I wasn't able to watch since I was on a plane home from my short vacation with the wife to Sarasota, FL, but the Bears apparently took care of business and won a media-trademarked Big Game. They beat division rival and preseason NFC North favorite Minnesota Vikings. By accounts the offense was decent and the defense good, which is probably our best bet for decent results this year. Pundits the next morning refused to say that Cutler was "managing the game" as he evidently took some shots downfield and ran when necessary. It sounds like I would have had a lot of fun watching.
So. Good then. Problem here is that the Vikings are all kinds of screwed up. They're 3-6 now and in total disarray. Their coach is reviled by his players, and it seems like they're in full-on implosion mode. I keep hoping the Bears will continue to turn in results that kind of make them look competent. I just can't quite get myself to believe it. They've lost the games they were awful in, like anyone else, but it was the historical nature of how awful they were that makes me question whatever I'm looking at. I get a very house-of-cards feeling about them. Hope I'm wrong.
Showing posts with label football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label football. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Chicago Bears Week 6 Preview: Offensive Line mk. XIV
Along with other things blog-related I've let the football suffer. Sorry, and to think, despite my almost complete lack of hope that this season would be any good for a Bears fan, the Bears are 4-1, tied for best record in the NFL. Never mind that the one loss was historically bad football (9 sacks in a half, and a dazed and confused Jay Cutler out with a concussion), and two of the wins made you feel like you didn't really win. It's the NFL and winning ugly is just as good as winning pretty, kinda anyway.
Tomorrow we have the Seahawks (2-2), who, for all intents and purposes, suck. They can apparently pass okay, and they can also, evidently, stop the run very well. From what the radio's been saying, they're awful at everything else. That's fine, the Bears can't run the ball anyway, and Cutler's back off the deadpile. Martz is the coach so I expect a healthy dose of the passing. On the defensive side, one question going into the game has to be the health of Lance Briggs. If he's healthy though, I expect a Bears defense to continue a healthy dominant streak through this game.
That leaves the storyline of the season: o-line. Pre-season I figured the Bears had some nice talent, but none of it would matter because the o-line and d-line wouldn't be able to get it done. Thanks to all-universe defensive end/monster Julius Peppers the d-line's been okay. The o-line has, on the other hand, been bad at best. It's been terrible since the preseason, and as a result been in a near constant state of flux. Personnel changes have been on-going week to week and even series to series. Mike Tice, however, says that's all done with. Chris Williams (erstwhile first rounder and LT heir apparent) is back from his week 1 injury and will take over LG duties from Roberto Garza. Garza's looked bad this year, and maybe it's been due to injury, because they've decided to scope his knee. In steps Williams, who will join LT Frank Omiyale, C Olin Kreutz, RG Edwin Williams, and RT J'Marcus Webb.
I'm an optimistic guy, and sometimes these line changes work. Williams has been kind of underwhelming at LT, ostensibly because he has short arms for the position. Some pundits are saying this isn't a big deal at the inside guard position. Sign me up, I need some good news for the line. Williams is adequately sized for the guard, and supposedly very athletic. Hopefully it all works, because a twice-concussed Cutler means that the Bears are going to waste a season that seems intent on positioning them to win their division.
Prediction: Williams does okay and Bears win 28-10.
Tomorrow we have the Seahawks (2-2), who, for all intents and purposes, suck. They can apparently pass okay, and they can also, evidently, stop the run very well. From what the radio's been saying, they're awful at everything else. That's fine, the Bears can't run the ball anyway, and Cutler's back off the deadpile. Martz is the coach so I expect a healthy dose of the passing. On the defensive side, one question going into the game has to be the health of Lance Briggs. If he's healthy though, I expect a Bears defense to continue a healthy dominant streak through this game.
That leaves the storyline of the season: o-line. Pre-season I figured the Bears had some nice talent, but none of it would matter because the o-line and d-line wouldn't be able to get it done. Thanks to all-universe defensive end/monster Julius Peppers the d-line's been okay. The o-line has, on the other hand, been bad at best. It's been terrible since the preseason, and as a result been in a near constant state of flux. Personnel changes have been on-going week to week and even series to series. Mike Tice, however, says that's all done with. Chris Williams (erstwhile first rounder and LT heir apparent) is back from his week 1 injury and will take over LG duties from Roberto Garza. Garza's looked bad this year, and maybe it's been due to injury, because they've decided to scope his knee. In steps Williams, who will join LT Frank Omiyale, C Olin Kreutz, RG Edwin Williams, and RT J'Marcus Webb.
I'm an optimistic guy, and sometimes these line changes work. Williams has been kind of underwhelming at LT, ostensibly because he has short arms for the position. Some pundits are saying this isn't a big deal at the inside guard position. Sign me up, I need some good news for the line. Williams is adequately sized for the guard, and supposedly very athletic. Hopefully it all works, because a twice-concussed Cutler means that the Bears are going to waste a season that seems intent on positioning them to win their division.
Prediction: Williams does okay and Bears win 28-10.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Bears remove one safety from the mix
The Bears answered a small part of the roster question I posed regarding the safety position in my last Bears-related blog. They've traded safety Kevin Payne to the St. Louis Rams for a conditional 2011 7th round pick. The condition, as I understand it is that if Payne makes the Rams' roster then the Bears will get the Rams' 7th rounder. I think this is essentially the kind of "win-win-win" trade that benefits the player and both teams. Payne probably wasn't going to play for the Bears, and an extra 7th rounder is better than a sharp stick in the eye in return. I think the Bears will likely still remove at least one more safety from the roster before final cuts.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Bears trade for safety Chris Harris
News story here.
This feels like a very good move by the Chicago Bears. They resigned a safety they let get away, who immediately proved himself better than the man who replaced him (the incredibly disappointing Adam Archuleta). I remember Chris Harris as a hard-hitting and generally competent safety. I predict he'll be penciled in as the starter at strong safety and prove to be a major upgrade for us. To get safety the Bears had to surrender backup linebacker Jamar Williams. I think Jamar was a decent talent, but the Bears were deep at linebacker and disasterously thin at safety.
The question remains as to who will play the other half of the field for the Bears. In the mix at safety the Bears have: a player who showed a bit of promise as a rookie last season, Al Afalava, a trio of mediocre to bad players, Josh Bullocks, Craig Steltz, and Kevin Payne, an athletic guy who's never found a position in Danieal Manning, and a rookie, Major Wright.
As the Bears top pick (albeit a third-rounder) in this years draft, Major Wright is safe. Al Afalava had a sort of up and down season as a rookie, but I have to think he'll make the cut. Danieal Manning is a coach favorite, and if they left him off the roster they'd have nobody on defense to shuttle back and forth between safety and nickleback (all-the-while wondering why the guy can't settle into a position), so I have to think he's going to make it. I have to think this move probably spells doom for at least two of the mediocre-to-bad trio. If it were me, I think Kevin Payne shows the best play at the position, but I'd probably make my choice based on who was the best special teamer. Plus Kevin Payne likes to hit Bears instead of opponents, which is kind of a problem. A nice result would be for all the good things being said about Major Wright to be true and he takes the FS position by force and owns it.
One thing that sticks in my mind is that there's been a persistent rumor that CB Charles Tillman could possibly make an effective switch to the safety position at some point. If the Bears do find they have a couple of serviceable cornerbacks on the roster that could also turn out okay for the Bears. Problem is, I don't think any of their corners are worth very much either.
This feels like a very good move by the Chicago Bears. They resigned a safety they let get away, who immediately proved himself better than the man who replaced him (the incredibly disappointing Adam Archuleta). I remember Chris Harris as a hard-hitting and generally competent safety. I predict he'll be penciled in as the starter at strong safety and prove to be a major upgrade for us. To get safety the Bears had to surrender backup linebacker Jamar Williams. I think Jamar was a decent talent, but the Bears were deep at linebacker and disasterously thin at safety.
The question remains as to who will play the other half of the field for the Bears. In the mix at safety the Bears have: a player who showed a bit of promise as a rookie last season, Al Afalava, a trio of mediocre to bad players, Josh Bullocks, Craig Steltz, and Kevin Payne, an athletic guy who's never found a position in Danieal Manning, and a rookie, Major Wright.
As the Bears top pick (albeit a third-rounder) in this years draft, Major Wright is safe. Al Afalava had a sort of up and down season as a rookie, but I have to think he'll make the cut. Danieal Manning is a coach favorite, and if they left him off the roster they'd have nobody on defense to shuttle back and forth between safety and nickleback (all-the-while wondering why the guy can't settle into a position), so I have to think he's going to make it. I have to think this move probably spells doom for at least two of the mediocre-to-bad trio. If it were me, I think Kevin Payne shows the best play at the position, but I'd probably make my choice based on who was the best special teamer. Plus Kevin Payne likes to hit Bears instead of opponents, which is kind of a problem. A nice result would be for all the good things being said about Major Wright to be true and he takes the FS position by force and owns it.
One thing that sticks in my mind is that there's been a persistent rumor that CB Charles Tillman could possibly make an effective switch to the safety position at some point. If the Bears do find they have a couple of serviceable cornerbacks on the roster that could also turn out okay for the Bears. Problem is, I don't think any of their corners are worth very much either.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
2010 NFL Draft
First football post. Yay.
Anyway, I'm a Chicago Bears fan... Morale is low this off-season after another monumentally disappointing season. The situation is kind of made worse by the fact that the Bears did not have a first or second-round pick this year. The first rounder was sent off in return for Jay Cutler, the second rounder sent for Gaines Adams (who tragically died of a heart ailment)-- a very puzzling trade that never seemed likely to yield much return. So, with virtually no interest in the draft this year, I didn't watch. They also dramatically changed the format of the draft, with it falling on Thursday (round 1), Friday (rounds 2-3), and Saturday (rounds 4-7) which ruined the old first day draft party/garage sale crawl that I used to do with my brother.
The Bears went into the draft with glaring needs on o-line and in the secondary. They took all-name-team candidate safety Major Wright out of Florida. Sounds like he's a very heavy hitter and a big-time intangibles guy. We'll have to see. I'd imagine he could come out of the gate starting as the Bears have almost nothing at all on the roster as far as safety goes.
In the fourth they took DE Corey Wootton from Northwestern. This guy is large for an end. The Bears usually draft little guys so this leads to some speculation that he's going to be asked to move inside to tackle. I kind of hope not, because this player was once a top pick sort of talent who blew up an ACL in a bowl game in his junior season. It would be nice if the Bears lucked out and picked up a guy just hitting his stride in recovering from ACL surgery. Worst case is that they overreached on a guy who's never going to recover the spark he once had or be injury prone.
On the third day they took CB Joshua Moore of K-State, QB Dan LeFevour from Central Michigan, and OT J'Marcus Webb out of West Texas A&M, in the fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds respectively. The presence of a QB pick indicates the Bears were drafting for value instead of need, which is find by me. If any of these players make an impact in the 2010-2011 season it's a bonus.
In other news, OG star Alan Faneca was released by the New York Jets. GET HIM! GET HIM NOW!
Anyway, I'm a Chicago Bears fan... Morale is low this off-season after another monumentally disappointing season. The situation is kind of made worse by the fact that the Bears did not have a first or second-round pick this year. The first rounder was sent off in return for Jay Cutler, the second rounder sent for Gaines Adams (who tragically died of a heart ailment)-- a very puzzling trade that never seemed likely to yield much return. So, with virtually no interest in the draft this year, I didn't watch. They also dramatically changed the format of the draft, with it falling on Thursday (round 1), Friday (rounds 2-3), and Saturday (rounds 4-7) which ruined the old first day draft party/garage sale crawl that I used to do with my brother.
The Bears went into the draft with glaring needs on o-line and in the secondary. They took all-name-team candidate safety Major Wright out of Florida. Sounds like he's a very heavy hitter and a big-time intangibles guy. We'll have to see. I'd imagine he could come out of the gate starting as the Bears have almost nothing at all on the roster as far as safety goes.
In the fourth they took DE Corey Wootton from Northwestern. This guy is large for an end. The Bears usually draft little guys so this leads to some speculation that he's going to be asked to move inside to tackle. I kind of hope not, because this player was once a top pick sort of talent who blew up an ACL in a bowl game in his junior season. It would be nice if the Bears lucked out and picked up a guy just hitting his stride in recovering from ACL surgery. Worst case is that they overreached on a guy who's never going to recover the spark he once had or be injury prone.
On the third day they took CB Joshua Moore of K-State, QB Dan LeFevour from Central Michigan, and OT J'Marcus Webb out of West Texas A&M, in the fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds respectively. The presence of a QB pick indicates the Bears were drafting for value instead of need, which is find by me. If any of these players make an impact in the 2010-2011 season it's a bonus.
In other news, OG star Alan Faneca was released by the New York Jets. GET HIM! GET HIM NOW!
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