AZ54

It's hard to predict a Superbowl appearance much less a win but IMO Cutler taking us to the NFC championship game in his second season with us, especially with the talent level on our offense, means the trade was a success. When I get to work tomorrow I'll check in with the Broncos' fans to see how they feel about the deal and earning the #2 pick in the draft. I know there are other factors on their side but there are other factors on our side when you consider our Oline, young WR corps, etc. It hasn't been an easy path for Cutler but in Rd 2 of the NFC playoffs he put up 35 pts. That's pretty good. I'm sure even Tom Brady would admit how good it is, perhaps Peyton Manning too.

I have no clue who this guy is: Edward L. Flom once said “One of the hardest tasks of leadership is understanding that you are not what you are, but what you’re perceived to be by others.” But this quote is total BS. Every good leader I've known has gone out on their own to lead the way they felt things needed to get done. To sit back and worry what others think about you and let that opinion shape who you are, how you react to things, etc. will never let you be a leader. I don't want my quarterback worried about what the media thinks of him. I want him worried about doing what it takes to win games. Bill Belicik is a total prick to the media and pretty much everyone else but I think it's fair to say he's loved and respected by all the Patriots fans.

Peppers is amazing when you slow down the film and see all the ground he covers.

I still think we go after a DT in Rd 1 then address the interior of the Oline then CB. I'd like to get Haynesworth if the price is reasonable. You have a team with a short window on defense might as well go for broke. Use the draft to improve depth on the Oline, CB, and to add a big WR.

I haven't seen Cutler be a prick to the media as much as I've seen the media be a prick to Cutler. I know he's aloof in his answers but so what. The writer is upset because Cutler refuses endorsements in Chicago. Really? Cutler has stated many times he won't do endorsements because he doesn't feel his performance on the field warrants it. He wants to focus his time on getting better on the field. That's immature? IMO doing the opposite and cultivating a fan club via twitter as some athletes do is immature. I'm not saying Cutler is perfect but I don't see him saying he's perfect either.

In your situation we are fighting to make the playoffs in the last week against GB and they are not. So they pulled out all the stops and threw everything at us while we sat back and said maybe we'll play hard but we're not showing everything in case we meet again. We don't know what happens in that scenario.

I think he needs to do this for a few more seasons and he's a lock for the HofF. As it is today he will likely get in but it won't be first ballot.

I felt we could win 9 games with 10 being the absolute high win total for this team. Looking back at the season we could have easily won 12 games. Given our schedule and all the ups and downs (mostly downs) with the Oline I'm impressed where we are and we had a tough schedule. As it stands now the season is a success for me. Like everyone else, now that we are here in the playoffs and knowing what kind of a team we are I fully expect us to be in the NFC championship game.

I have a question that I've been thinking about for a few weeks. Is Chester Taylor tipping off plays? Clearly his performance hasn't been good in the second half of the season and when you compare his numbers to Forte's they are headed in opposite directions. I definitely think Taylor himself is not running well as he doesn't seem to be hitting the hole very decisively. However, he also seems to face more tacklers in the backfield than Forte does. Seeing that everyone else out there is the same why are defenses seemingly so good at keying on Taylor's runs? Is it just his hesitation, Martz' play calling, or is his alignment pre-snap giving defenders a clue where the play is headed?

That would actually be a good move on our part. I know last year I didn't want to focus on WR given all the other needs we had. This offseason it's a little different for me because I think we need to add a big WR to compliment Knox, Hester, and Bennett. Rice shouldn't command a huge payday seeing that he's only had one good season in 2009 with Favre and he'll have to answer questions about his injury/surgery. Besides, this team is ready to compete in the playoffs and adding a rookie WR likely won't help that much so focus the early draft pick on a spot that can help...OG, DT, CB. We need someone at WR who can contribute now.

Nobody does it better: http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=7442 "In the eight games since their bye week, the Bears are the only NFL team to call more runs (238) than passes (231). It’s probably no coincidence that they’ve won seven of those eight contests, clinching both a division title and a first-round playoff bye in the process."

I agree with upgrading the Oline but from what I saw most of the interior guys grade out in Rd 2 or lower. There are a few OTs who will go before we pick just because of supply and demand at those key positions. I think we can survive with our current OTs and both continue to get better. Cutler is adept enough at avoiding the occasional end rush that gets by them but he can't have pressure in his face to do that so I'm more concerned about beefing up inside especially with Kreutz and Garza aging and Williams not a great fit at OG. OTOH it's that lack of pressure up the middle that kills our defense.

I don't know about Hall of Fame voting but the fact is any normal person would get fired for that harassment. Watch the civil suit and settlement, it's going to be much higher than $50k. Favre will setttle just to keep it all out of court. The only defense he has is that she can't prove she didn't ask for the photos. Anyone else notice they haven't shown Favre's wife on TV all season? Used to be automatic on game day.

Stephen Paea. If this kid is there when we pick I wouldn't be surprised if gets the phone call from Lovie.

I think we play starters in first half then in the third quarter it's time to rest key personnel.

1) We just need to make plays 2) They need to make plays 3) Somebody has to make a play 4) All we want to do is come out and make plays 5) That's what this league is all about...making plays I often want to scream out "PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!"

That's exactly what the Bears D is designed to do. No big plays, pressure up front so quick decisions have to be made, then capitalize on the mistake.

No probably about that, we'd have beaten Washington and Seattle.

Never more evident especially after the Eagles explosive offense put up 14 against the Vikings. We put up how many against the Vikings? Things change as you go through a season. Young players improve, new offenses come together, etc. These guys want to be "experts" but you can't go on evaluating a team based on what you saw in the first four weeks of the season. They probably still think San Diego is going to win their division.

Nope, our offense, especially that horrendous Oline and gambling QB aren't good enough to take advantage of the holes the Jets D exposes. Martz and the entire offense studied and were prepared for their games. Big upgrade from when we couldn't handle a four man rush against the Giants.

Smart moves. Locking up Toeaina means goodbye to Tommie Harris. That's hard to believe but it's just the Bears keeping some base players in the Dline rotation. I've been adamant we need to draft Oline first this spring but more and more I'm thinking our first pick will be DT if a good 3-technique falls to us. However, my preference is to go get Haynesworth. He'd work great in our system and I think he'd be just fine working alongside Peppers and Urlacher. There is no way Washington goes through that circus act again. It's a gamble but the reward is that he could immediately put us at the top of the league in defense. If he fails you have what you have today with Melton, Toeaina, Adams, Harrison. The question is what pick would we have to give up. I can't see Haynesworth garnering a first day pick anymore.

Who here thought we'd only be averaging 26 pass attempts per game with Martz calling the plays?

When Brady throws away from Revis he's smart. He's really smart when his third WR gets over 100 yards in a game because he is taking what the defense gave him. There are few in the media who's opinion I value. Most of these guys are just looking at a stat sheet and writing something to beat their deadline. Most live on the east coast, or west coast. What matters is that our offense has put up over 30 pts in back-to-back games against two good defenses. The D is struggling right now but if I had to choose which side of the ball corrects itself for the playoffs I'd take the defense to get back on track. Til then, I'm happy with the progress the offense has made. We never saw 30+ pts in the first half of the season so clearly something has changed, and we had an easier schedule then too. No matter how you slice it you have to be a good team to win 11 games in this league.

I've been saying that slowly but surely we're seeing the Oline transition to solid play. This week again shows a continuation of the trend. I know it's not all perfect but running and passing two weeks in a row against solid defenses is an excellent result. Not only that but what did you hear from Jared Allen last week? What about handling all the Jets blitzes? Two different styles to game plan for and both handled with good results. On one of those long TD passes the Jets rushed 6 and still nobody got close to Cutler! One other thing to note: Our receivers are maturing in their route running. This is the first game I've seen Cutler effectively throw back shoulder passes (deep ones at that) and the WR adjusted to the ball. Hester also made a great adjustment and came back on the ball on a deep pass near the goal line but couldn't hang on. Knox also made a great move to slow down and hold up the DB (I think it was Cromartie) just enough before he pulled forward and reached out for the TD. Mike Martz: Somewhere in the second quarter he decided we weren't going to be effective keeping everything inside so he spread the field with 5 wides and it totally changed things. Pulling Forte out on routes instead of keeping him on pass protection worked perfectly. Defense: Did they watch any film of the Jets at all? Can't recall ever seeing them so clueless about what was coming their way. Tommie Harris is done. I know he burst up the middle on one play but all he does at the snap is stand up and shuffle around aimlessly. The best thing he can do is give Toeaina and Melton, Harrison and/or Adams some rest. Clearly the Bears are already thinking about the playoffs. Wootton is getting a lot more snaps while Peppers gets less. They clearly want Peppers well rested for the playoffs and hopefully Wootton to improve so he can be more effective. Saw the same concept with Pisa as they worked him back with a few reps. Can't understand the cover 2 letting guys have free reign right off the line, all game long. It's one thing if your LBs are covering those quick slants but when they are up in the gaps on the Dline it's nothing but a huge hole and easy throw for any QB.

Having one of the best QBs of all time helps the Pats a ton and covers up a lot of other issues like the often poor defense this season. That front office was so smart they let Brady fall all the way to the 199th pick before selecting him. I'm not saying they are bad because they do a great job year after year of garnering several high picks and within those picks they succeed with the law of averages. That they are able to generate those extra picks year after year is pretty amazing. However, Brady changes everything. The Colts have been almost as successful with Manning too so clearly there's a significant amount of success centered around the QB position.