2009 Chicago Bears offseason

[Soul]

It probably means more in baseball, where you have 162 games to equalize some of the short term success.

 

I don't know. The best baseball teams win a little more than 60% of the time, and that's including against all competition, good or bad. How often does the best baseball team beat another top 8 team? 53%? The best NFL teams win 80% or more of the time. I think being the best might matter more in football, but it still doesn't absolutely determine the champion.

 

Zona got to the Super Bowl with a 9-7 record last year.

 

Pitt recently won a Super Bowl as a 6 seed.

 

I really do think, after all is said and done, alot of this analysis winds up being just bunk.

 

Give me the 6 seed Steelers and a Super Bowl championship over the other team that was better, but didn't make it.

 

I'm an emotional guy. I'll take that emotional Super Bowl run from a team that maybe wasn't all that great on paper any day. The championship is really all that matters to me. That goes for all sports.

 

It's not bunk. Unless it's actually attempting to predict one team as a champion. And in that case, said analysis usually amounts to a big chart with pictures of "experts" and their Super Bowl picks, which is obvious crap to begin with.

 

Legitimate analysis tells you things of value. And the fact that it isn't going to do a great job of saying who ultimately wins is implied due to the nature of all this. I don't think legit analysis attempts to do that, anyway. It tells you who is likely to win and might or might not give you a good idea of what teams are actually better than others, but you're not going to see them say, "Team X will win the Super Bowl," at least, not without major qualification. If they do, you know what you're reading is crap to begin with. Unfortunately, like 90% of fans don't realize this and that's why the crap analysis is what you mostly find in the mainstream sources.

 

I think most fans don't really care who someone says will be good on paper if it doesn't mean anything in terms of the championship. Maybe I'm in the minority though.

 

BTW, ultimately -- and especially in the NFL -- I watch this stuff for the emotion. Stats & analysis are a distant second.

[David]

I just like to think/know I have a good idea of who the best teams actually are *shrug* and I feel like I'm able to separate that from what the results actually are.

[David]

BTW, today's OTA is open to the media, so maybe we'll have some cool footage/stories coming.

[Soul]

That would be nice.

 

Here we are in early June and I find myself hoping for football season to get here sooner, for obvious reasons.

[David]

That would be nice.

 

Here we are in early June and I find myself hoping for football season to get here sooner, for obvious reasons.

 

 

There's a ton of them. It's like a perfect storm right now. Rarely have I ever wanted June and July to go by this quickly.

[jersey cubs fan]

Mike Brown is visiting the Chiefs soon.

 

I still think it's sort of dumb to not just sign him if it's cheap. If he's around, he's not worse than our other options. Reminds me of when many/most Cubs fans wanted to get rid of Prior just for the sake of getting rid of him. Granted, it seems nothing good would've come of it, but I didn't see much to lose there and I see even less to lose here since Brown is at least capable of taking the field for a decent percentage of the time.

 

Considering how freely they've handed out contracts to others this year, it makes me think more and more that the coaching staff didn't like Brown's "coach on the field" monikor in some way shape or form. Maybe they thought he was ignoring them more, or dogging it a bit. I would think he'd be as good as anybody else they have, but skills erode quickly in football, and it's quite possible Brown has slipped more than I thought. The Bears defense more so than most requires athleticism, which means youth.

[Banedon]

That would be nice.

 

Here we are in early June and I find myself hoping for football season to get here sooner, for obvious reasons.

 

 

There's a ton of them. It's like a perfect storm right now. Rarely have I ever wanted June and July to go by this quickly.

 

It's been that way since the Cutler deal for me.

[David]

Mike Brown and Rex Grossman were two of my favorite Bears and it would suck for them to not find a team to latch onto. There are plenty of worse QB's than Rex out there. Hell, there are almost certainly two on our roster.

 

 

(That's not to say I want him on our roster. I'm tired of hearing him get ripped on. We've done way worse than him at that position.)

[Banedon]

Mike Brown and Rex Grossman were two of my favorite Bears and it would suck for them to not find a team to latch onto. There are plenty of worse QB's than Rex out there. Hell, there are almost certainly two on our roster.

 

Frankly, I keep anticipating them signing him as a backup. If he's willing to take league minimum, I'm not sure why it's not done already, unless he's just flat is done with Chicago...which I wouldn't blame him for.

[Mark Priors Calves]

i think rex has a terrible reputation around the league. a lot has been made about his 0.0 qb rating game, his new years eve game comments, his turnovers in the superbowl, his rumored try out with the world football league, and his poor play recently with the bears has overshadowed any possible contributions he could make on a team as a back-up or at worst a third string, emergency qb. i was a rex support over much of his career, but he's clearly not very good but like its been stated, he's better than a lot of other qb's currently under contract elsewhere.

[jersey cubs fan]

From the trib's "huddle up" blog.

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/huddleup/ota/

 

By Vaughn McClure

 

Jay Cutler has been nothing short of excellent with his passes today, no surprise considering the buzz he continues to generate.

 

He talks about a couple nice passes to Hester and Olsen and Cutler's footwork. Nothing really meaningful, but more fun to think about than the Cubs.

[Soul]

I've been travelling for work the past few days, and completely missed the news that we signed linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa.

 

Good sign, IMO.

[Banedon]

From the trib's "huddle up" blog.

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/huddleup/ota/

 

By Vaughn McClure

 

Jay Cutler has been nothing short of excellent with his passes today, no surprise considering the buzz he continues to generate.

 

He talks about a couple nice passes to Hester and Olsen and Cutler's footwork. Nothing really meaningful, but more fun to think about than the Cubs.

 

From the same link:

 

Running back Matt Forte left the practice field early and appeared to be limping a little bit. It is unclear how he got hurt. More to come later.

[David]

Matt Forte limping off the practice field

 

By Vaughn McClure

 

Running back Matt Forte left the practice field early and appeared to be limping a little bit. It is unclear how he got hurt. More to come later.

 

Ugh. Hopefully, it's nothing.

[Banedon]

Also, Tony Dungy is joining NBC for Football Night in America, and on the teleconference announcing that, he had comments about Cutler:

 

Dungy posited that the Bears made the move largely with beating the Packers in mind.

 

"I really think Chicago gave up a lot to get a quarterback who they believe is going to be the final piece of the puzzle," said Dungy. "But I'm not sure he's won enough to merit that yet. It may turn out to be a great move, but the jury's out. To me, it was a risky move. But I think one that was done with the idea of beating one team."

 

Asked whether he thinks Cutler is the best quarterback in the NFC North, Dungy said it's too early to tell.

 

"We'll see about the maturity level, that's what I would question," said Dungy. "And some of the things that happened leading to him leaving Denver. That would concern me as a coach. That's my question. I think he can make all the throws. But quarterbacking is much more than making throws."

[Brian]

That makes no sense to me. The idea that any QB in the league is brought in to beat any one team makes zero sense. Am I missing something or is he insane?

[Banedon]

That makes no sense to me. The idea that any QB in the league is brought in to beat any one team makes zero sense. Am I missing something or is he insane?

 

He might just be so used to having Peyton Manning that it really skews his QB perspective at this point. Anything less than Manning is unacceptable. That's just a shot in the dark though.

[Soul]

Also, Tony Dungy is joining NBC for Football Night in America, and on the teleconference announcing that, he had comments about Cutler:

 

Dungy posited that the Bears made the move largely with beating the Packers in mind.

 

"I really think Chicago gave up a lot to get a quarterback who they believe is going to be the final piece of the puzzle," said Dungy. "But I'm not sure he's won enough to merit that yet. It may turn out to be a great move, but the jury's out. To me, it was a risky move. But I think one that was done with the idea of beating one team."

 

Asked whether he thinks Cutler is the best quarterback in the NFC North, Dungy said it's too early to tell.

 

"We'll see about the maturity level, that's what I would question," said Dungy. "And some of the things that happened leading to him leaving Denver. That would concern me as a coach. That's my question. I think he can make all the throws. But quarterbacking is much more than making throws."

 

There's always concern, but in my view this is about as low-risk as you can get acquiring a QB of Cutler's ability while not overly burdening your team's future options.

 

You are always going to have to give up top draft picks for this kind of player. What makes this lower risk than usual is the fact that we aren't also rolling up a truck full of money to Cutler's door, at least not initially.

 

In my mind, it's even lower risk given the Bears' poor history in the 1st round, but I understand that you don't normally judge the value of a pick by whether the original team knows how to use it or not. It does provide a level of comfort though -- if Cutler were to not work out, I will feel fairly comfortable that the 2 1st rounders most likely wouldn't have totally changed the team's outlook either.

[jersey cubs fan]

Also, Tony Dungy is joining NBC for Football Night in America, and on the teleconference announcing that, he had comments about Cutler:

 

Dungy posited that the Bears made the move largely with beating the Packers in mind.

 

"I really think Chicago gave up a lot to get a quarterback who they believe is going to be the final piece of the puzzle," said Dungy. "But I'm not sure he's won enough to merit that yet. It may turn out to be a great move, but the jury's out. To me, it was a risky move. But I think one that was done with the idea of beating one team."

 

Asked whether he thinks Cutler is the best quarterback in the NFC North, Dungy said it's too early to tell.

 

"We'll see about the maturity level, that's what I would question," said Dungy. "And some of the things that happened leading to him leaving Denver. That would concern me as a coach. That's my question. I think he can make all the throws. But quarterbacking is much more than making throws."

 

As dumb as it is to suggest a player was brought in to beat one team, why is anybody suggesting it's GB? It's not the like Bears haven't been able to beat them under Lovie. And Dungy doesn't even saying GB. I think this is a case of a guy who really has no business talking on TV just saying stuff to make a stand because that's what TV guys have to do. Nothing he said was the least bit meaningful.

[Soul]

Yeah I have no idea what Dungy is talking about. Cutler wasn't acquired to beat one team. That's just a ridiculous assertion.

[rawaction]

Yeah I have no idea what Dungy is talking about. Cutler wasn't acquired to beat one team. That's just a ridiculous assertion.

 

Yeah, makes no sense, especially since the Bears have done pretty well vs. GB in Lovie's tenure. If anything, he could say he was brought in to beat Minnesota, who is a better team than GB and has a defense that is almost impossible to run on.

 

But I'm pretty sure the Bears brought in Cutler with the hopes of him helping them beat whoever represents the AFC in the Superbowl.

[JonJayCutler]

Please tell me the Bears are going to add a WR before the season starts. I know Cutler is good, but its a bad sign when the top three targets on the offense aren't WRs.

[kujay]

Please tell me the Bears are going to add a WR before the season starts. I know Cutler is good, but its a bad sign when the top three targets on the offense aren't WRs.

 

I thought I heard Angelo say recently something to the effect that it all starts with the QB and that Cutler will make the receivers they have better.

 

That might be, but I agree with you. We need some talent out wide.

[rawaction]

From the trib's "huddle up" blog.

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/huddleup/ota/

 

By Vaughn McClure

 

Jay Cutler has been nothing short of excellent with his passes today, no surprise considering the buzz he continues to generate.

 

He talks about a couple nice passes to Hester and Olsen and Cutler's footwork. Nothing really meaningful, but more fun to think about than the Cubs.

 

I have taken every opportunity to watch any Denver game on NFL network recently. Jay Cutler can simply make every throw that needs to be made. His completion % speaks for itself, but I don't think Bears fans truly understand how accurate this man is. Brandon Marshall is great after the catch, because of his size, but Cutler routinely puts the ball perfectly in stride with him. He can throw from any angle, so rarely gets any passes batted down.

 

Every time I see a Denver WR run after the catch, I think back to the throws made by Bears QBs in recent history where receivers have had to slow down or reach back, down, or up to catch a pass. Not that Cutler will be perfect, but I think you will see the Bears athletes being able to do more with the ball this year.

[jersey cubs fan]

Yeah I have no idea what Dungy is talking about. Cutler wasn't acquired to beat one team. That's just a ridiculous assertion.

 

Yeah, makes no sense, especially since the Bears have done pretty well vs. GB in Lovie's tenure. If anything, he could say he was brought in to beat Minnesota, who is a better team than GB and has a defense that is almost impossible to run on.

 

But I'm pretty sure the Bears brought in Cutler with the hopes of him helping them beat whoever represents the AFC in the Superbowl.

 

In the quotes provided, Dungy doesn't even mention Green Bay. He just says "one team" and the writer apparantly assumes it's Green Bay. It would make more sense as Minnesota, but it's still a rather ridiculous sentiment. He was brought in to be the quarterback for 19 games this year and the next 10 years after.