AZ54

I'm coming to Chicago for this game. Got good tickets and now have tailgating setup. I won't mind at all if two of their players are suspended for cheating.

It isn't just you...I've seen him miss some big holes too. He spent plenty of time conditioning and tweeting this past offseason but he didn't spend a lot of time in the playbook or practicing. I'd think by now he'd have it all figured out now but then you have to add in an Oline that's inconsistent in their blocking. For the most part I think it's his tendency to navigate his way through the line rather than accelerating through the hole but he's not been a very good navigator this season. All of this we knew about and it is the #1 reason he is not our primary short yardage back. Maybe he found it all easier when the job description was to simply follow the FB into the hole. If Clutts went the right way Forte went the right way.

After watching him run off the field with a slight limp I don't think Carimi has ever been 100% this season and the wear and tear have only made him regress since game 4. In camp he routinely had to take plays off to rest his leg and that lasted well into the preseason games. Bench him, let him watch and learn while he gets some rest for his right knee. He'll need a full offseason of workouts (he missed much of them last offseason) to get into shape again then we'll see how he performs. I don't think Emery is going to wait on Carimi to fix the Oline. He was very aggressive in what he did last offseason with largely positive results and with a full year of his system in the scouting department for both pro and college players I expect a solid plan (he loves plans). In other words I expect real competition for both OT jobs in camp next year.

Not a chance at all. Kaepernick had all day to throw, easily having 4 sec per pass attempt, so nobody knows how he performs under pressure.

Reported as arthroscopic but no details on severity yet. Is he headed for IR? Offense is headed from bad to worse. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0,3093433.story

This is all very true and it does work the other way....west coast do not fare well in the early games on the east coast. While I can understand all this it doesn't explain a team that was seemingly unprepared for the offensive plays the 49ers ran. Nor did our offense look prepared to take advantage of the 49ers weaknesses on D. I've seen the 49ers play a bit here and there throughout the season. We made them look more dominant than any other time I've seen them this year.

Can't argue this, the Bears as a whole looked totally unprepared for the 49ers on both sides of the ball.

"Can he run check-down routes?" J.C.

We need Oline help but separate from that how does a weak-arm QB improve our team? Now granted, the guy is big and he can run and considering you don't want to improve our Oline that would be a good thing to have in a QB. Leaving Oline out of the discussion (Jason will never do this) we need to pass on him we have far greater needs especially at LB and CB.

Hello Rodriguez?

Rodriguez has more toughness than Adams IMO and is just a better football player. Adams has had enough chances to show he belongs out there. I think it's time to move in a different direction. If nothing else let Rodriguez get out for some pass routes to mix things up a bit and give a different look from that personnel group.

No, overall he hasn't hurt the offense he has helped it tremendously. In a micro view yes he's hurt some of the other WRs touches but are they really doing what they should be doing: Getting open and catching passes? I have no faith in Hester as WR period. Bennett is a good slot WR but is too slow and small to be a #2 I believe he'll look better with Jeffrey back on the field. Where I think Marshall's has hurt is Tice's lack of calling running plays.

You (or I) might not remember it but there's a reason Peyton Manning needed neck surgery and missed an entire season. Yes, I agree he gets rid of the ball quickly when in trouble and doesn't hold on to it as long as Cutler will. Cutler also doesn't throw the ball away enough....part of that wimpy aspect people like MJD ascribe to him. Eli has taken lots of hits and his Oline has not been that great the last couple seasons. Brady usually avoids the big hits too. Rothlisberger plays like Jay in that he often holds the ball too long, less than stellar Oline in pass protection, and takes lots of hits. A big part of the hits is Oline but a significant part of this is how Cutler plays the game. That last reason means the Bears need to be even more careful with him especially against a physical D like the 49ers. I don't expect Cutler to play this week.

Just saw a headline that they are considering putting Rodriguez at TE. (I don't read it because they want to charge me for that and it's not worth it.)

That's good and they need to keep him around through the end of the season.

MNF with two backup QBs?

...all that against the vaunted Bears Oline? I'll say this: We desperately need Alshon Jeffrey back in the lineup so Hester can relax on the bench. Any WR who doesn't know we simply need 1 yard after his catch in the flat should enjoy more bench time. I said it a week ago....who has Hester ran away from lately? I don't know why people kick away from him. At this point I prefer to see more Weems or even Sanzenbacher at WR. Weems can run away from people, Sanzenbacher can't run but he can catch better than Hester. Getting one or the other out there is a win over Hester at this point IMO.

Does Jason Campbell know what our offense's plays are? Every play he looks lost with no anticipation whatsoever for where receivers will be except his favorite....the checkdown.

Yes, and our rookie WR is diligently taking notes on how he does it.

I think Cutler cares but at this point he appears much more comfortable being who he is and so these media reports affect him less each year.

Definitely don't expect to see a rookie WR playing after just one day of half a practice. Isn't Friday mostly just a walk-through of the game plan? I'm very glad we will have him back on the field for the 49ers because their physical CBs will shutdown Bennett and Hester. Jeffrey will give them some concern opposite of Marshall. While Jeffrey is getting back into the game physically I expect mentally he'll be much farther along than he was when he was injured.

I think Rodriguez is a good blocker, he's just not an inline blocker like Spaeth. I agree with the proposed "better solution". We knew going into the offseason that fixing the offense would be a 2 yr project. I would have preferred to fix at least one piece on the Oline and then fixed the h-back position next year. I'd have survived just fine with Clutts blocking for Forte for another season.

For all the chatter about who we've played just who has Houston played? Miami (won 30-10) Jacksonville (won 27-7) Denver (won 31-25) Tennessee (won 38-14) NY Jets (won 23-17) Green Bay (lost 42-24) Baltimore (won 43-13) Buffalo (won 21-9)

Good point. As Bears fans we haven't seen a true #1 WR in a long time. While I'd love to see more balance in the passing attach I'm sure our opponents would also like us to go to Hester or Bennett more often. The one guy I'm still waiting to see catching passes is Rodriguez but protecting the QB comes first.

Not a defining game rather a defining two game stretch. The next two games define for everyone where the Bears belong in the playoff discussion.