The Bears Offseason Thread

[Soriano12]

Smiley is one of the more underrated players in the game.

 

I'd love him on the Bears.

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't see why the offense wouldn't be better this year.

 

Honestly, I'm worried about an aging offensive line. Wish the Bears could have brought in some depth from free agency, at least.

 

I think Rex and Cedric will progress nicely, though.

 

This is why the offense might not be better, and could be much worse. The offensive line is very susceptible.

 

I think the offense should be better, but the line's health is a big question, followed by just a decline in production by a bunch of old guys.

 

There's also the fear of Grossman regressing and Benson getting injured.

[jersey cubs fan]

Speaking of progressing, did anybody catch the most recent ESPN the magazine. I was leafing through and saw a little chart talking about offseason progress.

 

They broke it down by division, and had 4 categories, something like Super Bowl bound, heading in the right direction, going nowhere and getting worse.

 

There was a Super Bowl bound team in just about every division, the North being one of the few without. At the same time, it listed last year's NFC champs (read: super bowl participant) under heading in the right direction. ESPN thinks the Bears are heading in the right direction, but not good enough to be included among the 6 or so teams that might make next year's Super Bowl.

 

Does not compute.

[Guest]

Smiley is one of the more underrated players in the game.

 

I'd love him on the Bears.

 

He's very consistent and puts up pretty good numbers. He's started 41 games in 3 years, committed 4 penalties for 27 yards (1 false start, 2 holding, 1 not listed), and allowed 11.25 sacks for 76.5 yards.

 

The trade doesn't make much sense for the 49ers though, because their OL depth isn't too stellar either.

[Chocolate Milk]

I don't see why the offense wouldn't be better this year.

 

Honestly, I'm worried about an aging offensive line. Wish the Bears could have brought in some depth from free agency, at least.

 

I think Rex and Cedric will progress nicely, though.

 

This is why the offense might not be better, and could be much worse. The offensive line is very susceptible.

 

I think the offense should be better, but the line's health is a big question, followed by just a decline in production by a bunch of old guys.

 

There's also the fear of Grossman regressing and Benson getting injured.

 

I'm not really worried about Benson getting injured. None of his injuries are linked so I doubt that his recent injury history would make him any more likely to be injured this year.

 

If you mean that if he get's injured, we'd be sunk, well... you're probably right. I think Peterson could handle the load for a few games but I think it'd be bad news starting him for a large part of the season.

 

As for the offensive line, they have been healthy for the most part the last few years. Hopefully that continues. Tait is really important. When he was banged up at the end of last year, the line suffered. Simply put, no one else can play left tackle on this team at the level we need other than Tait.

 

All in all, I think the potential positives outweigh the potential negatives.

[rawaction]

I really hate the offensive line situation as is. It was just a slightly above average line last year anyway. They are a year older, and it scares me whenever a NFL line stays nearly completely healthy for the next year. Smiley would go a long way to help, as would one of the young guys being better than expected.

[Guest]

Honestly, I'm worried about an aging offensive line. Wish the Bears could have brought in some depth from free agency, at least.

 

Smile....there still may be hope.

 

Bears | Team interested in Smiley

Mon, 21 May 2007 13:26:00 -0700

 

Matt Maiocco, of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, reports the Chicago Bears have called the San Francisco 49ers about possibly trading for 49ers OG Justin Smiley, according to Smiley.

 

Wow, I'd be all over that. I'd LOVE Smiley on the Bears.

[Jon]

Not sure if I've posted this before, but this guy is selling Bears DVDs at a pretty reasonable price. The people who've bought it really seem to like them.

 

He's got the 1985 season for $70, the 1985 post-season for $25, the 2005 season for $60, and the 2006 season for $85 (the NFC Championship game and Super Bowl have separate audio tracks from WBBM Radio).

 

But this is the one I want:

 

Bears Historic Set ($35)

 

*Bears vs Packers October 30, 1977 - Walter Payton rushes for 205 yards and 2 TDs

*Bears vs Raiders November 4, 1984 - Hard fought victory against the Defending SuperBowl Champs

*Bears vs Giants September 14, 1987 - Monday night Football, Bears take out the defending Champs

*Bears vs Eagles December 31, 1988 - "The Fog Bowl" the fog rolls in, the Bears roll on

*Bears vs Vikings January 1, 1995 - a wild card victory on the enemies turf

*Bears vs Packers November 7, 1999 - Only 6 days after Payton passes, Bears block one for him

*Bears vs 49ers October 28, 2001 - Everyone thought it was over.........except the Bears!!

*Bears vs Browns November 4, 2001 - against the odds, the Bears come back and win in OT

[Soul]

Things that I am very scared of:

1. Benson getting hurt/not producing

2. Tommie Harris being ineffective

3. Mike Brown getting hurt again... It is sad to think how dominate Brown was when he was healthy, and how it hurt the defense everytime he went down.

4. Robbie Gould waking up and realizing he was a mediocre college kicker.

5.The offensive line needing a walker to get on the field.

 

Haha, I like the colorful language.

 

Seriously though, I am afraid of Benson getting hurt or developing an attitude problem or something.

 

I think there's very close to 0% chance that Harris will be ineffective. He says he's 100% now -- probably not true, but he will be by the season for sure. He's not going to lose much off his pop, he's still very young and remember, there's still potential for him to get bette.

 

Don't worry about Mike Brown. It's 100% he will get hurt, so there's no sense getting upset about it.

 

If Gould can't kick, then we pick up another guy off the scrap heap, just like Gould in the first place. Kickers are like cicadas 8-) 8-)

[Soriano12]

I hate Mariotti

 

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/mariotti/399793,CST-SPT-jay24.article

 

 

How is the view up there Jay

[Soul]

I hate Mariotti

 

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/mariotti/399793,CST-SPT-jay24.article

 

 

How is the view up there Jay

 

I saw some with/without Tank stats on the Bears defense. The difference was striking.

 

It's pretty clear national commentators just hate the Bears and want Tank out of there because that's how they can beat us. They wanted RMJ gone too after he started picking off their precious superstar QBs and returning them for Bears TDs.

 

Screw them. Hopefully Goodall sees these factors, along with Tank's crimes:

 

1) Tank has served his time in jail, and indeed was released in half time for good behavior

 

2) Tank is easily the more articulate and more reasonable person when compared to Pac Man Jones and Chris Henry. That should make a difference. He's obviously showing the potential to get it through his skull that this has to stop. In short, despite his name the skull isn't as thick as with Pacman & Henry.

 

3) Tank wasn't out at a strip club or getting arrested on the damn eve of his meeting with Goodall, unlike the others

 

4) Tank lost his best friend, who was also likely the source of many of his troubles. That provides him with a clean break, a way to change without having to look bad in front of his friends. Henry & Jones don't have that. That right there increases his chances of changing for the better, in my book.

 

5) The Bears already attempted to deal with this internally, taking playing time away from Tank, not relying solely on the league for punishment. Essentially what we're talking about here with Goodall is a 3rd round of punishment for the same crime. That seems a bit excessive to me, and should shave off a couple games at least.

[jersey cubs fan]

I still have a problem with Goodell's ex-post facto enforcement of the new zero tolerance policy, regardless of how the Tank issue ends up. It's a sign of a leader a little too drunk on power, and I'm not sure how well that bodes for his future. At some point he could force the union into breaking with the league on these issues and think about a work stoppage.

[MidoreX]

Any idea when Goodell would announce any league suspension for Tank? It may have been mentioned somewhere in this thread, but 136 pages is a daunting task...

[Soul]

Any idea when Goodell would announce any league suspension for Tank? It may have been mentioned somewhere in this thread, but 136 pages is a daunting task...

 

I haven't heard it but admittedly I haven't been paying all that close attention. My initial understanding was it would happen last Tuesday or Wednesday, but obviously that was incorrect.

[Soriano12]

Any idea when Goodell would announce any league suspension for Tank? It may have been mentioned somewhere in this thread, but 136 pages is a daunting task...

 

Maybe he forgot? That would be sweet.

[Jon]

Coca Cola just bought the company that makes Vitamin Water for $4.1 billion. I'm guessing the money Urlacher just made from his share in the company made up for the $100,000 fine.

[Banedon]

Coca Cola just bought the company that makes Vitamin Water for $4.1 billion. I'm guessing the money Urlacher just made from his share in the company made up for the $100,000 fine.

 

Even if he just owned 1%, he just made some bank.

[Butterscup1679666578]

Any idea when Goodell would announce any league suspension for Tank? It may have been mentioned somewhere in this thread, but 136 pages is a daunting task...

 

Maybe he forgot? That would be sweet.

 

Maybe there is no announcement because he's not suspending him? :D

[Jon]

I put up video highlights here of the Walter Payton game in '99 and the OT wins in 2001 against the 49ers and Browns.

[MPC]

I put up video highlights here of the Walter Payton game in '99 and the OT wins in 2001 against the 49ers and Browns.

 

great memories, thanks Jon.

[da bears]

Dude youre a rockstar Jon. I've been looking for that Browns win for so long. Thanks a lot.

[Butterscup1679666578]

I put up video highlights here of the Walter Payton game in '99 and the OT wins in 2001 against the 49ers and Browns.

 

Dude...I've been searching for clips from the 49ers/Browns games for so long. Thank you!

 

I was at that 49er game. Easily the best game I've ever been to in person.

[Keener98]

So has there still been no decision announced regarding Tank, or did I just completly miss it?

[MPC]

So has there still been no decision announced regarding Tank, or did I just completly miss it?

 

nothing yet.

[Jon]

Dude youre a rockstar Jon. I've been looking for that Browns win for so long. Thanks a lot.

Yeah, I've been looking for both for ages. I finally decided to get that Bears Historic set DVD for the games after a few months of thinking about it.

 

What an amazing two weeks that was...