dleeholland

I LOVE this team, and I can foresee a deep playoff run in our near future, if not a Super Bowl berth. - The offense is clicking on all cylinders. Kyle has gotten us to this point with better-than-game-managing play, and because of that the run will start opening up for us. -The defense is loaded with veterans who will not tolerate playing second-fiddle to the offense, especially after so many years of high-level play and being the pride of Chicago. Read the cover story on www.chicagobears.com today. Tommie Harris and that D-line KNOW they haven't been getting it done. They will not allow it to continue. I believe it has nothing to do with Babich, or Lovie, or the scheme. This is a moody bunch of overpayed vets who know they merely need to get off their collective asses and execute. - Except for a few bumps and bruises, we're healthy. We're even getting our starting corners back this weekend. And Brandon Lloyd, who is making a name for himself again. Good health is going to be key in some of these cold weather games we have coming up. - We're about 3 plays over the course of this season from everyone talking about us in the same sentence as the Titans and Giants. I think the silver lining to that cloud is that we're flying under the radar. As tiresome as it gets sometimes, our team feeds off of "disrespect". Well now they have a chance to go earn it. - Look at late season runs in recent years by the Giants and the Steelers. We're in a very similar spot right now. I think the above factors can really add up to us making a late season run. - Experience is on our side. If we get to the Super Bowl, nearly everyone on our team will have been there before and know what it's like. There's no way we lose. -We're going to beat Tennessee and Green Bay in the next two weeks. You heard it hear first. Tennessee hasn't played a team as good as ours yet. Our run defense and high-scoring offense match up really well against them. They will not out-physical us. As for Green Bay, I think they're kinda soft. Both games will be hard fought, but I think we can play with anyone in the league right now. Can't wait to hear whether you guys think I'm crazy or agree with me!

I agree that that's a pretty crappy group of o-linemen, let's not get too excited here. This is Kansas City, afterall, not the second coming of the Steel Curtain. He's been practicing against the Bears' d-line(s) all summer, (even though they couldn't hit him) let's hope he picked up a thing or two. Go Rex!

Hey Guys! First time back since we switched over to the new site. I like what you guys have done to keep this going! It seems to be a much more user-friendly site as well, so keep up the good work. I also haven't been back cause I've been down on this team for the past month (who hasn't?) and getting to see them get beaten twice in 5 days (i was at the Giants and Redskins games!) really sucked. That said, the big win over GB yesterday got me in the mood to post again, so I thought I'd spout off about "winning when it doesn't matter" vs. "sacrificing victory for a high draft pick". Let me just come right out and say it makes me sick when fans, sportswriters, and the like say the Bears win yesterday "cost" them a top-10 pick. This philosophy is absolutely absurd for a number of reasons. It should be obvious to everyone by now that top-10 draft picks are never a guaranteed success. The Bears have certainly had their fair share of busts. McNown? Benson? Colombo (yeah, I know he's starting for Dallas now, but as far as the Bears are concerned, he was a bust). Certainly the list of draft picks that have victimized other teams with less-than-they're-paid-for performances are evident as well. For every Peyton Manning and Donovan McNabb, there's a Ryan leaf and Akili Smith. Top-10 offensive skill players almost never develop fast enough to contribute much in their rookie seasons. Certainly not enough to warrant paying them $20 mil. If you want to draft a QB in the 6th and develop him? Great. He's got just as much chance of being a star down the road as the #1 overall pick. Sure, you might have to restructure his contract and pay him big bucks down the road if he develops into a star, but how is that any different from signing a big-name free agent? The bears can't even get decent production out of their top-10 pick Running Back, and that's the easiest position in football to learn! Secondly, I think a couple of wins at the end of the season do WONDERS for a team looking toward the future. The Packers sucked last year, but had a couple decent wins to close out the season and then came on strong this year. The Bucs, Browns, Skins and Vikes were all 4-, 4-, 5- and 6-win teams last year that were able to turn it around and get back to playoff contention this year. I don't think the Bears really even have to change that much to return to NFC North dominance in 08. All they need is a little bit of a culture shift, something to get excited about and feel like they can build on in the offseason, and they'll be winning again in no time. As part of that overall culture shift, I'm going to recommend to things. 1. Bears fans should not read Jay Marriotti. This goes without saying, and I'm sure there's a chorus of "duhs" out there as you all read this. His piece about the "shaky future" of the Bears is a travesty. 2. Bears fans at home games need to stop singing "Bear Down" everytime the team kicks a field goal. It's one thing if said field goal is in overtime--to win the game. But in the 1st quarter, against the Giants, after you've just intercepted Eli Manning and you have 1st and goal from the 5 yd line? Our tendency to settle for field goals cost us games 3 straight games, against the Giants, Redskins and Vikings, and in those games the defense that so many of us had given up on all but dominated (how you lose games with a +4 and +3 turnover ratio is beyond my ability to grasp). It's time Bears fans stopped settling for offensive (and i use that word loosely) mediocrity.