2009 Chicago Bears offseason

[Soul]

Yeah, and Joe Montana was nothing without Bill Walsh. Remind me, what was Belichick as a head coach prior to Brady?

 

Don't get me wrong, I'd want him running the Bears out of any guy out there but you can have the best system in the world and you still need good players to execute it. Belichick would be the first to tell you that.

 

And Cassel had a decent year in 2008--as in he was a borderline top 10 QB in the league. Brady had the greatest season of a QB in league history with largely the same personnel. Let's not pretend Cassel went in there and duplicated what Brady did just because he did a decent job.

 

 

Yeah, but I strongly suspect that in many other places Cassel would have been the equivalent of Shane Matthews. We'll see if that suspicion is correct or not in the upcoming year.

[Soul]

I have no problem saying Brady is a great QB. Top 5 seems a bit much for me though. Look, most players owe at least some of their success to time & place.

 

The fact is, Belichek runs a great ship. I don't think you'd get much argument from me saying Walsh also ran a great ship, and that Joe benefitted from that as well.

[cubweiser03]

i just don't think brady would be all that great if he were thrown into the bears system. with the patriots, he plays in the shotgun, they throw most of the time, and he has all the time in the world to pick apart defenses. plus, he has two pretty nifty receivers he can either throw the ball up in the eair to, or dump off to, and expect to put up the stats.

 

cutler is better, his arm is far better, he can make any throw at any time, he's mobile enough to get himself and his receivers time, he just doesn't have that little ironclad pocket of wonderfulness that they have in new england where none shall pass.

 

And when that pocket shows the least bit of vulnerability, the whole NE system tends to look like a mess.

 

exactly.

 

Matt Cassel 2008: 516 PA, 47 Sacks

Tom Brady 2007: 578 PA, 21 Sacks

 

The line was pretty much the same in 2008 as the years past.

[ctcf]

Looks like the Williams Wall lost their case and will be out for the first four games. Woohoo!

[rawaction]

Looks like the Williams Wall lost their case and will be out for the first four games. Woohoo!

 

Meh. They should still be favored in their first four. The first 3 teams they faced (CLE, DET, SF) all finished in the bottom 7 in rushing offense last year, which is where teams might be able to expose them without the Williamseseses. They get GB in week 4, but it's in the Metrodome.

[brinoch]

Looks like the Williams Wall lost their case and will be out for the first four games. Woohoo!

 

Meh. They should still be favored in their first four. The first 3 teams they faced (CLE, DET, SF) all finished in the bottom 7 in rushing offense last year, which is where teams might be able to expose them without the Williamseseses. They get GB in week 4, but it's in the Metrodome.

 

It's pretty irritating that they weren't punished during the season.

[dew1679666265]

Brady will likely go down in the top 10 of QB's all-time.

 

This is about how I feel. Peyton, Favre, Marino, Montana and Elway are definitely better QBs (in the entirety of their careers) than Brady, but I'm not sure are many/any others better than him.

 

I'm no Patriot fan, but Brady's an incredible talent who, like all great QBs, is helped by his system.

[dew1679666265]

Here's an interesting interview between the National Football Post's Matt Bowen and Jerry Angelo.

 

Here's a couple snippets:

 

On the receivers question

“Our assumption is that it starts with the quarterback, and not the wide receivers,” he said. “All you have to do is look north and see what Favre did with his receivers in Green Bay. I don’t care who you gave Favre because they always looked good.”

 

On Rod Marinelli's effectiveness

I’ve talked to former Lions players who have told me that Marinelli is the best teacher in the league, and Angelo has the same opinion. “He is a special coach who drives these guys, pushes the envelope, and guys respond to that,” he said. “All great coaches are great teachers, and they get guys who want to please them.”

[Soul]

Looks like the Williams Wall lost their case and will be out for the first four games. Woohoo!

 

Meh. They should still be favored in their first four. The first 3 teams they faced (CLE, DET, SF) all finished in the bottom 7 in rushing offense last year, which is where teams might be able to expose them without the Williamseseses. They get GB in week 4, but it's in the Metrodome.

 

It's pretty irritating that they weren't punished during the season.

 

I agree. There was never any reason the Williamses should have received that kind of beneficial treatment when nobody else in the league ever got that. I kind of felt like the judge just punted on the issue because he wanted to go fishing or golifing, or something. The way that thing went down wasn't quite right.

[Magnetic Curses]

i just don't think brady would be all that great if he were thrown into the bears system. with the patriots, he plays in the shotgun, they throw most of the time, and he has all the time in the world to pick apart defenses. plus, he has two pretty nifty receivers he can either throw the ball up in the eair to, or dump off to, and expect to put up the stats.

 

cutler is better, his arm is far better, he can make any throw at any time, he's mobile enough to get himself and his receivers time, he just doesn't have that little ironclad pocket of wonderfulness that they have in new england where none shall pass.

 

And when that pocket shows the least bit of vulnerability, the whole NE system tends to look like a mess.

 

exactly.

 

Matt Cassel 2008: 516 PA, 47 Sacks

Tom Brady 2007: 578 PA, 21 Sacks

 

The line was pretty much the same in 2008 as the years past.

 

no one's arguing that brady doesn't have better pocket awareness than cassell. he's an experienced, very smart quarterback.

[cubweiser03]

i just don't think brady would be all that great if he were thrown into the bears system. with the patriots, he plays in the shotgun, they throw most of the time, and he has all the time in the world to pick apart defenses. plus, he has two pretty nifty receivers he can either throw the ball up in the eair to, or dump off to, and expect to put up the stats.

 

cutler is better, his arm is far better, he can make any throw at any time, he's mobile enough to get himself and his receivers time, he just doesn't have that little ironclad pocket of wonderfulness that they have in new england where none shall pass.

 

And when that pocket shows the least bit of vulnerability, the whole NE system tends to look like a mess.

 

exactly.

 

Matt Cassel 2008: 516 PA, 47 Sacks

Tom Brady 2007: 578 PA, 21 Sacks

 

The line was pretty much the same in 2008 as the years past.

 

no one's arguing that brady doesn't have better pocket awareness than cassell. he's an experienced, very smart quarterback.

 

I know, im just saying that QB's have a lot to do with how well an offensive line pass protects. Brady is really good at sliding around inside the pocket, he has a good line but thats not all of it.

[ctcf]

The Browns signed Hood.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Has any team even taking a flyer out on Rex Grossman yet?

[ctcf]

Has any team even taking a flyer out on Rex Grossman yet?

 

Last I heard he was looking at that new League that's starting up.

[Banedon]

Has any team even taking a flyer out on Rex Grossman yet?

 

Last I heard he was looking at that new League that's starting up.

 

His agent denies that, but from what I've heard he's being shopped for league minimum.

[rawaction]

Matt Jones, my favorite remaining FA WR target, is NOT going to be suspended any additional time in 2009.

 

6'6", 220 lbs, 4.37 40-yd, 39.5 vert, 65 catches, 700+ yards in 2009. Would be a low risk, high reward type of signing.

[ctcf]

Matt Jones, my favorite remaining FA WR target, is NOT going to be suspended any additional time in 2009.

 

6'6", 220 lbs, 4.37 40-yd, 39.5 vert, 65 catches, 700+ yards in 2009. Would be a low risk, high reward type of signing.

 

I'm down if only because between him and Cutler, KSK would have Bears stuff every week.

[Banedon]

CNNSI.com ranks the NFL backfields. They have the Bears 9th:

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/05/22/backfields/index.html?eref=T1

[David]

I thought the consensus was that LT is pretty much done.

[Soul]

I was wondering the same thing. Isn't LT slowing down now?

 

I guess we'll see.

[jersey cubs fan]

I thought the consensus was that LT is pretty much done.

 

He's done being THE GUY back there but I think most believe he's got something left if used a little more sparingly. If they are talking about QB plus RB, SD certainly has an argument with Rivers and Sproles contributing to the equation.

[Soul]

I thought the consensus was that LT is pretty much done.

 

He's done being THE GUY back there but I think most believe he's got something left if used a little more sparingly. If they are talking about QB plus RB, SD certainly has an argument with Rivers and Sproles contributing to the equation.

 

I think the key to them still being at the top is Sproles. It's likely he can pick up most or all of any slack left by LT being older and a bit slower.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

That list is including QBs as part of the backfield, and ranks the Colts 10th.

 

Fail.

[jersey cubs fan]

Matt Jones, my favorite remaining FA WR target, is NOT going to be suspended any additional time in 2009.

 

6'6", 220 lbs, 4.37 40-yd, 39.5 vert, 65 catches, 700+ yards in 2009. Would be a low risk, high reward type of signing.

 

Could be low risk if they don't pay him much, but if he becomes the team's party planner that could take down a bunch of guys.

[jersey cubs fan]

That list is including QBs as part of the backfield, and ranks the Colts 10th.

 

Fail.

 

The fact that they were the worst running team in the game but still ranked 10th indicates they are giving a lot of credit to Manning (who probably isn't as good as he was at his peak).