jason

Why they aren't using D-I refs: Most of the D-I coordinators of officials are former NFL guys or directly linked to former NFL guys. If you go work as a scab, your D-I college officiating career is pretty much over. This is not speculation. And as I pointed out in the postgame about the Redskins, you are wrong about the pass interference calls you are referencing.

Don't like it that much. While having Cutler on the team is nice, it's doubtful he'll play on your team. If you have Brady, you start Brady. I am guessing you sacrificed a mid-rounder for Cutler when you probably should have grabbed a RB somewhere in the range of Cedric Benson, Law Firm, or Shonn Greene.

I haven't seen the entire game yet - only the first three offensive drives - but if you think Williams did worse than Webb, who played pretty damn bad thus far (only one great job in 12 plays, touched virtually nobody on three of those plays, and required help three times, one of which definitely saved Webb from a blown assignment), then I can't wait to see how poorly Williams does. He must literally slap a DE on the ass on the way to the QB.

You're pretty much right on all accounts, but the thing that always bothers me about Webb is the fact that he has more gaffes. While Williams probably won't dominate his opponent often, he will seal the edge more often. Webb, on the other hand, may dominate one play, perform average the next, and then shit the bed on 3rd down. The Bears need more consistency than that. I don't know how the two-man package rotation will work out in the NYG game, but I doubt it make much difference if based on the Washington game. Remember that they played a 3-4, and most pressure went away from the LT and towards the LG. I hope that your observation goes the other way: I hope Williams and Rachal were kept together because they are thought of the starters right now, and the other two are thought of as guys who might lose their jobs. (I know, unlikely)

#4 made me think of this: F*#k Charles Martin.

I wonder if the same type of negotiation tactic applies to coaches?

There is virtually no argument to the following: Game 1: Williams > Webb Game 2: Williams > Webb If the same holds true against the Giants, who will probably present more pressure than any other team the entire season, and Williams doesn't end up as the starting LT, then the coaching staff has not only told a bunch of lies about an open competition and "whoever plays the best gets the starting job," but they are also directly responsible if the offense sputters because Cutler is running for his life. Again.

Regarding what the Skins do, what if they went into prevent the entire game and only rushed three? Then it doesn't matter? Then can anyone properly evaluate what the OL does when there are two double teams and a single one-on-one? C'mon. Give me a break. It matters what the opponent does. Even Tice admits it matters when there is a difference between a 3-4 defense (Washington) and a 4-3 defense (NYG). In fact, I'd say he almost dismisses the evaluation of a LT against a 3-4 defense when he says, "A 3-4 defense is a 3-4 defense. Eventually, at the end of the day, your tackles are blocking big linebackers. So now, you want to see them against some real large, athletic, strong defensive ends." While Tice appears to agree with my point of view on this, please point me to the expert articles where they break down film. I'd love to read those articles because I haven't found them. At best I've found an article by Pompei (not an X's and O's expert), where he neither breaks down plays, nor talks about specifics, and offers only, "Webb answered the bell. He played with solid technique and showed urgency." For the record, it's possible for someone to exhibit both and still play poorly because of mental miscues. Then there is Biggs, who wrote, to his credit, that Webb was beaten on the running play and Williams played well. Then there is Seligman who writes that "Webb seemed to hold up against Washington's Brian Orakpo until the Pro Bowl linebacker left with a shoulder injury late in the first quarter." "Seems," wow, there's some hardcore film breakdown from him. If they do break down things on a play by play basis, they'll find that most of the plays Webb was not isolated (which I contend matters). And on the plays he was isolated, he was average at best. I'd say subpar. It's more a design of the offense (as many noted following the Martz departure) that helped him avoid other problems. With shorter drops, plays away, and TE help it's a bandaid on the problem. Sometimes the bandaid stops the bleeding (3-4), but it doesn't necessarily heal the wound (4-3). (Side note: You have to take Tice and the coaching staff's words with a grain of salt when he also says that Spencer "bounced back" this game. That is ridiculous. Spencer was easily the worst person on the OL against the Redskins.)

I think you're probably right, but we have to wait at least one more draft to know for sure. If "Emery" makes the picks this year, and it smells like the same draft from previous years, then we'll know it's really Lovie pulling the strings.

It's fair to disagree on the one play. I feel like he was pressured enough that it caused Jay to alter movement/throwing motion. But I disagree that it doesn't matter what the opposition runs. If the opposition runs stunts the entire game and never directly attack an OLineman, then we don't know what the OLineman's initial post-snap ability is for quicker DEs. If the DL always attacks the gaps, and sends nobody outside the OT, there is a higher likelihood the OT will get OG help and a potential double team. It may not matter as much as the OLineman's performance on his limited isolation plays, but it matters.

Did you watch the same game? Webb most definitely didn't play well. First of all, the Redskins, for some ridiculous reason, used slant-rushing towards the gaps and didn't attack Webb much. Not a solid move on their part, but it helped hide Webb's deficiencies. On top of that, the Bears ran right as a probable way to avoid the weak side of the line (focus on the strength). And, of course, Tice is holding true on his promise to help the OL with lots and lots of double TE sets. I think it's sad that the Bears have to employ a double-TE set with what amounts to at least 6 Linemen, but that's just me. I'd rather have a good OL that can do their job, and use the TE for more of an attacking role. Having said that... The first ISO of the game that Webb got was a shotgun play and he got pushed straight back into Cutler, causing the throw to be a bit quicker than necessary (for what it's worth, Carimi got pushed back too). On the second series Webb got destroyed on an inside move, but he was just lucky that the run was to the right. If that run goes left, it's a loss behind the LOS. He certainly had some good plays, had a few good pushes, and one memorable seal block, but he didn't really play well. At best he gets average, and you're right about Williams; he did better than Webb. And yes, Spencer looked awful.

I watched the game on DVR and focused solely on the OL. LT Webb played subpar. He is susceptible to interior rushes, was directly accountable for a sack (outside rush forced QB forward too early), and rarely stands out. Williams easily played better, but he is susceptible to some outside moves. What's interesting is the Bears did most of their work towards the right side of the line. LG Spencer didn't look that good. He got beat inside, outside, got pushed back, and missed a blitz pickup. Rachal actually looked better, but he's woefully slow on pulling plays C Garza looked pretty good the entire game. Never amazing, but never bad. RG Louis actually looked better than any other OLineman. He got the second level multiple times and was responsible for some great plays. RT Carimi needs to maintain his blocks throughout the play and drive the DE upfield a little more. On a few plays he let his DE go upfield a little too easily, and on others he fought hard. But when he fought hard and the play went inside (i.e. the QB stepped up or there was a move forward) he tended to let his man go. More than once that man made the tackle. The starting OL, based upon the first two preseason games, should be as follows: Williams - Spencer - Garza - Louis - Carimi And the Bears should immediately start scouting for LGs in the 2013 draft. Side note: Remember everyone saying the Bears didn't need an OG? David DeCastro sure would look good at LG right now.

Just saw the play in question...the announcers were wrong. And ill-informed to be quite honest. That was a legit DPI because Tillman cut off the WRs route. DPI is typically categorized as one of the following: 1) Arm bar 2) Playing through the back 3) Early contact 4) Arm restriction 5) Cutoff 6) Hook & Turn At the higher levels the DBs know these categories so they are coached to look back at the pass and "feel" for the WR, slow down in front of him, or "accidentally" run diagonally into the WR. The lattermost category is what Peanut was doing, and he knew it.

I haven't seen it yet. It hasn't been replayed on NFL network.

The fact remains, if the Bears were not running the cover-2 on that play, Urlacher would likely not have been in that awkward situation where he was drifting backward, without vision, guarding a WR on a jumpball, where there was inevitable contact from a safety. As for Urlacher being more effective because of the cover-2, I just disagree. He would be great in any offense because his lateral speed is incredible for a man his size. And, yes, they were out of it by the time the last game was played. 100% out of it. They are paid to improve the team, and if sitting out one meaningless game means Urlacher is healthy for the subsequent 16 games, then you sit him in the meaningless game. He could play, but why take the chance? Game 16 last year should have been used exclusively to monitor and evaluate backups. This is chess, not checkers.

Side note: I personally know the replacement Umpire working the Bears v. Redskins game. I'll be interested to see how well he does, how he moves, what he looks like.

Bingo.

10-6 or 11-5

Racking my brain, but for the life of me I can't figure out why this would be on Major Wright? He went for the ball, exactly as a safety is supposed to do. He ensured it was an incomplete pass. If you want to blame someone, blame Lovie for running the cover-2 as his favored scheme. And before anyone replies with "the Bears don't run the cover-2 that much," they sure as hell ran it on that play, and it's the entire reason why Urlacher was deep middle on a pass coverage route.

Sure am glad the Bears got that season-ending win last year! Awesome job guys! Way to go! Totally made everything worth it!! You da man, Lovie!

-Lovie will get more than 50% of his replay challenges correct -Tice is forced to use double-teams and 3-step drops on the majority of pass plays because of Webb's ineffectiveness -Cutler gets dinged up and misses one game with a non-serious injury -Lovie/Tice are forced to replace Webb with Williams the first game after the bye week -Cutler complains about the OL to the media -Cutler comes back after the bye week and rips the league a new asshole (4000yds, 38 TDs, 14 INTs) -The DL causes havoc the entire year and gathers 45 sacks (10+ Peppers, 6 McClellin, 10 Melton, 4 Paea, 7 Izzy) -The Bears passing defense becomes one of the top ten -The Bears rushing defense suffers as a result of the dash to the QB and the opponents' desire to keep Cutler and Co. off the field -Alshon Jeffery takes over the starting Z spot after the bye week -Because of Marshall and Jeffery's dominance, and the desire to get Hester more snaps on offense, the Bears will run more 4-WR sets than in quite some time -Urlacher is not available for 2-3 weeks -Bush "Touchdown Vulture's" 6-10 TDs from Forte -Rodriguez gets minimal playing time as Kellen Davis asserts himself as a pass catching threat

Moderate sarcasm for the reasons you've listed.

If that's the case, then ask your friend WTF Lovie is seeing/watching if he thinks Webb is capable of playing LT competently. He sure has hell hasn't shown anything near that in the time on the field, so he must be one of those classic practice superstars like Dez "Stone Hands" White.

And how do you know this? Remember, it was Tice who drove this train to begin with since he was so enamored with Webb's blocking sled skills.

As if I wrote the article myself. I wish Tice would quit dicking around with Williams and having him play three or four different positions. It's unfair to Williams and it's not the same, true opportunity that his pet project Webb has received. It's almost like Tice is stacking the deck in favor of Webb, but Webb just sucks too much to get a trump card.