12th in preseason power rankings

[jason]

Do you think the Bears deserve to be 12th?

http://espn.go.com/nfl/powerrankings/_/yea...id=sportscenter

 

It's almost like nobody outside of Chicago realizes half the defense was hurt last year, all the DTs were down, and that started the domino affect.

 

There is no way the defense is not much, much better with the return of Ratliff, Paea, and DJ, the signing of Allen, Young, and Houston, and the drafting of Ferguson and Sutton.

 

 

[scs787]

Looks fair to me, I think they'll finish higher(somwhere in the 6-8 range) but I suppose we gotta see how all the new pieces work together.

[CrackerDog]

Looks fair to me, I think they'll finish higher(somwhere in the 6-8 range) but I suppose we gotta see how all the new pieces work together.

 

Yep. I'll take 12th. You made the playoffs and from there a team gets hot and anything can happen. We're in a tough and getting tougher division (I assume based on all the changes) and making the playoffs with this O and refurbished D, I'd take my chances.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

Do you think the Bears deserve to be 12th?

http://espn.go.com/nfl/powerrankings/_/yea...id=sportscenter

 

It's almost like nobody outside of Chicago realizes half the defense was hurt last year, all the DTs were down, and that started the domino affect.

 

There is no way the defense is not much, much better with the return of Ratliff, Paea, and DJ, the signing of Allen, Young, and Houston, and the drafting of Ferguson and Sutton.

I think it will be hard for us to score the type of points we did last year though too. I think the offense can be better but I also think we have Forte getting older, Marshall getting older, etc. Like our oline and love the idea of a 2nd year of Trestman but there will also be more footage out there too. I think we have potential super bowl capabilities but a lot still has to happen as planned and hopefully you don't have any crushing injuries. I'm extremely excited for this upcoming year but also the direction the franchise seems to be heading. We definitely need last years draft picks (as well as the current years) to step up and grow though cause that really is the key to long-term sustained success (well that and Cutler).

[Stinger226]

I think it will be hard for us to score the type of points we did last year though too. I think the offense can be better but I also think we have Forte getting older, Marshall getting older, etc. Like our oline and love the idea of a 2nd year of Trestman but there will also be more footage out there too. I think we have potential super bowl capabilities but a lot still has to happen as planned and hopefully you don't have any crushing injuries. I'm extremely excited for this upcoming year but also the direction the franchise seems to be heading. We definitely need last years draft picks (as well as the current years) to step up and grow though cause that really is the key to long-term sustained success (well that and Cutler).

I think we definitely get better with our offense. This will be a stud O for the next few years. The second year always shows the most growth in a new system. Our Oline will be better and so goes the offense. We now have in place some depth at positions other than TE and being they didnt draft one that must mean Onobun is ready to take a step.

[adam]

12th is about right just for the draft with us moving up 3. I could see us over CIN and ARZ too. The Packers moving up 7 with that draft seems kinda high. The last week refers to Week 18 Power Rankings, so if you take into account our FA acquisitions, we should be slightly higher.

 

I would say: SEA, SF, DEN, NO, NE, PHI, IND, GB, CAR, then CHI for the top 10 after all offseason moves.

[Stinger226]

Do you think the Bears deserve to be 12th?

http://espn.go.com/nfl/powerrankings/_/yea...id=sportscenter

 

It's almost like nobody outside of Chicago realizes half the defense was hurt last year, all the DTs were down, and that started the domino affect.

 

There is no way the defense is not much, much better with the return of Ratliff, Paea, and DJ, the signing of Allen, Young, and Houston, and the drafting of Ferguson and Sutton.

I think there rating us so low because we didnt draft a S in the first round.

[adam]

I think we definitely get better with our offense. This will be a stud O for the next few years. The second year always shows the most growth in a new system. Our Oline will be better and so goes the offense. We now have in place some depth at positions other than TE and being they didnt draft one that must mean Onobun is ready to take a step.

Not to be silly, but our Punting will be better and coverage team with Senn as well. Our defensive improvement should be +2 games, offensive improvement considering 2nd year in same system is +1 game, and ST is even with loss of Hester but better kicking, so we should technically be 3 games better. With a tougher schedule that may equal 2 extra wins.

[CrackerDog]

I think there rating us so low because we didnt draft a S in the first round.

 

[Stinger226]

Wow , you must never read any of my posts.

[Daventry]

Do you think the Bears deserve to be 12th?

http://espn.go.com/nfl/powerrankings/_/yea...id=sportscenter

 

It's almost like nobody outside of Chicago realizes half the defense was hurt last year, all the DTs were down, and that started the domino affect.

 

There is no way the defense is not much, much better with the return of Ratliff, Paea, and DJ, the signing of Allen, Young, and Houston, and the drafting of Ferguson and Sutton.

 

 

You are right on IMO Jason, injuries killed us on D last year...if not for that, we would have done much more. We made a killing in FA...time will tell, as always, but it is a good time to be a Bears fan IMO.

[CrackerDog]

Wow , you must never read any of my posts.

 

I thought your comment was hilarious.

[Mongo3451]

I thought your comment was hilarious.

X2

[jason]

X2

 

X3...but I wonder if they had moved us up a notch or two if we actually did draft a highly-rated FS? Never know.

[Mongo3451]

X3...but I wonder if they had moved us up a notch or two if we actually did draft a highly-rated FS? Never know.

If things would have changed because of that, it would further condemn their credibility.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

I think the x-factor to next year's success will be either Cutler or Mel Tucker...or both.

[madlithuanian]

I thhnk it's Tucker. There should be more than a reasonable expectation that the offense will do similarly as last year. Obviously Cutler's health needs to remain intact, etc.

 

Tucker is the really the big Q. Was it injuries or shoddy coaching (or both) that was the issue last season? I think this season will tell us...

 

 

 

I think the x-factor to next year's success will be either Cutler or Mel Tucker...or both.

 

[lemonej]

Tucker will be the main one under the gun because all the $$ and time invested into the defense this year. Yes he had a defense he had to learn scheme and tech-wise shoved down his throat but now he gets to tweak it a little and now he is on front street.

[Pixote]

Tucker will be the main one under the gun because all the $ and time invested into the defense this year. Yes he had a defense he had to learn scheme and tech-wise shoved down his throat but now he gets to tweak it a little and now he is on front street.

 

I have to agree, I think Emery & the powers in charge did everything they could to add all the players needed to rejuvenate our defense. I am sure there were additional moves they would like to have made but were unable to pull off do to money in FA or players being drafted before we had the opportunity.

 

That being said the number of quality players / prospects added to our defense is impressive and now that Tucker has the freedom to implement his schemes and hopefully with less injuries to our starters he had better come away with a top 10 defense. As far as I am concerned there are no excuses excepted for failure this time around. He got his mulligan last year.

 

Anything less IMO is unacceptable and he should be replaced. With a top 10 D and the offense we now have (which should be even better in year 2 of the system) we should have a great year.

[CrackerDog]

Anything less IMO is unacceptable and he should be replaced.

 

Anything less and he should have the decency of resigning.

[Stinger226]

Anything less and he should have the decency of resigning.

I am not defending Tucker, but I guess I am.

 

He was given a defense that was Lovies and said to accept it.

It had aging stars and not much depth.

The worse happens Tillman, Briggs,Melton, Collins,DJ Williams, K Haden all get hurt.

They sign Sedric Ellis and he retires.

Urlacher loses his effectiveness and doesnt get signed.

Julius Peppers hits the skids and shows up for only a few games.

New rookies play like crap.

 

He didnt have a lot going for him last year but after further review Emery decides to fix it.

 

Brings in coaches , and new players.

 

I dont know if we will be a top 10 defense but we will be tons better than last year.

[jason]

I am not defending Tucker, but I guess I am.

 

He was given a defense that was Lovies and said to accept it.

It had aging stars and not much depth.

The worse happens Tillman, Briggs,Melton, Collins,DJ Williams, K Haden all get hurt.

They sign Sedric Ellis and he retires.

Urlacher loses his effectiveness and doesnt get signed.

Julius Peppers hits the skids and shows up for only a few games.

New rookies play like crap.

 

He didnt have a lot going for him last year but after further review Emery decides to fix it.

 

Brings in coaches, and new players.

 

I dont know if we will be a top 10 defense but we will be tons better than last year.

 

I agree with everything except the bolded part. It has been shown before that the Bears were better with Urlacher on the field than without in 2012. He certainly lost effectiveness if compared to his peak, but statistics clearly show he was effective. What's more, he was trending up before he got injured. Dislike him all you want off the field, but his impact on the Bears defense in 2012, and the likely compounding affect of his absence in 2013 (which you noted), can't be questioned.

[CrackerDog]

I agree with everything except the bolded part. It has been shown before that the Bears were better with Urlacher on the field than without in 2012. He certainly lost effectiveness if compared to his peak, but statistics clearly show he was effective. What's more, he was trending up before he got injured. Dislike him all you want off the field, but his impact on the Bears defense in 2012, and the likely compounding affect of his absence in 2013 (which you noted), can't be questioned.

 

Well then maybe he should've said "Urlacher overestimates his value and isn't signed for 2013." Because it's pretty clear based on the fact that nobody else offered him anything, he wasn't on anyone's "must have" list. And your "proof" was always sketchy at best. Frankly, your constant whining about the guy was never more than pure conjecture on your part. Are you suggesting you know more than the Bears coaches and trainers who saw him that entire off season? Is is possible that they saw his abilities degrade further while the cameras weren't on and you couldn't see him on the TV machine?

 

It always sounded to me like the Bears were offering him the token "You're an aging star" contract so he could come back for his final season and say his good bye's. Nothing more. He was never expected to be a major contributor as far as I can tell. Did Brian do a private workout for you Jason? LOL!

[jason]

Well then maybe he should've said "Urlacher overestimates his value and isn't signed for 2013." Because it's pretty clear based on the fact that nobody else offered him anything, he wasn't on anyone's "must have" list. And your "proof" was always sketchy at best. Frankly, your constant whining about the guy was never more than pure conjecture on your part. Are you suggesting you know more than the Bears coaches and trainers who saw him that entire off season? Is is possible that they saw his abilities degrade further while the cameras weren't on and you couldn't see him on the TV machine?

 

It always sounded to me like the Bears were offering him the token "You're an aging star" contract so he could come back for his final season and say his good bye's. Nothing more. He was never expected to be a major contributor as far as I can tell. Did Brian do a private workout for you Jason? LOL!

 

Look, dick, if someone posts something about Urlacher losing ability, I'm going to reply. F'ing deal with it. I think everyone is over the fact that Urlacher is not with the team, but that doesn't mean I'll ignore inaccuracy about his impact.

 

It's not conjecture to say A] Urlacher was important to the team (missed four games and still 4th in tackles) & B] He was doing better as the season progressed. They're both facts. Don't you know how to click links? The stats say the team was better when he was on the field. The stats say he was doing better as the season went on. It doesn't take a genius to get his tackles during 2012 on a game-by-game basis, put them into excel, and make a chart with a trend line. As far as being a major contributor, if he had signed with the team, and remained uninjured, there is zero doubt he would have been a major contributor in 2013. The defense would have been better with him than without him, albeit slightly because of the injuries. To deny this is just ignorant, especially considering the fact that Briggs has talked about feeling uncomfortable calling the plays, and giving that job to a rookie would have been poor planning. Even in his interview he was noticeably awkward when replying to whether he was comfortable. Make no mistake, Urlacher was missed.

 

The last part I agree with. That's basically what the Bears were doing - giving him a chance to retire a Bear and say goodbye. But given how historically shitty the Bears' defense was last year, maybe it wasn't a matter of "Urlacher overestimat[ing] his value," maybe it was the Bears underestimating?

[CrackerDog]

Look, dick, if someone posts something about Urlacher losing ability, I'm going to reply. F'ing deal with it. I think everyone is over the fact that Urlacher is not with the team, but that doesn't mean I'll ignore inaccuracy about his impact.

 

It's not conjecture to say A] Urlacher was important to the team (missed four games and still 4th in tackles) & B] He was doing better as the season progressed. They're both facts. Don't you know how to click links? The stats say the team was better when he was on the field. The stats say he was doing better as the season went on. It doesn't take a genius to get his tackles during 2012 on a game-by-game basis, put them into excel, and make a chart with a trend line. As far as being a major contributor, if he had signed with the team, and remained uninjured, there is zero doubt he would have been a major contributor in 2013. The defense would have been better with him than without him, albeit slightly because of the injuries. To deny this is just ignorant, especially considering the fact that Briggs has talked about feeling uncomfortable calling the plays, and giving that job to a rookie would have been poor planning. Even in his interview he was noticeably awkward when replying to whether he was comfortable. Make no mistake, Urlacher was missed.

 

The last part I agree with. That's basically what the Bears were doing - giving him a chance to retire a Bear and say goodbye. But given how historically shitty the Bears' defense was last year, maybe it wasn't a matter of "Urlacher overestimat[ing] his value," maybe it was the Bears underestimating?

 

Call me whatever you like, it's still pure conjecture on your part. Nobody else offered him a contract. Didn't he work out for the Vikings? Maybe even do a physical for them? No offer. The Bears were already well aware of his shape. They could've easily seen something during that off season where his physical abilities "rolled off the table" and you simply think you know better, as usual. My guess is also just that, a guess. But you won't admit it about your bullshit. Let's face it, you simply don't know jack-all about the situation but your man-love for BU won't let you let this one die. Anyone here mentions Brian and you get all weepy and start defending him. Your case is weak and you ain't selling me or most folks here. It doesn't matter what his stats were in 2012, he was already old for an NFL linebacker and there was another off season where he got somewhat older. As to what Briggs said about it, irrelevant. It's like me giving props to my best buddy when he's looking for a job and I'm doing a reference for him. What do you think I'm going to say?

 

So stats don't back you up and what happened in 2013 doesn't either. The team started out played pretty well on D before the shit hit the fan. I could play the conjecture game too... What if they signed Brian for another year and he was injured in game 1 and didn't suit up again? Do you think the Bears kinda thought he was just trying to milk them for another paycheck? They apparently did. And they weren't going to allow him to drag them through the sewer in the press. Game over. Get your tongue out of the guy's rectum for a few minutes and you might be able to see better.