CrackerDog

@ Steelers Likely W @ Lions Possible vs. Saints Possible vs. Giants Likely W @ Redskins Likely W @ Packers Possible vs. Lions Possible vs. Ravens Likely W @ Rams Likely W @ Vikings Possible vs. Cowboys Possible @ Browns W @ Eagles Possible vs. Packers Possible If we get 75% of the likely and 50% of the possible, this means 11.75 W's. This is an upgrade over my preseason expectation of 8 to 10 wins by 2 to 4 W's. Sounds like I'm drinking the Kool-Aid.

Now that we're off to a better start than most (I) expected, what do you think of the remaining schedule? @ Steelers @ Lions vs. Saints vs. Giants @ Redskins @ Packers vs. Lions vs. Ravens @ Rams @ Vikings vs. Cowboys @ Browns @ Eagles vs. Packers

I'm not sure there's as much correlation there as you suggest but fine, I'm happy with it. I'd like to know if Hester returned for over 200 yards on ST those other times too. That made a big difference yesterday. Every time the Vikes stuck a dagger in our hearts, Hester responded on the next kickoff, it seemed. Regardless, Cutler is on a 4,250 yard pace which is better than he's done since leaving the Broncos. He's also on a pace for 40 TD's which would be amazing. I sure hope he doesn't end up with 24 picks though, which would be near his career high.

We were lucky to play the Colts on opening day last year or they likely beat us. That actually turned out to be a big win, all things considered. Unfortunately we left too many W's on the table last year.

What shaky start? Preseason? Other than that comment, you're points are both spot on. Forte was the one guy in fantasy football I really wanted. He's going to have a tremendous year.

Yeah, I seem to recall thinking the Bears should've been ahead 24-0 at some point in the first half and it was tied at 21, I think. Crazy game. Frankly, to echo what some have already said here, on a macro level there's positives and negatives to this win. Under Lovie Smith I doubt the team makes this many boneheaded errors (particularly on ST) and thus, they aren't losing at any point in this game, most likely. On the other hand, if they did fall behind, most likely, they aren't coming back to win. I thought tackling improved in this game, the pass rush was poor. Plenty to be excited about on O except the mistakes which were plentiful. I can forgive Jay the fumble on that sloppy field but even that he needs to do better. Forte's fumble wasn't preventable, IMO. He was in an awkward position and the Viking made a play. The pick in the end zone needs to be avoided. I don't care if the man was open, you don't go late there over a crowded middle. With that said, RUN THE DAMN BALL in that situation. Sheesh! The deep pass to Marshall, I agree with someone else in the thread, I believe Marshall should've made a play for it and at least broken it up. That one isn't on Jay. He's supposed to make that throw, trusting Marshall. Overall, you can't be disappointed with two W's over playoff teams. Yesterday should've been a lot easier but it was still a W. PS. How about Hester!!!

Sounds about right. I don't think he'd have gotten fined at all if it weren't for his opening his mouth earlier in the week talking about it before he did it. I swear, some of this dipshits need to grow a brain. Regardless, it's always great to see the Packers, low lifes that they are, fined for being stupid.

My personal favorite at Ditka's is the Kick Ass Paddle Steak which is a bone-in rib-eye. Outstanding! I've heard great things about the pot roast nachos but have never had them myself.

Timothy O'Toole's is known as a Bears bar. It's in the Streeterville area where the pizza places are but you could also get some good pub food there. They have a free shuttle for Sunday games but you'd need to call them to find out if they were going to do it for a Monday night game. I'm not sure. Their website is http://www.timothyotooles.com/chicago. If you got a hotel room in the same area this would make more sense than if you plan on driving home that night. Just throwing it out there as an idea for you and/or anyone else thinking of coming in for a game in the future.

Selection7 said: Do you really think a guy who's been in the league for 13 years (and his professional agent) wouldn't know if it was standard procedure to issue a statement within seconds of hanging up the phone? OK, you said you think Brian is exaggerating the time, but does it change Brian's story if the real length of time was 5 minutes? You could see in his retelling the story the genuine shock he had when it happened. He could be lying, sure, but I doubt it. And at this point, the only way Brian looks bad in all this is if he's literally lying about most everything. Meanwhile, the Bears' silence is deafening. I didn't have a lot of time last night to address your comments in more detail. I still want you to re-read my post because I think I was very fair to Brian. With that said, I'll respond more directly to your comments I pasted above. No, I don't think Brian or his agent were confused by the speed at which the Bears got their press release issued. As I said, I'm positive the Bears had it ready to go as they probably already had a good idea that Brian was going to reject their offer. It was in their best interest to rip the Band-Aid off quickly. I don't blame the Bears for doing this that quickly given the need to control the message. Frankly, if Brian weren't just now whining about it all in public, more than likely to get more press for the fact that he's now a commentator, this would be a dead issue. He would've gone quietly into that good night and the Bears would be able to bring him back like all of their other mega-stars for various events. He's making his bed now. I hope he shuts up. I don't think Brian is lying. He's had his say, it should end here. The Bears should remain silent. Getting into a tit for tat argument with him at this point would serve no purpose. They could've handled it better than they did but they needed to move on and Brian should do the same.

Dude, you and I mostly agree. Read my comments again. I'm taking Brian's side but adding in a touch of realism. By offers I mean his camps offers as well as the Bears.

I stayed completely out of the hiring debate because I wanted to be free to be unbiased. If I picked a horse I'd feel the need to defend him. Just how I am. With that said, I have to admit, I like what I see thus far. A few L's in a row will change things a little. No, seriously, I think they hired the right guy.

Dude, I couldn't agree with you more. I can't listen to sports talk radio anymore. I used to be an avid fan of it. Woke up every morning to The Bull & Bear show. Now I think the broadcasters are more interested in saying stupid shit to stir up trouble, get lots of idiotic calls from idiotic fans... That's a show. It's like political discourse these days. Nobody can have a reasonable conversation anymore, it's all yelling. Jerry Springer's style of show has taken over everywhere.

Honestly, I see nothing wrong with Urlacher telling this story. I don't see him as being butt hurt or whatever. This sounds like the honest way it went down. The Bears steered this to remove him, which is kind of asshole-ish but whatever, they wanted to move on. I think they need to learn from this, that you DON'T treat your stars this way at the end of their careers. They should've went to Brian the way he suggested in this interview and put it out there for him to consider. I realize he's probably glossing over the fact that his agent probably wasn't negotiating as nicely as Brian is suggesting so the Bears probably had few options. At the end of the day, a few offers went back and forth before they said you have our final offer. He chose not to take it and the Bears moved on. The whole 30 seconds thing I don't believe. It was probably quick but not that fast. I do know that professional organizations want to control the message so they didn't want to wait and have Brian's agent out there spinning. They, without question, had the press release ready to go and hit send when the time came. End of story.

Still the same way today and all of the notes talk about next week so this is intentional. To everyone else, I realize this is just the writer's opinion and he works for USA Today, blah blah blah. That isn't the point. In fact, I'm not even ready to say the Bears are top ten! What I am saying, however, is this sports writer is f*cking lazy. If you spend more than 5 seconds doing your job properly, you don't put the team the Bears just beat one slot ahead of them. It's asinine. And this is one example of millions reflecting how weak the typical sports writer's brain is.

Take a look at THIS and tell me if anything jumps out at you. I know, I know, I shouldn't pay attention to this stuff. But when they just saw the two teams face each other and they're ranking 10 & 11, you'd think they'd give the nod to the team that WON THE GAWD DAMN GAME. I hate sports writers.

LOL! I'm against any new Webb threads being started on this board but damn dude, that was funny!

Absolutely right! I mean, sure, Suh is being charged $100k which is a big number but how big is it in comparison to Bostic's who makes so much less and which took place during a preseason game which he gets paid almost nothing for. The punishment needs to fit the crime! Bostic's hit was borderline legal (if not totally legal) and in the motion of an actual tackle, while Suh is a repeat offender and his hit was clearly unnecessary! I don't know anymore. Goodell needs to get his head out of his ass. As to the Packer's hit this weekend. It was flagged and is probably fine-worthy as well. Because of the premeditation, for certain. But Harbaugh is a whiney bitch about his QB's getting hit too. I mean, if you want to expose your QB's to those hits and you're OK with the rewards, be prepared to pay the price and quit your crying.

He's a scumbag. If $100k fine doesn't wake him up then he'll need to be suspended for a substantial portion of the season. I'd say 3 games minimum with the next offense and then indefinitely thereafter. If I were a lineman I'd dive at his knees every play. Take him out before he could do it to me. And potentially save the careers of countless others by remove him from the game, hopefully permanently.

My recollection is he gets more inaccurate as you put hits on him. Favre used to be the exact opposite. Ol' Jethro would take it as a personal slight and come back at you even stronger. God, I hated that guy. But he earned my respect, even as a Packer.

Vick's pass to his TE for the TD was a laser. I'm not sure forcing him to throw will work. He's pretty good. But he'll weaken as the season rolls on. The human body isn't made to take that much punishment and QB bodies can't get hammered by LB bodies for long before performance degrades.

Yep. I was wrong about them not being ready for the season.

Crazy. But frankly these two teams aren't any more ready for the season than the Bears were. This is being blamed on the CBA but let's be honest, teams COULD play their starters more than a few downs in the preseason. That might be what needs to happen.

It's an amazing shot. Really shows his "mean". Haven't had that on the line since Olin. Anyone know when it occurred in the game?

Yep, that's why I mentioned Bill. I get that same feeling, albeit VERY early in his career and way too early to tell. I just hope for a nicer version because Bill B is total asshole. I like your word philosophical.