jason

Nailed it. The right history, pedigree, abilities, demeanor, philosophy. I'd love to see Shanny here. And as mentioned before, his zone blocking scheme is legit. Terrell Davis, Olandis Gary, Mike Anderson, Clinton Portis...just plug in a RB and it works.

I suspect the teams would have had a slightly better record overall the past two years with Lovie, but not by much. Mostly because he believes in such a conservative approach. It would have made the games grind down. Which would have gotten the Bears nearly nothing but about the 16th pick. Treading water as usual until something special happens. We have already seen in TB what happens when Lovie's amazing defensive coaching abilities don't have a HOFer at MLB - or DT / S for that matter - to use.

That's kind of how I feel. Hoping to catch some magic. I love the way the Ravens have been run. Their draft last year was epic.

End it now. Vince Newsome (BAL).

I think that's part right. I think Jay is capable, but he realizes it's probably not going to work when there is inferior OL talent, horrible D play, and atrocious ST play. I think he's an "all or nothing" kind of guy, who would rather try to go for it than lose a game 17-10 every other week while putting up 200 passing yards on 40 passes.

I know you're a Lovie supporter, but I honestly don't think Lovie is all that smart. I think he saw Brandon Marshall + Alshon Jeffrey and thought he should repeat it because it worked in Chicago. I don't think it was an original idea of his. He probably didn't do much talent evaluation other than "TALL WR+TALL WR=GOOD WRS!!" I just think he is a non-innovator, vanilla kind of guy with very minimal risk taking or ingenuity. He's a personnel manager more than a coach. He gets guys to play hard for him because they like him. Logan Mankins? My best speculation is that Lovie probably wanted another defensive FA, and the Bucs management told him to choose between McCown and that FA. They probably told him he could have McCown, but they were going to use the FA money on Mankins...especially since that TE (Dwight) they had was a good trade piece after drafting Austin-Sef-Jenkins.

Based on all of the above, that leaves the defense with SERIOUS question marks. Assuming a 4-3, Peanut's release, Briggs's release, DE: Allen / Houston DT: Paea DT: Ratliff? Sutton? DE: Young WLB: ?? MLB: Bostic? SLB: Jones? CB: ?? FS: Vereen? SS: ?? CB: Jennings Looks to me like the team needs to draft LB, CB, and SS. Maybe even FS if Vereen isn't the answer.

Yes. I saw that. And was curious as to why the offense seemed more in tune, but it's not like they blew up. He threw 39 times for 181 yards.

True. I was just thinking like Lovie is all. I'm not even sure he can say offense. Reporter: "So, Lovie, what are your offseason plans for the offense?" Lovie: "I'll tell ya. We're planning on drafting to fill a hole. And we'll probably go DL in the first round. Mid rounds we'll grab a small school safety. OL in the 7th. That should do it."

I'm not sure I understand your point. If the receivers had the dropsies when Clausen was in, then surely they had drops when Cutler was in.

You're not alone. I've said it for nearly a decade. The.Bears.Need.OL. You just can't fix that kind of historical deficiency in one year.

I was hoping the second part to your post was "to usher or ticket-taker". Ted Phillips should be fired...just to remove the stench of his failures.

No. But he should have been first. He should have been tarred, feathered, and chased out by south-siders wielding pitchforks.

Don't you think they were maybe doing that as a way to ensure Forte got the record?

Dude should be run out of the NFL. He should have been fired before Emery, Trestman, or anyone else.

Cut'em. Start fresh.

Yeah, but Lovie won't let him run the defense with impunity. It will be a defense that fits into the overall scheme of the Lovie Smith team (i.e. Get a 3 point lead and start running the clock).

Who can be cut without detriment to the team? I don't give a damn if it's half the team, to be quite honest. I think Jared Allen is untouchable because of the money, but who else falls into that boat? The only players on defense who I want kept are cheap, good, or financial obligations. But I don't have a real interest in any except Jennings, Peanut, Fuller, Jones, Jennings, Young, and Paea.

Thanks all. I'm not trying to hijack this thread. Let's enjoy the Emery/Trestman pink slip a lot more than my return...because if the Bears continue to suck, I could be off for another season. It's just unbearable. With the offseason there is hope.

Funny...several of us wanted Christian Jones, and had him valued as a player to draft late. The Bears were lucky to get him after the draft, and he definitely earned a starting role.

It's not ideal, but when the team has been called a dumpster fire, and the organization has been joked about for years, and the collective of this board has hated the majority of the moves made by management, maybe, just maybe, those stats are misleading. Sure, he's had some horrible games, but I'm convinced there is something going on with the offense that has caused problems the past two years. There were far too many elementary mistakes for it to be simply players screwing up. Way too many OL/TE/RB combos not knowing the blitz pickup. Way too many false starts by WR/TE/OL. Way too many pass routes where Cutler throws right and the receiver turns left. Something just isn't right. Add in the worst defense over a 2-year stretch in Chicago Bears history, and I could see why Cutler isn't putting up ideal numbers (even though he threw for more TDs this year than in any year in his career). Put another way, it was time to fire Emery and Trestman. Emery didn't build a good enough team to overcome poor coaching, and he didn't hire good enough coaches to overcome lesser talent.

The Talkbears board would have done better over the last two years than Emery.

I thought of quitting the old board when you whined like a bitch. I didn't put up a fight, and even volunteered not to be an admin because I didn't want to deal with bitches like you any more. I even talked to Pix about it. It just wasn't fun at that point. I've noticed the admins on the current board either don't have time, don't care, or have changed their opinions on what should be allowed and what should not. I loved the Bears before the board, and could certainly do so after. But I stuck around. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. And with that, I'm out.

NYC - If I'm a dick, then you're a giant crybaby. You've been that way since you bitched and whined on the last board because I took something overtly political out of your post, while leaving the remaining post and intent intact. What makes it ironic is you've since exposed your political leanings in other posts, and I actually agree with you politically. This, however, is not a board about politics - or at least it shouldn't be - and those posts should always be edited or removed (even if the current mods aren't doing it). BTW - If you go back on the board, nobody here was talking $5M for Urlacher. Most were saying just give him a little more than the low-ball, initial offer. If I recall, the majority were saying $2.5-$3 at very most. That likely would have helped Urlacher save face, the team would have done the right thing for a HOFer, and the team would have almost certainly benefitted as a result. Last but not least, to even compare Urlacher to Webb is ridiculously ignorant on various levels, and doesn't deserve to be justified in the slightest. scs - Because of PFF's support of Webb, who obviously sucked for anyone who actually watched him play football, their stats will continue to be severely flawed. Any PFF stats used to support or detract from an opinion are moderately interesting at best, throw-away at worst. Just watching film and compiling numbers doesn't guarantee a meaningful result. I give them kudos for trying, and doing what others haven't done, or would like to do, but their final product still requires significant upgrading. Ashkum - You gotta be shittin' me with that "locker room cancer" stuff. Urlacher was loved by pretty much all teammates (I haven't heard of a guy going against him, but I don't read everything so it's possible?). And as far as I know, all the coaches he played for loved him while he was in Chicago. Maybe our definitions of locker room cancer are different. He wasn't the best with the fans, but he was loved by teammates and cocahes. LT2 - Both your scenarios are possible, but Urlacher looked better at the end of his last year than at the beginning. This tends to support the "Urlacher is back and healthy" argument. I had not heard Peppers became a bad locker room guy. You're also right that it's POSSIBLE Urlacher would have caused waves, but that, just like his production last year, are unknowns. His production on the field in previous seasons and during his last season supports the concept that he would have made the team better last year, but there is no real support - that I know of - for him actually causing problems in the clubhouse amongst teammates or coaches. Alaska - Apparently you are the only one capable of actually grasping the very realistic concept that Urlacher, while diminished, was still better than anyone on the team last year, and almost certainly would have made the defense better. How much is anyone's guess. Nothing is a 100% certainty - nobody saw it coming when an "in his prime Knox" basically get retired on a single, spine-bending hit - but Urlacher's legacy, history, production, and upward trend towards the end of his last year say he would have helped the team.

I was pretty happy that we were 2. But, please, keep thinking you have a F'ing clue about absolutely anything.