DABEARSDABOMB

Plus, if the Bears upgrade at the safety position it could take a little more pressure off of Williams or whomever stepped in as the MLB as right now I think the MLB has a lot more pressure due to the poor help the team gets over the middle of the field from its safeties. But I really dont' know how scheming and everything works so Noots I appreciate your post. Gave me a much better understanding of the different duties bestowed upon Mike/Wil/SLB.

I got to admit, I like the idea of Urlacher as a OLB. I think it would better utilize his speed, but he is the captain on the defense (ie calls the plays and all that stuff) and we would be asking an awful lot to have someone like Williams take over in that capacity (could an OLB still call the the plays???). Either way I got to admit, as someone who is a huge Briggs fan, I was very impressed with Williams play against the Packers and I'm going to be looking forward to seeing him against the Saints (I really hope Lance doesn't play because having Williams play helps the Bears much more).

Welcome aboard...good to have you here!!!!

Wow, they don't have a game west of Houston. Talk about a major dissapointment, barring a trip to Chicago next football season I'm guessing I won't be seeing a Bears game in person. Tough schedule though. The Jaguars are good, but I do like the Bears chances against the Titans (I think the speed of the D should be okay against Tenn). Than again a lot can change between now and next season.

Pete Myers (Asst.) will coach them on Wednesday and after that the Bulls will name one of the assistants as the full time interim coach for the remainder of the year. My guess is that Boylan will end up getting the interim gig.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays EVERYONE!!!!!

Orton was definitely solid today. I hope he has another good game and Rex/Kyle can battle things out. The only way I wouldn't have a problem bringing in another QB is if it was McNabb and the cap cost would be equal or similar to what the Bears paid Griese/Grossman this year (because in that case you could have Mcnabb/Orton at the same price as Grossman/Griese and you could obviously make a major case for McNabb being a hell of a lot better than Rex/Griese). I still think value wise, the best bet (which allows the Bears to go after safety, resign Berrian, get a big name olineman) is resigning Grossman cheap, drafting a QB in the 3rd round, and lettting KO/Rex battle it out. See what you can do with a much improved oline, an offense that focuses heavily on the run (using its play action and TE's to give a lot of high percentage passes, plus Berrians speed on the ocassional deep route/deep crossing pattern with Hester utilized in the slot) and I think the team would have more than enough capabilities of being a CONSISTENT offense (not a great offense, but a consistently solid to good offense).

This game also made me more optimistic. The team played fantastic. They looked like the first time all season they played football and weren't play with a fear of losing or making mistakes. They just played and the result was awesome. Some of the issues did get covered up by tremendous special teams play, but all around, they couldn't have played a much better game than they did.

If Turner called games like he did today I wouldn't be calling for his firing. I'm not necessarily looking for an overly creative coach because I think that can get you in trouble, but I'd like someone who was a run oriented coach but also had the ability to throw some creative type ways to get playmakers involved in other ways, while still havinga large focus of the offense being on the run (and I think any team built around its defense should focus largely on the run). I want to say Kyle played very good given the conditions (he out played the greatest to ever play the game at his position), the Bears WR's looked good in the cold, and Turner actually stuck a bit with the run. The thing is, I wonder why Turner didn't do this style of gameplan all season (it isn't like there were many games where the Bears were behind big early). Hell, I long said I don't give a crap if we are running for 2 yards per carry, we still have to continue to run because it keeps opposing defenses semi honest, allows our defense to rest, and helps utilize play action and everything else (plus I think you just have to be able to try and run in football cause you never know what ends up happening). Hell, look at the Pack, they couldn't run to save there lives for about 8 weeks of the season, but they never quit and eventually they turned into a pretty darn good team at running the football. Bottom line I want Ron out, but I will give him credit for calling a good game plan, but I also think the weather forced him to do this (its too bad too, cause this is what I consider Bears style of football and the type of offense I like...ie relatively conservative, but throw in a couple additions wrinkles involving some deeper plays which utilize Rex when he's back as a starter as well a shitload of wrinkles to have Olsen/Clark/Hester involved a lot).

Its not an excuse. He didn't play well this season, but he was better than the other two guys that have ran the ball this season in Chicago. Plus you have to look at how the Oline did and it was horrid. I didn't see him not making plays when he had good blocks. In fact, any time the blocking was decent he looked pretty good. I also absolutely hated the play calling as it never allowed Benson to get into any sort of rhythm. Turner was horrendous this year and put Benson/Grossman and the entire offense in positions to fail rather succeed. The oline did more of the same. Every player has plenty to blame on themselves as well because aside from maybe Desmond Clark everyone on offense can say they could have done things better (maybe Olsen too cause he's been pretty solid for a rook).

Plus when you think about some of the things he did well, he was able to take advantage of his players strengths. For god sakes he was able to put an offense around Kordell that allowed him to make a probowl (I think we all remember what Stewart was like in Chicago, LOL). He than built systems around Antwaan Randle El that made him quite the special weapon as well as used Hines Ward in a lot of creative plays. I'd love to see what sort of creativy he could do for guys like Olsen (who is too fast for a LB and too big for a CB) and Hester (who is Antwaan Randle El on steroids). Plus I think my favorite thing is he's a guy who has had success with various set-ups on offense (mobile QB like Stewart...more pocket passer like Tommy Maddox). The other thing that shouldn't go unnoticed is the fact that in all of these offenses there was one other constant theme and that was a team that ran the living shit out of the ball. God I'd love to have Mike Mularckey here. Tony Sporado is my first choice, Murlackey number two, and I would settle for Fassell (who I happen to think is an exceptional OC, mediocre head coach but the man knows his offense).

This is going to be a fun game. It is snowing with winds expected to be as hard as 50MPH. This is what I'm talking about. I'm going to take great pleasure going to a Packers bar today to see the Bears find a way to sweep the season series and give themselves something positive to think about going into next season.

I really think Enis has to be seperated out from Salaam. Enis appeared to be breaking through and than had a disasterous injury to his leg/knee that he could never recover from (IIRC, he was looking towards having about 3 straight 100 yard games and had really been showing signs prior to ripping his knee). Salaam on the other hand had his strong rookie season, let the success get to his head, smoked too much dope, and turned into a turd who couldn't hold onto the football. I agree with what you said Pix, Benson definitely deserves a shot behind a decent line. Given the way the line has played this year I think Tom Brady and Ladamian Tomilson would have had trouble suceeding in Chicago.

Yeah, I've seen him over here. I think he has a few posts.

You really can't say many people would have said the things the Bears did were wrong. A year ago, hell at the beginning of the season, the Bears were still the talk of the NFC and for the most part were one of the most respected franchises in football. Things went south quickly and the Bears completely collapsed. Some due to injuries, some due to poor coaching, and a lot due to poor play.

I think if you have a hybrid like end it would be a very good thing to do on ocassions. It could create a nightmare for opposing offensive lines and QB's as they would have to worry a lot more about potential blitzes coming from other places with some of your hybrid guys sneaking back into coverage and vice versa. I do agree with you that as a whole the Bears have a whole lot of athletes I like on the line and it would be nice to utilize them more. However, if they use them right it should give them a solid burst all game long which would give the Bears a better pass rush (something that while statistically has been strong for the Bears, but for large spans of the game I feel the pass rush has been non-existent).

I don't think the Pats would be interested in such a move, nor do I think it is even possible for the Bears to make such a trade (given the fact that they can't put the franchise or transitional tag on Briggs) but had they been able to I would have gladly accepted such deal. I would have accepted the deal offered by the Redskins and been done with it. Also, given the quandary, I'd have taken McFadden and than an olineman. The one thing I don't like about a top 3 pick is that I think it is a cap nightmare if you end up missing on that pick. For that reason, along with the fact that I think teams picking that high are almost always better off getting a multidue of picks, I'd like to have the top pick so I could parlay it into multiple first day picks.

I think everyone on down would admit the move was a mistake. Harris was a stellar selection by Angelo. The guy was like a 6th round pick who ended up starting his rookie season and doing a pretty admirable job. He had a down season last year and a lot of people made him one of the scapegoats (forgetting how young he was) and he ended up going somewhere else and playing fantastically. Its too bad because right now I'd love to have one safety of Harris caliber in our secondary. Still, when the move was made you were talking about him being the 3rd or 4th best safety on the squad and the Bears figured they could get an extra pick (to recoup for the Walker move).

Their is absolutely no way that an offensive line coach could spin this season's performance by the line as anything but horrid. Between all of the missed blocks, the piss poor job blocking screens (that have cost the Bears some big plays) and the ridiculous amount of penalties the Bears truly have no excuse. The oline coach should be on the first plan out of Chicago, along with Ron Turner as soon as the season ends. In fact, the oline coach should definitely be long gone before Turner (although this may be overly harsh considering the prior couple years the oline had been quite productive).

I think the problem is with so many changes taking place on the line you take a major risk throwing a guy who really isn't familiar with any of these guys out on the field, especially when you are trying to evaluate the play of a young QB, Kyle Orton. Plus, Beekman is a 4th round pick and you don't necessarily a 4th round pick to be capable of starting during the first season. Personally speaking, I'd hope that the Bears have seen some growth out of him to the point that he can begin battling for a job or at least be a capable backup over an exteded period starting next season. If after next season the Bears still wouldn't be comfortable putting him out on the field, he should probably be released (and I could make a case that you could think that starting next season).

I got to admit, I'm surprisd that Urlacher or Ogunleye didn't make it. I'm also surprised Tommie made it out there. Maybe he is still playing pretty damn good (I figured on one leg, based on what I saw that he wasn't playing at a pro bowl level). Briggs had a good season and there is no arguing the Special Team selections.

I can't see anyway Walker would be worth that sort of cap hit cause there really isn't anything he can do the final two games to prove me he should be kept. I'd give a boatload of time to Kennedy/Toeaini (I really liked how Toe played).

Aside from the Garret Wolfe pick, there wasn't a pick I hated/disliked more than the Hester one. Hell, that alone shows just how much I know

Aside from his rookie season has he really been that much better than Benson? Williams is coming off a very severe injury (more so than Benson's) and was given a steady dose of carries from the get-go. I'm not necessarily makinga case that he is hands down better then Ced, but I think it is realistic at that this point in the career had Ced received a similar amount of carries that they would statistically have similar careers (but than again, I think Benson can be an above average back with a solid line and he showed to me this season that he can do good things when he gets some blocking; he just can't be effective when he has a horrid line, but most backs can't be).

Glad you made it over. It looks like you have your avy up, is there any other sort of pic you are looking to put up (I know all of the images that were on the old site, were deleted by the network). In the future we shouldn't have such issues (unless I personally f things up, which is always a possibility considering I'm a hack at this stuff, LOL) since we are on our own server.