Alaskan Grizzly

My wife is the same. She's a converted Oakland fan. So she's used to being disappointed. Funny thing is on game day anymore she tends to not watch with me. I used to get worked up but in about the last 3-4 weeks I've lost the spark. What's really sad is my oldest daughter is dating a guy who is a GB fan. Makes for a tough extended family experience. My daughter hasn't given up, she still cheers for Chicago...for now.

I'd be ok with it. Shocking.. I know.

She sounds like a keeper regardless. Both the fact she goes with you to the game and bitches about their play (provided she knows what she's talking about and doesn't think GB is king) then she sounds like a regular tried and true fan.

Have to agree in most of your optimism. I'll even give a positive to Jay's corner. If he can stay patient you're right, the games at least won't be lost as easily. Thought mostly the same about the D. Especially the part of how much better they did sans Briggs. Weird. Chalk it up to coincidence(?). I've been wondering all season how everyone kept saying the D had little or no talent. I was thinking it had to do more with the lack of coaching and I think I feel more confident in that assesment. Granted hardly any of the current members are from last year but together they seem to be improving. Hurst has been a surprising player. Yesterday was not the only day he has played well and had great results. Reminiscent of how Jennings was about 2-3 years ago, but without all the INTs. Washington has suddenly come on. I think you're right about someone working with him and I think that someone is Pasquolini (sp?). All the DLmen (Paea, Ratliff, Ferguson and Sutton) are showing improvement and Pasquolini is the man coaching them. Conte is a solid Safety... Or at least he wants to be. Like I said in the game thread his effort is what gets him hurt. Yesterday's INT was one part opportunity and one part 'try'. If you remember a few weeks back he made a pretty nice INT while stretching out to make the catch. He's done it a few times. The reason he has a bum shoulder and concussion history isn't because he's accident prone it's because he's trying to punish people on tackles and jar the ball lose. I even saw him come into the play in one run and meet the running back just after the LOS. That is what we've been waiting to see from him. Overall since this was TB it's still a game worth it's share of skepticism. Buuuut.. If they continue to play smart anything is possible.

One successful drive against the Bucs. That was it. Forte and the D won this game.

Thanks for clarifying my vague reference. But you got the point.

Sorry, until Cutler leads a win against a team NOT 2-6, then I'll silence my critique.

His price is definitely better for what you get between the two.

Funny, Briggs goes out and suddenly the defense comes alive.

81-63 regular season record. Three division championships, two NFC title appearances and a Super Bowl appearance. Yeah, he's a good "position coach".

You answered your own question.

Agreed. I think what hurts him is he tries too hard to make the big hits. Hence the bum shoulder and number of concussions. In other news, can we just trade Cutler for McCown right now? For all that is good please pull him.

One thing I'd like to see is the continued resurgence of Allen. I want to have him back again next year but first I need to know he's worth the spot. He's got the leadership ability, now can he keep on sacking?

When you sign a troubling WR who is 'besties' with Jay, you might be Catering To Jay. When you draft a huge WR in the second round, you might be Catering to Jay. When your first round pick is an interior lineman from Oregon, you might be Catering to Jay. When you spend money on FA on a stalwart pro bowl Tackle to anchor the left of your line, you might be Catering to Jay. When you sign a relatively gifted TE who's performed well In some places he's been, you might be Catering to Jay. When you hire a mystery of a man from the North of Canada and he is known simply as the "Quartetback Whisperer" you might be Catering to Jay. And when you sign him to a $126 million dollar contract despite his meager performance, you definitely are Catering to Jay.

My bad. In the past when I've come to Lovie's defense (and to some degree the good that Angelo did) I usually mention that they drafted three significant players for the Bears. That third one was Forte. And then some others that you mention below... Tomayto, Tomahto. You can refute all you want. The proof is in the pudding. Lovie Smith's record was a winning one. Coincidence or no, he benefited from the team he put together as HC. If you read that long article, you'll see that many of those players you talk about do nothing but praise Lovie in his coaching. ********* You'll get no argument from me. I was never a fan of Angelo's.

Correct. This was a discussion that Jason and I went back and forth with all the time. 1st round pick Chris Williams = bust and 1st round pick Gabe Carimi = bust.

True. By the by; Briggs, Urlacher and Tillman were all drafted by Angelo. If you read the article that was first referenced (and another almost identical) Briggs was quoted as saying he was challenged to be the next Derrick Brooks by Lovie. But Lovie chose Urlacher to be that guy, who as a reminder, was a Safety in college. The point I'm making is you suggest Lovie did well because of the players he had. I'm suggesting those players were good because of who coached them. And who 'formed' this most recent team? More or less it was Emery. Who in a sense has done as bad, if not worse, than did Angelo. (By the way, outside of the Peppers and Cutler's deal, was never a fan of his). And in regard to the part bolded, the offense did better when McCown was running it. Another mistake of letting him go by Trestman, Emery or both.

You're right Bill. We've asked those same questions . I for one am just as frustrated with it. Is the answer to having Cutler more mobile to what will help the O? That remains to be seen. The fact they are JUST NOW considering it is unfortunate .

Me too. Obviously what's done is done. Many here reminded me of that especially when Trestman and Emery were new. And especially when the offense had it's success last year. I'll admit I even bought into the idea that Trestman could be a good fix. But the more you look at it he appears to be the anti-Lovie in that he's good with O but not so on D. However even now, and considering what Bill wrote in another thread, Trestman inexplicably couldn't figure out until probably too late how to properly use Cutler . That being more mobile. That is baffling and confounding to me. So my question posed at this point, and I've seen it asked elsewhere, why didn't they simply hire Trestman as Lovies O coordinator? If Emery is so smart he should've been able to see that Lovies teams were struggling on the offensive side. If not Trest then why not a young mind like Kyle Shannahan? Emery causes me to think he's a glorified scout and that's about it. Possibly even more inept than was Angelo. Here's another good synopsis of the team post-Lovie and Lovie, post-Bears. A little long but a good read: http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/22733...n=chicago-bears

AMEN BROTHER!! Losing Lovie was probably one of the biggest mistakes the Bears have made in the recent past. Despite his 10-6 record his last year many insisted he couldn't get it done and would always get mediocre results. Yet he had an overall winning record and of all the Bears Coaches in history (dating back to 1920) he was the THIRD winningest coach in team history. Only behind Ditka and Papa Bear Halas. That is fact. Giving a tip of the hat to Lucky Luciano (using my middle finger) and in response to his earlier commentary about ownership, they made a mistake in letting Lovie go. Were they incorrectly advised? Probably. I have never hidden from my appreciation for Lovie and I still won't. He may not fit the bill as the 'fire brand' I claim to prefer but obviously he got the job done (as witnessed in this article). Yes I said I'm more a person who prefers instant results and generally you see that more in the fiery and caustic type leaders. But occasionally you can get that from a stern, quiet and respected leader as well. Since my cornerstone of leadership measurement comes from a military background take a look sometime at who Major Dick Winters was. Although not a 'firebrand' type leader, he demanded respect without demanding. And got it.

I think the quick answer is sketchy at best. That being since he's unproven in a leadership role not sure the Chicago psyche could take another year or two of plodding along IF it didn't work out. (yes I know he had a record of 2-1 as HC but what exactly does that prove?). The fact that Trestman (so far) hasn't shown great and sustained success as a relatively unknown, despite he being an HC in Canada, probably wouldn't make it a comfortable hire. I still think NFL "established" will be the better answer.

Haley scares me. He was very nearly canned from Pittsburgh last year (?) because he was being such a dbag. I don't know if Tomlin had a 'come to Jesus' meeting with him or Roethlisberger is just having a resurgence or both but Haley himself I do not think is the sole reason for offensive success. And if you reca when he was in KC as HC there was nothing but ugliness all around due to his knack for dbagedness . And he has an overall 19-26 record as HC.. No thanks.

About "any given Sunday"; couldn't agree more. The Rams proved that yesterday. The Bears even did that early on against a heavily favored 49er team at their new stadium. Yesterday was not one of those days for the Bears. The Bears were at home. Bridgewater is a rookie. AP was nowhere to be found. And although the Vikings D is allegedly rated high in many stats, Cutler did just enough not to lose. Robinson was picked on time and again and despite his throwing for a few TDs Cutler still managed to throw some sloppy INTs. A better team would've won this game. The fact that Minnesota was in it until the end should tell you something.

Not interested.

I think something needs to be said for Fortes play too. He actually saved the team early on when they were being penalized in what seems like every other play. And for what it's worth and knowing how horrible the D has been playing, I personally hope that Allen comes back next year . He's had a rough start probably mostly due to illness. But given his veteran status and how he seems a pretty optimistic guy I think his leadership will prove invaluable for the D. Especially when you compare him to the likes of Briggs.