UMFan83

No, just Dwight Freeny

Jay's first completion is for -2 yards. Yay

This is embarassing.

Wow that could have been bad Edit: JuPep!

everyone should try to get away with everyone with the replacement refs. I'm pretty sure I read that refs gave out a crapload more pass interference penalties last week than in a normal week. So if anything they are throwing the flags too much.

Do the Packers think they are fooling anyone with this supposed commitment to the run and no huddle offense?

Terrible first 2 offensive possessions, ruined almost completely by the offensive line. Following the script of the Indy game so far, hopefully without the pick 6

[expletive], these are inexcusible penalties.

Man we need Dwight Freeny to leave the game in the worst way.

OK lets try not to lose 13 yards on first down this time.

Shea! Wow he did something

Way too much time for Rodgers

Nice Bears bounce to offset May- I mean Podlesh's punt.

Jennings is their most talented receiver but I don't think it hurts them that much. It just moves everyone up one spot.

What does that have to do with the Bulls?

I honestly think this game could go either way. I think its a 50/50 shot either way. I can't even make a prediction. Getting pumped.

I was supposed to be at this game, but unfortuantely I had/have a horrible stomach flu that kept me from going on my business trip to Houston. It's probably better that way, but I was looking forward to seeing Minute Maid Park for the first time, plus the historic last "Cubs/Astros with the Astros a division and league rival" game. Oh well.

What? I don't understand what you are trying to say. The Bears faced a weak team with a decent pass rusher and that pass rusher missed most of the game. That benefited the Bears. To suggest otherwise is just plain old stupid. You don't need a freaking play by play breakdown. The Bears crappy offensive line benefited from not having to face the guy. Why the F are you people making such a big deal out of this and taking offense at the suggestion that the blatantly obvious fact is a fact? lol, now you've pretty much ended up arguing the same thing as we were. Obviously not having a great pass rusher in there benefited the Bears, no one has said differently. People were taking exception to the perception that Freeny leaving was by large the main reason the Bears averaged more than -1 yards a play the rest of the game without Freeny. If Freeny played the whole game, the Bears almost certainly still win, and they almost certainly still win comfortably. It looks dumb when bloggers trying to find an angle for the upcoming game pick out a trend based on 6 plays vs. the entire rest of the game. Edit: Dammit i should know better than to extend goony arguments

Clearly the Bears got better when he left. That's not even a question. The question is why. You have your belief. And I don't think anyone would say it's not at least a part of it. Other factors are that the running game got going, and Cutler hit some passes. Also without 7 step drops, the O-line isn't being asked to do the same things they were last year. Okay, but how did the running game get going? And how did Cutler start hitting some passes. The lack of 7-step drops explains absolutely nothing about what happened in that game. Why are people upset at the suggestion that the Bears benefited from the other team losing a defensive end? Nobody's denying that the Bears benefited. I think everyone would agree that's the case. I just think many of us don't think that's the entire story. That the O-line was able to settle down to some extent and start playing pretty decently. This

If that's the case, how did Jake exist until this season?

It probably should. That line was brutal early and really benefited from him leaving. Yeah, when I saw the original post I was going to respond with something similar. Being as objective as possible, the game definitely seemed to turn once he was off the field. Or the oline just started poorly. How many plays was Freeny in for? 6? That's a small sample size to make a connection to the oline improving because Freeny was out.

Who is expected to take Sharks rotation spot for the rest of the season? The rotation is what Wood, Raley, Germano, Volstad and whoever replaces Shark. Wow what a rotation.

Man that "Forte unhappy" thing is so annoying. From the context of the article, it seems like he was responding to a direct question about the carries and he told the truth. But there's no way of determining the tone that he said it is, and I don't seen any quotes other than the one or two sentences reported by Cowley. Now the story is on the front page of ESPN.com and NFL.com, and I'm sure various other places, and it makes it seem like he's a disgruntal player. I have a hard time believing that he is just now realizing that signing Bush would limit Forte's goal line carries, especially because Marion Barber had a similar role last year.

I'm prefacing this by saying I'm sorry if you don't care about my Bill Simmons rants...I choose to make NSBB my place to rant about him. And yes I love reading his articles even if I constantly bitch about him. Anyways, what a terrible week its been for the Sports guy. Just reading his NFL season/week 1 picks column, and I'm seeing a ton of stuff he's probably regretting after only 1 week. I applaud the guy for going against the grain and understanding there is a lot of unpredictability in the NFL, its just that the teams he went bold on were curious to begin win. -The Seahawks are going 12-4, getting the #1 seed, and making it to the Super Bowl -All based on his drooling over Russell Wilson. Look I like Wilson's story too and I'm not ready to temper expectations based on a mediocre week 1, but come on. -The Colts will go 9-7 and make the playoffs. I dunno, I guess you could defend it if you truely believe that Luck would come in as a rookie and play like a Pro Bowler right away. Maybe he will end up doing so. I just know the Colts looked really mediocre on both sides of the ball while getting drubbed by the Bears. -The Colts will beat the Bears 27-23 in week 1. Whoops -Arizona will go 1-15. Guess they are losing out the rest of the year -Buffalo will go 10-6 and make the playoffs. I didn't mind the Bills as a sleeper team, but boy did they look awful the first 3 quarters yesterday. I think some week 1 results are more telling than others, and this is one of those cases. -Denver is a worse team than last year, have a mediocre to poor defense and will go 6-10. Whoops part 2. Denver's D looked pretty good yesterday IIRC. Eh, I guess that's all of the most embarassing in retrospect stuff. Thank you for your time and attention.

Which sucks, because the resident Pirates fan is infinitely more tolerable than about 86% of the Cubs fans here. He was until he added that signature. And it's always good for football season to come around to remind us how inherently awful Pittsburgh fans are in general. Yeah I don't mind Jake except for that signature.