BearFan2000

Bringing in a guy like Merinelli will prove to be one of the best offseason moves we've made. If to this point our D hasn't even been coached to use these things then that just proves how inadequate our defensive line coaching has been. Counter moves are one of the basic tools of a D-Linemen. If your pass rush is predictable it requires little effort to stop it. Mixing it up is what puts the advantage back on you by having your opponent think and react rather than expect and protect. Rod seems like just the guy to introduce some creativity into our D-Line. It would be nice to see our line getting effective penetration and being a disruption in the backfield throughout the game. I'm sure our DBs would be eternally grateful and it would help their game.

Dammit Rex....

He certainly has been worth the money and probably one the the more forgotten guys on team. I can't recall a single bad snap on a punt (though in the past we have practiced that a lot in game situations), FG or extra point. He's one of if not the best long snapper in the league. I'm glad we have him here.

Good article and I do agree the passing game requires both the QB and WR to do their part. If our WR can't get open or can't catch consistently having a QB who can get the ball there won't matter. Just as having the receivers get open but not having the QB who can read the defense and get the ball there. Both QB and WR have to do their parts correctly for it to work. Jay is a the QB who can make all the throws and will be able to get the ball there on time. The question mark is will our receivers consistently be where they should be and catch the ball. One thing that is different this year than last year is that we do have the QB who can get the job done and make all the throws. I think that will make our WR's more motivated to do their part. If I run my routes nearly flawless all game long but either never get thrown to or when I am the ball is either uncatchable or requires drastic adjustment to make the catch. I would quickly start to loose motivation. That may be on the extreme but if you don't have confidence in your QB to get the ball to you on time then you'll be less likely give it your all. With Cutler at QB he can throw it to anyone at any time so you better be ready. Imagine if we still had Berrian and he hadn't gotten greedy. You'd have Berrien, Hester, Bennet, Davis, Iglacious, Knox, and not to forget our TEs Olsen and Clarke. But that's not the case we don't have him we have what we have. Berrian was basically our speed guy that role is now Hester's. So I don't really see that as a talent void not having him here. I think that there's enough talent at the WR position that they will be effective enough for us to have a good season. I do see this unit improving over time with Cutler. I don't expect it to jump out of the gate on all four cylinders but I do expect there to be steady improvement. The OTAs, various mini camps, and this training camp will be critical for establishing that repartee between Jay and his Receivers.

LOL he does look like a homeless guy

I'll be in Chicago December 28th/29th in the Grant Park Area what are some fun things to do and see. How close would we be to the Hard Rock Cafe (gotta buy a shirt). Dad and I will be checking in early on Monday then going to the game. Tuesday we'll be checking out and at some point taking the train back to South Bend. We'll have some time to kill before the game and the next morning.

What section are you in, I assume you'll be there for the Monday Night game.

Section 432 Row 33 Monday, December 28th 7:30 PM MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Dad and I will be chiillin and cheerin on Da Bearssss. Dome team in late December

And here I was hoping that I'd get to watch Favre throw picks in the Monday night game since I'll be there.

Congrats on turning the big 50 Happy Birthday!! What a way to celebrate it. Look forward to hearing about TC. Wish I was going sounds like it's a blast.

If I sell them to someone on this board I'd sell them at face value plus the shipping which would be around $140 or so for the pair. Even if I eat the extra markup and service fees, lesson learned. If I put them on eBay i'll let them go to the highest bidder with a likely reserve price of $136. I've never sold anything on eBay so that makes me a little nervous. Either way I'll have the tickets in hand by 7/31. Which is 21 days before the game should be enough time to sell and ship the tickets.

With TC coming up soon we will finally have some new Bears news and footage to dissect, and analyze and after that analysis has been and analysised we'll have preseason and the then the roster cut downs before we know it we'll be glued to our sets or our seats if we're at the game to watch the Bears open on prime time at GB. I know that I will be there cheering my Bears on in the final stretch of the season for the December 28th Monday Night game against the queens. Vinkings may have Favre but at that point in the season he'll be in the I'm going to retire since my seasons gone to crap mode. I may even see if I might be able to work it out to go to the 8/22 preseason game against the Giants and not sell those tickets. How cool would it be to see Cutler's first action as a Bears QB and his first completion as a Bear hopefully his first TD pass as a Bear.

Hard to believe just how frequently he was scoring on returns.. Matched Sayers return TDs in 22 games and under 100 return opportunities. Him not having any TD returns last season made me forget just how unreal that stretch of time was. Prior to Hester we had may a few TD returns in the previous decade or so and in 2 years he sets records. Special teams was no longer a formality it became part of the main event. Last year I think Deven tried to make every one a home run and over thought it a lot. What made him successful at returns was speed and instinct and a well schemed and coached special teams unit. But with his transition to WR his return duties diminishing. With Cutler at QB here's to him once again thrilling us in Bear country. Go long Deven we now have a guy who can get you the ball. I wander how much of Orton's inability to throw long accurately caused Turner to not send Hester long as much but rather trying to get him open in a range that Kyle was more accurate at. In contrast Jay can make all the throws short to long. Let's get it on!!! I want me some Bears Football!!!

Yeah, live and learn I guess. The whole ticket system has me jaded a bit. Brokers have no issue getting gobs of tickets then turning around and selling at or more than double face value. While us true fans who are buying ticket because we want to go to the game have a tough go at it. All the fees are crappy too, surprised they don't have a fee fore the air you breathe while there. I did make a goof though. I went back to exchange and somehow clicked on the giants preseason game and saw two tickets at 91 ea and immediately checked my brain at the door and bought them thinking I'd sell the others I bought on ebay. When I came to my senses I was at the "Thank you for your order" and to the right it said Bears vs Giants 8/22/09...... That game I can't go to..... so if anyone's interested in a couple tickets to that game they are 2 tickets in section 441 row 21. I may list these on Ebay but if anyone here's interested let me know. Wouldn't mind going it would be the first time to see Cutler in a Bears uniform.

Well, I blew it I managed to get to the waiting list screen and decided to open another browser and and double my chances..... sadly that kicked me out of line and I had to scramble then I got back in line and thought well, what if I Just get to the screen where I"m entering text and it got kicked out of line again. I did eventually get a couple shots at some seats but they were 305 ea and 245 ea club seats. I simply can't afford that. Sucks too because they were great seats. near the 50. I did however pick up a couple tickets in section 432, Row 33 at $145 each. Should be a decent view of the field. A little more than I'd like to pay but that was the best seats for the price. I wanted to stay out of the corners of the dish. I was tempted to buy 4 and sell two on ebay to recoup some of the over cost but didn't want to mess with that. The prices thru ticket exchange are much better than Ebay or Stub Hub. I'm going to book a hotel room likely at the Best Western and we'll take the early train so we'll have time to check in and hang out in Chicago. Till it gets closer to game time. I hate rushing around. After the game we'll walk back to the hotel and then check out Tuesday morning and take the train back home. I'm so jazzed about going

I think your right there, and being a Monday night game I would think we'd definitely want a good showing and our starters will be playing I know it's kind of obvious to say that it's possible either the Vikings or the Packers could be fighting us for the division because it obviously couldn't be the Lions. Just don't want to get out there and watch Jay Cutler stye ball cap on the sidelines lol. I figure by that time the Bears should be at the top of their game this year and the offense will be running as fluidly as it can. The vikings are literally a QB away from making some serious noise. The Packers are hard to figure. While I think there's enough talent there to be a good team. I think the season is more entertaining when there is competition in our division. IIRC back in 2001 we were fighting both the Pack and the vikings most of the season and still ended up with the #2 seed. I cannot wait for Aug 15, I'm itching for some Bears Football and the wait is driving me crazy. To see the first pass from Cutler, his first TD pass as a Bear. The crowd is going to explode when he steps on the field and will explode again when he completes his first pass, and erupt when he throws his first TD Pass. Gent's this is going to be a season to remember and hopefully the first of many ) I wonder if I should just use the best available anywhere option. Only looking for 2 seats. Only prob is I can't afford the club seats that are 245 - 350. Lower level seems to be spread out between sidline and end zone, upper has more sideline than end zone, 200 level has more end zone than sideline. The vast majority of seats falls into the upper level. All three areas are in my price range and I should just be happy to get tickets lol. decisions decisions decisions.

Is there any way around the word code thing when ordering tickets on ticketmaster? Since they've added this feature I've lost out on many events due to getting some of the most illegible crap. Meanwhile knowing that every second I waste trying convince the system I'm real is a second that is lost while others are snagging tickets. If I try by phone won't I be put on hold indefinitely? How exactly does Ticketmaster determine best available does it start at the highest dollar tickets and from there closest to the 50 yard line? Haven't been to a Bears game since 2001. I do know that my best strategy online is to pick one game and focus on that. Also to know which price level I want to be in and pick that out so if/when tickets available are well outside my budget I don't have to go back and try again. So I should select the highest price I'm willing to pay from the outset. I'm shooting for the Monday Night game vs the Vikes. Kinda odd though to have a Monday night game that late in the season. In a way I hope that we have something to play for and will play our starters. The vikings at that point may be either out of it or desparately fighting for the last wild card spot. If I get tickets I'm hoping that it's an entertaining game, but no because we are resting starters and they are playing theirs. A blowout in our favor wouldn't bother me either. Can't believe I'm even talking about #1 or #2 seed. Also due to the fact that neither me or my dad are at all interested in driving to the game we are planning on taking the southshore. Being that the last train that day that would go back to south bend leaves 20 min before kickoff we'd be spending the night in a hotel. Seems like the best option is the best western that's approx a quarter mile walk to and from the stadium. Question is is it in an area that we want to be walking at around 11 PM at night after the game? May be a silly question but I don't know this area of Chicago that well. Last game I went to we took the train and it was a noon kickoff and the train stops close to soldier field.

couldn't agree more. A mediocre to average QB would have flourished in that offense. They have weapons coming out their arse. If anyone's a product of a system it's was Cassell benefiting from the talent around him. Put him on a bad team and I'd be willing to bet he won't fare well. I'd even be willing to bet that Brady wouldn't be so great on a crappy team.

You are right on Weiss. I live near South Bend, so whether your an Irish Fan or not during the season that about all you hear about. All home games are televised 2 to 3 times... once live and two times shortened broadcasts. As an Irish fan Weiss' arrogance, self importance, and know it all attitude has run it's course and I've grown tired of it especially given the less than stellar results on the field and the excuses. This year is likely his put up or shut up year. If Notre Dame has another bad season he will be gone. As clueless as ND"s AD is they are smart enough to realize that they will be lynched if they retain him after yet another disappointing season. Just because they studied under a successful Coach does not make them capable of leading a team as a head coach. Rod Marinelli was and is a hell of a defensive position coach he sucked as a head coach. While it doesn't hurt their chances it doesn't grantee they will be good on their own. McDaniels could very well ruin that team for the forceable future the longer he's there. Once you loose your team, look out.. everyone starts heading for the life boats and the ss titanic is left to sink. Whether he realizes it or not Josh has knocked over the first few dominos and the longer he keeps it up the more damage he'll do. Too bad it is an AFC team that we rarely face and not a bitter NFC rival. That could make it far more entertaining. Though we do have Detroit which is perennially melting down and will have to do for cheep entertainment.

Always had a respect for Lynch the guy let his play on the field do his talking and it spoke volumes. He was one of those players who gave you everything they had and he was a class act. A lot of young guys could learn something from him. I think he's spot on with the Marshall and Cutler comments. Marshall has some growing up to but should he grow out of his off the field behavior he will make some team a very solid player that they can count on. Bringing someone in here with his level of maturity issues to a group of young inexperienced WR's is a bad mix. If we bring someone in I'd rather see someone more mature who actually can rub off on the young guys in a good way. I also think he's right about Cutler that he does have some growing up do do but the difference is he knows it and is working on becoming a better pro and he want to show the Bears, their fans and the NFL that Jerry made a wise move in bringing him here.

> I second that, couldn't have said it better. The only thing about the Favre situation is that he was incredibly durable, Green Bay wisely took the risk of basically making him their only viable option and drafting guys to develop behind him and as those guys got to be ready to play Favre was still going strong so they traded them at good value. When you stop and think about it over the past (what seems like forever) that Favre has been starting there that they have to an extent been a QB factory Both Hasselbeck and Brunell went on to solid careers as starters themselves. It also tells me that Green Bay has done a good job developing talent at QB. By no means do I want to Hex Jay but we don't have the luxury of looking back on history to see how durable he will be. But at the same time how can we not take that risk and seek to develop guys under Cutler. For the first time that's even possible here in Chicago that we finally have QB that you'd have to be brain dead not to have him as the undisputed starter. We've all had season tickets to the annual QB carousel and we've finally gotten off that ride. Reading the comments about guys like Brian and others who are looking for a team with stability issues at QB so they may have a shot at starting.... and the list of potential teams does not include the Bears in bold underlined lettering. The Bears have been the joke of the NFL when it comes to finding a QB. Inconsistency and instability have been the only consistent trademarks of our QB derby. We've shuffled through an insane number of guys who we hoped to finally be the guy. We are finally one of those teams that are not in search of potential or looking for a stop gap. We have a clear cut starter and I say we take the risk of developing young guys behind Jay. It's what we've been doing for years only it will be the battle for #2 rather than a starter who won't totally embarrass us week after week. Going the route GB did all those years is what good teams do. Think of San Fran back in the day they had Montana but developed Young to the point that he could step in and made Montana expendable (the serious injury he sustained didn't help), then when Young was at the end of his career, they had Garcia. Good teams use the stability at QB to develop for the future when that guy is either gone or retired. Something we haven't been able to do. The gap between our starters and backups in talent has often been a coin flip. We no longer look to our number #2 as a guy to possibly step in should our #1 inevitably stumble and hope that he can do better, even reaching to the #3 guy because let's face it none of them are any where near spectacular but are serviceable at best. Wasn't Kyle #3 prior to Rex going down in preseason his rookie year and it took what what 1 1/2 preseason games to decide to install Kyle as the starter as a rookie. A good team envisions their #3's potential to hold the clipboard and run the scout team not a potential starter. Only the #2 is the guy that should be ready to step in due to injury. My only concern about our situation is that should Jay go down so likely would our offense. I like Haine as much as the next guy and think he has potential but we've only seen him against other teams scrubs in preseason action. Should something happen and he has to start for more than a game or two I question his readiness. If it's short term though and it's a game here or there then that can help him but if it's extended time the exposure at this stage may do as much damage as good. Hopefully Haine's game experience comes at the end of games where we are comfortably ahead. But on the flip side with Jay here there's no rush to get him ready he can learn at his own pace. Which I think is part of our problem with developing young QB's we've had to rush to get them ready should the guy ahead of them fail. Ours was a system of perpetual panic mode. In light of that it's by far still worth the risk of not having a vet to back up Jay. The long term effect of the Cutler trade could be that we will be set at QB for the present and the future, and can actually develop guys naturally like it should be done.

Along with that the press coverage makes it more difficult for the receivers to get separation as the play develops since the DB is deploying tighter coverage. Which translates to fewer options and tighter throwing lanes. One reason I wish we'd press more often it drives me up a wall to watch our DBs 10 yards off the ball practically giving them 5-10 yard gains. You could eat us alive with screens. I can see it if your facing a top tier WR but we back off of everyone. That is one of the things I hope gets changed and we get more aggressive on both sides of the ball. As for the comments.... what do we really expect him to say? What are most if not all the talking heads saying? That we have a QB but nothing special at WR. Not exactly a newsworthy quote, it's the outsider's party line. While at this point it's true because the potential is unknown and their is little to draw on to say "shut up Driver you don't know what the hell your talking about." As a fan I'm confident that this group plus anyone should we add another WR will step up this year and by the end of this season will have more of an identity. From the outside looking in if you weren't a fan of the Bears or didn't know much about them, you would know who Hester is, possibly Olsen and Clarke and you know who Cutler is but outside of that who in this group has made a name for themselves? I would say no one outside of us fans who can name them all and even provide some evaluation of them to where we can make educated guesses at who will stick who's possibly gone and so on, would know anything about them.

Hoping that's not the case but I know what you mean

he's also conveniently forgetting that early on in 2006 when Rex was doing well and winning weekly awards the fans in general embraced him. The Arizona game alone wouldn't have brought the ire of the fans if it were just a blip. Problem was it was a habenger of things to come. He followed it up with a mediocre game against the Dolphins. From that point on it was up and down the fan base grew tired of the inconsistency an early pick in a game and it made us all uneasy about the rest of the game. As pointed out in the other thread his highs were good his lows were horrible. And the Bears went to the super bowl that year due in large part to the Defense and special teams more so than the offense sure Rex was good at the start but teams figured him out and our offense struggled due to Rex's inconsistency. He was part of why the bears made it but Jyoner makes it sound as though Rex lead the team to the super bowl. He also seems to forget that in that game which was close most of the way but the offense could never get it done then Rex ended the game with a pick six. Which is when I shut the game off. IMHO when you have to create a stat "near-interception" to justify slamming Jay that's reaching. His boy Rex by that same measuring stick would have had and obscene amount of INT. I've re watched the early games and one of the things that jumps out at me is Rex got away with things in the early part of the season that caught up to him later. I will say this though that Chicago fans will turn on anyone if they don't meet expectations. Even Jay if he performs poorly the fans would run him out of town as well. I just don't see him doing poorly enough to get that treatment.

I have a feeling this group could very well surprise a lot of people us included. We've shuffled guys in and out of the system year after year with limited success but now that we have a QB like Cutler I believe he can make them all better. When the QB is is ok or average he needs the other 10 guys around him to be good for him to be good when you have an all pro caliber QB he can make the other 10 guys look better. I see Cutler as that kind of guy who will make his teammates better and will give us a much more realistic perspective of how our current group of WR's are.