Rivera is fired, and the defense gets worse. So now we're blaming Wilkes??? Wow. It looks like we want Marinelli to be our defensive-line coach. That's ok, but until our secondary quits leaving people wide open, the defense will never have enough time to get pressure on the quarterback. Two years of having one of the highest paid defenses in the league, while being one of the worst defenses in the league. Something has to give.

From Profootballtalk.com URLACHER ON HIS CRITICS: ‘THEY DON’T KNOW FOOTBALL’ Posted by Aaron Wilson on January 1, 2009, 6:26 p.m. Chicago Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher unleashed a personal blitz package after being knocked by critics who questioned whether his game is slipping, lashing out after the Bears didn’t make the playoffs and he was only voted as a third Pro Bowl alternate for the NFC squad. “I’m tired of criticism that is unwarranted,” Urlacher told the Chicago Tribune. “People who say stuff about me, they don’t know our defense. They don’t know football. Yes, I wish I would have made a lot more big plays. Obviously, everyone could say that on our defense. I wish I was around the ball more, but I wasn’t. Just the way things worked out this season.” Urlacher didn’t lead the Bears in tackles this season, finishing third on the defense with 107 stops after recording 171 in 2005 when he was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Urlacher sounds genuinely miffed about regularly taking flack for defensive breakdowns, playing the sarcasm card to the hilt. “Yeah, that was my fault,” Urlacher said regarding a 47-yard run by Texans rookie Steve Slaton in a regular-season finale on which a playoff appearance was hinging. “Every long touchdown we gave up this season, it was my fault. Every time a receiver caught a pass for a touchdown, it was my fault too. In Atlanta, when the guy caught that pass that allowed them to kick the field goal, that was my fault.” Although Bears general manager Jerry Angelo was generally upbeat in his comments about Urlacher, a six-time Pro Bowl selection, coach Lovie Smith was more guarded and probably realistic in his take. “Brian, at times, played well this past year,” Smith said. “And other times, he needed to pick up a little bit.” Based on Urlacher’s lucrative contract and perennial high expectations, he’ll need to reclaim his old form next year.

I keep hearing about how bad our d-line is, but I swear there were times the other team could have played without an offensive line. We could have rushed 4 guys unblocked and the QB would have taken 3 steps back and thrown it to a wide open receiver before we got close to touching him. IMO it's tough to tell how bad our d-line is when our secondary was ridiculous. Either way Babbich must go. Although replacing him with the guy who's team had the 32nd defense in the league doesn't inspire much confidence.

I remember after last year's draft all the "experts" were blasting Tennessee for drafting RB Chris Johnson when they so badly needed a WR. All Johnson did was help them establish the #2 running-game in the NFL, next to the Giants, and help establish them as arguably the #1 team in the NFL. This is a copy-cat league, and we're not that far off from doing what they did on offense. Which is: #1--Establish a dominate running game. This means we'll need to add another explosive running back and beef up on our offensive line. A lot would hinge on how good Chris Williams can be. #2--Utilize the TE's: Tennessee's top WR was Bo Scaife, and they used Algae Crumpler a ton also. I expect a huge improvement from Kellen Davis this year, and I don't even need to mention Olsen & Clark. #3--Short passing game: Justin Gage is actually good in this system as a possession receiver with Tennessee. Hester's proven to be a more explosive over the middle receiver then a deep down-field threat where he likes to play "hot-potato" with the football. Orton's passing skills are best suited to the short passing game. This seems pretty damn simple to me really, and not that hard for the Bears to do, given what we already have. Granted our success wold depend on the defenses ability to not suck, but our success hinges on that anyway.

I'd love to get him. I wouldn't mind giving up a 1st & 3rd round draft pick. I wouldn't mind the 9 million+ cap cap hit. But I do have a problem with giving both, especially when McNabb's 32 and injury-prone. Three years ago Bears fans were pleading for Dante Culpepper. Last year some were begging for Derek Anderson. You go all out to get one player and it cripples your franchise when it doesn't work. With the luck the Bears have had at QB, and as bad as our WR's are, it could be disastrous. Matt Forte is no Brian Westrbrook, and much rather have Desean Jackson & Kevin Curtis over our WR's. If Philly dumps him, we should pursue him in free agency. Otherwise, no thanks.