Wesson44

We need to get away from the 5'9' WR type in Davis. We have the WR'S/TE to create a few mismatches that we should use to our advantage against smaller defenders like Olsen 6'5, Davis 6'7' Rideau and Aromashodu at 6'2 and above.We have the speed in Hester, Knox and even Aromashodu so its up to Turner to use these player with the mind set of a hammer and pound the smallr teams DB'S and LB'S with the passing game mismatches.

So what..who cares that the Lions are gathering alot of over the hill players(Philip Buchanon, Anthony Henry,Grady Jackson and a few others) .They will get to 5-11 this year which will be great for them

If you can get the blocking scheme right the 3-4 is easy to run against since you have a lighter LB on the outside instead of a DT/DE to block. Once you get pass the three down linemen holds should be bigger because of where they have to line up and who the have to cover,

IMHO everyone deals with personal issues in a different way. Eating may have been a way he dealt with his. Since he has gotten into camp with the exercise and the heat and meal program, he will lose the weight very fast.

Bears Add to Offensive Line with Guard by John M. Crist of BearReport.com, August 3, 2009 at 10:41pm ET Maurice Miller Profile The Bears have several open spots on the roster right now with Charles Tillman on the physically unable to perform list and Marcus Harrison on the non-football injury list, so they made a move Monday to strengthen the offensive line. According to Adam Caplan, the senior NFL reporter for Scout.com, the Monsters of the Midway claimed guard Maurice Miller off waivers from Tampa Bay. The 6-4, 327-pound Miller was originally signed May 1 by the Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent out of Ole Miss. With guards Dan Buenning and Tyler Reed both seeing some time at center during training camp, Miller may be able to get a few reps at guard with the second and third team. That being said, the Midway Monsters haven't had a lot of success with former Rebel offensive linemen in recent years – Terrence Metcalf anyone?

Could disappoint in '09 Chicago Bears Why the pessimism? Believe it or not, the Bears had the third-worst pass defense in the league last year ... at least yardagewise (241.2 yards per game). They were fifth overall in stopping the run, which is a pretty wide gulf. Even with the arrival of Jay Cutler, I'm just not sure if the Bears offense is going to be significantly better this season since he doesn't have any reliable receivers to throw to. In other words, we could be in for more of the same. And oh, by the way ... Chicago only registered one special teams touchdown last season, which is certainly far less than we're accustomed to seeing from them. Worst-case scenario? Here's a bit of a twist on what I touched on above — let's say Cutler magically transforms the Bears passing attack into a potent one. That means they'll be ringing up the scoreboard, right? So how are teams going to have to attack the Bears defense in order for them to keep up? Yep ... in the air. That means the Bears secondary is going to concede more points. Don't get me wrong — the Bears still have a pretty good D/ST which can force some turnovers. They should be owned and started in all leagues, but it just appears as if their time as the elite and dominant force may have passed. Please note by clicking on "add a comment" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms of Use and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Be polite. Inappropriate posts may be removed by the moderator.

I would rather he overthrow hester than to underthrow him. Over he might be able to run under it but under thrown and it's going to be picked off.

We've done more backpedaling this year than I ever have in my life and that has helped me a lot," Bowman said. "They are teaching us to stay square for a longer period of time. Last year they were telling us to open up any time we felt threatened. This year they are telling us to stay square and just backpedal faster." What this does is it gives you more eyes on the WR you are guarding. So if he makes a more you can see it instead of the turn and bail coverage we were using you hav to look at either the WR or the QB. Once you turn you will get lost from the WR and he will be open more than the back pedal where you still have him and the QB in in sight.

Having better coaches makes a world of diffrence and like you stated being in a contract year will lite a fire underneath so one can get a better pay check with better play doing the year, just look at what Peppers will get from the Panthers, 16 mil this year as the tagged player.

Let me ask you this were you just too thrilled with our passing game last year with Orton? I rest my case.

Yes I agree...any bigger is over kill! LOL But I would love to be her bra right about now LOL!!!!

Bottom line Denver will suck this year LOL!!!

Well IMHO now Cutler and the Bears WR'S are going to act a fool opening day in Green Bay to make Driver eat his words.

Yes i feel what you are saying about Philly but I don't think their line is as good as you might think. Peters I think gave up the league best at sacks last year and one of the Andrews brother is living with a knee injury and their WR'S Jackson/Curtis/Avant don't really scare anyone. With our cover two we can control that. McCoy is no Westbrook so i say its even with them. As for the panthers we can do both stop the run and Smith since they don't have a Top fight WR on the other side of Smith he can be doubled teamed and with our Dline better we can shut down the run. Now the G-men are a good D-line team but you can only play a few at a time not all of them then there is a drop off in the back seven which Cutler can carver up with a little time and yhe way he can move in the pocket. I don't think Rocky Bernard/Barry Cofield are that good anyqay one on one

IMHO I think that we are a better them than the three you listed. We beat Philly last year, had Carolina beat and we had Orton at QB We didn't play the Giants. Plax gone hurts the G-Men who now will need the other WR to step up and lost a few players. Philly is stop Westbrook. And the Panthers have Stop Smith and contain the RB and you win. So we have a good QB, Hester /Manning on the punts and kicks Olsen & co at TE, Forte/Jones at RB the Defense is going to be back to form....Hey we can beat anyone!!!

19 days to Camp: Football Outsiders projects Bears to win NFC By Brad Biggson July 12, 2009 7:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (37) | TrackBacks (0) The game of baseball lends itself to endless statistical analysis. You could just talk numbers from now until Tuesday's all-star game about the struggles of the Cubs without even mentioning the sideshows that have dominated the season to this point on the North Side. There is a statistical explanation or trend for everything. Football isn't broken down in quite the same way, or at least it has not been in the mainstream. But the good folks at Football Outsiders are doing all they can to introduce some new tools for examining the game. Just this past week they released the Football Outsiders Almanac in PDF format. The actual book should be available in a few weeks on Amazon.com. This is the same publication that previously was Pro Football Prospectus. If you put stock in their work you can call your travel agent. Football Outsiders projects the Bears to win the NFC this season. That's right, they have the Bears returning to Miami three years after losing Super Bowl XLI there. "We have them with the highest projected record of any team in the NFC,'' managing editor Bill Barnwell said. "Thanks to improvements along the offensive line and a defense that we expect to be much healthier." The addition of Jay Cutler has a little bit to do with their forecast as well. We've done a little light reading through the 517-page book and it's loaded with some very interesting analysis, some of which we will touch on right here and more of which we'll get into later this week and as we get closer to training camp. The PDF version of the book is available on their Web site here if you want to check it out yourself. The statistic at the center of almost everything Football Outsiders does is DVOA--Defense Adjusted Value Over Average. It's not quite as simple as yards per carry or even the often misleading passer rating. What DVOA does is put yardage gained into better perspective. An eight-yard pass on third-and-10 isn't very helpful. It's going to lead to a punt. But a one-yard run on third-and-one is effective, right? A one-yard one on third-and-one vs. the Williams Wall or the Pittsburgh Steelers is more impressive, too, than say an identical outcome vs. Detroit. DVOA evaluates every single play during the NFL season and strips out plays such as Hail Mary passes, kneel downs, spikes, and every play is studied after adjusting for down, distance, situation on the field and the quality of the opponent. So every third-and-one play across the entire league is analyzed. Every third-and-12 is studied. Every snap for all 32 teams goes under the microscope. The DVOA is the percentage vs. the league average. So a 10 percent DVOA is pretty good. A running back with a 10 percent DVOA is doing 10 percent better than the league average. On defense, a negative DVOA means a team is allowing fewer yards than the league average. So where do the Bears stack up? Well, it's been since 1995 that they had a positive DVOA on offense. Erik Kramer's big season when he passed for 3,838 yards and 29 touchdowns hasn't been replicated since. In fact, no Bears' passer has come close. According to Football Outsiders, the Bears had a 17.7 percent DVOA that year as an offense, which is tremendous production. Last year, they were minus-4.3 percent, similar to the minus-4.2 percent they registered during the Super Bowl season of 2006. The worst during their 14-year stretch in which they had just the one positive season (1995) came during the Terry Shea Experiment of 2004 when the Bears were at minus-36.5 percent, worst in the league. Defensively, the Bears fared much better last season than their total defense ranking of 21st, which measures just yards allowed. When Lovie Smith says there is more to defense than yards allowed, perhaps he has his DVOA in mind. The Bears' DVOA on defense in 2008 was minus-6.8 percent, which ranked seventh. That was one spot better than where they were in 2007. Football Outsiders' system had the Bears as the second-ranked defense in the league in 2006 at minus-19.7 percent and tops in 2005 when they were minus-21.5 percent. The lowest they have finished under Smith was ninth in 2004. We'll get into a few reasons why the DVOA was solid last season a little later on. First, let's look at a few things on offense. *** Running back Matt Forte had a minus-7.1 percent DVOA last season. His yards per carry average of 3.9 was a culprit and remember the Bears were not very successful in third- and fourth-and-short situations. Barnwell says with modest improvements by Forte this season he should post an improved DVOA. *** The Bears' best wide receiver last year according to DVOA was Brandon Lloyd at minus-6.0 percent. Devin Hester was minus-9.5 percent. *** Tight end Greg Olsen had a DVOA of 0.0 meaning he was right in line with league average. "Even though the stats are league average I think realistically some of the ridiculous one-handed catches he made and the stuff he did on the field, that probably undersells him a little bit,'' Barnwell said. "But relative to the defenses he was playing and where he was catching the ball, he was right at league average. I think the biggest reason why was he wasn't getting too far down the field. His average was right about 10 yards. When those 10-yard patterns become 12-yard patterns, and if they can keep Cutler up a little bit longer, Olsen's DVOA will improve." Football Outsiders projects big things for the Bears, though, and that means improvement all around. We'll get into the offensive line, which Barnwell touched on, later in the week. He acknowledged the team needs a vertical threat. "We would see Hester [being that player],'' Barnwell said. "You look at the offense. They're going to have Earl Bennett, most likely, as a possession guy and Olsen can also be a possession guy. Then you have Hester as the vertical threat. Certainly he has the athleticism. Watching him on film last year, you could really see improvement in his routes. More than one person who watches the Bears for us actually mentioned he was doing a lot better. We have a pretty high projection for Hester this year.'' Just how do they project Hester? 62 receptions, 858 yards (13.8 avg.) and 5 touchdowns. It adds up to a 2.7 percent DVOA. Olsen? 61 receptions, 738 yards, 7 touchdowns, 17.0 percent DVOA Matt Forte? 322 rushes, 1,272 yards, 4.0 average, 68 receptions, 417 yards, 14 touchdowns, 2 touchdowns, 8.4 percent DVOA (as a rusher) And Cutler? 301 completions, 493 attempts, 61.2 percent, 3,409 yards, 20 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, 3.0 percent DVOA. Cutler had a 22.0 percent DVOA in Denver last season meaning he was 22 percent more productive than the league average at quarterback. The drop they're projecting has to be an indication of what it will be like for him without Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal. Make no mistake, Football Outsiders likes the trade for the Bears, "The Bears paid for an elite quarterback and they're getting one." More on the offense later in the week. A couple real interesting defensive nuggets: *** The Bears were first in the league in rushing the passer with seven defenders and fourth in rushing the passer with six defenders. There's plenty to get into on their pass rush, or lack of a pass rush, as we move forward. *** The Bears were No. 1 in the league in yards after the catch, allowing just 3.9 yards per reception. However, that doesn't mean Football Outsiders was kind to any of the defensive backs with the exception of the departed Mike Brown. *** The Bears were second in the league in DVOA when they hurried the quarterback, just behind Pittsburgh. *** One more note, the Bears ranked fifth in the league on special teams in DVOA after being No. 1 in 2006 and 2007. There is a lot to chew on here and our hope is we introduced some statistical analysis in a manner in which it's easy to understand. We had the benefit of a nice chat with Barnwell. The Football Outsiders Web site is stocked with great information. We'll try to share a little more here in the coming days.

Posted by Aaron Wilson on July 11, 2009 8:35 PM Perhaps no young Pro Bowl quarterback has drawn as much criticism as Chicago Bears newcomer Jay Cutler. Usually, the topic at hand is Cutler's messy breakup from the Denver Broncos. In this case, though, Cutler is under scrutiny for his tendency to take risks on the field. After watching tapes and performing a statistical analysis of Cutler's performance over the past three years, KC Joyner of ESPN.com, per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Sun-Times, has drawn some very negative conclusions about the former Vanderbilt star. "I've said it many times and I'll say it again, Cutler will make Bears fans remember Rex Grossman,'' Joyner writes. "He'll make just as many crazy passes but won't suffer the Grossman fate because Chicago's fan base is so in love with him that they will forgive the nutty throws he makes in ways that they never forgave Grossman. . . . "Whenever I say Cutler will remind Bears fans of Grossman, they get all up in arms. All Grossman did was take Chicago to their first Super Bowl in years and the Bears fans couldn't run him out of the starting spot quick enough. They'll win with Cutler, but, man, will they grit their teeth when he blows a game or two with his over-the-top risk taking." Wow. According to Joyner, Cutler averages one interception or near-interception out of every 20 throws. Cutler has a 17-20 all-time record as a starter. He has also passed for 9,024 career yards, 54 touchdowns, and 37 interceptions for a cumulative 87.1 quarterback rating.

IMHO we really don't need another WR in the mix if Turner uses what we got right now with some creativity. Red zone is a no brainer to use both the tallest WR/TE on the team ( Olsen 6'5/Davis at 6'7) in the two TE formation with Hester out wide and mabye Rideau if he makes it. Then you have the speed passing game( 4 WR) With Hester, Knox on the outside with Bennett/Daivs/Iglesias in the slots. We can create alot on mismatches this year.

We need to change his number to either 37 or 43 and put him in the backfield!!!. McKie and Davis are not the answer at fullback

This was posted on the Bear website. I ask do the opportunities that Rideau and Aromashodu are getting translate into them pushing for jobs? They are both tall 6'3 and 6'4 and would make great targets for Cutler to throw to. As far as speed Brandon is slower than Devin(not Hester)but they seem to be faster than Davis. So they question here is would these two be good fits for a roster than looks like this. Hester, Bennett, Ridaeu,Aromashodu, Knox, Iglesias.IMHO I would take my chances and let Davis go and work with three speed guys Devin H, Devin A and Knox and use Bennett, Ridaeu, Iglesias as the move the chairs type WR'S Who do you think will have the best chance of challenging Hester and Bennett for a starting position in training camp and the preseason? Well, Brandon Rideau and Rashied Davis have both been [occasionally] working with the first team. The young guys are starting to come on. Devin did some really good things in the OTAs. I’m really excited about him. He’s another guy. But it still all remains to be seen. We’ve got a long way to go. When we get to training camp and we start getting into games, then we’ll have a better feel when we see how guys react in those situations against other people. It seems that Rideau really stepped up and made some plays in the OTAs. How do you think he performed and what type of opportunity will he have in training camp? Right now it’s up to him. That opportunity is there for him. He’s done some good things, but he needs to continue to work and improve if he’s going to be out there and have a chance to help us. But I’ve been pleased with his progress. He’s a guy who has been in this system for a while. You can line him up in any position. He knows what to do. The biggest thing for him is that every chance he gets to make a play, he’s got to make it.

Bears | Not worried about sophomore slump for Forte Comment (0) Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:52:15 -0700 Larry Mayer, of ChicagoBears.com, reports Chicago Bears RBs coach Tim Spencer said he would like to see second-year RB Matt Forte improve on his yards per carry and yards per catch. Spencer believes both will improve for Forte this season. Spencer said he is not concerned about a sophomore slump. "He's going to do well," Spencer added. "We have some new players and we've improved on our offensive line. I see no reason why Matt shouldn't improve this season." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bears | Larger workload coming for K. Jones? Comment (0) Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:51:43 -0700 Larry Mayer, of ChicagoBears.com, reports Chicago Bears RBs coach Tim Spencer said the team has to use RB Kevin Jones more this year to make sure both he and RB Matt Forte are as healthy as they can be by the end of the season. Spencer said Jones is now 100 percent healthy and is back to where he was before suffering a torn ACL. "He knows our system and he knows what we're trying to do," Spencer noted on Jones. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bears | Wolfe working on improving Comment (0) Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:36:20 -0700 Larry Mayer, of ChicagoBears.com, reports Chicago Bears RBs coach Tim Spencer said RB Garrett Wolfe has worked hard on improving his game. Wolfe, who also plays special teams, can do pretty much anything for the Bears, according to Spencer. Spencer said Wolfe is capable of carrying the football 20 times a game for the team, but it's unlikely that will happen. "He's going to have his work cut out for him, but we've definitely got to get him on the field also," Spender said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bears | Cutler has offense down Comment (0) Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:35:50 -0700 Larry Mayer, of ChicagoBears.com, reports Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler has worked very hard in the classroom this offseason to pick up the team's system. Not only has he been able to grasp it, he is also able to execute the offense on the field. Some of the verbiage and reads in the offense are the same as they were with the Denver Broncos, allowing him to pick things up quicker. Quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton has been impressed with his arm strength. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bears | Olsen wowing others Comment (0) Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:35:20 -0700 Larry Mayer, of ChicagoBears.com, reports Chicago Bears QBs coach Pep Hamilton said TE Greg Olsen has continually progressed during the offseason. He is wowing everybody with his physical stature and athleticism. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bears | Looking to work the deep passing game? Comment (0) Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:34:43 -0700 Larry Mayer, of ChicagoBears.com, reports Chicago Bears QBs coach Pep Hamilton said he wouldn't be surprised to see the team try to utilize QB Jay Cutler's strong arm and WR Devin Hester's game-breaking speed together this season by trying to get Hester behind the secondary on deep routes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bears | Hanie still working away in backup role Comment (0) Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:34:23 -0700 Larry Mayer, of ChicagoBears.com, reports Chicago Bears QBs coach Pep Hamilton said backup QB Caleb Hanie has done a lot of good things during the offseason. Hamilton noted Hanie is still working at it and training camp is going to be important for him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bears | Basanez putting in extra time Comment (0) Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:33:48 -0700 Larry Mayer, of ChicagoBears.com, reports Chicago Bears QBs coach Pep Hamilton said backup QB Brett Basanez is always staying after hours at Halas Hall studying game film and critiquing his on-field performance. He has also shown some mobility on the field and the ability to make the throws required of him.

Bears | Cutler has spoken with Marshall Comment (0) Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:56:25 -0700 Marty O'Brien, of The Newport News Daily Press, reports Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler said he has spoken with disgruntled Denver Broncos WR Brandon Marshall and would not have a problem reuniting with Marshall if the Bears were able to land him. "I talked to 'B' a few days ago. Just checking in on him and seeing how he's doing, because I went through a similar thing that he's going through," Cutler said. "I played with Brandon for three years and I think he's one of the best receivers in the NFL. I think he can be one of the greatest ever to play. He's big and fast, and can do everything you want him to do, on the field and in the meeting room. I don't know what we're going to do. That's up to the guys upstairs. If we make a run at him, we make a run at him."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bears | Have placed call to Burress Comment (0) Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:30:30 -0700 Brad Biggs, of the Chicago Sun-Times, reports the Chicago Bears have placed a call to the agent for free-agent WR Plaxico Burress (Giants), Drew Rosenhaus.

Soundes like he was talking about Brett Farve to me.

With what you listed at WR I'll stay put and take my chances with what we have.