selection7

Reminds me of Rex years ago....trying so hard to make a play running as a QB and hurting himself.

Now that's a kicker that can hit long field goals, geez. 5 for 5 from 50+ is impressive.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy we finaly found one of our own. But what's with all these other teams pulling guys out of nowhere and finding great QB's like it's easy?? Or Green Bay going straight from 17 years of Brett Favre to another guy playing lights out. Leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. On another note, anyone remember when we used to hold almost every team we played under 10 points? We would get like 3 or 4 shutouts a year. It wasn't that long ago, actually.

That's hardly the book on Tillman. In fact he's considered our best cover corner. It's hard for me to vouch for that since you can't see the defensive backfield watching on TV.

Wow, Charles Tillman looked like a rookie on that play. That was as bad as Mike Brown trying to tackle the Vikes AP in open field. Peanut didn't know where the ball was. By the time he figured it out (should have been obvious considering the route and the receiver's height) he did a hokey-pokey turn-yourself-around, practically tripped over his own feet, and didn't even get off a jump attempt at the ball. And the real kicker...he was RIGHT there! Blanket coverage..if he just hadn't looked clueless and like he had two left feet he could have handed Orlovsky a pick because he threw it to a receiver that wasn't even close to being open. Ughh. Considering that's the 100 millionth time Tillman has defended that route in his football career, I'm confident saying there's no excuse.

A quick scan through his archives produced some doozies: Based on practice games, we've learned that the Bears have a quarterback who was given the job because he's not supposed to make mistakes, and there he was, ending the practice season making mistakes. Kyle Orton threw the interception we've come to expect from whoever is named to expose how little this franchise knows about the most important position on the field, and of course he showed that the Bears get off the bus fumbling the snap. When the Bears put Caleb Hanie on the roster instead of trying to get him on the practice squad, you wonder if they’re worse than fans who believe it’s true love when they see a No. 3 quarterback starring against guys who are now asking, “You want fries with that?’’ Team ought to know better, but when it comes to quarterbacks, we’ve seen that the Bears don’t know anything. Then, when you also realize that you're in a division where Jon Kitna is probably the best quarterback. The Bears will be bad this year. They will make you curse at times, make you retch at others and cause you to wonder why you spent all that dough on a 52-inch screen just to get a high-def view of Kyle Orton and Olin Kruetz blowing another snap. Orton can’t throw downfield accurately. Orton can’t throw short accurately. Orton can’t really play quarterback in the NFL and can’t even play one on TV half the time. To think, Orton is the guy for whom the Bears rigged the quarterback derby. Hard to believe that Bears president Ted Phillips needed a head-hunting firm to hire a general manager who couldn’t find a quarterback at Jessica Simpson’s birthday party. So how much do the Bears so obviously not know about drafting a tall, strong-armed, composed QB with a history of success at the highest level of college football, and developing him over 3 years?? Could you clear that up for me a little Rosenbloom? I missed it the first time. Seriously though, lot's of people were wrong (or at least well off the mark) about Orton and OL. But that's not the point. With Rosenbloom, the thing you have to ask yourself is "Why should he deserve our attention (and be paid for it) when he's no more enlightened than the average chatroom post?" Any numbskull can look at the Bears history of QB's as well as less than convincing stats and speak out with grandstanding, judgmental conceit at the expense of the Bears' decison makers. But is that all we expect out of someone writing for a newspaper that's supposed to be for grownups? Or does it make a sports writer even less capable of his job than the people he's criticizing? Food for thought. I'm just happy we almost never hear a peep out of Telander about the Bears since mid-last year. It's not exactly a public apology, but still, if that's his way of conceding his shameful irresponsibility, I can have respect for that. Probably Rosenbloom figures since he wasn't the only one, that makes it o.k., which isn't true. But it's no reason to hate the guy.

We are doing fine in terms of injuries because, save for Harris who was injured before this year, all these guys should heal relatively quickly and be back. I'm not saying we don't have any injury difficulties right now, but let's be honest, what we've seen this year is nothing compared to the average Bear year. If it keeps going like this (as it did in 2006) we're going to be not just a playoff team, but one of the better ones. Considering we've had 1 decently healthy season in the last half-decade, we're still owed another IMO. Why not this season?

I'm happy Payne is doing well. Anytime a young guy (it's like his rookie year) can start it's exciting. But Danieal Manning had a good rookie season too. And forgive me if I still think it's sad hypothetically if not one of Tillman, Url, Briggs, Tommie, Vasher, Wale, Alex Brown, or Mike Brown are playing any better than him, but that's the way I feel. Really, Dvoracek has had a dropoff the last couple of weeks, reflected by stats and the line's overall poor play, so it's unfortunately tough to call who's really the most valuable in terms of talent and youth.

Ok, whatever on Briggs. I've watched every game and I don't see it. Certainly not in terms of impact plays. He's probably not playing up to his contract and I'm glad we didn't pay him any more. But I guess he's playing better than most of the D who definitely aren't playing up to their contracts. He's nevertheless not a bad pick since Url, Tommie, Mike Brown don't seem to be their old selves yet this season. But Payne's our best D player? That would be sad if it were true. I realize he's the stong safety and our run D has been good, and it's nice that he's got 3 picks, but one of those was tipped to him by another Bear (so the tipper gets the real credit), he's made his share of mistakes, and also he's still a defensive back on a unit that's been getting torched lately. But I'll acknowledge the D-line has contributed to the those woes.

Supposing age factors in, then Orton (most important positon and extremely hard to fill the QB need via FA or draft) and Dvoracek (Tommie and Url are too big a risk with their age and/or injuries). Briggs isn't playing that well right now. Dvoracek has been the best player on defense so far from what I've been hearing. Olin's "coach on the field" status makes him valuable even when he's not having his best day man up with the guy across from scrimmage, but like Urlacher, he's aging. Otherwise, you'd want to build an offensive line around a guy like that. If I didn't take Dusty I'd probably take Tillman or Urlacher. Taking Forte 7 games into his rookie season with like a 3 yard average is crazy, even if he does appear talented...unless you're really into youth. In which case my picks would still be Orton and Dusty.

Can you picture Dent, Singletary, and McMichael all living together in San Fransisco?

If he continues to play well and downplay his play...the rest of us and the media will do all the praising without him needing to prompt us.

The anser is yes, I'd like him as a number 2 for number 2 money. If the rest of the team was ready for a Super Bowl run, it's not guaranteed, but it's likely Rex would be capable of playing well enough to win. Anyone who wants him gone just to close a chapter of QB turbulence in Chicago isn't respecting our team's history of QB injury. But it's moot because he won't stay for #2 and #2 money.

Technically, it's better if your later round picks are great and your early round picks bust than the reverse. Later round picks are cheaper.

Back to Mike Brown. There was no way to deliver a hit on that runningback. Mike Brown had to come from the RB's side and help try to pull him back or wedge himself in front of the runner. Instead, he (only having an instant to react and take care of business) grabbed at the side of the RB and the RB pushed through his grasp. I think it was a poor effort, but there's no point in suggesting the "old" Mike Brown would've layed down the wood, so to speak. In fact, Mike Brown did give a huge hit at another point in the game...kept the WR out of the end zone on the play too. I was more disappointed in his lack of aggression in trying to tackle Adrian Peterson when he broke of the long TD run.

Absolutley (about the bye week). I know you're never supposed to overlook an opponent, but Detroit even traded away Roy Williams for future picks. They're in total rebuilding mode and their play shows the players are going through the motions (0-6 team, just lost to a 1-4 Houston team). For strategic reasons, I say we should rest Tommie and Tillman yet again. Think how much they could heal with 3 solid weeks off (4 for Tillman), preparing them for a long stretch to the end of the season and postseason. I realize that level of disrespect could fire up Detroit, but that's why Lovie should stretch the truth and say publicly that Tommie and Tillman just aren't ready. ...wouldn't even be an outright lie. Our defense needs all the help they can get right now.

At this point, there's only 9 games left and Bowman isn't a star, so the coaches have no motivation to hold the guy's spot on the roster, so he'll surely be put on IR. They can't release him since he got injured unless they want to give him an injury settlement. Can an IR person practice (or at least study/use team workout equipment) with the team? If so, it could end up being a way to keep Bowman affiliated with the Bears and still learning and present. Also keep in mind had Vasher or Tillman been in the game, it would have been one of them instead, if you want to look at the glass half full.

A couple of my favorite posts from a Vikes messageboard (pregame): "I believe the Bears are overratted. Their run defense is pretty good and I expect another 20-25 carries for around 80-100 yards for AD. If the passing game can get 225+ yards I actually expect a somewhat convincing win. Our defense will shut down CHI. Orton is not nearly as good as the stats ESPN will spout off at you will make you believe. He has failed to throw for more then 200 yards in 3 of his 6 games including 2 games of 150 and has only gone over 300 once (vs DET). His stats are very comparable to the Minnesota QB's actually. Not to mention he had 3 TD's vs Det which gives him only 5 over the other 5 games. I think we shut down Chicago offense all together and give up only about 250 total yards and score about 17-20 and give up about 6-10 in a big division win." "Orton is not a QB I would want to start for my team, I'd take Frerotte any day, I don't care how ridiculous that sounds. He might be improving with each game, but the competition he's playing is hardly top notch defenses. Yeah he looked great vs. Detroit, but I mean, every QB SHOULD look great at Detroit. Atlanta doesn't have the best D, and vs. Philly and Tampa, he did not preform well. vs. Philly, he only completed 50% of his passes, and threw 2 picks. And I didn't forget about the three TD's but a couple of them were goal line passes, so they could've just as easily been runs. Vs. Tampa, he was pretty awful as well." I especially love the guy who says Orton isn't as good as the stats ESPN will throw at you...and then proceeds to use nothing but stats to back up his position...clearly not having ever actually watched Orton play this season. Now he knows.

You're right to say that the offense still needs improvement. Are people really that hyped about the offense or just Kyle? I'm more happy about Kyle, who had every bit of the great game that he's getting credit for. Our running game will hopefully come around. Two dropped TD's (Booker made a poor adjustment on that second one...he shouldn't have made it into such a tough catch) is not going to happen most weeks.

The Chicago Bears are the hightest scoring team in the NFL after 6 games. That's mind boggling. EDIT: I mean after 7 games.

Most of the issues I'm seeing don't have to do with losing a step. Even veterans start the season off slow sometimes...especially ones who haven't played football consistently for the past 4 years. Give him some time. He makes good plays to go along with the bad ones. He needs to get better, but he's not the only one. Should I send him a telegram that reads "it's like you suck or something!" to fire him up?

This is like the best game this year. Is anyone watching? Not many people on the boards. Maybe some are at the game in person (I live in Oklahoma).

I called it!

Hey, you didn't say anything about a turnover, so I guess you owe Corey Graham 10 bucks!

The INSTANT I saw Mike Brown turn his back around and try to run with AP, I knew it was a touchdown. How many years does Mike Brown have to play to figure out that in that situation you give it all or nothing on your terms...you don't pitter-patter-foot around and let a proven All-Pro runningback put the inevitable juke on you. Really, really disappointed in Mike Brown. It was a high degree of difficulty play, but the way Mike played it, there was never any chance. Mike Brown also failed to pull AP back for his final TD lunge earlier (the one where Corey Graham held him up nicely on a goal line stand but needed help). Brown was right there. If he grabs AP rather than sliding his hands right off him, Vikes are stopped on a goal line stand. With Hester out, Booker needs to redeem himself. Looks like Orton will believe in him.