jason

Yes, like last year when the OL was clearly not the reason they made it that far, and was VERY clearly the reason they stopped where they did.

Could be because the media is full to the brim with spineless, shit-stirring, yellow journalists who think their "talent" is to be admired alongside the athletes, and they are the reason we turn into sports highlight shows. If I were a professional athlete, all my interviews would be like a player (can't remember who) did a few years ago. Q1: Blah blah blah. A1: One game at a time. Q2: Blah blah blah A2: One game at a time. And so on.

I believe they've already told him that in regards to the OL.

Judging by what no-steroid Merriman did with the OL, there's a decent chance Osi will have another highlight reel.

HA!! Nice one. And too true. Carimi should be at LT, and Webb should be at RT. Webb proved, once again, that he's below average as a LT.

Expected? Yes (which is already a shame). Unavoidable? Absolutely not. Everyone and their brother - except JA and staff - thought the OL was the #1 flaw, and next to nothing was done to address it in FA. It showed. Badly. There are probably fans on Bills message boards jerking it to Merriman right now because of how bad the Bears' OL played in the first half. Admittedly, I'm more of a glass half empty kind of guy. But it disgusts me that a known problem was more or less ignored. If you want my glass half full side, I think the DL has the potential to be great. I liked what I saw out of Gholston for the most part, and Okoye looks like a beast. Add in Melton, Izzy, and Peppers and I am nearly salivating. And that's not even considering Paea's potential. As always, the D has to shoulder the load.

Two, easy, quick thoughts... 1) OL Bad. 2) DL Good. No real surprises in the first preseason game. Although, I knew the addition of the Barbarian would be something I would like. Dude runs like he's on fire.

Great question! Thinking about the apparent speed increase last year, and the muscle he has added each year, I think he would have put up somewhere near the top 3 in the league every year. Last year would have been somewhere around 1300yds rushing. I figure a 5 yd per game increase is pretty minimal, and the number of explosive plays (+40 yds) would have gone up by 4 or 5 for the year. I honestly believe it's about 80% OL and 20% RB. You can put any NFL-ready RB behind the 1990s Dallas OL and figure in around 1500yds per year.

Exactly! The NFL threw the baby out with the bathwater on this one. The double jeopardy approach was heavy handed, and just having the "must be within 5 yards of the ball"-rule would have been sufficient for their fake concern. I say fake because it's not like the difference between 5 and 10 yards will mean much since the players are still running 15-50 yards and making collisions anyway.

Dirty play from a borderline dirty player. One of the OLinemen should have done more than confront that turd. I bet he doesn't do that to us because he knows Olin will...nevermind.

I like that I can't haven't been able to see this game live. From the comments you guys have made I'm nearly sick to my stomach. The catch-22 for Martz disgusts me. Implement your actual entire offense, something that can attack a defense and exploit matchups for maximum gains: Get QBs hurt. Don't implement your actual entire offense, and your offense will probably finish 15th in the NFL. My god...why in the world was the OL not upgraded? The lack of attention is absolutely maddening. That will be the downfall of this team the entire year.

Is there an echo in here? That's why I said it was sort of two different topics. On one hand you can't blame Martz for wanting to install his offense. You can blame the lack of talent at the OL that severely limits the play-calling and playbook. If he had his way, the Bears would probably throw the majority of the time and Cutler would be over 4000yds. On the other hand, Martz has to realize that the Bears do not place a premium on OL; as such, he needs to modify his strategy to maximize the abilities on the team (i.e. run more, use fewer 7-step drops). Ultimately, it comes back to the fact that the Bears OL has been subpar to horrendous for roughly 5 years, and until that gets fixed any OC that comes in will have to apply his offense as if it were on crutches.

I'm not sure what he's talking about either. My "demotion" didn't involve you. We've had friendly banter and you never cried like a little girl when one of your posts was rightfully modified by an admin.

Yes. I do think that. And while it would be a terrible waste of a good RB in Forte, it would be nice to have a consistently prolific offense for once in my lifetime. At least the chance at it would be great to see. The Bears have always been about D, and I love that, but it would be awesome to know my team was putting up 30 points on offense every day, regardless of opponent.

Yes. Good point. What CAN be coached, however, is proper route running...something that Knox is probably the worst at out of all the WRs on the team. And that's not even considering his apparent lack of football instincts (i.e. turning out when Cutler throws in). Since it wasn't an epidemic with any other WR, I'm going to go ahead and put it on Knox. Speed? Good. The other stuff? Probably led to 6-10 INTs (I did the film study and math last year). All that said, I like him. I think he's solid and has a lot of potential. It's why I didn't think the Bears needed a WR the entire time everyone was circle-jerking each other about the possibility of getting a "Big WR"©. And now look...the Bears have a big WR and lots of people think Knox should still be in the lineup. Knox - Hester - Bennett was fine. Only two things were missing last year: 1) Time to grow, 2) Time to throw

I would like to point out that's why I'm not an admin on this board even though I was an admin on the other board, and posted way back when it first started (as well as Webway Monsters). My "demotion" stemps from too many huwt feewings.

1. Drake apologizes 2. Drake never talks to Biggs again 3. Biggs cries and continues to write garbage Problem solved.

LOL. Great. I didn't know one of the guys being trusted to protect Cutler had on roller skates.

Nobody wants to see a player hurt, but let's be honest...was this guy going to see the field anyway? I see him as at BEST the #5 guy behind Williams, Knox, Hester, Bennett, and from what I've read he might not be ahead of Sanzenbacher.

These things act as the cloud of cheapness that hangs over the Bears and negates the high profile, big money signings of guys like Peppers and Cutler.

I don't know for sure if I'm included in the "negative" side of things, but I suspect it's a veiled nudge. What I want to know is this... If person A sees something on the field that the Bears suck at, points it out, and that thing is never addressed, shouldn't they keep pointing it out? After all, this isn't the site to just praise everything as perfect. And if that same thing remains relatively unaddressed, but one of the coaches says things are suddenly great, why should anyone drink the koolaid? Finally, if a counter argument arises wherein a poster says something similar to "they know what they're doing, you don't, and I'm crying into my keyboard because you guys are so negative," isn't their post, which is positive when it comes to the Bears' side of the report, the actual post that is directly focusing on another poster, and NOT Chicago Bears football?

To me this seems like two different topics almost. Agreed with your post, in part. If Martz consistently uses the 7-step drops, I have a feeling this OL will look like flaming shit. He has to at least modify some of his gameplan towards the teams' talent, or lack thereof. Don't you wish, however, that he could deploy the entire playbook and didn't have to hold back because the OL is subpar?

This is a great post, and I realize you did it tongue in cheek, but there are obvious differences you've ignored and some things you've modified. First, and most important, the draft was a completely different animal back then. There were a ton more rounds and scouting was much more advanced. The odds of picking up a good player later were significantly better. Not to mention the fact that the other leagues were a much more viable source of quality players than today. Back then guys were going where they wanted to, where they thought they might get money, and the NFL wasn't the juggernaut it is today. The cream almost always rises today; back then it sometimes settled a little lower. Second, the Bears back then paid more attention to the OL than they do now. Four OLinemen in the 1983 draft alone! If JA had 11 rounds the Bears would still only pick up one guy for the OL. 1981 - T - 1st 1982 - T - 5th 1982 - G - 6th 1982 - T - 8th 1983 - T - 1st 1983 - C - 4th 1983 - G - 8th 1983 - G - 8th 1984 - G - 3rd 1984 - G - 4th 1985 - T - 8th That's 11 guys in 5 drafts! And if you ignore the 8th rounders, that is still 7 guys! Remember, you miss all the shots you don't take. Compare that with the last 5 years of the Bears draft and you get 6 guys...4 of which are 7th rounders! Clearly there was more attention paid to the OL back then. As for Covert,Thayer,Hilgenberg,Bortz and Van Horne, a lineup of 1,4,X,8,1 in respect to their round, you have to look at the aforementioend draft differences. But I do admit that there are similarities to at least the draft consistency of those players starting. Current: Webb, Williams, Garza, Louis, Carimi (7,1,4,7,1) Finally, this clamor for OL help is not just because of this year's training camp. This is something that has been mentioned for multiple years, since before Chris Williams was even drafted. Good thread start, and I really do appreciate the comparison on the stroll through memory lane, but you and I both know there are major differences.

Thank you. It's not like those of us saying the OL sucks, and sucked last year, don't have a mountain of evidence to build on. But Tice comes out with one article blowing the collective OL this year and we're supposed to believe they're suddenly top 10 in the NFL...even though I'm pretty sure he said some glowing things about False Start Frank before last season. I suspect this year will imitate last year: D & ST carries the team, offense performs moderately while struggling to keep Cutler upright.

I will gladly chow down, Grizz. But I don't think I will. The OL has stunk for multiple years in a row, and this group doesn't make me very hungry.