Bears4Ever_34

No. Outside of Brandon Marshall, it's: - Devin Hester, a PR playing WR - Kellen Davis, a TE who can't catch or block - Earl Bennett, who's not playing up to par with where he's been at for most of his career, which could be attributed to him either not being completely healthy, or perhaps he may have been a better fit in the Mike Martz offense. Those are your throwing options. A guy that can't play receiver, a guy that looks like Tarzan and plays like Jane, and then a slot receiver who's not been himself. It's no wonder Brandon Marshall has so many catches. Alshon coming back should provide an extra security blanket for Cutler. You need a guy that can take advantage of not being double teamed. Forte needs to be involved more in the passing game. Right now, the Bears have no offensive system that they identify with. What I mean by that is, there is no continuity. With all the high powered offenses out there, they have an identity that makes them unique. The Redskins kill you with the plays Jay Cutler used to run in Denver, minus the read option RGIII stuff. It's roll outs, mix with play actions and screens. The Panthers make you prepare for a spread option attack with DeAngelo Williams and Cam Newton, and off of that, it's a lot of vertical passing. The Patriots, Saints, and Packers all kill you with the short timing routes that result in automatic 5-7 yard gains on nearly every pass attempt. It's a methodical approach. The thing that each of those quarterbacks do best is they spread the football around, more so with the Saints and Packers. The Patriots have changed to more of a run oriented offense this season, with the medley of backs they have in their repertoire. Point being, the Bears don't have any of that. I don't know what they are doing from one week to the next. There's nothing you can hang your hat on. You know Brandon Marshall is going to be getting the ball, but outside of that, who else can you say is getting touches? Forte clearly isn't getting enough, Michael Bush isn't getting enough.. If it were me, I would seriously just get Cutler outside of the pocket on every pass attempt and run all kinds of misdirection plays that get the defense moving in one direction, then it becomes easier to throw because you split the field in half. And the numbers have proven over Cutler's career that he's a better passer outside the pocket.

Yeah, and in the same post you also stated, which again, is an incredibly asinine thing to say because you don't know that, you are just assuming. It's a bad argument. I honestly don't know where you get off saying the pass protection was only good but not great.

You guys are the ones playing the game. According to the both of you, if you're playing on a wet, rainy field, even if the offensive line allows zero sacks and very little, if any, pressures on the quarterback for an entire game, the performance automatically can't be considered anything more than average for that very reason. It doesn't count, is essentially what you're saying. It seems to me that you're just looking for reasons to take credit away from a very solid performance. And to answer your question, I don't think in those terms because I don't consider using weather and conditions as part of a good argument, in relation to performance on the field. Both teams play on the same surface. Things happen. A receiver could slip at any moment, and so could a defensive player. I'm just not going to sit here and say, "so and so's performance wasn't as good as it looked because of what 'could have' happened, had the game been played in different conditions. I don't view that as appropriate because you can't factually prove it. Now, if you would ask me, do I think you can really take anything away from a game like this moving forward? I would say, I don't know. If anything, it could be a confidence booster for a guy like Carimi, who has struggled mightily this season, blocking people. But as we all know, this line is one of the more, if not thee most inconsistent lines in the NFL. Nobody goes from having really good games to miserably embarrassing performances like the Bears. As I mentioned, I would not be surprised to see them give up 5 sacks on MNF next week, but atleast for Sunday's game, I can't find a legitimate reason for criticizing them for their performance. I was definitely not expecting a defense, such as the Texans, to be shut down completely from getting to the quarterback the way they were, and on the flipside, I was just as impressed with how the Bears defensive line at least made it difficult for Schaub to survey the field the way he normally does. Peppers was an animal.

You need to read better, and look at the post again. I did mention that in my first paragraph. I know the conditions were more friendly for both offensive lines. My point is, you can't use the rain as a means to say they only played average. How could you possibly know how they would have played in perfect conditions? It doesn't work like that. In these weather conditions they played a great game. The Bears defense, though only 1 sack, seemed like they were getting more pressure on Schaub than what the Texans were able to do against the Bears offensive line. Also, the Texans run game is based off of Foster's ability to set up defenders so he can cut back to the inside, which in the first half, killed the Bears, until they adjusted to it as the game went on. It's a "one cut and go" style.

One would think Rodriguez would get more looks as a TE replacement for Davis, but he's not even attending TE meetings in practice. They changed his position to FB, so I don't think you're ever going to see him replace any of the Bears TE's anytime soon. Still doesn't mean he can't get involved in the passing game though, and I look at a guy like Marcel Reece from Oakland as an example of what Rodriguez could do, if given the opportunity. Maybe a poor man's version. Whatever it is, it's certainly better than what we are currently getting/not getting out of Kellen Davis and Matt Spaeth.

If you want to have the opinion that they weren't that good, fine, though it's the wrong opinion, I think it was pretty obvious last night that they protected the quarterback better. Not only did they not allow a sack, against a great defense, there was barely any pressure on the quarterback all night. I still believe Matt Forte had more to do with the poor running performance than the offensive line did. I would imagine the rain may have had something to do with his inability to cutback, so I guess, if you want to use the rain as an excuse, you have to use it both ways. I have no idea how you can say they only played average, even considering the circumstances. They weren't playing the Carolina Panthers, they were playing the Houston Texans. You're looking for every reason to not give them credit, and that is nitpicking. Was it a flawless performance, no? But was it pretty damn good? yes.

I can't stand Rick Reilly. He's been riding the Cutler hate train since, like you said, the playoff game years back. I don't mind people criticizing him for his play on the field, but leave the body language, is he a jerk, stuff out of it. Yes, we know the guy is a jerk, but how does that hurt or help the Bears win football games? It doesn't. When they added him to the MNF football crew, I knew the Anti-Jay stuff would be coming, and sure enough, we get the obligatory piece on his body language..

Originally I was going to pick the Bears to blow out the 49'ers, but with Jay maybe missing the game, this could be another Caleb Haine, run the ball 30 times, pass only when you have to type of game that makes your head explode. Sounds like Alex Smith might play. He hasn't had the multiple concussion history like Cutler. I'd imagine the Bears will error on the side of caution like they did in 2010 when Jay missed the Panthers game. Looks like the bye week came a couple weeks too soon :/

Yes, that's exactly what you are doing. Also, newsflash-- EVERY team in the NFL chips and double teams dominant pass rushers in this league. This is not a new development or concept for what an offensive line does in game situations. Did the Texans not try and double team Julius Peppers last night? They played their best game of the season last night. I thought Carimi really stepped up after two awful back to back performances from the weeks prior. The quarterbacks had all day to throw. The run blocking, like I said was not nearly as bad as it looked. I thought Forte just simply had a bad game. Michael Bush didn't seem to have much of a problem getting yards. So in your eyes, no matter what the offensive line did last night, it would have automatically been debunked due to the injuries from the other team? What kind of argument is that? We are talking about what happened on the field last night with who was out there. I don't deal in hypotheticals like that because there's just no point to it. Jamarcus Webb didn't play average, he played very well. His name was not called one time last night for a penalty or for allowing a sack. Not only that, but he was often left by himself because they were double teaming Watt on almost every snap. I was pleasantly surprised with how well he played in pass pro and how they completely took JJ Watt out of the game.

To his defense, he hasn't had any reps with the offense since training camp. We'll see what he's like with a full week of #1 reps, assuming Cutler is out. My gut tells me he's still not very good. The Caleb Haine effect I guess.

It worries me that he's now had a pretty lengthy history with concussions. This is a situation that has to be handled seriously, and error on the side of caution. I don't think he should play next week. Will he? I assume if he's cleared by doctors he will. If he comes back next week and gets hit again, you never know what could happen. One more concussion and he's done for the season, maybe even a career ender.

You're picking nits with the offensive line. They played extremely well, especially in pass protection. They have a guy named JJ Watt, who's pretty good. Was his named called at all last night? They doubled him well enough to where they left Jamarcus alone with Barwin most of the game, and he held up well. The run blocking wasn't as bad as it looked. Forte had a horrendously poor game yesterday. There were cut backs that he missed all night long. Was it their best run blocking performance? I don't know. But Forte had a lot to do with it. Like I said, if he's not seeing the cutbacks, the guy goes down on first contact more than any other starting RB that I can recall. With that said, now next week they'll probably do everything wrong and put everybody on suicide watch against the 49'ers.

I agree that he looked like crap. I just wish he could have lasted the entire game to see how he would have responded to a bad first half performance. I made the statement back in week 2 that I'm now off the Cutler bandwagon, as far as him being a Superbowl winner, until I see him have a big time performance against some of the elite teams in this league. You're not measured by how badly you beat up on the dead dog teams in this league, you're measured by how you perform when you are up against the best. I just don't trust him. A comeback win against Houston would have done a lot to change that.

Kellen Winslow should have been with this team 6 weeks ago. I swear to God, if I have to watch another lack luster performance from our TE['s] I'm going to puke. There's got to be somebody on the street that can catch a football, right? The Bears are getting absolutely ZERO production from that position on offense and it's killing us. I predicted a loss, so I guess I shouldn't be that surprised, but when you see a game in reach, the way this one was, and you don't come through, it makes it tough to swallow. What makes it worse is that you don't really get a good barometer of the team because its quarterback only played a half.

It's bad to waste a performance like this from the offensive line. That was their best game yet. My impressions: - Cutler was bad. Bad throws, bad decisions, bad all around. Everybody says he excels when he has time, well where was it? Jury is still out on whether or not he has it in him to lead us to a Superbowl. I was hoping to see how he'd respond against these two tough teams coming up, and now it looks like we still won't know.. - Forte sucked. The next time he breaks a tackle will be his first. - Marshall was mostly good, but a little bad. Can't drop a touchdown in the endzone like that. That play was huge. - Cambell didn't look like he had anything in him. Constantly looking for the check down when we were in situations where we needed to get the ball down the field - Defense wasn't perfect, but certainly played well enough to secure a win. 13 points should not be enough to win a football game. This loss falls on the offense, point blank.

Bears offense is going to get them an early round playoff exit if they get there.

0 yard passes aren't going to get it done, FYI Cambell.

I predict a Jason Cambell INT on the next drive, if they get one. Marshall is going to be the guy if they can get it done.

TE is a definite need for next season.

Urlacher has been awful this game. So many missed tackles and a poor job of getting off blocks.

I said it at the beginning of the season but the Bears should have kept that rookie Punter they had in training camp. Adam Podlesh might have the weakest leg in all of football.

All we have to do is go 90 yards now. No biggie! It feels like ever 30 yard gain we have off a big play and we still have like 50 yards to go.. We need to catch a break that goes our way. Defensive TD, Hester return TD, a DB slips while running after Marshall.. Something. Because it looks like the conventional way isn't going to come easy.

God forbid we ever get a TD. That miss hurts alot. Flips field position. Now Texans will just pound the ball with Foster and go play action to take shots over the LB's.

Julius Peppers is a freaking beast.

How do you not get a touchdown after a play like that? Jesus Christ.. Forte is not a guy that's going to move the pile. Can't break tackles. Two run plays inside and it gets no push whatsoever.