jersey cubs fan

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-1228-bits-bears-chicago--20101227,0,6817839,full.story Biggs commented on that yesteday, he also noted Kreutz might be getting one.

It's very risky

It's a pass on $1 million/1year deal. The Cubs don't have room for a hitter who can't play the field. They do if they don't waste space on a 7th reliever.

They should view it as a playoff game, but you never know. It's more clear-cut for Green Bay, and they have the ability to beat the Bears by a TD.

Bears are 6 point underdogs.

Clearly I already have overcome your ignorance.

It was correct and you aren't very bright.

What I said was correct. It was the first, when the scoring drive began and mostly took place, and second when they were moving the ball and scoring at will.

The big drive that created their first score began in the first quarter. It was like the last 5 minutes of the quarter. I didn't think that would be that hard to understand.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-1228-pompei-film-session--20101227,0,6890293.column Dan Pompei hands out his grades, and throws a half hearted defense of the cover 2 defense. He states that on 54% of the snaps the Bears played something other than cover 2. He also noted that they played the least amount of cover 2 in the fourth quarter. That's a pretty poor way of defending the cover 2, since the fourth quarter was when NY only scored 3 points. It was the first and second when NY was moving down the field at will and scoring points. And that is presumably when they were playing mostly cover 2, going on his numbers.

Eh, there's one team of the 6 that definetely "shouldn't" get one over them. But I don't have much sympathy for dome teams concerned about the ideal path to the Super Bowl, let alone teams that just freaking won the thing the year before. Plus, there's still an outside shot that they can host one. That and having the easiest first round matchup is a pretty nice consolation. I'd rather not have a 1st round game than have one, no matter who it is against. They still gotta win 3 likely road games to get to Dallas, while a team like the Bears or Eagles w/ the same record will only have to win 2, with 1 of them being at home. It's a huge discrepancy. That being said, I don't have a problem w/ the system as it is. Yes, I would prefer that, but if that's what they wanted they shouldn't have lost to Arizona and Cleveland. New Orleans was very unimpressive until they beat Pittsburgh this year. Squeeker wins against Minnesota, San Fran and Carolina. Losses to bad teams. They made their own bed despite favorable conditions.

I thought the Buffalo game was very uninspiring. Regardless of what ifs that can make them upper half, being 18th or 14th doesn't really make a difference when saying they are not yet a consistent force.

That is simply not true at all. I listened on numerous occasions without having any idea what was happening. Between the goofing with Ron, substitute play by play man (which is a ridiculous perk) and 7th inning guest, there was plenty of time when play on the field took a back seat.

Eh, there's one team of the 6 that definetely "shouldn't" get one over them. But I don't have much sympathy for dome teams concerned about the ideal path to the Super Bowl, let alone teams that just freaking won the thing the year before. Plus, there's still an outside shot that they can host one. That and having the easiest first round matchup is a pretty nice consolation.

They need to consider a new way to do the seedings. Never been a fan of division winners automatically being #1-4. It's not really a problem. I know it's your thing...to state an opinion as a fact with no detailed explanation...but just because you say something, doesn't make it fact. NFL playoff seeding is a problem...how much of one is certainly debatable, as there are certainly a lot of larger issues to address, but to just flat state that it's not a problem is just annoying. A lot less annoying than people constantly whining about not having the ideal way to determine seedings. It is what it is. There is no perfect method. It's a sport where you play one game a week for four months. When that is over the people who win their divisions and the two best records that come up short get to advance to the playoffs. A crappy division winner is going to lose to a better team, home or away, most of the time. A better record doesn't necessarily make one team better than the other. All you can do is win the games on your schedule. In the end the Super Bowl winner is going to have an impressive resume. And everybody has fun getting drunk on Sundays until February. It isn't a problem.

Sure...but I think it's a fair assessment to say the offense is on an upward trend, but there's definitely a long way to go. Right, but going back to my original point being that I am scared of the pass defense partly because the offense is not currently a consistent force.

I don't know about that. They've been more dangerous, but not all that consistent. They scored 7 against New England. Cutler's struggled to get 200 passing yards, and the team has struggled to get 300 total. To be fair, they are always a threat to score, which is something the Bears generally never are. They have won the only 2 real shoot outs they have been in this year, and I'm not saying I have no hope for the playoffs or anything. This team can beat anybody in the league, and that still includes New England. Like someone pointed out earlier...somewhere...I forget which thread and when....the Bears may not get a ton of yards because with their special teams, they end up with a short field so often. They don't have to put together a lot of long, sustained drives. In fact, Football Outsiders has the Bears offense with the #1 starting field position in the league. http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/drivestats LOS/Dr is average starting field position. This isn't to say the offense is unbeatable, of course. But NE game aside, they've passed the eyeball test lately. The field position thing plays a part, but that probably just makes them average instead of bottom of the barrel. They've still only scored 22 points per game, in the bottom half of the league. So it's not like they are just getting "unlucky" to only have 50 yard drives instead of 75. The two Minnesota games, Philly and the Jets are the most impressive showings. The rest of the 2nd half games have left something to be desired, and as Cutler has said, they left points on the field.

They need to consider a new way to do the seedings. Never been a fan of division winners automatically being #1-4. It's not really a problem.

5 seed is hardly getting screwed. They get to play the crappiest division winner. The Saints probably shouldn't have had such a blah start to the season, including losses to Arizona and Cleveland if they wanted a better draw. They had to play Atlanta twice, but got to play the worst team in football twice, plus the NFC West.

I don't know about that. They've been more dangerous, but not all that consistent. They scored 7 against New England. Cutler's struggled to get 200 passing yards, and the team has struggled to get 300 total. To be fair, they are always a threat to score, which is something the Bears generally never are. They have won the only 2 real shoot outs they have been in this year, and I'm not saying I have no hope for the playoffs or anything. This team can beat anybody in the league, and that still includes New England.

Makes no sense unless he's pulling a Wood. The Cubs do seem to have a need for LH power on the bench. They have Fukudome and Colvin who can each play all three OF spots. Baker can handle most backup IF duties, with Barney filling in at MI. But if they do go with the wasteful 12 man pitching staff and only 5 bench spots, you can't really justify a bat that can't play in the field.

I love that the story after the Bears/Jets game was how ridiculously careless Jay Cutler is and that the Bears shouldn't be where they are, and the story after the Saints win is Drew Brees can overcome mistakes and bring his team to where they should have been all along.

Seriously. Plus, why would anybody doubt the possibility of a Pena extension. They have no impact bats in their system, nobody who could even potentially fill the spot, let alone be a likely candidate. If they don't extend him they will just go out in the market and find the next Pena. He's not an impact bat at the moment, but Vitters still has the potential to be a very good bat and played some first in the AFL this year. And unless they are extended or traded, Fielder and Pujols will be free agents next year... Free agents the Cubs will not be signing. Pena has to be the odds on favorite. And if Vitters ever makes it it will be as a mediocre third baseman. I see virtually no possible way he hits enough to justify a move to 1B.

Heres the thing that everyone misses out on: Everyone Is Susceptible To The Short Passing Game. There isn't a team in the league that can stop a really well run west-coast style short passing game akin to what the Patriots and Packers run. The way the game has been legislated and the rules have been enforced, its basically unstoppable. They'll roll up yards and points on you. Its the way the NFL wants it to be. You just do what you can to hold teams to as few points as possible, and try to get your turnovers when you can. The days of a shutdown defense are gone. What are you even talking about? The Steelers have had a pretty damn good shutdown defense for several years. The Jets were a fantastic shutdown defense last year. Baltimore from time to time has been shutdown. You can't live on great defense for years and years of success. But shutdown defenses do exist in the NFL. There are 16 teams in the NFL that give up fewer passing yards per game than the Bears. That is bothersome to me, especially since their offense is not a consistent force.

The silliest thing about that article is he only counts marquee games as the ones in which the Bears looked bad. Philly and Green Bay? Don't count. Miami on a Thursday? Nope. Minnesota on a Monday night? Wrong again. The other most stupid point was in saying the Bears defense needed the other team to make mistakes to win...which is basically the entire scheme of the defense. And somehow the jets game wasn't marquee, or a real win. Lots of media has been looking for excuses to dismiss the bears since free agent spending and coaches on the hot seat cannot succeed.