jason

Um...he didn't check down because it was a one wideout play. That was the design. Should he have forced it? Probably not. But he actually underthrew the ball a bit, and if he had led it some more there was a decent chance that Marshall brings it down. I would have preferred he just took off with it. The Martz vs. Tice comments you don't like are, unfortunately, true. Martz could call ten plays in a row that torched a defense, but nobody would make a peep. The second he called a 7-step drop? All hell breaks loose. Tice needs to be held under a microscope with just as much, if not more, power, because he's supposedly this OL guru who hasn't coached up a good OL the entire time he's been here.

For the record, if you had predicted 3500, 21, 18, 7 I would have ripped you for having INTs too high, but that's about it. 3500 and 21 is a decent guess with this offensive line. Nearly all the problems Cutler has are solved by fixing the OL. There is a reason he torched the NFL when he played with the Broncos, and it has virtually nothing to do with the skill players. Their OL put defenders on the ground, and it gave Cutler a ton of time to throw. And when the didn't put people on the ground, Cutler often rolled out. You're right; he hasn't lived up to the cost of the trade. But if you buy a Porsche and put it on four donuts...

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with the notion that Rodriguez is not an addition to the team. After all, if he were good at pass catching, you'd be right, and there is no way in hell Spaeth would be out on pass routes. I'm just pointing out that the Bears had a great chance to address another position. Several good players were still available, but the question mark was selected in an attempt to fill the pass catching TE role. BTW - Funny comment about Davis.

Ummm...wasn't your second priority drafted this past year? Rodriguez is still on the team, isn't he? And CB? Tillman and Jennings are playing incredibly right now! I'd say the top three priorities are OL, LB, and OL, in that order.

Agreed. But it was fun for everyone to beat on Martz because he wasn't conventional and he expected his OL to, ya know, actually hold a block for more than 1 second. I'll go one further. It's more Tice's fault this year than it was Martz's fault last year, because Tice oversaw the OL each year, is supposed to be an OL expert, and it remains the weakest aspect of the entire team.

Welcome to the dark side.

Fine line between extremely frustrated to the point that it affect performance and "checked out"?

How do I explain it? Easily. Inconsistency, the entire problem with the OL as a unit, and the specific problem for multiple people on the OL. It's almost exactly how everyone describes Webb. They are very inconsistent, but if they can somehow manage to get all their good execution together and give Cutler time - provided the bad execution isn't timed together so poorly that it gets Cutler injured/killed - then the offense has the capability of being productive.

The only thing that owned Steve Smith was the turf monster. And the particular turf monster at Soldier Field has bested many players.

From "Man this game is pissing me off" to "Maybe we have a shot" to "HAHAHA...how does the defense continue to do it" in about 1:00 minute.

JENNINGS!!

Even as an official, I agree. It's a nearly impossible situation for Conte, yet, that's what is being pushed down from the higher levels of officiating.

How many games over the last few years have we had to watch like this? How many times does it look like Cutler is going to die in the first half because of the pressure? How often do we have to see him drop back and half roughly half a second to throw before getting maimed? How many games in the past few years has the story line been: "OL completely falls apart, almost gets Cutler killed, and turns him into David Carr"? And when is something serious going to be done about it? With the way the DL has played this year, and with the minimal impact McClellin has had, it's pretty clear that DE/DL was not a great priority. There are only so many years for the Bears to enjoy the physical abilities of a franchise QB. How long will he be sacrificed? How long will the quickly closing window on this defense be wasted?

Apples and oranges, lemon. The stats you show are for the entire OL, and it's nearly impossible to relate them to an individual or two on the OL. There are obviously other factors such as game-planning, play-calling, opponents' strategy, etc. Also, it's pretty safe to say - now that we're half way through the abysmal Panthers game - the OL is certainly not starting to gel.

For the record, this first half underscores several things we already knew: -The OL can't pass-block for very long -Cutler makes poor decisions under pressure -Cutler has a man-crush on Marshall -Forte is much better at finding and exploiting holes than Bush -Spaeth couldn't catch a cold -The receivers don't appear to get open quick enough for most of play-calling -Steve Smith owns Lovie Smith defenses

I guess this still a philosophical issue. WTF is Cutler supposed to do when he drops back, plants his back foot, and the first read is covered? Just throwing it away is intentional grounding. And he sure as hell doesn't have time to get to the second read. The OL has to provide more time than simply "first read." Contrast Cutler's time in the pocket with Newton's. There have been several plays where Newton is just hanging out, waiting for the 3rd or 4th read. Cutler never has that opportunity. The only sack I give completely to Cutler right now is the one on the screen. In that situation the QB can get away with a brutally underthrown ball as long as it's near the receiver's feet. He should have just gunned that into the ground a few yards forward.

I understood the first time, and still disagree. They might not even be one of the best tandems in the NFC. Below is the list of starging OGs in the NFC. The bolded tandems are almost certainly better than the combo of Rachal and Louis. LG RG DAL Livings Bernadeau NYG Boothe Snee PHI Mathis Watkins WAS Lichtensteiger Chester ARI Colledge Snyder SF Iupati Boone SEA Carpenter McQuistan STL Smith Dahl DET Sims Peterman GB Lang Sitton MIN Johnson Fusco ATL Blalock Reynolds CAR Silatolu Williams NO Grubbs Evans TB Nicks Larsen I think Rachal and Louis have been playing way better than expected. I'm happy about that. But they are not a top ten tandem, no way. There are easily a conservative 5 other tandems in the AFC that are better.

Ditto There is a reason hockey has goons.

In general, more people leave the Bears and improve then come to the Bears and improve I read "two of the best" as "two of the best." They are not two of the best ten guards in football. Louis might be in the top 20. Maybe. The "at least in my book"-part is your saving grace. Virtually nobody in the world will agree with the comment, but it is your book.

HAHAHAHA. C'mon man. Two of the best guards in football? That's nonsense. Rachal was dropped like a bad habit by the Niners before this year. That is not a trait of one of the best OGs in the league. Nicks, Snee, Dahl, Scott, Mankins, Grubbs, Mathis, Iupati, Waters, Evans, Yanda...c'mon man.

Yeah, but how does he hit a blocking sled!?!? That seems to be an important consideration.

Yes, but it should have been by a lot more. Maybe you're impressed or satisfied by underperformance, but I am not. That same game against the Packers, Broncos, Patriots, Giants, or just about any other team with a more explosive offense, and the Bears probably lose.

I was talking to a friend today who thinks the Bears barely break the top 5, or fall just outside, in power rankings. He pointed to the schedule said every team the Bears have played, other than the Packers, is bad, and the Bears lost that game. Are they ahead of the following teams? Texans Niners Giants Patriots Falcons

Yep. Stafford got nearly 150 yars on the last two drives when he barely got 100 on all previous drives.

Average the game out and he had several good plays, several average plays, several subpar plays, and a few horrible plays. People remember just the horrible. On one play it looked like he was standing on a frozen lake. Overall game was probably a C+ or close to it, but I didn't break down plays one-by-one. He doesn't suck, but he's not an all-star. He's decent right now. It's not like Wisconsin is known for producing pass-blocking geniuses. They produce road-graders.