Mongo3451

There are several things detracting teams from signing Harrison. 1st and foremost. He could have stayed with the Colts with a pay cut he declined to accept. He has a higher value of himself than the market does. 2nd - His skills have clearly eroded. Manning couldn't count on him to make plays last year. 3rd - He's become moody and distant from his team. You can see him sitting by himself during games. Lasly, he's not a big guy so he doesn't have the body to compensate for lack of speed or suddenness.

Disagree with over-rating playing together. Great teams just don't happen overnight. You use Atlanta as a measuring stick, so I'll stay with that. One area they were solid in previous years was OL play and the running game. Take into consideration that running back is the fastest position to develop in the NFL. Given that Michael Turner was not a rookie, he came out of the box blazin'. The Falcons subsequently were 2nd in the NFL in rushing. That almost always gets you in the playoffs. So they at least had cohesion in one main area, OL. BTW - Atlanta could have easily been 6-10 and nobody would have thought differently. Remember, I'm not glooming and dooming. I really think we'll be improved. Just not parallel to SD.

I got that. I'm just not a huge stat guy and don't think the teams compare well. Plus, SD's offense did not just emerge last year. With Cutler, Forte and Olsen there is hope. I just think it will take a little time. Maybe later in the season, we can start putting up those kind of numbers. I'll be happy with our offense if we can score 21 pts/gm and simply win the "Time of Possession" battle on a consistent basis. That will allow the D to remain fresh.

I think the talents of each team are very different. You may be able to pull out stats, but don't think they tell the most important part of the story. Let's start with experience. SD's experience at QB, RB, TE, WR and OL is greater than ours. Our OL may be older, but it transitions into my second point. Continuity. Though I feel Cutler is an elite talent, he is the 1st year of a system. Add to that, he is with all new players. The WR's are also looking at a potential 66% turnover in positions 1-3. RB and TE are set. But, OL is looking at a 60% change from last year. I am not so worried about the OL gelling because of the talent infusion it underwent. We could have had all the continuity in the world last year and our OL would have been below average. Pace alone significantly makes our OL better than last year. Lastly, I finish with individual talent. This is the part that makes each O look completely different. Cutler VS Rivers: You have the mobile cannon in Cutler vs the lightning realease of Rivers. Both are supremely talented in their own right, but Rivers has more tenure with his system and team mates. 2009 goes to Rivers. Forte VS LT: We've seen their individual talents; one is a sure fire Hall of Famer nd the other an up and coming stud. Forte is on the up and LT the down. 2009 goes to Forte. Sproles VS Jones: Sproles kills KJ. 2009 goes to Sproles Bears WR's VS Chargers WR's: Call Hester and Jackson a wash. Although Chambers had a down year last year, he is better than any #2 we have. (BTW - I think he had some injuries last year) Bears are on the upside, but we have nothing proven beyond Hester. 2009 goes to San Diego Bears TE's VS Chargers TE's: We have Olsen, which is widely considered the most up and coming TE in the game this year VS. Gates which is regarded as the best TE in football. Here's the rub, Gates has been hampered with foot injuries the last two seasons. Can he return to form? As of now I call Olsen V Gates a wash. Clark swings it for me. 2009 goes to Bears. OL goes to Chargers. (Tired of typing and I don't think anyone would argue the point) The Bears have an opportunity to have SD's stats this year, but I think it's unrealistic to expect us to catch or surpass them this year based on experience, continuity and availible talent. Our arrow is pointing more upward than theirs is though. I expect our O will be around 12th in the NFL this year, which is not bad at all.

I agree, but other than Hester, we have no WR's I have confidence in. Remember this post is about WR's. I understand we have other weapons, but they are not part of any original argument. Again, WR's only. The pattern is that the only way to make an argument for our WR's is to enhance them with the other skill positions. Point is our WR's will have a hard tim standing on their own merit. Again, I agree Hester can be a #1. Will he? Who knows... I don't think anyone on this board is overlooking that we have a very good set of TE's and good recieving RB. They were never part of the debate though. We are not talking about TE's because we know we are set there. I am not fearful that our offense will not be productive. The addition of Pace and Cutler are huge. I am simply defending Terra Tor's right to say he has no confidence in our WR's. I don't think so. All players mentioned are uniquely different. (even Cutler and Rivers) I actually think there is no team like us. Our WR's just need to grow up quickly or have a veteren talent infusion. The former makes for growing pains, anticipation and excitement. An upgrade like Plax, makes us a contender from the offensive standpoint.

Let's see... He was right about Grossman and Benson. Every other analyst and NFL expert says our WR's are inadequate and you ripping him for that comment? Do you need another 88? Cutler is not going to magically make our WR's starting caliber. It's going to take time and a few heartaches before this recieving corps is considered decent.

Gotta disagree here. Lovie said "trust me" when he let Rivera go. He squarely took ownership at that point

TO's killed too many locker rooms to be considered longer than a year. Marshall is a thug, in the mold of Pac-Man and Chris Henry. Plax is a lazy dumbass. All three are supremely talented and perform on Sunday. I'll take the lazy dumbass as the lesser of the evils. My order would be Plax, Marshall and T.O.

Good one. LOL!

Last season, being exposed, was THE bad sign for Hunter.

LOL!

Agreed, on that point. One think I'd like to point out with Mikey's dismissal; is that we became a business that is a "football operation", When Mikey was in charge, it was "just business". I think someone convinced the McCaskeys that a better product would provide better return in the long run, as the fan base/customers is everything. If we have to replace Lovie after this year; the cheap talk will resurrect if we hire an inexperienced coach at low cost.

Nice rebuttal Madlith. I am not a big Lovie guy, as well. I do think that #20 is an ugly ranking for his experience and accomplishments. I would put him closer to #12 personally. If win PCT, playoff wins and SuperBowl appearances play any part of the rankings, he would be top 10.

Are you referring to the 3.5 years or the 3 months? I see my post left both up for interpretation. I meant to say the 3.5 is stiff vs the 3 months.

Team Plax has a couple of things going for it at this point. 1) They have been offered the 3 month deal, which basically translates to the prosecution wanting this to go away. Why? Because they don't want the publicity of what his Johnny Cochran's are going to make of the law that is on place. IMO - it is ridiculously stiff. I think his defense team has some behind the scenes idea of what is going to happen. Otherwise, he would have taken the plea. 2) They are also attempting to get the trial moved until next off-season, thus buying Plax the ability to play a full or abbreviated season this year. I may be wrong, but I think you will see him uniform for some team this season. As of now, I'll call it a 50/50. I made a bet with a co-worker to the same effect. He is a Cowboy fan and T.O. apologist. How smart can he be?

Our left side is going to be massive this year. Pace has at least 20# on St. Clair with 2x the athletic ability. Omiyale is a giant conpared to Beekman. Their weights are within 15#, but by looking at them Beekman had to struggle to make weight while Omiyale looks naturally big. Sometimes it's not much of a big deal, but I really think they'll demonstate a huge upgrade in power/leverage. As far as Pisa is concerned; he's an instant upgrade to Hunter. Hunter may be bigger, but I really haven't seen a highlight where he has ever laid the wood on anyone. Pisa gets there fast and brings an attitude. That being said, I think Pisa getting there sooner prevents RB's from getting into their cuts a greater percent than Hunter.

I read absolutely nothing into Dungy's comments. He was simply stating an opinion, based on the events leading to Cutlers trade. Cutler is young and brash and does probably need to mature. IMO - Cutler probably has matured through all he's been through this off season. I also don't see double talk. Given that he was just saying Vick should have a chance to play. I'm sure it would be a whole lot different commentary if someone was talking about giving up 2 1st's and Orton for him. I am glad Dungy made this light commentary, as I am sure it will help Cutler mature just a little more. Not only will he want to stick performance in McDaniels nose. Now, he will want to prove maturity to a more respectible source. All good for us as Bears fans!

Good question. If experience is a factor with a brand new QB, he should have a leg up on the competition. I agree that we'll have to keep 6 to keep him, unless stonehands Davis surprisingly gets cut. I look at our developing corps and wonder if it wouldn't be best to keep only 5. That's 18% more chance for a guy to get game reps with Cutler. When it's all said and done, that is what should count when the season begins. So many options, so few roster spots...

Hester is going to be a nightmare for defenses this year. Cutlers cannon and mobility should drive DC's nuts. When Cutler scrambles, what will Hester do? Come back for the easy 1st down?? Go route??? Fake a come back, then Go??? I know that's just a small part of his game, but I really think we'll see a couple of busted play TD's from Cutler to Hester this year.

Actually, I believe Ditka had no choice, as he did not have the ability to direct or fire Ryan. Anyway, I think Ditka(or any HC) would be a fool to interupt the near perfection he was witnessing and did a great job of biting his tongue and riding it out.

We'll definately have to leave Davis to the coaching staff, as we have no clue what his ethic is at this time. Hopefully he comes into the off-season program full bore. He is an immense talent that I hope is not wasted.

Gotta go with Terra Tor on this one. Matt Jones sucks. His knock is that he has a hard time getting off the LOS, is NOT sudden and plays smaller and slower than he is. Lastly, being an unproven player, he has shown he is not hungry for the game by his actions off the field. Agree we should bring in veteren competition. No to matt Jones.

I'm not sure that I'm concerned with that. We know Olsen is a stud, but look at Clark, Hester and Forte. Forte lead all RB's in receptions last year. Add Cutlers boy Bennett to the mix and we'll be fine. An important thing we need to remember about Cutler is that, he will make recievers.