AZ54

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0,3484075.story "If the Bears' defensive front four appears to be in a crooked alignment Sunday night, don't adjust your television. It is supposed to look that way. Having a couple of the defensive linemen in a cocked position -- usually the interior linemen -- is just one of the minor tweaks assistant head coach Rod Marinelli has implemented since taking over the defensive line." ************************************************************************** Maybe I was drinking too much during the games but I don't recall our DTs lining up this way during the preseason, at least not routinely. If I'm wrong someone will correct me shortly. If I'm right then Marinelli and Lovie have kept something off the film during the preseason which makes me wonder if our pass rush will be a bit better than I anticipated. Since our secondary isn't giving me much hope of stopping the Packer WRs, a bit of Cubs-World-Series-esque hope for an improved pass rush will keep me going until gameday.

After watching the Cards vs. Packers game in person I'm not that worried about our offense moving the ball. The Cards ran the ball well and easily found openings in the secondary. Their TEs found lots of open space, even getting deep for several pass completions and none of them are as athletic as Olsen. The Packers brought extra pass rushers often and they got to Warner but Cutler is far more mobile than Warner, and he's much more accurate throwing on the run. What Green Bay's defense did well was force turnovers and that is the one thing we must avoid. I agree our defensive front four must get pressure on Rodgers. Keep him to 3 step drops and the secondary can play with more confidence. If we can't do that I don't see us covering their WR very well. Overall I expect a high scoring game one that will be determined by who loses the turnover battle.

We have the Brady rule this year and defensive players are not allowed to hit a QB from a prone position (or something like that) which basically if you are down on the ground you can't lunge forward to hit a QB in the legs. This is how Palmer and to a lesser extent Brady went down with knee injuries. I'm sure I'm missing something but as I know it: HEAD--off limits, can't use hands, arms, or even helmet to helmet contact. Defensive player must put head to the side when tackling. LEGS -- off limits BODY -- can only hit with body, no crown of the helmet can contact QB. Can't use your weight to land on the QB either. The problem is when you have big guys like McNabb and Rothlisberger who are damned near impossible to tackle without a good solid hit.

I hate all the pussified rules they have for QBs. Take the hit. I can agree on some protections but as it is now there's almost no way anyone can hit a QB without getting a penalty. If we're going to continue down this path it would be best for all if they just gave the QB flags and pink jerseys.

Come on, you know we'd lose Rashied Davis.

He came to the Bears after getting cut by Cleveland after spending the offseason and all of training camp with them.

Not a single WR on the list, who would have thought that? We still have one opening left so it remains a possibility.

If we're going to keep a bad QB on the team at least keep the one who knows the offense.

Unfortunately I didn't get to see the game but it's apparent he did suck. Since he knew all those WR and that offense he should have played well. If you can't get it right after practicing against them for 4 weeks when will you get it right?

Rex has the arm strength and experience to settle in as a backup QB in this league for years. At some point he may even end up a starter way down the road and play well. We've seen this happen before with other QBs...Doug Flutie comes to mind for one.

Why do the Cards need a RB? They have Hightower and drafted Beanie Wells, who looked very good against the Packers. I wouldn't be surprised to see us pick up a RB, nor will I be surprised if we just settle with AP and Wolfe. Either way you can bet there will be at least one if not two RB added to our practice squad.

As far as Hood goes I look at it this way, Hood is a veteran who's been in the league long enough to understand different coverage techniques. I didn't see the game but I assume we were pretty basic against Cleveland. Despite that, and despite the fact that Hood has practiced against all those Cleveland guys for several weeks, he still didn't play well last night. That isn't a good sign. I too felt he was better than McBride but Lovie doesn't agree with me but he has more info than I have so we go with it.

Wait til you see 4 WR with Knox, Hester, and DA who is another sub 4.4 WR. For kicks let's go with an empty backfield and put Olsen out there too, he can either stay in and pass protect or run a pass route. I like the idea of keeping him in pass protection and let the fast guys run around a bit and see what Cutler finds.

Hood makes the team, McBride cut and replaced by DJ Moore at the bottom of the CB depth chart. The Bears give Moore one year to learn how to be a pro. I'd like to see Turrene on the practice squad.

I take the surprise and keep Malast and put Freeman on the practice squad.

I like Manning a lot at Nickel and I like what I've seen from the Payne/AFalava combo. I know both are young but in total I think this gets our best combo of players on the field at the same time. I think this has become more likely as Tillman's return is a bit in question. I'd rather give Tillman another week or two to fully heal up and get ready rather than lose him for the year because he came back to soon. That means we put Manning at nickel and Graham at CB along with Bowman. Vasher becomes one very expensive backup. When Tillman returns we have Graham as backup nickel or CB and Vasher behind him. Manning remains first backup at safety.

I think Malast is making things very difficult on Hunter. We have good depth and experience now with Pisa, Roach, and Williams. I won't be surprised at all to the see the Bears go with youth here and keep Malast. I expect Freeman to get on the practice squad. I disagree with the Dline because I think Melton goes on the practice squad. He's too raw to be ready this year and I highly doubt anyone would think enough of him to put him on their active roster. In his place we keep Gaines who has proven he can block and make big catches for us. Davis gets cut and Rideau finally makes the roster. Knox and Iglesias both make roster too. Running back: AP is cut and McClover takes his roster spot.

If Basanez is eligible for practice squad I believe that's where he'll end up. If not I still think there's a good chance the Bears cut him anyway.

Why now? I'd understand if someone was seriously injured but this would make no sense now.

Davis had no receptions tonight. Was he even on the field? As far as special teams he's been reduced to nothing more than a cover guy because of Knox doing KR/PR. I think after tonight Knox secured his spot on the roster. Davis has done the kick coverage role well this preseason but is that really enough to keep him on the roster? As I scrolled through the play by play on nfl.com I noticed Knox making the opening kick off tackle. I think that might be the end of Rashied Davis. I'm not trying to say one tackle is the difference but Knox has the arrow pointing up in a big way and he should only get better on special teams coverage. Point is this reduces one of the main reasons for keeping Davis. As far as receiving is concerned I think Rideau has surpassed Davis here too. Rideau has been in our offense long enough to know the system too so game experience goes to Davis but knowing the offense should be closer to being even although I'd still give an edge to Davis. Rideau has a nice size advantage over Davis and that's something we need on our roster. I won't be surprised if Davis sticks but at this point I say he's gone.

I'm a believer that you are what your record says you are, mistakes included.

Thanks. It won't be long before someone posts that AP is a better pass blocker. Wolfe is a far better special teams tackler and can return kicks. He's also more capable of providing big plays. I think he sticks as our #3 RB.

While I'm a fan of AP I've also been stating that his time with the Bears is over. All the Wolfe bashers are always saying how he doesn't bring anything to the table, nothing more than AP. I'm waiting for the end of the preseason to put together a post to compare their stats. If someone doesn't beat me to it I'll do it this weekend. Based on what I've seen in each game I think the stats for Wolfe have been either better or comparable to AP but I want to see it all together to compare. I know this, Wolfe has more KR yards than AP.

I don't think there's any doubt he makes this team. Dual threat at PR/KR and WR. He'd never stay on the practice squad after tonight, some team would at least pick him up to be their PR/KR.

Manginious has an ego problem and I totally agree that the Belichick disciples don't know how to apply his tough love tactics. Belichick himself didn't know how when he was in Cleveland. I like it because it's entertaining.