AZ54

Watching the Dline drills in this video it's clearly different and more intense. He really makes these guys run and change direction in these drills, even Anthony Adams is moving well. Best line "a little more violence". Yeah we need that in our pass rush. Best move: Mark Anderson with a very quick spin move. http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/mul...clip=Y&rn=6

Thayer listed the things he'll be watching for during training camp. One thing caught my eye, a very welcome sight indeed is that our Dline is learning to use counter moves on their pass rush. We've all been asking for this for years and perhaps it has finally arrived. If true, just the fact that we mix up the pass rush angles and moves will make our Dline more effective. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/2009/07/1_...tom_thayer.html There will be a good deal of focus on the secondary and rightfully so. Cornerback Charles Tillman will be an onlooker in camp while he recovers from back surgery. Danieal Manning was just switched back to free safety. These are legitimate storylines, but the key to the defense (and the secondary) improving is the pass rush. I asked Thayer if, in the absence of a real live pass rush, can he get a feel for how the defensive linemen are doing in camp? "Yeah. You can,'' he said. "There is a whole different tempo to their hand fighting. Not only the initial burst off the line of scrimmage and the position and how you're going to fight your hands through, but there is an equal counter move that comes right back and I watch these guys. They are just repititiously going through the exact same thing. The one thing about offensive and defensive line play, if you're not positively reinforced on your fundamentals on an every practice basis, you're going to really slip at these. What [Rod] Marinelli is doing is giving these guys the ability to move to counter move. That's where these guys' athleticism will come into play, I think. You're not just going to come to a stalemate, there is going to be a counter move from the defensive linemen to help them advance upfield.'' --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday I listened to Lovie's press conference: http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/mul...lip=Y&rn=17 and when he was talking about the WRs (5min mark) he suddenly stopped and said "he's excited to see what Greg Olsen can do in his new role, and his role is changing." Lovie usually doesn't say anything beyond his usual cliches so for him to go out of his way to mention Olsen like this means there is something to it. What is his new role? Anyone heard about this? Anyone seeing anything at camp? From the Trib video all I've seen so far was that he lined up wide, outside the WR, on one play. Not sure if that means much as he lined up some at WR last year. He played a fair amount of H-back last year too. If he does take on more of a WR role this year this clearly opens the door to keep 4 TEs. Does it mean we might keep 5 WR?

CUT

Just curious how do you know it wasn't monitored or noticed? Are we expecting the coaches to go public with every discipline problem? It seems clear he had a target weight and he admitted as much therefore someone was talking to him. There weren't any positive comments about Harrison, or at least very few and IIRC there were some questions about his work ethic being less than needed.

His agent wouldn't be doing his job if he had not contacted the Bears. I think we'll see what we've got before making an attempt for someone like Jones.

Couple impressions from the Sun Times arrival photos. Is it good or bad when the ice man arrives first? Jarron Gilbert is a little bit too light to play DT in this league. I know he's a rookie and he is what he is this year but he'll need to add some weight in the next offseason to reach his potential. I'm not saying he can't contribute this year just that to handle a lot of reps he needs more bulk. Payne looks a bit more stout than last year. Nobody will believe Brad Maynard when he tells them he plays in the NFL. Marcus Harrison put on the PUP due to weight issues, and we're talking about 14lbs? Not making sense to me seeing as the best way to work off the excess weight is to workout. He had his knee scoped during the offseason and said he had a lot of personal issues to deal with this offseason. My guess is that he's not just overweight he's out of shape and the Bears want him working out before getting into contact drills. Plus it's good to send a message like this. He's got some competition now and needs to understand he has to earn a job.

Hoke better get in D.J. Moore's face and tell him this is his opportunity. He didn't fare well in the OTAs but that isn't the end of the world, lots of rookies don't. The impression I got is he seemed to be arrogant that he would just be able to play the role based on his athletic ability. Lots of college players make that mistake. Last year Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (of the Cardinals) said that's how he approached the game and he didn't really start studying film until about week 10. His play improved quite a bit at the end of the season. Has Moore learned his lesson and is he ready to study up and learn how to play CB in the NFL?

I think this is not good. However, it clarifies a couple things. One, Steltz is not our FS so that "wish" is crossed off the list. At least we're openly admitting this now and not suffering needlessly halfway through the season when a change would be worse. Two, Graham is more valuable as a CB, especially now with Tillman on the shelf. Again, we're admitting this now instead of forcing him to bounce back and forth during training camp. I am not that high on Tillman being 100% for the season. He's had so much surgery during the offseason how could he possibly be lifiting and working out like he needs to be? He may still end up as our starter but a back injury is never ideal and especially not good just before camp starts. I expect we'll be watching the waiver wire for a FS or making a trade for one!

BFD. That's about all I can say. The world is so political correct these days people get all bent out of shape over every little thing. I bet back in 85 at least once a week someone in the Bears locker room called someone else a pussy. If the O and D get a little animosity going in camp good for us because that's competition and quite honestly both sides of the ball have lots of room for improvement. Strap 'em up and go hit each other it will only make us better.

One of the best, I was always amazed at how the Eagles always had a defense you worried about, even if they weren't statistically at the top. You always knew they weren't going to quit bringing it.

Good news for the Vikings? I don't think so. After spending an entire offseason courting Favre the coaching staff and key players on that roster have all thrown their leftover QBs under the bus. Had the coaching staff handled things differently by taking a low key approach then it might be different. They tried to stay low key early on but the media forced them to show their hand. Throughout the summer they continually contacted Favre, even as late as two weeks ago when the OC paid him a visit. Then after that they had Adrian Peterson, Jared Allen, and a couple other big name players call Favre and tell him how much they wanted him on the Vikings. So now Tarvaris Jackson knows he's done in Minn. Sage Rosenfels already knows he's a backup but he'll toe the company line hoping to eek out a starting role for a bit of time but he has a weak arm. In the huddle after a play in which Berrian drops a pass that was a little bit off-target what is being said between Jackson and Berrian? More importantly what are each of those guys thinking? What are the Olinemen thinking? Of course winning cures a lot of ills and Minn still has a good team. They have a soft schedule to start off, so they could easily win the first 2 or even 3 games. They should be 4-1 when Baltimore rolls into town. It's possible everyone is talking about how they never needed Favre at that point. But when crunch time shows up from week 6 on down and they start losing more than winning (Bal/Pitt/@GB) things will likely turn quickly into an endless series of questions about the QB play. It will be hard to exorcise the ghost of Favre. Then you have some conspiracy theorists (as per above) who think Favre just wants to miss the beginning of training camp then he'll show up. That stuff is out there and the media will keep asking about it during the Vikings training camp.

Not sure how many times last season I saw Dusty just stand there instead of making some attempt at a pass rush. Early in the year he was ok getting some penetration but after a few games he just basically stood there.

This doesn't bode well for our secondary. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0,5877777.story

It's bookmarked. I'll come back to it during the season to see how my perceptions matchup with their ratings.

Great post!

Good point about always rushing around the edge. I am wondering if we are about to see the end of that. I realize setting the edge is always the DEs first responsibility but once a pass play is identified there should be no reason they can't change up and swim back inside. We've seen this on occasion but not nearly enough. I bring this up because we have Marinelli now and Lovie is calling the plays but let me explain. Within any given system there typically are no absolutes. To be successful at high level you almost always need to have people on the front lines who can recognize an opportunity and take advantage of it. I have some military background and our decentralized system on the battle field is playing into my thoughts, successful companies do the same. There are great coaches who always seem to fully understand those nuances of the system, when to deviate from the norm and, most importantly, can teach their players the same. This came to mind because of the other thread where chat drifted off toward Belichik, Weiss, Mangini, Crennel, etc. Belichik failed in Cleveland with the same or similar system he's using in New England. The difference is he learned what his mistakes were and he corrected them (his own words). Proteges may be successful in executing the leaders system under his guidance but they often don't pick up the nuances. I can go around the league with lots of examples, pick any coaching tree you want: Walsh, Belichik, Parcells but in all cases you see guys who were very successful with the leader around but couldn't replicate it on their own. Young McDaniels thought he could head to Denver and take on Belichik's "my way or the highway" approach, except it's not going to well for him. Perhaps Bill knows which guys to put on the highway, or better yet, when to put them on the highway. I know there are other factors involved when guys go from OC/DC to head coach but still these proteges successfully interviewed for their HC job so they knew enough to convince people they could replicate it. How does this reflect on us this season? We now have Marinelli and Lovie, two guys who have absolutely proven success in our defensive system at least in their current roles. These two guys have shown they understand the nuances of the scheme. Guys like Babich, maybe he's ok as a position coach but when I think back to last year our D seemed to be frozen into doing the same things over and over. He knew the overall concepts of the scheme but not the nuances and how to adapt it to the offense he was facing. Think back to our DBs complaining that they were just executing the system as the coaches wanted it done even though we gave up inside slants all year long. I seem to recall some similar comments from Alex Brown and even Urlacher seemed at odds with things. I expect this year we'll be seeing a defense that adapts to the situation better than they did last year and that includes some more creative play from the DEs. I think we'll see a change on our Dline and in particular the DEs pass rush because while Marinelli knows setting the edge is the first task, the first responsibility of the Dline is to get to the QB. There's a difference in the nuance. ******************************************************** I'm putting Danieal Manning in for 4 sacks this year. He's an outstanding athlete and last year he showed good ability to get to the QB. He only had 1 sack but there were more hurries in there that resulted in broken plays. With another offseason doing nothing but practicing at nickel back and some better situational coaching I expect to see more blitzes from him, and more success. Lining up Url and Briggs off the LOS helps set this up too as they'll be able to drop into coverage more quickly.

I'll quit watching the games and then perhaps I'll believe some of this crap about how good our Oline was. Thankfully JA doesn't bite on this BS and had enough common sense to get some upgrades.

Football is a team sport and you can't have trash at certain positions (i.e. WR) and expect that'll work because you have a great QB. I believe everyone on this message board knows that. So let's just assume there is a certain level of competence around the field to be a Superbowl team. The data seems clear: One thing I see in this thread is the debate on the Pro Bowl WR not being necessary but you do need a guy the D has to key on. When you consider the premise of the article, the Pro Bowl QBs are in the year they went to the Superbowl. That is to say, this is a year that offense put it all together. It's reasonable to assume if your offense (and QB) is having a great year then so are the WRs, or at least you'd think your Pro Bowl WR is. Given that you'd think there would be more Pro Bowl WR along with the Pro Bowl QBs on the Superbowl winners. Yet the data doesn't support that. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen, just that it's not the norm. Why? We have to go into what gets a WR to the Pro Bowl and what gets a QB to the Pro Bowl. In the interest of time I'll simplify it: big numbers. How does a WR get big numbers? He's usually the best option by far on his team or his QB is really focused on getting him the ball. That might not give the best offense. How does a QB get big numbers? Typically he spreads the ball around thus forcing a defense to cover the entire field and/or taking advantage of what the defense gives him. Of course this doesn't help the WR get his big numbers. The second part is key: Take advantage of what the D gives you. QBs like Kyle Orton spread the ball around yet they don't go to the Pro Bowl. Why not? Because they can't take advantage of what the defense gives them if it's outside their ability. For Kyle that means the deep ball and deep outs aren't a threat so the D gives it up and focuses on the short stuff and run game. Historically option 2 with the Pro Bowl QB has been far more successful. I think there's good reason for this too. Once you get deep in the playoffs history also shows you are facing some of the top defenses. It's easy for a D to take one player out of the play. Average QBs who spent an entire season relying on their Pro Bowl WR probably don't adapt well to losing their favorite target and/or just aren't as good at taking advantage of what the D gave them. It's not a hard and fast rule and for sure I'd love to have a guy like Fitzgerald on the Bears. Just keep in mind he also had a possible future hall-of-fame QB in Warner throwing to him. The best part is that the odds say that having Cutler on hand and continued focus on building our D bodes well for our future. It's interesting to note that the Colts put all their money into the offensive side of the ball and despite having one of hte best QB of all time they only gotten to one Superbowl. Might they have been better off spending more money on D and less on the O?

I think the point is more of what is more important, the Pro Bowl QB or the Pro Bowl WR? The article didn't explicitly put it that way but in terms of building a team that's the way I'm taking it. The article made it clear Pro Bowl caliber talent at WR is not a requirement to win a Superbowl. Given what Brady, Peyton Manning, and Big Ben have done in recent years If given the choice I'm taking the QB. If I look back at history it seems you either need a Pro Bowl QB (or near that caliber) to win the Superbowl or you have a top 5 defense. There are always exceptions to any rule but in looking at recent history that seems to be true: 2009 Pittsburgh (top D, and top tier QB tough combo) 2008 Giants (top D, average QB) 2007 Colts (top QB) 2006 Pittsburgh (good D, good QB) 2005 Patriots (top QB) 2004 Patriots (top QB) 2003 Tampa Bay (top D) 2002 Patriots (top QB) 2001 Ravens (top D) 2000 St Louis (top QB) 1999 Denver (top QB) 1998 Denver (top QB) 1997 Green Bay (top QB) 1996 Dallas (top QB) 1995 San Fran (top QB) 1994 Dallas (top QB) 1993 Dallas (top QB) 1992 Washington (exception here with an average QB, average D) 1991 Giants (exception here with an average QB, good D) 1990 San Fran (top QB) For sure I can go back and add which of those teams also had a top WR such as the 49ers with Rice but you don't often see winners without the Pro Bowl QB. That trend also holds if you look at the Superbowl losers who often had one of the better QBs on their team (i.e. Jim Kelly, Kurt Warner, Favre, Elway). Bottom line get the QB and you have a pretty good chance at winning it all.

Great post! Stats that backup what we all saw last year: Orton was good at dumpoffs. For sure the Oline played a role here too. On the YPA stat vs. Air Yards it also seems to prove one other aspect that Orton wasn't that good at, hitting a WR in stride. Here's one stat that really is all I need to know: None of the Broncos' fans I know are happy and all the Bears fans are! Both teams have an excellent fan base who know the game and both fans know what their QB brought to the table.

It's not that we don't need a backup QB as much as there is less of a need to keep a developmental QB (i.e. 3rd QB) on the roster. That was the big argument for keeping Hanie around last year. He showed enough promise that it was worth it to keep him around and don't take the risk of losing him. Others have stated they prefer the shotgun approach toward finding a QB: put enough buckshot toward the target and one will hit therefore draft one every year.

There's one factor he's missing in this: our Oline pass protection was pretty bad last year. All the media focus is on Cutler and WRs but the other 1/3 of receivers getting open is that the QB has time to wait for them to get open. I believe pass protection will be better this year versus last year. In the Suntimes Brad Biggs mentioned how our WR were mugged last year at the LOS. It's a lot easier to play press coverage if you are confident you only have to hold it for a few seconds, certainly true if you aren't worrying about the deep ball. Orton, even if he had protection couldn't throw an accurate deep pass. As a defensive coach I'd have taken my chances that he'd hit on one during the game but go after shutting down all the shorter stuff, make his reads at the snap harder. With better pass protection and an accurate strong arm like Cutler's that gamble becomes a lot more risky. Not to mention that Cutler is a good runner and can throw on the run. While it's easy for Driver to say his DBs owned our WR last year, I'm not so sure it will translate directly to this season. It will be interesting to see how they line up in week 1.

On Rideau, he's tall but not big. At 6'3" and well under 200lbs. I hope he's bulked up some this offseason but getting off the LOS under press coverage is a problem for him. So is going up after the ball, he's soft. Here's another problem for him: when your position coach says you must make EVERY play that comes your way you are definitely on the bubble to make the roster. Aromashodu...don't know anything about him, don't expect much from him. I agree that if we keep 6 WR he's got a shot to be #6 but my money is on us keeping 4 TEs with Olsen being your tweener TE/WR (he already does this) and Gaines being your tweened TE/FB. If Kellen Davis does not step up from last year's performance he could be gone though and special teams is going to be a big factor in this decision, and that goes for Gaines too. Davis...going back to the slot is good for him and us as fans. Going to the bench would be even better for us fans as it would mean one of the rookies has stepped up to take his place. I agree he's a near lock to make the team just because of his experience. Rideau and Aromashodu ran with the first team in spots simply because they knew the offense and the rookies did not. There's no point in trying to teach your new QB the offense with WRs who don't know what route to run.

It's the middle of July and our RB coach comes out and states that our Oline is improved over last year? I have to wonder what he's already seeing (with no contact) or hearing from the Oline coach? It's early to read too much into this but I tend to give some credibility to tidbits of info like this. We know the new guys haven't had enough time to work well as a team but on the other hand the coaches likely already know that the new guys are stronger than those they replaced. Maybe we will be able to move some DTs around this year.