jason

I know what you're saying, and I don't like losses. But I also accept that often there have to be backward steps to take large forward steps. Otherwise it's just a lot of back and forth with little forward movement. It's why many didn't like Lovie's approach. It's the reason the Bears lost draft position when they won the last games in 2007 (2), 2009 (2), 2011 (1). Those wins matter because... -In 2008 we would have been a few spots higher, and might have picked Ryan Clady instead of Chris Williams. -In 2010 we might not have made the Cutler trade because they might not have thought we were one big move away. Also, maybe we would have been a few picks higher in the 7th and avoided picking Jamarcus Webb. -In 2012 we might have not picked a tweener in SMC and went in a variety of other directions. It sucks to lose, but those spots in the draft matter.

Here's some other names: Josh Cribbs - Holy hell. How is this guy not getting daily texts and calls from the Bears? Most career KO return TDs. Two KO returns of 100 yards in one game! Led the league with 32YPR on punts LAST YEAR. Donnie Avery - 4.28 forty. FOUR.TWOEIGHT. That's all I care about with him. Absolute burner. He could run forward blind-folded with that speed and do better than Mariani. Da'Rick Rogers - He's a stud athlete (dominated the combine) and would be better than Mariani on pure athleticism. Terrell Pryor - Great natural running instincts. Deceiving speed. Superb athlete.

Meh. I'd rather see Langford get 20 carries, and Carey get the rest.

What's the story about the tortoise and the hare? Langford shows the burst, and he's virtually guaranteed for 3-4 YPC. He lacks, however, the patience needed for cut-back lanes and the actual huge plays. Well, unless of course the OL blows open an Emmitt Smith hole and he can just run downhill for 50+ yards. Forte may be the tortoise in this comparison, but he's a pretty fast tortoise.

Pretty much agree. What I like about this game is that the Bears were close, but showed flaws. That sounds bad, but what I mean is they didn't win a pointless game when the team obviously needs a lot of help, but at the same time, they showed fight. The coaching helps a lot with that. More and more I'm excited about the Bears' future under Fox/Gase/Fangio, and believe getting 4 or 5 key pieces will drastically turn this team around.

Her certainly muffed two punts today, and returned two he should have kneeled down. "He's not fumbling" is not necessarily a net gain. Pointing out that he's not doing the worst possible thing he could do is not a good way to say something positive about the guy.

I read the rule. Trust me. There is nothing infallible in that one section. The contradiction of the portion I quoted is the wiggle room. There HAS to be wiggle room, otherwise any single touch - a pinky finger on the kicker's shoulder pad, for instance - would be running into the kicker. We both know that's stupid. So that obviously means the "Any contact" in the portion you quoted is not "any contact."

SD - Phillips is going to torch the Bears' secondary SF - This could be a win DET - Should be a win TB - Revenge game for Lovie, and they've been decent lately WAS - Should be a win GB - Loss DEN - Loss MIN - Bears did just about everything right this game, and still lost. Another loss. STL - Gurley might have 250yds rushing After the WAS game the Bears could conceivably be 6-6, but I just don't see them reeling off 4 straight wins. So one of those games, probably DET or TB, is a loss. 5-7. Then 4 straight losses to end the season. 5-11.

I don't know all the compensatory pick stuff, but if a probowl LT can be had for a 3rd, and that LT is someone who still has years left on his contract, you make that move 11 out of 10 times.

Agreed. But it's not like only one issue can be fixed at once. Sometimes you can mask a big problem by fixing a lot of little problems surrounding the big one.

Technically, that's not true. There is a ton of wiggle room in the rules. ARTICLE 10. ROUGHING/RUNNING INTO THE KICKER. No defensive player may run into or rough a kicker who kicks from behind the line unless such contact: ( a ) is incidental to and occurs after the defender has touched the kick in flight ( b ) is caused by the kicker’s own motions First, the word "incidental" is in 10-a. However, part b is where the true issue is. If the official judged that O'Donnell had plenty of space to come to the ground, finish out his motion, etc., then they could view that as inconsequential.

WHAT?!?! So being one of the best kickers of all time, one of the most accurate of all time, being so good that his nickname is "Good as Gould," he's 17/18 on the season, nailed a 55-yarder earlier in the game, and he misses one because of the windy condition and he's a muppet? The Bears should hold on to Gould as long as his leg lasts.

Agreed. Nobody wants the Bears to lose, but it's probably better for this team to get a year of high draft picks. We already learned the middle of the road approach every year doesn't work.

Apparently Alshon is completely uncoverable. I like it, but I'm shocked the Vikings aren't rolling over a safety his way.

I think McPhee acts a lot when he's beat. He's one of those guys who flails arms at the end of the play when he realizes he doesn't have the angle to catch the receiver/runner. He's trying to sell the call to the official.

Give credit where credit was due...he made a decent catch there. But the fact that he was covered like a blanket and Cutler had to throw a perfect pass, pretty much proves the whole point about speed and shiftiness.

Forte out for the second half. Let's see what this kid has. Thus far he has pretty good burst to the hole, a good surge at the end of his runs, but he appears to lack vision.

And apparently he can't read pass defenses well enough to run a proper route. He definitely went the wrong way on the pass that he just missed. Cut this turd before he costs the Bears a game.

Are you trying to start a civil war in here? Shoop was atrocious. If it were Shoop, the Bears would be running their smallest player into a goal line defense, and throwing 5-yard routes on 3rd and 15. Crowton - Wrote down his WR screen plays in ink. Shoop - Picked his nose while scribbling with crayons.

I hate Mariani more than any Bear player I can remember in a while. He drops punts. When he catches them he has the vision of Ray Charles on returns. And on kickoffs, despite the team not getting any sort of blocking, he returns them when he catches the ball 8-9 yards deep in the end zone. He did it twice now in this Minnesota game. It's time for the Bears to go a different direction. This dude is slow, has iffy hands, has bad vision, makes poor decisions, and did I mention he's slow? Please replace this turd pronto.

Did Gase give Gary Crowton a call for the gameplan today?

Four year contract. Not four year guaranteed. He can always be released. Front-load it, and there you have it. Easy. For what it's worth, I'd scrap the entire idea and happily welcome in Langford as the #1 if somehow the Bears could figure out a way to make this trade happen. http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2015/11/1/9653...ns-trade-rumors

Sign me up since Mariani sucks, is slow, and has dropped the first two punts of the day. On a related note, can the Bears fire their ST coordinator at halftime of this game?

I thought it was a waste when they made the pick. Forte still had plenty tread on the tires, and there were other players available. Players like, oh, I don't know... TJ Clemmings who has started six games at RT for the Vikings. Tre Jackson who has started multiple games at OG for the Patriots. Arie Kuoandjio who looked to be a great run-blocker at OG in the draft, and is 2nd string on the Redskins.

I'm cool with that if the team deal is for 3-4 years, and the fading happens more in year 3. I honestly think Forte still has a ton to offer, and just needs to get the opportunities in a cohesive, NFL-caliber offense with NFL-starter quality players on the field. Scrap heap WRs and OLinemen mean your statement about him being the focal point is dead on.