Game 1 - Indianapolis Colts @ BEARS - 12:00 PM

[minnesotacubsfan]

gee whiz jersey, with articulate logic such as yours, I wonder if you could tell me the difference between gray and grayish.

 

dont leave anything out, please!

[minnesotacubsfan]

I totally forgot this about McKinney

 

Boat cruise scandal

In October 2005, McKinnie was charged with a misdemeanor for his involvement in the 2005 Minnesota Vikings boat cruise scandal. He allegedly picked up a naked woman, placing her on the bar and performed cunnilingus on her in front of the crew and other guests. Later that evening, he and three other men were spotted sitting in deck chairs receiving fellatio from four women, which was also observed by the crew in a public area of the boat.[17]

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryant_McKinnie

[Ding Dong Johnson]

also how his name is spelled

[minnesotacubsfan]

McKinnie I believe

 

 

I never spell it correctly

[Magnetic Curses]

 

Yes, they went from elite to average in a hurry. They "missed beats" as others suggested they never did. They got better since, but they haven't gotten as good as they were when they were the best defense in football and actually a threat to score, let alone prevent the opposition from scoring.

 

they had a bad year between harris and peppers while urlacher was injured, but other than that i don't see much of a dropoff. as has been said, an argument can be made that they were the best defense in football last year.

[Guest]

Now granted, 2005 and 2006 they ranked 2nd both seasons, but I would contend that staying in the top 10 defenses for 6 of the last 7 years is hardly "missing multiple beats". Especially when you consider the injury woes of 2009.

 

That would be a really strange argument to try and make. They were elite and they took a significant step back from elite. They missed beats. Why would anybody try to pretend otherwise?

 

Maybe I'm misinterpretting your argument, but it sounded to me like you were arguing that they were elite five or six year ago, then went to average. I disagree if that is what you're arguing and I think the weighted defensive efficiency shows that. This may be a semantics argument, but I felt the tone of your post was basically indicating that they were an average defensive team. In fact, you states that.

 

They went from an elite defense to just about average in a hurry.

 

You also said they were not close to elite, and I disagree with that too.

 

Yes, they went from elite to average in a hurry. They "missed beats" as others suggested they never did. They got better since, but they haven't gotten as good as they were when they were the best defense in football and actually a threat to score, let alone prevent the opposition from scoring.

 

Except last year, when they were the best defense in football.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Now granted, 2005 and 2006 they ranked 2nd both seasons, but I would contend that staying in the top 10 defenses for 6 of the last 7 years is hardly "missing multiple beats". Especially when you consider the injury woes of 2009.

 

That would be a really strange argument to try and make. They were elite and they took a significant step back from elite. They missed beats. Why would anybody try to pretend otherwise?

 

Maybe I'm misinterpretting your argument, but it sounded to me like you were arguing that they were elite five or six year ago, then went to average. I disagree if that is what you're arguing and I think the weighted defensive efficiency shows that. This may be a semantics argument, but I felt the tone of your post was basically indicating that they were an average defensive team. In fact, you states that.

 

They went from an elite defense to just about average in a hurry.

 

You also said they were not close to elite, and I disagree with that too.

 

Yes, they went from elite to average in a hurry. They "missed beats" as others suggested they never did. They got better since, but they haven't gotten as good as they were when they were the best defense in football and actually a threat to score, let alone prevent the opposition from scoring.

 

Except last year, when they were the best defense in football.

 

 

there is a FINE LINE between being the 2nd best and THE best and its relationship to the term "elite". Just ask jersey. Being #1 apparently doesn't count

[UMFan83]

Was bored, so I did some pointless simming on whatifsports.com. Based on my simulations, this is how the Bears fare this season:

 

v IND  W 34-16   1-0
@ GB   W 28-7    2-0
v STL  W 16-13   3-0
@ DAL  W 31-22   4-0
@ JAX  W 27-10   5-0
BYE
v DET  W 23-3    6-0
v CAR  L 24-27   6-1
@ TEN  W 17-13   7-1
v HOU  W 24-17   8-1
@ SF   L 13-16   8-2
v MIN  W 33-10   9-2
v SEA  W 31-20  10-2
@ MIN  L 14-24  10-3
v GB   L 16-24  10-4
@ ARI  L 20-33  10-5
@ DET  W 18-15  11-5
Playoffs:
@ SF   W 24-10  12-5
@ GB   L 21-28  12-6 

 

 

Playoff Seeds:

Packers 13-3 N

Falcons 11-5 S

Eagles 10-6 E

49ers 10-6 W

Bears 11-5 WC

Buccaneers 10-6 WC

 

5 Chicago Bears (11-5) @ 4 San Francisco 49ers (10-6) CHI 24-10

6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-6) @ 3 Philadelphia Eagles (10-6) PHI 27-24

 

5 Chicago Bears (12-5) @ 1 Green Bay Packers (13-3) GB 28-21

3 Philadelphia Eagles (11-6) @ 2 Atlanta Falcons (11-5) PHI 23-20

 

3 Philadelphia Eagles (12-6) @ 1 Green Bay Packers (14-3) GB 28-24

[Guest]

What if sports has the Bears as the 27th best team in the NFL, so yea.

[JonJayCutler]

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bears/post/_/id/4677585/urlacher-procedures-not-your-business?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

"Now I feel like I do when I was going back into training camp. That's why I'm so optimistic. I feel the same as I did back then. The old injury was the PCL and the MCL, and it wasn't that (causing the most recent discomfort). Sometimes you get cartilage in there, and you get things floating around. The scope was just cleaning it out, getting all that stuff out so it quits aggravating your knee. It feels good now. That's all I care about."

At this point, Urlacher says his chief concern is cardiovascular conditioning, but said, "hell no" to the possibility of the team monitoring his repetitions during games.

 

Since joining the Bears in 2000, Urlacher, 34, has missed 24 regular-season contests, but none in the past two years. The linebacker believes that even with concerns about the knee, he can still perform at a Pro Bowl level.

 

"Yes, I can. Yes, for sure. There's no doubt," Urlacher said.

[rawaction]

Was bored, so I did some pointless simming on whatifsports.com. Based on my simulations, this is how the Bears fare this season:

 

v IND  W 34-16   1-0
@ GB   W 28-7    2-0
v STL  W 16-13   3-0
@ DAL  W 31-22   4-0
@ JAX  W 27-10   5-0
BYE
v DET  W 23-3    6-0
v CAR  L 24-27   6-1
@ TEN  W 17-13   7-1
v HOU  W 24-17   8-1
@ SF   L 13-16   8-2
v MIN  W 33-10   9-2
v SEA  W 31-20  10-2
@ MIN  L 14-24  10-3
v GB   L 16-24  10-4
@ ARI  L 20-33  10-5
@ DET  W 18-15  11-5
Playoffs:
@ SF   W 24-10  12-5
@ GB   L 21-28  12-6 

 

 

Playoff Seeds:

Packers 13-3 N

Falcons 11-5 S

Eagles 10-6 E

49ers 10-6 W

Bears 11-5 WC

Buccaneers 10-6 WC

 

5 Chicago Bears (11-5) @ 4 San Francisco 49ers (10-6) CHI 24-10

6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-6) @ 3 Philadelphia Eagles (10-6) PHI 27-24

 

5 Chicago Bears (12-5) @ 1 Green Bay Packers (13-3) GB 28-21

3 Philadelphia Eagles (11-6) @ 2 Atlanta Falcons (11-5) PHI 23-20

 

3 Philadelphia Eagles (12-6) @ 1 Green Bay Packers (14-3) GB 28-24

 

I'd be pretty upset if the Bears started 6-0 and went 5-5 the rest of the way, unless they were resting players the last 2 weeks. Same goes for them being 10-2 and losing 3 in a row. Also can't understand the logic that the Bears win 28-7 in Green Bay, but lose by double digits in Minnesota and Arizona when neither of them are in the playoff hunt (presumably).

[rawaction]

As for the earlier discussion. I kinda agree with Goony. The rankings look respectable still for the Bears D, other than 2009, but this is clearly not as good of a defense. First of all, the standards for having a top 10 defense have gone down considerably. But it's going to be hard for any team with the current pass-friendly rules to be as good as a defense from 5-6 years ago. Secondly, it was just physically a lot harder to move the ball against the 06 team. The 06 team allowed 90 fewer points. Allowed 1.1 fewer yards per attempt in the air. Yards per carry were actually the same, but the 06 teams gave up way fewer 1st downs and forced more 3 and outs.

 

So, I would say the Bears definitely have taken a couple steps back (or missed beats, if you will) from the levels of 2005-2006. I would consider them elite, comparable to the top defenses ever in 05 and 06. I wouldn't consider them even close to elite level comparable to all-time Ds now, but relatively speaking they are definitely a decent bit better than average. So, saying they went from "elite" to "average" is probably not correct, but whether they are #1 now or not, they are clearly not as strong as they were 6 years ago. Whether that is because of rule changes, offensive scheme changes, or the actual loss of talent of the D....I couldn't say for sure, but probably a combination of everything.

[Magnetic Curses]

so #1 isn't elite relative to defenses last year?

 

has the world gone mad?

[Banedon]

Since we were talking about it yesterday, the league says the Bears have $5.9million in cap space. The NFLPA says the Bears have $6.3 million.

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/09/04/team-by-team-cap-space-as-of-september-3/

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/09/05/league-union-have-different-cap-numbers/

[Banedon]

John Mullin picks the Bears to win the division:

 

http://www.csnchicago.com/football-chicago-bears/bears-talk/The-Bears-will-win-the-NFC-North-Heres-w?blockID=767837&feedID=10330

[Guest]

so #1 isn't elite relative to defenses last year?

 

has the world gone mad?

 

Yea. That's all that matters.

 

The league has changed and so has the division, anyway. Who even knows what the 2005 and 2006 numbers would have looked like if they had to face these Packers and Lions 4 times instead of their 2005-06 counterparts?

 

It's like saying Sammy was a clearly better hitter in 98 than Mike Trout has been this year based on OPS. Sure, if you don't look at context whatsoever.

Edited September 5, 2012 by David

[minnesotacubsfan]

The "Moon" Mullin also says the Beaars have the best oline in the NFL, so yea

[Guest]

The "Moon" Mullin also says the Beaars have the best oline in the NFL, so yea

 

I think he meant the North, but yea.

[Cubswin11]

The "Moon" Mullin also says the Beaars have the best oline in the NFL, so yea

 

I think he meant the North, but yea.

Yeah, all of the OL in the North are pretty average if not below average. Vikings should be improved with the addition of Kalil and are probably the best, the Bears and Packers are probably about the same Detriot probably has the worst OL. But arguments can be made for any one unit to be the best/worst.

[jersey cubs fan]

Except last year, when they were the best defense in football.

 

If you believe those rankings go right ahead. But they are extremely far from gospel.

 

The point is they missed beats after their 2 year run of domination.

[UMFan83]

Except last year, when they were the best defense in football.

 

If you believe those rankings go right ahead. But they are extremely far from gospel.

 

The point is they missed beats after their 2 year run of domination.

 

Football Outsiders has stats that say Chris Williams was one of the top 2-3 guards in the NFL last year when he got hurt midway through the season.

 

This season, he's a backup LT, with people like Lance Louis are at guard instead of him. From what the beat guys say, the Bears don't think Williams is an effective guard. Who is right? I dont know, but the point is that no one "efficiency" stat is going to be 100% correct. I do tend to believe the Bears D was a lot better than the results show for a variety of reasons, but I don't think its crazy to question those rankings.

[Guest]

Except last year, when they were the best defense in football.

 

If you believe those rankings go right ahead. But they are extremely far from gospel.

 

The point is they missed beats after their 2 year run of domination.

 

Football Outsiders has stats that say Chris Williams was one of the top 2-3 guards in the NFL last year when he got hurt midway through the season.

 

This season, he's a backup LT, with people like Lance Louis are at guard instead of him. From what the beat guys say, the Bears don't think Williams is an effective guard. Who is right? I dont know, but the point is that no one "efficiency" stat is going to be 100% correct. I do tend to believe the Bears D was a lot better than the results show for a variety of reasons, but I don't think its crazy to question those rankings.

 

I buy into advanced football metrics for overall team rankings/team performance. For individual players, not near as much. Too many variables.

[Magnetic Curses]

i think if you take into account 3 things you can get a pretty accurate idea of where a defense falls:

 

yards per play, takeaways, and schedule strength.

 

the bears played 8 of the top 10 offenses, statistically, in the NFL last year, and 2 of those teams twice. so 10 total games against top 10 offenses will skew the overall stats significantly.

 

football outsiders has their schedule as the toughest by far in terms of opposing offenses.

[cubbyvirus00]

I think our defense will be average to above average this year, but the lack of new blood and total difference makers is disturbing.

 

The team will need to hit on some draft picks and hope the younger guys can develop or this defense is in trouble. We've got 3-4 impact vets on the decline.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Jersey only goes by ESPN rankings.