Comments

First....YES!

I'm not sure how my Pack is going to do...I hope 4-2.

I do think that the Monday night game on the 22nd will be the game that decides the division.

If that is the case, I think that whatever the outcome, it will be one for the ages. How long has it been since a December Packers-Bears game has actually meant something? I can't remember one in my lifetime. It would be a great one.

November 19, 2008

Second to None.

Da Bears ain't out of it yet. It ain't over till the fat lady sings. But she's sure as hell warming-up. Da Bears must beat St. Louis. Pack @ Saints on my birthday is gonna be major. Sorry Windy City Packer Fan (one of two descent Pack fans I know), but I'm gonna root for the Saints. I got family 'round there (I think), and I like Brees. 'Bout time NO won a home game against an NFC North team.

Bear Down America!

November 19, 2008

P.S. I know everyone hates Lovie. That Lloyd Lee dude has got the enthusiam to coach. Just think how we would get positive reps w/ the 1st Asian head coach. (No offense to my Asian brothers and sisters.) That's what I call food-for-thought.

November 19, 2008

Sorry for multiple posts.
A possible source of inspiration.
Let's hope this can happen again.

November 19, 2008

Knight...thanks for the props...I've got no problem with you cheering for the 'Aints on Monday...I respect most of you on this blog...but I will be pulling for the Lambs on Sunday... :)

By the way Knight....I like the moniker.

November 19, 2008

My multiple posts are the result of 1/2 price pizza night and low-priced pitchers of Miller Lite.

Thanks Moretti's.

November 19, 2008

I know there's a lot of criticism of Da Team, but does anyone see the Detroit Central High School Pussycats winning a game this year? Only 6 more to go...

November 19, 2008

Not with the fact that that are absent a GM. I can't see how Marinelli and Co. could in any way believe that they will still be employed by the Fords on 'Black Monday.'

If the W.C. Ford has any sense at all...he'll look to hire a GM who's primary experience doesn't come form being an analyst for CBS, NBC or ESPN.

But hey, this is a Bears blog. When are the McCaskeys going to realize that their ownership is the main thing from keeping this franchise from greatness? Again, I call for the Bears fans to start a fundraising campaign and buy the team for themselves. If Barack Obama can raise hundreds of millions of dollars from donors on the internet, why can't the millions of Bears fans pitch in some $, select Mike Ditka as CEO, and own the franchise themselves?

November 19, 2008

Great idea Pack Fan. I just don't know if Ditka has the heart for it anymore. But since his Ricky Williams bust, he has become quite the businessman. See you guyz tomorrow. It's late here in the East.

November 19, 2008

Jeff, you forgot Detroit.

Just Kidding.

November 19, 2008

I agree with Windy City...actual Bear-Packer games that have significance beyond the rivalry are a lot more fun. That hasn't happened in quite a while and I hope it plays out so that the final game between the two is really worth something.

That said, Vikings will have a tough time winning this division with their remaining schedule. Overall, I'd say the Packers have a slight edge. Bears can have a shot at it...but let's remember that their defense is what it is at this point and Orton still has a bum ankle to a degree.

It has been a strange, strange NFL football season...it is safe to say that ANYTHING can happen at this point. Let's just all try and enjoy these final six games no matter what they may hold in store for us.

Before I go...here are some things I'd do if I coached the Bears to try and get them over the hump to end this season.

1. Limit Hester's receiver reps. He hasn't shown all that much potential as a receiver in my opinion and hasn't been used as a big play threat anyways (I figured we would throw him more deep balls by now, but perhaps teams are taking that away). Let him concentrate on what we KNOW he can excel at without other distractions. He is worth the money based on his special teams output alone from the last two seasons. Just think what our record could be right now if he was playing like he was last year...some of these close games would be Ws.

2. Keep Mike Brown in the box and stop the run. Yes, we can't stop the pass...but I'd rather stop one thing than not stop either like last week.

3. Blitz more...if it doesn't work, oh well, but the front four isn't getting any pressure and we see what happenns when they don't. This means sending Daniel Manning once in a while...send Briggs or Urlacher...even send Vash on occasion...keep 'em guessing a bit even if it means we give up a big play or two.

4. Play the corners up once and a while and actually use a wrinkle in the cover 2. I'm sick of seeing physical corners like Tillman playing five yards off the ball. Yeah, we know he can strip after the catch, but he has a big body too and can really get into guys knocking them off their routes. Get him to the line of scrimmage and jam some receivers once and a while.

Long post...sorry. Any thoughts?

November 19, 2008

I say they get the NO game since they may have half a team by then now with the drug stuff, will hurt viqueens D seriously also. Then they go 10-6 but otherwise I am in agreement jeff.

Beardown my take on your points:
1.) We can't afford to limit Hester as a receiver now, beginning of the year yes, now no way. Did you see Lloyd hobbling around out there he doesn't trust his knee and is not coming out of his breaks well at all because of it. Without him and Brady dealt, Hester is our only stretch receiver. What they could do is use Hester and Olsen in a lot more bunch formations to get each of them trading off on who goes deep or stays short for a bubble screen, throw to the best matchup. They still just don't use their weapons enough. I don't think Hester's reps are hurting his returns at all, it's just different blockers not getting it done for him.
2.) I agree, my only concern is with his health but, oh well.
3.) I think they blitz quite a bit, it is just always picked up and when they do blitz they don't bump and run or press inside with their corners so they just get slanted and cornered into the dirt.
4.) They actually do "wrinkle" cover 2 quite a bit, the problem all goes back to the front 4 and not taking inside routes away. Regardless of what flavor of cover 2 you play your front four have to be able to create pressure, within 3 seconds... not necessarily sacks but at least close the pocket up but the corners need to play tighter inside position and be physical. Like Green Bay for instance. The get consistnt push from their line and man up, this frees their safetys up to either help on run D or drop "cover 2" into pass protection. The wrinkle they are really missing the Rivera did a lot of is the zone blitzing, silly stuff like sending the nickel on a blitz and having Alex Brown drop to cover his zone. I don't see anything creative regardless of what alignment they are in. This is why the MUG look worked for 2 whole weeks and now it has been figured out. They need more wrinkles across the board but yes I really want to see our corners get physcal.

November 19, 2008

Bradley dealt not Brady :(

November 19, 2008

I agree with Windy City in that the McCaskey's should take a good chunk of the blame. But what about some of the first round picks wasted by Angelo since he got here? It goes deeper than just Benson.

November 19, 2008

Excellent analysis you guys. I especially like the point on the mug, which worked early and not later.

That leads to my tweaking of another comment made yesterday, by the Ghost of Halas.

He said,
GOOD FOOTBALL TEAMS BECOME BETTER AS THE YEAR GOES ON. BAD FOOTBALL TEAMS WILT AND DIE AS COLD WEATHER APPROACHES.

The tweaking on this is the insertion of the word "COACHED" - as in Good Coached teams become better, Bad Coached teams wilt and die. This is what happened with our D, and why we had early success, and why we're not having later success. Teams were surprised by our D scheme early in the season and it took some game film to adjust to it.

Now they've adjusted, yet we haven't. This, my friends, is all about COACHING.

(if John McCain gave us anything he gave us that - or at least Darrell Hammond on SNL did)

Babich has truly been exposed, as has his puppet master. These guys DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING.

Time for a team revolt.

Bears players, RISE UP!!!
TAKE BACK YOUR MOJO!!!!
Remember who you are -

THE MONSTERS OF THE MIDWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

November 19, 2008

I don't know if I blame the McKaskey's on this one. They hired a pres., a GM and a coach and allowed them to reward player's they thought deserved it and spent a lot of cash in the process. I don't think they get involved in player decisions, a la Jones in Dallas.

There's enough blame to go around, but here's my best shot:

1) JA in the draft. The 1st round clunkers hurt but those 2nd and 3rd round busts in the past haunt us.

2) Lovie for Babbich. I don't blame them for letting Rivera go. His annual head coaching search was getting old. I do blame Lovie for promoting Babbich, who is in WAY over his head.

3) The players. Tommie, Ogun, 54, Vasher, Hester, Dusty are the first to come to mind. Graham and Payne have made some costly blunders, but they're not the veteran leaders of this team.

my solution:

Sit Tommie and Dusty's ass down and start Harrison and Adams. If possible, move Izzy to starting DE and sit Ogun's ass down. Sit Booker and Lloyd's asses and stick in Bennet and Rideau.

Maybe this will get some people's attention.

November 19, 2008

Until the team shows some fire I am not even gonna bother with predictions or hope. I tried that last week. I'll watch with casual interest, like I would watch a movie I'm not sure about. Fully expecting it to suck, but with the openness to get excited if it surprises me by actually being good. That's the team right now. That's all I'm willing to invest in them.

November 19, 2008

Rancid, completely agree with that sentiment. I still didn't turn off the game last week - even though my 5th grader was begging me to - he was so upset about it. But if there was any game that deserved to be shut off, it was that one.

For this Sunday, this game is sort of a lose-lose proposition. How can we get excited about them rising up and kicking the crap out of the worst team in the league (and am I wrong, or aren't the Rams even way worse than the 0-10 Lions?)? As soon as they do this, we'll get double barrels of Lovie smugness blasted in our face - See? I told you we're a good team! No extreme measures needed! You fans and media know nothing!

I won't be able to take that. A TV may get broken. And THAT'S our assured reward should the Bears do what we expect them to in the next game.

I wish the rematch with GB was the next game. Then we'd see what these guys are made of.

As an aside, you now have all the evidence you need to know that the Pro Bowl is complete bullshit.

Devin Hester is 2nd in fan voting - and he may have been the worst returner in the league this year.

Brian Urlacher is 2nd!

OLIN KREUTZ IS 3rd!! Olin Kreutz blows!

Brad Maynard, who is easily having the worst year of his career, is 4th!!!

Whatever. So what. Blah.

November 19, 2008

A scary thought: a 5 day span from Dec. 7 to 11 will decide our season. Beat Jacksonville and New Orleans at home back to back, and we should be 8-6 with 10 days to prepare for a home rematch with Green Bay. 8-6, division on the line, highly motivated from the prior loss, healed Orton (we pray)... and the home fans rocking in looking for a victory over our most hated rival.... on Monday Night.
Bears win big, go to 9-6, then trounce Houston to finish 10-6 and ride into the playoffs.

YA!! IM FIRED UP NOW! BEAR DOWN BABY!!!!

November 19, 2008

Wow from looking at what Animal wrote which is certainly possible, it really sunk in that we can only lose 1 more game to go 10-6. I knew the math but for some reason it wasn't hitting home how much of a must win each game of our season had quickly become. (Still think we can take the Queens too and maybe run the table but 1 game at a time Z, 1 game at a time. Shit 1 Quarter at a time. 1 Snap.)

And though WCPF is one of the good ones, we let him get 1st. Damn Pack better prepared again. Joking.

And Urlacher FTW or whoever you think might step up for us on D, quick correction. Bradley released. For nothing. As opposed to dealt. Our organization is not smart enough to actually get anything in return for him. Another brilliant move on their part.

I believe our biggest problems are psychological and scheme. Lets hope the players and coaches fix their parts of the problem before Sunday.

Bear Down, the season is pretty much on the line form here on out!!!

November 19, 2008

I just have to believe that they are still physically able to complete with these other NFL teams.

November 19, 2008

# 20 form = from

#21 complete = compete

And yes I am Wednesday hung over even a little still in the afternoon.

Or maybe they were Freudian slips. Like maybe we need to return to form and must complete a whole game. Or maybe the hung over thing.

November 19, 2008

I suggest people check out the Warren Sapp interview from this morning on 670, just to get the blood boiling.

http://www.670thescore.com/episode_download.php?contentType=36&contentId=3109141

November 19, 2008

Ok read this ---

“Other teams covered us,” coach Lovie Smith said. “It’s kind of as simple as that. We haven’t been able to get them the ball. If you look at our receiver play throughout, it’s been pretty good. You go through spells where you are not as productive as you would like. But in the big picture we have gotten a lot of production from our receivers.”

Rashied Davis, the Bears’ most productive wide receiver, is 60th in the NFL in receiving yards with 369 and 69th in receptions with 29. Devin Hester ranks 73rd (318 yards) and 85th (26 catches).

--- and then tell me, come the fuck on Lovie, who the fuck are you kidding? you have no grasp of how bad we really are. and then there's this ---

“You can say that we’re starting over again,” coach Lovie Smith said, “if you look at it that way, and that’s what we’re going to do. We have veterans in the locker room. We’ve been down before, and now it’s a critical stage. We’ll step up, get some things corrected and go from there.”

WHAT!?!? The only thing you can grab onto is "get some things corrected" -- what things? the entire fucking defense?

I'm up to my neck in Lovie's bullshit. I'm through with him. Not the right attitude at this point in the season, not by a long shot.

November 20, 2008

Thanks for the link JDawg. Now I'm officially hopeless. Great.

November 20, 2008

WCPF, for a packer fan, you show little bias (well a reasonable amount bias) and you give reasonable arguements, unlike that Packer fan talking smack a couple days ago.

If the Bears are going to win the division, they will have to sweep their remaining division schedule and beat the Rams, and Texans. Ill tell you what though, the games vs the Jags and Aints are very winnable, especially sice they are at home. so my prediction is that we finish 10-6 going 5-1 the rest of the way. Sorry WCPF but that will leave the cheese out.

heres my predictions for how the division will end:

Bears 10-6
Packers 9-7
Vikings 7-9

Guys, the season aint over yet, remember now, we are tied for the division lead with two divsional games left, now can we do it?

BEAR DOWN!!!!

November 20, 2008

Willie, I am happy to see a young man like yourself with the ability to recognize the difference between somebody who visits this blog for some healthy debate and somebody who is here to be a jerk. I like reading this blog to see what the Bears fans have to say, and how all of you see things. I also appreciate those of who see that I'm not posting here just to talk trash, but to give some thoughts from somebody from the other team.

Biased? Yes, of course, aren't we all? Time will tell, and I hope that by week 16, on December 22nd, the Packers and Bears are playing for the division title. At this point, I have no idea what will happen, but it is obvious what I want to have happen.

I will be watching the Bears this weekend, as is customary when the Pack plays at a different time. Have a great week all, tip back a couple of Old Styles and welcome the Thanksgiving holiday (except for you Willie...don't endanger your eligibility :) )

On another note, is there anybody else besides my wife and I that watch Planes, Trains and Automobiles on Thanksgiving eve? With a cooler of beer?

November 20, 2008

"I'll tell you what game would worry me if I were a Packers fan. Week 17. 0-15 Detroit Lions."

I am a Packer fan and I'm not worried about Detroit. Winning to avoid being 0-16 is a pretty good motivator, but you know what a stronger motivator is? Getting into the playoffs. GB will be fighting for a playoff spot come the end of December and there's not a chance in hell that McCarthy is going to let his team look past that game.

As long as I'm on the subject of the Lions, I don't think they'll be 0-15 by week 17. I have a strong feeling that they'll sneak up on Tennessee on Thanksgiving.

November 21, 2008

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