BearFan2000

Lots of guys to give props to. Shea, McCown, Forte, Jeffery, Marshall, The entire offensive line. That last drive was beautiful watching the line just take it too them. Props to Trestman as well some brilliant play calling at critical points. Good overall team win. Course Gruden saying this win should have an * because Rodger's went out with an injury.... uh... hello, the Bears came in with a laundry list of injuries, including staring their backup QB and beat the Prickers on their turf!

hometown refs all three pentalties of the night on the Bears apparently the packers never committed any penalties But inspite of that the Bears finish off the Pack by doing something we've seen so little of this year back to back sacks!!!

I agree he should take the time needed to fully heal before risking further injury just to prove a point. From what I've heard/read that it takes time for a tear like that to scar and strengthen to where re-injury is far less likely. What I'd like to see happen is that he takes the 4 weeks as Emery stated, means he'll miss: Wk 8 (bye) Wk 9 @ GB Wk 10 home vs Lions Wk 11 home vs Ravens After that evaluate if he needs more time or not. I've read that it could be anywhere between 2 weeks to 6 weeks. And that according to one article he was seen walking around normally and you wouldn't know he's injured, maybe that's where Marshall's comments come from, but just because he isn't limping or hobbling doesn't mean the injury is miraculously healed. Walking around is a lot different than running, jumping, dropping back, planting and throwing a football with velocity. If he returns after 4 weeks he would return to play at St. Louis on field turf, which doesn't give like grass and a hard plant on that turf if it's not fully healed could put him at risk for re-injury. I would actually prefer he takes the 6 weeks returning for the Monday nighter vs the Cowboys. That will give him the 4 weeks to where he might be ready to chance it plus two weeks to make sure it's good and healed. For his own sake I don't want to see him hurry out there and make it worse. Wk 12 @ Rams (artificial surface) Wk 13 @ Vikings (artificial surface) Wk 14 home vs Cowboys grass (where I hope he returns) IMO while we can't overreact to what McCown did in the second half vs the Skins 31 points, I think it should give us, the bears, and Jay reason to not rush back. For a guy to come in not having had the reps in practice come in and run the offense the way he did is comforting. Do I expect us to put up 40 + points week in and week out with McCown? No be cause we won't be facing that crappy of a D every week. What I do think he can do is keep the ship afloat till the captain returns. I think the scenario doesn't change here. We still have an offense that is potent and can put up points and a D that has trouble stopping anyone. What I liked out of that game is consistency, throughout the second half we didn't score a couple TD's then disappear for a while, but for the whole second half we went toe to toe matching TD for TD. I was glad to be wrong about McCown coming in, when Jay went down I basically said "game over." I have enough confidence in Josh to carry the team till Jay is ready to come back. It won't be easy GB and Detroit going to score so we'll need to keep pace, the ravens are struggling, as are the Rams and Vikings. If we can go 3-2 or better with McCown that's all you can ask.

Fendi "Vice Grips" Autobon will help McCown lead us to a Super Bowl win!

Started loosing me at cutting Marshall, he's our best WR and I don't feel he is or will be the big distraction people want to make him out to be. I do agree that Melton will be gone, I wouldn't be opposed to keeping Garza as a backup, he's done well at center since Kruetz left. I think the offense is heading in the right direction and we need to keep building that, but I only see minor tweaks going forward needed for the line to add quality youth and continue to get younger there. I think what people miss in this clamoring to jump to a 3-4 because we have the guys to play LB in that system, to make that system work you need big disruptive tackles. Even if all our guys are healthy, Angelo tended to draft smaller guys at tackle focusing on speed. Rather than the beefier guys. We haven't had a dominant presence in the middle since Harris before his knee gave out. Not saying I'm opposed to it if we can bring in the personal to run it either from the draft or FA. Tucker does have experience with the 3-4. I think we have to be smart about it and not just change for the sake of change. That said the opportunity for change may be there as we are looking at a major overhaul of the Defensive personal in the near future. I'm sure that If Emery, Trestman, and Tucker feel that it can be done and improve our D they'll consider it.

in other news water is wet... Safety is a huge void in our D. Conte seems to be getting worse, always seems to be late getting over to the play, doesn't look like he knows where he's supposed to be. Oh how I miss the Parish/Brown combo.... too bad that didn't last long.

if we can keep him at a reasonable price for just return duties, then cut Weems, why not see what Marques Williams can bring to the return game in weems place. He's got the quicks for it.

Not sure I'd assume it's attitude or mental capacity. It may be more that Cutler's game isn't ideal for this offense. Jays had to try to play within it, where as it's an offense that may well better suit a guy like McCown. The true west coast is based on quick throws, short drops, and taking shots down field here and there but it's a more ball control type offense. Jay is more of a gunslinger. I think we've seen he can play in this offense but doing so he's had to change how he plays the game.

The way he "walked off" the field to the tunnel and that picture followed by the signing of Palmer, tells me it's a serious and potentially season ending injury. Which for Jay sucks because if he's done for the year, he'll enter the offseason with only 6 games to show for his potential in this offense where it looked like he very well could have proven his worth. It puts both him and the Bears in a tough spot. Do you tag him? Can you sign him to a fairly cheap 1-2 year "prove it" type contract? In the mean time we roll with McCown and palmer to back him up. Hats off to McCown for a guy to come off the bench cold without the practice reps to come in on the road and lead the offense to 28 second half points was impressive. If He can continue to lead the offense and keep that group rolling, then really that leaves right where we were. An effective offense, a Defense that can't stop much of anything, and a special teams unit that's hardly been special. Who's to say we can't make the playoffs with McCown? I'll admit when Jay went down my first thought was game over, but I got to give him credit for playing the way he did.

agreed and it's crazy to think that all those years with Lovie and a dominant D Saying if we had any kind of offense we could win it all, now we have an offense that moves that ball and scores we are now saying if we only had some kind of defense.... uggg.. Sadly the reality is we waisted the window of opportunity we had with that D. Age, time, and injuries have caught up with a once dominant unit. They are a shell of their former self. It's time to make the most of the pieces we have and if we can add any. But start rebuilding this coming offseason. We are becoming one of those teams with a high powered offense but can't stop a nose bleed. As for Cutler I do think he can be effective in this offense but watching McCown run the offense and run it well, does make me wonder if a more traditional pocket passer. By no means am I saying McCown is the answer and should be our QB. It just makes me wonder is Cutler's natural style of play slightly at odds with the system that Trestman is tying to install? I think Jay has shown he can play within the system and it has helped his game. But maybe a QB who is more in the traditional mold could really make this offense run at a high level.

game over

regardless of how this turns out I'm proud of this team for not packing it in. They are playing their butts off and major kudos to McCown and the offense for continuing to fight.

why is Meriwether not being ejected two targeting head shots in one game he should be gone period!!!

agree, I don't see McCown as the answer but perhaps Jay is a bit of a square peg in a round hole. I like Jay and he's played well this year in this offense but I wonder if that has something to do with them not extending Jay to this point. We definitely have a much needed bye week coming up. Players are dropping like flies out there.

and of course they follow it with a questionable Personal foul... these refs suck arse

we were not offsides we just got screwed again....

It does raise the question that perhaps a more traditional pocket passer with some mobility is more ideal?

He has done surprisingly well. That does bode well if we are building a system on offense where if we're without Jay for a few games this season, or if we don't resign him and either draft or bring someone else in that the offense can keep rolling. That's what you want in an offense. Also, washington strikes me as a dirty team taking a lot of cheap shots at guys.

ok so much for the D stepping up..... I like how Washington can tackle our defenders and no flag.

going to need Forte to step up like that, the rest of the team is going to need to rally together to somehow find a way to win. If we can get the ground game going that should make things easier for McCown D is going to really have to step up it's game.

This day has sucked from the get go.... woke up with a migraine, get that under control, make some last min roster moves on my fantasy team including talking myself out of starting Harry Douglas... and picking up Jordan Reed to have him sit on my bench. In a game I needed to win in a tight fantasy race..... This sucks.... Then I sit down to watch the Bears, who lose cutler and thus any hope of winning this game, cutler is my fantasy QB so I get a -3.88 for my trouble. We're down 24-17 and if it's not for the Tillman pick and the Hester return we wouldn't even be in this game.....

I agree on the fundamentals part a lot of our issues really can be traced back to fundamentals whether it's tackling, coverage, gap integrity, containment, footwork, etc. I do also agree with Uncle Buck on the tackling that there may be too much emphasis on stripping the ball rather than tackling and it should be the first guys responsibility to secure the tackle or at least slow the player down to allow teammates to clean it up. But first priority should be to stop progress the secondary objective should be to strip the ball. Now it is different if you are beat on the play and can't possibly make the tackle, then yes punch at the ball. But if your in position to make the tackle secure that first. It's about damage control, I'd rather give up the chance at a fumble if it means we tackle the guy short on 3rd down and get off the field. Then try for the strip and in failing the guy breaks a big one. it's like jumping a route with no help behind you and giving up a TD As for Bostic, I think he has the size and tools to be more physical than Briggs/Url He's got the speed and brings a load when he hits. He's got a good nose for the ball. If he does become the next great one at that position I want him to be his own kind of star and bring his own style to it. Just like the different MLB's who've played they were all unique and played the game their way. With our D-Line we'll get to see how good he is at shedding blockers and weeding his way through the wash. He's got an edge to his game that I like.

We are and have been fortunate. Butler for all those years. Jagger for a while, Eddinger who was good early in his career, and now Gould. It's easy to forget that time between letting Jeff Jagger go and desperately searching for a good kicker we trotted out some awful kickers for a while. It's certainly invaluable when you have a kicker who can not only hit from 50+ but consistently so. Those guys are not easy to find. Hope we keep Gould around and he has many more years here in Chicago.

Agreed, we can club each other over the head repeatedly arguing who's right, who wronged who in how the Bears and Urlacher parted ways. But at the end of the day what does that really accomplish. Right or wrong it's done, he's not on the team or in the league anymore, let's focus on what we have in our team and how the Bears can move forward and build for the future. Rather than focus on the past why not look for the future star at MLB. Could it be Bostic? Who knows, he's got a golden opportunity to show what he's got this year. Brian got on the field when Minter went down and the rest was history. The NFL is all about making the most of your opportunities. Personally I feel like Bostic can be that type of guy to step in and take over the position for the foreseeable future. Doesn't mean he will, but he's got his chance to show he belongs. Maybe someday he'll make #57 a hot selling Bears jersey and we can lay this Urlacher bickering to rest for good. Either way we need to move on no matter how butt hurt some are over how it went down. Let's keep our eyes on the future. One of the problems we have on D as pointed out is a heavily injury depleted DT position and total lack of production from Peppers. There's only so much we can do this season to address DT, Peppers is an unknown because we don't know what's causing his play to have dropped off this much. I agree with the earlier post that Tackling, and secondary play can improve and that is fixable. I saw in another thread somewhere about the number of missed takles for all of last year being something like 85 which is a little over 5 a game and this year through 6 games is something like 56 which is around 9 per game on average. Missed tackles have been a huge issue, how many times have we had a RB, WR, TE, etc. stopped short of first down yardage or even behind the line to see them pickup a first down and sometimes a lot more. It's maddening when you know the first guy should have made the tackle then to watch him and three other guys miss takles on his way to a highlight reel TD or big play. We can't control injuries, but we can control fundamentals, and that is what I am hoping that we use the bye week to focus on. We may not have the capacity to be a top flight D anymore but we can be a fundamentally sound and effective D. And going back to a previous response, I may have been a bit harsh on the coaching specifically Trestman and the offense but in general there are some things that need tightened up, there are play calling and time management issues that do make you scratch your head, calling for a long pass on third and short when you just need to get first downs to chew clock. Playing for a field goal at the end of the first half, rather than trying to get 6. I get antsy when my team has a little over a min and a time out in their back pocket and they are just meandering up to the line of scrimmage while the clock ticks down. It goes to that killer instinct that I want the Bears to have. The Giants are a team that you should step on their throats when you have the chance. Those kinda teams you need to force them out of the game emotionally so you can have your way with them in the 3rd/4th Quarter. Let a wounded team like that hang around and stay in it you are in for a fight. Big picture, I think the offense has the pieces in place, and needs to keep improving. Yes they are better than last year, and I think their ceiling is much higher than in past years. There is a lot of potential here once things start to really click. I'm hoping that will mean more consistency from start to finish in a game, rather than play well for 1 or two quarters then go MIA for the rest of the game. I am excited about the potential of this offense and I myself have to exercise some patience. It is a completely new offense and we are only 6 games into the first year of it. As fans we expect a lot of our teams and sometimes we get too greedy and want to see a perfect product on the field.

I feel like there is positives to build on on the offense and it is is a reversal of mindset to imagine the offense carrying this team. I think at times we as fans expect everything to just click and it is a new offense, new playbook, new verbiage and some new pieces. Things will be up and down especially early on. We are only 6 games into the first year of this system. We are seeing glimpses of the potential. Patience isn't often a die hard fan's strongest trait. We're going to need to exercise some of that this season. We have a much needed bye week coming up and hopefully we enter it after a win over the Skins. The reality we may have to face is the D may not get a lot better than it is. Aside from tightening up the tackling, and trying to figure out how to get pressure, just not sure we have the players to do that anymore. A lot of the talent on the defensive side of the ball is getting long in the tooth. Briggs, Tillman, Peppers, aren't getting any younger, and we need the young guys to step up. In the coming years we're going to need to retool the D. So we may see a stretch of years where the D is not up to the standards we're used to and the offense may have to carry this team. That's not an uncommon thing in today's NFL some of these high powered offenses over the years have had to score a lot because their D is weak. Look at Denver vs Dallas. Both teams putting on an offensive show but neither D doing much to stop either offense. We've been spoiled for many years with an elite D but that D has gotten old and injuries are mounting. We've talked about the window to win a championship while this D was playing at an elite level and how that window was closing well it may well be closed now. The Bears need to play a different type of game now to win.