DABEARSDABOMB

Wasn't Currie hurt his entire Bear career? Bradley pretty much was too so I don't see how you can blame Turner for those two.

Ya, I saw it right when it happened and was like oh shit, I hope they don't challenge this.

I'm lucky enough to watch Bears game with a former college coach who now scouts part time and works closely with Bill Belliceck. Prior to being a college coach he coached at a premiere SoCal high school which had produced a copy 1st round picks in recent years. Usually we only chat briefly (he's a die-hard Bears fan and has turned down a couple jobs with the Bears over the years, in scouting roles) each week about the team, etc. But this past week we were talking a bit more extensively and he was telling me about the Bears coaches and what he thinks of them and what he's heard from his colleagues around the league as well as something about a few players. The big things he told me were the following (and again, this is just one opinion, although I'd qualify that point by saying it is a pretty well respected opinion): Ron Turner - One of the 5 best offensive minds in the game. Around the league he's very highly respected and he gets a lot of credit for getting as much as possible despite poor lines and mediocre talent. Brian Urlacher - Been a league average linebacker at best the past couple seasons and that is a league wide reputation. Lance Briggs - One of the 3 best LB's in the game and he should excel with Urlacher out

Lets keep the winning streak rolling!!!!

Cutler has been absolutely brilliant these past two games despite lots of pressure, etc. He's also shown the ability to be a leader and that he's very resilient as evidenced by his ability to lead this team on go-ahead drives during the 4th quarter of each of our games. Yep, when you got a QB like that, you should be optimistic, imo. Add in WR's who are growing, the fact that our oline will get better as the players build chemistry and the fact that our RB, whose legit, hasn't gotten going, and I'm very very excited. Lets take care of business against Detroit and head into the bye week at 3-1.

I'd say the coaching staff has done a great job making adjustments and right now it is just taking a bit for guys to get in sync early in games and I expect that problem will go away shortly. This has been the best coach season by Lovie thus far, imo.

Enouhg of this shit, time for the win.

Yep and it is why I wasn't so pissed when Urlacher got hurt. I thought it was time for a new voice and a new leader to emerge. Briggs is the best player on the D and is now fittingly the leader.

Welcome aboard!!!!

He pretty much has a series of one year contracts going forward which pay him pretty good money. And to cut him would essentially cost nothing at this point, so I would think the Bears would be better off looking elsewhere and getting the consistent DT than putting good money into a DT who has been breaking down for a number of years and is only getting older. I can never see Harris even being a shell of what he once was and therefor I think the smart thing to do would be to move on at the end of the season. I could also say we could renegotiate and use him more as a part time player, but I don't think he'll do that, and I'm sure some crazy team like the Redskins would pay him based upon his past reputation. The sad thing was, at one point, Harris was by far and away the best DT in football. I love the guy and like his attitude for the most part, but I've gotten sick of the act and I don't like when guys can't stay on the field and perform. It really is why I haven't been so concerned about Urlacher going down (even though he's much better than Hill) and I look forward to seeing how the Bears can maybe find a new MLB starting next year (as I never supported Urlachers extension).

I don't care whose injured, we still have to play the game and going to Seattle and winning is rarely an easy task. The Bears are going to have to execute on our end and play good football, if they do that they should win.

I think if you go to 18 weeks you need to create more of a disabled list where you can IR players but bring them back later on in the season. And I also agree with you an extra bye week would be necessary as well. I'm all about an 18 week season though, cause I think at 16 weeks, a slew of injuries over a couple week span can be the difference in the playoffs and not the playoffs and by extending the season you should allow more time for the best teams to truly make the playoffs.

By the way, I think the Thomas Smith and Phillip Daniels signings were two of the biggest busts in franchise history. IIRC, the franchise made a huge statement in those signings during the Jauron era (largest contracts, etc) and both of them were bums. Smith a bigger bum than Daniels who had some injury problems but we had very high expectations for both.

It wouldn't be the first time he was our most dissapointing player either. I fully expect Tommie to get cut at the end of the season with him moving on somewhere else and playing more as a part time DT. I just don't think he's healthy enough to make much of an impact as an everyday starter and only a fresh, well rested Harris will be able to much anything, which means he needs to be a part time player. From what I saw from the game, Ogunleye received a few double teams and Alex Brown made them pay for those double teams by getting to the QB and having a pretty disrupting game. I figure WR (one more couldn't hurt), safety, Oline, and DT will be the primary needs this off-season.

I really can't put the MM signing up there as one of the worst the organization ever made. They went out and were agressive and got a guy that could make an impact and really he did. He provided a stable leadership for Berrian to develop into a #1 along side Moose. In fact, I could make a case that the superbowl season was one of the few seasons where we truly had a decent to good receiving corps over the past 10 years. Moose was a bit of a bust and eventually started throwing the QB under the bus, but as a whole he blocked well and gave us a well respected WR and I think that did ultimately help the Bears and I do think he was a factor in our superbowl run.

Dungy did build those Buccaneer teams and you could make a case that Gruden's win was really Dungy's. And since Dungy left Tampa we saw the Bucs turn into a pretty bad team (yes they won a superbowl, but they've since slid pretty good). A large chunk of that is because a lot of players have gotten older but Dungy did a great job in Tampa and a pretty damn good job in Indy. He's an above average coach.

Tommie Harris would be a close 2nd.

I think it is.

Haha, thanks again. I'm now 26 years old. So I've gone through high school, college, and 4 years as a working stiff but never have I changed Bear sites, haha.

I'd like to see Olsen learn how to catch the ball, but damn does Knox look like a nice player.

I briefly mentioned this in the game thread, but this weekend, my girlfriend bought herself a Cutler jersey and treated me to a trip to Chicago which included tickets to the Bears/Steelers game. In week one she went crazier than I did during the Bears game (especially at the end) and while she's a noob to the sport of football she is now reading the Tribune to try and learn more, haha, and has actually became a fan of the Bears, especially after seeing the game in person for week 2 and taking part in Bear Down Chicago Bears. Anyway, after the game and after a romantic dinner, I proposed to her and am now engaged. Crazy to think when I first started posting on this site (back on Dabearsshrine) I was probably a snot nosed 14 to 15 year old who had a love affair for Curtis Conway, haha.

I was at the game and let me tell you, given the pressure and everything he had to see, he was absolutely stellar. It was the best QB performance I've seen out of a Bear in a long long time. Jim Miller had that run of a couple games and Kramer had some, but what Cutler did was against the defending super bowl champs with rookie WR's. freakin phenomenal game. I literally can count only a couple of plays that he actually missed all game. One was in the 1st half where he missed Knox on what would have been a 20 yard plus completion on 3rd down. That really was about it. HE made great quick reads and beat the blitz numerous times.

I tried to find you before the game, but in the middle of the game it was too crowded. I was in 350, Row 2 for the game against the Steelers. Ended up getting on CBS after the game giving my opinion on the Bears W!!!! Game was a ton of fun to be at. And to top it off, I proposed later on in the evening in downtown and am now engaged.

I think I'll be by you at today's game. Me and the lady will try to stop by. Hopefully we get to cheer on Bears win #1 in the Cutler era!!!

Congrats!!!