Jeffri Chadiha used to write ignorantly for Sports Illustrated but ESPN couldn't let ignorance like his work for a rival and he's been spewing his nonsense at the Worldwide Leader all season long. JC's most recent column selects an MVP for each of the league's team and his selection for the Chicago Bears was a no-brainer:
Chicago: Lance Briggs, LB. He' s been of the few highlights on a team that has disappointed all season.
Chadiha is meant to be someone paid to watch the NFL's thirty-two teams play football. Now I ask Bears fans a simple question. I ask this of my fellow Bears fans who ACTUALLY watch Bears games. Does Briggs even crack your top five?
Anyway, here is my team MVP (and two runners-up) for this incredibly disappointing 2007 season.
#3 Brian Urlacher
I know what you're all thinking: what an asshole! He's been killing Urlacher all year! And you're right, I have. But in the Bears signature victories of the 2007 season - namely both Green Bay wins - Urlacher was the Urlacher of old. Over these past few weeks, Brian has reminded the world why so many of ussport his #54 in the Soldier Field stands. For those of you who love stats, how about these? 112 tackles, 5 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries and 4 interceptions. If that's his off year, I'll take him as my middle linebacker till he can't play anymore.
#2 Charles "Peanut" Tillman
Thank God for the Nut. Tillman's was the only professional presence in the secondary after Brown and Vasher began their year sabbaticals. He was terrific in coverage and an even better tackler, probably saving ten or twelve touchdowns over the stretch. This guy started with Tru McBride, Danieal Manning, BMac and Archuelta all year! The fact that the Bears remained in games is a testament to his ability.
And now the 2007 Chicago Bears Most Valuable Player...
DEVIN HESTER
Duh?
#2 Midway Monster said . . .Obviously Hester.
Not even close.
December 27, 2007
#3 Midway Monster said . . .What would we be without Hester? The man give us mid field position by teams avoiding him and points when they don't. Just close your eyes and let you brain replay his run backs. In a word: awesome.
Yes- not even close. MVP and cornerstone of the Bears.
-- Midway --
December 27, 2007
#4 Phillip said . . .
From a bud of mine who is a Buffalo Bills freak. Seems Roscoe Parrish (ole Miami bud of Devin's) contract was renewed a few weeks ago. Roscoe landed:a >$1M signing bonus
bonuses of $3.25M in '08
$1.5M in '09,
$1M base salary in '09
base salaries of $1.25M in '10 and '11
$0.5M roster bonuses each year.Hester has a salary of $0.5M with no significant bonuses. Time to restructure and pay the man!
-- Midway --
December 27, 2007
#5 jeff said . . .I dunno about cornerstone of the Bears, Midway... one of the foundation blocks, sure, but not cornerstone... Mike Brown would have had that title at the beginning of the season, and now I have no idea who might have it, but Hester's not been with the team long enough to be -the- cornerstone.
But don't get me wrong - he sure helps hold things together.December 27, 2007
#6 Pissed Off said . . .philip, if this conversation becomes a semantics argument over the difference between cornerstones and foundation blocks, i'm going to be very entertained.
December 27, 2007
#7 jeff said . . .Hester is a freak. Love getting the field position and the exciting returns knowing theres a chance of getting a TD every time he touches the ball. Not impressed with his offensive skills. Wouldnt hurt if he'd read the playbook, know where he's supposed to be and if he could catch that would be sweet too. Maybe he takes receiving lessons from Berrain.
Returner/Most exciting guy in the game/Game changer=OH YEAH
Offensive Weapon/Wideout=Not so much
December 27, 2007
#8 Papa Bear said . . .i was fully opposed to hester as a wideout until i saw him play it late in the year. he needs another offseason to learn routes and how to run them but he can be a serious weapon. his mere presence on the field makes the offense better. there should be a rule that ron turner has to get him the ball three times a game on offseason but NOT on a wideout screen or end around.
December 27, 2007
#9 Pissed Off said . . .We should pay the man, before he signs with Rosenhaus and goes all Briggs on us...Just pay him so he can focus on football and getting better as a WR. As of now, he's the only guy on the offense/special teams that opposing teams create/adjust strategery for.
December 27, 2007
#10 Megan said . . .Are you assuming teams dont game plan for the ever dangerous Moose or Ced Benson?
December 27, 2007
#11 Pissed Off said . . .Amen bruddha Jeff. Hester. He's the foundation block/cornerstone/sentinal node/beacon in the night of a dark season.
(Did I miss any?)
It has been a joy to watch him all season. Urlacher is still my fav, cuz I'm a defense gal but... Hester is 'greased lightnin'Looking back is hard, but the Packers' games this season have been fun to watch. And if we have to have a less then stellar season, then as long as we beat GB, I'm all for it.
Also, listening to those announcers carry on about 'he who must not be named' reminded me of that Monday night game when they kept showing 'he who must not be named' s WIFE 5000 million times. I think I saw her face more then any one single player the entire game and, she's not even playing, or naked?
I dunno. She might feed the starving, shelter the homeless and cure cancer but... I don't need to see her face plastered all over the TV. I would really like to watch the game people!
Wow, that was a rant.
Nods to Peanut as well. Just a good solid player.Happy New Year all!
MeganDecember 27, 2007
#12 Pissed Off said . . .Still bitter about this season and not making the playoffs. With the talent on this team theres something wrong. And it starts with the coaching staff. Other things like injuries happen but damn coming off a superbowl season sucking this bad is not acceptable. Do I want to bury the Aints playoff hopes and head off into the offseason on a 2 game win streak (high note), YES.
Am I excited for the offseason moves, draft, and (hopefully) coaching changes? Yes.Guys I want gone: Arch, Griesehole, Miller (unless they move him to guard, I'm not even cool with him as a backup) and Moose.
Guys I wont get overly pissed about if they go: Ruben Brown (but I'll take him if he's healthy), Mike Brown (doesnt do us any good anyway), Berrian, Briggs, Manning Jr, McKie (it would be nice to get a premier FB on this team) and Orton.
December 27, 2007
#13 AfroCelt said . . .O-line is easy to fix really, we just need a top end left tackle. This teams O-line play last year was good and its not that far off. We can move Tait to the right side, if Ruben Brown is back, he's dominant when he's healthy, one of the best even in his mid 30s. Move Miller to Guard as well and have Metcalf to back the two up. St. Clair is fine as a backup tackle and we have Olin.
You know this team wont give up on Ced yet and they wont on Wolfe either. And they probably wont give up on AP for all he's given us over the years so we'll have this RB group back unless APs contract is up? We also need Rex back, sign a Pennington type (good vet) and draft one in later rounds or keep Horton.
Defensively we need a safety, and a healthy Defensive Tackle group and we're done. Dvoracek back, Tommie healthy and a combo of a couple of the other 49 DTs we've seen will be fine.
December 27, 2007
#14 JB said . . .man I wish I could run an experiment where all you did was have an average backfield on both sides of the ball and build a dominant OL/DL. I wonder just now much of an impact it would be.
Can one do this on Madden? Ive avoided the series ever since 2k5 creamed it, but I may have to come back just to test this out.
December 27, 2007
#15 Midway Monster said . . .I think that's a great list Jeff. Mine would look very similar and I'm very happy to see peanut #2.
I tried to picture where the 1st offensive player would be if you extended the list out. No seriously, try it. Desmond Clark? I seriously don't know. Adrian Peterson? No one on that line deserves anything nearing praise and the # of dropped balls excludes WR's...seriously, A Pete at like #10 behind Ayenbadejo and Gould...
I think I'd have Briggs at 5 behind your list and Tommie Harris.
December 27, 2007
#16 Al in WI said . . .Phillip: no... I am right, in 07 - he is the cornerstone. Without his threat this year we would have been Miamish.
-- Midway --
December 27, 2007
#17 Vash said . . .Po'd loved your post #9-really great stuff.
In fact it leads me to this question; if you were a defensive coordinator would you even cover Moose? I mean he can't catch, and is so slow that by the time he get's to the end of his route you should be able to sack the QB. I say no, what say you?
Anyway my list for MVP is not really different then the rest but I'd add Greg Olsen to the list as # 3 behind Wale #2 and Hester #1.December 28, 2007
#18 Rancid said . . .Vasher on IR now? Why now?
December 28, 2007
#19 johnny el paso said . . .I think we might have some diamond in the rough DTs here that might keep us from having to bolster the position in the offseason. We'll have a healthy Tommie, as well as DD back. So there's the starters. As backups I like the Big Toe. He has looked great without even practicing much and just jumping onto the field. The Kennedy guy has looked decent too.
I am not ok with Fred Miller still being on the team. He needs to go. I like the right side of the line as Tait and Garza, and I like Olin, so I see us in need of a LT and LG. I think we can get a guard in the draft, so I want us to get the best LT in free agency we can, but I don't know who's out there.
I want Mike Brown to get one more shot at it. He looked so good in the first game this year. BUT we can't count on him like we did this year. We have to all but plan on losing him to injury. I like Phillips as out #1 draft pick to make the safety spot more reliable.
I think that our QB and RB positions will be better (not stellar, but servicable with a dominant Defense) just based on a successful upgrade of the Oline so I don't put the importance on QB and RB yet.
December 28, 2007
I agree with Hester..........If we had an offense we would of been undefeated.....our offense most of the time started at the 40 yard line......
December 28, 2007
Here at DaBearsBlog, you are free to kill us or the Bears as you so wish. You are not free, however, to be an asshole. So if you spew racism or ill-meaning foul language (cursing about football is just fine) or anything of that ilk, your comments ain't gonna last long, jerk.