Chocolate Milk

my bad, I forgot that GT choked that game away I think he's talking about Rutgers, who was coming off a 19 point loss to Cinncinati.

I think this will be an amusing contrast with the "Nick Saban is a LIAR and if he had only told the truth we would all still love him." stories.

Interesting article on playoff success: http://www.footballoutsiders.com/2007/01/04/ramblings/stat-analysis/4785/

It's not just Lovie. :D Yeah, I disagreed with you about this earlier, but I'm coming around. His entrance into the lineup and our awful passing defensive performance are linked. I think the Rams game is dominated if Hester isn't playing Torry Holt all night. I think that people underestimate Tillman's impact on the defense. Getting him back is going to make a huge difference, IMO.

Well, he has a good eye for talent then. Seriously, Hester needs to be a kick returner and occasional offensive weapon. Having him on defense is really bad. And they need to draft defense this April. I agree. I also think that playing defense probably hurts his return ability as well. I'd like to go defense early (SS/OLB) then look to pick up a tackle in the 2nd or 3rd.

It's not just Lovie. :D Yeah, I disagreed with you about this earlier, but I'm coming around. His entrance into the lineup and our awful passing defensive performance are linked.

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but I was listening to a interview of Lovie the other day and he seemed pretty excited to get Hester out of the defensive lineup. It sounds to me like Lovie thinks he's awful out there.

Seriously, I think the way Lovie handled Grossman in the Lions game had a lot to do with what Rex is talking about. Lovie took him out when the game was on the line, without telling him about it before hand: He even asked Lovie if he could keep playing and was told that he couldn't. So basically Lovie showed him that winning these games isn't important and he wasn't going to play a lot. I'd also guess he was a little bit bitter about not knowing what the plan was for the Lions game. With all the holidays along with this crap, I can see how his preparation took a dip. I'm not tring to defend Grossman here, he should always be prepared to play, but Lovie sent a pretty strong message that these games don't matter. Especially for Rex.

I don't know whether to be upset that he slacked off, or relieved that maybe the reason he sucked was because he didn't try and not because he's a terrible quarterback. Really, the whole team mailed this one in. I can't help but think that the way Lovie used Rex in the Lions game may have contributed to this.

Better matchups would have been: Louisville v. LSU Wisconsin v. Wake Forest

Sconsin would have given LSU a better game. At least they can play defense. I doubt they would have won, but they wouldn't have gotten the complete beatdown that ND got. Stupid BCS.

I read yesterday, that Benson has bulked up to 230. He's clearly the better runner now. TJ will be his backup next year. The writing is on the wall.

If he'd just get a chance!!!!

That's probably because you didn't see any of their dominating performances. I saw them dismantle the Seahawks, Bills, and Niners first hand so I know what their ceiling is. If they're on, no team in the NFC is within a touchdown of them.

Why wouldn't the Bears fans hold hope? Jesus, they have the 1st seed in playoffs and have rolled the NFC this year. Dude, you saw three Bears games the whole year and those games they weren't very good so your view is obviously going to be slanted negative. No offense, you probably know less about the team then the average Bears fan. This team has rolled some good teams including 2 possible first round playoff matchups. Despite their recent lackluster performance, they are still the class of the NFC. The NFC is terrible. I wouldn't bet against New Orleans in a head-to-head with the Bears. If Dallas regains confidence against Seattle, I'd call a Dallas vs. Bears matchup a coin flip. Listen, I haven't had the access to the Bears that I did during my 12+ years in Chicago. I only got national games (some of which I missed due to work) so of course my view is limited by the games I saw plus what I've read here. I also know that the last two times the Bears went into the playoffs with home field and/or first round byes, they got rolled by the Eagles and Panthers. There is no conection between this team and the 01 team. No one team is more likely do fail in the playoffs because a team with different players did so in the past. Even last year's team is much different than this one. Key players have changed. I love how we ridicule these types of ideas when talking about baseball but seem to embrace them when it comes to football. Dallas against the Bears @ the Bears would be a coinflip? I don't see how you could possibly justify that. The Cowboys have been even worse down the stretch than the Bears. The Bears could lose the first game. The're not perfect but they're much better than your opinion of them.

Why wouldn't the Bears fans hold hope? Jesus, they have the 1st seed in playoffs and have rolled the NFC this year. Dude, you saw three Bears games the whole year and those games they weren't very good so your view is obviously going to be slanted negative. No offense, you probably know less about the team then the average Bears fan. This team has rolled some good teams including 2 possible first round playoff matchups. Despite their recent lackluster performance, they are still the class of the NFC. The NFC is terrible.

Isn't Eli getting booed by the fans in New York?... Yes. One of my brothers (Giants season ticket holder) said he wants Eli to have a career ending injury and that he hates his slack jawed face.

Sorry, Derwood. You couldn't be more wrong about the Giants if you tried.

I'll go ahead and guess: Packers SNF, Arizona, MNF, and the Jets game? What do I win?

I completely agree and I hope Rex sees it as such. If he can put together 3 good games, even if the Bears lose the Superbowl, I think it will go a long way towards his devlopment.

If it was 1.5 seasons, you'd have a point, but it's spread out of 4 seasons, so you don't. It's not just game time that guys learn from. He's had more than enough film and practice time to be better, and he's had enough game time to be better than he is. I haven't given up on him, but I'm sick of the "it's only been 20 games" arguement. That made some sense in October, when he'd played very few games. He's had plenty of time. Now he has to get the job done. If he craps the bed in the playoffs, you have to seriously consider drafting a QB this April who could takeover in 2008, or midway through 2007 if he doesn't show improvement next season. I think the only inexpierence issue with Rex is his ability to control his emotions and play more level headed throughout the game. He's been in the league long enough to avoid rookie type mistakes. He's also started every game this season.

The first Vikings game? I guess, to a lesser extent. I think he was more lucky than good in that game. He should have been intercepted about 5 times in that game. I remember that Sharper dropped what would have been, 99 out of 100 times, a pick six. The ball hit him right in the breadbasket and he dropped it. If you want to include that game, fine. I still think Rex is more likely to completely meltdown in a game than bounce back from early struggles.

Grossman may not have 'thin-skin' but he absolutely gets rattled. I only remember one game where he started out poorly then finished strong and that was the Giants game. In other games, when things start going badly, he played worse and worse until things spiraled out of control. When he threw the fist pick-6 against the Packers, I felt the chances were very high that he was going to go all to pieces. He did. I don't know how else to explain it, at this point. How can one player have 7 100 rated games and have 2 games with a QB rating under 2? It's really unfathomable. He's talented enough where he should be able to sustain some level of production in every game. If he played that whole Packers game he could have thrown 6 interceptions. Being young and inexperienced isn't really an excuse for these blow-up games we're talking about. He reaches a level of terribleness that should not be possible. I'm truly baffled. Does anyone remember a similar player to Grossman? A player who can on one day light up a defense, and on another throw more interceptions than completions? I honestly can't think of one. A few guys have been up and down, but THIS up and down? He seems to be able to put it together for a few games after a blow-up game. I hope he can string together 3 good ones in a row, but I have to admit, I'm not really confident that he can. Lovie has to be able to pull the trigger quick with Rex in the postseason, in my opinion. If he starts off in a real funk, I have serious doubts whether he can pull himself out of it.

Dramatic much?

Badgers! :pointstosky: