DABEARSDABOMB

Because Forte is going to cost a lot more money and you rarely get to use 2 RB at the same time (yes you can mix the load but you still are talking about a set amount of carries). Plus you are advocating dropping a 28 year old Bennett to build around a 31 year old Miller. In no world does that make sense. Also, because the cap hit on Forte will be more then Marty who is actually under contract for next year. In a 2 TE set, you are also limited, but in this case, we aren't pissing a ton of cap space into the spot. I respect the hell out of Forte (and Urlacher) for that matter and what they did for this franchise, but it is also a business and if Langford and Carey look capable and can do it for peanuts, you go that route and invest the other resources in other spots, such as the oline or defense. By the way, if Forte wanted to come back for another year, I'd be okay with it, but I'm not about to hand him a 3-4 year deal (not unless Langford's legs fall off or game film gets out and makes him look like crap). I also don't think Forte is going to want to come back next year anyway (and share the load with a rookie).

The defense might be awful, but it plays well against Cutler. I hope Jay has a good game against them, but either way, first step is Denver. GB's D against the Cutler led Bears is like the Giants D against Brady...some kind of, in general, kryptonite (yes Brady won this past week...but the Giants D sucks against the league and then gives the best QB in the league a hard time) .

I am fired up but then I looked at who we are chasing and Packers and Falcons still have a nice path to the playoffs. It doesn't help that our conference record is absolutely brutal, which will hurt when it comes to tie-breakers. I still can't see a team with Rodgers crashing that hard and missing the playoffs (unless his oline gets him killed), although I could see Atlanta running into issues. The back half of our schedule is manageable. Had we pulled out one of those games, we'd be in business. Then again, we kind of stole that Chiefs game. Still...we got a chance, but to realistically have a shot, we'll have to win at least one of these next two. Win them both and well, even better.

Also, Langford and Carey are both significantly younger then Forte. Miller is 31. Bennett is 28.

Marty has consistently been one of the best TE's in football. Miller has played well and looked good as a 2nd TE. In fact, having him and Bennett is much better then just Miller, but dropping Bennett for a guy who has put up two good games (or really 1 great catch and then a solid 2nd game) is just crazy. Miller has missed something like 3 consecutive years entering into this year. This isn't a 23 year old draft pick emerging. This is a solid player, but one who is extremely injury riddled and as such, is perfect to have as a reserve. I also think he benefits from being the 2nd TE as Bennett garners a lot of attention, especially with us not really having a slot receiver to help take some of the attention off the middle of the field. If we could ever get a few games with Royal healthy (and eventually with White), plus Alshon / Marty and Zack, well then you are talking about something.

One defense of special teams unit is, with a thin roster, it means our ST unit is even thinner. That said, of all the coaches Fox brought in, Rodgers was the one I was most dissapointed in.

Lol even before he muffed the kick, he had some dumb decisions on Kick Returns. When he muffed the kick, I looked at my wife and said...this guy has a thread dedicated to him on the web for how much he sucks...and yes, I was referring to this one. But come on...call the fair catch for pete sake and don't be so stupid out of the end zone. It isn't just the dropped kicks of the lack of returns, it is just the stupid decisions before the return even happens.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/11/12/jon...from-sidelines/ More of the same on White (which is a good thing in terms of how many people are complementing his overall make-up, etc). I actually found the part on one of our practice squaders, Thompson, more interesting. Would seem like he's a potential candidate to take on a greater role from a special teams perspective (as he continues to heal from his own injury which led to him being cut from the Bills).

Every insider around Halas has said that Vic absolutely adores and loves Shea. I think he's supposed to be back this week, although nothing has been confirmed. That seemed to be the speculation late last week.

I echo your sentiment. Lagavulin 16 is fantastic.

Why wouldn't they just buy time and have him "practice". I presume their is a loose definition around "practice". That way you keep the clock going a little longer?

By the way, I do agree that I've seen enough of him. I also haven't seen anything from our blocking units either.

Royal is having trouble staying on the field so I'm going to guess that is part of the reason.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2582867...dipping-problem I know we all recently learned about the outburst and him being named captain (after this most recent fiasco) but seeing more specifics...craaazzy. Only thing I wonder is why didn't new regime drop him immediately (as I presume they would have been made aware of how players felt, etc...or maybe general reaction from players was okay with Ratliff...they just wanted to see more control from coaches)?

More then from a former scouting guy, it was from his former GM. I thought it was a really good article as well. The parts on Mcdaniels are just brutal. Interesting how it seemed like Jay was never really put in a spot to succeed but you could see the difference in terms of what Denver tried to do for Jay vs. what the Bears didn't really do up until about 3 years ago (and even then, it was half assed cause it was the wrong coaching and constant turns). I'm really hoping Jay / Gase can work with each other for a while (as an OC and then maybe eventually as a HC after Fox retires...cause that would mean things went well all the way around). Very insightful. I still say, right now, odds are looking better and better that in the 2nd round, a pretty solid QB talent could be their whom we could take and groom (whether its PSU's QB whose supposedly talented but hasn't put it all together or even someone like Connor Cook...just seems like their won't be a bunch of QB's in round 1 this year). It would free up the Bears ability to target an athletic linebacker, talented olineman, or an elite looking corner.

I found this nugget interesting (and something I wasn't previously aware of). Yet another stark difference in the way things are ran today vs. a year ago. Their is a lot less tolerance for this stuff and as a result people understand their are consequences to their actions (vs. the Trestman era).

Very interesting. He's had some issues in the past and could be true. If it is, I hope he gets the help he needs.

Very interesting. I wonder what happened.

I'm also guessing the game film wasn't kind to him (especially vs. the run against the Lions).

The Zaidman quote makes me think that Ratliff wasn't fitting in. Odd, given that in the off-season he was considered a "building" block.

Yep. He's been cut. See below tweets.

Haven't seen anything but he left the Lions game with the a neck injury, so maybe Bears reached injury settlement and cut him?

I think Rolle and Shea are week to week. My presumption is both will be back for our next game (after the bye week).

To caveat this, Lemming indicated you are talking at least a month until he does any major type of football work. Lemming has been one of the more optimistic ones regarding his timeframe and the fact that he could be on the field somewhere between weeks 10-12.

I think the next step is we see him just play and think less and that is when the big plays will come. PFF graded him out (through first 4 games) as the 11th best linebacker in football. I think we all have issues with PFF, but still a benchmark worth noting. I have seen quite a few just missed plays out of Shea and as he just gets more and more comfortable those are going to become big defensive plays, imo. McPhee also seems to think pretty highly of him. I really like McPhee. Not just his football skills, but his leadership skills. Those have been a huge add to this team.