SpongeWorthy

one that produces would be nice, since forte is neither you keep glossing over the fact that forte is a terrible runner. You don't learn rb, you either have it or you don't. Forte may have had it 3 years ago, but he was probably overused in college and his rookie year, and he doesn't have it now. He should be a third down back only. The bears have no money tied into rb, and can easily afford to get one with actual talent. LOL. So, just because you say Forte is a terrible runner makes it fact? I've already stated that I think you are wrong and he is not terrible. In fact, you have even said yourself that he is "barely adequate". So is he horrible or adequate? Or does it change depending on your argument as it has every other post? I know this doesn't mean anything as far as Forte goes, but do you think Brandon Jacobs is a terrible runner? He had a worse year than Forte running the ball with what is regarded as a much better O-line. And again, stop using the no money tied into RB excuse. The Cubs have a ton of money tied into the offense. Does that mean they shouldn't spend on more offense? No, because you have to look at the entire team. You argue that the running game is pointless then want to spend money on a RB. If this is a passing league, why not use that money to make the passing game better? He's got no shake, he's horrible at finishing runs (how often does Forte push a pile forward or get low and fall forward?), and he doesn't break tackles. I think his speed is fine...there are certainly slower, more effective backs than him but his burst isn't going to blow you away either. When everything's blocked perfectly he can be effective but that just doesn't happen much in the NFL.

Can Cincy call play action at all with how Palmer has to hand the ball off backhanded?

Is Carson Palmer drunk?

Cowherd's tolerable when he's not in one of his interminable "Let me tell you how the world REALLY works!" rants--which is often.

I can't wait until USC hires the Nicest Guy in College Football, Mike Riley and I won't have to hear all the bellyaching fromy you guys about the rogue program that needs to get SMUed.

This is so true. Why is it never used as an excuse the other way, when "cold-weather" teams like Ohio State plays LSU in a Louisiana bowl, or Michigan vs Florida in a FL bowl, or PSU plays USC in the Rose Bowl? I know the current big bowl destinations are alluring for travelers, but I think it would be awesome to see a northern team play for a championship against a USC or Florida or LSU at Lambeu field or Foxboro... What? I hear that excuse every year.

USC had more shotgun and spread elements in its offense under Bates. A lot of the bootleg action was kept around though which he used quite effectively with Cutler in Denver. It didn't work so great with Barkley because he wasn't ready to read the entire defense or make reads at multiple levels. I was down on Bates as the USC OC because he didn't tailor the plays to a freshman very well but I could easily see him being more effective with pros. Whether it's Weis, Bates, or someone else I'm sure getting Cutler out of the pocket on roll outs and bootlegs will be a big part of the offense.

Someone just said on ESPN 2 that one or more of the fired offensive assistants called Cutler a "coach killer" in that he'll do everything you want in practice and then just go off script during the game. Whatever.

Untouched for a TD against a 10 man box.

It's grit.

Yeah, I'm way off.

And Asians are sneaky, Irish are alcohlics, English have bad teeth. Let me rephrase that for you... Well we know why one tends to be a kicker and one tends to be a DB.

Has there ever been a better illustration about the difference between a black athlete and a white one? The camera angle was perfect and everything.

Yeah they need to find another Robert Archibald. Dude had a mean streak.

Yeah, he spent so much time in NE rocking the boat... Lovie ain't Belichick. As down as the Weis brand is right now, I wouldn't be shocked at all for Bears fans to quickly forget his ND tenure and start angling for him to be HC if the offense clicks.

US wins! And the Canadians cry into their fish sticks and Molson! God, I love the sound of the stunned, silent crowd in Saskatoon.

Hopefully Weis would check the ego at the door and know his role. Not that I think Lovie should be unassailable but I don't want Weis lobbying for the top job if the offense starts humming.

US just blew a two goal lead against Canada in the last ~3 minutes of the World Junior Gold Medal game. Going to OT now.

Playing from behind every game contributed. 2009 is not the only year Lovie has been head coach. It made sense to protect Grossman/Orton and play to the defense, special teams, and running game when those were effective-to-elite units. I don't think people thought we should've let Rex sling the ball everywhere...we just wanted him to be more efficient and not turn the ball over so much. And I'm sure the running game being horrible and constantly putting the offense in 2nd/3rd and longs was a bigger factor. Even so, the Bears passed a lot this year. I doubt all of it was out of necessity and had much to do with a philosophical shift on getting Cutler. But the passing game still sucked, albeit for different reasons than under Grossman or Orton.

You guys are overstating Lovie's devotion to the run game. The Bears were 4th in the NFL on percentage of total plays that were a pass at 58%. The league average was 53%. They were also in the top 5 of teams the highest percentage of passes on first down the last time I saw data which was after Week 12 or so. Now the design of the design of the passing game was horrible as was the execution but it's not like Lovie gave Cutler the Sanchez treatment (Jets passed the ball 38% of the time). This was a pass happy team that did a poor job of it...not some team being handcuffed by a run, run, run philosophy. Edit: Or to illustrate the point a different way, the Bears were 27th in the league in offensive plays from scrimmage yet Cutler finished 8th overall in attempts.

What a horrible quarter.

I was making more of a general observation that Illinois has come to expect performance ranging from mediocre to very occasionally excellent in the big 2 sports when resources-wise, they should be a lot better.

What are your expectations for Illinois hoops and football? 5 seeds and above average in football? Illinois is like the only big state, population wise, in the country that doesn't have a consistent national powerhouse in either basketball or football. Personally, I think you guys aim too low.

All right, I'm about ready to way too prematurely declare Rose a superstud. Kid's becoming unstoppable.

Gibson, Noah, and Tyrus are good for a couple good throw downs per game between them.