DABEARSDABOMB

It is a new system with new coaches. There are going to be growing pains. Jimmy Johnson was very good talking about this and how no one should be pushing the panic button in Chicago (at least not offensively) as this was to be expected (in fact, I was impressed how quickly it had came together). The offense will get better and I think with the right moves could turn into a top 7 offensive unit in this league in a year and very well could and should be a top 10 unit this year.

Oh and to your last point...Marinelli is a stud (this is responding to Bears vs. you MadLith), but this isn't even close to the same Dline. Melton and Peppers were not at 100% in the 1st 3 games so hard to evaluate when your two best guys aren't playing right. They play right and we are talking about an above average d-line. However, going forward we only have one above average linemen. I know I harp on it, but the Bears royally screwed up on Idonjie. He'd look real good right about now.

I think Tucker is a very good D-Coord (his tenure in Jacksonville was good evidence of that). These issues have a combination with the Bears playing ahead, going up against some good offenses, and of course poor gap control and overall shoddy d-line play. We also have had injuries in our secondary. The dline will get better as Peppers gets back to 100%, however, our interior D is weak and that could create issues. Historically our D and LB core has been able to control the run which puts oppositions in a lot more 3rd and long situations that are advantageous to our defense. I have noticed poor gap control as a whole and that needs to get cleaned up. Conte has also been brutal. They need to get this cleaned up and I think they can, although they might need to make a deal for a starting DT if they somehow can.

They need a DT badly. And Melton was recovering from a concussion and getting double teamed. He is a premiere DT and a perfect fit for our system and just a huge loss. I hope he gets healthy and the Bears can sign him back to a fair deal a year from now.

I don't really care about anything other then the pick Cutler through late in the 2nd quarter. The first pick was a great play by Delmas. Tip your cap and move on. The late picks were picks when he was trying to bring the team back. In fact, I applaud him for never giving up and continuing to try and leading the Bears on 2 TD drives. In years past it would have just gotten uglier. Defense played bad and our oline after 4 games is bad. Bright side is Peppers looks back. Downside is, despite what some yahoo's think, the loss of Melton is huge and our interior D is very weak and Shea is looking more and more like a bust. More importantly, our special teams is atrocious. Consistently struggling and I'm ready to fire our ST coach (oh and Hester is gone at the end of the year). I have faith that the offense will get better and better and I think Trest is the right guy and that Cutler is the right QB (I wasn't sure in the off-season but I'm buying on them). I also think we might have a few more losses here early before we get things headed in the right direction but this team will make the playoffs!

Really sucks to lose Melton. I liked him a lot and hope he has a good recovery and can get back to being the player he was.

Hopefully you started Gio. I did.

Wasn't pretty but a win is a win. Lot of things still need to get cleaned up and I'm missing Toub quite a bit.

freakin hell. This is pathetic how much some of you complain. It was a really sloppy game and Bears did some poor things on special teams coverage + had a bad fumble and a fluke pick (on a tipped ball which was probably a bad play call...however the TE was wide open). Cutler spread the ball and looked very efficient in the 1st half. 2nd half offense wasn't very good but they also barely had the ball thanks to the D not being able to get the Vikings O off the field (and a lot of that had to do with the game plan of doing everything to contain APete). Cutler was brilliant the final drive. Offense has to still adjust but at times it has looked very explosive and I expect it will improve. I'm quite happy with the progress this team has made and Cutler showed some serious stones 2 straight games in the 4th quarter. 19 game winning drives in his career.

How the freak is the tipped interception on Jay? He was throwing to a wide open tight end. Marshall's pass was bad and he should have held onto the football on the sack.

He's had 2 good games.

Really really ugly. Hester was great on kick-offs, but struggled mightily on punt returns (bad execution) and two massive special teams blunders (KR for TD and the too many men on the field which gave Minny a 1st down). Bears offense looked explosive in 1st half, however, have to clean up the misstakes (tip pass was unfortunate but from that close and with Michael Bush why not just run it in). Defense still not showing a pass rush, although I assume part of the strategy was to focus on Peterson and that allowed Ponder to have time and in turn to have the opportunity to beat you. As a whole, bears did a pretty solid job on AP. Line was not as good but I did like how Trestman moved Cutler in the pocket and tried to do some things. A lot to clean up but there were also plenty of things to build on from this game. I expect the offense to continue to grow and Cutler is doing a nice job spreading the ball around. Forte & Bennett had good games and Marshall stepped up (albeit there was one play where it appeared Marshall ran the wrong route...although it could have also been on Cutler). Alshon with a big catch near the end and almost had the game winning TD (if not for a leaping tip by a Viking defender).

It was his first game back after not playing in the preseason. I'm not writing him off after one game and the comments weren't based on today's production. DJ Williams was one of the better linebackers in this league prior to his suspension/issues. And it is nice having him from a depth perspective. Can play inside and out so if someone on the outside goes down we can slide him over with Bostic coming into the middle. Nice to have that kind of depth. I expect Bostic to be a starter in time.

Post of the day! Completely echo your sentiments.

DJ Williams was an above average linebacker. Seen him play a lot. Evidently you haven't.

Against this defense, that was the right offense to run.

Way to ignore the TD catch which was sick. He also had a big 3rd down catch.

Why the hell would we want to adjust our defense.

He spread the ball over the field and looked good. Sounds to me like you are bitching to bitch. Really liked the offensive game plan. Against a defense like Cutler, I'm glad we didn't go pass happy or crazy. Played it conservative and opened things up when need be in the 2nd half. Finished the game strong and Cutler played well. Really had one bad pass (the interception) but had good command of the offense. Defense gave up some big plays against AJ Green but were in a tough position with Tillman going in and out.

Absolutely huge. Loved the play calling. Given the defensive line the Bengals have, liked how we mixed things up and really came on strong in the 2nd half. Oline had a couple holds but as a whole played very well.

We will see an above average D. Offensively I don't know yet. I think it all comes down to the o-line, Cutler, and Alshon stepping up. If we have a quick action, up tempo offense with quick releases, varying pockets and throwing angles, I think we will be okay. I see the team winning between 7 to 11 games and fall in at about 10. Tough tough schedule though. * And of course health...everything keys in on the health of the key players.

Agreed. There were a lot of times Bostic was out of position. He still has some things to learn and he's going to get plenty of reps and preperation and will step into a larger role soon enough and at that point should be more prepared to succeed long term.

Bengals are a really good team and this game will be a huge challenge for our offense and defense. On the offensive front, this will be a huge test for our oline as the Bengals have one of the best front fours in football, if not the best front four in football.

Let it go. Its done...whether he was average vs. below average last year is a moot point now. Argument has been beaten to death and he was lousy in the preseason and didn't stand up to the challenge. Now he's on the Vikings.

Ford looked pretty good in the preseason. Looked like a strong runner who could be a nice 3rd stringer. Hopefully he can play special teams though cause Bears are dropping a good special teams player.