BearFan2000

I thought it was strange to see Garza on the cover of the Spanish version. Out of all the lineman in the league they picked him? Figured no one outside of Chicago would have clue who he was. But you're right a lot can be read into the "Madden Curse" People just focus on any negative aspect of the guy's season to say "see, it's the Madden Curse" There are a ton of guys not on that cover who have down years or get injured. Our roster is full of guys like that. I think they were trying to break the pattern by putting Favre on the cover because he retired and we joked about him tripping over something and breaking an arm.

Voted several times clicking the vote again link. Not sure how many times you're allowed to vote. Looking at the Candidates Forte was only picked ahead of one of them, and that's Slaton. My gut tells me that it'll go to Ryan though I think Forte deserves a serious shot concidering what he has meant to the Bears offense. I forget what the exact stat but wasn't he like 36% of the Bears total offense. Take Forte out and the offense would haven't even been good enough to suck. #3 Matt Ryan #18 Joe Flacco #24 Chris Johnson #44 Matt Forte #89 Steve Slaton

for some reason it took me a while to locate the text in the post. Next time I'm online I'll add you to my friends list. Back to work on Monday so won't be on live as much as I'd been over shutdown. But I'll be on from time to time in the evenings.

So what is everyone's Xbox Live Gamertag? Got my wireless connection set up today (no more dragging my modem back and forth) and thought it might be fun to play some people from this board. my gamertag is "BF2K"

Thanks Pix for taking the time to run the contests and this board you do a great job as to all the admins of this site You all are a credit to Bears Nation. Thanks Chile, both the margin and the pickems were competitive. Always entertaining If it wasn't for the hot start on the season in the pick'ems I don't think I'd have finished in the top three. Congrats to both you and Bowlingtwig. Wining the survivor pool with only one loss in 17 weeks is pretty darn good. Looking back I wish I had picked the Lions opponents for all but 3 weeks of the season (since they play Bears, Vikes, and Pack twice). It would have made it easier lol. Oddly it's almost easier to pick against the spread than it was straight up. With the margin and survivor pools I tried to pick the upsets early and save the strongest teams for later but that doesn't always pan out. Looking forward to next years. Hopefully this time next year we are still rooting for our Bears. For now GO EAGLES Bear Down!

and that's where I believe a lot of the Bears problems were this year. It's one thing to have tallent, it's another thing to know how to utilize it. We put URL too close to the line and it nullified his greatest asset his speed. Getting him caught up in the traffic kept him from playing his game. We all know he has a weakness when it comes to shedding blocks, so what does Babich do puts him closer too those blocks. The same could be said in other places on the team. For example Booker was used often to run deep routes when he is not that type of receiver at least in this stage of his career. Developing hands of stone doesn't help him either but he wasn't utilized to his strengths. There are others but the point being that I look at this team and I say the blame is 50/50. I still believe this team has talent and are capable of a much higher level of play. But watching players being put in a lose lose situation is frustrating to watch. Seeing URL get swallowed up in the traffic. Watching our DB's play 10 yards off the ball while the opposing offenses simply slanted us to death. IMO you have 5 yards from the line of scrimmage to jam the receiver we say no thanks I'll just sit back in trail technique and hope I can cover him deep. Use the 5 yards rough him up, redirect him. We make it far too easy for opposing QBs. As a QB you know where you're receivers are supposed be and we simply allow them to be where they are supposed to be. We let anyone from pee wee league level QB's all the way through all pros pick us apart blind folded. Our only saving grace is when a receiver slips, there's a bad throw, or we get a pick. I'm tired of watching a wide open receiver running loose in the secondary catch the ball then have 4 guys converge on him but not a single one of those four guys decided to cover him. one of the plays that sticks out in my mind from the Texan game is the deep pass where Tillman is pointing to Manning because manning is out of position. You know what, instead of pointing to a teammate stay with him. I know this leaves your man uncovered on the sidelines but wasn't the ball already in the air when he was pointing. If Peanut stays with him there's a chance that he might break that up. Instead Tillaman holds up and points at Manning and by doing so allows plenty of separation. Then after they contact him the push him into the end zone (not the only time the bears tackled someone and pushed them forward a few yards in the process. IMO Babich must go. Firing the position coaches won't have any effect. The Scheme is set by the DC and HC. The position coaches mainly focus on coaching the responsibilities of their respective positions in that scheme not to define their role in it. However because Lovie has a lot of say in the defensive schemes and is the one pulling the strings on whomever the puppet is that's playing the part of DC means replacing the puppet doesn't guarantee the result will be any better. But I think it does have a lot to do with a coach getting the most out of his players. Rivera rode his players hard and pushed them. Not sure what Babich is doing, any other team and he wouldn't be a DC he was GIVEN the spot because he's a friend of Lovie's. I'd like to see Marinelli take Babiches job. The lions went 0-16 but not all due to him. There is just very little talent on that team and there's also a culture there that accepts losing or is at least so used to it that they don't expect much more. Imagine if Rod had some talent to coach? When a team that has as bad a record as Detroit did played they're hearts out despite it tells me he can motivate but was handicapped by a talentless team. Also the players we have need to step up and play better we let a back gash us and they just say wall I was in the wrong gap. The players themselves keep making the same mistakes over and over. They are played too much money to do that and it tells me they have little to no sense of accountability, whether they just don't respect the authority of their coaches or the coaches don't come down on them for those mistakes.

I'll probably get flamed for this but. I knew the inevitable outcome of this game and yes you'd have to be an idiot not to realize what a huge mismatch this game was. But that being said I for one am a big time USC Hater. I cannot stand that team or it's coach. So I will always root for the team playing them. The guy was going down and in the grasp of the other USC player before Mays left his feet and launched into the player. The reason the flag was throw was the violent way his head snapped to the side. That wasn't the only cheap shot laid but there were others and that is USC's MO they will hit you even if you are down or practically down. That said I do like his intensity but that kind of intensity does us no good if he draws flags like that. That will be called in the NFL 90% of the time. If he can play intense and play smart then I have no problem bringing him here. We could definitely use an intimidating presence in our defense.

I just find it very amusing that he winds up on a team that isn't going to let him bend them over a barrel like Green Bay did now that his true colors are showing. He's pulled this crap for how many years now? Honestly though the Jets should have known they were trading for damaged goods. But chose to take their chances. So it sounds as though the king decided not to mingle with his subjects but rather sit alone in his throne room. Where's your crown king nothing? It's clear why Mangini didn't want him or wasn't too high on bringing him there. Even funnier the guy they rejected became a star in Miami lol. I remember a game a few years back when Pennington went down to injury and the crowd cheered so they could put in the backup. The Jets got punked.

Seems that all you can find online is a list of the transactions, and player rating changes, etc. Not an actual file to download and apply to the the Xbox 360. Not a problem though as I have Xbox live now and have ordered a 12 month + 1 card along with the wireless network adapter. I didn't like the idea of running network wiring under my crawl space. I will say this though playing online against real people is kind of addicting. Only cons are you run into guys who don't finish, or lately I've seen guys who on offense just drop way back and run around then lob the ball downfield. Usually I either knock it down, get the sack or pick it off. They also never punt or kick the field goal they go for it on 4th down always even if it's like 4th and 30/40. They also rarely kick off normally but instead onsides kick. I'd much rather play people who take it seriously and actually play the game like you would an actual game. I always look for a realistic experience there are guys out there who play that way just sucks when you get into a game and some idiot plays the way I mentioned above. I've only been online twice as it's a bit of a hassle to move the modem to the other room and hook it up just to play live. I'd like to build a friends list of people from this board my gamertag is BF2K

nm Double post

Sadly I agree, would be surprised if anyone of the three get fired. I see assistants getting fired. There will be scapegoats but we'll be stuck with the the same three guys we had this year. And here I thought we got rid of the three stooges..... looks like all we did is hire their backups. I would like to see at the very least Babich gone yesterday. Turner has gotten something out of nothing, he does have his pet plays that he thinks are clever and have yet to work. But he hasn't had much to work with. With Lovie it seems that our defensive schemes will never stray too far away from the cover 2. However, the right guy in there can make a difference. The situation was the same with Chico and he got that D to play at a high level. I'm convinced that Babich was actually some janitor they found and promoted to DC and has no clue how to run a defense. I'm positive we're stuck with Lovie but with the right coordinator combination and a good offseason in the draft and free agency I think we could see improvement in the overall product on the field.

If you look at record only you could say 9-6 and barely missing the playoffs is respectable but it doesn't tell the true tale of how this team played. Early on my prediction was a sub 500 finish I predicted 6-10 and their record was better than that. We beat Indy soundly in their house and I though hey this team might actually be good. What followed was a mixture of decent games, games that we had won but snatched a loss out of the jaws of victory. The erratic play continued we lost games we should have won, won games we should have lost, and played that way till the end of the season. There were only a handful of convincing wins. But the majority of our games were either blown or somehow won at the last min. I understand that good teams pull wins out of their arses on occasion like we did in AZ in 2006. But for good teams that only on occasion not their MO. Good teams are consistent, and play with intensity. The only thing consistent about the 2008 Bears has been their inconsistency. When you ask yourself before game time, which team shows up today the one that beat indy, the one that blew it against tampa and carolina, or the one that shouldn't win but somehow pulls it out. For me it's the manner in which the team has played this season that I find more embarrassing than the results in the standings Overall Kyle has been one of the bright spots for this team Forte, what a find I liked this kid from day one and was thrilled that we dumped Seabass because I knew it would mean he'd be the starter. He hasn't disappointed me one bit. He's a tough kid with enough make you miss and speed to be dangerous and he's 10 times the blocking back that Ced was. It's nice ot have a back that can be in on all downs rather than only on running downs. Briggs, for once we give a guy a pay day and he completely earns it. I doubted last offseason that he'd still be here and he's not only still here but he is one of our best defensive players. Alex Brown, has stepped up his game and has really made his presence felt. Izzy has also made his presence felt and has stepped up. Hester, has done better at WR than I thought he would, but needs to either be a WR or a Return man he obviously can't do both. Olsen has been everything I had hoped he'd be this year I was beginning to worry but he's really stepped up and become a consistent target. Gould has been solid and another guy who didn't get lazy after his payday. If we didn't have a kicker like him I doubt we'd even have won half the games we did. Maynard has had a decent year and has been an asset in the field position battle. Manning has played well late in the season he had a rough game yesterday but he wasn't alone. Though his fumble on the return was costly in the end he has provided a solid return threat on kickoffs and has done well in the nickle. Lloyd probably had one of his better days as a WR yesterday than he's had in a while. Overall I have to think that the schemes we run on defense have more to do with the poor play than the individual players. I still think the talent is there but that talent is wasted on a flawed scheme. To an extent I say that's a positive that we have the talent but we need a DC who can get the most out of it and light a fire under these guys they have grown soft and need someone who will get on them. I'm sure there are more positives than this.

agree well said. And it's not that we only see the negative there are positives but many of us are too frustrated right now in the heat of the moment to consider those or look for them beyond the obvious ones. I highly doubt any bears fans on this board who are true fans will jump ship over this. Truth be told this team can only blame itself for not deserving to be in the playoffs we had a shot to back into the playoffs with help. I'm sure over the next 24 hours or so after all of us are done venting, and our blood pressure has returned to a safe level, then we'll start looking at the positives and begin thinking and discussing how to turn this team around. It's just that some of us arrive at the silver lining sooner than others. I'm already starting to chill out a little. We all want to see this team perform well and win. Today's loss is more a microcosm of this season and if it was a hard fought game where we came up short it would be different but we have played like this practically all year. It's more how they lost and how this season has gone that is most aggravating. Sure we could be worse off and be the lions, but for an 0-16 team often time they've shown more heart than the Bears this year but just can't seem to get out of their own way. Shouldn't we expect more?

Yes but that doesn't negate the reality of a team that plays like it could care less. A staff that seems ambivalent. Players that are undisciplined, not fundamentally sound, unprepared, and lack any passion for the game. We have a lot of over paid pampered babies on this team that are not holding their end of the bargain. For the past two years we've heard this defense talk about how go they are yet they fail to show it with any consistency on the field. Flaming is unfairly attacking someone beyond what's called for. I for one expect more from my team than what I've seen over the last two seasons.

Expect some of us to vent our frustration by threatening to change teams. *in my best Arnold voice* They'll be back.

Absofrigginloutly disgraceful. This team should be ashamed of themselves with a few exceptions. Things that burned me watching this game: 1. trademark start out looking like you care build a lead and then put it in neutral and allow the other team back into the game and then they look like the team that wants it more. We fight hard at the start and at the very end and are dumbfounded when it's not enough. 2. making the same dam errors in coverage that we've been making all year. 16 games in and we still constantly out of position in the secondary and obviously can't cover anyone till well after they've caught the ball for the first down. 3. These guys have played Hight School, College, and are now in the pros and still can't tackle there is no excuse for this period. 4. Hearing that the Bears players on the sidelines with their blackberrys, iPhones, etc. score board watching..... here's a clue watch your own dam score board you are loosing if you lose none of that means a dam thing. First of all Lovie should not have even allowed them to have those on the sidelines. Get your heads out of your arses and pay attention to the game. 5. How much money is tied up in that defense that continues to let this team down. 6. There is too dam much talent on this team to suck this bad. 7. I am so embarrassed to call myself a Bears fan. I know they don't deserve to be in the playoffs and it's their own fault. It has just become so frustrating to watch this team and it's self inflicted wounds. I don't know if a word exists that describes how sick I am of watching this crap.

I would agree with you, that's partly what I was thinking when I posted. Having him transition to a player/coach and have him work with our other safeties. I'd include Payne and Steltz along with Manning. Manning has shown a lot of improvement lately and I think Payne has good potential too. Steltz I'm not sure on yet. But if you could have Brown instill the football knowledge he has and work with them till their lights go on it could pay huge dividends. I know Mike has a passion for the game and would take some convincing to take a less active role on the field but if he could help the team by helping improve the instincts of his teammates it would be a way of contributing to the team. I think Mike is a team player and would be willing to do what he can to help the team. He could start doing that right now. Being on IR for at least one more game this year. He's signed through 2010 I believe, so it would be a good opportunity for the Bears to utilize his knowledge by training his replacements.

What's the differences between the types of games. I chose quick match and unranked but there's a lot of variety in game types. The first game I was playing the cowboys and the guy dropped out of the game. Second game was against the Colts and it was scoreless till the 4th quarter and the final score was something like 10-3. I must admit one day into xbox live and I'm a bit overwhelmed by the choices. It also updated my xbox so now my dashboard looks way different. I was just getting used to the old one. I'm sure the opponent that was running up the score smelled blood and realized I was new at it and took advantage of that. Were the shoe on the other foot I would have stopped pouring it on once the game was out of reach 28-0 mid to late 3rd quarter when quarters are only 5 min would make me just try and kill the clock and end the game. When you go online do you have the option of picking a game to join or are the players on both ends selecting a game and xbox live searches from the players who are looking for an opponent like yourself. One thing I have found is that I need to spend some time in the practice mode for a while till I get the hang of it I suck right now since I haven't touched a Madden game for more than 2 years. Either that or play online as the Lions LOL. I have found some good tutorials on Youtube on reading defenses and running the ball that are pretty in depth. Having only a defensive tackle's background I know next to nothing about reading defenses pre-snap or during the play. I find myself throwing picks or getting sacked regularly. I know I tend to hold onto the ball too long and wait too long to throw to an open receiver. Running the ball is hit and miss so far. I've broken of some big runs but but have had more than my share of runs stuffed in the backfield. One thing that hasn't changed is that no matter how well your doing in a game that when the game is on the line the CPU has an uncanny ability to come up with a series of breaks that they need to win and there's no point in challenging you will never win a challenge, ever. Another curious thing is that the spot of the ball always favors the CPU. I can tackle the back in the backfield on first down and it will be second and 10 from the same spot, yet if I get tackled in the backfield it's at least 2nd and 11 or 2nd and 12. They have fixed the punt returning somewhat it is less common to fumble as you get nailed the moment the ball arrives (with no halo penalty) however it's still difficult to get any return yardage whatsoever unless they are in max protect and their gunners are inside the formation. The QB sneak on 3rd or 4th and 1 or less is unrealistic. Normally it's a battle to push for the first I've yet to gain less than 4 or 5 yards with it. That should be much more difficult to pick up than that. The sprint trigger doesn't seem to help much till your in the open field which makes sense since that's usually when a back or receiver shifts into that second gear. Using it before that makes it too easy to outrun your blockers.

I believe it is his longest run since his last full season which seems like ages ago. I want to think that was 2004 but I could be wrong. Thing is no one here is at all surprised other than he's lasted this long. point being he can't be depended on. As much as I like him I want to see someone else as the starter next year. I do not want to see him as a starter next season. If his career is over I think he would make a good secondary coach provided Babich and his boys are gone. He's got a great mind for the game his body no longer seems able which is a shame but that's the reality of it.

solved the issue. There seems to be no way to do it other than thru Xbox Live I temporarily moved my DSL modem to the room where my 360 is and connected it and got it to work. Signed up for a trial gold membership, went to quick match and before I could play it had me download the game updates. All good now. I'm going to get one of those wireless adapters for the 360 and should be good as gold. Played a few games online won 1 and lost 2 the second or third one I got blown out by the pats 41-0 the jerk I was playing was running up the score. Already up by a bunch he would onside kick and use no huddle, timeouts, and getting out of bounds to score a few late TD's. Darn near pulled the plug on the game it was no fun anymore. I haven't gotten the feel for Madden 09 last version I had was 06 on the old Xbox. So challenging people online as a way of playing your first games probably not a good idea. By the way my id or whatever it's called on Xbox live is the same as here but shortened "BF2K"

If they were smart they'd treat it like any other game and play to win. There's been a multitude of examples of why resting guys doesn't work. Regardless of us I think they will play to win but I wouldn't be surpassed if they pull their starters if the game isn't close either way. That may be wishful thinking because we need them to beat the Vikings to help our cause but from their perspective I think it makes sense to keep their starters in a regular rhythm going into the playoffs.

Is there a site where I can download the Madden 09 updates and put them on a disc? I currently don't have an XBOX Live account or hook up. I have an Xbox 360.

I think you need a mixture of both. You can have both extremes and we've had the laid back extreme for far too long. On the other hand you don't need a loose cannon or a walking tantrum. You need a guy who can be the pit bull when needed but can also be the mellow guy when needed but knows when to be which.

Agreed, looking back, and I can't believe I'm saying this but, we should have just hung on to Moose. At the start of the season though there was little support to keep Moose and I was one of us who was happy we picked up Booker but man has that been a waste.

Anyone else having problems with the Chat room?