This is going to be an interesting campaign; an exciting one I think.  I think this Bears team is pretty darn good and I think they’re going to be the most exciting offensive unit we’ve seen at Soldier Field in twenty-plus years.  (I’ll be making my full list of season prognostications this time next week.)  But I think being a Bears fan in itself will be an interesting endeavor.  Here are my four keys to surviving the experience:

HAVE PATIENCE WITH THE TACKLES

The second J’Marcus Webb or Gabe Carimi have a difficult afternoon, it’ll be met with a chorus of overreacting columns/blogs from David Haugh and Steve Rosenbloom.  Don’t give it to their panic button mentality.  The Bears may, may I repeat, have found their bookend tackles for the next decade.  But it is rare for NFL teams, especially ones on the cusp of the Super Bowl, to be in the position of starting fresh faces at both positions.  Even for the Hall of Famer, the NFL brings a learning curve.  Bears fans must allow these two guys the time they need.  The result may be years of stability.

KNOW THEIR WEAKNESSES

I don’t look across the starting roster of the Chicago Bears and see glaring weaknesses.  It is when you go beyond the starting roster things get dicey.  Brian Iwuh does not inspire confidence as the first linebacker off the bench, especially if he’s put in the position of replacing all-time Bears like Briggs and Urlacher.  If Major Wright or Chris Harris miss an extended period, the Bears will be playing a sub-professional at safety.  (Unless you’ve seen something from Conte I haven’t.)

EARLY SCHEDULE IS TOUGHEST ROAD

Home Falcons.  At Saints.  Home Packers.  I know NFL schedules are impossible to predict as one injury can change the complexion of an entire team.  (If Chase Daniel is starting for the Saints in Week 2, for example, it obviously becomes a must-win for the Bears.)  But on initial glance the first three games of the Bears season look to obviously be the hardest stretch.  Understanding that 0-3 does not spell doom for the 2011 season and 3-0 does not mean a guaranteed Super Bowl will be of the utmost importance for a fan base that likes to let their extreme emotions get the best of them.  Survive it.  Win a game or two.  And move on.

AND ABOUT THE QUARTERBACK…

He’s good.  He’s very good.  And to this point he has not opened his mouth and said a word about the lack of a true number one receiver being available to him.  Not a word.  He has never blamed his offensive line for almost landing him in the morgue in 2010.  Not once.  He has never said, “It was easier to play quarterback inDenverwhen I had a running game.”  Not ever.  I don’t excuse his interception sprees or failures to throw the ball away and avoid unnecessary contact.  But I know that if you look through the history of Super Bowl champion quarterbacks, it’ll be tough to find one who has achieved that goal with a mediocre head coach AND mediocre receiving corps AND mediocre offensive line.  Cut the guy some damn slack.         

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I’ll have a full recap of the third preseason game for Monday morning.  In the meantime, go vote DaBearsBlog as Chicago’s most value sports blog: CLICK HERE.

You walk into a diner.  Order your cocktail and open up the menu.  Under Specials you see bacon-wrapped scallops.  You love bacon-wrapped scallops.  You had bacon-wrapped scallops on Martha’s Vineyard a few years earlier and it was the finest meal you’ve ever had.  And those bacon-wrapped scallops were expensive.  These are only a few bucks.  You have to order them.  Maybe they’ll be as good as those scallops you had on the Vineyard!  You know it’s a diner, and a diner is not known for its seafood, but at that price what’s the harm?

That should have been Roy Williams.  At worst, he’d put you on the toilet for forty-five minutes but your wallet wouldn’t mind.

The difference?  Your buddy Mike Martz, also ordering the scallops, told you he’s had them before at this diner and they’re going to be the best meal of your life.  He also told that to the table beside you, where Brad Biggs and Jeff Hughes are questioning your choosing nostalgic seafood when there was reliable Rice available.

One thing became abundantly clear watching the Chicago Bears third preseason game: they have no #1 receiver.  They are a WR collective and the quarterback does not mind.  (The quarterback, by the way, looks primed for a pretty spectacular year.)  Earl Bennett will make the big catch.  Johnny Knox will make the big play.  Devin Hester and Williams and perhaps Sanzenbacher or Hurd or the tight ends will find the ball in their hands in key situations.  The screen game will be the offense’s backbone.

Is that preferable?  No.  My belief is that you always want a player on the outside opposing defensive coordinator’s need to game plan against.  Someone to draw the opposition’s best corner for sixty minutes.  Someone who forces a safety away from the box.  The elite wide receiver, prima donna or not, can make an ordinary offense seem spectacular at times.

Is it sustainable?  Absolutely.  If Duke of Earl and Jackass and Skunk take logical strides during their second year in a complicated offense, the Bears passing game will be improved significantly.  They are more than capable, professional wide receivers.  And all it might really take it the five guys up front giving the quarterback enough time to allow them to finish their routes.

So that you all know, little old New York City is preparing to get slapped in the face by a hurricane.  So it’s doubtful that I’ll be able to get any kind of content up on the site Sunday/Monday.  But we shall see.  If you are a reader of this site and you’re in a dangerous area, be prudent and get yourself somewhere safe.  There’s nothing courageous about putting yourself or a first-responder in a life threatening situation.

For the rest, enjoy the game tonight.  The season is a mere two weeks away.

For the Bears, stay healthy.

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For some of us, this offseason/preseason was always about the offensive line.  And since I’m quick denigrate the work of David Haugh when I disagree with him (only 97-98% of the time), he’s right when he points out that things offense flow from that unit.  If the line shows a push, the Bears will run it effectively.  If they block the perimeter Cutler and the receivers will make plays all over the field.  It is all about the offensive for the 2011 Chicago Bears.  And so it’s all about the offensive line Saturday night in Tennessee – most likely their last lengthy opportunity to prepare together, against competition, for the Atlanta Falcons.

By the way, if the Bears go up and down the field and score 8 touchdowns…I won’t care.  Great preseasons are just as silly as poor preseasons.  Just stay healthy.

What else bears watching on Saturday night?

• The Bears carried 5 WRs in 2010.  If we assume Roy Williams, Johnny Knox, Devin Hester, Earl Bennett and Sam Hurd make the team, is there a spot for new flavor of the preseason Dane Sanzenbacher.  It’ll be interesting to note how he’s deployed Saturday night.  (Note: the Bears kept 4 TEs last year.  This year we can assume that won’t be the case.)
• Roy Williams needs a couple productive plays.
• So does Johnny Knox.
• Stay healthy.
• Will Purdue TE Kyle Adams keep Eddie Williams off the roster as a TE/FB hybrid?
• Who will be the safeties behind Major Wright and Chris Harris?
• Does anyone step up as an edge rusher and allow the Bears to keep Henry Melton in the middle?
• Health.  Key.
• With Lance Briggs out the remainder of the preseason, does Brian Iwuh take a stride in the right direction?
• Marion Barber’s ability to catch the screen in the flat and take off against the Giants made me think Chester Taylor was not long for the roster.  Will I be proven wrong Saturday night?
• Don’t get injured.
• I am watching Corey Graham.  Graham has looked dreadful this preseason and we’re only one or two injuries away from the guy being out there regularly.  He has regressed significantly since a year ago.

But overall, just stay healthy.

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By no means am I putting more stock in the offensive line’s performance against the New York Giants than a preseason game warrants but I have to admit my confidence level in the group rose precipitously.  And as for the poor showings of the third-down defense and special teams the other night, I just don’t care.  Neither, and I say this without even a degree of doubt, neither will carry over into the real games.  (I would be writing a long-winded diatribe against the annual August overreactions of Haugh & Friends but who has time anymore?)

My concern for the Bears after a pair of preseason games is on the outside.  The receiver position.  The boys who catch the ball. It’s not an “oh no we’ll never win with this group” concern or a “who is out there on the free agent market” concern but it is a concern nevertheless.  Who are the Bears receivers right now?  What are their roles?  After reading daily Tweets from every beat writer in Bourbonnais and watching every snap of the first two preseason games, here is what I know:

• The Bears best passing game option is dumping the ball off to the back.  This includes Marion Barber, a player I’ve never associated with catching the ball but has nevertheless been impressive.
• Roy Williams has yet to make any plays running a vertical route.
• Devin Hester has yet to make any plays not running a vertical route.
• Earl Bennett still shows up every once in a while and makes a great catch.
• Johnny Knox, clearly the Bears best receiver a year ago, has been somehow relegated to playing the fourth quarter of preseason games and is losing early-game time to half-his-potential rookies.

Are these really the collection of players, in current form, that can execute the Mike Martz offense?  There’s some speed and potential out there but not a single player on this roster has the presence, hands or discipline of a Torry Holt or Isaac Bruce.  I’m not saying you need All-Pros outside to be successful but in this shortened offseason that has led to first-string QBs around the league lacking for timing with most of their receiving corps, I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t be helpful for the Bears to have some order to things at the position.  And I can’t imagine that order would not involve Knox.

Knox is the story for me currently.  The speedster from Abilene Christian amassed nearly 1,000 yards last year and did it on only 51 catches (18.8 per).  And yet there he was lined up at wideout in the fourth quarter of a meaningless scrimmage at the MetLife Meadowlands – Snoopy in the Swamp.  It doesn’t make sense.

But then again, we’ve seen it before.  Mark Bradley.  Devin Aromashodu.  This leadership allows you only to be so successful at wideout before they cut your legs out from underneath you and banish you to the practice squad.  I don’t know why.  Nobody does.  But if Johnny Knox’s attitude is the reason he’s been relegated to the B-side of the receiver album, I say screw his attitude and just throw him the damn ball.  He’s proven it when it matters.  He’s proven it on Sunday.  And when you’re thin at receiver, the solution is not benching your best player at the position on moral grounds.

Okay, so, here’s the thing.  Don’t lose real players in the preseason.  It’s stupid.  Play your team for minimal minutes and get them into the locker room safe.  For those of you crazy enough to think this result tonight means anything, ask yourself this: would the Giants rather have won a lopsided victory or kept Terrell Thomas for 2011?

Here are my overall thoughts:

• I was impressed with the edge offensive line and I’m starting to think Gabe Carimi might be the best first-round draft pick of Jerry Angelo’s career.  He went one-on-one with Justin Tuck all night and didn’t lose.  Once.
• Tim Jennings.  I’m buying in.
• Roy Williams, here’s the thing.  You have to catch the ball.  I’ve read all the pieces about your conditioning but you have to make catches when the ball’s in your hands.  And if you plan on being a “#1” type receiver, even when it’s not in your hands.  Looked to me, tonight, like our #1 receiver might be Devin Hester.
• But if that’s the case, he should never be catching the comeback route on the goal line.  I mean, he’s still Devin Hester.
• The screen game.  Going to be amazing this year.
• Either Chester Taylor is not be given a chance to make the team or he’s so safe he doesn’t have to make the team.
• Because Marion Barber is making the team.
• Has Johnny Knox really fallen so far as to be playing in the fourth quarter?  What did I miss?
• Vernon Gholston.  You’re not getting plowed over in third quarter of preseason games and making the Bears defensive line.
• “Major Wright made a major mistake” – my buddy Brian Bonselaar on the Brandon Jacobs TD run.
• You know what the Chicago Bears are without Lance Briggs?  Not the Chicago Bears.
• Cutler can do every single thing a great quarterback does.  He just needs a few seconds to do it.
• Nice to see Nathan Enderle take the night off.
• Was it me or did Julius Peppers seem to beat his man on every snap?

You?

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Here is what I’m looking at tonight:

• The play of the edge offensive tackle (Webb, Carimi) against Tuck and Pierre-Paul.
• Is Roy Williams in shape?  Is any rapport developing between he and Cutler?
• Will Chester Taylor earn his way onto this roster?
• Will Vernon Gholston make a play for the roster spot vacated by injured Corey Wootton?
• Is Kris Adams, an offensive standout against Buffalo, a legitimate threat to make this club at wide receiver?
• Will Adam Podlesh show some big leg in the punt game?

What are you looking at?

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HOW TO GET THE BALL TO ROY WILLIAMS

Matt Bowen does a brilliant job breaking down the Mike Martz “deep dig” – a play designed to get the ball to Roy Williams in the current offense.  (Image of the play above.)  Click the link and read the story.  It is one of those great insider article we rarely find in the paper anymore.

TAYLOR MAYS ON BEARS RADAR

PFT reports the Bears made an offer to the 49ers to acquire Taylor Mays – a big time talent at safety.  I contend the Bears do not have a third safety on this roster.  Acquiring Mays would solve this in a dramatic fashion.

I don’t know why I care about this thing.  I literally don’t even know what the prize is but I’m starting to enjoy the hell out of it.  DaBearsBlog is a finalist for the CBS Most Valuable Blogger Award.  You can vote once a day from now until September 9th.  Do it!  Let’s overload the monkey!

Here’s the link: VOTE HERE

Note: this is written without editing and with pure rage.

First, the decision.  The NFL in its infinite wisdom, and with the support of the NFLPA, has granted eligibility to former Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor for the supplemental draft.  The NFL has granted this eligibility with a catch: Pryor will serve the NCAA’s five-game suspension in the NFL, making him eligible for action Week 6.

Joke.  No other word for it.  Absolute joke.

How can the NFLPA claim to be a legitimate organization, let alone a legitimate union, when they’d allow for such a ruling to stand?  How can they set a precedent as potentially damaging as this for such a third-rate talent?  Does every NCAA ruling now carry over?  What about school-instituted suspensions?  Do they carry over?  How long till the courts get involved in this?  What if a player is kicked out of college or banned for life by the NCAA?  Does that restrict them from ever earning a living playing the game?  And wasn’t Pryor freed up to play the bowl game for Ohio State even though this ruling had been made?  Will that happen in the future if the suspensions carry over?

Can you imagine a scenario wherein Bud Selig would call Donald Fehr and suggest a Texas A&M star serve his suspension for the Trenton Thunder?  No, you can’t.  Because Selig would never be stupid enough to make that call!

And don’t get me started on the damn league itself.  At one time, about a year ago, Roger Goodell carried the image of a tough-as-nails, no nonsense commissioner.  He was ready to suspend your mother for six games if she blew a .08.  Then he lost control of everything, got booed out of the building at Radio City and watched his pet project, the 18-game schedule, never make it onto the negotiation docket.  Goodell is the perfect commissioner to administer this new ruling for he is a joke commissioner.  He has the power of the Queen of England and the intelligence of her tapestries.  Why in hell should the NFL become responsible from fixing the NCAA’s bullshit?

And what about Pete Goddamn Carroll?  How can this league look itself in the mirror as one of the most corrupt college coaches of the modern era collects $5M a year in Seattle as they thump their chest to remove five game checks from a 2011 third-string QB like Pryor?  Is the NFL truly this hypocritical?  Answer: unequivocally yes.

The NFL, as a league and American institution, needs to seriously consider a minor league system.  I don’t know how it would work and I don’t care.  But if the NFL is going to start aligning itself with the NCAA, it won’t be long till the close the big tent and put the elephants to sleep.