jason

BINGO! Great gameplan on defense. Great play on defense. All ruined by a horrible defensive playcall that left Vasher on an island, and pulled in the safety for run support, when it should have never happened in the first place. The call was a bush-league call, something that is difficult to explain to anyone who understands football strategy.

I don't agree with the concept that the WRs/TEs were horrible, atrocious, or whatever. 1. Two INTs appeared to be the receivers' fault, but who is to say which adjustment is called for in those situations? I've also said that I trust Jay Cutler on those routes, but it's entirely possible that the receivers were correct, and Cutler was wrong. Afterall, Clark's been here a while; Cutler has not. 2. Where are all the "drops" you guys are talking about? I only saw a few legit "drops." Others were just misconnects between QB and WR/TE. If, as I suspect, you guys are giving drops to the receivers on many of the close plays, then you have to point at Cutler again, because the pass wasn't perfect. You can't always expect the receiver to reach behind him, or really low, or really high, or whatever else, when he's got defender mere feet away trying to dislodge the ball and head from the offensive player. It's a ridiculous expectation, and the onus is taken off of the QB, who, while moving, wasn't running full speed, and didn't have too many passes where he was literally being pushed, held, tackled, etc. Did Clark quit on a route that was probably a TD? Yes. Did Clark possibly screw up and lead to an INT? Yes. Did Knox possibly screw up and lead to an INT? Yes. Did McKie (surprise) drop an easy dump off? Yes. Where are all the other screw ups that made the receivers so horrible?

How can you NOT blame coaching for a part of the loss? At the very least, the most important play of the game was bad coaching. You do not, DO NOT, pull the safety for run support when you are nursing a lead with a minute left. You make the other team beat you by small chunks, eat the clock, and force them into the mistake when they HAVE to go deeper than they'd like. You don't open the window for the long play, especially when the support is provided from behind a DB whose coverage has been dubious at best over the last two years or so.

I wasn't clear enough in my original post. I didn't say it was coaching, just that it was a bad call. I meant, "bad call on Mannelly's part." It was completely boneheaded to get cute in that situation. The pinched in safety on the game-losing TD pass, however, looks like coaching.

Great job Noots! I couldn't agree more. Love the write ups.

Knox looked good in limited time. Wolfe looked good in limited time. Manning didn't look too bad on kick returns. Afalava looked alright. Wale looked pretty damn awesome. Bennett looked pretty good. Most of the defense looked good the entire game.

I don't care if there are 22 players on defense, you don't make that call in that situation. The Bears were up by two, had a slight edge in momentum, and basically gave a field goal away. To be quite honest, the Bears defense - minus one play - did a great job tonight. With one Cutler INT leading to what amounted to a two yard "TD drive" by the Packers, and the fake punt leading to a gimme field goal, it's a game the Bears should have won. They put in the requisite effort, but the offense shit the bed and is almost completely responsible for the loss. Not a great start, but there is definitely a silver lining to all of this. If the Bears' O, ST, and coaching doesn't completely blow it tonight, then Vasher is never in that situation. Speaking of which...where the hell was the safety support on that play? Oh right...up near the OL for some unknown reason (read: bad coaching). I'm not worried, guys. I think the team learns from this, comes back stronger, and does well the rest of the season.

#1 - It looked like Clark gave an inside juke when Cutler was rolling out, so Cutler threw it to lead for THAT route. Oops. Clark went the other way. #2 - That's just a great play by a packer DL. #3 - It looked like the WR (who?) gave an inside juke when Cutler was rolling out, so Cutler threw it to lead for THAT route. Oops. Clark went the other way. #4 - Forced throw by Cutler. He was trying to win the game by himself, and he shouldn't have thrown it. So, I'd say that's 2/4. Sure, we could take away the second INT because it was simply an unreal play by the defensive player, but we could also give Cutler one or two that the Packers dropped. Not a great start, but not nearly as bad as it looked.

This is the correct answer. If Tommie and the D-Line don't get pressure, Rogers will go for 300+, a couple TDs, and the Bears' O might not have the horses to keep up (yet).

I, too, loved this guy coming out of college. But it's like I've said before, this is all situtational. Leonard Pope - Goes to a team that hardly uses the TE because they have two all-pro WRs, and the next option is a good WR. Vernon Davis - Goes to an absolutely putrid team with a horrible QB situation. Add that to the fact the his new coach is a strict disciplinarian, and Davis is, evidently, mentall frail. Marcedes Lewis - Goes to a team that believes running is the best option on offense, and the second best option. With a pure game manager at QB, and average to bad WRs to protect the passing game, there is no reason to feel threatened by the tight end. Put any of those three guys on the Bears and they would have been used significantly more.

I usually view them as if they are from someone who hasn't seen the games, and only the highlights on Sportscenter. Cutler's good, but he isn't THAT good. The receivers on this team have been doing pretty well this preseason when Cutler has been in the game.

Remember boys and girls, it's below the waist, not below the knees. Here'sthe link to the rule on crackbacks. Ignoring that fact, it's chicken-shit for him to go low on a guy who is clearly not looking at him, and slowly drifting towards him. If Favre would have just dipped a shoulder he would have destroyed the defensive player and gotten all sorts of credit from ESPN...like Hines Ward does.

I'm sure he won't return them all like he did in the past. He'll split time with more than one other guy at punt return duties. They have to keep him semi-fresh at WR for the deep routes.

I don't know if we have a "great" #2 right now, but McCown is too close to "you know who" for me to feel comfortable about it.

1) This thread takes a stretch before it actually applies to the Bears. 2) This thread is venturing too far into the political arena. Gun laws? Federal vs. State law? C'mon. I vote that it gets moved to a different section or deleted entirely.

Since I don't know the play call, I can't say who is right. Hester did pause, but once again, I don't know what they were supposed to do. To say that Cutler threw the ball to the spot Hester "would" have been is conjecture at best.

See ya. Feel bad for him, but I'm sure everyone is tired of waiting around for his body to work. It's a real shame too, because I thought he looked pretty good versus the Giants.

But Tom Cruise revitalized his career with a hilarious performance in Tropic Thunder. COMPLETELY unexpected.

Please watch the game tape vs. the Giants

Bennett looked pretty damn good against the Giants when he snagged one off the grass and caught another diving bomb from Cutler. Oh, and Hester looked pretty damn good when he inhaled a rocket acrossed his body when Cutler was rolling out...not to mention the fact that he would have easily had a TD if Cutler had hit him when he was WAAAY behind the defense.

Good question about whether or not I'm happy Farv is back in the division. I'm not sure. I just want him to go the F away. And like others in this thread, I don't normally wish injury on a player. HOWEVER, I'm fully crossing my fingers for some Joe Theismann shit to happen to Farv. Absolutely sick of this guy, his story, his flip-flopping, and the constant media fellatio he gets.

The only justice the football gods can provide is a career ending injury for this dickhead so that we never have to hear ESPN slobber all over him again, we never have to hear about the games-played streak again, and we never have to hear about the possibility of a comeback...AGAIN.

I think that everyone agrees on AP at #1. After that, where does Forte rank?

I'm constantly amazed at fantasy breakdowns. How the HELL did you get Forte and Manning? Unless scoring is way down for QBs, you're playing with a few people who clearly don't understand fantasy.