jason

Up until recently (i.e. this past week), I think the Cardinals were under the mistaken impression they were on their way up. Now, however, they realize they need more than a few pieces.

1. The Cardinals suck. 2. The Cardinals know they suck. 3. The Cardinals have one chip to bargain with: Larry Fitzgerald 4. The Cardinals need to rebuild more than one position 5. The Bears need a WR 6. Fitzgerald is one of the best WRs in the NFL 7. Fitzgerald fits almost exactly what the Bears lack 8. Fitzgerald is unequivocally better than the chances and risks taken with a first round pick So why not offer the Cardinals next year's first round pick for Larry Fitzgerald? Why wouldn't that work? Why would they not take the offer, or at least make a cheap counter-offer? Maybe a 1st and a 5th gets the deal done. If so, I say this happens in the amount of time it takes JA to rub the haze out of his eyes and wipe the perpetual drool from his bottom lip.

I'm weighing the pros and cons of going to the game in Oakland while on vacation. PRO Get to see the Bears CON Cost Potential for losing to a good Raiders team Horrible Raider fans potentially throwing things at me or pouring beer on me Care to weigh in?

It's that time of year again, kids, where I say "let's get TO" and only a few agree with me. This time around Wilbon agrees with me and makes some very good points. http://espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/story/_/id/...e-terrell-owens BTW - 72 catches, 900+ yards, 9TDs last year in less than a full season for the miserable Bengals franchise. And he's not a better option than Sanzenbacher, Williams, Bennett, Knox, or Hester?! C'mon. At the very least Angelo should be making a pitch. And if TO causes problems, no harm done. Cut him. Doesn't fit the system? Who cares?! Most of you don't like it anyway, and it's plainly obvious that Martz is not even running the full Martz system he wants. Again, if he actually doesn't fit the system, cut him. I don't see how this is a bad idea.

Were you linking to this article? The one about Chris Williams?

The bolded part is my entire point. People have such a hard on for Martz that if he doesn't have 10 more runs than passes he's all the sudden "pass happy." Use what's working; that's obvious. But when all but four teams in the NFL have pass > run, then it's not just Martz and the Bears offense like some would have people believe. And, yes, I didn't like the runs up the middle. But keep in mind that multiple-stuff late in the game was off tackle 2 or 3 times in a row.

I'm happy the Bears were able to win since you're only able to get a game infrequently at best.

You know, the funny thing is: I don't care who the OC is as long as he produces points for the Bears in bunches. It's just my personal philosophy that guys who do that are typically more pass oriented and explosive, rather than the "hold on to the lead" types. And, as my next point will prove, the Mark Twain quote doesn't apply. 1. Martz has a HISTORY of being a passaholic, but the game in question can't be used as statistical evidence towards that history. His balance was PERFECT last game, 32 each (I'm discounting the one Cutler run because I can't remember if it was simply a sack on a busted OL assignment). Hard to argue with numbers of that game. Which is what we're talking about. But if you were to bring up the season's stats, the Bears have a 42%[R]/58%[P] balance, which is not too far away from 50% each. Furthermore, it's right in the middle of the pack (tied for 20th, 1% behind being tied for 15th, 7 play differential) in regards to the NFL run/pass distribution. Only 4 teams (Jags, Niners, Chiefs, Texans) have run more than they have passed. Hell, if only 20 of those plays were runs instead of passes, the Bears would be tied for 9th highest run-heavy offense in the NFL. So, this whole notion of a mad bomber as Bears' OC this season is absolutely, unequivocally false. 2. Having a problem with which plays are called is a completely different issue. I don't think anyone would say they liked the runs up the middle in the second half of the TB game. But even a football rookie has to acknowledge that play calling needs to be diverse enough so that the good plays are more effective (i.e. need a few inside runs). I would have prefered one or two inside, 5 or 6 outside.

My previous post shows there was a semblance of balance in the second half. Furthermore, the run wasn't nearly as effective in the second half as it was in the first. All this criticism of "passing while up 10 points" is insanity. As if the other teams aren't smart enough to know the Bears want to grind out the clock and purposely changed their defensive game plan to stop the freaking run. Look at the stats if you don't believe it. Oh, and by the way, if you hadn't noticed, the Bears' D isn't exactly guaranteed to hold that kind of lead and give up minimal points. I agree that the run calls themselves were semi-unoriginal, and there should have been more diversity (i.e. sweeps, counters, pitchouts), but to act as if any pass plays were bad calls is ridiculous. This notion that Martz has been out-thinking himself, trying to be too smart, or trying to live up to his genius reputation is equally ridiculous. You guys KNOW he wants to install a 80/20 pass blend, but he made fundamental changes against his own wishes which prove he's not trying to be/do any of the above. Whether the changes are dictated by Lovie is anyone's guess. If they are, then I fully believe Martz pouts in the mirror at night because he doesn't want to run more than he passes. It just seems that having a grudge against Martz is the flavor of the month, regardless of what he does. -Nothing but run plays? Too predictable! -Run majority/Pass minority? You have to pass the ball more for the run to be effective! -Pass majority/Run minority? You have to run the ball more for the pass to be effective! -Nothing but pass plays? That ain't Bear football! I know the perfect scenario for most Bear posters on this board is probably a 60/40 or 70/30 split that favors the run, but as shown by my previous post, the run game wasn't working the same as it was in the first half. This could be due to a number of reasons (e.g. worse OL blocking, predictable run calls, less advantageous run calls, Defense loading up to stop the run). So what do you do when you're the OC of a team that is having a hard time running the ball? You pass.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter much, because Louis, Spencer, and Webb are average at best. It doesn't matter how you rearrange the dech chairs on the Titanic.

First half vs. Second half. He had 80 yards in the 1st Quarter (until the safety) and another 30 in the 2nd Quarter! The OL was doing much better run-blocking in the first half. By my count Total - R:14, P:20 A little pass-heavy, but not egregiously so. YPC in the rushing game: 14 carries for 40 yards: 2.85 YPC (with Hester's end around) 13 carries for 46 yards: 3.53 YPC (without Hester's end around) A little deeper and we see One carry for -6 yards Two carries for -3 yards each Two carries for 0 yards each Two carries for 1 yard each One carry for 3 yards In a world that requires 4YPC for a first down to happen (unless you go for it on 4th down), that makes 8 carries out of 14 that didn't meet the requirement. And if you take away Hester's trick play, it's still over 50% at 7 out of 13. On top of that, there were the following scenarios: 3rd & 9 - Mandatory Passing Down 2nd & 16 - Mandatory Passing Down On top of that... Cutler was having pretty good success in the second half, throwing for 127yards and several completions over 10 yards. ================================================================================ ========================== The point is, you can't just say, "Oh, Martz shouldn't be calling passes!" when there is still plenty of time in the game. It's ignorant and elementary. The run game is often used to set up the passing game. Something obviously changed in the second half - whether it be the Bears' OL getting gassed or the Bucs making a run-defense adjustment.

1. Agreed. 2. Agreed. 3. Been saying it for a while 4. Agreed. 5. Gimme a freaking break. Dude can't call runs 100% of the time. The OL is too weak to do so. That was plainly obvious from the run-after-run-after-run stuffed by the Bucs because they KNEW the run was coming. 6. Agreed.

DJ Moore = Mike Brown The guy is simply ALWAYS around the ball. Awesome.

I don't think that makes much sense, because when you get there you still have traveled. In any other context you want to acclimate. That's just common sense. It's like preparing for a marathon by running your neighborhood circle because it's what you know and feel comfortable with. I'm happy with the win, but I don't like this decision. Glad it didn't hurt the team.

Now is not the time to sit back in a zone and get minimal pressure.

And then the most recent series was three run plays in a row inside the 10. I hate both of them. Play-action is crucial when inside the 20.

Wow. What a crazy back-and-forth sequence right there. INT, INT, Safety.

Awesome. The OL fooled us a few plays into thinking they were turning the corner. So much for that.

How Cutler manages not to blow his top every week is beyond me. If it's not the OL hanging him out to dry, it's a WR dropping an easy reception or a RB tipping a ball for an INT.

Freaking Williams.

That was great play: -Design -Execution Wonderful TD all set up by severe angle blocking on the OL, a pulling OG, and great cuts by Forte.

It was just reported that the Bears practiced on Wednesday and Thursday in the US, then flew Friday. Meanwhile, the Bucs flew earlier in the week. As someone who has flown across the globe numerous times, I can tell you jet lag is a real issue. It takes more than a day to overcome the time differences in some instances. Some times it doesn't. I've flown from the US to New Zealand and recovered immediately. However, I've flown to Europe on more than one occasion that took multiple days to recover. In my opinion, it was a bad decision by Lovie and ownership to fly late in the week. If they come out slow and lethargic, it will not surprise me.

Here's how I look at it: Hester has changed the game. Much like how Lawrence Taylor facilitated the rise of the all-important Left Tackle, Devin Hester has impacted the game in many ways. Never before have I seen so many teams pooch kick on kickoffs (prior to this year) and shank balls out of bounds on punts. Hester caused this. He has single-handedly caused opposing special teams and their coaches to alter how they approach the Bears. He has single-handedly caused opposing head coaches to concede good starting field position for the Bears in exchange for safety. He is already the greatest return man of all time. The comparison to Deion Sanders and Rod Woodson is garbage, because those two guys have INT returns. Sanders has 19: 9 INTs, 6 Punts, 3 KOs, 1 Fumble --- So he actually has 9 ST return TDs Woodson has 17: 12 INTs, 2 Punts, 2 KOs, 1 Fumble --- So he actually has 4 ST return TDs Hester: 13 Receptions for TD, 11 Punts, 5 KOs, 1 Missed FG --- So he actually has 17 ST return TDs. He has more ST return TDs than Sanders and Woodson COMBINED. If we include everything, then it's Hester with 30 total, Sanders with 22, and Woodson with 17. Hall of Fame. Period. To not include him is, much like Devin Hester, ridiculous.

Seriously, STFU. http://espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/story/_/id/...nect-management If you were really concerned, you'd be playing HARDER, to ensure your next massive pay day. Instead, you will use this as an excuse to slack off so you don't get a boo boo.

It's not that such a big deal is being made out of the scheme, it's the success of the scheme that showed results. It gives support to the idea that if given time, Cutler can throw bullets and the Bears' WRs can get open. Unfortunately, time is something they haven't had a lot of lately.