jason

As the only official on the board (that I know of), I think that there is only one unforgiveable call: The Olsen Mugging. The PI that some of you are calling iffy wasn't even close. It was textbook PI. The DB's left arm went out, hindering the WRs ability to go for the football. At that point it was a PI, regardless of the fact that he turned his head shortly thereafter. I will say, however, that nfo has the call in the endzone right. I couldn't believe the Bears didn't get a dead-ball personal foul on the Thomas TD. I think it was Tillman, but whoever it was, someone hit Thomas VERY late. The only difference is, the lack of a call in the most crucial part of the game was heartless and cowardice. That's what this guy is getting paid for. Unfortunately, it's an unofficial rule that I've heard spoken several times amongst fellow officials: You don't make a call like that late in the game. Several fellow officials have come right out and said that they are pretty much going to put their whistles in their pockets when it's under a minute. I don't agree with this, but it happens. All the other calls are a wash - this happens in every game - but the lack of a PI was pathetic. The difference is, all the other plays in the game can be made up, with a loose, albeit accidental balance being established. It happens in basketball too. The only thing is, just like in basketball, the refs choke on the whistle in the last seconds, and it's just not right. There are no other calls that can make up for that call. It has to be called when it's that obvious, because no other balance can be established throughout the "rest" of the game. Thank goodness the Bears won in OT; otherwise, it would have been downright criminal.

1) It's not hindsight when we say it before and during the game. 2) Orton's injury doesn't make him throw that badly. Although, I've been saying the OL hinders everything for a while. 3) The winning record doesn't make me feel better...it should be better. I want more.

The OC is horrible. He doesn't have a clue how to call a game and take advantage of the opponent's weakness. And he sure as hell doesn't have a clue how to use his players to maximize their talents. The QB is bad. He doesn't seem to understand how to read defenses, and he can't throw the long ball. The WRs are bad. Drops and bad routes. The OL is bad. The don't open gaping holes for the running game, yet they don't pass block great either. Perplexing. The TEs and RBs are about the only thing worthwhile. Chuck it all.

Chat room...what's up?

With this staff, who the hell knows? That's why I'm so adamant about my belief that the Bears have a collection of WRs that could do damage in the NFL. I just believe they are mismanaged. There is no way in hell someone can convince me that the collection of Olsen, Clark, Lloyd, and Hester can't create terrifying matchup problems for opposing defenses. And I didn't even mention the possibilities for a bright-minded OC who has those WRs and can put in Forte and Wolfe. Give these players to the guy running Boise State's offense, and I guaran-damn-tee that the Bears put up 30 a game.

The first part I don't have a problem with. If the coaches didn't plan on using him, then there was no real need to draft him. If I recall, however, one of the reasons was to put him on the kick return team as an up-man to punish the opponents for kicking away from Hester. Yet another plan that sounds good, yet screwed up by the coaches. The last part of your comments, in bold, I disagree with completely. This coaching staff has proven time and again that they are somewhat incompetent at best, and borderline saboteurs at worst. If Wolfe, or any other player for that matter (read: Bennett, Riddeau, Lloyd, Haas, etc.) don't get on the field, it's not an automatic mark against their abilities. It could just as easily be a blight on this coaching staff's already stained resume. You can't possibly believe that ALL of what goes into the coaches decisions has to do with talent. The coaches are humans and will naturally have favorites. It's entirely possible that some better players are on the bench, but they aren't buddies with Lovie, Turner, and Babich. It happens in every other job in the world; I don't see why it wouldn't happen with the Bears.

I don't recall whether you were for the Forte draft pick. If you were, then you're being hypocritical about the need for a RB. The need was there. That's why Forte was drafted. I love the fact that the Bears have Forte, but who's to say the Bears would needed/drafted him if Wolfe had been given a little bit of P.T. and shown that he was good enough to be a pro RB. Then the Bears could have just picked up KJ like they did, split the carries between the two, and the Bears could have addressed yet another need in the draft. But without seeing what a player has, the point unfortunately is moot. As for whether or not anything "tells us a lot", I'd disagree. I don't think it tells us much at all. Unless, of course, you're talking about the ineptitude this coaching staff continues to display when it comes to evaluating talent. Now, if the staff picked him and had the intention of not playing him - which would have been completely stupid, but not unbelievable from this crew - then you have a point.

Keep the hope alive? I just hope that if the Bears make the playoffs, they don't get horribly embarrassed.

It seems that nearly every team the Bears play has a mediocre QB who has a career day against this defense. This week, against the Saints, I have a bad feeling that Drew Brees is going to have a career day. And given what Drew Brees has been doing this year, that is scary. Bears 24 - Saints 38

I have always liked Booker. And, to be quite honest, he's shown some of the talent for which he was known in his previous campaign with the Bears. However, like most decisions by this coaching staff, he's misused. Booker is an inside guy, a guy who makes the hard catches with his freakish hands, but this staff likes to send him on deep routes and double move seam routes. Brilliant. That being said, he's probably past his prime. There is now no reason, no excuse, no fathomable concept by which the Bears coaching staff doesn't get Lloyd or Bennett into the game this weekend. To be quite honest, it'd be nice to see Davis take a seat and get both Lloyd and Bennett in there.

How can anyone really get down on Wolfe?! Seriously. Everyone's disdain for him is baffling. The dude has gotten absolutely zero chance to get on the field and carry the ball, and when he has gotten the ball he's been severely misused. Give the guy a chance! Instead, however, we get to watch Forte absolutely run into the ground, with AP - known to bust his butt yet remain consistently average - getting the "breather carries". Meanwhile, Kevin Jones (a talent known to be clearly better than AP), and Wolfe (a nearly completely unknown when it comes to actually playing at the position for which he was drafted) have to sit and wonder if they'll ever get a chance. Meanwhile, Wolfe's fought hard as hell to get a shot to do something, and despite the size that gets used against him during arguments and debates, he's turned into a complete stud on special teams. Nobody saw him coming, but because of his skill-set and his desire, he's gone above and beyond expectations of his nay-sayers. But, yeah, this coaching staff has a legacy and history of intelligent personnel decisions. They have shown time and again that they start the right players, and bench the guys who are worse. The continually show the forward thinking to take chances with new guys and young guys when they simply out-perform incumbent veterans. All hatred or negativity directed towards Wolfe is completely unwarranted and without merit. I'd say it borders on ignorant since he's so rarely seen the backfield. Granted, he was probably a reach pick. However, if he's never used, or given a chance, then, yeah, it's a wasted pick. But the waste doesn't necessarily mean that he was a failure; it just means that the guy never got a shot.

Besides, if anyone, the extra carries should go to Wolfe.

Agreed for the most part. The reason it's frustrating is that the Bears' front office and coaches are sooo super smart, and they'll just scoff at the ideas because they don't come from a "football insider".

Nice trade for the Pistons?! Are you serious. Do you even watch basketball? Iverson is the antithesis of what they need on the Pistons. Iverson is a ball hog, me first, discipline lacking street ball player. Sure, he's a great scorer. Of course, he's much better since the NBA became a joke and allowed the players to completely flout the rules (i.e. carrying, travelling, etc.). Before Iverson the Pistons were rolling. With Iverson, they are pretty much a .500 team. First of all, he's horrible for Rip Hamilton's game. Rip needs to come off screens and get the pass. Since passing in a structured offense isn't Iverson's strong suit (his assists are mostly a result of the fact that he always has the ball), there goes that aspect of the offense as being incredibly effective as it once was. Oh, and he doesn't play a lick of defense other than the passing lane gambler route, completely screwing his teammates as he goes for the risky steals, thereby making the team defense weaker. This just in: The Pistons are good because they are a defensive team. This trade was horrible for the Pistons. Meanwhile, the Nuggets are 12-3 with an actual traditional, pass-first point guard. And the funny thing is, Billups has a higher scoring average than Iverson this season (at this point), while working within the offense and not jacking up unnecessary shots left and right.

Great, now you're trying to give encouragement for the garbage FB dive play!

nfo...consolidating a bit... 1) You say Bennett shouldn't automatically get on the field because the guys in front of him are playing poorly, but why shouldn't he? It's the same garbage thought process that kept Dez "Stone Hands" White in the game, because he's good in practice. Sooner or later a guy has to produce on Sunday; and if he doesn't, you bring in someone who hasn't had the chance. It's a better option than bringing out the same guy who doesn't produce week to week. You say the coaches can "only do so much", and it's up to the player to produce. I agree. And that's why Bennett should be in there. Even if the others do better in practice, your theory holds that the other guy has to get a shot when the ones who start aren't producing. 2) Yes, our WRs have had drops. That's on them. As a high schooler I played center-field in baseball. I know that when we had one of those games where the ball never came to me, and when the ball never made it to me in the air in a catchable position, those games were hard to keep concentration. I'd say the WRs are the same way. I don't blame as many on the WRs as some - Connor mentioned one during the chat session that I didn't think was catchable - but I think a lot of it is concentration, and the fact that they are unaccustomed to getting the ball repetitively and consistently. 3) We disagree on Rashied Davis. He doesn't have stats, but you can't use the # of catches against him considering the facts that A) The Bears aren't known as a passing team, B] The Bears have had bad OCs for a while, C) The Bears have had either a bad OL or QB for a while, and D) The Bears have had several players on the same level, thereby keeping the totals low for just about every player. Not to mention the fact that at best he's been the slot-WR, a #3 guy on the Bears offense...which doesn't amount to catches. In my viewpoint, when he has been in the game, and when he's had the ball thrown to him, he's made more plays than not. 4) Hester has the talent to be a #1, but maybe not the head. He's almost the opposite of Marvin Harrison. I'd say he'll never be more than a good #2 (with improvement), and end up resembling Bernard Berrian. 5) Regarding the WR or OL idea, I think both would help, and I want both. But I think OL would help more. I also think that a stud WR drafted by the Bears would be wasted behind this coaching staff. First and Second rounders do better in the NFL? Where was Bennett drafted again? But, yes, a stud WR would help some.

Just for the record, Turner didn't run four plays up the gut. That would have been an improvement over his choice. He ran a fade pass FROM THE ONE YARD LINE, and then three plunges up the gut...one being the dreaded FB dive.

If the draft went this way, I don't think anyone could complain. And if the first three rounds fall like that, it means the football gods like the Bears and feel the Bears' fans have suffered enough.

The majority of those yards were on three runs. I think it was a total of nearly 70 yards. For the most part the OL did jack-$*@% against the Vikings DL. Look at the average without those three carries and you'll see how consistently the OL did a good job. I think it's much more likely that those three runs are an abberation, and the Vikings made mistakes or lost gap-responsibility. For instance, on the first long run two Vikings' players (#42 & #52) took horrible angles. Normally, that play is stuffed for a minimal gain. It was more a Viking mistake than a Bears' OL success. Besides, if the OL REALLY did their job, they wouldn't have been stoned 3 of 4 downs on the 1 yard line.

Here are the problems I have with that: 1) What about Bennett? He never sees the field. He may already be the stud the Bears need. I know I saw more than a few of his games at Vandy, and the dude looked like a beast. (i.e. coaching) 2) MuhMuh, Berrian, Wade, Gage, Bradley - All seem to do fairly well elsewhere. Perhaps it's not a WR we need; perhaps it's what is around the WR that we need. (i.e. coaching, OL, QB) 3) Devin Hester appears to have the talent to get open; it's plainly obvious that no person in the NFL can really stay with him when he's cutting and juking in one-on-one coverage, but for some reason he's rarely on the field. And when he's on the field he's rarely open. (i.e. coaching, OL, QB) 4) Rashied Davis is a very competent possession WR. And that's all the Bears need from him. He just rarely seems to be getting the ball while finding the gaps in the zone that every other team seems to find against the Bears (i.e. coaching, OL, QB) 5) On a purely athletic-based concept, there is no reason Greg Olsen doesn't get five catches per game. (i.e. coaching) Why draft a WR when there are so many unknowns otherwise? Until the Bears get a new set of coaches - or at least a competent offensive mind - and a combination of OL/QB that can deliver the ball, getting a WR seems like a waste, IMHO. What's the point of getting the talent if it won't be used? Seems to me this offense is better suited with fixing the OL, which will allow #3-#5 a higher chance of success.

Right now there are eight teams that are guaranteed to be ahead of the Bears in the draft: Seattle, St. Louis, Detroit, KC, Oakland, Houston, Cincinnati, and Cleveland There are five other teams that could arguably be ahead or behind the Bears: SF, GB, SD, Jax, Buffalo So, that means the Bears will draft between 9 and 14. Players who are probably going to be off the board: Stafford - QB Brian Orakpo - DE Michael Oher - OT Andre Smith - OT Taylor Mays -S Eugene Monroe - OT Ray Maualuga - LB Michael Crabtree - WR (if he comes out) Terrence Cody - DT (if he comes out) Chris Wells - RB (someone is gonna do it) Scenario #1 (realistic) Unless Oher or Smith drop, I love the idea of a Oklahoma combo for the #1 and #2 picks. 1 - Duke Robinson - OG - I keep hearing Duke Robinson described as a road-grader, and that's exactly what the Bears need. Maybe then Turner's favorite FB Dive play would work. 2 - Phil Loadholt - OT - The Bears brought back Fred Miller for goodness sakes. He starts opposite of Williams, whichever way that works out. Scenario #2 (joking) The Bears go for the all-Islander draft...those guys always seem to play with fire. 1 - Rey Maualuga, ILB, USC 2 - Fili Moala, DE/DT, USC 3 - Fenuki Tupou, OT, Oregon Scenario #3 (interesting possibility) Matthew Stafford (GA), Colt McCoy (TEX) , Tim Tebow (FLA) , and Sam Bradford (OK) all enter the draft. Suppose Detroit does something smart for a change and grabs one (Stafford). Other teams who might grab one: KC, SF, PHI, MIA...what do the Bears do if one of those guys falls to them?