Mongo3451

I see Booker and Davis being cut loose. No use keeping a guy that doesn't have it anymore in Booker. With Davis you have a marginal size/talent guy that finds a way to blow opportunities on a consistent basis. I hope Lloyd sticks around. I have loved some of the catches he has made. My problem with him is the rumored attitude and dedication issues seem to have some teeth. Hester is also a keeper. He will keep defenses honest. Bennett dumbfounds me. Either he sucks or our coaches do. Who's coming clean 1st?? Rideou should stay as well, because he is young and has good hands with size to boot. All told, I think Hester will continue to mold into a dangerous #2. I actually think our QB is the key to this, as I have seen him missed wide open more than a few times this season. You could easily add 4 TD's and 200 yards to Hester's stats if Orton could throw the deep ball better. I'm still hoping for a solid off-season aquisition WR. Hindsight and what we'll have to pay will make us regret the loss of Berrian by thinking we could have had him cheaply. After that, we draft a guy that is big and tough that will play Bear football. IE: A Hines Ward wannabe.

Count me in as a devout Packer hater, as I hate them yet respect the franchise. I equally hate the Vikings and Lions, with no respect of franchise.

I guess that's one of those things where you have to be there to know. I certainly don't. I think Lovie is a good politician and shepard of players, but as far as coaching/scheming is concerned, not a fan. That being said, I think I predicted 7 wins in pre-season. So, you would think my expectations would be met. I guess I would say yes and no. Yes to the offense, as I thought they would be abysmal this season. Yes to special teams, as they have held their own despitethe loss of Ayanbedejo and the decline of Hester's greatness. Hell no to the defense, as they have fallen way short of being the lifeline of the team as I thought they would need to be. Hell no, to the coaches who I blame for 3 losses that should never have happened.(I am in the minority in thinking that Turner and Toub have done a decent job) But the rest... Hell no to Angelo, who I have been a big supporter over the years, for shelling out millions to the wrong people and leaving us with zero good wideouts.(Vasher, Urlacher, A Brown, Hester, Clark) Briggs was a steal and Tillman a push, but the rest have NOT panned out. JA should have used that money to pay Berrian because his upside is still on the rise and it left us vacant. Leaving us vacant was unexcusable. All told, there are still concerns about the future as I'm not sure if we are on the way up or the way down. Maybe we should open a new thread to discuss.

I think two of those four would be awesome, but at too high of a price. I watched Romo the other night with his high dollar recievers look ordinary because the OL wasn't getting it done. Our OL is much worse than Dallas. If we are going to make Orton and the WR's effective. There must be time for the play to develop or a huge threat of being gouged by the run. Right now, we can do neither. My suggestion would be to pursue one and hope Hester and someone develops, then invest heavily in OL. The upgrade would/should/could happen at a higher rate of probability that way. At least you would provide our known entity in Forte the help he needs to continually succeed.

Agreed

I think there is something to be said about players performing elsewhere. You can look at it two ways. Sometimes the coaches are poor motivators and the player really never gets it. Sometimes the players light does not come on until they are jobless. We can look at Wade, Gage, Benson, Bradley etc... I have my suspicions on Benson, as he has never been more cut than what he is now. (Dude wants a paycheck) The others, who knows...

I was on the fence regarding Berrian, then I thought it best that he go. Now, he has killed our hopes twice. Once with the 99 yarder and today against Arizona. He's proving to be a huge weapon and probably worth the money he got from the Queens. I'll be drafting him for my fantasy team next year if they sign a servicable QB. That's a consolation prize that takes some of the sting away.

C'mon man, it's T.O. He's just not a team guy. I'd rather invest in players that would not destroy the locker room. Moose saying "this is where receivers go to die" would be a pebble at the base of Everest in comparison to what would occur. You brought this up before and got blasted, so please don't feel insulted.

Ridiculous on all counts. A #1 for a guy who will be 35 next year is bad enough, but T.O.?? Hell no.

1 - Anthony Adams is much, much better than Dusty. Next yr, he should be starting. Agreed somewhat. I think Dusty has been effective, but worn down. A rotation would be great. Our staff is clueless when it comes to keeping players fresh. 2 - Manning is playing much better at nickle now that he is the kick returner. Maybe he needed some success on the field to give him confidence on defense. I don't think he is really good in coverage, but he is so athletic it allows him to make plays. I really like him blitzing. 3 - We need an actual free safety. Brown and Payne are both SS. I really think Tillman would be an all-pro safety. He's really faster than his timed speed, aggressive, a good nose for the ball and capable of adding more size without risk of losing straightline speed. At some point you'd think the staff would realize his value may be greater elsewhere. Side note: What do we do with Brown? He's "knock on wood" played every game and a FA this off season. Does he have anything left? IMO - he does, but definately at SS where he tends to injure more readily. Thoughts anyone?? 4 - Lloyd made a nice catch but also made a crucial drop. He needs to go. We need 2 to 3 new wrs in the rotation next yr. Lloyd's a Primadona without the Prima. A #1 reciever is an enormous need for us next year. It's also the biggest gamble a team can make. That's why I would put it 2nd behind OL. 5 - Robbie Gould is worth every penny he is paid. He set a Bears record yesterday with 3 consecutive 100 point seasons. Nuf said. 6 - Keep throwing the deep ball to Hester. Alot more goog can happen than bad. Agreed. Hester is proving to be a weapon. Not a very good reciver yet, but he draws a crowd out of necessity. 7 - Alex Brown loves those back up tackles. On the SCORE they were saying he would be the defensive player of the yr every year in the CFL as all the NFL tackle rejects end up there. Props to him on a good game. It seems a lot of defenders run hot and cold like that. Don't we get a new hero or goat on a consistent basis. 9 - Props to Url. That was his best game since last yr. Not a bad game for him.

Agree and disagree. Babich needs to go, but Turner has done the job this year. Hell, I'll throw Lovie out before Turner. Also, agree that our D has as much or more talent than we had 2 years ago... coaching. Agreed on Orton as well. There is NOTHING outstanding about the guy. But the guy manages the game and finds a way to get it done. Oh, and he's stll a young guy. Now that he'll get all the #1 reps next year, he can conentrate on his deep ball. He'll be really good if he can start hitting some of those. Our special teams are still a strength and will be as team philosophy and due to the speed we draft for our D.

Disagree - I think Turner has brainfarts like any other offensive playcaller, but hindsight is always 20/20. I becoming a firm believer that this O lacks talent, but is showing signs of promise. Disagree again - Orton is hurt and it is affecting his play. Would you be saying this before the injury? I think not. Plus, no matter what you think of him, he's a gamer. Totally agree. We need a #1 in the worst way. Hester on the other side will make a #1 a beast if we get one next year. He simply draws attention at all times and he has improved. Agreed again. But, it's headed in the right direction. Williams will assume the LT position next year with the hopefull addition of a young STUD OG. Beekman is coming along nicely and St Clair can replace Tait. From my rebuttal, you know I disagree. The TE's and RB's are a strength, but not the only thing we have. I think we should all reflect on what we thought this offense was going to be in the pre season and be thankful for the winning record. The O is going to get better if JA does his job.

Wow!

I would contend that our DL was considered a strength in the past. I don't really know why it is not anymore, but feel it can be again. It is not for a lack of talent. Motivation and good coaching can go a long way. They have WR's, yes, but we have TE's and an all-purpose back. Manning was a mediocre, at best, QB until the 2nd half of last year. IMO - the major difference is the OL. In their case and hypothetically ours, the OL makes everything better.

All of their offense starts up front, as they have one of the best OL's in the game. Manning usually has all day to throw the ball, thus giving his recievers ample time to get open and allows the running game to run downhill. They consistently win the time of possession battle allowing their D line to be fresh and explosive.

I would love it, but it scares the shit outta me. I would love to pull off a trade to lessen the hit, but the hit is still going to sting. If it happens I won't bitch, but I won't hold my breath, because out of the box thinking is not in JA's MO.

I still haven't left my primary philosophy of OL and DL, so I definately agree with that. My hope is that we will hire a great D Coordinator and minimal investment will need to be made on that side of the ball. I still think we are really lacking at FS and DE. If we could get Graham and McBride to step up and start, we could move Nut to FS and Vasher to nickel while using a day one pick on a corner. DE is a different story. If we could that coordinator we need our DE's may be serviceable again. That leaves another OL pick and a WR pick on day one. If we luck out and get a 3rd for Berrian maybe we grab another OL or a run stuffer. I'm also holding out hop for Boldin, maybe the Cards brass has a hard on for Hester(or someone else we have) and a trade could lessen the blow of lost draft picks. That's where I call for creativity. I don't want us to lose the farm for a player, but I still hold out hope that our window has not closed. I look at the Titans, Steelers and Giants as models for success of a team that does not ask too much of it's QB. We could / should be there with talent development and good coaching. We just desparately need a couple of peices. other holes can be patched.

I know what you are saying, but disagree with the post title. The NFL is the greatest sports product on the planet. Every year there is renewed hope for your team. I do think and agree that there are more mediocre teams out there, but also think that is a good thing. Sometimes that allows a Bears team to come out of the shadows a couple of years ago, the Giants last year and no you have who. Truth is, we don't know who is going to the Super Bowl this year and that is a good thing...

I'll 3rd that motion. Unless we get a stud like Boldin, we might as well try to develop in house. I still believe Boldin can be a true asset given we are set at TE and RB. Like the same parallel we discussed with Faneca last year, I feel Boldin can eevate our other recivers, take pressure off Forte and the TE's and consequently take pressure off Orton and the OL by being a threat that can get open on any given play and potentially require double coverage. I think Faneca is paying dividends. Is the price too high for Boldin? I'm really not sure. Creativity will be needed...

Agreed 100% Agreed again. Davis has a history of this: add his marginal talent and you off him to send a message to the other players that need to step up. I can also see a surprise cut this off season. LOL! FOOKiNG hillarious! Throw in a T-Rex as well.

If you look at the Roy Williams trade you are more than correct. Williams fetched a 1st, 3rd and 6th with the Lions giving a 7th. Here's were the plot thickens. 1st - Williams was tradeable so the Lions had nothing to lose by unloading him. 2nd - Jerry Jones in all his arrogance in conjunction with his desparation to win a playoff game overpaid for a Texas player he's drooled over for years. 3rd - With so much money locked up in Fitz, the Cards are likely not going to come close to what Boldin wants as a startegy to not overpay at one position. 4th - we have a multitude of players that have tradeable contracts that would lessen the draft pick hit.(heck, I might throw Hester in to the mix) On the flip side; 1 - Everyone knows how desparate we are for a #1. 2 - Other teams will be quickly in the mix for his services, causeing whoever gets him to sign quickly which usually is done by overpaying. Lastly, How many deals like this come to be fruitfull? All told, my vote is for going for it. Because we all know we can't continue to rely on Forte the way we have. Odds are he won't last through many heavy carry seasons. Add to that defenses have figured out our recivers can't get off the LOS, giving them ample time to get to Orton. The smoke and mirrors is over.

I would give a 2nd for Boldin. I'm not sold Housh as a true #1, as he has always had a good QB throwing to him as a reliable possession reciever. IMO - we need an identity with our #1 that will allow our #2 and #3 to make themselves known.

I'm starting the outcry for Bolden now. We started crying for Faneca and were not appeased. We a need a #1 that can get off the line of scrimage and make plays. A #2 will only emerge then.

You hit the nail on the head with the above statement. The ownership has to pay to the cap to get a winner, especially after the community paid through the nose for the new stadium. IE: To fill the McCaskey vault. Yes, they paid Lovie, but didn't they have to after ESPN and every other media outlet called them out. But, look at the rest of the staff and what they are being paid. I would almost bet Belichick makes more than our entire staff combined. The cold hard truth is that our team has underproduced since the Superbowl. ( eh hem, Trust me) Lovie is the first that needs to go, but he won't because the owners are too cheap to let him go. We won't go after Cowher for the same reason. What experienced head coach have they hired in the last 30 years? Cheap!

I hate making bitchy comments after an ass whoopin, but Moose was right. Receivers go to die here. I would gladly have Gage, Bradley, Berrian, Moose and Wade over the shit we have now. Hester is our only playmaker at WR and he's half idiot. Bennett should be playing.