rawaction

"two years, more than $16M" apparently. I'd have given Kazmir that deal. I have a lot of faith in the FO's ability to fill out a rotation though, and it gives me a little more hope that they aren't going to be trading Samardzija for pieces that won't impact the 2014 team. Damn, that was my guy. Was a big fan of going after Kazmir this year. Oh well.

Ok, this is nonsense. And also wasn't it Minnesota who called the TO? Both teams did. Back-to-back.

While I understand wanting a speedy slot guy I think 2nd or 3rd round would be a pretty big waste in resources on that unless the guy is just a clear BPA. The Johnny Knoxes and Eddie Royals of the world go in the 4-5 round and while they will never be number ones can be really effective with a Brandon Marshall taking away attention (not to mention a second Brandon Marshall). FA scrap heap could probably find a guy to fill that role too. Hopefully like Royal and Knox a guy like that will be a kick returner too so that we can cut ties with Hester. Like who in the FA would you target??? http://www.spotrac.com/free-agents/nfl/wide-receiver/ The WR is gonna have to come from the draft IMO and it wouldn't shock me if Bears went with someone like Marqise Lee or even a TE in the 1st. Although I think they need to go DL or possibly CB/S and somehow get De'Anthony Thomas in the 2nd. Getting Thomas means that you can let Hester go and cut Bush at the same time then put him in the Sproles/Vereen role. Yeah, you'll have to draft a speedy WR, but I agree that it's not necessary, especially early. The Bears have been just fine without a blazer. You're talking about the 5th option in the passing game. At least at TE, you could get a guy that could block at times and create more matchup problems vs. a base defense. Obviously if a speedy WR falls into your laps early, you take him, but I don't see that as a priority. Oh and DeAnthony Thomas is not very good. I'll scream if the Bears take him in the 2nd. He's a 3rd day pick to me, though I will admit I've seen plenty of places having him as a top 60 pick. Sproles and Vereen are significantly bigger than Thomas though. And you'd be getting him touches at the expense of Forte, not in addition to him in that role.

So, you knew Wright, who by all accounts was above average last year and Conte who was league average in his 2nd season would be the 2 worst safeties in the league this year? And of course the young players were unproven, that's because their [expletive] young! Wright and Conte had more experience than Wootton, yet you were confident in him and not in them? Makes no sense. Paea also was a full-time starter in 2012, unlike Wootton who took over 1/2 way thru for Idonije. And if everyone shares an opinion, it doesn't mean it's right.....but it means its the most logical. We could argue it all day, but it's clear which side is the most logical.

And everyone says the defense is old. Age is not an excuse. Until Ratliff suited up yesterday, everyone that played DT for the Bears this season has been under 27. Hell, Peppers is the only player on the entire DL over 27 (until Ratliff). Both safeties who have played terribly are under 26. The nickel back playing over 1/2 the snaps is basically a rookie. The LBs that started the season were all over 30, but 2 of them were on 1 year deals. Not like they were "inherited". The CBs starting the year were both 30+, but both coming off the best seasons of their careers and neither has/had played anywhere near poorly. Maybe the best players being the old ones is a concern, but there was no reason to believe the safeties would be this bad. Or that the DTs would drop like flies. I think most people were OK with Wright, Conte, Wootton, Paea, and Melton in the starting lineup (5 of the 11 starters), with Bostic waiting in the wings.

That's BS. You only kick a FG on 2nd down ever if the time is running out or it's a chip shot. 47-yards out isn't the time to do that. If you're scared of a fumble or penalty, then why aren't you kicking FGs on 2nd down every time you get in range? If you're scared of a fumble from a guy that gets 25 touches a game, then maybe that guy (Forte) shouldn't be getting those touches. If you get a penalty, you still have 1-2 downs to at least get back to where you're kicking it from by throwing it to one of your 6'3+ WRs, including the guy who broke the team record for receiving yards twice and the guy who broke every single season receiving record the team has. It was stupid. Everyone on here thought so, and apparently the other damn team did too.

I'm not furious at the defense in this game, they probably outperformed their ability. This offense hasn't been scoring for a while now, averaging less than 20 points per four quarters since the GB game. Yeah, the defense couldn't tackle Peterson. That's been the case for years. But they shouldn't have been put in the position to still have to try to tackle him 68 minutes after the game started. The offense didn't score enough, plain and simple. And yeah, the Bears need Cutler back.

I wouldn't be surprised by an early pick used on a #2 TE. The Bears offense has been great, but it's basically been 2 WRs, a TE, and a RB. Another weapon to throw to can only improve things another notch, TE or another WR. I expect the opposite approach to free agency. A couple vets on 1-year deals on offense (OL, TE, or backup RB). And a concerted effort to build up the D-line with a couple FAs and probably a 1st round draft pick.

Sometimes you make a deal like this in order to have a TOR guy available when you do need him. It's not much different than paying a FA for years after he will be productive in order to get him when you need him. No. You never make a deal like that.

FSU, Michigan St, SEC Champ, and then you only have 1 to pick. And if you're forced to pick NIU, that's already done for you.

No, we barely care anymore.

The Steelers? They've maintained solid seasons despite a coaching change and without a super-elite QB. The Eagles missed the playoffs just twice from 2000-2010 with McNabb, non-elite. That's pretty much it. But it's not like the league is completely littered with super-elite QBs. There's Brady, Peyton, Brees, and Rodgers/Favre carrying the most consistent teams. So, of the 6 teams dominating since 2000, 4 have 1st ballot HoF QBs, and 2 have/had QBs at about Cutler's level.

Hanson? As in Tommy Hanson?

Hanson? As in Tommy Hanson?

That's quite an exaggeration. The Bears also had a lot of things go their way also. It was just an amazing collection of errors and [expletive] ups by both teams. Terrible refs helped the Vikings in a huge way This. If that was a Bostic taunt, then that was a late hit on Allen. Terrible. I honestly think the most costly error by the refs was the Alshon catch being ruled both short of the first down and inbounds at the end of the first half. It was one or the other but not both and probably cost the Bears a field goal attempt, which based on the way the game ended, would have been pretty huge. Yeah that was bad.

Call it a 270 yard game and some Jeffrey wizardry? I feel like all his incompletions were bad throws and a lot of his completions were WRs RAC or making his throw look good (Jeffery).

McCown put up the worst 350 yard passing game I've ever seen. Cutler coming back and winning 8 straight would be sweet, but that will never happen because "only my teams" is very real.

Is Morgan Burnett any good? Seems like he was good but wasn't so great last year.

I'll give Emery a pass. When he took the job, his clear goal was to improve the offense. He's done that with personnel and coaching moves. Sucks he couldn't maintain the defense, but the offense was really bad. The question now is can he build the defense back up while maintaining the offense? I don't think he can while also trying to find a new QB.

Injury to insult.

Problem with this analogy: the Giants had a D and ??'s on O. We can't stop anyone Giants were 9th in offense and 25th in defense.

The 2011 Giants were 6-6 after 12 weeks. Moved to .500 after a heartbreaking loss on a last second Packers FG. They the won at Dallas the next week and beat Dallas in Week 17 to get to the playoffs. The rest is history. Bad news is they got in at 9-7. 9-7 isn't likely to do the Bears any good.

I don't either. Just frustration. But [expletive] he's a terrible in-game decision maker. He can say all the [expletive] he wants to try to sound smart, but he is clearly coaching scared right now. You go for 4th down on your own side of the field with a lead in GB, but you don't go for it on the opposite side of the field on 4th down with a lead today? You don't coach to prevent a penalty. Turnover yeah, don't [expletive] throw it. He's pretty much lost 2 games this year with bad coaching decisions. Not even 2nd guessing [expletive]. Straight up bad decisions that are preventable with common [expletive] sense. His weaknesses in that area are worse than I expected. But his strengths in making the offense move are better. I think in theory how weakness is fixable. But that's just theory. Same thing we said about Lovie.

I don't either. Just frustration. But [expletive] he's a terrible in-game decision maker. He can say all the [expletive] he wants to try to sound smart, but he is clearly coaching scared right now. You go for 4th down on your own side of the field with a lead in GB, but you don't go for it on the opposite side of the field on 4th down with a lead today? You don't coach to prevent a penalty. Turnover yeah, don't [expletive] throw it. He's pretty much lost 2 games this year with bad coaching decisions. Not even 2nd guessing [expletive]. Straight up bad decisions that are preventable with common [expletive] sense.

I'm literally fighting back tears right now. So [expletive] pissed off.