Justin Gage has signed a contract with the Tennessee Titans which means...and I'm welling up...Justin Gage will not be on the Chicago Bears in 2007.
The Titans also signed Bobby Wade last year and I believe that begs the question: are the Tennessee Titans out of their fucking minds?
#2 jeff said . . .You're asking if the Titans are out of their minds when we have this mindless/wierd *hit happening in Chicago in regards to the Bears? I am sorry about Gage. I know it's a tough move for you but **SLAP** GET OVER IT! Be a MAN!
I'll be here waiting for countless other shoes to drop before/during/after the draft.
Megan Mary Margaret Kelley (that's right, there's a second "E" in Kelley, you wanna start somfin???)March 17, 2007
#3 Ted in IA said . . .i love tank going to jail. it'll toughen him up.
March 17, 2007
#4 Midway Monster said . . .Justin Gage... disappearing into the sunset. I tell ya, it's a Hollywood moment. Good luck, Titans (what a load). He will probably drop the contract that they give him.
March 17, 2007
#5 beardown1982 said . . .First, Happy St Patricks Day folks (fond memories of skipping high school, all day drinking of green beer in the city, and puking on the train ride home come to mind. good times... good times...)
Second, maybe we ought to put the rest of the Defense in jail till spring. They can work out with Tank to get ready for 07. (hey, I know I don't contribute to the mainstream here, but I do have ideas huh?)
Lastly, My hopes are we have a kick-a$$ draft and I can begin the weekend furlough plan we have here in rehab.
Midway
(no fancy pants "e" in that name)March 17, 2007
#6 Al in WI said . . .I went to Mizzou in college...this pretty much sums up Gage. Anytime a player's name was said over the PA at home games, they would read the player's # and then last name. Not sure why, but they did.
Gage picked number 12, so that naturally, anytime his name was called, the PA would say "12 Gage"
That said, he was a great player at Mizzou and even helped us get to the elite eight one year on the hoops squad. Still, he did absolutely nothing for us as a Bear.Adios fellow Mizzou Tiger.
March 17, 2007
#7 Pissed off said . . .Addition by subtraction.
Career underachiver, and a good move to see him go.March 18, 2007
#8 Phil from SATX said . . .Totally agree, addition by subtraction, good riddance my friend. A nice move. I didnt know, or care, much about his situation but I'm assuming he was a free agent and we got nothing for him? Now I'm exited to know how long Tank will be suspended. I cant wait for the draft, I cant wait to see who the third RB is on this team when the season starts. I cant wait to see what happens with this Briggs situation, I'm actually getting a bit giddy.
JUSTIN GAGE
March 19, 2007
#9 Al in WI said . . .Justin Gage was actually helpful to have on our team. When he went in during the regular season we got to see how good our top 3 were, simply because they could CATCH A PASS. and NOT FUMBLE AFTER A CATCH ON THOSE TIMES WHEN A CATCH OCCURS (admittedly a rare occurence with JG).
Seriously, though, the fact that Wade and Gage are sought after by other teams just underscores the fact that there are plenty of underachieving receivers out there who cannot be relied on to make a catch, yet they still make it on rosters. We need to appreciate the hands we have on our roster - between Moose, Bernard and Rashied, those are six excellent hands. Thinking it's also probably true about Mark Bradley.
I know they have to do more than catch, they have to get open, but getting open without being able to grab and secure don't mean much. Still think that this receiving corps can make it as is, with better QB play and better play calling.
Long live M-B-R!
March 19, 2007
#10 Phil from SATX said . . .Phil I would disagree with you slightly on your evaluation of our reciever corps. Berrian had a really good season this year but he still has a ways to go to be a complete reciever. Moose is still the top WR and I think that is a weekness. He is getting up there in age, isn't fast enough to be a game breaker, and still drops too many passes for a man with his salary. Davis is a good slot guy who made some clutch catches but is limited beyond that. And Bradley has looked good at times but is still raw, and let's face it; he's missed more games than he has played in so far.
Our WR's are average, or solid if you will. It is still an area that we desperatly need to upgrade. Just compare our wr's to the ones on our playoff opponets. In my opinion our guys couldn't start on any of those teams, and that's an issue.
We could really use a jump ball type reciever. Ironically that is what Gage was supposed to be, but never was. I'm thinking a guy with the skill set of a Marcus Robinson before he started getting hurt. A bigger reciever with speed an jumping ability. Right now there is zero margin of error for our qb's, and that has shown through at times.March 19, 2007
#11 Pissed off said . . .Al, now I will tweak your comments - only tweak, because in large part I agree with you. I think both Berrian and Bradley, because of youth and inexperience, have to be considered somewhat "project" type receivers - but I think Berrian has a huge upside, and I'm not willing to discount Bradley's upside either, unless he gets hurt again. Rashied reminds me of Dennis Gentry, 3rd down clutch. But the guy's hands are phenomenal, and I believe he could do more with more tries (kind of like Adrian Peterson at running batch). Moose is a steady, still better than "journeyman" type performer. I agree with you that at his price he should catch everything, but disagree that he has that many drops. We remember his drops, but there really weren't that many over the season.
I think our receivers do complement each other, and with the young guys having another year under their belts, don't you think they can grow into premier receivers? As far as comparing with the playoff teams, I'd definitely give you Colts, maybe Saints (not including Reggie) but probably not Seahawks. Branch didn't do much when he got there, and he had a good and accurate quarterback for much of the season. Don't you regard Moose as sort of a jump ball type receiver? When he goes up for it, he usually beats the smaller man and makes the catch.
Remember that it makes a huge difference who's throwing the balls to these guys. Also remember all the wasted downs on throw-aways during the season. Give everyone more chances and they will make more catches.
March 19, 2007
#12 Pissed off said . . .I would rather have Davis, Moose, Berrian or Bradley over Marcus Robinson.....no question.
March 19, 2007
#13 mikebdot said . . .Yeah wasted downs because our aging offensive line couldn't give Rex time to throw or because our mediocre wide receiver core couldnt get open so the ball had to be thrown away.....
March 19, 2007
#14 Al in WI said . . .PO'd: This is the first time I've agreed with you in awhile. Not to turn this into another Grossman discussion, but I do think the responsibility for throw aways can't possibly be entirely his fault. There were obviously some plays where he missed open receivers, but that happens with every QB. (I just wish he would stop throwing off his back foot and being more deliberate about where he is going with it). In any event, the line was not effective at times, but Grossman still had very few sacks throughout the year. But yeah, I sometimes doubt that our receivers are running their routes very crisply...
March 19, 2007
#15 Al in WI said . . .Have to disagree on Our current Wr's over Robinson. In 1999 he had 84 catches for 1,400 and 9 tds with Mathews, Miller, and McNown as his qb's. That's twice as many yards as Berrian and Moose combined. Now after that he was pretty much hurt all the time so I don't miss him. But he is type of reciever we could use. He turned a lot of would be interceptions from McNown and Miller into TD's or at least incompletions. I felt during the year that there were opportunities for Berrian and Moose to do the same but neither made a play on the ball. A prime example of that was in the bowl on the int that went back for a TD against us. If Moose looks for the ball it's at worst an incompletion.
There is a very good chance that Berrian and Bradley will improve, and I don't want to give up on them. But I think we need more consistancy from that position, and I'd like to see the Bears make a move to upgrade the spot. For example wouldn't it be nice to have 4 wide set with Berrian and a playmaker on the outsides and Davis and Moose in the slots?March 19, 2007
#16 Phil from SATX said . . .I meant to say that's as many yards as Berrian and Moose had combined. -Sorry
March 19, 2007
#17 Pissed off said . . .I don't disagree with the comment that all of Rex's throwaways are not his fault - but I do think his inability to improvise when under pressure last year is well documented. We all know he needs to work on that, and hopefully is doing that right now. Let's not forget that he also needs to improve on getting the ball to the right guy - many times last year the TV announcers would wait for the replay to show Rex throwing into double and even triple coverage while using the telestrator to show the guy who was wide open. "Rex is predetermining where he's throwing it" - how many times did we hear that line last year?
I'll also reiterate that play calling needs to improve too, a lot. As far as crisp routes go, I am always frustrated by the inability to see the whole play on TV. We only see the entire route when we get the benefit of a sky-cam overhead view. Otherwise, it's hard to say. I think all of our top three receivers are thought to be very good route runners, and Rashied is probably the best at improvisation. And PO'd, I agree with you about Marcus Robinson. Rather have our guys. Marcus is another career underachiever (peaked early in Chicago) and I think only Moose underachieved last year, and even then only slightly. Both Berrian and Davis gave us more than we expected, and they both still have upside.
March 19, 2007
#18 Al in WI said . . .Hey Al.....1999?..... its 2007, I dont want Robinson. He's not here for a reason.
March 20, 2007
Po'd either your not listening/reading or I'm not explaining myself well. I'm NOT saying we should get Robinson back at all. I'm saying we need a player of his type either in the draft or trade.
I use Robinson as an example of a reciever with that skill set and how effective that can be.
There are many recievers of that type out there, Chris Chambers for one who might be available in a trade, or Jarret from USC in the draft.March 20, 2007
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