AZ54

Baltimore's defense was horrible. How many times can a team forget to cover WRs? Pass rush? Coming off a Superbowl win players often don't work as hard to come back for another ring and in this case losing some key leaders and other good role players.

First and foremost I am very happy to finally even have a discussion about a rookie LB starting. Granted we've had Url and Briggs but our 3rd spot has been nothing but a stop gap player since Hillenmeyer departed and the front office had multiple opportunities to fix the gap but didn't. Given the two TEs we'll be facing in this game I prefer to have Williams' experience on the field. Bostic often looked lost on passing plays and he needs some time to learn. With DJ coming off injury and still not in game shape I could see them putting Bostic out there for some first and second downs throughout the game but prefer Williams experience on the field on 3rd downs. Of course there is always hope that we have such a big lead that in the 4th quarter Bostic can take over completely and thus get some valuable game experience.

2nd pay cut in a couple weeks although you could count Webb (or should I say player W) as having taken two pay cuts.

Always nice to hear from the veterans on the board.

Impossible to know but the small amount of cap space created by this is odd. If, as many of us believe, Peppers is going to get cut next year and perhaps then they try to renegotiate a new deal why not pursue more space now to make some other signings? I'm sure LT2 could spell out if that might lead to more dead space on our cap next year and if so how much.

I suspect we no longer have knuckleheads like Tice, Martz, or Turner calling plays and that we will 1) know that they have a solid Dline but less talented LB corps and 2) Work away from their strength and make their D work to the sidelines on very quick plays that stress their LBs to get out there and catch Forte. Doing this will also stress their CBs and force them to keep their eyes in the backfield at the snap looking for either a handoff or the short swing route from the backfield. This (CBs worried about run support) gives an advantage to our WRs. Speaking of WRs, and TE Bennett, these guys can block very well on the perimeter. 3) Doing the above means we will get behind their secondary on some double moves so I expect we will hit a few big plays off play action. On D I don't think we can contain A.J. Green and Eifert downfield and Dalton can be very accurate if given time so let's just get after the QB and not give them time to work downfield.

Yes but the question is why? Someone is going to get a longer term deal soon (not a big one) and then they'll be doing something again with Peppers because I now we've put his cap numbers even higher going into next season.

We used a 3-TE set at least once in a preseason game. Adding Adams while the new guy gets up to speed keeps that in the playbook. So why not do that from the start? Scott couldn't be cut while he was injured or we'd end up in an injury settlement, or we guarantee his salary (I'm sure LT2 knows the details here). If we do an injury settlement Scott could not be on our roster again for some time not sure how long. James Brown was drafted as an OT. Has he practiced some at LT and the Bears are comfortable with that? I doubt that. Or has Mills practiced some at LT and the Bears are good with him sliding over? During the preseason Britton looked too slow to be any good on the left side but could be effective enough at RT. At cut-down time it seemed Scott was being looked at mostly for backup LT so something changed. Or is it as simple as they knew the Vikings were looking for backup OT help and preferred them to sign Webb. Of course they could change direction now and go after Scott but that's less likely since they haven't seen him all preseason. It will be interesting to see if the teams changes course again on this and re-signs Scott once the new TE is up to speed.

My bad ....beer and typing don't always yield good results. It was December but it was almost 70 degrees and we had to leave jackets in the car before heading into the game. Felt more like October so I still can't accept that I was at Soldier Field in December with no jacket, gloves, or hat. That did make it easier to handle the shot glasses at the tailgate party.

I agree, I really don't care much for these rankings. I know the media has to do it but they have no clue. If they did they'd all be drafting Pro Bowlers year after year. I could live with a group of top teams and in that sense I believe we belong in the middle of the pack until we prove otherwise. I could see the Patriots top 10 simply because of Brady and the weak schedule will make them look better than they are but not top 5. They may be the only team that effectively starts out 4-0 because of their division. And you won't find their rose-colored glasses on this Bears board when it comes to discussing Oline issues: http://www.nepatriotsdraft.com/2013/08/rea...son-week-3.html

I vote yes but only UNTIL he gives up a sack to one of our players.

Unga on the practice squad only makes sense from the point of view that he is the immediate backup to Fiammetta, but yes he does seem to have 9 lives. I'm not saying he showed that much in the preseason either but the fact remains he knows our offense better than someone we could bring in off the street mid-season.

A bit more athletic than Adams and not much else. I think TE will be one of our first two draft picks next year. Trestman seems intent on using two TE sets. Bennett will be more of our blocker as he is a bit inconsistent in pass catching and we will add a more dynamic player who can stretch the field both vertically and sideline to sideline. http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dspro...7&genpos=TE

He's also cut two of his draft picks after just one season. One did not live up to his personal behavior expectations and the other couldn't play without getting hurt and he admitted his mistakes and moved on. For sure Hardin was an easy choice although I think that really was a Lovie pick.

Welcome back! I do think you'll have to go with 998 out of 1000 since the Vikings just hired him.

Is the open spot being held for Terrence Toliver or has he signed elsewhere?

This is what is known as a win-win situation. We win by having better blocking for Cutler and we win if Webb is attempting to block our DEs twice a year.

We can say this much about Emery: He has moved quickly to fix our offense and that includes hiring a HC with an offensive background. I'm looking forward to seeing the results. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/be...ars-roster.html Instead, the roster is laden with players acquired by Emery — including 19 of the 24 players on offense. Only quarterback Jay Cutler, running back Matt Forte, center Roberto Garza, wide receiver Earl Bennett and tight end Kyle Adams remain from the Angelo era on offense.

Last three cuts: Terrence Toliver J.T. Thomas Corey Irvin

The only good idea I have for you is to invite me to your tailgate party the next time I make it to Chicago for a game. I don't know how to cook but I do know how to drink and I promise to bring a bottle of Crown Royal Reserve which is what we toasted with prior to heading to the stadium last October (Seattle game).

That's good...

Simple, Jesus loves football.

Thanks, I don't even remember his name at all for the practice squad. I'm losing it in my old age. One way or another the Bears are trying to protect him, either for the practice squad by releasing him as late as possible or for the final roster. Maybe it's more of a way to give him confidence to sign with us for the practice squad. If he knows he's really close to making our final roster and he knows Earl Bennett could be near the end of his time so perhaps he might get a shot sometime this season, or be in line for a spot next year.

You didn't go off topic. I was hoping to generate some discussion about what people are seeing on our team or among our competition. If we were to go with what we truly know we'd only be talking about what is in the history books but that isn't much fun when the regular season starts in less than a week.

One of these is not like the others: 19 Anderson, Joe WR 6-1 196 24 1 Texas Southern 80 Bennett, Earl WR 6-0 206 26 6 Vanderbilt 17 Jeffery, Alshon WR 6-3 216 23 2 South Carolina 15 Marshall, Brandon WR 6-4 230 29 8 Central Florida 81 Toliver, Terrence WR 6-5 204 25 1 LSU 14 Weems, Eric WR 5-9 195 28 7 Bethune-Cookman 10 Wilson, Marquess WR 6'3 194 20 R Washington State I also have to ask who is Terrence Toliver? Of course I've already dug up some info on him but for him to be sitting on the roster at this point is a surprise to me. I can't even recall seeing him in a preseason game so now I have to go back and watch for him. IMO this is another indication that Earl Bennett's time with the team is done or nearly done as he might squeak onto the final roster. Knowing what Emery has done with other players regarding pay cuts it is hard to believe he hasn't approached Bennett with the same request.