jason

-On the play we simply disagree. If it goes for a TD, everyone is on their hands and knees fellating Martz. -Unfortunately, LTs don't last until the mid-teens in the draft. As for the other opening day starters, I don't like them as much. Both Williams and Spencer are average OGs at best, and Garza is out of position. That's why someone like Peter Konz from Wisconsin makes so much sense. He upgrades the Center position, Garza moves and upgrades an OG position, and Carimi comes back to upgrade the LT position. An OL of Carimi - Garza - Konz - Spencer/Williams - Louis has serious potential. -You're right about the Turner/Martz differences. I guess it comes down to personal belief and desire. I happen to want an OC who is capable of creating an offense that can explode, but may take some chances. I hate the "hold on to the lead" kind of guys (e.g. Turner, Shoop). That's why I place the majority of the blame on JA and the OL, because if those two pieces of the puzzle weren't missing, I believe people in Chicago would be singing praises about Martz-ball.

I would be perfectly fine with getting 2 first round picks for Forte. I like him a lot, but I'd love to see the Bears with a shit-ton of draft picks this year, especially in the first round. That way we could package picks for any possible situation. I'd hate to see Forte go, but I'm not of the mindset that RBs are so indispensable.

This very same thing happened to me recently. With proper rehab and effort, the pain subsides in about a week. I could see him coming back after missing only next week.

Siding with the majority here. I don't really like Hanie, never have. His arm is kind of weak, he has poor reads, and he's easily rattled (although I can't entirely blame him with the protection provided). Let's see what Enderle can do.

Actually, it's what I said is not up for debate. The Bears went against the worst pass rush in the NFL and gave up 6 sacks. That's pathetic. That, in and of itself, is not up for debate. As for the rest of the games, you're not watching the same game as I am apparently. OAK: Average at best. I was there and saw the QB pressured on nearly every pass play. The running holes weren't tremendous by any means either. SD: Better than average. DET: The OL sucked. If not for the tremendous performance by the D/ST, the Bears lose, and a great majority of the blame is in the OL's lap. PHI: Tremendous performance. TB: Above average. Although, there were several big screw ups. MIN: Good. DET: Sucked. So, if you figure in the KC game, that's 3 horrible performances, 1 average performance, 3 above average, and 1 great. Sounds to me like a very inconsistent group. They're improving, but it's easy to be happy with a C+ when you're used to getting F's on everything. I'd like to see a consistent B average before I start saying they have been doing "pretty good."

hahaha.

Tremendous? Really? I can only think of one tremendous game. As for the draft, it depends on BPA. If the top two WRs (Blackmon & Jeffery) are gone - they will be - then I see no problem picking a Center like Konz from Wisconsin, or an OG like DeCastro from Stanford or Glenn from Georgia.

No doubt. A huge mistake. I cursed him for it. But we would not have been in that position if the OL had done a half-way professional job the rest of the game. But Roy Williams is a better WR than the guys on the OL are at their jobs. The Chiefs had the worst pass rush in the NFL before this game. Barely 1 sack per game. 6 versus the Bears. OL problems > WR problems

If we do, you guys better hope he is the first read on every pass play and can get open each time, because there is no way in hell this OL gives the QB enough time to get to the second read on a consistent basis.

I jinxed us. But that was an interesting nugget from the announcer. The Chiefs were last in the league with 13 total sacks before this game. They got 6 in THIS GAME ALONE. That means the Bears OL is freaking horrible. There is no debating this. --edit-- 7 sacks.

Another pocket, another great throw, another open WR.

BTW - This game should be at least tied. Martz made a brilliant call for a wide open TD, but Barber lined up incorrectly. Also, the usually reliable Gould shanked one.

freak Roy Williams. He is not the answer. Hanie threaded the needle, and Williams screwed the pooch.

Three decent pockets, three completions. Coincidence? --edit-- Four in a row that the OL did their job. Four completions.

And the Chiefs now know the Bears aren't going to be able to do a damn thing passing, so they're going to load up on the run. This was not only anticipated, it was predicted.

hahahahaha...gimme a break. 5 of the last 6 plays have resulted in him running for his life. The OL is not blocking on the edge OR in the middle.

Remind me again why the OL is not the worst part of the team and the clear #1 priority in FA and the draft? Pathetic.

That's not the Bears' MO under Lovie. They'll go 9-7 or 8-8, just good enough to be in the middle of the draft where the talent is thinner.

I thought the Bears should have picked up McNabb the second he hit free agency. He's infinitely better than Hanie. Maybe now all the Hanie love will cease.

It happened to some of their players, but not thier key players. Big difference.

I have seen no such stupid play calling. Be specific, not irrational. The calls have been good and the team is just not performing.

If Martz stays: Wes Welker or Steve Johnson would be great. Both lightning fast out of breaks and have good hands. They'd explode in this offense. If Martz goes: It depends on the OC and offense installed, but I've always been a fan of Plaxico's ability. He'd come cheaper than the others.

My answer to all of this is simple. I believe the play was a good play that was poorly executed. I've stated this already. Hanie made an iffy throw, Davis didn't meet the ball, and Webb completely whiffed on a blocking assignment that had to be his. Further, the situation lends itself perfectly for a play like that. 2nd and short is a down you can take a chance because you have 3rd and short if it fails. Jim Miller thought it was a good call. So did others. Hell, most of this board liked it early in the year in nearly identical situations. I just think that no matter what Martz does, people will irrationally hate him. And the reason why is this offense is not set up for success thanks to JA. The OL is still bad. It's still the #1 priority, IMO. Even with improvements, it's not good. The QB gets pressured way too often on simple 3 and 5 step drops, much less 7 step drops. And the OL doesn't open holes for the running game very consistently either. Thankfully they do open gaping holes on occasion, which has led to much of the ground game's success. Yes, the WRs are lacking, but this is one of those back-and-forth discussions everyone on this board, and I imagine the other Chicago Bears boards, will continue to have: does OL benefit WR more than WR benefits OL? I say yes. Put in good OL, and the WRs on the Bears are suddenly putting up good/great stats. Just look at the games that Cutler had time; the WRs were lethal. But that doesn't happen nearly enough. End result: 3 years with Martz and the offense hasn't done much. But I can't blame him that much when he's given a weak OL and weak set of WRs. Nobody is going to make this offense look good consistently when the OL fails with consistency and the WRs drop balls consistently.

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/ChalkTalk...p?story_id=8405 Why did the Bears run the play at the end of the first half that required Caleb Hanie to roll out to the right and throw back across the field on second-and-one at the Oakland 7 when they had been running the ball effectively? Brian C. Indianapolis, Indiana The funny thing is that when the play was first called at a similar spot on the field in the season opener against the Falcons, offensive coordinator Mike Martz was lauded for designing such an effective screen. (Kellen Davis was wide open versus Atlanta, but Jay Cutler sailed the ball well over his head and it fell incomplete.) Lovie Smith defended the call when asked about it both after Sunday’s game in Oakland and again Monday at Halas Hall. He said Sunday that “we’re trying to win games” and “every time a play doesn’t work you can [be critical of it], but it happens like that sometimes. You need to be able to rally from it.” Smith reiterated Monday that he didn’t think the play call was too risky, saying: “Of course you’re going to get criticized when something doesn’t work. But next time it will. You’d have to say it was a great play by their guy to tip the ball.” Also, I love Ditka, but I don't know what he's talking about. The defense absolutely left the play. There was over a 5-yard gap between Davis and the Raiders' defender who tipped the pass, and just about everyone else on defense was following the run-fake. The defensive player just happened to read the play quickly and break even faster. However, he needs to rewatch film if he honestly thinks nobody left the play.

Agreed. He was very rattled most of the game. He only had a handful of plays that looked like he was a confident, NFL-level QB who was making reads in anticipation of the throws he was about to make. Otherwise he looked frantic, jumpy in the pocket, and quick to take off running. Granted, I don't really blame him because I think the OL still leaves a ton to be desired, but he didn't look all that good to me. You take away one miracle catch by Knox, and the stats look Tebow-ian.