Bears4Ever_34

If it wasn't obvious before it should be now after Cutler's press conference today.

I think its pretty pathetic that he writes a book like this, especially about a guy that's not here to defend himself.

Well i don't know, but he did in Denver and he was pretty good at catching passes from Cutler. I believe he was actually diagnosed with Bi Polar disorder if I'm not mistaken, so there is always a risk but I'll take the risk if you get the 100 catches and 1100+ yards from him every season. Personally, I would still like to get our WR through the draft because it's cheaper, but if the plan is not to go with a high round WR (Which would be beyond moronic) then there are alternatives, and Brandon Marshall would be one of them.

The most I'd offer for Marshall is either a 2nd rounder or two 3rds. Miami used two seconds to get him from Denver so a 2nd or two 3rds sounds reasonable if they are looking for extra picks to rebuild.

Forte just needs to shut up and play. The Bears tried to get a deal done before the season, they couldn't, so now they are waiting until after the season. What part of that doesn't he understand? I'm sick of this weekly Matt Forte talking about his contract stuff. STFU and play, because you aren't going anywhere. The Bears could just as easily Franchise tag him for the next two years if he doesn't accept what they are offering.

No you're right about that. For some reason I had it in my head that they would always get off to slow starts and then pick it up in the 2nd half but it was actually the other way around. My mistake.

If it happened, I'd imagine they'd cut Sam Hurd because he does nothing as a WR and really isn't even that good on special teams. Or maybe Roy Williams because of his underwhelming play in this offense.

The Bears quarterback coach, Shane Day, is the one that calls the plays in to Cutler and that was who he was talking to when he said it.

Oh I know. He did lead them in receptions but as I said before, that was also the year (2007) that Roy Williams missed 4 games with injuries. But regardless, McDonald had a great season thanks in large part to the addition of Calvin Johnson and having Roy Williams on the field. I don't think people were really saying in their meetings "Hey ya know we really need to stop Sean McDonald or were going to lose." They were keying in on Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson. What I'm saying is, the Bears don't have that luxury now. They don't have that one guy or two guys that you can throw out there and make teams really gameplan for. Also, McDonald had already been in Martz's system with the Rams for 4 or 5 seasons before he came to Detroit, so it wasn't like he came in learning a new offense. He was a guy that knew the system and that plays a part in it as well. What about Favre? Having great receivers play a part in making ordinary receivers better than they actually are (The quarterback also plays a large part in that as well.) Cutler made Eddie Royal into a borderline pro bowler in that Denver offense but I don't think that happens without Brandon Marshall. I really wouldn't put much stock into last nights game as a good example of anything. While Cutler had more time to make plays, there were still dropped passes by Sanzenbacher and Hester that should have been caught. Even Hester's touchdown pass looked bad. Did you see how he caught that thing like he was fielding a hand off? I don't know how he caught that ball. We saw this sort of play calling late last season when Martz went with more max protects and quicker reads to get the ball out of Cutler's hands. It worked for the most part but we still lacked explosiveness and we still struggled to score points on a consistent basis. Let's also not discount the fact that the Vikings are a dead dog team with a lackluster passing game that gets into huge deficits early in the game because of it. They play sort of the same Cover 2 scheme that we do on defense and that generally hasn't given our line as much problems as teams with a 3-4 defense or teams that run exotic blitz packages like the Saints and Packers. I want to see it against some of the best teams in the league and not the worst. Again, don't put much stock into a game against the Minnesota Vikings. Also, I don't think either of those guys would have been nearly as productive without Roy Williams or Calvin Johnson as security blankets. They certainly wouldn't have put up nearly as many points. Totally agree. I wouldn't mind spending a couple mid round picks on a tackle, a guard, or a center, or some combination between the 3. I personally feel like adding someone like Justin Blackmon, Alshon Jeffery, or Michael Floyd would impact this offense more so than another lineman. But I don't see any reason why we can't upgrade both in the same draft. Lets just spend our 1st round pick on a playmaker first and then build the line off of that.

Not really ESPN breaking news stuff. More speculation but thought it was worth bringing up. His only year that he was productive was with Cutler when he caught 91 passes for 980 yards. I don't see how it couldn't hurt to offer up a 7th round draft pick for the guy. I'd rather us go aggressively after Brandon Marshall but Eddie Royal would be an okay move imo. Thoughts?

Thank you for the vid. This just speaks to the inevitable. Martz will be gone after this season.

The Vikings do have Jared Allen, who is one of the best pass rushers in this league but their team still sucks and they are always playing from behind, and are ranked near the bottom of the league in pass defense (25th to be exact). On top of that, they play sort of the same vanilla defense we do and if there is one thing this offensive line can atleast contain somewhat, it's teams that don't throw exotic blitz packages against them. I'd be much happier if we played this way against the New Orlean Saints, or the Green Bay Packers and the top tier teams in the league and not some of the worst.

Question for anyone that noticed, I only caught a part of it on radio but Waddle and Silvy were talking about the cameras on Sunday night catching Cutler muttering some choice words possibly about Martz (They were trying to lip read and thought he said something like "Tell Mike to F off". Did anyone else catch this? Supposedly Collinsworth was talking over it while it was happening on the sidelines so you had to be a good lip reader to catch it. I was flipping back and forth between the Bears and Cardinals game so I missed it.

I'm not, but go ahead and try to twist the facts in your favor. Actually, you can because as I mentioned before, Kitna threw the ball 596 times in 2006, which was 2nd in the league behind only Brett Favre. More passes leads to more receptions to receivers. Mike Furrey was the slot receiver in 06 and 07 and excelled in the Mike Martz offense because Kitna was a quarterback who used the middle of the field quite a bit. Generally the slot receiver is usually the easiest pass to make because they do most of their work between the numbers. Well you are right in that sense. Kitna was surprisingly very good in the Martz scheme (And in alot of ways, is better than Cutler at it, given their skill sets). But the fact of the matter is, Kitna still had a #1 to work with and the Bears don't. Roy caught 82 balls for over 1300 yards in 06. The Bears haven't had a guy like that in forever and it's an absolute necessity for every team (No matter that scheme) to have a legit #1 target to throw to so teams have something other than Matt Forte to focus on. No, Kitna was able to spread the ball around even more in 2007 because of Calvin Johnson and the extra talent showed in the record (06 = 3 wins, 07 = 7 wins). Also I think it's worth mentioning that both Sean McDonald and Az Hakiim were both brought over to Detroit with Martz because they played in his system with the Rams while he was the Head Coach. So when they came in, they already knew the offense which only helps a quarterback even more when he has to trust guys to be in their spots. It may be hard to swallow but I don't think its that far fetched to say Detroits weapons aside from Roy and Calvin, are still better than the Bears receivers with the exception of maybe Knox. But only because of his speed. They were good before they got to the Lions. They didn't fit in Martz's scheme and it showed in the sack totals. I think even one year they were without Damien Woody for nearly an entire season and still put up points. Bottom Line: The point I'm trying to make is that you can still put up points in an offense without elite level talent on the offensive line if you have the elite talent at WR. It certainly is not ideal to have an offense without a good offensive line, but there has been instances where you can still get along without one and still be somewhat productive. Detroit was just an example I used because it dealt with Mike Martz. This all goes back to why I feel like the Bears should target a #1 receiver in round 1 of the draft next year as opposed to offensive line. I think I've made it clear on why I think that, by now but it's also because the best LT in the draft will likely be gone by the time we are drafting and we are going into a draft that isn't particularly filled with as much offensive line talent as there has been in recent years. If there was ever a year for us to find a #1 receiver, it's in this draft. WR is by far the strongest position next year.

Are you really using the Minnesota Vikings as your argument? Really?... Really?? Since when has measuring yourself against the worst become the customary thing when judging your team? I was under the impression that you find out who you really are by playing against the best. I take away nothing from this game, good or bad because we just played a team that's probably going to be drafting in the top 3 when it's all said and done.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Chris.

I think what your saying is a moot point because we all know Mike Martz isn't going to be here after this year anyways and the Bears can go back to running a more conventional style of offense. Yes, the 7 step drops don't work here but Jerry Rice was a pretty good short yardage, middle yardage, any yardage kind of a receiver. That guy was pretty good wherever you threw him the ball. Wrong. Mike Furrey and Mcdonald were the beneficiaries of Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson being on the field and the fact that the only thing Detroit ever did was throw the ball, because their running game was so pathetic (More passes = more receptions). 2007 was also the year Roy Williams missed 4 games because of injuries. It's not uncommon for slot receivers to lead the team in receptions, but to use that as your argument is absolutely ridiculous. Um, what? Nobody ever said anything about posting the same stats. The way you and the other guy were talking sounded like Jerry Rice would have suddenly transformed into the next David Terrell. And I'm telling you he would still be GREAT. Lol. Just because some guy was drafted in the 1st round doesn't mean he was a stud on the Lions. If you didn't noticed, the Lions actually gave up more sacks in 2006 (63) than the Bears did last season. And the season after that, they gave up 51. So no, I wouldn't say I ignored anything. If by time, you mean no time-- then I would agree. It's just that, when on rare occasions the line did protect him, he was able to make plays because his receivers knew how to get open. Ours don't, and can't because they are not any good. I don't know how I can paint the picture any more clearly.

We don't have to. It's not a prerequisite. Time is only useful if receivers get open. Go back and watch the film from the last two seasons and take a look at how many coverage sacks Jay has taken because of the garbage receivers he has to work with. The Mike Martz coached offense back in Detroit was still fairly successful despite their poor offensive line play. Why is that? Because he could throw the ball to Calvin Johnson and a younger, better version of Roy Williams. And that was a team with virtually no balance what so ever because Kevin Smith was their running back.

I have a hard time believing the greatest WR to play the game would "Never amount to what he should have" if he played with this team. Besides, you're assuming he plays his entire career with this exact same cast of offensive lineman. People have become blinded by how poorly our offensive line has played that they don't realize that our receivers are damn near equally as bad. When Jay's leader in targets is Dane Sanzenbacher, you know you have a bad team. For all the Mike Martz talk about Roy Williams catching 70-80 passes.. Well he's about 72 short. Any elite receiver on this team, makes our offense a tougher cover. Do you know how easy it is to scout against this Bears offense? It's not a secret that Matt Forte is going to get the ball and teams can just hone in on stopping him because Devin Hester nor Johnny Knox pose any major threats. An elite offensive lineman can only be responsible for one man. Unfortunately, there are 4 other spots where guys can take advantage of. And as I've mentioned a couple hundred times before, extra time is only helpful when your receivers get open. How many coverage sacks have we seen already in the past two seasons from Cutler because nobody is open? That's why quality WR's make an offense. Look at what Atlanta went out and did this past year to get more explosive. They got Julio Jones to pair up with Roddy White who was already an All Pro receiver. There offensive line is almost just as bad as ours but Ryan has the luxury of his two security blankets to throw two (Well three if you count Tony Gonzalez). It's all about making your offense unpredictable. With no talented WR's on this team, it makes it awful easy to plan against this Bears offense. If you placed Brandon Marshall on this team right now, all of a sudden that's one other guy teams have to scheme for. And that alone opens up more opportunities for other guys to get open. Also, remember, when Jon Kitna was getting blasted on a weekly basis, the Mike Martz coached offense in Detroit was still fairly successful because he had a rookie Calvin Johnson and a younger more motivated Roy Williams.

He's my #1 target in this draft should we have the opportunity to draft him. Though, there are alot more worse teams than us that need WR's so I don't believe he will be in our range by the time we are selecting. We'd need to be in the top 10 to get either or the two Elite receivers but we should be within Floyd range (15-25). Either of those 3 would be gold for us. My order of preference would be 1. Jeffery 2. Blackmon 3. Floyd

Reggie Wayne would never resign here after what is going on with this offense. I wouldn't waste any picks for him. I might with Mathis however. The guy I think we should start making proposals to is Brandon Marshall. Yeah, he's a mess off the field and sometimes on it.. But could you imagine the big smile on Cutler's face if someone walked in and told him we got his guy back? I'd have to imagine both guys would become instantly rejuvenated and would finally give us that #1 play making WR that we've needed since forever now. I'd gladly offer that Carolina 3rd rounder for him if Miami is ready to clean house, since there season is going nowhere. Would probably even offer both 3rd rounders. Imagine doing that and then being able to draft Floyd, Blackmon, or Jeffery in the 1st round next year and the best available LT, C in the 2nd with a chance to sign Carl Nicks again as a FA? That would instantly change the dynamic of this team.

Yeah Charlie would have been good but I have a feeling he probably would have done the exact same thing as he did with the Chiefs.. Leave after one year. Maybe we can get Clements next year after we let Martz walk or try Bates again. Of course, if we end up having another piss poor year, it's going to be a less attractive place to coordinate at if the Bears don't fire Lovie.. Which I don't think they'll do unfortunately..

I'd like to see Mario Addison get a chance to start. He was in the backfield nearly every play this preseason, and he's athletic as hell.

Oh for God sakes he would not. Jerry Rice is the greatest receiver in the history of football. Great players are great no matter what. If you eliminate the 7 step drop, all of a sudden Cutler instantly has more time to throw because he gets to set his feet quicker. Again, I say.. An Elite WR is EVERY bit as important as an Elite Offensive lineman for this team. Time is only important when your receivers separate, and as you saw last Monday, sometimes that doesn't even make a difference because then they have to catch it, ie. Devin Hester..

Because our receivers kind of suck at catching passes, getting open, and making adjustments on balls? The Bears need an elite WR every bit as much as they need an elite offensive lineman. Brandon Lloyd isn't elite though but he's still worth a 4th or 5th round draft pick if that's what it takes to get him.