BearFan2000

"these are our lights and we like our lights, we know there's always room for improvement, we can always coach better and the lights can always shine brighter. I think they will be ready for the season"

signed a 5 year deal with the Eagles

yeah that was sad the way Hilgy went out and Kruetz has had a good long career here in Chicago, and a good guy as well and loyal as he has in past years taken less money to stay in Chicago and he has anchored the OL here for many years it will be odd not seeing him out there but wether he retires, re-signs with us, or he signs somewhere else I wish him the best. My pref of course would be that if he doesn't resign he retires a Bear. I wouldn't mind him being a position coach here.

One draft pick to go and that's Gabe Carimi hopefully he gets signed today along with some OL signings.

This! this is exactly what I was thinking once I heard we might lose him. Is he on his last leg of his career, yes. I say he's got 2 maybe 3 years left. But I think what gets lost is what you just pointed out. Kruetz has his responsibilities as the center, but he also has had to or felt he has to assist the guy to his left or right or both when they are not doing their job. Let's face it he's not lining up between two pro bowlers but rather guys who would be backups on most teams.

I too was not exactly pleased to hear we signed him but a lot of that has to do with his being an arse clown at times. Celebrating a routine first down when your team is being blown out, running his mouth in the media, etc. But what he does bring is size, speed, and ability we lack at WR. He hasn't produced as well recently but I do agree that being familiar with Martz system and having thrived in it is a positive, he will draw more defensive attention because of who he is he's not a receiver that defensive coordinators will opt to ignore or leave single covered or even roam free. His presence on the field should help Knox, Bennet, Hester, et all. He will fight for the ball, that has been one of my pet peeves about so many "WR"s we have shuffled through here. If you can't catch the ball don't quit on the play make sure if you can't catch it no one can. Honestly this is a mixed bag, I'm going to reserve judgment till I see how this plays out on the field.

in some ways it's like buying a pack of old football cards at a card show hoping to find a high dollar rookie card. I agree nearly all these guys are not going to be on the final roster, part of the reason we're seeing so many added is the 90 player TC roster over last years 80. Out of these UDFA if we find 2 or 3 that can make the roster with potential to at some point provide solid depth, or even crack the starting lineup like an Alex Linnenkohl or a Dane Sanzenbacher. UDFA doesn't mean they are crap. There are guys who do slip through the cracks that can turn out to be solid players. Maybe not stars. Some players may be very good but just never played on a team with a lot of media exposure so they are less known. That's not to say there aren't an awful lot of these guys who will never play a down because they just aren't good enough to play at the pro level. I actually like that we are signing quite a few of these guys the more you look at the better the odds of finding a keeper or two which is all I think we'll find is maybe one, two, or three that might make the final roster. Mostly these are just warm bodies for camp.

The FO could have cancer and decline to pay for chemo but instead opt for a bottle of aspirin.

Second that. That would make my day. He'd be a huge upgrade for sure.

I'd pass as well how many times have we picked someone up who had a breakout year only to take up a rosterspot here doing nothing. no thanks. We don't need to get older on D we need to get younger anyway

Same here didn't really visit the board for most of the lockout and mostly avoided following the news on it as it seemed the same thing every day bickering between millionaires and billionaires while I continue to try to make ends meet. But I am glad we will have football and this is going to be one crazy week or two getting the ball rolling. Once the preseason begins and the more distance we put between the lockout the more things will be back to normal. We're all itching for some football.

This has been a bears reciever trademark for years. If you can't make the catch you better darn well make sure no one else does. yet our recievers give up on the play if they can't make the catch.

watching this vid is getting me pumped, so glad URL is playing back a high level. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6FBt4N1vac

offense wins games, body language wins championships

His top five are as follows 1. NFC Championship, #2 seed, NFC North Title, 11-5. 2. Team health 3. Peppers and Idonije 4. Martz and Cutler team up for balance offense. 5. Tommie Harris MIA My thoughts on this list: 5. Tommie has been missing in action since 2007, I think none of us are surprised that he hasn't shown up this year. We are used to him not showing up and just wasting a roster spot. I think for tommie Harris to be a surprise he would have to have a productive season. That I think would surprise us. 4. I admit that this past offseason I did not want Martz and his pass happy offense to come to Chicago. When it happened I feared that he would get Cutler killed, because our line isn't good enough to play martz ball. The start of the season up to the bye week confirmed my fears Cutler already with one concussion and we still show no balance or interest in running the ball. But we have been surprised by the changes made in the bye week and it truly is like watching two different teams. The Bears self scouted, figured out what they could do, what they couldn't do, how to get the most out of what we have, how to mask the weaknesses we have. Started with running the ball more, taking advantage of Cutler's mobility, and having stability in the line. It's hard to build a solid line when you are constantly changing it up. It takes time for guys to work together stability is very important for an offensive line. 3. I'm iffy on whether I see this as a surprise, we paid him big bucks to come here and be a factor and he has done that. By being a factor he makes the others around him better. To see this as a surprise I guess would be the same to say it's a surprise that Cutler has stepped up. We have signed our share of money guys over the years to see them come here and do nothing, so in that sense of doubt it's a pleasant surprise that Pep is making an impact like we had hoped he would. Stats don't tell the whole story here. 2. Could not agree more and it's surprising to the point of freaky, like voodoo freaky. We entered the Divisional game with out a single player not available to play from our opening day 53 man roster. That is exceedingly rare, considering the beating Jay took at the start of the year I wasn't sure he'd be walking by the end of the year. To have the health that we have had to this point is almost unheard of. 1. couldn't agree more here as well who in their right mind would have predicted us to be in the NFC Championship game, have the record we have, win the north, get the #2 seed (now we did need help for that). Only someone drinking a keg of Kool-Aid may thought we'd be where we are. I know I didn't think we'd make the playoffs and especially going into the bye week. to finish the season wining 7 of our last 9 is the big surprise.

LOL wow, forgot this was a Green Bay paper. Didn't bother to spell check it that is too funny.

Either I'm too tired or something but I think I'm missing what's funny other than their facial expressions.

I really think this team needs to have it's own identity or the Bears will forever live in the shadow of the 85. What the 85 Bears did is great and special unto itself. But time for the 2010 Bears to make their own mark on history and bring back the Lombardi trophy to Halas Hall where it belongs.

No doubt they were expecting their pretty boy Brady and the Pats to host either the steelers or the Ravens and possibly expected us to visit the falcons.

I actually wouldn't mind them bringing in Chris Daughtry I thought he did a good job with the anthem in the the 2006/07 NFC Championship game. My biggest thing about the national anthem is I prefer it be sung straight without a lot of extra frills. Always felt it should be sung with seriousness and respect. Some people in my opinion butcher it and alter it. Maybe I'm too much of a purist. lol

If Cutler had done that it would have been one of the top stories this week. Props to Clay Matthews for stopping to give his autograph, and he said they were told by the stewardess that she'd be there.

LOL when I first saw the title of the thread I thought "are you kidding" but yeah that was a dumb throw he had some daylight to run the ball, though I think had he completed that pass to Hester the crowd would have erupted lol. We did play well in all aspects of this game and physical on D I loved seeing us challenging their receivers at the line and at the point of the catch we gave up very few easy catches While it would have been neat to have 25 year reunion SB Bears vs Pats, especially now after the jets beat them they could have been beat. I'm thinking Bears Steelers SB. How about Cutler.. THis is the guy we traded for. 2 passing TD's 2 rushing TDs in his first ever playoff game. Thought I heard something like he's only the second QB to throw for 2 and run for 2 in the same game. Who'd have thought after the disappointing loss at home against the Redskins before the bye week that we'd be one game away from our second Super Bowl appearance in 4 seasons.

in this crazy upside down season we've seen things this season that many, myself included thought unthinkable. after 7 games standing at 4-3 heading into a bye having lost 3 out the last 4 games heading into the bye. Healthy, D looking solid but the offense lacking any balance trying to play martz ball with a line that couldn't block their way out of a wet paper sack. Rarely running the ball, deep 7 step drops, empty backfields, trying to push the ball down field nearly every play. A stretch of four games that included a physical beat down at the hands of the Giants and Cutler getting concussed and sacked seemingly every time he dropped back. We were then treated the following week to Collins who looks better suited to sack groceries than don and NFL uniform, did his best throw the game away. The fact we won that game really reflects how pitiful Carolina was. With the bye week there was some relief knowing the team had one week off from embarrassing itself. It was a week of fans and local media demanding that the Bears start running the ball more and generally dogging the team, the defense was doing it's job but the offense was killing us. Then we find that something happened during the bye week that also seemed unthinkable martz changed his offensive philosophy to better suit and get the most out of the players we have. We saw balance between passing/running, we saw roll outs, play action, boot legs, we saw Forte and the run game emerge and and open the passing game and make the play action effective. Cutler looked more comfortable and in control and used his legs to make plays by either taking off or buying time to throw. This is the Jay Cutler we traded for. We then rip off 5 straight wins on our way to a 7-2 post bye record to finish at 11-5, heading to the playoffs as the number 2 seed. Now the playoffs start NFC seeding being 1. Atlanta, 2. Chicago, 3. Philly, 4. 7-9 Seattle, 5. N.O., and 6. Packers AFC seeding being 1. NE, 2. Pitt, 3. Indy, 4. KC, 5. Balt, 6. NYJ. first round matchups NFC - NO visiting Seatle and GB visiting Philly. I don't think anyone picked Seattle to dominate the defending champs a 10 point fav and many (myself included) thought NO would win by at least a couple TDs. But any given day and Seattle played out of their minds and NO looked like they expected to walk in and win. GB Philly was expected to be the better game matchup I figured GB would win this one and it was a close one officially ended on a Vick pick to seal it. AFC - Jets at Colts and Balt at KC. Both of these games I felt could about go either way. Didn't expect to see KC get destroyed and the Colts jets game went down to the wire. Indy left too much time on the clock and allowed a long return to set the jets up to steal this one. After first round of the playoffs last season's Superbowl contenders were both eliminated. the more surprising elimination being NO. Round 2 more craziness. NFC - GB at Atlanta and Seattle at Chicago. What was expected was a tough game in Atlanta and a walkthrough/potential trap game in Chicago. The bears put away the Seahawks by halftime/3rd Quarter. Gave up some quick scores at the end so the final score looked closer than the game was. The surprise here was seeing the packers beat the crap out of the Falcons in their house. We should have knocked them out in week 17, their presence has altered the course of the NFC playoffs. AFC - NYJ at Patriots and Balt visiting Pitt. Most surprising though was the win by the Jets, everyone assumed including myself that the superbowl would be NE vs someone from the NFC who would have their hands full trying to win. The jets put their best foot forward and like good foot soldiers they dipped their toes into an upset. I don't like either the Jets or the Pats but the superbowl just became more winnable. Ravens/Stealers game was close and entertaining including a heads up play by the Ravens but Pitt prevailed. NFC Championship game Bears host Packers. Certainly the marquee Conf Championship game this year one of the most storied and bitter rivalries, which oddly hasn't faced each other in the post season since the 40's. This game is going to be all out war. Bears will want revenge on the week 17 game on their way to their second SB in four seasons. Will the Bears regret letting the packers into the playoffs or will they show that that they can stop the hot packers in their tracks and send them back to Green Bay with the saying "maybe next year"I feel the Bears can take the packers, yes they blew out atlanta in atlanta. Bears packers games are usually close, and we should have and could have beat them week 17 with a more balanced attack, the Bears D held GB's explosive offense to 10 points 7 of that coming in the second half. It will be a tough win but I think the Bears can do it. AFC Championship game Jets at Pitt. I have to think the Jet's come up a step short and and see their season go down in defeet. Rex Ryan will finally have his foot in his mouth. Hey maybe the'll get some deals to do footwear commercials. Superbowl - Bears vs Steelers in Dallas. What a matchup of two similar teams tough D, both effective on the ground and both have mobile big armed QB's. This could be one of those classic superbowl matchups. And should be highly entertaining. still hoping to get my birthday wish a Bears Superbowl win.

Crazy isn't it, a win today and we get to see one of the NFL's marque rivalries fight it out to determine who represents the NFC in the Super Bowl.

If you haven't seen this, it's too funny.