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I don't know which of those stats is true, but it has been pretty clear that the Bears have dominated teams in the run game outside the tackles. Either from designed runs to the outside or from Forte making his 1 jump cut and getting outside the tackles. Both guards and Garza have been masterful at pulling. And Martz has done a good job designing plays that put the numbers in the Bears favor on offense.

Nice. Williams and Webb have actually been middle of the road. I really wanted Joseph on this team too. Dang.

I saw what he had to say and didn't have much of a problem with it. My sense is that Briggs is more or less falling on his sword for the sake of some underpaid teammates. I think his request for an extension is more about presssuring management to get Forte done along with a couple others. He's comfortable so he really has nothing to lose. And other than his request for his own extension, he's not saying anything crazy. I just think it's crazy that he's saying that the contract situations are affecting play on the field. Forte is having as good a season as he's ever had. Briggs's play hasn't been a problem (though maybe not spectacular)...I guess maybe you could somehow argue that Chris Harris maybe is distracted, but I'm not sure I buy that. Seems like something made up so Briggs can talk about contracts to the media. I don't think he's saying it's affecting the play on the field. More that it's affecting the motivation to get on the field.

aside from his ability to grab a jump ball, i don't see how he's more "dominant", seems like this megatron hype nonsense. Look above. Faster + downfield threat = more dominant. Plus, it's not like Calvin couldn't catch 100 if Detroit used him in that way. It's not like I'm comparing him to DeSean Jackson who is never going to be an 80 catch WR. i think faster and downfield threat are pretty redundant, you can't count them as two separate attributes. if you want to go the speed route then fine, but marshall is a superior route runner, which, as a wide receiver, is more important than speed. also, marshall is a more physical and stronger. i'm not trying to say marshall is clearly better, but the argument can be made--even in the face of the megatron nonsense. Marshall is not more physical, nor is he stronger. Granted, it's probably marginal, but Johnson is slightly bigger and appears much more defined muscularly. And I also think you overrate Marshall's route running. Neither Marshall nor Calvin are Greg Jennings or Jerry Rice out there. And the argument can be made that Marshall is better, but that argument is pretty much wrong.

This is the 1st game of the most important stretch of the season for the Bears. Tampa in London @ Eagles Home vs. Detroit Home vs. San Diego @ Raiders Teams are a combined 19-10. If the Bears are going to continue to put up big points against bad teams, that would leave the assumption that they should beat KC, Denver, Seattle, and Minnesota late in the year. That's only 7 wins. That means to make the playoffs, the Bears probably have to take 3 of these games. With Tampa still a factor in the NFC South and the Saints already having a win over the Bears....this is probably the key one to get for potential tiebreaking purposes. Tampa is kind of like the Bears were last year. They took an ugly blowout loss (SF vs Bears to NE), squeaked out a couple games vs. a couple of really bad teams (Min/Ind vs. Bears to Detroit), and got up for a couple of huge division battles (NO/Atl vs Bears to GB). The Bucs aren't particularly good at anything. Middle of the pack running and passing the ball. Haven't really stopped the run or pass or rushed the passer consistently. Classic game of which teams show up.

aside from his ability to grab a jump ball, i don't see how he's more "dominant", seems like this megatron hype nonsense. Look above. Faster + downfield threat = more dominant. Plus, it's not like Calvin couldn't catch 100 if Detroit used him in that way. It's not like I'm comparing him to DeSean Jackson who is never going to be an 80 catch WR.

Calvin Johnson is much faster than Marshall. Marshall is not a big downfield threat and is more of a possession guy that CJ is. Marshall is more TO, while Johnson is more Moss. Completely different WRs. But pretty good. But Johnson has much more ability to dominant and has shown that.

Potentially an incredible amount of difference. I've been saying all along you either have to make the line very good or give him a game changing receiver he can trust. You can't give him a crap line with nothing but mediocre receivers. Having that type of receiver could make it very difficult on defenses. Exactly. Right now the Bears have WRs who take 5 seconds to get open and an OL that can't pass block for 5 seconds. If the OL blocks for 3 seconds, well then WRs are not open.

The Bears went from a complete mess to "what do they do now?" in a week. After tonight, you want the line combo to stick, but you have to remember Gabe Carimi will be back (probably after the bye). I think you gotta get him in there. He is the most talented player the Bears have on the OL. Interesting move would be to put Carimi at LT and benching J'Marcus Webb, but he played well enough yesterday to stick too. Also, what do you do about Paea? Does he stay in the rotation over Big Toe? I am assuming the safeties stay the same, but you can't leave Chris Harris inactive every game. Roach was pretty good last night too at SLB. Hopefully, the coaching decisions are more like these and less of who's playing RT, RG, FS, SS, DT, DE.

I'm actually glad he didn't take that one to the house. Defense needs a break. HAHA

[expletive] Klutts!

I told my wife when I saw he was going to catch the ball outside of the endzone, "he's gone!"

Hester owns the Vikings. The best thing about Hester's TD returns is that it's going to get the Bears short fields for the next few weeks.

I can only remember 2 holding calls against the Bears DL this year. And I believe 1 of those was declined.

For all the crappy early timeouts, absolutely 0 of them have come into play. Of course, the Bears have either been up (no need to call TOs) or down more than 1 score so it didn't matter either way.

Where did this new OL come from? Well, they are playing the Vikings. Led the league in sacks coming into this game.

I don't know if I'm happy about the offense or pissed that it has taken Martz 24 games to figure out it's not good for his QB to get hit on every play.

Peppers has been a non-factor since Week 1. He's not getting after the passer, he's not really helping on run D (teams are gashing Bears up the middle, obviously not his fault though). The Bears should be able to win this game without Peppers. I think Jared Allen is actually an easier matchup for Webb than Cliff Avril and guys like that. Allen is not a pure speed rusher. Webb hasn't been overpowered as much as he has been run by with poor technique, and that's been consistent the last 2 years. I called this an "almost sure win" a couple weeks ago, and it's clearly not at this point. But I still expect the Bears to win, though I think it may be ugly and a close game.

That's exactly what is happening.

Peppers probably shouldn't even see the field on Sunday. I'd be tempted to let him rest his knee until after the bye week. Last thing we need is his injury getting more serious.

I'm pretty sure Tice handpicked Gabe Carimi. Maybe he liked J'Marcus Webb and had some say so there. But I think Carimi is the extent of his influence in the draft (granted only been 2 years). Tice's son played with Carimi and Tice saw Gabe play every game at UW.

I love watching Cam play. If the Bears aren't on, Carolina is the game I tend to tune into. They'll probably be the "frisky bad team" for the rest of this year, but they are going to be the "IT" team for the next couple years like the Texans and Lions were/are before them.

It's early, but I'm already giving the South to the Saints. The Bucs showed on Sunday that they have no business winning that division and the Falcons have seemingly taken a step back as well. You're right, the chances of the Bears snagging the 6th seed really aren't that bad. We haven't played well, but keep in mind that our three losses have come against teams with a combined record of 14-1. Packers, Saints, and Lions are clearly the best three in the NFC, and probably all among the Top 5 teams in the NFL. 9 or even 10 wins is not out of the question yet, and by looking at the schedule you'll see why...really soft toward the end. People just need to relax, we're losing to amazing teams. If we lose this Sunday then everyone, including myself, will hit the panic button. Should we grab the 6th seed, our likely opponent will be the 49ers or the winner of the East. Maybe Rex. :stickman: Yep, been saying it for a few weeks now. The division is probably over (probably was anyway), and 6th seed is about all there is left to play for. Beat Tampa (neutral site game, should be pro Bears crowd) and the Eagles (After the Bears bye week) and the Bears should have a leg up on the competition. Don't really know what to expect from those NFC East teams. All have had ugly wins and uglier losses....kinda like the Bears. The Giants have a nasty stretch coming up that includes (NE, @ SF, Philly, @ NO, and GB). And honestly, I'm rooting for them to take a more than a few losses in that group. As a fan, it doesn't scare me at all to go to San Francisco, Washington, or Dallas in the first round of the playoffs. And after that, you're looking at going to Detroit, Green Bay, or New Orleans....all places the Bears have/will go this year. Long way away, but the season can be salvaged. For as bad as this team is, I truly believe they are as good (or better) than every team left on their schedule other than Detroit and Green Bay, and one of them the Bears get at home.

Well, this had to be a 3-win month going into it. Still possible to do. Not the desired way to go 3-1 (would've liked the division win), but can still get 3 conference wins, and a win vs. TB in London could be a huge factor in the NFC wildcard. The division is out of the question. 10 wins doesn't assure the playoffs, but should be attainable if they correct some obvious flaws and beat the teams they are supposed to beat.

No you go for a TD and the 2 point conversion for the tie.... ...that is if Lovie wasn't a complete dumbass in the 1st quarter. If the Bears had kicked that FG early, on the 2nd to last time they had the ball, they go for 4th and 4 from the 32 instead of going FG then.