adam

Who do you pick if Warmack and Ogletree are there at 19-20? I know it is somewhat dependent on who we get in FA, but it would hard not to select Ogletree as the heir apparent to Urlacher. I know the OLine is horrible, but in terms of value, MLB seems to be a more important position than OG. Now if a OT fell to us at that slot, it would be an easy pick. I just don't want any DL selected.

I think he is saying that he wants them to select as many OL as possible, regardless of round.

It was a joke.

Yeah, it is either a Giants or Redskins loss and a Vikings loss.

There probably something else they should be strapping on too, but I won't go there.

Bears 27-13.

I believe Allen and Wing are both projected from the 4th to 6th round. If one of them was there in the 5th, I would not see that as a bad pick whatsoever. The pick would help our ST and cap numbers for several years. Another interesting name is Quinn Sharp, who handles K and P duties for OK ST.

Exactly my point. The defense then has to honor those plays and the pass rush is reduced. For Marshall, I don't think there is anything wrong with his amount of targets. He leads the league in receptions, but is 3rd in targets behind Megatron and Wayne. The injuries to Bennett and Jeffery have also played a factor in his numbers as well. Every QB needs his outlet, most teams don't have Kellen Davis as their TE, so they have a reliable outlet. For the Bears, Marshall is the biggest threat and the most reliable target. To me, the other WR's need to step up. I have to believe that Jeffery will have 2 decent games to finish the season. Besides for the OPI, he didn't look that bad.

I am sort of surprised at #1. If they make the playoffs, it is hard to not consider the season a success. If we do end up 10-6, there is a very high probability that we will play at GB. To me, that is the deciding moment. If we can somehow beat GB in GB after this type of season, you have to give someone credit for that. To me, that is a double win, a playoff win and a GB playoff loss. However, any other outcome should result in the firing of Lovie Smith.

I agree, there is very little value in round 6 and 7 for positional players. However, if you can get a top 1 or 2 prospect kicker or punter, and sign for a rookie deal in that slot. There is significant value there.

If we lose tomorrow, Lovie needs to be fired at the post game podium.

I heard something mentioned during the last game that Carimi was brought in to play RT, it was never intended for him to play LT.

Yes, I would use a 6th or 7th on a Kicker/Punter. Maybe a 5th if the dude is truly elite. If you've noticed, a bunch of good kickers/punters from last year are all of a sudden struggling, which makes me highly suspect. Kickers like Crosby, Akers, Vinatieri, Gostkowski, etc for kickers, and a bunch of punters as well, Podlesh included.

1. Let Bates do all the playcalling, and just have Tice walking around the sidelines talking to Campbell on the headset 2. Call more Screens 3. Don't call 3 consecutive runs at the goal line

That is if Cutler is in the team's plans after next season. Also, he has to want to play behind the Blocking Dummy OLine as well, unless that is addressed. Regardless of what people say about Cutler, he is the best QB this franchise has had. If he averages 200 yards per game these next 2 games, he will have 3 of the top 7 passing seasons for a Bears QB in terms of yardage, and will more than likely be the Bears career leader in Passing yards sometime next season. I would rather have the Bears lock him up for a few more years, especially if there is some turnover at HC and OC.

This is in regards to next year. What would you guys like to see based on the possible outcomes to this season. I know some of you have said that you would take a wait and see approach. So here are the options. Please explain your votes and "other" choices. The only way I believe the Bears should retain Lovie and Co. is if we get hot and win the last 2 and at least the Wild Card game. The Wild Card game will more than likely be against Green Bay, which to me would make up for some of the follies this season. I would still want some changes (Tice, etc), but this would at least show me that they were capable of winning some big games. If we miss the playoffs, and after 2 years of starting 14-4, I can't see how they could retain Smith (not that it is not possible).

Some of those numbers are surprising, especially Andy Reid, but it still leads me to believe that strength of schedule has decided the Bears fate more than anything since 2006. Now this may apply to more than just the Bears obviously, but it is interesting nonetheless. The Bears were never worse than 7-9 since 2006 and no better than 13-3, but their records basically correlated with where they finished the year before.

True, I would rather have someone like Flynn (with GB experience) than any of the other options (as a backup).

Green Bay is 23-25 since 2006, but was 1-6 in 2006. So they are 22-19 since 2007. Pittsburgh is 24-24 since 2006. Indy was 24-21 in the same timeframe. New England was 25-17. Baltimore was 22-27 (which included a 1-7 run in 2007). New Orleans was 21-22 (which includes a 1-6 run this season).

Alex Smith and Matt Flynn should be available as well. Just some other names to consider. I like Tebow, but he needs to be in the right system.

I would assume .500 would be the standard for good teams, but 21-40, that is brutal. Is there some type of stat sorter, or did you to that manually?

GB beat 4 winning teams, PHI, NYJ, NYG, and CHI, and actually beat NYG and CHI back to back to finish the season and slip into the playoffs. NYG beat only 1 winning team last year (NE), but beat 5x 8-8 teams.

He is a big joke. I assume he is not very bright, so something like hard work is beyond him.

Basically our only tiebreaker is against Dallas?

I was thinking today at how the wins this season have been sort of "hollow", either we've played bad teams or teams at the right time (Indy Week 1), etc. So I took a look back until 2006 to see how many winning teams we beat during the season, and I found an interesting trend, we beat either 2 or 3 teams every season, no more, no less, regardless of our record. Check this out: 2006 - 2 wins, SEA and NYJ as we go 13-3. Can you believe we won 11 games against teams at 8-8 or worse? 2007 - 2 wins, both vs a 13-3 Green Bay team (we accounted for 2 of their 3 losses as we floundered to a 7-9 record) 2008 - 3 wins, vs IND Week 1, PHI, and MIN. We went 9-7 and missed the playoffs with 2 wins against the 0-16 Lions. 2009 - 2 wins, vs PIT and MIN. We go back to a 7-9 record and miss the playoffs. 2010 - 3 wins, GB, PHI, and NYJ. We go 11-5 and win the division, but lose to GB in Week 17 allowing them into the playoffs, and we know the rest 2011 - 2 wins, ATL Week 1 and DET. We finish 8-8 and miss the playoffs after a 7-3. This sort of makes me sick because I did not realize those were are only 2 "good" wins all year. 2012 - 3 wins, IND Week 1, DAL and MIN. Now at this point we cannot have anymore, but both DAL and MIN could end up 8-8 reducing it to 1 win. Odds are it is between 2-3. To me it seems like a few things are at play, one is strength of schedule. We have been following a bad year with a decent to good year consistently since the Super Bowl run in 2006. We had a tougher schedule the next season and went 7-9. That put us in last, giving us an easier schedule in 2008 when we went 9-7 and finished in 2nd. The following year, we drop back to 7-9 and 3rd place due to the tougher schedule. This sets us up for an easy schedule in 2010 where we go 11-5 and win the division. This sets us up for a tougher schedule resulting in an 8-8 record and another 3rd place finish. Which leads us to this season which we should finish with 9 or 10 wins. I don't recall any team in recent history with that sort of flip flopping every season. So essentially we have been the same team for the last 6-7 seasons, but the level of our opponents has actually determined our record more than anything else. Based on that trend, an aging defense, and many holes to fill in the offseason (probably more than anyone anticipated), I would predict a 6-7 win season next year without some drastic changes and acquisitions this offseason.