Alaskan Grizzly

Thanks Pix. I was having second thoughts after starting it. I agree that we can be plenty devisive when it comes to talking about the Bears. Especially if the topic is Jay Cutler or drafting Olinemen in the first round! Go Bears.

Grrrr... ?

Stinger; once again you manage to jump to the wrong conclusion. Are you familiar with the term 'critical thinking' or "analysis"? That being where if you see something that doesn't make sense you question it? There's a huge difference between that and what you are familiar with as you call 'bitching' of complaining. Perhaps you're too sensitive to realize the differences? Anyhow my point had nothing to do with complaining, but instead questioning some of the moves as of late. I'm not hoping to be vindicated in my thinking (cause I know you'll say that) but believe it or not, hope to be wrong and way off base. The only way to find out is let the season play out. I know you and I will at least agree on that.

Historically Fangio has always been this way. Tells it like he sees it. Gotta believe it's his way of motivating people. http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/2013...96716308593750I

Cause and effect Adam. Not necessarily literally. Slausen leaves; they think Grasu is the answer. Oops. So they go and get Sitton and move a guy, whose never played Center (ever - that we know of). And one week before the start to the season no less. A few years ago they draft White, hoping he could become the next #1 or 2 receiver and oops, he goes down with an injury. Right around the time this takes place they let BM walk and boom, AJ is our #1 WR. And apparently not happy about any of it. To make matters worse who were the rest of the guys on the WR roster during that time? Oh yeah, Eddie Royal was one of them. Oops. This LS mystery is just a small piece of the pie. Aaron Brewer, who was on the roster when Gould was cut and about the time Barth was signed and actually played with Barth in Denver for a short time. Alas, they release him and bring back Scales. ???? Isn't the kicking game (FGs and XPs) all about timing and routine and familiarity? How much timing and routine and familiarity can they get in one week? Just doesn't make sense given the circumstances.

This article below outlines some of the concerns I've posted in other strings. Why cut Gould when they did? Why release one long snapper (who actually had some time with our 'new' kicker) for the other long snapper that was released a few days ago (Scales)? Some of you have reminded me time and again that our team is doing a younger generation renaissance. And when I asked before why we'd cut ties with the likes of Slausen, its because "he's not athletic enough" or he "doesn't fit the scheme" or "he's too old". Guest what? Sitton and Slausen are the same age. And from the looks of things, similar build. And here's another piece of information to the good of Slausen: we know he's played Center before. Sitton? Maybe. Instead they want to essentially force the new guy, Whitehair, into a situation at center that he has no measurable experience at. And what's more, one week before the regular season. As the article points out there are many players going into this week with HUGE question marks over their heads. I hope for the sake of our team, Pace isn't making a worse mess of things. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/colum...905-column.html

Agreed about Mariani. Don't get why he was released and Royal was kept. Hasn't put more than two full years together as of late. Unfortunately it sounds as though Mariani may be back in LA or Tennessee now(?)

https://mobile.twitter.com/AdamSchefter/sta...628288653107200 Josh Sitton signing a 3-year, $21.75 million deal that includes $10M guaranteed with the Chicago Bears, per source.

Hmmm. Marshall, Slauson, Forte and now Gould? Do these guys ever have a backup plan in place when they make these choices? At least with Forte they appear to have a plan but with Gould they decided to cut bait and bring in a new guy a week before the regular season. I'm beginning to think TD was right in questioning some of this management teams decisions.

In the few highlights I've seen and the few other preseason games he's been in, I haven't been all that impressed with White. I understand that perhaps the offense has been vanilla so far both to allow him getting comfortable and not reveal really what he could do; but until I see otherwise I'm starting to have my doubts. Amari Cooper (his peer) came out of the blocks hot last year and I was hoping to at least see that much potential from White. Maybe the best is yet to come? I'm still holding my breath.

Hue Jackson is a no nonsense guy. He's respected throughout the league from what I've seen. I saw the incident they refer to when punter Lee essentially passed on making a tackle when the opponent ran back a punt for a TD. I'm sure that wasn't the only thing that made the Browns decide to move him. Just like reading that not only is Williams 'disagreeing' about his injury, he was suspended for the last two games because he violated 'unspecified team rules'. Jackson must have seen or known something that made him decide to move on. Something tells me we'll find out soon enough what that was. His alleged ailment; bone spurs in his foot, is something that could be troubling. Especially if he's going to try and 'tough it out'. Not sure what the hesitation on his (Williams) part is to not get it fixed.

Unless he can play o-line, probably no(?) But then again Fox does know him.

With the way the Oline has been perfoming I'm not sure they could keep Virginia McCaskey from sacking Jay let alone whoever may be backing up watt. Romo, I suspect, is done. Dak Prescott appears to be the real deal.

I looked at this similarly but more specifically how John Fox has done as a head coach for preseason and he's about .500 when it comes to career (something like 27-23ish). I didn't see how he did in the preseason before any regular season where he went over .500, especially during the two Super Bowl runs he made with Carolina or Denver. But I do know that although He had a pretty well built team in Denver with Peyton eventually coming along he did manage to put some good regular seasons together with the likes of Jake Delhomme and Tim Tebow. Not to say Cutler is the root of the issue (not at all); just that usually your supporting cast can help significantly more when you're making those winning season runs. And one last point I thought of earlier today while watching a Cutler interview from yesterday. He said they were operating about 67.3% on offense yesterday and had a lot more to show that they hadn't yet. I certainly hope so Jay because what we saw yesterday wasn't pretty.

I'm not sure how I quite understand what happened here over three preseason games. Game looked like a typical 1st preseason game out of the chute. Only real downer was the shutout. Then in game two it was the first stringers coming out of the gate with an 11-0 run (?) until the second and third stringers came out. Then this. WTh? The D looked just bad. Couldn't get off the field to save itself. When the offense was on the field it's as if they couldn't wait to go back and sit down. AJ dropping passes, the Oline just passing altogether, Cutler looking like his trademark 'don't care' and then the only potential bright spot (at least yesterday) Shaw goes down with a broken leg. And injuries. Holy cripes! Porter - concussion, Long - shoulder, Fuller - knee, McPhee - knee(?), Grasu - knee. Those are the ones just off the top of my head. I'm sure there's more but these are all at key positions that obviously are affecting how things are going. If it wasn't for John Fox being the head coach and knowing we've been here before (2010) Id be panicked. For now I'm more at a slow simmer of nervousness.

Yikes... What was it 25:5 mins TOP KC:CHI? And when the offense did have the ball...ugh I'll save some of my personal observations as anyone watching can take a pick at which part of the offense is a mess.

On the one hand I'm not too keen on another "hot head" to the mix (ergo Bennett and Marshall) and especially with this current team make-up. On the other if he's similar to Kreutz in that his 'a-hole-ishness' translates to good play then yeah, I'm down. However if you recall Kreutz not only was aggressive on game day but with his own teammates on their off days. Wasn't it he who broke Fred(?) Miller's jaw while hanging out at the range and after getting into a fight? How would Fox put up with guys like that nowadays?

IN other news; Cromartie is said to be in Indy where a "desperate Colts team" is looking for some DB help. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300000068...desperate-colts Guessing the Bears are done with him.

Stinger; as usual you jump to the wrong conclusion. This has nothing to do with 'holding onto the past' but rather if we're doing a youth movement, we need to stick to that . Not bring in old players with nagging injuries. That being said, perhaps Cromartir could play some safety to prolong his career(?) I'm fairly certain Peanut could have had he decided to make the move. That was just something he wasn't interested in. Something tells me Forte has a few more productive years in him. But we'll see.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/...-playing-again/

Let me first say I really like the guy. Great player and strong veteran presence but I'm not sure I like the motivation. A couple issues. 1) I thought we were in a 'youth movement'? Didn't we lose Slausen, Peanut and Forte due to them being older and less reliable? We can see how losing one or two solid pieces (even if older) the line has had a hard time rebounding from. And in the def backfield; we have a lot of uncertainty opposite Porter (another oldie but goodie - more on him in a second). 2) this to me smells of a little desperation. I didn't realize our CB corps was so injured. 2-3 potential starters are laid up for various reasons yet now we may consider a 10 year vet (who himself has an injury history) as a replacement. On paper this seems counter intuitive. Now the good side. Porter, for as old as he is, has really done well and played beyond his years, last year and this year so far. Cromartie, I feel, could be just as good if not better. I like the thought of him being able to stick. But then again I would have liked keeping Forte, Slausen and Peanut too.

Marinelli might be a little old to play Slot Receiver at 70(?). Besides isn't he the Dallas D-Coord right now? ( I kid, I kid). With Royal injured - again - I'm not sure how much longer he'll last. I know he's got a rather fancy contract but what difference does that make if he's chronically injured? I'm thinking Thompson has a strong case as the KR AND a lower round WR (5th or 6th backup). Kid's got speed and runs good routes. And yeah I'm really happy to see Jones doing well. He seemed to have way too much potential to be lost.

Thanks Adam. So was Jones playing out of the OLB spot? I assume so. I saw the stat line and Shaws performance did look pretty favorable. Maybe they should try him in the #2 next week? Ever since Bravemans come to us all they could say was what a workout fiend he is; not much has been said how well he's performed. It's not looking favorable. Maybe they'll be a place for him on the PS.

Thanks for this. I noticed it wasn't being aired live in my neck of the woods so the first I'll be able to put eyes on this will be Saturday. Anyone going to be doing a game thread tonight?

Good to see Bellamy and Mariani are also cast in a positive light. I'm personally a fan of both (although I wish Bellamy would give White #11). Sadly it looks as though Royal may soon be on his way out.