Magnetic Curses

nowicki transfers to illinois. he wasn't one of those high fallutin pirate hookers calling themselves team outlaw.

i was watching this just now. kind of reminded me of what soccer10k and i were talking about today if you go to 3:30 or about.

I let out an honest "Ohh!" after reading that. it seems like torreyes has been raking forever now and his numbers still aren't very good. what kind of a [expletive] hole did he dig himself?

I don't hate Theo, I'm just anxiously awaiting results that we can see at Wrigley. As for mentioning Hendry, go through all of the deadline trade threads and see how many posters brought up Hendry. What's really one-note and tiring is that many posters can't discuss a topic for two pages without bringing up Hendry. He's gone, let's move on and discuss the moves that are being made (or need to be made) by this FO. where i come from, there is a word for your ilk:

they simply take into account every single variable imaginable. they rate the bears slightly ahead of the niners in rush defense in terms of dvoa, which is explained everywhere you look on the site.

but they're not as good as ever. #1 is definitely not as good as ever. they could have done better.

are you ignoring the part where the bears were the best team against the run last season? In a word, yes. Because it's not that important. It's not a running league. It's a sack the quarterback league. The Bears defensive front has done a poor job of this and as a result they haven't been good enough against the pass. Yeah, the pass defense in 05 and 06 was miles better than our pass D last year. He's also wrong that the Bears were the #1 run D. They were 5th in yards per game, 20 yards from the top. They were 10th in yards per carry allowed, 1/2 yard behind SF who led in both. SF was significantly better than everyone else in the league against the run last year. http://footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamdef

are you ignoring the part where the bears were the best team against the run last season? In a word, yes. Because it's not that important. It's not a running league. It's a sack the quarterback league. The Bears defensive front has done a poor job of this and as a result they haven't been good enough against the pass. they have made teams one dimensional, and they weren't particularly bad at defending the pass last year if you believe football outsiders. they're ranked 8th, making them 4th in total defense. considering their inexperience in the secondary, and the fact that they were significantly worse there than in 2005-2006, an overall defensive ranking of 4 is excellent. that's fueled by their front 7.

are you ignoring the part where the bears were the best team against the run last season?

How do you differentiate his physical ability from his ability to read a scheme and correctly guess/jump a route? The key to me is pass deflections and safety results when it comes to pass coverage. Urlacher isn't getting deep enough anymore to knock deep passes into the air for his safeties to pick off and return (Briggs is actually doing a decent job of this). And the safeties have been a disaster since Urlacher's brilliant 2006 and 2007 seasons. The only year the safeties have played at an acceptable level since 2007 was 2010, when Urlacher had a really good comeback year after a year off with no wear-and-tear on his legs. in 11 healthy years, urlacher has 105 PDs + INTs, that's 9.5 per year average. he had 10 last year. he hasn't declined. Pro Football reference has him with 6 last year after 4 straight healthy years of at least 9. i see him at 7 plus 3 INTs. that's 10 total compared to 11 the year before. again, you can't mark him down for catching balls instead of batting them up in the air.

I thought the winner of the 50 usually took that title not the winner of the 100? http://www.khelnama.com/120802/olympics-2012/news/adrian-leads-us-gold-rush-pool-badmintons-image-takes-beating http://www.examiner.com/article/london-olympics-swimming-day-5-team-usa-extends-its-medal-lead-over-china i remember it as always being referred to as that. it's definitely swimming's heavyweight event.

The first sentence could tell you that, but the rest are the stats you asked for that are declining. What else do you want? That's goony's point. Even if you think our reasoning is simply because he's 34....since when is that not a valid reason for assumption that a football player has lost a step? are we not counting INTs as a stat and in his favor? i mean if you don't want him to catch the ball you can ask him to bat it up in the air to the safeties instead. i doubt you'll have much luck. you can also scream that he's 34 til blue in the face, but if the decline isn't there, it isn't there. and this is secondary to previous point that the bears front 7 is as good as its ever been.

How do you differentiate his physical ability from his ability to read a scheme and correctly guess/jump a route? The key to me is pass deflections and safety results when it comes to pass coverage. Urlacher isn't getting deep enough anymore to knock deep passes into the air for his safeties to pick off and return (Briggs is actually doing a decent job of this). And the safeties have been a disaster since Urlacher's brilliant 2006 and 2007 seasons. The only year the safeties have played at an acceptable level since 2007 was 2010, when Urlacher had a really good comeback year after a year off with no wear-and-tear on his legs. in 11 healthy years, urlacher has 105 PDs + INTs, that's 9.5 per year average. he had 10 last year. he hasn't declined.

You're nuts. Harris was a beast and Tank Johnson was actually quite good for a year. You are honestly the only person I've heard suggest anything other than Urlacher isn't as good as he was at his peak. The team doesn't even pretend that is the case. prove it then, and how is the team "not pretending" that that is the case? saying that they're not pretending that's the case doesn't mean anything, it's literally empty conjecture. his stats haven't suffered and he's done what he's done all of his career in coverage, so there's no real proof that he's lost a step. i'd wager that most of it is perception because he's 34 years old. harris was a 3-technique interior lineman. he didn't play the same position as paea. tank johnson was ok. The team isn't pretending, or else he would be re-signed to a contract beyond this year. His stats have suffered. He doesn't get as many pass deflections as in the past. He doesn't rush the passer as well. He doesn't force fumbles like he used to. He doesn't make plays behind the line of scrimmage like he used to. The overall ranking/performance of the pass D has suffered. all that tells me is that the team is anticipating decline in the years after the age of 35. there is no proof of immediate decline. the pass d has suffered because teams can't run on them. and despite the fact that teams pass a ton on them (which again, cements the author's assertion that the front 7 is as good as it ever has been), they're still 9th against tight ends.

How do you differentiate his physical ability from his ability to read a scheme and correctly guess/jump a route? indeed, how do you?

You're nuts. Harris was a beast and Tank Johnson was actually quite good for a year. You are honestly the only person I've heard suggest anything other than Urlacher isn't as good as he was at his peak. The team doesn't even pretend that is the case. prove it then, and how is the team "not pretending" that that is the case? saying that they're not pretending that's the case doesn't mean anything, it's literally empty conjecture. his stats haven't suffered and he's done what he's done all of his career in coverage, so there's no real proof that he's lost a step. i'd wager that most of it is perception because he's 34 years old. harris was a 3-technique interior lineman. he didn't play the same position as paea. tank johnson was ok. what the hell stats are you looking for? His OPS? do you want to have a discussion or do you want to make faux-exasperated statements? THE BEARS WERE THE BEST TEAM IN THE LEAGUE AGAINST THE RUN LAST YEAR. i don't know how much plainer it can get when making the case for their front 7 being as good as ever. and now to watch gooney run back-flipping into the night

You're nuts. Harris was a beast and Tank Johnson was actually quite good for a year. You are honestly the only person I've heard suggest anything other than Urlacher isn't as good as he was at his peak. The team doesn't even pretend that is the case. Lovies system has played a bigger role in Urlachers perceived decline then his physical age. His physical decline is completely overblown It's the same system he was in when he was at his best. Urlacher put up next to career 16-game season lows in tackles, passes defensed, and had no sacks. Urlacher was pretty consistent 125+ tackles, 5 sacks, 3 INT player in Lovie's system in his prime. that is really twisted analysis there and you're being intellectually dishonest to try and prove a point. he had 3 INT's last year, and he gets them because of his physical ability to cover the entire middle of the field. his tackles weren't significantly down from year-to-year, either. the bears were so good against the run, teams simply didn't run as much on them.

You're nuts. Harris was a beast and Tank Johnson was actually quite good for a year. You are honestly the only person I've heard suggest anything other than Urlacher isn't as good as he was at his peak. The team doesn't even pretend that is the case. prove it then, and how is the team "not pretending" that that is the case? saying that they're not pretending that's the case doesn't mean anything, it's literally empty conjecture. his stats haven't suffered and he's done what he's done all of his career in coverage, so there's no real proof that he's lost a step. i'd wager that most of it is perception because he's 34 years old. harris was a 3-technique interior lineman. he didn't play the same position as paea. tank johnson was ok.

The fact that they may still be good does not say anything about whether they are as good as ever. That is just simply not the case. They aren't as good as they were at their best, both the individuals discussed and the group as a whole. i know you have a striking distaste for anything older and believe that age in-and-of-itself is a mark of decline, but you can't make the case that there has been an appreciable, significant, or noticeable decline in urlacher, briggs, or peppers, although i can see you trying. Yeah you can for Urlacher. He used to be a better pass rusher, better pass defender, and a better run defender. He's still a very good player, but he's not the best player every time he takes the field anymore like he was in and around the Superbowl season. Will agree that Peppers and Briggs haven't had any significant decline. And I will say again that I don't think Melton is filler. He has a big role in the defense. On the 2006 defense, Tommie Harris was the 3rd of the Big 3 (with Urlacher and Briggs), but Ogunleye played a huge role along with Alex Brown. Melton is at least the Ogunleye of this defense, but plays a more pivotal position. Mr. Anderson anderson and idonije have been the beneficiaries of excellent play by the others. although both have been good in their own right.

The fact that they may still be good does not say anything about whether they are as good as ever. That is just simply not the case. They aren't as good as they were at their best, both the individuals discussed and the group as a whole. i know you have a striking distaste for anything older and believe that age in-and-of-itself is a mark of decline, but you can't make the case that there has been an appreciable, significant, or noticeable decline in urlacher, briggs, or peppers, although i can see you trying. Yeah you can for Urlacher. He used to be a better pass rusher, better pass defender, and a better run defender. He's still a very good player, but he's not the best player every time he takes the field anymore like he was in and around the Superbowl season. Will agree that Peppers and Briggs haven't had any significant decline. And I will say again that I don't think Melton is filler. He has a big role in the defense. On the 2006 defense, Tommie Harris was the 3rd of the Big 3 (with Urlacher and Briggs), but Ogunleye played a huge role along with Alex Brown. Melton is at least the Ogunleye of this defense, but plays a more pivotal position. what's the case for urlacher, other than your gut? you can say that's what you see, but i've probably been watching football about as long as you have and it'd be my word against yours, as the stats don't indicate a decline. you're right about melton and ogunleye, but again, i don't think either of them are as rare as you'd suggest. i actually like paea better than any other nose they've had, so the front seven are as good as ever, imo.

the bears were probably the best team against the run last year. i don't know what your point is. http://footballoutsiders.com/stats/dl that was driven by the stars, not the filler. urlacher is still the best coverage linebacker in the NFL and I can't remember him being better at it than he was last year, although i can't remember him being bad ever in that part of the game. clearly lost a step? i have no idea what you're talking about. as far as briggs and peppers, you can say whatever you want but it doesn't make it true. upon closer analysis, the NY Times guy is about as right on as anyone on the bears beat.

the other 4 are just filler and always have been

The fact that they may still be good does not say anything about whether they are as good as ever. That is just simply not the case. They aren't as good as they were at their best, both the individuals discussed and the group as a whole. i know you have a striking distaste for anything older and believe that age in-and-of-itself is a mark of decline, but you can't make the case that there has been an appreciable, significant, or noticeable decline in urlacher, briggs, or peppers, although i can see you trying.

good piece. That's just not true. disagree. urlacher, briggs and peppers are still playing at a pro-bowl level and driving the defense. the other 4 are pretty interchangeable. not many teams can boast 3 flat-out stars in their front 7.

good piece.