Soul

Things I want to see: Grossman settling in early, picking his spots, using his feet to buy extra time in the pocket and find lanes to throw in. TJ & Benson with running room, protecting the football, grinding out extra yards, getting tough 1st down yardage Desmond Clark involved in the offense Solid pass blocking from our line, especially off the edge. Stout DLine play, not getting moved off the ball easily, keeping blockers off Urlacher, pressuring Brees, containing the trickery from Bush Solid safety play (for once), sticking in there fearlessly on runs, covering over the top on deep routes on-time for a change Creating turnovers, eliminating our own. Here's what I don't want to see: Lack of execution, false starts, dropped passes, fumbles by Devin, fumbles by anyone else, not protecting the football, interceptions by Grossman or because someone didn't make a catch. Getting moved off the ball, not being physical, just tackling rather than hitting, not punishing receivers over the middle, not making the Saints pay for the yardage they get. Stupid penalties, not having your head in the game, being overwhelmed by the situation and the size of the stage, forgetting assignments, allowing the Saints easy plays, not representing the city and your team well. That's it. All the talk is over. It's time to play this game. I want to see this team play like they're capable of, not fold because everyone in the world wants them to. WIN THIS THING. :evil:

I'm a DirecTV subscriber, and am generally happy with the service. But I'm against this. The limiting of consumer options almost always winds up hurting us in the long run. For example, since DirecTV is now the only place to get both the NFL and MLB packages, I can see how they would be able to raise their prices, even for the normal packages. Hey---if you don't like it, go back to cable and suffer without your out-of-market ballclub. I suppose one of the counter-arguments DirecTV will make is that they really can't get in on the multi-service markets that cable & telephone are beginning to offer (internet + TV + phone all for one low price, and so forth). By locking up the exclusive packages, they are protecting their ability to compete. I think they could help this situation by upgrading their satellite internet service, which right now is expensive and slow, making it a rural-customer niche product.

Do we ever beat Western Conference teams? Not since the Jordan years. I like some of the things this club is doing but the lack of success against the Western Conference is just more of the same, and would tend to indicate we won't win our first playoff series (once again).

I still think it's just going to be Murt--Pie--Soriano. We'll see what Pie can do. At some point this minor league system has to start producing a positional player or two.

Signing Floyd as a 4th outfielder sounds good to me.

Sounds good to me. By the time he breaks the million dollar barrier, he could very well be in the majors and pitching. And if he is, he's a cheap option. Someone on Comcast this morning said Samardzija's fastball occasionally hits 99. I'll take that for 2mil/yr. Well if he makes it to the majors in 09 then we overpay his pre-arbi years by about 4M, but obviously we make that up in only paying him a 2.5M signing bonus. Overall its a fair contract if he makes it to the majors in 09 or 10. Gotta have faith. And a little good coaching won't hurt either. I'd drive to Iowa to see him pitch :) If he's sent there and I go, I'll deliver a report to the best of my admittedly limited scouting ability. 8-)

We're getting pounded here in Madison too, but I've been watching some pre-game and it doesn't look like the snow is nearly as heavy in Chicago. It is coming down though.

I believe Michaels just signed with them, would be suprised to see him involved in any trade.... That doesn't mean anything, though. For example, the Cubs traded Farnsworth very shortly after he signed a contract in 2005. Anything can happen, but it sure sounds to me like Hendry's going with what he already has in the OF.

Maybe Grimm will go to AZ then. If he does, Zona's lucky. The guy is a genius OL coach.

Sounds good to me. By the time he breaks the million dollar barrier, he could very well be in the majors and pitching. And if he is, he's a cheap option. Someone on Comcast this morning said Samardzija's fastball occasionally hits 99. I'll take that for 2mil/yr.

Wait. Briggs is going to be out partying before the game tomorrow? He better be ready to play.

Corret me if I am wrong, but wasn't QC an OF in the Cubs system. WR and OF are similar positions........besides....I thought QC would had been a better WR then a QB in the NFL, anyways. But that is a moot point. Yeah, I think QC went to football just a year or two too early. Right after he insisted on being a QB, a few higher-profile athletes went to the pros as WRs when they played QB in college. I'll bet he would have made a much different decision today than he did back then.

I think if he fails in Baseball he can always go back to football and IMO it might not be as easy to do it the other way around. Drew Henson says Hi. Chad Hutchinson too, oh wait we want to forget about him Quincy Carter says : "What aboout me, the QC? Cute, but going back to play WR is not nearly as difficult as trying to be a QB in the NFL. That said, it appears he is claiming his football life is over: Let's hope he turns to gold with the Cubbies. Hendry & crew not looking so stupid now for spending that draft pick, eh? I've heard Jeff throws in the mid 90's.

Big difference between the Skins and Tampa Game, the Bears Won, the Saints lost. The giants suck and didnt deserve to be in the playoffs and the cowboys defense really hit the skids the last month of the season, even more so than the bears if the Saints are a hot team, the Bears are even hotter reguardless of what every [expletive] outside of John Clayton says at the [expletive] sports broadcasting network Why would wins and losses matter? Lets all marvel at the Saints. They are on fire. I mean they have won 6 of their last 11 games counting the playoff win. What an amazing streak they are on. I don't see any way the Bears will even take the field. Surely they will forfeit the game rather than face off against such a godly team.

hold a press conference, say something, call the governor, alert the militia... i'll tell you what they shouldn't do, come to terms in principal for another massive amount of money on the guy

And when they get to the Super Bowl, they'll have the NFC stigma to deal with. What network has the Super Bowl this year? Pretty sure it's Fox. I wish it was NBC. I'm really, really sick of hearing Joe Buck's voice now. I used to tolerate him, but this season has really soured me on the guy. I'd rather have almost anyone but him do the play-by-play for the SB.

I don't want to see a bounce-back effect of people suddenly picking the Bears as the game draws near. I know it's not scientific, but look at the bad games this year: Arizona: Bears were riding high, everyone picking them for the SB. Miami: coming off the 49er slaughter, people saying the Arizona game was just a fluke for Rex and he's back on track. Pats: Bears just got done winning 2 road games in a row in NY---those NY sportscasters who all picked us to meet our waterloo had to grudgingly give respect. Actually this game wasn't really all that bad, I thought the Bears traded punch-for-punch with Belichek pretty good. Vikes: Alright I'll give you this one. We won the game but Grossman should have bounced back better from the Patriots game. Then look at the "good" games: First 5 games: Bears are just going to win the division by default, they're not really a "good" team. Giants: Bears can't beat the Giants at home, NY is the new NFC darling and will go to the Super Bowl. Jets: No way the Bears beat 2 NY teams in succession. Nobody can beat Mangenius. St. Louis: Rex sucks, he should be benched. Seattle: Rex won't get it done in the playoffs. Bears are one-and-done for sure. I don't think I'm imagining this. I think the Bears play better with the whole world against them---or at least the perception of it.

Back when it was still unclear what was happening, I'll give you that. But these past few years they've been gloming on to Bonds, stinking it up on the field-----really doing nothing of note as Barry becomes known as the seminal steroid cheat of all time. I realize some people don't think that reflects badly on the organization. For me, it really does. It reflects badly on the Cubs if they knew about Sammy's use too---although I think it's a little more obscure what the Cubs might have known and when. With the Giants, it's clear. For at least the past 3 seasons, they've been fully aware of what Barry is, and they haven't shown an ounce of concern.

Please, oh please, be collecting all this stuff and putting it on the bulletin board, Lovie. Rex plays his best when he knows everyone thinks he can't get it done. I hope that's the message he's getting this week, too. Honestly, throughout the year we've put in our bad games right when people started saying we were good.

Really? What do you base that on? Here's what I look at: First 6 games: Bears: 6-0 Saints: 5-1 Last 10 games: Bears: 7-3 Saints: 5-5 It looks to me that the Saints have struggled some, and it hasn't been reported either. When I look at the Saints lately, I see a real bad loss at home against Washington when they had the #1 seed as a possibility, and I see 2 losses in a row to Pittsburgh & Cincy, 2 non-playoff clubs. I do agree they pose problems for us and have a real good shot at this game though. But look at their actual performance lately---they're no juggernaut.

Seriously, do you really think that? The guy barely plays anymore. I want OBP too, but not at the cost of looking like an organization that will stoop to any levels. Did McGwire equal murderer's row for the Cards in his last season? That's what Barry is now. He's McGwire, juicing his last batch to eek out a few more ABs. Besides, I think Murt breaks out this season. Barry would take ABs away from Murt for absolute certain. Bonds had 15 fewer PA than Murton last year. So it doesn't make much sense to say he "barely plays anymore". He had an OPS+ of 156 last year, while Big Mac had a 106 in his last year. So it doesn't make much sense to say that's what Barry is now. The problem is when did Barry get to use his bug juice and if he's caught using it again he's out for 25 games. I think this is what the Giants and many other teams will now be thinking. Possibly. Obviously Barroid played more last year, but I found it interesting that he was crippled, questionable whether he was even going to be able to play at all, then suddenly he puts in 130 games. Then, he fails a drug test. It seems pretty clear to me what's going on. He's going to break down, just like McGwire. Just a matter of time. $15million to find out if it's with the Cubs? Hah, don't think so. I think the Gnats look like fools for giving him as much rope as they did. Don't bring that freak show to Chicago.

It's DEUCE. Jesus man, if you're going to lay some smack at least spell the guys name right. Then stop typing y'all. "Y'all" is in the dictionary. "Duece" is not. breeze is going down Tillman will shut Colstin down too.

Seriously, do you really think that? The guy barely plays anymore. I want OBP too, but not at the cost of looking like an organization that will stoop to any levels. Did McGwire equal murderer's row for the Cards in his last season? That's what Barry is now. He's McGwire, juicing his last batch to eek out a few more ABs. Besides, I think Murt breaks out this season. Barry would take ABs away from Murt for absolute certain.

"NO OFFENSE"??? Did you know we have a quarterback who has the most passing yards in the entire NFL. Had 11 games this year with a 90+ passer rating. Has only thrown one interception in his last 7 games. We have the number one passing offense in the NFL, yet without our RB's we have "no offense?" the offense begins and ends with Bush and Mccallister, if they werent there defenses would sit on the pass You could say that about damn near any team that has a decent running back. "No Offense"...my aching ass. You have better cheerleaders than we do. Well OK we don't have any. :wink:

Yeah in true, NBC Olympic-coverage style. Show some Grossman baby pictures to give it some extra punch. :lol: