adam

Minnesota is a completely different team without Favre. This is great news for the Bears. They go from Super Bowl contenders to a borderline playoff team. I figure they are now a 9-10 win team at the most. Rice was a completely different WR with Favre at QB. I can't see Jackson making those same throws. Also, morale had to take a huge hit as well.

Surprise: Steltz, he seems to have figured it out and is playing at a high level. Hopefully it will translate into pads and we go from a Secondary as a weakness to a Secondary as a strength. As nfo said, not many people are talking about him, and with the Secondary still a question mark, he definitely has a chance to surprise. Disappointment: Forte. I don't know if he is fully recovered from whatever nagging injuries he had, but it still looks like he is missing that initial burst from his rookie year. Again very early so hopefully he will prove me wrong. With Forte, it is also expectations, hopefully he can live up to them, but I think with Taylor here, Forte will not get as many carries, so he has to take advantage of the ones he gets. I don't think Peppers is going to disappoint. I could see him doing that in the next couple of years, especially if the Bears start losing, but this year I think he dominates, especially with the other players on the defensive front seven. Even if his numbers are down, but he is constantly getting double-teamed and freeing up other pass rushers, that is still success in my book. I think with him on the DLine, Harris and Anderson will both have solid if not great seasons as well. Urlacher will also be Comeback Player of the Year.

Minny still doesn't know who their QB is, and it is either going to be a 50 year old Favre or Jackson? That is a significant difference. There are a bunch of 3rd place teams in the top 20 (Bengals, Dolphins, Texans, Giants, Panthers). Also, most people forget the fact that we could've easily been 9-7 with some luck last year. I believe we lost 4 games when we had the lead or were tied entering the 4th quarter. If we won half of those, we would've been 9-7. That was without Urlacher, Pisa, Peppers, Harris, Taylor, etc. Also, we actually have a premier OC compared to what we had last year. Either we are going to improve and win 10 games or this whole thing will implode and we will win 4-5.

Damn the Bears are getting hammered in the preseason rankings, not that they mean much, but what are these "experts" seeing that we are not? All indications point to at least some improvement from last year. I was figuring 9-7 or 10-6 was completely reasonable. Don Banks from SI.com has us at #26, behind the likes of Washington, Seattle, and Oakland. He is basically saying we are a 5-6 win team. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writ...mp.3/index.html ESPN has us at #21 which is a little better, but that is basically saying we are the same team as last year. Don't they realize we essentially upgraded 3 spots on the Defense with potential Pro Bowlers (Urlacher, Peppers, and Harris)? The offense, even though in a new scheme has had a year to gel (mainly Cutler and WR's). The media has really turned on Cutler since the trade. They loved him in Denver, and now hate him in Chicago. http://espn.go.com/nfl/powerrankings?year=2010&week=0

I love this line:

Willis Tower, I always think of Different Strokes when I hear the name. Whatcha talking about Willis Tower?

I love how his main point about Cutler was that the team lost 2 more than it did without him. Wow thanks for that deep analysis. Then he compares Peppers to Haynesworth? Seriously? Wow what a comparison. Most posters on here would be better suited to provide some detailed insight about the upcoming season than he does.

A vid of Unga:

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/38265242/ns/...ts-player_news/

I thought it was hilarious and sad at the same time. Next Ryan Leaf will be caught crushing Sudafed tablets.

I was thinking the same thing Mad, dark horse vs disappointment, but some didn't fit that bill either. So I just went with who on that team should you pick.

Stay classy Cedric.

Olsen not Olson. I would say Rodgers over Finley in GB as a stud. Finley had 5 less catches and 3 less TD's than Olsen last year. I think he will put up similar numbers but nothing special. I would say Reggie Bush as the dud in NO and Brees as the stud, and Kellen Winslow over Benn for TB.

I agree. Hester should be in the slot, and it will be nice to have at least one of those three getting a nickelback covering them instead of one of the starting corners.

From ESPN Blog: http://espn.go.com/blog/chicagobears/post/...ed-as-a-starter So if Knox is firmly entrenched as a starter, and the Bears have eluded to giving Hester some plays off to be more effective in the return game, you would have to think the primary WRs will be DA and Knox. Also, I assume Martz will use a bunch of 3 WR sets as well, making the top 3 basically starters anyway.

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/...tler-olsen.html There ya go. and here: http://twitter.com/terrellowens

Chris posted on the Windy City Gridiron Blog: http://www.windycitygridiron.com/2010/5/24...trade#storyjump I really like Chris Harris and glad he is back with us.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Au2D...p-bears-manning

Cool info. Dallas has some crazy grades.

This seems like insurance for Atogwe. That would be silly if we picked him up too, and then cut Bullocks and Steltz.

So now our safeties look like this: Chris Harris Major Wright Al Afalava Danieal Manning Josh Bullocks Craig Steltz I wonder if they will use Manning more as a 5th DB and on returns exclusively with the other 5 being the primary safeties.

http://twitter.com/Adam_Schefter/status/13030148512 http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/2010/04/pa..._for_draft.html

Harris is also reunited with Peppers, which should help with team cohesion. I like the move and didn't like the initial trade to begin with. Harris has been above average in Carolina and one of the clubhouse leaders. Now if we can do the same on the OL we will be looking good.

Clark re-signed: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4976203

WR is probably 3rd or 4th on the list of needs, and I don't see it as a critical need as some of the other areas like O-Line and DB.