Soul

Welcome to bizzaro world, where Superman is evil and the Bears O is better than their D.

No Rosen, the Lions aren't playing here today. YOU DOLT.

Kyle Orton, Chicago Bears Quarterback.

It's amazing how quickly our D line has gone to hell.

Defense: right down the tubes.

OK, in case you haven't heard, Kane is good. He just blew through 3 Blues players to get a shot on goal single handedly. That was damn close to a tip back goal too. Not a cheap shot.

Rays sort of imploding. Sort of....it's not over yet.

Wisconsin has completely fallen apart. And yes -- people are starting to question whether Bielema is the right man for the job. The honeymood is officially over.

I wish we could neutralize the fact that we have a bad DC, and go an entire season with no injuries. Sadly, this isn't a realistic expectation.

Seriously weis. You don't know? The guy is an ass. He makes himself look like such an idiot mouthing off at every turn. I can't believe anyone would seriously argue Rivers *isn't* a D-Bag. He's so ridiculous it's like he's trying to take D-Bag to a whole new level.

The Brewers would be stupid not to sign Brenly up if he wants the job, IMO. On Grace: I'm not sure those fences are mended, new GM or not. Grace burned plenty of bridges in Chicago when he left.

Fans are usually happy when their coach leaves, whether the blame really lies with him or not. I don't think that necessarily says Quenneville isn't a good coach. I'm trying to give a little latitude here. We've got this guy for better or for worse. May as well try to find the positives until they are proven wrong.

I'm fine with McKie diving into the middle of the line in short yardage situations. ....as a blocker for Forte or Jones.

I can't find a way to characterize our QB pressure last week as anything more than an abject failure. I see what you mean about the coverage too -- just too soft, that slant route open all day long. But there were too many drop-backs that didn't yield any pressure too. The one time we dialed up a blitz on Ryan was the one time he made a really big mistake and threw what should have been a pick 6 to M Brown. But he didn't catch it. It's a choice. You either lay back with inexperienced/subpar/half-injured DBs and hope they can cover and the D line will get pressure, or you gamble on targeted blitzes. And worse -- it's got to be a game-by-game decision. One I'm not really sure this coaching staff can reliably make (certainly not from last week, where I strongly disagree with the soft coverage approach we used all game).

I never heard that Rivers talk, but admittedly I don't clue into the Chargers and their detractors very often. I can't decide if it's a bad decision to play Romo or not. On one hand, the guy will be one hit away from possibly shattering that pinky and being out for the year. That would effectively end the Cowboys' season, IMO, because while Brad Johnson might be good for a few starts, he's not going to carry anyone past the best defenses in the league. And it's questionable whether Romo will be able to hang on to the football (regardless of whether he can throw it). On the other hand, these are pretty desperate times for the 'Boys when you think about it. They're in a dogfight for the division against a couple of the best teams in the NFC -- they can't afford to be dropping games, really at all. It's actually a pretty tough position that Jerry & Wade find themselves in.

Jason Bay OPS's 70 points less than JD Drew vs. LHP. I still think that most managers would have made that move. Let's just agree that Boston sucks a big one. I'm confident if Boston had up Ted Williams' severed head, he would have ripped a double off the green monster. i guess we can all say that boston has a horseshoe up their butt, but there's something to be said for a talented team that gets into the playoffs and, despite the pressure and expectations of millions of their fans, they are still able to play the game loose and compete at the same level they competed at during the regular season. Ouch man. Your words. They hurt :cry: Seriously though. This is exactly the sort of thing we've been hoping the Cubs would be able to do. Now when it happens with another club, I can't just dismiss it as a fluke. It's the kind of fluke that comes from having a good ballclub that doesn't give up -- ever. In other words, yeah there's some luck involved, but Boston showed talent and focus as well. Now we'll see if Tampa can play with pressure. Because I've got a feeling this is the first time all year they're really feeling it. They had this thing in the bag. Fans or no fans, they've got to be feeling pressure to end this thing without going to a game 7.

Let's take a positive view of Quenneville. He was the coach of some pretty competitive Blues teams in the '99 - '02 range. Let's see if he can bring that to Chicago. His time in Colorado was after Forsberg & Foote were let go. It wasn't like he was taking the former powerhouse Avs and tanking them. They were already on more shaky ground then they had been. The Blackhawks' situation is completely different.

That's absolutely true. The front 4 is pretty vital. Everyone knows there is an exposed pocket between the CB and the S in the Cover 2. Allow the QB time to find that pocket and urine trouble (thanks Moises). True. When's the last time we had a solid pass rush from our front 4 (and only the front 4)? 1st half of '06, plus the two playoff games? In my mind it's pretty hard to continue to justify running this defense as your base when every week your personnel is proving it can't live up to the expectations required to run it. And really, how many teams can do this anyway? Few. Few defenses are out there throwing down loads of pressure based only on their front 4. ....I'm really concerned about this game. Injuries are sucking the life from our defense, especially the pass game. If Peterson is able to carry the rock early for yardage, watch out. We'll have to bring someone up in the box to stop him, and Berrian will run free. He might run free regardless. I don't see our running game going anywhere. The only chance I see is the pass game, but without play action or the threat of the run, Kyle will have to drop back and find receivers when the Vikes know it's coming. Eh, I'm trying to be hopeful because Minny hasn't been good lately. But I'm sensing danger here...

I have no idea whatever.

Tallon won't be here if the team doesn't improve quickly. I am surprise Tallon wasn't fired first, only because he's the one that signed two average goalies to above average contracts, traded a solid 2nd line centre and had to send down a young talented DMan to "clear cap" to fit Huet and Habby into the salary cap. The Hawks are still an immensely talented team, but it was Tallon he put the Hawks behind, not Savard. Look Savard isn't a great caoch, but for the org to "scapegoat" a Hawks legend like they just did reminds alot of the olds days of Wirtz/Pulford. If the Hawks don' turned it around then Tallon will be gone. I don't think it's really scapegoating, provided it is in the context of other personnel moves/firings. I think Tallon needs to go, and it would seem to me his head is on the chopping block. If not, then I would more tend to agree with you. Heck, Bowman would make a better GM out of the box anyway, right?

Should have done this in the offseason if they're going to do it at all, IMHO. I'm guessing part of Savard's "evaluation" was whether he would have what McDonough considers a playoff-calibre team off to a fast start or not. I can't imagine Tallon will last much longer.

Captain or not, when a 19 year old player is calling team meetings 3 games into the season, I get a little worried. Hold it together, hold it together... *secretly biting fingernails*

I pretty much knew it wasn't going to happen, but I was really hoping the Titans would pull off some type of a Housh for a 2nd round pick deal. Obviously never happened, but it would've made me very happy. I was hoping for Tony Gonzalez for the Packers. Too bad Thompson doesn't believe in trading any kind of draft pick. But its instances in like what Dallas did that make me happy he's not a total idiot when it comes to overspending. The more I think about that deal, the more I don't really understand why they gave up so much for him. Sure they locked him up long-term and yeah Roy Williams is a good wideout, but nothing in his game makes me scream that he's an elite wideout. I just think for a 1st, a 3rd, a 6th, and a 7th, you better be getting a freakin' superstar with all those draft picks you're giving up. We gave up our 1st, 3rd, and 6th only, Detroit gave us a 7th in addition to Williams. And it might have been overspending just slightly, but no WR in the 1st round was going to be as good right now as Williams is. Plus, even with all the draft picks we sent to Detroit we still have 9 picks right now(2nd, 3rd from Cleveland, 4th from Detroit, our 4th, Tennessee's 5th, our 5th, 6th from Miami, Detroit's 7th, and our 7th), and will probably get 2 comp picks (For Julius Jones and Jacque Reeves). Those are valid points. I think from Detroit's view, they got a really good deal. Haven't been able to say that about them in awhile. That Millen firing must be paying dividends already.

Seriously, I hadn't heard Hamilton's name mentioned on this board since the all star break. This entire thread is based on a fallacy.

The cover-2 hasn't been solved. Well I guess you could say it has been solved because just like any other defense (zone or man or variations) everyone knows in theory how to beat it and everyone always has. Like all coverages it has it's strengths and weaknesses that are known. It's been around for a long time and will continue to be around for a long time (like cover 3, cover 4, cover 8, etc) because it's a sound defense. There is no perfect defense. The cover 2 is a good base defense which is dependent on personnel, execution and mixing things up at times. So it hasn't been solved. But it has!! No, I'm just kidding. It definitely seems to me that teams who play us are ready for it more often. Maybe it's more because we suck on pass D this year. It wasn't as effective last year either though. I don't know. I don't like the defense, it's not very aggressive, it doesn't seem to attack the opposing team. I prefer a pressure scheme to cover-2. Creative blitzes, alternate formations, LBs moving in & out. We've been trying that more this year -- but against Atlanta it seemed that we simply abandoned it.