JA on the score at 10

[bowlingtwig]

The problem that I had was that even the last couple of games we didn't even try to use them. Hey it isn't like our Oline was helping matters a whole lot this year. Lets not forget how bad the line play was this year. I would love to see Berrian back. Any ideas how much the franchise tag would cost us if we used it on him, compared to how much he maybe asking.

[bowlingtwig]

Thanks ConnorBear. Everything is going pretty good just with me having 2 jobs I find very little time to log in much less try to do anything else really for that matter. I hope to start posting more often.

[bowlingtwig]

Well if it isn't set up to stop the run maybe he should find a way to stop the run otherwise we are going to be killed, agianst teams like SD.

[DrunkBomber]

I believe the tag for a WR will be just under 8 million this year

[MBM]

What a POS press conference! JA may as well have walked up to me and kicked me square in the nads! NOTHING is going to change! Same old coaching staff, same group of players, trying to do the same stuff. Guess what?! The flipping result is going to be the same as well! This team can't do shit as an offense so the plan has to remain the same and captained by the same group of retards. God help us all! It doesn't get done like this anywhere else. Cling to the fragile, useless remnants of the past forever because they are the good part. Moving forward and changing--that's's bad stuff.

 

I give up hope for this team until the whole crew from Angelo on down to Lovie Smith's personal waterboy goes the way of the dodo.

[bradjock]

As for the Mike Brown comment, it WAS in repsonse to a question. He was specifically asked if he could count on Mike Brown. The key to me in that exchange was that he wants Mike back.

 

Thank you. I pretty much thought as much. It seemed like too great of an insult to Brown. As for keeping Brown, I am for it for the most part, though I want to go into the offseason w/ the plan on trying to replace him. But adding two safeties is not easy, and I keep Brown unless we do.

 

I don't know if you listened to the interview, or simply read it, but his "How can I count on Mike Brown" was the only time he ever seemed to show any emotion. He then went on to say they would way and see how much progress Mike Brown makes in recovering and then they'd go from there. IMO it sounded like ammunition for at the very least asking Brown to restructure his deal.

 

As for replacing Brown, there isn't much available on the free agent market other then Ken Hamlin, who is a FS.

 

It would make sense to me to keep Brown and draft a safety with one of our 3rd round picks.

[bradjock]

Agreed...espcially on Hass. I really fault Lovie for that. They should have found a series or 2 for the guy. It's borderline silly. Same with Beekman. I'm convinced Lovie has lost some brain cells...or he thinks the entire fan base are idiots. I'm generally insulted by everything that now comes out of his mouth.

.

 

 

So the coaches know Beekman & Hass suck, so we should play them just to prove how bad they suck? I remember everyone was pissed early in the year we weren't playing Hester at WR more frequently . . . then as soon as we do, Hester's jumping off-sides, we're calling time outs because he's out of position, or Moose is shoving him to where he's supposed to be like it's a damn Jr. high game. I know there was at least one interception this year that happened this year when Hester ran the wrong route.

 

Hester wasn't playing because he wasn't ready to play. Beekman & Hass don't have near his talent, so if they're not ready to compete at the NFL level, then I don't want to see them out there. Good franchises don't do that. (Although we might have done that with Cedric).

 

In the press conference, Angelo said we were playing those games to win. Period. He added he was happy that Green Bay and New Orleans were both good teams that NEEDED a win, and the Bears beat them. I love to hear that. Forget the crap about "let's lose so we get a better draft pick." It was great seeing the Bears kick ass the last two weeks of the season, and seeing how dominant we can be.

[shadevtx]

Sorry guys, I'm a little behind, so please Bear with me...

 

No way we should (and I hope we don't, although da front office defies logic) franchise Berrian. He's a #2 at best, lacks focus, misses blitz reads, and has no chemistry with any of the QBs, all of whom have been on the team for 2+ years. He's fast, and has made some big plays, but 40% effort doesn't warrant $8 mill/ year...

 

Mighty Mike needs to be treated as a luxury, rather than a guarantee. I hope he is willing to restructure with incentives. I love the guy, and if he agrees to that, it will show that he loves Chicago.

 

We need to rebuild our O-line and look for speed at WR in free agency and day one of the draft. With so many holes to fill, our best hope is to sign OG Faneca and draft an OT in the 1st Round. Maybe a guy like Chad Henne falls into the 2nd, and we take him to develop. I don't know, but the WR class doesn't look too promising, so I'm sure a lot will be overvalued and picked too early, ala Mark Bradley or Williamson. Let's hope we don't make that same mistake (again)...

[DABEARSDABOMB]

What a POS press conference! JA may as well have walked up to me and kicked me square in the nads! NOTHING is going to change! Same old coaching staff, same group of players, trying to do the same stuff. Guess what?! The flipping result is going to be the same as well! This team can't do shit as an offense so the plan has to remain the same and captained by the same group of retards. God help us all! It doesn't get done like this anywhere else. Cling to the fragile, useless remnants of the past forever because they are the good part. Moving forward and changing--that's's bad stuff.

 

I give up hope for this team until the whole crew from Angelo on down to Lovie Smith's personal waterboy goes the way of the dodo.

I believe it was important for Angelo to stick behind his coach. Bottom line I think the best thing organizations can do is allow the people who they have hired to do there jobs do there jobs. Angelo is the guy who is bringing in the personell and while he should take input from Lovie the final call is Angelo's. I expect the same from the coaching staff with Lovie getting input from Angelo but the final say being Lovie's.

 

Lovie has still earned that power, imo, and I will continue to give him the benefit of the doubt. If the team has a bad year next season, than I will start to point a finger.

 

Bottom line this organization started improving when Ted Phillips came in and brought in good football people and let everyone do there jobs and I don't want to see the Bears go around that. If Angelo doesn't trust Lovie to hire/bring in the correct coaches than he shouldn't be our head coach.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

I don't know if you listened to the interview, or simply read it, but his "How can I count on Mike Brown" was the only time he ever seemed to show any emotion. He then went on to say they would way and see how much progress Mike Brown makes in recovering and then they'd go from there. IMO it sounded like ammunition for at the very least asking Brown to restructure his deal.

 

As for replacing Brown, there isn't much available on the free agent market other then Ken Hamlin, who is a FS.

 

It would make sense to me to keep Brown and draft a safety with one of our 3rd round picks.

I would be stunned if the Bears didn't restructure with Brown. I know Brown may ask for something in return but maybe the Bears extend his deal an additional year or two with some sort of roster bonus in a year or two. Basically it would be an incentive that he would get paid if he stayed healthy and produced and if he didn't the Bears would still be able to get rid of him without a cap hit (plus I'd have a handshake agreement about him joining the coaching staff when he retires).

[DABEARSDABOMB]

So the coaches know Beekman & Hass suck, so we should play them just to prove how bad they suck? I remember everyone was pissed early in the year we weren't playing Hester at WR more frequently . . . then as soon as we do, Hester's jumping off-sides, we're calling time outs because he's out of position, or Moose is shoving him to where he's supposed to be like it's a damn Jr. high game. I know there was at least one interception this year that happened this year when Hester ran the wrong route.

 

Hester wasn't playing because he wasn't ready to play. Beekman & Hass don't have near his talent, so if they're not ready to compete at the NFL level, then I don't want to see them out there. Good franchises don't do that. (Although we might have done that with Cedric).

 

In the press conference, Angelo said we were playing those games to win. Period. He added he was happy that Green Bay and New Orleans were both good teams that NEEDED a win, and the Bears beat them. I love to hear that. Forget the crap about "let's lose so we get a better draft pick." It was great seeing the Bears kick ass the last two weeks of the season, and seeing how dominant we can be.

I honestly think the Bears know that Beekman physically would have been used and abused if he started and that would have been detrimental not only for the Bears winning the game but also for the Bears being able to evaluate Rex Grossman, Adrian Peterson, Garret Wolfe and anyone else relying on the offensive line.

 

In regards to Hass, lets be honest, he has great hands but if he was the next stud posession receiver teams would have probably drafted him higher. That isn't to say he can't be a quality player but the Bears obviously deemed it more important to get Bradley, Davis, and Hester more opportunities and it is because all of those guys are superior athletes to one Mike Haas. Hell, I think the Bears have some great athletes in there WR core but that doesn't mean you have great WR's (which I know Lovie seems to think we have a solid corps). Berrian needs to be back and I hope to hell JA realizes how terrible this WR core is without BB.

[madlithuanian]

I think you're making some serious assumptions. One being that our coaching are "all knowing". If anything, they've proven otherwise over the course of time. I can think of a few situations like wiating for Olsen to get on the field as one of the most recent. I see your point about hester. But isn't there something called a learning curve? Hester won't get better unless he sees real action on the field. Same with just about any player.

 

Did Hester get better because he was on the sidelines watching and practicing, or because he got in the game and felt how things really happened in game time? I think actual time on the field crushes practice time any day. No one has Hester talent...but that doesn't mean that Beelman and Hass shouldn't have seen SOME playing time. Maybe the coaches are right and all us fans, media, and announcers are crazy. It's possible, but doubtful. I don't fully trust Lovie's talent evaluation. Maybe that's just me. Good franchises tend not to be out of the playoffs early either...so when you are, it's time to see what you have.

 

I loved that we were playing to win and did win. However, I still don't see how throwing in a couple unproven guys for a series or 2 changes that. I'm sure one of the O line guys could have used a few breathers, and one of the WR's could have sat for a few downs. I don't see this as that big of an issue to give these guys some time. Again, maybe it's just me. I never mentioned a thing about wanting to lose games to get better draft picks, I'm not sure where your'e getting that from. I was as happy as a cheshire cat these last 2 weeks! But I think my smile would have turned to Joker-like proporations had we seen some of our young guys get a few minutes out there and perform well.

 

I guess now, we'll never know...

 

So the coaches know Beekman & Hass suck, so we should play them just to prove how bad they suck? I remember everyone was pissed early in the year we weren't playing Hester at WR more frequently . . . then as soon as we do, Hester's jumping off-sides, we're calling time outs because he's out of position, or Moose is shoving him to where he's supposed to be like it's a damn Jr. high game. I know there was at least one interception this year that happened this year when Hester ran the wrong route.

 

Hester wasn't playing because he wasn't ready to play. Beekman & Hass don't have near his talent, so if they're not ready to compete at the NFL level, then I don't want to see them out there. Good franchises don't do that. (Although we might have done that with Cedric).

 

In the press conference, Angelo said we were playing those games to win. Period. He added he was happy that Green Bay and New Orleans were both good teams that NEEDED a win, and the Bears beat them. I love to hear that. Forget the crap about "let's lose so we get a better draft pick." It was great seeing the Bears kick ass the last two weeks of the season, and seeing how dominant we can be.

[madlithuanian]

Good points! Your Berrian and Brown assessments I think are spot on.

 

I'm still a little more of the mind to get OL's in FA and in the 2nd or 3rd.

 

 

Sorry guys, I'm a little behind, so please Bear with me...

 

No way we should (and I hope we don't, although da front office defies logic) franchise Berrian. He's a #2 at best, lacks focus, misses blitz reads, and has no chemistry with any of the QBs, all of whom have been on the team for 2+ years. He's fast, and has made some big plays, but 40% effort doesn't warrant $8 mill/ year...

 

Mighty Mike needs to be treated as a luxury, rather than a guarantee. I hope he is willing to restructure with incentives. I love the guy, and if he agrees to that, it will show that he loves Chicago.

 

We need to rebuild our O-line and look for speed at WR in free agency and day one of the draft. With so many holes to fill, our best hope is to sign OG Faneca and draft an OT in the 1st Round. Maybe a guy like Chad Henne falls into the 2nd, and we take him to develop. I don't know, but the WR class doesn't look too promising, so I'm sure a lot will be overvalued and picked too early, ala Mark Bradley or Williamson. Let's hope we don't make that same mistake (again)...

[Connorbear]

What a POS press conference! JA may as well have walked up to me and kicked me square in the nads! NOTHING is going to change! Same old coaching staff, same group of players, trying to do the same stuff. Guess what?! The flipping result is going to be the same as well! This team can't do shit as an offense so the plan has to remain the same and captained by the same group of retards. God help us all! It doesn't get done like this anywhere else. Cling to the fragile, useless remnants of the past forever because they are the good part. Moving forward and changing--that's's bad stuff.

 

I give up hope for this team until the whole crew from Angelo on down to Lovie Smith's personal waterboy goes the way of the dodo.

 

I think we all need to realize this was a press conference less than 1 week after the season. FA doesn't begin until the end of Feb. Give them some time to work this out. We are only 1 yr from being in the SuperBowl.

 

Peace

[Connorbear]

"Bottom line this organization started improving when Ted Phillips came in and brought in good football people and let everyone do there jobs and I don't want to see the Bears go around that. If Angelo doesn't trust Lovie to hire/bring in the correct coaches than he shouldn't be our head coach."

 

Exactly - great point.

 

Peace

[bradjock]

I think we all need to realize this was a press conference less than 1 week after the season. FA doesn't begin until the end of Feb. Give them some time to work this out. We are only 1 yr from being in the SuperBowl.

 

Peace

 

Agreed. I was getting ready to post something similar. If Angelo says too much, he's an absolute jack-ass. I remember a few years back he praised David Terrell for being a good football player, and then DT was cut a few days later. A good GM doesn't say anything that will piss the wrong people off, and you sure as hell don't want to tip your hand by saying, "We're going to do everything we can to sign Michael Turner!!!"

 

Angelo seemed honest and promised to work on fixing our problems over the next few months. That's about all we can ask for.

[CrackerDog]

I think we all need to realize this was a press conference less than 1 week after the season. FA doesn't begin until the end of Feb. Give them some time to work this out. We are only 1 yr from being in the SuperBowl.

 

I couldn't agree more. This season was a bust because we finished a game under 500 only one year from being in the SB. But when you look at it, inconsistent (heck, horrible) QB play to start the season couldn't have been expected by anyone. I think the general consensus was that Rex would probably elevate his game, at least a little. Talk before the season was that they brought in Pep to address his lack of consistency and his fundamentals. It didn't work and Rex was a huge disappointment.

 

The D played like a team with half their starters injured. Know why? Half their starters were injured! If you add a healthy Tommie and Dusty to the interior of that line and a 100% healthy Urlacher, nobody runs over us. Further, if we have two healthy corners for the season, we're significantly better. Anderson had a sophomore slump and then got hurt. Brown was IR'ed and then Archy proved why Washington let him go as he played poorly when forced to cover.

 

There were some positives to come out of this, however. Frankly, I was impressed that with everything that went wrong, we ended up the year at almost 500. Down the stretch we built some momentum for next season and Orton showed he can play QB at a pretty good level. Babich coordinated himself around the talent he had left on D and didn't do a terrible job with diminished talent. A few breaks here or there and we could've just as easily been in position to sneak into the playoffs like Washington did. Another positive... Ced was exposed as the poser he is. He'll never be great because he doesn't care to be great. We now know he's a bust and we need to move on.

 

It's all about picking up some guys for the O line and a RB with heart for next year. If we stay moderately healthy and add just those components, we can compete again. I trust JA and Lovie to get us back there and not need to go through a rebuilding process. And, to be honest, beating the Packers twice in a season in which they won 13 games feels pretty damn good. I'm looking forward to next year.

[nfoligno]

Why we should tag Berrian

 

At first, I was dead against the idea as well. Berrian is not a top 10 WR, much less a franchise player. But after discussion, I better understood the reasons to tag him, and frankly, I think it is in fact the best option.

 

In an ideal world, I would love to let Berrian walk, as well as cut Moose, then simply replace them. Unfortunately, we are in a very poor position to do this. We have little worth speaking of at WR on the roster. Hester has incredible skills, but there is no way we can rely on him as a starter. He is simply not developed enough as a WR. Bradley has a play here and there, but has been a bust since joining the team. Davis is a nice slot guy and special teams player, but not a starter. Hass is a fan favoite, but we can not count on him.

 

The problem goes beyond our team. Not only do we not have replacements currently on the roster (at least not that they are ready) our outside options are very limited. In FA, it should say a lot that Berrian will likely be considered the best WR available (not counting Moss). Worse, there is a pretty noticable dropoff after Berrian. After Berrian, the top FA WRs are the likes of Bryant Johnson, Andre Davis, Devery Henderson and freaking Justin Gage. This is a VERY weak crop of FA WRs. We might be able to get depth here, but not much by way of starters, and for sure not a #1.

 

The draft is equally weak this year. The top WR may not be drafted until mid 1st, and even then, due in large part to his skills as a return man. There are no high end WRs in the draft, and much of the talent is either not as gifted as in past year, or is raw, meaning morel likely a few years needed before they can be truly productive.

 

So while I would love to simply let Berrian walk, I am not sure we can afford to let him go as I do not see solid options. So I would rather tag him for one year. In doing so, we are forced to eat a big cap hit for him this year, but at the same time, we give ourselves another year to see if he furthers his development, and if not, stand a better chance to upgrade a year from now, either due to better classes in the draft and FA, or some current players on the roster develop enough to replace him.

 

Berrian is not worth the tag, but at the same time, the situation may force us to do just that.

[ChileBear]

Berrian is not worth the tag, but at the same time, the situation may force us to do just that.

You could be right, and worse things could happen. Like tagging Rex! Now that would be a bad move.

[Da Bears 88]

You could be right, and worse things could happen. Like tagging Rex! Now that would be a bad move.

[BearSox]

are you impling that would be a good move?