UMFan83

except the vikings outspent them by more than 10 mil this year and by 25 mil in 2007. so, 1 out of 4 years ain't bad. Whoops, I thought we had the most this year, I actually didnt look up those number and assumed based on how you guys were talking about our spending spree last winter. We spent more than them in 09 (120-99) and 07 (104-92). In 08 they outspent us 133-120. I don't know where you got 1 out of 4 from.

They traded for a franchise QB and signed an elite pass rusher, something most teams can't ever do, let alone in back to back seasons. They spent more than most this season and without it likely would have remained on that mediocre path. that's not the argument, the bears are barely in the top 10 in payroll. what the [expletive] are you going off about? so they got lucky and were able to trade for cutler and give enough to get peppers, it's not like they are top 3 in salary and at the bottom in terms of performance. the analogy was asinine, regardless of the bizarre places you've taken us trying to defend it. and it wasn't even yours in the first place. fall on your own sword next time. The analogy was perfectly reasonable. I do not understand your insistence on suddenly pretending this organization has been outstanding, coming off weeks and weeks of your pathetic handwring it makes even less sense. okay, so the analogy is perfectly reasonable except the bears aren't even close to spending the most money in the nfc and have won the division with doing it? you got me, it's perfectly reasonable. Just wanted to say that the Bears have had the highest payroll in the NFC North 3 of the last 4 years. The only year they didn't was the year they went 9-7 and just missed the playoffs.

In terms of playoff appearances only, here is a list of teams that have as good or better of a track record over the last 7 seasons as the Bears: Patriots Jets Steelers Ravens Colts Chargers Eagles Giants Cowboys Packers Vikings Falcons Saints Seahawks So the Bears are 1 of 15 teams with 3 appearances in the last 7 years. Now I know your rebuttals....all of the Bears were division champs, the Bears went to a Super Bowl, the Bears havent lost more than 9 in a season. But to me, playoff games between teams without a huge talent disparity are a crapshoot, and divisions can we won by 7 wins teams and lost by 12 win teams so I'm not willing to deem a season less successful because you went 12-4 and won a wild card spot instead of going 9-7 and winning your division. 3 in 7 years is not bad, but lets not pretend like the Bears were some super power over the last 7 years or that Lovie should get an extension because he made 3 appearances in 7 years. He should be applauded IMO because he's getting the team places where he previous couple of predicessors could not, but he's not the next Tom Landry.

Why trade pieces for a starter? Our rotation would be ok until midseason without a starter. But could certainly benefit from an ace type starter in the rotation (whose wouldnt?). So adding someone like Webb seems like a logical fit. But I don't look at the medical reports and I have no idea how serious they are about 7.5 mil Wasn't the report a week ago that Webb was the Cubs top target? Now it's opposite?

No doubt, but until last night it was 2 in 6 years, and none in the last 4. This division title makes his numbers look a lot better. So go Lovie and Angelo. i don't understand how you can say "none in the last 4," it doesn't make sense. Sorry brain fart. None in the last 3 well, they aren't going to win the division every year and if you really want to be fair, smith has won 3 out of 7, that's nearly 50% in a 4 team division, playing against at least one franchise that always seems to find success and doesn't accept failure. I didnt say that 3 out of 7 isn't good. I said that before they won the division, 2 out of 6 with none in the last 3 didn't look good. But this really solidifies his results in his 7 years here.

Now that they've had a successful 2010, sure, but Angelo's early years and recent run of mediocrity weighed heavily on the overall body of work. well, take out any successful year and it lessens the overall body of work. they haven't been patriots-good, but i can't complain. as for the early years, he got rid of jauron as soon as he could have, and shoop with him. i credit him for that. I'm not taking a year out. The fact is before last night they only won 2 divisions together, and none in 3 years. They brought more success than Wanny, but it's not like they brought a lot. Criticism was plenty valid. Now they have a franchise QB and NFL caliber coaches on the staff, and they are as good as they should have been the past few years. Doing better than crap is nothing to get excited about. It's the same "hey we may not contend for the playoffs every year with our $130 million pay roll, but at least the Cubs are more competitive than they were in the 90s!" reasoning.

No doubt, but until last night it was 2 in 6 years, and none in the last 4. This division title makes his numbers look a lot better. So go Lovie and Angelo. i don't understand how you can say "none in the last 4," it doesn't make sense. Sorry brain fart. None in the last 3

No doubt, but until last night it was 2 in 6 years, and none in the last 4. This division title makes his numbers look a lot better. So go Lovie and Angelo. It took like 5 years for Manning to show some worth other than returning, but Melton and Wooten are showing some real promise on the line, as has Wright in the secondary, so bravo finding 3 solid defensive contributors in the last 2 drafts.

Chris Harris gets a one day repreive from criticism for that stop of Gehart last night. That was awesome.

No, it's too late now. Has to be 12 days until week 17, then they can announce 6 days in advance. Also, I think Fox is getting the doubleheader games, and NYG/GB is filling that hole. I agreed to goto Cincinnatti for XMas. No I'm not going to see any musicals or anything. I'm getting up at 8am to drive home because CBS is only getting 1 game and the Bengals are hosting a AFC team at 3:00.

Bears D was 16th in 08, 21st last year, and 3rd this year. Between 08 and 09, we've added Pisa Tinoisamoa, Julius Peppers, Chris Harris, Corey Wooten, Henry Melton, Major Wright, DJ Moore and Tim Jennings. Only the first 3 are new starters, but all of them have played big roles on this defense at one time or another. That said, Peppers has clearly improved the Bears defense a ton. Probably more than the other guys on the list combined. But he's not the only new addition that has contributed to an improved D.

at one point Suh was also getting pimped for DPOY and not just rookie DPOY.

The Packers need to win out to make the playoffs OR they can lose to the Bears if the Giants lose out and the Bucs lose 1 of their 2 games. So if the Packers beat the Giants next week, and the Bucs lose to the Seahawks, the Packers will need just a Giants loss to Washington OR a Packers win over the Bears to get in. If the Bucs beat the Seahawks this week, they will need a Giants loss to Washington AND a Bucs loss to the Saints OR just a win over the Bears.

I bet Wilson is looking forward to the Jets game, so he can see Cutler and Sanchez go head to head to help him determine which QB is better.

I was on the "Bears have the potential to go 4-12 or 12-4 this year" bandwagon. I really didn't know what to think given that our biggest need wasn't addressed (o-line) in the offseason, our second biggest need was addressed big time (Peppers), but partially negated (so I thought) by cutting Alex Brown. They looked awful in the preseason even though I thought I conditioned myself to not take much from preseason results, and they were facing what looked like a really really tough schedule. But I knew the potential of Cutler, I was optimistic about the return of Urlacher and Pisa to go along with Peppers and Major Wright as additions, and hoped the team would respond with Lovie's back against the wall. They did.

If the Eagles were playing anyone but Joe Webb's Vikings I would suggest a letdown for the Eagles after pretty much clinching the division in an emotional comeback victory over a heated rival. But I just can't see the Vikings offense giving the Eagles any sort of threat after whats happened to them the last 2 weeks. We need a win. I know jersey said that teams don't seem to get up for these byes or seeding after they clinch the division, and he is right. But I think these Bears know how much a bye means to their Super Bowl chances and will play their asses off to try to clinch it. They control their destiny.

Fixed for minnesotacubsfan. it was fantastic out there, ladys and gents. and no, I don't have any relatives involved in the stadium design/construction (although a few classmates). I just thought the "OMG THE FIELD IS DEADLY" crap the past few days was completely overblown. it didnt seem to bother the Bears at all, they scored 40 friggen points on it. I'm gonna let bygones be bygones and just say that I thought it was a fantastic stadium. Michigan hasn't played there yet and Minnesota football has been to awful to have any reason to watch one of their games the last two years, so it was the first chance to see a game on tv in that stadium. They certanily did do a nice job preparing it on short notice for the game despite the obvious limitations they had that they never would have been able to fix. It wasn't safe imo but they did as good of a job as they could have.

You lost the argument so now you are going to resort to making fun of jersey for reading or listening to NFL columns and discussing them on a message board thread discussing the NFL? http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PVyJhi3ZcBc/TBUjogKZlwI/AAAAAAAAAHk/7k-EeebkKPU/s1600/sore+loser.jpg

Here is a video of the Favre sack. Tell me the whistle was not too early, I dare you. They don't hold him up very long at all. He was in the process of falling down when they blew the whistle in the middle of his fall. There is no way that's not an early whistle. I understand the early whistle because of the field conditions but it screwed the Bears there.

A 4 way tie at 10-6 gives the 5 seed to Green Bay, and the 6 seed to the Giants.

Who could have possibly thought that roughing the passer by Harris on Webb was really iffy? He launched himself into him helmet to helmet. That was as textbook as it gets. I would have flipped out if they called helmet to helmet on Winfield during the pick. He completely tried to stop as well as he could on a slick field and just grabbed onto Cutler and held him. You can't penalize him because he's short and the field is slick. I'm not talking about Harris to Webb. That was about as easy a call as you can have. I'm talking about whoever hit Cutler late after a pass and was called for roughing the passer. Someone here, maybe multiple people was saying it was iffy. Helmet to helmet is the rule whether its intentional. I've seen unintentional helmet to helmet called all season. It was enought to make Cutler's chin bleed all game.

Fixed for minnesotacubsfan.

Whistle blew a sack of Favre dead a second after we began wrapping him up before he was even really falling, and he fumbled the ball on the way down but didnt count because it was dead. Also, Cutler was hit helmet to helmet on the play he threw his interception and it was not called. The Bears were driving before halftime on that drive and at the time it was a big swing. Some have said the roughing the passer call on the Vikings later in the game was really iffy too. I could see an argument made. It's much harder for me with biased eyes to see plays where the Vikings were screwed instead of the Bears though.

I think its more likely we lose 1 of the last two than Philly loses one of their last 2 (vs. Vikings, vs. Cowboys both in Philly). So I'm not at all eliminating the 2 seed, but it makes sense to discuss possible opponents for the 3/6 matchup. Here are the contenders, in the order I'd like to play them: Buccaneers (8-6) - Haven't beat a +500 team all season, really choked last week at home against improving Lions team, the youngest and maybe least talented of the contenders. They need to win their last 2, while several other things could to happen. The Packers I believe clinched a tiebreaker over them, and it looks like the Giants have that tiebreaker as well. Since GB and NYG and TB can't tie, they either need to overtake the Saints or hope for an Eagles collapse (at least that's what the playoff machine is telling me). If TB wins their last 2 (1 against NO) and the Saints lose their other game (against Atlanta), and the Packers lose on of their last 2 then they are in Giants - Really good team who dominated us defensively when we played them. I strangely don't feel all that intimidated facing them again. The Bears d played really well against them until they spent a majority of the 2nd half on the field and got gassed. Still a dangerous team that could beat us. Really good running game, dangerous receivers, and one of if not the best defensive line in football. There's a ton of scenarios that get this team in, and they can clinch at least a 6 seed (and eliminate GB) with a win this weekend. They can win 1 of 2 and make the playoffs I believe. Saints - They can still slip into the 6th seed and they can still slip out of the playoffs with 2 losses and 2 TB wins (one is head to head). The Saints are a really tough team with a still explosive offense but they seem to be missing that extra gear this year. And while both teams have changed, the Bears have owned the Saints the later half of the decade, beating them 4 consecutive years from 2005-2008 (3 at home with brees). But they still are a really solid team and if they can get some blocking from their line, Brees could light up are secondary all game. Packers - Another really good team that's been banged up keeping it from reaching potential. I think we can beat this team, especially in Chicago (as we did earlier in the year), but its a different team now that doesn't expect to commit 18 penalties this time. Plus the fans would look at this as a mini-super bowl between the 2 rivals. They control their own destiny with 2 home games left, and believe it or not can still make the playoffs with a win against the Giants and a loss to the Bears, but it would require the Giants losing to the Skins, and the Bucs losing one of their last 2 games. GB can still take the 5 seed as well. The Eagles also have a somewhat remote chance of winning the 6th seed but I don't feel like typing anymore. They'd probably go either before or after the Packers even though we beat them.

3 in 6 years and would have had a 4th playoff appearance if he didn't choose to squib kick in atlanta. Mostly good results, and there have been some things about Lovie that I've always liked. There are plenty more things I don't like and some decisions he's made that are inexcusible.