BearFan2000

Things that jumped out at me. offense line play was much better, once spencer is up to speed put him in at C and move Garza back to Guard. Carimi did a good job holding his own, Web was ok, Louis is the weakest link. I agree with the assesment that the Martz offensive system can be tailored to the players we have the early/mid season overhaul after the bye week showed that Martz can adapt the system to what we have to play with. We don't have the line to consistently allow for deep drops... ok so I see us continue with 3-5 step drops and quicker throws with the occasional deep drop. I think that as the line gels and develops it may be serviceable. We were able to move the ball between the 20's all night it seemed but bogged down in the red zone. Drops and poor red zone execution have a big hand in this. This is something that needs to be cleaned up for the regular season. we cannot play games only walking away with 3 or nothing on long drives. It's demoralizing to a team (and fans) to drive the length of the field and come away with virtually nothing. WR's way too many drops nuf said. Defense.... um where were you last night? I know most of the points were scored against the scrubs but it was also scrubbs on their offense. I'm not worried about the D at this point I think they will be fine but they definitely took the day off which I know it's preseason but still should play hard. Special teams weren't too special last night.

That does help and the RB's splitting carries and even duties does muddy the waters most teams are doing this now so perhaps WR is going to start edging out RB as far as fantasy value. Right now I'm doing a lot of research, and listening to all kind of podcasts, watching injuries, holdouts, signings, bye weeks, etc. Just soaking in as much info as I can to be as informed as I can heading up to the draft in a couple weeks. I plan on doing lots of mock drafts with the same number of teams in the league I'm joining to get used to the mechanics, and drafting from different spots since our draft order hasn't been set yet. Above all I look forward to having some fun and not trying to get too overwhelmed at trying to know everything right now. I've kind of settled on a 15 man roster breakdown of the following which would double up on QB, TE, K, and Def. And would give me the flexibility to start either 3 RB or 3 WR in any given week. With one more RB than WR to start with. The fun thing will be fine tuning the roster over the season via trades, waivers, FA etc. 2 QB 4 RB 3 WR 2 TE 2 K 2 Def and a rough draft order of this. Rd 1 RB Rd 2 RB Rd 3 QB Rd 4 WR Rd 5 WR Rd 6 RB Rd 7 TE Rd 8 WR Rd 9 RB Rd 10 TE Rd 11 WR Rd 12 Def Rd 13 Def Rd 14 K Rd 15 K

I think this is the right place to post this. A group of 10 people at work are going to be doing fantasy football. we'll have 2 divisions of 5 teams each, a playoff of 4 teams in weeks 15/16. Rosters will be 15 players so a 15 round draft. I will be a redraft league so we won't have keepers. Starting roster and roster limits will be. Quarterback:1 Running Back:2 Wide Receiver:2 Tight End:1 Wide Receiver / Running Back:1 Kicker:1 Defensive Team:1 Bench:6 Legue rules Max Adds per SeasonNo Maximum Max Adds per WeekNo Maximum Max Trades per SeasonNo Maximum Trade Review TypeLeague Votes (by team owners) Trade Reject Time2 days Trade DeadlineNovember 25, 2011 Waiver Period1 day Waiver TypeResets Every Tuesday to Inverse Order of Standings Waiver Lock TypeWaivers on Drop and Lock Post Draft PlayersFollow Waiver Rules Roster Lock TypeGame Time Start of SeasonWeek 1 Scoring Offense Passing Completions:1 point Incomplete Passes:-1 point Passing Yards:1 point per 25 yards Passing Touchdowns:4 points Interceptions Thrown:-2 points Every Time Sacked:-1 point Rushing Yards:1 point per 10 yards Rushing Touchdowns:6 points Receptions:1 point Receiving Yards:1 point per 10 yards Receiving Touchdowns:6 points Kickoff and Punt Return Yards:1 point per 25 yards Kickoff and Punt Return Touchdowns:5 points Fumble Recovered for TD:6 points Fumbles Lost:-2 points 2-Point Conversions:2 points Kicking PAT Made:1 point PAT Missed:-1 point FG Made 0-19:3 points FG Made 20-29:3 points FG Made 30-39:3 points FG Made 40-49:3 points FG Made 50+:5 points Defense / Special Teams Sacks:1 point Interceptions:2 points Fumbles Recovered:2 points Fumbles Forced:2 points Safeties:2 points Touchdowns:6 points Blocked Kicks:2 points Kickoff and Punt Return Touchdowns:6 points Points Allowed 0:10 points Points Allowed 1-6:7 points Points Allowed 7-13:4 points Points Allowed 14-20:1 point Points Allowed 21-27:0 points Points Allowed 28-34:-1 point Points Allowed 35+:-4 points Being a first time fantasy player I'm trying to cram to learn strategies, who to draft how many of which position, when to draft which positions. Our draft will be an online live draft a week before the start of the season. I've done a couple mock drafts will probably do more of them. I know I need to be aware of bye weeks and not pick starters who share the same bye week. But some things I see is a lot of mocks I rarely see anyone draft more than one defense but wouldn't you have one week out of the season that your one D would net you nothing because of bye or is that not a big enough worry to warrant a second draft spot. From what I'm gathering go RB early then QB/WR then TE, D, and last pick a kicker. Roster settings above and the points what would be some advice on strategy. Things I should avoid doing.

sadly Haine could out play Enderle and still wind up #3. Everyone in Bears nation knew last season especially after that carolina game where collins did all he could to earn MVP honors for the Panthers by trying to give them the game. That Haine should have been the #2 all season last year and Collins should have been the "Oh Crap!" emergency QB and only allowed to hand the ball off. Yet even after this wonderfully odious performance Collins remained the #2 guy. Who else said "we're doomed" when Cutler was done and in came Collins in the title game. Who knows had Haine stepped in to start the second half rather than wasting several offensive possessions out of stubbornness before it became obvious nothing good was going to happen with Collins in there. Once could argue we may have had a better chance of pulling that game out. It's stuff like that that makes me think that no matter how good Haine plays this preseason, and no matter how crappy Enderle plays. Enderle will be the #2 guy. They were high on Enderle in the draft and they will try to keep nailing jello to the wall till it's beyond obvious that it won't stay up there. The sad part of this really is with the sieve of an OL that we have Cutler's always one play away from IR. When you have a franchise QB as your number 1 and your offensive line is this bad, you should have an outstanding plan B. Problem is we don't seem as worried as we we should (coaching and FO wise) about who our #2 guy He's one play away from being the #1.

why not just forgo the kickoff and start each possession at the 20 No Fun League strikes again

touche

Born and raised in the small town of Bremen, in northern Indiana that most people haven't heard of even those from Indiana but it's just South of Notre Dame country. Been a fan of Chicago sports and Notre Dame (football team should be good this year).

Isn't running behind our first string line like running behind most teams second or third string line?

"these are our lights and we like our lights, we know there's always room for improvement, we can always coach better and the lights can always shine brighter. I think they will be ready for the season"

signed a 5 year deal with the Eagles

yeah that was sad the way Hilgy went out and Kruetz has had a good long career here in Chicago, and a good guy as well and loyal as he has in past years taken less money to stay in Chicago and he has anchored the OL here for many years it will be odd not seeing him out there but wether he retires, re-signs with us, or he signs somewhere else I wish him the best. My pref of course would be that if he doesn't resign he retires a Bear. I wouldn't mind him being a position coach here.

One draft pick to go and that's Gabe Carimi hopefully he gets signed today along with some OL signings.

This! this is exactly what I was thinking once I heard we might lose him. Is he on his last leg of his career, yes. I say he's got 2 maybe 3 years left. But I think what gets lost is what you just pointed out. Kruetz has his responsibilities as the center, but he also has had to or felt he has to assist the guy to his left or right or both when they are not doing their job. Let's face it he's not lining up between two pro bowlers but rather guys who would be backups on most teams.

I too was not exactly pleased to hear we signed him but a lot of that has to do with his being an arse clown at times. Celebrating a routine first down when your team is being blown out, running his mouth in the media, etc. But what he does bring is size, speed, and ability we lack at WR. He hasn't produced as well recently but I do agree that being familiar with Martz system and having thrived in it is a positive, he will draw more defensive attention because of who he is he's not a receiver that defensive coordinators will opt to ignore or leave single covered or even roam free. His presence on the field should help Knox, Bennet, Hester, et all. He will fight for the ball, that has been one of my pet peeves about so many "WR"s we have shuffled through here. If you can't catch the ball don't quit on the play make sure if you can't catch it no one can. Honestly this is a mixed bag, I'm going to reserve judgment till I see how this plays out on the field.

in some ways it's like buying a pack of old football cards at a card show hoping to find a high dollar rookie card. I agree nearly all these guys are not going to be on the final roster, part of the reason we're seeing so many added is the 90 player TC roster over last years 80. Out of these UDFA if we find 2 or 3 that can make the roster with potential to at some point provide solid depth, or even crack the starting lineup like an Alex Linnenkohl or a Dane Sanzenbacher. UDFA doesn't mean they are crap. There are guys who do slip through the cracks that can turn out to be solid players. Maybe not stars. Some players may be very good but just never played on a team with a lot of media exposure so they are less known. That's not to say there aren't an awful lot of these guys who will never play a down because they just aren't good enough to play at the pro level. I actually like that we are signing quite a few of these guys the more you look at the better the odds of finding a keeper or two which is all I think we'll find is maybe one, two, or three that might make the final roster. Mostly these are just warm bodies for camp.

The FO could have cancer and decline to pay for chemo but instead opt for a bottle of aspirin.

Second that. That would make my day. He'd be a huge upgrade for sure.

I'd pass as well how many times have we picked someone up who had a breakout year only to take up a rosterspot here doing nothing. no thanks. We don't need to get older on D we need to get younger anyway

Same here didn't really visit the board for most of the lockout and mostly avoided following the news on it as it seemed the same thing every day bickering between millionaires and billionaires while I continue to try to make ends meet. But I am glad we will have football and this is going to be one crazy week or two getting the ball rolling. Once the preseason begins and the more distance we put between the lockout the more things will be back to normal. We're all itching for some football.

This has been a bears reciever trademark for years. If you can't make the catch you better darn well make sure no one else does. yet our recievers give up on the play if they can't make the catch.

watching this vid is getting me pumped, so glad URL is playing back a high level. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6FBt4N1vac

offense wins games, body language wins championships

His top five are as follows 1. NFC Championship, #2 seed, NFC North Title, 11-5. 2. Team health 3. Peppers and Idonije 4. Martz and Cutler team up for balance offense. 5. Tommie Harris MIA My thoughts on this list: 5. Tommie has been missing in action since 2007, I think none of us are surprised that he hasn't shown up this year. We are used to him not showing up and just wasting a roster spot. I think for tommie Harris to be a surprise he would have to have a productive season. That I think would surprise us. 4. I admit that this past offseason I did not want Martz and his pass happy offense to come to Chicago. When it happened I feared that he would get Cutler killed, because our line isn't good enough to play martz ball. The start of the season up to the bye week confirmed my fears Cutler already with one concussion and we still show no balance or interest in running the ball. But we have been surprised by the changes made in the bye week and it truly is like watching two different teams. The Bears self scouted, figured out what they could do, what they couldn't do, how to get the most out of what we have, how to mask the weaknesses we have. Started with running the ball more, taking advantage of Cutler's mobility, and having stability in the line. It's hard to build a solid line when you are constantly changing it up. It takes time for guys to work together stability is very important for an offensive line. 3. I'm iffy on whether I see this as a surprise, we paid him big bucks to come here and be a factor and he has done that. By being a factor he makes the others around him better. To see this as a surprise I guess would be the same to say it's a surprise that Cutler has stepped up. We have signed our share of money guys over the years to see them come here and do nothing, so in that sense of doubt it's a pleasant surprise that Pep is making an impact like we had hoped he would. Stats don't tell the whole story here. 2. Could not agree more and it's surprising to the point of freaky, like voodoo freaky. We entered the Divisional game with out a single player not available to play from our opening day 53 man roster. That is exceedingly rare, considering the beating Jay took at the start of the year I wasn't sure he'd be walking by the end of the year. To have the health that we have had to this point is almost unheard of. 1. couldn't agree more here as well who in their right mind would have predicted us to be in the NFC Championship game, have the record we have, win the north, get the #2 seed (now we did need help for that). Only someone drinking a keg of Kool-Aid may thought we'd be where we are. I know I didn't think we'd make the playoffs and especially going into the bye week. to finish the season wining 7 of our last 9 is the big surprise.

LOL wow, forgot this was a Green Bay paper. Didn't bother to spell check it that is too funny.

Either I'm too tired or something but I think I'm missing what's funny other than their facial expressions.