DABEARSDABOMB

I kind of think of a dink and dunk QB as the perfect guy for Martz system. Neither Bulger or Warner had strong arms, they had very accurate arms and quick releases and that worked very well. They should be able to throw a deep ball, but it seems as if Martz offense more so utilizes multiple WR's and has guys crossing amongst each other which turns 10 yard passes into 20 or 30 yard passes.

Kitna is what I'd consider to be a quality QB. He doens't have a great arm but he's the best QB the Lions have had in a long long time. Plus Martz, whether you like him or hate him, is a very good offensive mind. He doens't run enough to win a superbowl or two but with him being the OC a head coach can force him to call a few more running plays.

The game will be televised on the NFL Network (for those of us unable to get the Chicago feed) on Friday @ 8:00 pm Pacific , 9 mt , 10 c , 11 e.

I don't think Friedman was going to make the Bears final 53 man roster so for Angelo to be able to move him for what I'd believe would be a late round draft pick, seems to be a very good move. The Browns obviously are lacking at the offensive line, especially after they lost Bentley, and Friedman is the type of guy that can come in and backup at multiple positions.

I know a lot of us doubted the signing or thought he was given too much money, but you can't question the fact that our secondary is far more deep, especially at the CB position with the additions of RMJ, Hester, and Wesley. With Vasher out, RMJ has gotten Vasher's starting job and has looked very good, much like he did when he burst onto the scene with the Panthers a few years ago. Manning has a knack for getting picks and despite his short stature appears to be a pretty decent cover corner, especially when we move him back to the nickel spot. The only thing we can really question with Manning is his attitude stemming from the beating he gave that guy just after getting his big contract with the Bears. In the league he seems to be doing and saying all the right things and he has impressed the coaching staff. In terms of Vasher I really hope his back can get back to 100%. Back injuries are known as the type of injury that can linger and I'd hate to see our top CB be slowed or even lose time/games due to the injury because he's a key member of the secondary. The good news is he's not in the same position he was in last year, where he was new to the starters role, this year he's had a full season under his belt as a starter and should be able to be alright despite missing some preseason action.

I know a lot of people on this board are fans of Dusty. He has a good motor and is apparently a pretty smart player. After playing in the first preseason game he's missed a bit of time with an injury. I've seen some fans have been concerned that it appeared he was going to miss a good deal of time, but Dusty is back practicing and while he isn't 100% yet he has not been ruled out for Friday's preseason game. Dusty will likely factor in as a role player on the line this year and definately has the ability to develop into a starter so I hope he'll be able to suit up and get some experience in because for young players I really do think the preseason can be a very very helpful time. While the results may have no indication of future success, getting to see the speed of the league and go up against some of the very best will help you prepare for the regular season and get better.

This is from PFW: I know I've slammed Rogers more than a lot of people. He got busted for pot and has been very lazy but apparently this training camp he's came in and worked a lot harder. However, it doesn't appear that he's going to be able to climb the depth charts and given his contract it appears it may be wise for the Lions to part ways with him. With the Bears apparently scouring the waiver wire looking for a final WR (who may take Gage's spot, or could be a 6th WR since I don't think Currie makes the roster) Rogers is the type of guy that has all the talent in the world but injuries and than last season some stupid off field stuff got in his way. Its not as if he's had a long history of problems though as most of the reasons he hasn't had success stem from health related issues that I think you could consider freakish injuries as opposed to nagging injuries (Breaking your collar bone a couple times is not what I'd consider nagging).

Nathan Vasher has really stepped out for him as of late and Lovie has consistently talked about how guarded Benson is. It appears that he's really afraid of what others think and in guarding himself he's really hurting himself. I guess its not hard, he's a 23 year old who apparently lacks a bit of confidence and hasn't had things go quite his way at the NFL level. He needs to learn that you got to put that on yourself, learn lessons and get stronger and better and do what you can to make an impact. Rookies are always hazed and being that he held out all of camp last year he should have expected to get things a little "extra" hard. Its just the nature of the biz and I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt one last time. Heck, just think to how many times Dick Vermeil really ripped into Larry Johnson and than all of a sudden Johnson turns into an absolute stud last season. Sometimes it takes guys just a bit longer and of course sometimes those guys just belly up.

That is from CBS Sportsline, but it appears Day and Huston would be the only two surprising cuts. Gould has had a very strong camp and appears to really be getting better from longer range on field goals. Day, who I think many experts were shocked went undrafted, really failed to stand out in training camp and preseason, while our other TE's all appeared to do a relatively decent job out there. I'm sure Day will get a chance somewhere, but I guess some teams knew what they were doing when they kept passing him up in the draft. I still say this years draft class was a bit overrated in the TE department (aside from that freak of nature known as Vernon Davis, but to get him you had to sign him to the highest paid deal in TE history and no way has he proven himself to be better than Gonzalez, Shockey, Heap or GATES).

Here's Mel Kiper's take on the whole controversy or lack there of. I thought it was interesting to see one of the talking heads sounding positive about the whole situation. I've long been one of the people saying a lot of the media and fans are overreacting. Right now Rex is the starter and he's yet to really work with his first team unit. The team considers him a leader and the coaching staff has consistently backed him. He will be our opening day starter, barring injury, and unless he really struggles he will likely remain or QB. However, it sure is sweet to have Griese as a plan B. But that plan will only be explored if Rex is hurt or struggles in the REGULAR season. I am very interested in seeing if Rex continues to make progress though and improves his decision making.

Here's the clip from the Trib: Wow, Tank was originally expected to miss the entire preseason and possibly a regular season game or two. Now the Trib is reporting that he is planning to play in the season finale against the Browns. Benson is also shooting for his return to be that game, but it appears that Johnson playing would be the safer bet of the two. While Tank isn't the starter (Harris and Scott are), Johnson will still get heavy reps throughout the season and he provides a serious pass rush and is quite possibly the long term plan along side Tommie (especially with Scott's contract being up at the end of the season, IIRC). Anyway, it seems like today was a pretty good day in terms of injuries. Jones is back at RB, the WR core will all be in uniform (Mush, Berrian, Bradley feeling good) and Johnson is ahead of schedule on the defensive side of the ball.

Here is the article from ChicagoSports.com First the Bears announce that Jones will start Friday's preseason game and now the Trib is reporting that Mushin and Berrian will be the starting wideouts. Mushin has been banged up most of the preseason with an injury while Berrian and Bradley have both been banged up as well. Bradley also is said to be in better shape after suffering some pain in his surgery repaired knee (my assumption is its the type of stuff that is bound to happen as he gets back to 100%). Even Airese Currie was able to practice (he won't play in the game though) as he is coming back from yet another injury (this time arthoscopic surgery). I'm definately excited to see how our legit first team unit looks out on offense since this will be the first time all preseason we see most of our regulars in there playing together. Obviously the Bears will be careful with these guys and I assume we'll see some of there snaps limited (even if the first team unit plays for most of the first half, if not the entire first half) but its still nice knowing that the unit can maybe begin to finally gel and get ready for the regular season.

ESPN Cold Pizza had Dan Pompei on this moring and he was talking about the Bears QB controversy. From what he is hearing Rex could post zero's the rest of the way and as long as he's healthy he will be the opening day starter. The teammates love him and play hard for him. He's well respected and we've put a lot of time and money into Rex. He's going to get the chance and he's already made a lot of strides between game 1 of the preseason and game 2. Griese has looked very smooth out there and he gives me a lot of faith if Rex gets hurt or struggles, but barring injury Griese will not be playing much this season. However, if Rex is stinking 3 or 4 weeks into the season, at that point I think you'll see Brian get the call and Rex's career go down the drain in Chicago. My take is that it won't happen and that Brian will probably play (injuries are bound to happen) he will not be our starter. But if he was our starter, I'd be 100% confident in him and for the first time in a long time, we really do have a legit backup QB.

In the first two pre-season games, our offense didn't look quite as planned. The QB play has improved in each game but the running game has been less than impressive. Part of the blame may fall on a line that missed Olin Kreutz in week 1, but another part was probably (or hopefully) do to the absence of Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson (our #1 and #2 Rb's). Jones will be back on Friday and will start and while he may not get a ton of carries, having him back should make us a lot better. It means Peterson goes abck to a more reserve role and if we learned anything this preseason it may be that Peterson isn't capable of being an everyday back (its hard to learn things in the preseason but he was far from impressive). Peterson is a very good backup and an oustanding 3rd string RB though. I know I'll be excited to see how TJ does and how our QB's perform in a little more balanced offense (or what I hope will be a more balanced offense).

If I had to guess, it was no one. Maybe two players told someone who than told the media or something along those lines, but I dont' buy into the fact that it came from in-house. I've read a few places that you can't know for sure. However, with 55 people on teh roster or so (I think thats what an NFL roster is) its much harder to keep control of what all your guys say (as opposed to mlb where you have half of that) or the NBA where its even less.

This article is Benson's side of the story and I must admit that it makes me feel a lot better. Benson seemed to say more of the right things and it appears that maybe some of the press had been spinning things a little bit more harshly. Hopefully this is the type of situation where Benson learns from the mistake and that it quickly dissapears. I know I'm looking forward to Jones getting back to action this week (if all goes as planned he will play) and than Benson maybe getting back the following week. IT would be nice for each of our backs to get some action with the first team units and just take a few shots against legit NFL defenses before the regular season starts. This is even more true for a guy like Benson who still lacks experience.

I realize the Bears are a bit mad about the leak and this is understandable. Players shouldn't be leaking out this sort of info. It would be one thing if someone working in the clubhouse mentioned it and it came out, but its another when a player is ratting out another player. That said, it happened, it was a major mistake and Benson has absolutely no excuse and the bottom line is he's going to have to really stop blaming other people. He had such an impressive off-season (sans the injury) and than it all seems to have gone for not by making one stupid mistake. Heck I don't even consider it a mistake, since its pretty much obvious that you don't leave the game/sidelines before its over unless you are getting treatment on something and the coaches approved.

Ya, our offensive line will need a talent influx. We have some depth now but most of our guys are getting up there in age and now would be as good a time as any to add some quality lineman who we can develop into starters over the next couple years.

Everything I heard said he's quite the hitter and I thought the team was actually moving him to the LB position (from safety where he played in college). Not sure how his progress is going, but I'm guessing with Odom not looking like an option Slay's chances are better.

Grossman made a lot of progress. He was throwing an accurate ball and suffered a few drops and his decision making was much better, but it was definately far from perfect. Fact of the matter is he made a ton of strides in game 2 (from the first game) and I expect that to continue in game 3 (where he should get a good deal of minutes).

It was nice to see the Bears pick up a run. Grossman played better, although he made two horrid passes (one was picked and another was a near pick). The defense looked sharped but our WR core and running game still looks awful.

Davies dropped a few routine catches that Grossman threw in the pre-season game against the Chargers. While I like his progress if we are using Davies as a 2 or 3 at this stage of the game the Bears are absolutely screwed and will need a miraculous type of defensive performance (much like last season). There is no excuse if Angelo doesn't make a move to bolster this WR core.

I've backed Benson, but he really seems to have a "poor me" type of attitude where its everyone's fault but his own. Those type of guys do not succeed in this league unless they are incredibly talented. Benson may be very talented, but he's not incredibly talented and running backs need to have heart (not matter how good you are). Its not like WR where you can rely a bit more on pure talent and athletism.

With Mike Browns injury, it appears that Chris Harris is going to be the SS for the remaining preseason games with Manning being our FS. You'd have to guess that when Brown comes back, Harris will move back to FS, but thats a big iff considering Brown's injury riddled past. Long term I think this will be our secondary, especially since I think Harris is a bit more suited to play SS, while Manning (the better athlete, although not the better hitter) will be able to do his thing playing a little more away from the line as the FS.

It was two years ago, but last year he had more problems with it. However, I heard it was his other achilles this time around so maybe thats a good thing (as in this is just a different injury that isn't serious) or it could be a bad thing since it would mean both of them are possibly bum.