rawaction

If we can go 1-2 through that stretch, I'll be content. I'd be glad to be in a position to get to 2-2 for the first quarter of the season with a win against Detroit and go from there (there's that Lovie-speak again). Bears will go 2-1 in their first 3 games. Not sure who they will lose to, but they won't go 0-3.

Exactly. The Bears probably scored enough points last year. 375 good for 14th in the league. Even if Cutler doesn't lead the team to more points, he should be able to lead them to more than the 27th most first downs in the league with his ability to extend drives. He is mobile, accurate, and instills confidence in the coaches to let him throw the ball on 3rd down. I hate trying to make a point w/ no stats, but in the Denver preseason game on 3rd and 8, from the shadow of the end zone...how many QBs in recent Bears history would have been called on to throw the ball beyond the marker to get a 1st down? I think that consistency at QB will lead to more 1st downs, thus more time of possession. The Bears D was on the field more than any other defense in the NFL. 100 plays more than the average defense. About 175 plays more than the elite defenses like Ten, Pit, and Balt. If you put the Bears D at the average number of plays, they would have been 9th in yards allowed.

Inspired by this article. http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/10009742/Top-10-bold-NFL-predictions-for-2009?GT1=39002. I thought it would be fun to give my top 10 BOLD predictions. Make fun if you want..... 10. None of last year's "worst to first/playoffs" will make the playoffs in 2009. The Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, and Miami Dolphins will all be watching the playoffs from home this year. 9. The Cincinnati Bengals will go 8-8 this year. 8. They ain't dead yet. Tomlinson, OchoCinco, Westbrook, and Larry Johnson will all have good years. Not like they've had in the past, but LT, LJ, and 85 will all be over 1000 yards. Westbrook will be good for 850 rush/500 receiving. All 4 will score at least 8 times. 7. The San Francisco 49ers will sweep the NFC North this year, and somehow still NOT have a winning record. 6. There will be two 1-15 teams this year. The Detroit Lions will NOT be one of them. 5. The New York Jets will make the playoffs as Mark Sanchez follows in the footsteps of Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco before him. 4. Will be a busy trade deadline as at least 3 big names will be traded among those will be Brandon Marshall, Thomas Jones, Braylon Edwards, Tavaris Jackson/Sage Rosenfels, Willie Parker, and Terrell Owens. 3. Ray Rice, Miles Austin, Kevin Smith, Robert Meachem, and Chansi Stuckey will all have breakout seasons. 2. Brees, Peterson, and Fitzgerald will NOT be the leading passer, rusher and receiver in yards, respectively. 1. The Minnesota Vikings will finish in 3rd place and OUT of the NFC playoffs.

I find that hard to believe. If Urlacher had to miss time, I would much rather take our chances with Briggs at MLB and let one of the youngsters fill in for Briggs on the outside than give the most important defensive position on the field to Hunter. I wasn't aware of the salary hit, which must be the only explanation for him to still be on the roster. Briggs should not be the first choice to play middle if Urlacher goes down. I'm not so sure. Briggs would be good in the middle. The question is would he be AS good as he is at WLB. And then would Briggs/Williams be better than Hillenmeyer/Briggs. I'd also prefer to keep the All Pro in the position he plays better than anyone else in the league, though. But I think Williams is better than Hillenmeyer.

It would be a huge boost. But I'm actually pretty confident in Bowman. When he's been healthy, he's been great. Him vs. Jennings would be a pretty good matchup. I wonder who starts at the other CB if Tillman can't go.

Kevin Jones tore ligaments in his ankle. He's done for the year.

Bears gameplan. Move the chains. Keep the GB offense off the field. When GB offense is on the field, stop the run, make them 1-dimensional, and get after Rodgers. I think this could be a high scoring game.

Iglesias wouldn't pass waivers and I don't really knokw about Rideau's situation. Has he spent too much time on a practice squad? Yes, he's no longer practice squad eligible, at least not on the Bears.

Wolfe had more tackles on ST last year than Peterson. I think Wolfe has passed AP as a ST defender and has the ability to return kicks. Peterson had some pretty big screw ups on ST last year. The ATL game I believe, and he dropped a pass on a fake punt that could have iced it vs. Green Bay.

Interesting statement. At first glance, a statement saying a team has to be either top 5 in offense or defense to make the Super Bowl seems outlandish. However, when you look at the last 4...Steelers D vs. Cards O, Patriots O vs. Giants D, Colts O vs. Bears D, Steelers D vs. Seahawks O. Only the Giants finished outside of the top 5 in both offense and defense, and they were 7th in defense. Only 3 times this century has a team been in the Superbowl while not having a top 5 unit or being top 10 in both. The 2007 Giants, 2003 Panthers, and 2001 Patriots. I don't think the Bears are good enough to be top 5 in either. I think if all goes perfectly, the Bears could be top 10 in both.

He's country-douche. Looks like Brian Urlacher/Bobby Wade were right.

I'd take Branch over Rideau and Davis who are competing as the Bears #6.

Another thing about that Seattle game.....after the emotional high of a season opener, on Sunday night national television, against the team's biggest rival; followed by the emotion involved with playing a home opener, against the World Champion measuring stick that is the Steelers; there is likely to be a huge letdown traveling all the way west to the great Northwest. In addition, I believe I heard a stat on the radio last year that over the last 4-5 years, teams have the WORST record AFTER playing the Steelers than after playing any other team in the league. It is believed that the Steelers are a team that beats you up physically and takes the steam (or players) out for the next week. The Bears could be 2-1 after week 3, but with the loss coming to the Seahawks.

All the great QBs seem to be pretty douchy. Obviously Favre, but Elway, Marino, Bradshaw....I like that Cutler seems to have that same type of edge. Not sure the rest of the league will like him, but Bears fans should come to love his leadership and fire.

I'm in a PPR keeper league. I have the 11th of 12 picks. My keeper is DeAngelo Williams. From what I have gathered, I think these players of interest will be on the board: Greg Jennings, Westbrook, R. Wayne, Jacobs, M. Barber, Boldin, S Smith, Portis. We start 3 WRs. I know the guy after will pick two of the first 4, and he will pick 1 RB, 1 WR. He'd prefer Jennings and Westbrook. I like Jennings more than Wayne. Question is...do I go? Jennings then Jacobs Westbrook then Wayne or do I go 2 WRs? Jennings/Boldin?

I'll be shocked if Cutler doesn't get a $100 million deal. I thought he was a $100M man before. Now, it's all but a guarantee. When Jay Cutler writes his autobiography, about 1/2 the book should be dedicated to the year 2009. He might have increased his future wealth by about 25-30 Mil. Instead of looking at another sub .500 record and doing too much for a really bad team, he gets traded to a team that he could lead deep into the playoffs. If he stayed in Denver, he might have been looking at a 70-75 Mil contract. As a Bear, he's got 100 Mil waiting for him.

So, I'm out huh? Damn you Tootielicious.

Can't help but feel sorry for the guy. I don't know if it's bad luck or if he puts himself in position to get hurt. But I know I would be devastated if I saw my dream ending the same way every single season. Good luck to Dusty in whatever he does next in his life. I honestly don't know if he will ever suit up on a football field again. Certainly not for the Bears. Mike Brown got 4 chances at coming back from injury and he was a Pro Bowl guy. If the Bears let Dusty try again, it'd be his 5th chance. Hard to think anyone will give him a chance. 13 games in 4 years. A team would be giving him a chance without seeing him play for almost 2 years.

Can't help but feel sorry for the guy. I don't know if it's bad luck or if he puts himself in position to get hurt. But I know I would be devastated if I saw my dream ending the same way every single season. Good luck to Dusty in whatever he does next in his life. I honestly don't know if he will ever suit up on a football field again.

Gotta offer him arbitration though, right?

I thought for sure Hammel would get lit up. With a big lead at the point, I went into prevent mode and tried to stay away from a huge negative start like he had last time he was in my lineup.

Did you say the same thing about Ohio St. being ranked so high last year? Or Penn State making it all the way to #2, only having played Ohio St? They shouldn't be treated like those other teams because they are playing BCS schools in all but 1 game. It just so happens all those schools lost a lot of talent last year and should be down this year. Oh, and I am not a Notre Dame fan. Being in South Bend most of my life, I learned to hate them. It's not as bad now that I'm not there, but the only thing worse than an ND fan is the blind hatred people have for them.

Yeah, I don't understand people being upset about NDs ranking. They have some talent, including like 9 starters back on offense. They have a very weak schedule. If Claussen can cut down on the TOs, ND can be really good. They won't be one of the elite teams, but I could easily see them being a top 10-15 team when the season is over.

Wow. That's exactly what I was hoping to see from the 1st teams. Defense needs to tackle better, but not going to see too many 270lb RBs.

If you lose picks from the beginning of the draft, the only incentive to keep anyone is if you don't think you can pick them in the 1st or maybe 2nd round. If everyone keeps 5 and you keep nobody, wouldn't that mean you have the first 5 picks in the draft? Assuming everyone keeps their best 5 players, and there's 10-12 teams that could essentially mean the best 45-55 players gone, though. I'd probably keep Longoria, Halladay, and Howard, and see what's there in the draft.