hawkeyecub

Excited to see the Vikings play in a game that will be a legit test.

Let's not forget that a below average Panthers team was tied with 5 minutes left in that building this year. The Falcons game was also a dogfight into the last minutes. Tonight's win should ensure they have homefield and that will give them an advantage. They're both elite teams but have 6 games left where key injuries could really mess things up. I think the Vikings defense will make them a little more one dimensional and get more pressure with 4 than Brees has been used to. I'm just scared of our safeties against that offense. Hopefully the Eagles or Cardinals can pull a rabbit out of their hats and knock them off.

Really? I don't watch ND more than 3 times a year and am not that familiar with their defensive personnel. But the guy was an extremely successful DC whom Notre Dame fans were thrilled to hire.

Which really isn't all that bad of a fallback option. oh i don't think it is either, but kelly certainly isn't a sure thing like bob stoops or urban meyer. he's kind of in the same place that people like meyer, dan hawkins, paul johnson and john l. smith were when they were at a middle-of-the-road program that they turned into something really good, and you didn't really know if they were going to be a boom or a bust when stepping up to a big-time program. some turn out really good (meyer, johnsonn) and some are bad (hawkins, smith). Hawkins was good once? LOL. What the hell?

When asked afterwards, the UCLA coaches and players didn't have a problem with it. If you don't want the game extended, don't call time outs. This is much ado about nothing. A lot of Bruin fans whining. Of course, when you lose nine of the last ten to the Trojans, a much better football program, I guess their misguided frustration is understandable, if not justified. Next time don't call time outs. I love watching you make a fool of yourself whenever USC is brought up.

Just this year. The building is still the Metrodome. Mall of America got naming rights to the actual field.

So if you replace a bad QB with one of the best three in the NFL and the RB has a slight increase in YPC (from 4.8 to 4.9)... What's the conclusion? They're throwing way more and he increased his YPC by 2% from his career low The blocking has been worse and teams are still stacking the front just as much as they did last year. How many times do I need to tell you this for you to stop ignoring it? I've seen every snap of every game. Most of the reason Favre has been so brilliant and thrown only 3 INT's is because he never has to throw into a crowd. Teams are still often bringing 8 up and playing man on the outside.

But it is sooooooooo much easier to replace a RB than an entire bad, old offensive line. Even without a 1/2 round pick next year the Bears might be able to find a decent one. The Bears could blow all of their picks over the next two years trying to get 5 new offensive linemen and still not get a good group. Certainly. I just don't think Forte would be close to Adrian's production if he were in the Vikings backfield. The o-line has done a good job in pass protection but in the run game they're living more off their reputation than production this year. Adrian isn't playing up to the standard he created though.

I'd Take Peterson. The Vikings have great lines, but Peterson is a cut above them. Peterson has 3 100 yard games this season, against the Browns, Lions, and (!) Ravens. Forte could be putting up numbers similar to what Peterson has done this season with the Vikings O-line (which probably says a lot about how teams have gotten burned trying to stop him instead of the passing game, but still). Improving the O-line tremendously improves the passing game and the rushing game. edit: I'd have to put D-line way behind O-line because the Bears are so bad at so many defensive positions. It's not even the worst part of the defense As I posted above, the Vikings o-line has not been a good run blocking unit this year. Teams are also still stacking the box to stop Peterson primarily which is why Favre always seems to have open receivers to throw to. Adrian hasn't been as good this year. He's missing things and that's noticeable when Chester is always getting positive yards and running with a better tempo right now. But Forte just doesn't look good at all this year even when there is room. I would rather have Taylor right now.

Well that game was fun.

With an OL such as the Vikings the Bears are easily 7 - 4 if not better. The OL has been extremely inconsistent with run blocking all year. Teams are still stacking fronts against them and a lot of times Adrian isn't patient enough. But they've still not given him a lot of room to run. Pass protection has been very good since the first couple games though. From the Bears perspective it's different in terms of what you would want, but of those 5 groups you could probably make the case that the OL has performed the worst of the bunch this year.

Illinois' top commit and the #2-5 tight end in the country C.J. Fiedorowicz committed to Iowa.

Martz isn't in San Francisco this year. He's working for the NFL Network.

The only thing that scares me is that Cutler is the kind of QB who can take advantage of our safeties if he's on. That's the weakest link of the team. Fortunately Winfield should be back and I think the d-line should be able to get enough heat on him that he won't have enough time to get the ball downfield consistently.

I don't see it happening either. I'm guessing Lovie and Jerry get one last chance to make it work with a new OC next season. Turner will probably take the fall for the problems this year but I think that creates a tough situation. The only way you attract a sought after OC with Lovie's situation is if you give him a 3-year contract that has a big buyout. Then if Lovie gets canned next year you have no idea if the new head coach will want him. So you could add another heavy buyout and force Cutler to enter 2011 working with his 4th Offensive Coordinator in 4 years. Most likely you'd have to hire a retread with few options or a young coach with little experience to replace Turner next year. Is it worth it to have Cutler learning a new offense again and maybe only for a year? If Kubiak is fired Id think hes a big enough "offensive name" that the new head coach would have no problem keeping him on. I may be wrong about that , but thats my thinking. Hell, Kubiak could have a chance to take over for Lovie if he came here. Sure that's definitely possible but I'm not looking at it in terms of being a big name. It's more of an issue if they don't have the same philosophies, have a clash of ego's, etc. I'm with Soul. I think you either go all out with the fresh start or if you're giving Lovie another year you let him keep his guys and see if they can make it work. The only way it really works to bring in an OC this spring is if you have a good year and Lovie keeps his job. Otherwise you're looking at Cutler possibly having 4 OC's in 4 years or you limit your next head coach and he probably would make the change as soon as things get rough.

I don't see it happening either. I'm guessing Lovie and Jerry get one last chance to make it work with a new OC next season. Turner will probably take the fall for the problems this year but I think that creates a tough situation. The only way you attract a sought after OC with Lovie's situation is if you give him a 3-year contract that has a big buyout. Then if Lovie gets canned next year you have no idea if the new head coach will want him. So you could add another heavy buyout and force Cutler to enter 2011 working with his 4th Offensive Coordinator in 4 years. Most likely you'd have to hire a retread with few options or a young coach with little experience to replace Turner next year. Is it worth it to have Cutler learning a new offense again and maybe only for a year?

He was calling him that all night, that guy was bad. He and Jay Williams completely butchered about 13 names while I was watching. Gottlieb can be a dick but I really like him.

Well that got out of hand quickly. Absolutely no answer inside. We only have 2 healthy big guys so Pittman and James just took over. The encouraging part is we hung in there for 25 minutes despite the fact that Bawinkle and Cougill were the only guys who could hit shots. Tucker, Gatens and Payne shot 10-42. The depressing part is how insanely hard we have to work to get a decent shot and completely outclassed we are athletically. I mean I knew that already but wow.

That's gotta be the worst All Big-10 team in a while. There may not be a starting NFL player on that list. If you're talking about skill positions offensively, sure. But it's lunacy to think there aren't 5 future starters on the o-line and defense.

LOL that was ridiculous. We'll lose but that was encouraging. God we just have to work so hard to get a shot off. Texas is insanely deep, long and athletic.

Big Ten All-Conference teams linked. Coaches: http://www.bigtennetwork.com/sports/football/story.asp?list_id=46&story_id=3377146 Media: http://www.bigtennetwork.com/news/article.asp?story_id=3377147&list_id=46

The Big Ten splits the bowl money up.

The Hawks are going to shock the world and beat #3 Texas tonight. I can feel it. Nevermind, hopefully they can keep it within 20. Aaron Fuller is hurt which means we'll probably have to give Andrew Brommer minutes inside. Which is bad news. Plus with he and Devon Archie hurt that's like half of our black guys hurt. So to everyone on ESPN we'll officially be the whitest team ever.

Jersey is right. Orlando sucks. From everything I've heard the stadium is old and terrible. The area around the stadium is even worse. Basically everything around the Outback Bowl is better than the Cap One except the timeslot and the team you play. Because of that I'd rather be in the Cap One than Outback, but Champs Sports over Outback? No way. Tampa caters to the visitors and you're playing on New Year's Day in a really nice stadium against a top 4 SEC team. Compared to Dec. 29th in Orlando in a terrible stadium and area against a mediocre ACC team.

. ect.... Have to do it because of all the back and forth all offseason. And it might not last if Favre gets hurt soon. Favre- 69.7% Cutler- 61.7% Yards per attempt Favre-8.0 Cutler- 6.6 TD/INT Favre- 21/3 Cutler 15/18 QB Rating Favre- 112.1 Cutler- 74.5 Cutler is throwing for 4 yards more per game on 7 more attempts per game. Favre has been sacked once more than Jay.