bukie

Pomeroy's conference predictions (not perfect, since there are more wins than losses): Purdue 13 5 Illinois 13 5 Northwestern 11 7 Ohio State 11 7 Michigan 10 8 Michigan State 9 9 Minnesota 9 9 Iowa 9 9 Wisconsin 8 10 Penn State 7 11 Indiana 1 17

I don't get this perception of Wisconsin being top-25 good. Is it just one of those "They'll be good just because they always are" things?

Getting a few more INT doesn't necessarily mean the defense is playing better with that increased playing time. A good defense can shut down a passing game with or without getting picks. Right, and the Bears don't have a good defense. My point with the turnovers argument, though, is that even with (at best) decent talent, Lovie's scheme is placing them near the top in turnovers each year. If the talent were better, the likelihood is this scheme would stop offenses more and not just create turnovers. Actually, the Bears do have a good defense, as efficiency goes. They're just on the field so much that they give up a ton of yards. The offense is the real problem, just as it was 2 years ago. Unfortunately, the Bears either have to significantly improve the offense, or they have to make the defense/special teams far and away the best in the league to overcome the offensive issues.

I will say that I don't think Northwestern is quite that good and Wisconsin is quite that bad, but both teams are much closer to this estimate than their national perception. Also, if that happens in conference, I don't think there's any doubt that NW gets to the tourney. I also think that if NW hangs around at 10-8 or 9-9 in conference, they'll unfortunately be left out simply due to national perception. Definite possibility of 6-7 Big Ten teams in the tourney, though.

Axing coordinators does not equal a half-measure. But what are you for? You don't want Lovie fired, you don't want coordinators fired. Are you for anybody getting fired? Is your preference to keep Lovie and fire literally everybody else? The coordinators are very important position. Combined, they are probably equal to, if not greater than the head coach in terms of importance to the team. Firing the coordinators is going to result in other changes in staff, as new guys are going to insist on bringing in some of their own. A coordinator purge would be a hell of a lot more than a half-measure. And it is far better than sticking with the status quo. My preference is to keep the management team intact. I like it, I believe it is capable of winning championships, and I believe any replacements are likely to be worse. If you don't agree with the direction or philosophy of the team, then Smith should be fired. If you do, leave them be, because this wasn't a bad season. The defense has sucked for 2 years in a row now. Since Bob Babich took over the DC role. Is that a coincidence? Do you think that will magically change? I think if they can get a good pass-rusher DE and above average DT for the rotation, and are in some way able to get pressure with just the front 4, I do think the defense will improve drastically in passing situations. They're already a dominant run-stopping D when they don't have to focus so much on creatively applying pressure to stop the pass.

I'm of the opinion that the Bears need the most help on both lines. Specifically, pass-rushing and pass-blocking. And, unfortunately, I don't believe that's the kind of thing that can be fixed quickly in a draft with your earliest pick being #17/#18.

I'm not sure how you measure that, but they dominated the NFC Championship game and won the NFC by three full games. That's dominating enough to make up for a weak conference. LOL, they most certainly did not. They were back in forth with the Saints for a good part of that game and would have probably lost in the dome. The week before that they just barely squeaked by the Seahawks. Same game I was watching? They dominated the first half, then the Saints broke one big play and had one good drive to make it seem closer than it was, then they dominated the rest of the way. Yeah, the Bears basically dominated all but five minutes of that NFC championship game. Even at 16-0 in the first half it wasn't as close as that score indicated.

Should've been at least 10 with that Atlanta game. The GB win serves as a counter-balance to the Atlanta loss. Back to 9. I see your GB, and raise you the week 2 Carolina game. What, no Tampa game with the single most ridiculous penalty of the year in OT?

Big Ten conference predictions, based on up-to-date Sagarin predictors/home factors: Purdue 14 4 Illinois 13 5 Northwestern 13 5 Michigan State 11 7 Ohio State 11 7 Michigan 10 8 Minnesota 8 10 Iowa 8 10 Wisconsin 6 12 Penn State 5 13 Indiana 0 18

Two things I want to never see the Bears do again: - Put Danieal Manning in at safety - Put Rashied Davis in at WR

Is the problem with scheme or on-field personnel, though? It seems the defense's problem is that the scheme they use only works if every defensive player is capable of handling his tasks and is responsible for his gap or zone. If the front 4 can't get any QB pressure, it falls onto the coverage. If even one player screws up, there is a wide open receiver 15-20 yards down field. Unfortunately, the defensive personnel isn't as good as they need to be to handle the scheme anymore. As far as statistical efficiency, the offense really was abysmal all-around. Orton was in the bottom 10% of QBs, the line was awful at pass blocking and below average at run blocking, the WRs were at the bottom of the league, and the TEs were really only average (which in this offense makes them a bright spot).

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the idea of punting in opposing territory, especially inside the 40?

One quick absurd "how good have the Hawks been lately" stat: with tonight's win, the Hawks have now caught the Sharks in goal differential.

There aren't any Detroit fans til the 2nd round of the playoffs ;) Wait a minute...actually there is some truth to this...of course there was no thing as a Blackhawk fan until this year I think there were plenty of fans, most of which were forced into hibernation/apathy by Bill Wirtz. It's sad and morbid, but Wirtz's passing was the best thing to happen to this franchise.

Illini will get an early chance to gauge how good they really are Tuesday at Purdue. I fully expect them to lose, but if they keep it respectable, they could be looking at an easy NCAA tourney spot this year, which would be a huge step up from last year.

Yes. If Philly had beaten Cinci instead of tying them, would they have the tiebreaker over us? Anyone know? No. The Bears beat Philly.

A Big Ten conference preview that doesn't mention Illinois once: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=oneil_dana&id=3790334

I think PSU will be right there with Minnesota, Iowa and WIsconsin in conference. Read into that what you will.

After their spending spree over the past two weeks, it was obvious that Cash was the next thing on their list to acquire.

Did McCamey end up winning the first half by himself?

Hey guys, what's going on in the gam...holy crap!

Tampa can't get in unless Dallas loses. Yeah, meant to mention Dallas losing at Philly. All four are favored results.

I just have the feeling everything is going to set up perfectly for the Bears, and then they'll blow it themselves, on the field. Vikings lose, Cowboys lose, Bears lose.

Who all got injured? Mike Brown was it right? Yeah. At this point, getting more than 8 games out of Mike Brown in a season is gravy.

Green Bay was an outright thrashing from start to finish. Minnesota was a close game that the Bears gave up on after the goal line stand.