DABEARSDABOMB

Good post. For the most part I would be totally down with your off-season plan because it strengthens the trenches (ie both lines) and it also should give the Bears the ability to have an improved line one year from now and quite possibly one of the strongest line's in football the years following that (as the draft picks develop and slide in). The one thing I am scared to death of is the WR position would be awful. You have the potential of losing Moose and BB without adding one impact WR to replace them. This means whoever the QB is will be using Mark Bradle and Rashied Davis as the 1-2 with the team also putting a major reliance on Devin Hester being a full time WR by next year (which I think, given his track record of really taking a long time to develop at any one position, is just unrealistic). If the Bears kept BB/Mush than I would be on board with your plan (cut down on one of the FA lineman to go that route and try to sign Faneca, maybe another olineman if there is a solid starter out there for a good value, draft a tackle early and go from there).

Plus, I just think of all the money that Shaub got as part of the trade and he wasn't proven at all. Anderson has actually had a good season under his belt and I'd just imagine after he was traded he would ask for Romo money. That would be fine and dandy, but the Bears have major issues on the oline and at safety and they need to correct those before they can contend (and that means they need to invest money and draft picks in those areas, not at QB, at least not for the time being).

Hopefully we had the correct email addy down for him. If anyone knows him please pass him the message of the new location (I'll try sending him another email just in case the first one didn't go through as well).

Good to see ya back over here MbM. I'm thinking the best thing to do is run a search for Bars, Sunday Ticket, and Pontiac Michigan and you should get some good hits on google. Than just call up the bar to ensure that they will have the game on TV.

Would having a good, experience OC who can just discuss things and help evaluate offensive guys be enough, or do you want them to bring in another guy to kind of help Gabriel who has much more of a knack when it comes to offense? I really believe Gabriel is one of the best in the business but you definitely can't argue with the Bears lack of success when it comes to first day offensive talent.

Yeah, I think Grossman has a better chance to make the HOF than Simms has at starting again in Tampa (barring some sort of mega disaster where every one of there QB's gets hurt). They definitely need to find the guy who will step in when Garcia retires.

You also have to believe at least some of the rumblings that indicate that Harrison's injury is much more serious than Indy has ever led on and that the franchise does have some long term concerns about his future to remain one of the best receivers in the league. Clark is an awesome receiving TE who can also play a lot of wideout (because of his good speed/hands) and Peyton will do all the lobbying it takes to keep him there. As far as Sanders goes, I think he's going to ask for too much money and that Colts defense is a lot better this year and I think Dungy will say goodbye and try to bring in a cheaper safety (they can't give Sanders the type of money someone will give him on the open market, imo). He'll likely become the highest paid safety in the game (by all means I'm not implying he's the best safety in the game, but he is one of the best cover 2 safety's in the game).

Nah, he's not a team player, otherwise he would have been with Rosie cause I think thats the only person that could break his slump.

I want Andre Johnson and Jay Cutler to have monster games for my fantasy team.

You are correct. He has no more college eligibility left.

I don't know if football players believe in the term "slump" buster but here's a random story that I stumbled onto about Lisa Lampenneli apparently hooking up with a Bear player (they claim it to possibly be McBride). I sure hope that the player was trying his best to be a team guy and break the slump because any other reason is just well, gross. http://thebiglead.com/?p=3890

I thought he had a year left, but they were discussing it on Cold Pizza today and said that the Colts may not give him as much money as he wants due to the past injuries. He's still in his prime and knows the cover 2 like no other. Heck, I wouldn't have a problem going after old man Lynch too (the guy may be old and slow but he knows the cover two and would be 5 times the safety that Arch/Manning/McGowan were. I would think Indy would protect Clark before Sanders, but to franchise a safety isn't that bad of an idea because safeties don't get paid a ton so the franchise wouldn't even really put them on the bigs for a huge cap hit (while there are a few TE's that make major money).

Per Len Pasquerelli of ESPN.com It isn't quite as good as him actually getting released, but if it is true it is good to see the Bears aren't thinking that this was just a bad season for Arch and that they can still plan on counting on him next year. Sans the oline and the hiring of a good OC, their isn't a more important need on this squad than the safety position. Bob Sanders is going to be a FA (was watching a piece about him on ESPN today) and the reality is safeties don't tend to get ridiculous money. So my question is this, if the Bears only had enough money to do the following, what would you do, if the Bears could only give big money to 3 guys this offseason (Berrian/Briggs/Safety/Oline/QB). Note, at the QB spot you have the option of just resigning Rex to a smaller term deal which won't get in the way of the other moves. What would you do? Personally I'd go Berrian (just a ridiculous need at WR), Faneca, Bob Sanders (or if another stud safety is out there, that is fine too). I know Sanders has the injured past but if you have Sanders, keep Brown (have him renegotiate to a smaller cap hit and use him as a 3rd stringer, with Manning playing along side Bob and Brown as the insurance plan/backup starter...hoping that at all times one of those two guys is healthy). If the team also had the funds for Briggs awesome, but I really would like the team get one legit, big time cover 2 safety and I can't think of a better one than Bob Sanders.

Norfolk, I want to point out that you can make a post and than upload the picture in the post (which will than upload that picture onto the TalkBears server). From there you can get the URL of the Image and paste it in the signature section. Hopefully that makes sense (I'm a horrible explainer).

I'm not sure. About a week ago I tore my meniscus in the knee, while spraining my ACL/MCL. They initially thought I tore everything but I was lucky enough to go back in when the swelling had subsided more and they said I didn't need surgery and it should heal on its own. I can now walk, jog a bit (albeit I still don't have full range of motion) and from what I know my injury is more serious than the LCL (could be completely wrong). If I can do that, than I'm sure he's okay, especially with a brace. The Doctors said I should be pretty much recovered in another week (Its been pretty quick but I think that is because for the most part all my tendons were okay) with me being able to get back up to the mountains for snowboarding in 2-3 weeks (I'm being careful on that cause I don't want everything to blow). I do admit I'd be really careful if I were the Vikes, but if he can plant and make his cuts he's probably at no further risk of injury to the other joints.

I think the quote you are referring to is from the Giants game where they said they stopped running the no huddle because eventually the Giants would pick up on it and stop it. I am guessing it was Lovie being over defensive and trying to basically take the pressure off Turner. I am hoping Lovie knows the situation and already has guys in mind for the offense but he knows he can't just throw the OC under the bus mid-season (because bottom line in football your stuck with the system you got once training camp breaks, sans a couple adjustments).

This is an excellent point. I have on idea why Mush is running much any deep patterns. The ocassional deeper crossing pattern is fine but for the most part he's best utilized on short-mid yardage routes where he can utilize his size, strenght, and hands. He doesn't have the speed to be much of an asset on deeper plays (BB, Bradley, Olsen, & Hester are the only guys that should be involved on the deeper stuff).

I've just given up on Turner. It is so obvious that he is incompetent that if somehow the Bears don't fire him, I'll probably fall out of my chair out of laughter at the sheer stupidity of the organization.

My question is which team do I hate more, Vikings or Lions. For whatever reason, I love the Packers rivalry and can't find it to root for them not to make the playoffs (I respect the hell out of that franchise and Favre). When it comes to the Vikes/Lions I just have a bitter distate for both franchises. The only thing I like about the Vikings is Chad Greenway and Adrian Peterson (he is just amazing to watch). I hope neither of em make the playoffs, with the Giants choking in the first and the Pack making it to the superBowl (that way next year we can take the defending NFC super bowl Packers down a peg or two in what will hopefully be a much better Bears season).

Of course, as always I'll be watching the game. I'll still be rooting for a win (I'm a big believer in wins helping you a lot) as opposed to the loss (although if they lose I'll tell myself better draft pick, lol) but more importantly I'm hoping there are no injuries and that we see the young players (such as Orton) play well.

I do wish Samuri Mike the best of success if he gets the job. At least the owner is committed to giving the franchise the resources to win (ie money). They just need to better spend those resources and be extremely patient as the team lacks a franchise QB, RB, Wr's, and much of a defense. Quite frankly the Falcons may actually be a bigger mess than the Dolphins or Niners (Niners do have a good nucleus of young talent, it just isn't quite ready for the big time). If I were Singletary I'd hope like hell that a better job opened up and that I was able to get that position as opposed to the Falcons one.

I wouldn't think Lovie would be much of a fan of Kennedy. Kennedy was a big run stuffing DT. Lovie prefers smaller, quicker, defensive tackles (ie Dusty/Tommie/Tank) and Kennedy didn't really fit as the ideal guy in Lovie's system. Still,of all his seasons I think he was best when Lovie was the coach. I'm not expecting much but he is a good athlete for a big guy so you never know what might happen.

I put a lot of the blame on Ron Turner and I think there is only so much Love Smith (a defensive guy) can do in the middle of the season to fix the offense. I think Lovie should have insisted on using Greg Olsen and the TE's as much as possible and he should have also insisted on the Bears sticking with a running approach and going with the hot hand (the way they handled Benson was terrible and it really didn't allow anyone to really make much of an evaluation of Ced). However, for the most part the offensive problems stemmed from the offensive line, horrid in-game adjustments (see Ron Turner), and terrible play calling (see Ron Turner). Defensively I think I put a bit more on Lovie Smith because the team continuously failed to make good in-game adjustments and fundementally they were poor. Lovie is a defensive guy and while Babich also deserves some of the blame, Lovie gets it too because he knows this system better than anyone. I also think the defense has some legitimate reasons for its drop from last seasons play (injuries are a factor) but I can't blame injuries on everything. I still think this defense is top 12 good (even with the injuries) and the fact that it is amongst the worse in the league should fall on the coaching staff (and obviously to an extent the players). Babich has done a horrid job coaching/teaching and scheming good blitz packages (where it isn't obvious who is blitzing...Bears have to be the worse blitzing team in the league and they did it a lot this year). I did like the fact that Babich called for more Blitzes (but again, they have to utilize them better). Special Teams - Toub is a stud, nuff said. Babich is going to get another chance and my hope is that Lovie and Bob sit down and discuss things and make the necessary adjustments to get things straightened out for next season. Offensively Turner must go and while I know there will be growing pains with another OC (new system) it has to be done. I also would like the new OC to have experience with an Oline so we have a guy that can really put together a good blocking scheme (I really like Dallas Asst Coach/Oline guy Tony Sporano).

It is the main reason why I want Moose to stick around. I'm hoping he will be comfortable with a bit more limited role (he should still get signficant minutes on running downs as well as on 3rd down because he is still very smart and dependable). Bottom line the Bears should resign BB, try to draft a WR or find one in FA (not a huge name signing but someone that can play as a #2) with Moose sliding into the slot. You than work on developing Hester in as a #2 WR (with him also ocassionally going into the slot and utilizing his speed on crossing patterns) and also play Devin as a #4. Rashied should probably go (but I guess there is no harm keeping him around as a 5th WR). Hope like heck that Bradley does something these final three weeks, otherwise he's probably gonna get zero minutes with the Bears next year so they might as well release him.

My personal belief is that unless Orton completely stinks we will see Griese released. There is just no reason to keep him around. He has proven he is not good enough to be a starter in this league and while he is a capable backup Orton has far more upside, is cheaper, and much younger. Bottom line if Orton doesn't play horribly (and shows some future) you release Griese, draft a QB in the 3rd round or 2nd day, and let Orton/Rex have a full blown open try out for the starting job (with the Bears signing Rex to a 2-3 year deal, small signing bonus, but nice incentives...good for Rex, good for the Bears). In fact if you can get a draft pick for Griese (and you may) you can obviously go that route (as opposed to cutting him).