UMFan83

The people talking like that were raging meatballs anyways. No one here was really putting the playoffs in question, but there was a number of pessimistic comments when the Bears started out bad today. Shows that the overall confidence in the team was way down. This win will pump it right back up.

Jay's moustache is awesome. It's too bad this is the last week we will see it in game action.

If we can blow them out it will really help Bears fans regain some confidence for the rest of the year. The talk this week was 'will the Bears collapse and be in danger of missing the playoffs?" If the game continues like this, most people will at least regain confidence that we can beat average to bad teams, putting games like next week vs. Seattle and at Arizona back on the table. We win those 2 games, and we're probably in (assuming we finish this one)

Yay, I like when we don't face top 3 teams in the NFL

Was that on purpose? That makes absolutely no sense. If you had a trick 2 point conversion play, wouldnt you use it in a place that made more sense? 14 points to 15 points doesnt make a huge difference.

Haha even when Cutler completes a pass, he's got 3 guys in his face ready to knock him down an instant later

Yay, the Bears can still do that well. Sucks that the Bears won't get a good FG attempt from this position after they lose the 8-10 yards from the sack or two that's coming

Well Michigan and the Bears have one thing in common - neither can beat a good team apparently. I'm disappointed.

there's no reason for a smart, major market team like st louis to ever have to bottom out in order to be good /kyle

Great point. We need someone to try that and hopefully expose the rule so that they change it. It's too bad Lovie would never be smart enough to do that.

Wow. That is the dumbest rule ever. Seriously.

Why? It is personnel. They ignored it for nearly a decade then drafted second rate guys. It's a 5 man unit that needs 6-7 in a season, and if you do it right only one or two are weak spots. The bears have 5 weak spots on the line. Not one good guy. No talent. They thought they could coach the suck out of them because they think are great coaches. But it's an unshinsble turd. I explained why. I wouldn't say they've totally ignored it. Have there been a lot of teams who have used 2 first rounders in the past 4 years on O line and paid millions to FA's? I think good offenses can scheme their way out of personnel issues at the line. Peyton Manning avoids sacks by getting rid of the ball, not by sitting in the pocket 10 seconds and having a great line block for him. The Packers line has looked as bad as the Bears at times, and they won a Superbowl and went 15-1 last year. I think its too simplistic to say get better blockers and the problems are solved. Just line it was too simplistic to say get some WR's, or a franchise QB. How about get a competent offense? Keep in mind that the Bears have had a bottom 5 offensive line since the 2009 season and before that they had an aging offensive line that needed to be addressed immediately. 2012 draft: 0 Offensive lineman drafted 2011 draft: 1 drafted (1st round) 2010 draft: 1 drafted (7th round) 2009 draft: 1 drafted (7th round) 2008 draft: 3 drafted (1st round, (2) in the 7th round, neither made the team) So, with the Bears offensive line either aging or awful, the Bears drafted 6 players over a 5 year span, 2 in the first round and 4 in the 7th round. Not a single pick between rounds 2-6. 7th round picks are a complete crapshoot and you can't expect to draft a 7th rounder and say 'we addressed the o-line in the draft'. Now lets look at the 'millions' of dollars we've given to FA's to fill holes. Note: I'm not including undrafted FA and practice squad players: 2012: signed Chico Rachal - a 2nd rate player signed as a backup for depth 2011: signed Chris Spencer - run of the mill starter to replace Olin Kreutz, certainly not someone you expect to make the line a lot better 2010: Did not sign any FA offensive linemen 2009: Signed Frank Omiyale and Orlando Pace and Kevin Schaeffer - this might be the only year the Bears actually tried to improve the line via FA and it failed miserably. Pace was expected to be a starting tackle, but Omiyale from the start was supposed to be a backup as well as Schaeffer. All 3 of them were terrible. Between 2010 and 2012, the Bears acquired 4 players through drafting and FA to fill offensive line holes. 1 was a 7th round pick, 1 was signed for depth, and only 2 were signed/drafted expected to contribute to the starting line. And during that entire period, the line was one of the worst 5 units in football. They blatantly ignored the position and it's been costing them every year.

A beast that the Bears were apparently ready to draft instead of Chris Williams if he had fallen 2 more spots. He was picked 12th by Denver, while the Bears settled for Chris Williams at 14. BTW, that was a heavy 1st round for Offensive lineman....lets see how they turned out. 1.1 Jake Long (4 time Pro Bowler) 1.12 Ryan Clady (2 time Pro Bowler) 1.14 Chris Williams (Oft injured, switched positions several times with not much success, cut by team this year) 1.15 Brandon Albert (consistent starter for the Chiefs, was considered one of the bigger Pro Bowl snubs last season) 1.17 Gosder Cherilus (consistent starter for the Lions, but not better than average at best) 1.19 Jeff Otah (Started his first 2 years but has barely been on the field because of injuries since. Was pretty good when he played) 1.21 Sam Baker (oft injured his career, but finally able to start for the Falcons at LT this year and has impressed...on the fringes of the Pro Bowl discussion if you ask Falcons fans) 1.26 Duane Brown (consistent starter for Houston his career, started getting some recognition last year and was named a Pro Bowl alternate) So we're looking at 2 legit Pro Bowlers, 3 additional fringe Pro Bowlers (Albert, Baker and Brown), 6 players who have either been consistent starters or are starting currently, and then you have Chris Williams and Otah who have battled injuries (both) and ineffectiveness (Williams). All of these players are with the teams that drafted them except Williams and Otah (who is also currently a FA). So there were 8 offensive linemen taken in that first round, and 6 of them stuck. The Bears had the 3rd pick of OT's and picked one of the 2 busts. That said, I think Albert is the only one that really stands out as someone the Bears should have picked instead of Chris Williams. Although considering the state of the Bears line the last 3 years, any of them except Otah would have been enough to improve the line as it stands now.

This is going to be a big offseason for Emery, that's for sure. If he manages to ignore the offensive line a second year in a row, then he's no better than the guy that came before him. I am still dumbfounded that the Bears did nothing to fix the line last year. Did Emery really think that getting a stud WR would erase all the other issues the offense had? I'm not saying he shouldnt have gotten Marshall, and he does obviously make the offense better, its just that his impact is lessened because of the line. And I don't want a couple of lowly regarded projects or something and call that addressing the line. I want for the mainstream media, every single time they discuss the Bears offseason, to lead off with "The Bears really made a strong effort to completely revamp their offensive line this season".

Players always say they're fine. Never, ever take a player's word for it. Although arthroscopic knee surgery really isn't that big a deal anymore. Zaidman yesterday said that Jeffery's injury was no big deal, and it was just a 'retape job' and that he could have returned to play if they weren't getting destroyed at the time.

You know whose name ive barely heard all year? Julius Peppers. Him and the defensive line, despite a poor performance today are probably the 150th thing to be worried about after this one but its just so odd for him to not have a noticeable effect on the defense in so many games. There were stretches the last 2 years where it was impossible not to notice him out there getting to the QB and making other heads up plays. But now I go weeks without even thinking about him.

So looking at the schedule this week.. If you are a pessimist and are worried about the wild card.. -Cheer for Atlanta over Tampa Bay -Cheer for Miami over Seattle -Cheer for San Francisco over New Orleans -Cheer for Washington over Dallas -Cheer for the Giants over Green Bay If you are an optimist and have your sights set on a bye... -Cheer for Tampa Bay over Atlanta -Cheer for New Orleans over San Francisco -Cheer for the Giants over Green Bay

Pick winners based on defensive rating: Bears finish 12-4 Pick winners based on offensive rating: Bears finish 8-8

I posted it in the NFL thread....the ESPN Playoff Machine is up. Dude come on. It's already a short week, and now you just cut at least 2 more hours out of my day. How am I going to get any work done?

Of course he's going to say that right now. He hasn't passed his concussion tests yet, and even if he had, he's not going to give anything away to Minnesota before the Bears have to.

10 games in...lets take a look at the playoff picture in the NFC. Bears were obviously in a better position 2 weeks ago but overall still looking good to make the playoffs despite the rather difficult schedule the last 6 games. S - Atlanta 9-1 W - San Francisco 7-2-1 N - Green Bay 7-3* E - New York 6-4 WC - Chicago 7-3 WC - Seattle 6-4* ------------------ 7 - Tampa Bay 6-4 8 - Minnesota 6-4 9 - Dallas 5-5 10 - New Orleans 5-5 There are a couple of 4-6 teams out there too, but if they make up 3 games on the Bears over a 6 game stretch, the Bears probably aren't worried much about the playoffs. Of those 10 teams, the Bears lose tie-breakers to just San Francisco, win the tiebreaker against Dallas, and still control their tiebreaker destiny over Minnesota and Seattle (they don't control TB destiny over GB, even assuming a Bears H2H win but obviously can still win the TB) I'm gonna guess that Dallas isn't a factor because, well, they aren't that good. I think regardless of how we do against Minnesota, they have a really difficult schedule and won't be as much of a factor. It will come down to Bears/Packers, Seahawks, Buccaneers and Saints for 2 WC spots. Sounds crazy to say this but the Bears/Seahawks game next week might be a big one, thank God its not at their place.

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/185uo8nt3c7nggif/original.gif Yup, that about sums it up.

If the BCS system wasn't going away in a couple of years, would the Big East have possibly lost its BCS automatic bid? I don't know how it worked and how much the Big East invested in the system but I couldn't imagine BCS bowl games with the likes of SMU and Central Florida.

It's not just one game though. 10 points against the Packers, 13 against the Lions, 6 against Houston, 7 against San Francisco. In addition, the offense has looked terrible in large stretches of the St. Louis, Jacksonville and Carolina games. The only games you could say the Bears offense looked consistently competent is against the Colts (bottom 5 defense in NFL), Dallas (an admittedly strong performance but it helps when your defense helps get you a huge lead with 2 defensive scores) and Tennessee (probably the worst defense in the NFL). I want to believe in the "you're never as bad as you look at your worst" thing but the Bears offense has been in "worst mode" a majority of the season. The defense I'm willing to excuse as one game. But sadly enough, the offense is clearly among the 10 worst in the NFL backup QB or not.

Hahahahahaha this is freaking hilarious