DABEARSDABOMB

I'd be all for it. You can never have too many talented pass rushers. Especially in a cover 2 defense.

Except Tampa did the smart thing and got to practice early. They also beat a Saints team that kicked our butts. People are forgetting Tampa is pretty darn solid and they are improving. Are they superbowl contenders, no, playoff contenders, absolutely. Plus Josh Freeman is a good young QB, whose only getting better, and who has a history of leading some solid comebacks. Our schedule is freaking rough. All of the teams in our next 4 games are pretty good (Tampa leads the division, Chargers lead the division, Eagles will end up winning that division, and the Lions are a playoff team).

Veteran C Olin Kreutz is walking away from the Saints because "he no longer feels passion and doesn't want to just collect paycheck," according to his agent.

He hasn't practiced yet. I think they are shooting for his return to be after the bye-week.

I'm gonna say...Bears win, close game, Cutler delivers a game winning drive with some key receptions made by one Earl Bennett. Following the game, Flea runs onto the field in celebration!!!

Bears. I agree with most of your post, but when you said Minnesota is a dead-dog team that gets into huge 1st half deficits as a result of there crappy pass offense, well, that really isn't true. Up until this game, Minnesota had done nothing but destroy teams in the 1st half of games (they blew a 17 point 1st half lead and 20 or 21 point 1st half lead).

I wouldn't be surprised to see Tice running the whole show in the next couple weeks. Its very evident that he's becoming more instrumental in our play calling and I'm perfectly fine with that. I like Tice a lot.

My bad. I guess I was still high off my Bears coolaid that my reading comprehension skills suffered.

Didn't see this anywhere, but Royal had off-season hip surgery and than tore his groin earlier this year. He's just returning back to practice. My question would be whether he had the same speed/burst.

I don't mind Royal. He's nothing to get excited about, but he's solid. The problem is, isn't he like almost every wide-out we have on the squad (or at least kind of like Hester/Knox)?

Spencer. I think I mentioned as such. I'm definitely not pulling Williams.

What game were people watching when they say Webb sucked? The only sack he gave up was one where Cutler waited too long (it was a coverage sack). Otherwise Allen had no impact on the game. When your LT minimizes a player like Allen, that should show you something. The biggest problem with the oline is the penalties and Frank Omilaye. I assume the Bears could always slide Louis back in where Spencer is with Carimi at RT.

I disagree. Roy played his best game as a Bear. Even on a couple other completed passes, when I watched the replay, Williams was open (Cutler just had another guy more open). He made all of his catches (although there was one that he probably could have had) and was a nice target over the middle of the field, especially early in the game. I still want to see the Bears utilizing him in the redzone.

Webb lined upagainst the NFL leader in sacks and outplayed him. Outside of his false start disasters, Webb has actually done a pretty darn good job and I've seen numerous writers mention the fact. The biggets problem for the Bears oline is the ridiculous number of penalties (Webb has had his problems in that regard) and the fact that the right side was horrible. But some of the problems also had a lot to do with Martz play calling, which was incredibly predictable during the past 3 games (not last night). There was so much more diversity in the game plan against the Vikings.

It is. 6-1 until they lost last night. Lovie does very well in those games. By the way, I'm with Brian. I've always said Hester is overrated and I'd gladly take picks for him. I think our special teams is good because of Toub, not Hester. Hester is great, don't get me wrong, but I think Manning would have had near as many punt returns for TD's if he was the primary return man in his day and I think Knox could be similarly productive as well. I might be an idiot for saying it and I'm sure 99% of Bears fans would disagree with me but I don't think he is as special as others think (Toub and our blocking system is what is special). On offense, wow. I've been saying for years our wideouts suck and I don't think I could have ever been more right. In an era where teams are loaded with offensive weapons, the Bears have Matt Forte and crap. Thats not to say I don't mind Knox, he's fine, but for pete sake, our wideouts wouldn't start on most teams. They'd be about the 6th best wideout on the Saints, Colts or Packers.

The guy has wasted three years of his prime in Chicago. He's gotten zero protection and the Bears have provided him with no weapons, other than Forte, and he could be even better if it weren't for our crappy line. Its really sad and its time that Angelo gets fired for these problems. No, I don't blame Lovie Smith at all for this. Angelo failed. The game Cutler played last night was insane. I really don't think any QB in the league could have done what Jay did. He would have had only 3 incompletes despite having time to set his foot maybe 2 to 3 times all night. Other than that, the other 7 or so passes not caught were drops. Sanz had at least 2, Hester dropped a TD, etc.

I really can't see how anyone could make a case that TIce hasn't done a good job. He's made the most of crap and in fact, we have already seen some solid developments out of Webb and Williams. At times when I watch Webb I see a guy that is a total beast. Problem is he isn't consistent but the problem with our line has nothing to do with Tice. In fact, I think our line, when healthy, is actually a lot better than people think. Our problem is the boob calling plays and the fact that his plays take forever to develop and he doesn't mix-up the playcalling enough. This offense is built to be a power rushing offense. We have two above average backs (Forte & Barber) and a pretty strong offensive line from a run blocking perspective (our line is pretty big and physical when healthy). I might be crazy though, haha.

I just hope everyone can agree that our WR's aren't very good. We have some solid complimentary guys but there is a big difference between a complimentary guy and a legitimate #1 wideout and right now our offense needs that.

I won't be surprised if Martz is fired at the bye-week.

I'd say it is a great thing that Cutler has dropped some fat and put on more lean muscle. Especially since we know he has diabetes. I'd assume this can only be good for him.

Outside of Bennet, who is not particularly tall, the Bears have absolutely zero wideout who has proven/shown the ability to really do much any job getting open in 3rd and 7 or less situations. These situations typically involve press coverage and the Bears wideouts have done nothing but struggle against this type of coverage an in turn our 3rd down rates have struggled as well (sure there are other factors, but the wideouts struggles with press coverage are one of the significant factors). Roy Williams provides the Bears with a wideout who is physical and get break through that press coverage and get open and thus give Cutler a target to help move the chains on 3rd down. Twice Williams did exactly that for the Bears (1st 2 drives of the game), problem is Williams didn't execute (e.g., catch the ball). In Roy's defense, the 2nd of the passes was not an easy catch but one a good wideout makes 7 out of 10 times.

Last year was horrible. Far worse than yesterdays game. Yesterdays game wasn't great but despite the score there wre quite a few positives in the game. Cutler played really good and if his wideouts caught the ball he'd have had a TD plus a few more drives would have continued on with 3rd down conversions.

I'm not writing him off after one bad preseason game. It was an awful game. I also saw Cutler go to him in key situations and get the ball in his hands, which goes to show you, how important it will be to get Cutler a big, physical receiver. We just have to hope Roy can be that guy and that he can "catch" the ball.

I was really pleased with Cutler. He showed some nice footwork and great accuracy. Did some things with his feet. Only bad play for him was taking that sack. His passes were smart and accurate. He seemed to have a much better feel for the offense. Unfortuntaely the wideouts killed him. Roy Williams dropping 2 3rd down balls. Davis dropping one. Hester falling and than dropping another (at least one of which would have been a TD). That was absolutely brutal. Redzone offense still needs to improve, but I can live with that for now. It will be better this year with Barber around and another year in the system. I expect this unit to continue to improve. Carimi looked good.

Great post and I'm in complete agreement.