Handlebar McSkullet

seriously

I want to go to bed. This game is unbelievable.

That has got to free up some cap... not like they are going to use it.

I approve of the bears pick.

Considering the fact that he did play as a starter and enjoyed a fair amount of success would seem to contradict your theory. You mean before defenses had a chance to get some tape of him and realized he lacked any sort of poise in the pocket and made horrific decisions at an alarming rate? Yeah he was pretty effective then. That Rex is never going to come back. He's simply not good enough to be anything more than a stopgap solution on an NFL team. Yeah, I understand that Rex isn't coming back, but I was contradicting your comment that he had a total lack of ability to play as a starter, when it was very clear that he did have the ability to play as a starter because he did play as a starter for a fair amount of time and enjoyed a moderate level of success doing so. Dont start this crap again. Sponge tried arguing with me about this earlier in the year. Rex was not a wasted pick. Period. And they don't make it to the Super Bowl without him.

huh? May I help you?

KC selects Brian Orakpo DE/OLB Texas

Sign me up for the Chicago war room as well.

GREEN BAY PACKERS!!!!!!!! or Kansas City.

that mock's about a month old, but Mayhew's telegraphing that he wants to take Bradford #1 (and Garrett as HC to develop him) Still feel Bradford wouldn't drop after tonight? Not looking so spectacular against an actual defense. well we're not really dealing with football masterminds, it's the guy who assisted the worst GM in sports history for 8 years You gotta love that Roy Williams trade though.

link And Cedric and Rex were busts. They were first round picks that weren't able to get it done when they were starting. Both Tank and Marc would have to be considered busts in regards to their time with the Bears as well. The Bears got very little playing time from Marc and while Tank did play well he was only with the team for 1-2 years. That has to be considered a failure out of what was almost a first round pick. Rex wasnt a bust. He wasnt a great pick but when I think of busts I think Kingler, Leaf, McNown.. Not someone who has a 19-11 record starting, and is one of only 2 bears qb's ever to start all 16 games, and lead them to a super bowl. With that said okwo and buizine were just awful picks and have hurt the team badly.

I like Johnson too for the reasons you state. Mays has all the tools. I havent seen him much in coverage. Do you guys remember all the hype about Roy Williams coming out? 6'0 225 He was the guy that had great versatility with his size and speed, a 'hybred' safety, change the position blah blah etc. Well hes not the greatest in pass defense. Williams isnt as fast as Mays but like its been discussed earlier, straightline speed isnt everything. Williams went 8th. Isnt Mays just another step in the always evolving: bigger, strong, faster line of players that come up every decade.

That's stupid. One of the 4 is a good player, who was the best at his position before getting hurt. One has played about 10 NFL downs. Also, 2 of those picks were BPA at a position of need. Even if Williams is horrible, those 4 picks have nothing to do with his ability to pick a good player in the top 10 this year. Even still, the Bears could trade up to the #1 pick, takes the consensus best pick, and if he turns out to bust, it doesn't mean the Bears don't pick well. It just means that player sucked. Granted picking in the middle of the round like they have requires more skill, but of the current regimes picks only Haynes was a real reach of the top of my head, and I'm not even 100% sure he wasn't rated that high. Haynes was rated pretty high (15th on Kiper's List)

The Cowardly Bears story continues. From the absurd punts inside opponents territory when the team desperately needed to score, to the GM laying the blame almost entirely on the QB position despite total lack of talent anywhere else on offense, to everybody's job being in danger except for the boss man and the guys making the most money. This is pretty disgusting. LB and DB coaches are taking the blame while Lovie's BFF gets to stay on and continue the leadership of a declining defense. So far I've seen no evidence that Lovie's authority has dwindled in the least, and that's incredibly disappointing. The team has gotten worse since the super bowl, and the guys most responsible - Lovie, Turner, Babich and Angelo - are going to keep their jobs while their underlings take the hits. Lloyd Lee should not have been fired. Making Nick Roach look respectable is enough to earn a raise. Speaking of raises. Please explain how you include Ron Turner as a person to blame? Turner should get a raise a well for making something out of the garbage they put on the field at o-line and wide reciever. Jordan Gross would be great, count me in. BUT LET ME OFFICIALLY START THE TAYLOR MAYS IN A BEARS UNIFORM FAN CLUB!!! (pending declaring for the draft) If you want Taylor Mays to be a Bear, you'll need to plant some drugs on him. He's not going to fall that low. I think McShay had him going 14th, but no matter what, you would probably have to trade up for him.

The Cowardly Bears story continues. From the absurd punts inside opponents territory when the team desperately needed to score, to the GM laying the blame almost entirely on the QB position despite total lack of talent anywhere else on offense, to everybody's job being in danger except for the boss man and the guys making the most money. This is pretty disgusting. LB and DB coaches are taking the blame while Lovie's BFF gets to stay on and continue the leadership of a declining defense. So far I've seen no evidence that Lovie's authority has dwindled in the least, and that's incredibly disappointing. The team has gotten worse since the super bowl, and the guys most responsible - Lovie, Turner, Babich and Angelo - are going to keep their jobs while their underlings take the hits. Lloyd Lee should not have been fired. Making Nick Roach look respectable is enough to earn a raise. Speaking of raises. Please explain how you include Ron Turner as a person to blame? Turner should get a raise a well for making something out of the garbage they put on the field at o-line and wide reciever. Jordan Gross would be great, count me in. BUT LET ME OFFICIALLY START THE TAYLOR MAYS IN A BEARS UNIFORM FAN CLUB!!! (pending declaring for the draft)

Holy Cats 7 pages already!!! Good work. I am only up to page 3 of the posts, but here are my responses to some of what has been said so far. 1. I think these fire Lovie statements are garbage, but ill get to that in a second. IMO always blaming the coaching staff for the failures of your team is lazy thinking. Now saying that its time to recognize those coaches which have done a solid job in developing what we have, and those who are not cutting it. I think Babich has to be a scapegoat. It’s not just where the team was 2 years ago, I think it’s the clear improvement that Rivera has shown since taking over the Chargers that points to a lack of ability by Babich. Simple logic shows that it’s not working. I also think Brick Haley(DL) and Steve Wilks (DB) should be held accountable as well. At some point, someone needs to be held accountable for the lack of development of Tommie Harris, Mark Anderson, and Dan Bazuin along with the failure of Darwin Walker. Also, the mental lapses of the defensive backs (not just yesterdays game), but the last two seasons are not acceptable. It seems that basic technique is lacking. 2. Now to Lovie. Comparing him to Mangini, Wanny, and Juron is baseless. You talk about how Mike Tomlin was able to get Pittsburgh to playoffs the last two years, but you forget one simple truth: Pittsburgh is a better team. So are the Jets. You cannot deny that this team should have been much worse than they were. They are 5 games better than what I predicted them at. They won 11 games with a rookie qb in 05, They went to the superbowl with a mediocre passing attack, and a defense that was a shell of itself the last half of the season. They won 7 games with 3 different starters at qb, one of the worst rushing offenses in the league, and a completely banged up and overrated defense. On top of all that, its not going to happen. Lovie was signed for 5 years starting in 2007, so he has 3 years left on his deal. So does Angelo and Phillips. Its not going to happen, I don’t believe it should. 3. Notwithstanding the previous statement, Mike Tomlin is an outstanding coach, and I have a semi man-crush on him. I will admit that one thing that sets Tomlin apart from Smith is that Tomlin coached the cover-2 and was a disciple of Lovie, Edwards, Dungy, and Kiffin, but when he got the job he didn’t try to change the defense or fire the best d-coordinator in football, Dick LeBeau. He just accepted the 3-4 and man coverage. I think Lovie need to evaluate his personnel and pick a new DC that will win games for them, not just if he fits the Cover 2. If he doesn’t, that will be his downfall.

I don't quite understand that sentence if it pertains to coaches. From an outside perspective, I think the Bears coaching staff did a heck of a job to get this team to 9, maybe 10 wins. Look at the talent on your offense. Forte has been better than anyone expected but your o-line is average at best, your WR's aren't a threat and Orton has regressed this year as a QB. Your defense is about what you would expect them to be at this stage of their careers with a few injuries. Not great anymore but still above average. I can whine all day about luck but I just don't see a roster talented enough where fans should expect more than 9 wins or 10 tops. If you were just talking about Angelo and those on the personnel side, disregard everything I just said. I agree with this post. This is a 4 win team who might win 10 and go to the playoffs. The coaching staff, for the most part, has done a great job especially Turner, Hiestad(sp?), and Toub.

And that is primarily because he never tries the harder kicks, which would lower his percentage as they lower everybody else's. I have trouble believing that's "primarily" the reason he's got one of the best FG%s in history despite kicking in one of the worst fields for FG%. Fine, replace primarily with, "in large part". Never having to attend the tough ones really helps keep his percentage high. Mason Crosby has all the power in the world, yet Gould went 2 for 2 in the game and Crosby missed his last two. Gould is one of the best kickers in the league. I also dont agree that he doesnt have the leg to make those kicks. I heard (havent looked it up) that he has drastically improved his kickoff average this year. It also seems that Lovie and Dave Toub have a philosphical aversion to kicking from that distance. Which I agree with. What is the league average for kicking a 50 yarder or beyond? I bet it isnt good. Id rather have one of the best directional punters in the league pin the opposing team inside their own 10 then miss a 50 yarder and let the opposing team take the ball at the 40 or farther.

Garza would disagree with you here. Kreutz is right around the corner. At some point, quite possibly next year, he's going to be significantly worse than his cap number demands. See I dont agree with that. Subjectively, he has played significantly better season this year then last, especially at blitz pickup and calling blocking scheme at the line (Which I guess would be measured by the number of sacks while taking into account the overall talent on the line). It would seem that while ability-wise he might be losing the athletism that made him the best in the league, he is starting to become even more valuable in other areas. I dont see a huge drop off in his production in the next couple years. I am going to guess that Buenning might be a starter at rg next year(which I believe will be an upgrade from garza). We could see Williams, Beekman, Kruetz, Buenning, New RT or Tait. Athletically, this could be a much improved line. I would even go so far as to say that replacing Tait might not be a priority for next year. We could get one more year of production out of him with this new line and I think they would be fine. It will definately open up what we can do as far as shoring up the other massive holes on this team.

And the Cowboys and the Panthers and the Vikings. and the Packers and the Falcons and the Bucs

Why? I'd rather see the Packers make it than the Vikings if the Bears were out of it. I hate them both, but I respect the Packers a little. edit: Plus, there is a lot of domestic abuse up here when the Pack loses. I'd rather not see the ladies get smacked around y'know? Incredibly true statement. I think there are actual statistics on the subject.

Nope, if they lose then next week they can lose the bye

Everything has gone right so far.... http://blog.news-record.com/staff/culture/Culture%20Shock%20-%20The%20Joker-thumb.jpg ITS ALL PART OF THE PLAN.

Cowboys lost=Bears cant be eliminated from the playoffs this week=game on monday still means something

enjoy losing your money