NFL Matters

NFL Christmas came and some major gifts have been opened and exchanged. The NFL is like an Ant Farm: No matter how many established inroads are dug by teams, the entire league can be shaken a few times and the whole thing starts over again fresh.

While the Bears didn't get Mario Williams, they still made a very impressive move by trading two third round draft picks for the incredibly talented and psychologically disturbed Brandon Marshall. With this trade, the Bears finally gave their franchise QB Jay Cutler the elite receiver the Bears haven't had since Johnny Morris. I also believe the Bears were NOT aware of Marshall's Lady-Punching incident in New York before making the trade, but it doesn't matter. The Bears needed to make this move strictly because they got a better receiver than Vincent Jackson for a much better price. I also believe Marshall won't be suspended for the alleged incident either.

The Bears also made sure that a Caleb Hanie situation never happens again, by signing Jason Campbell to be the backup QB, and they also added some linebacker depth by bringing in Blake Costanzo while retaining some of their own in Israel Idonije, Kellen Davis, Tim Jennings, Craig Steltz, and Josh McCown.

All these moves the Bears made are fine additions, but they are not the reason Phil Emery was brought in as General Manager. Emery will ultimately prove his worth in the draft. Still, helluva start Phil.

Today also became a significant day in NFL History as for the first time ever, both an NFL GM and a Head Coach were suspended. Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis felt the wrath of Roger Goodell, as the commissioner suspended Loomis for 8 games, and Payton for the entire season as punishment for "Bounty-Gate".

I had predicted Goodell would suspend Gregg Williams for half a season, but Roger went WAY farther than that by suspending Williams "indefinitely". I also predicted Roger would make examples out of the Saints. He definitely came through in that regard, and then some, but not for the reasons I thought he would.

It wasn't so much the fact that the Saints were running a Bounty System that put Goodell in his patented "Hanging Judge Mode". It was the fact that Goodell confronted the Saints about their Bounty System TWO YEARS AGO, and they lied to him. The Saints first denied to the commissioner that the program even existed, then after acknowledging that lie, informed the commissioner that the program does exist and they will cease it immediately.

That was in 2010. Obviously, it didn't stop, and even more obviously, Goodell knew it too.

I'm not one of these blind followers of Goodell who applaud every single decision he makes, but Roger is spot on with this punishment in my opinion. It's bad enough to lie to Roger Goodell's face about something he already knows you're doing, but it's even worse to lie to him again when he gives you a second chance to clean up your act. The Saints weren't smart enough to recognize their second chance, and arrogantly continued the Bounty System.

The lesson ultimately learned? Don't mess with, or attempt to make a fool out of Roger Goodell. Good job Commissioner.

NFL Christmas Eve

We're at the eve of one of the biggest days of the NFL Year : The First Day of NFL Free Agency. This is a day where teams make swift, bold, and most importantly, very expensive decisions meant to improve their respective rosters.

Some of them work out (Reggie White, Deion Sanders), and some of them don't (Albert Haynesworth, Javon Walker). When they work out, they can result in Super Bowl titles. When they don't work out, they can set your franchise back in very frightening ways.

Each signing is significant, one way or another, but no matter who signs where, the prospect of your favorite NFL team getting bright shiny new toys to play with, will always get fans excited about the upcoming season.

Which brings us to the Chicago Bears. The Bears stand $22.6 million under the cap, and by all accounts are itchy to spend it. On the one hand, they can go the obvious route by pursuing a #1 wide receiver in Vincent Jackson or Marques Colston, while concurrently pursuing a Carl Nicks or Ben Grubbs to shore up an offensive line desperate for depth. On the other hand, they can give into temptation by pursuing Mario Williams thereby forming a front four with two of the most elite pass rushers in the game today.

Cutting to the chase as quickly as I can, I believe the Bears should roll the dice and aggressively pursue Mario Williams, and I'll give you my reasons:

First of all, I don't like Vincent "2 DUI's" Jackson, or Marques "My Knee Is More Fragile Than I Let On" Colston. Despite what their stats will tell you, I don't believe either one of them are the elite receivers Jay Cutler needs, not to mention the track record of teams breaking the bank on Free Agent Wide Receivers is not a good one in terms of winning Super Bowls. Did I mention Muhsin Muhammad?

Secondly, Phil Emery is known for being a college scout specialist. So hopefully that means he has a better idea of what to look for in the draft than Jerry Angelo. The Bears also have 8 draft picks this year, including two 3rd round picks. I believe the Bears can find a suitable receiver with their second or third round pick(s), which would be a much better bet than heavily investing in Jackson or Colston.

It should also bear mentioning that Vincent Jackson was a late second round pick in 2005 - and he was also the TENTH Receiver taken in that draft! Some of the names drafted ahead of VJAX? Braylon Edwards, Mike Williams, Reggie Brown, Matt Jones, and (drum roll) Mark Bradley.

Thirdly, Mario Williams is an elite pass rusher. Essentially he's a 27 year old version of Julius Peppers: freak athlete with unbelievable size and quickness who consistently gets to the quarterback despite constant double teams. Mario already has 53 sacks in 6 seasons, which is roughly the same pace Peppers had at age 27, but that's not the point. The point is what Mario would do with the Bears.

Mario Williams would open up so many possibilities for this Bears defense. Mario's mere presence would make it impossible for opposing offensive lines to double team both him and Peppers. Teams would have to pick their poison with their blocking schemes, and the match up problems become even more difficult since Peppers occasionally lines up at the 3 Technique, and Mario has no issue with being a stand-up linebacker/edge rusher on third downs like he was last season.

Finally, in this pool of available free agents, Mario Williams is the safest bet in terms of acquiring a game changer. Quite Frankly, this free agent pool is very sub par if you think about it. I've already gone over what I don't like about Jackson and Colston. If you feel Cortland Finnegan, Red Bryant, Matt Flynn, Brandon Carr, or Pierre Garcon are better bets than Mario, that's fine, but I'm not comfortable spending large money on them versus Williams.

If we're really being honest about how bad this pool is, lets discuss the fact that a guy with 4 neck surgeries in 18 months - including two fused vertebrae and a damaged nerve that may or may not regenerate, and hasn't been seen throwing a football in two years......is about to get at least $20 million from somebody simply because he's Peyton Manning.

Add all of that up, and Mario Williams makes a lot of sense and hopefully a lot of Bears dollars.

(Sigh) Okaaaaay....

Who could have ever predicted that someday the Oakland Raiders would be more sensible and logical, in their organizational restructuring than the Chicago Bears? I certainly never thought that would be possible, yet here we are...

With the announcement today that Phil Emery is the new Chicago Bears General Manager - even though it's essentially in name only since he can't fire Lovie Smith for a year - the Bears have attempted to fool the masses into thinking that hiring Emery is/was the move they needed to make in order to "win championships". Unfortunately, in typical Bears fashion, they've managed to fool nobody.

If the Bears were really attempting to convince people they were building towards multiple championships, they would have not just simply fired Jerry Angelo, but also would have served notice that whoever they hired as the next GM would have complete and total autonomy to clean house if he so desired.

The next GM, wouldn't have any timetables, restrictions, or stipulations in place prior to taking the job. The next GM would have a plan in place, and be able to immediately bring in the supporting staff he desires to implement the plan, which is precisely what the Oakland Raiders did.

The Bears on the other hand, hired a guy that would have to mesh with Lovie Smith, meaning that Lovie is essentially choosing who his new boss will be, which is the very definition of "Conflict Of Interest". The Bears also managed to make themselves into a laughing stock around the league with the way they sought out Jerry Angelo's replacement. Most importantly, the Bears managed to make a very simple process into a needlessly complicated one, and leaves us with a feeling that they didn't get the best possible candidate.

As far as Phil Emery himself, who the hell knows? His former boss Scott Pioli had nice things to say about him today, but then again Scott Pioli isn't really in a position to be critical of anyone on his former staff in Kansas City with recent allegations that Pioli runs the Chiefs like it's an Orwellian atmosphere. All we really do know about Emery is that he was a scout for the Bears in 2004, and before that he was a Strength and Conditioning coach. Does that mean Rusty Jones could be an NFL GM someday? Wait don't answer that.

For me the bottom line is real simple. As much as I lament that the Bears have completely screwed up yet another opportunity to conduct themselves as a progressive NFL Organization, I won't get too worked up about it....yet. My reason for tempering my displeasure is pretty simple: I want to see what Emery does in the draft this season.

Everyone knows the Bears are at least $20 million under the salary cap. Everybody knows that Bears intend on spending a lot of that money on free agency, specifically targeting a big play wide receiver. That's all fine and good, but if the Bears intend on winning multiple championships as they say they are, the key will be what happens in the drafts ahead.

If it's one thing I've learned over all the years of watching football, is that talent outweighs X's and O's. I'm not saying that coaching doesn't matter, because it absolutely matters, but Bill Belichick, or Bill Walsh, or any of the other "geniuses" would not have flourished as coaches if they didn't have great drafts over the years.

If Emery really does have the excellent college scouting background he supposedly possesses, then he should be able to find the necessary players that will be the cornerstones of the team in the years to come. Today's press conference certainly eliminated any chance Phil has a future as a talk-show host, but I really couldn't care less that he's not a good public speaker.

We know that Lovie Smith - despite my own personal misgivings about him - is a good football coach when he is supplied with guys who can play.

If Emery can find that talent in the draft, then the Bears will be fine. If not, the Bears will have to start this whole thing over again which would really be a crime since Jay Cutler is not getting any younger.

Let's hope Phil knows what he's doing.

You Missed A Spot Or Two George...

As I tweeted earlier, I had a feeling I shouldn't post my thoughts on the blog right away after the Bears meaningless victory over the Minnesota Vikings on New Years Day. Something told me that I should save it for later this week, in case there were any swift and bold changes taking place at Halas Hall. My instinct served me well evidently, as I awoke this morning to the news that long time Bears General Manager Jerry Angelo had been fired.

The interesting part of that news mainly involved the fact that Angelo hadn't retired, or even resigned, but was Fired with a capital "F". The Bears didn't stop with Angelo today either. After initially stating on their website that "...no other changes would be made", much maligned Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz and Quarterbacks Coach Shane Day had resigned as well.

What did all of this activity mean? Were there more names that were about to be referred to as "ex-Bears" on the coaching staff? Was Team President Ted Phillips next? How about Lovie Smith? If Jerry Angelo could be fired, couldn't the same fate await Lovie and Ted? After all, they have as much to do with the Bears making the postseason 3 times in 8 seasons, and only once since reaching the Super Bowl five seasons ago, as Angelo and Martz did. Does this activity signify that newly named Chairman George McCaskey was wiping the slate clean and starting fresh from the top down? Only an afternoon press conference could answer those questions:

Well the press conference happened, and unfortunately for us, the few answers we got aren't the right answers, and the new questions that have emerged are even worse.

There's so much subtext to all of this, it's pretty impossible for me to cover it all here, but I'll do what I can without "whistling Dixie". First things last, Jerry Angelo deserved to get fired. The totality of his too-many-misses-not-enough-hits draft classes, are more than enough grounds to justify Angelo's termination. Add the fact that Angelo's failure to recognize that Caleb Hanie couldn't play football while keeping Hanie on the roster for 4 seasons, on top of the following free agent/trade busts:

1. Adewale Ogunleye          2. Mushin Muhammad
3. Adam Archuleta              4. Frank Omiyale
5. Brandon Manumaleuna   6. Orlando Pace
7. Gaines Adams (RIP)       8. Chester Taylor

...and it's pretty clear that Jerry Angelo was in over his head, especially once he got away from Greg Gabriel and Bobby DePaul.

With regard to Mike Martz departing, I doubt many tears will be shed. Especially from the Bears most important player Jay Cutler. One sentiment I've heard is "Well you can't fire Martz because the last two game Cutler played, the offense was moving the ball pretty well." So that means it took 28 games before Martz's offense started to work?

Obviously that's not true. It's also not true that they were even running Martz's offense. What definitely IS true however is that the Bears made the simple art of relaying the play calls from the booth to the huddle the most complicated process ever, and thus burned more timeouts, and incurred more delay of game penalties, than any other team in the league.

Most fans don't seem to understand that Martz was calling all those running plays through gritted teeth. He HATED calling a 50/50 run/pass split every game. He couldn't stand calling plays for Cutler to roll out of the pocket and throw on the run. It was also Martz's idea to get rid of Cutler's favorite target Greg Olsen, since Martz's offense has absolutely no use for a pass catching Tight End. The New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, and Green Bay Packers on the other hand seem to think the Tight End can be a pretty lethal part of a passing game, but what the hell do they know about offense right Mike?

Martz wants to run his antiquated Greatest Show On Turf version of Air Coryell, and he can't accept that he doesn't have the talent on the roster to run it. More importantly, Martz doesn't understand that his offense is going to get Cutler killed, like it did with every other quarterback that ran it. Not to mention it's pretty much an open secret that Martz is known as a "Me Guy" in Halas Hall as well. Therefore it was in the Bears best interest to part ways with him, and search for an Offensive Coordinator that is ahead of the NFL curve, or at the very least understands what he can and can't run with this personnel.

As for what happens now? Well Ted Phillips and George McCaskey made it clear that Ted is running the Bears right now, and Lovie Smith will be the head coach for 2012 no matter what. This means that the incoming GM will not be allowed to replace Lovie for at least one more season. This doesn't really sit well with me, because it sure seems like there was some Quid Pro Quo between Ted and Lovie in an effort to save their jobs.

The logic being, Ted says he'll fire Angelo while asking Lovie to fire Martz, therefore the two of them will get what they want - another year of employment while placing Angelo and Martz as the scapegoats. Want proof that Lovie fired Martz? When asked about Martz's resignation, the first words out of Ted Phillips' mouth were "Well that was Lovie's call..." So yes, it's pretty obvious Lovie fired Martz and is now working on his 4th offensive coordinator in 9 seasons.

Here's my bottom line. If the Bears are serious about bringing in a new, big nuts, General Manager, and they're also serious about bringing in an offensive coordinator that's going to maximize the talents of the franchise QB....Phillips better not have only identified candidates, but he should have them all but one final interview away from accepting the job(s). I know some people might refer to this as "tampering", but a more accurate way to describe it would be "working the back channels of the NFL".

Something tells me that's not what has happened though. These moves are little more than scapegoating by two desperate men trying to save their own asses, in the form of Ted Phillips and Lovie Smith, and it looks like they are going to get away with it.

If George McCaskey would have done what many had hoped he would do, and clean house from Phillips on down, I think this would be cause for much more optimism. The Bears are a charter franchise of the NFL. They have some attractive components already on the roster, and if they were starting over with a new GM free to hire any coach he wanted, along with making any personnel moves he desired, I have to believe this job opening would be much more attractive to the likes of say a Bill Polian, Bill Parcells, Carl Peterson or to any of the new blood candidates whose names will be brandied about very soon.

Either way, today's transactions are another example of the Bears repeating the same mistake they made when they hired Jerry Angelo in the first place on that spring day in 2001. Angelo wasn't allowed to fire Dick Jauron, and as a result had to wait three seasons into the job before he could make his first - and it turns out only - head coaching hire.

As the title indicates, if George McCaskey was going to clean house, he missed two dirty spots he needed to get rid of.

Meh...

Tonight's 35-21 Chicago Bears loss against the Green Bay Packers wasn't too much of a surprise. Certain things that happened during the game however, were a surprise. Chief among the surprises were Josh McCown, Kahlil Bell, and Roy Williams.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to get excited about said surprises, but it still leaves this meatball Bears fan asking himself a couple of questions. McCown especially is drawing my self inflicted interrogative sentences : "Could the Bears have signed him last year instead of Todd Collins? Could the Bears have signed him sooner this season when Cutler first became injured? How can McCown, a guy that was coaching high school this year, look so much more competent running this offense, than a backup they've had on the roster for 4 seasons?"

I'll attempt to answer those questions as I go. Nevertheless, here's what I saw as my chestnuts were roasting on an open fire:

Offense : *Disclaimer - I know the Packers defense is not really good right now, especially in their pass defense. Still, they are a top 10 defense against the run, yet that didn't stop Kahlil Damn Bell from racking up 121 rushing yards against them. While Bell deserves a good amount of credit for yards after contact and being shifty in the holes all night, his offensive line played really well too. It was very apparent that the Bears had little trouble pulling both guards Edwin Williams, Chris Spencer, and center Roberto Garza to either side of the line to initiate point of contact and down field blocks for Bell and scrap-heap addition Armando Allen. All told, the Bears ran for 199 yards against the Packers. Bell certainly upped his stock tonight, and pretty much guaranteed he'll be on the Bears roster next season. 

As for the passing game, McCown wasn't bad. Not all that good, but pretty far from bad. Compared to Caleb Hanie, Josh looked like Kurt Warner!

McCown still threw a really dumb interception to Clay Matthews in the second quarter during a likely scoring drive. McCown's second interception wasn't nearly as egregious as he took a chance attempting the "chimney drop" throw in between two Green Bay defenders to Earl Bennett, but the pass bounced off Bennett's hands into the arms of Future Hall Of Famer Charlie Peprah. McCown also threw a touchdown pass, on his way to 242 yards through the air.

I'm not saying McCown is a starter in this league, but in terms of finding a perfect backup for Cutler last season, why the hell didn't Martz consider Josh?! McCown was definitely available. Obviously Martz knew who Josh was, yet Martz still felt he needed Todd Collins last year and Collins couldn't play DEAD! The worst part is, I don't know if McCown is worth keeping for 2012 because he only seems to work if Martz is calling plays. Regardless as I said, McCown was a pleasant surprise tonight.

Defense : I've made no secret to anyone that knows me, that I think Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback I've ever seen play football. Ever. I know his body of work is too short to make this official, but I'm not really concerned about that right now.

With that said, the effort the Bears defense gave tonight was laughable, especially in the second half. 5 Touchdown Passes allowed on the day will make it laughable. One thing that absolutely chaps my ass, is how wide-damn-open Packer receivers seem to be over the middle. I mean not a SOUL in sight of a Packer receiver. There isn't a crossing route, slant, dig, drag, or comeback route the Packers won't run over the middle on any team, yet it always seems to be open no matter who they are playing?

The Bears front four barely breathed on Rodgers all day - not that it makes much difference. The key for the Bears to stop the Packers was jamming their receivers at the line, throwing them off their routes, and generating key turnovers. The Bears drew a big zero in all three of those keys, and Matt Flynn taking garbage snaps in the 4th quarter is a direct result of the Bears defensive ineffectiveness.

Special Teams : Devin is still injured/sucks. Podlesh is Podlesh, and Gould missed a 49 yard field goal attempt early in the first quarter. Dave Toub isn't a genius this week.

Where Do We Go From Here? : Now that the Bears are officially eliminated from the playoffs this season, the only interesting thing to keep an eye on before the Bears perfunctory game against the Vikings will be to see if they fire Mike Martz this week. I doubt they will, but in the off chance they do fire him, it will serves as an indicator of what the Bears offseason will be like. If they fire him, it will show that Jerry Angelo will not be "retiring" as he never wanted Martz in the first place. If they keep him, we'll still be unsure of what happens to Angelo this offseason.

For my money, I believe Jerry will be "retiring" this offseason. The only thing that will bother me about it, is if they name his buddy Tim Ruskell as his replacement. Ruskell has shown that he makes Mark Hatley look like Ted Thompson.

Whether the Bears go with Ruskell or not, the departure of Jerry Angelo will shape the Bears as an organization for years to come...

Fun While It Lasted

First of all the Johnny Knox back injury, is one of the worst injuries I've ever seen take place on a football field. That was just awful. Even though I don't think much of him as a player, I'm still wishing good health and a speedy recovery to him.

With that piece of business out of the way, let's address the most immediate issue, which is to say that the Chicago Bears 2011 season is over. No, it has nothing to do with Sam "Nino Brown" Hurd and his silly arrest. Hurd has nothing to do with why the Bears are bad now. There are plenty of other reasons as to why the Bears season is over.

I know mathematically, the Bears are still alive, but realistically it's over. Done. Finished. Hello-Goodbye. Adios. Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't want it to be over, but today's game left me with no choice but to accept it. If I was smart, I would have accepted it on November 20, when Jay Cutler broke his thumb.

Not sure if anyone else feels this way, but I always thought that quarterbacks were supposed to - I dunno - IMPROVE with more experience? If you're Caleb Hanie evidently, the complete opposite of that line of thinking appears to be true, as he has gotten violently worse each week. Here's why I'm looking forward to the Draft and Free Agency:

Offense : How's 111 passing yards from your starting QB sound? How does not one, but TWO pick-6's on top of the 111 sound? How's a 44% completion percentage and 3 picks overall sound? In my odd little football world, that QB stat line prompts me to ask "Have you ever played football before?" Unfortunately Caleb Hanie has played before. Unfortunately Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo couldn't figure out that Hanie isn't an NFL QB in time to prevent this disaster from ever taking the field.

Normally I'd be more diplomatic in assigning blame, but not today. This one is all on Hanie. Both Pick-6's were completely inexcusable and unacceptable. Hanie was as inept in the pocket as any UFL QB you can name off the top of your head. Irony not being lost on me, Hanie ended up being benched for a FORMER UFL QB in Josh McCown.

You want to say the running game wasn't there? I think it actually was there, but fine. You want to say the pass protection wasn't there? OK. To me, that's focusing attention away from where it deserves to be, and that's at Hanie.

In my odd football world, energy starts from the top and works it's way down. When Jay Cutler is under center, it doesn't matter what the situation is in the game, the 10 players in the huddle believe in him. Hanie, on the other hand, clearly shows that the other 10 are very far from belief in him. As a matter of fact, it's pretty obvious that there are nothing but 10 players showing nothing but doubt...and they should doubt.

Defense : Yawn...hey at least they played hard for the first half of football, right? Julius Peppers registered the one sack on the day, but it took place in the end zone while simultaneously causing a fumble leading to 6 Chicago points. Other than that, not much to report here.

Even though Seattle was 6/16 in third down conversions, it sure seemed like 15/16. It's not often that Tavaris Jackson looks like a competent QB in this NFL, but the Bears made him look like exactly that, as Jackson passed his way to 226 yards on 19-31 attempts and 1 TD.

The Bears had a solid enough game plan of stopping Marshawn "Beast Mode" Lynch, and putting pressure on Jackson to beat them through the air. It worked well in the first half, but the second half was a different story. Give Seattle credit for making the proper adjustments, and taking advantage of Chris Conte being injured, as they consistently attacked the middle of the field.

Special Teams : Boy, Devin Hester's ankle must be injured real badly. Quite frankly as morbidly as this sounds, it better be that bad. All day long he was in for returns, then out, then in, then out again, etc. Hester clearly hasn't been himself for quite some time, and as a result the return game has been very pedestrian as well as impotent.

Where Do We Go From Here? : As I wrote earlier, this season is over. The Bears were "in position to be in position" as Bobby Knight once said, when the Bears were featuring a 7-3 record. Once Jay Cutler went down with a broken thumb, that was it. Not only was Cutler playing outstanding football, not only was Cutler masking how bad the rest of this Bears offense was, but more importantly the Bears had a backup QB that looks like Jonathan Quinn's long lost brother.

Maybe now we know why the Bears seemed so eager to bring Kyle Orton back? Looking back now it makes sense because they had to have suspected Hanie was as bad as he is. Mike Martz certainly knew Hanie was this bad.

Speaking of Mike Martz, I'm optimistic that he'll end up being the fall guy this offseason. Part of his termination will be deserved, part of it won't. Either way, the Bears will benefit from his departure. While Martz showed some flexibility as a coordinator, he still needs to go. His system is too antiquated, let alone dangerous to the long term health of Jay Cuter. The Bears, and Cutler's spleen, will be better off with a coordinator that believes in running plays that maximize Cutler's strengths, rather than put him in harms way.

As far as the immediate is concerned, I really hope that they don't throw Cutler to the wolves next week, and have him start a meaningless game against the Packers. The game means nothing, and there's no point in starting him with some naive belief the Bears can still make the playoffs.

Then again this is the Bears...where the obvious is not always apparent. 

I'm Not Even Going To Mention His Name...

I've seen a lot of football over the years. More specifically I've seen a lot of Bears Football over the years. I've seen some incredible victories. I've seen some woeful defeats. After all those victories and defeats, I can honestly say I've never seen anything like this game.

I'm literally and figuratively sick to my stomach after this Bears overtime loss 13-10 to the Jesus Freak Cult aka the Denver Broncos. So much so, I'm going to take a pass on my conventional breakdown of this game.

This was not a game we as Bear fans can learn anything from. This is nothing more than a freak occurrence. Some silly people would be arrogant to call this a "miracle", but then again the Denver QB is suffering from a Messianic God Complex.

Simply put, the Bears played outstanding for 55 minutes given their circumstances. Defensively, they were very prepared for that college offense Denver runs. They were solid in their pass rush, disciplined in their run stops, and changed up coverages very well. Offensively, they did what I asked by strongly emphasizing the run game in the absence of both Jay Cutler and Matt Forte.

The Bears did everything they could to secure the victory....for 55 minutes.

Then things got very strange. The Bears fell for the same thing every other team has fallen for. They let up. The defense played nothing but Cover 2 shell, and left plenty of openings underneath for Denver to move the ball which came back to bite the Bears in a major way.

Still, even though the Bears allowed a late touchdown, they had a chance to ice it. All Marion Barber had to do was stay in bounds, but we all know he didn't. Even in overtime, all Barber had to do was hold onto the ball, but we all know he didn't. Instead Barber chose to do his best Earnest Byner imitation and coughed up the pigskin at the most inopportune time!

Whatever. Deep down Denver fans have to know they got another gift. They have to know the Bears gave them the victory. They have to know they were outplayed by a team missing both their QB and starting Tailback. I suggest they savor this for as long as they can because luck always runs out eventually.

As for Denver's QB, he had two things going for him heading into this game. First thing was that most NFL Teams hadn't seriously practiced to defend the Zone Read. The Second thing was that teams take the pressure off him late in games.

The Bears took away one of those two things tonight. It's only a matter of time before someone else takes care of the second thing...good luck dummy.

Damn It...

A big bag of stupid? Not beaten, but definitely beaten up? A constant pursuit of dubious achievements and ineptitude? Take your pick of those descriptions for today's Chicago Bears home loss to the hapless Kansas City Chiefs by the score of 10-3. The truth is, all of them apply, and there's plenty more where that came from.

When Jay Cutler got injured, we as Bear fans had to understand and accept that if the Bears were going to win enough games to make the playoffs, those wins would have to be reached on an ugly path. Ugly is not the same as sloppy however. Ugly we can take. Unprepared? Unfocused? Undisciplined? That is unacceptable under any circumstances.

I'm not going to pile on Caleb Hanie, even though there's plenty to pile on. His inconsistency is to be expected, even though he missed a wide open touchdown pass to Earl Bennett, and made some other decisions that make you rip your hair out. This was a team effort, in terms of failure. Here's my blame list :

Offense : Some idiot blogger predicted earlier in the week said that the Bears needed to run the ball really well and not let Hanie throw more than 25 passes. The Bears ran for 93 total yards, and Hanie had 24 pass attempts. So I was a little off in my prediction....sorry.

In terms of play calling, Mike Martz was actually balanced, calling 24 runs and 24 passes on the day. Still the offensive line could do nothing against the Chiefs. Nothing. The O-line was consistently held up at the point of attack, couldn't stretch any of their zone block runs or their Power-O attempts and while Hanie deserves much of the blame on the 7 sacks allowed, it was still obvious that they couldn't pass protect to save their lives/season.

Many people will say that Matt Forte's injury had a lot to do with the lack of a running game, and to a degree I'd agree with that. Still, this is still the Kansas City Chiefs and their 22nd ranked run defense. It's plenty possible to run on them no matter who you have in the backfield.

Oh and don't think I'm going to forget about Roy Williams either! I had a bad feeling he was going to do something stupid to cost the Bears a win this season, and today was the day. His crucial drop at the goal line in the fourth quarter off a well thrown Hanie pass deflected into the arms of (not that one) Jon McGraw, costing the Bears a touchdown. Williams continues to show that at best he's a tease, and at most blunt, he's a BUM. Remember when Martz said Williams could have 80 catches this season? I'll never forget it, and neither should you.

Defense : Very disappointed in this group, and it has very little to do with the Hail Mary the Chiefs scored their lone touchdown at the end of the first half. Brian Urlacher did what he was supposed to do on that play, by knocking the ball down. It was just bad luck that Dexter McCluster was there to catch the knockdown. Those things happen in a game. Not much you can do about it.

What really vexed me was the consistent way that Tyler Palko, repeat, TYLER FREAKING PALKO was able to move the ball! Palko had that little checkdown throw to the left flat open all day, and he took advantage.

When Palko wasn't killing the Bears underneath, the Chiefs were running the ball successfully relying on draw plays. The Chiefs were 7-20 on third down conversions which added up to a 32:42 Time Of Possession advantage over the Bears.

Simply put, the Bears defense could not get off the field. While they generated some pressure in the first half, the pass rush was held in check only tallying 2 sacks on the day. There was plenty made during the broadcast about the tackling skills of safeties Craig Steltz and Chris Conte. Here's the thing about that : the Front 7 are not supposed to let those running plays reach the safeties in the first place. The linebackers were invisible. Charles Tillman and Tim Jennings on the other hand, played well.

Special Teams : Don't get to say this often, but bad. Devin Hester mishandled a lot of punts. Robbie Gould missed a 41 yard field goal, and they even drew some awful penalties as well. For a team that's in a position of having to rely on Special Teams for points, they picked a bad time to not know what they're doing.

Where Do We Go From Here ? The good news is that the Giants, Falcons, Cowboys, and the Lions lost too. The bad news is that the Bears not only failed to take advantage in the standings, but now have to withstand another key injury to a superstar in Matt Forte's Grade 2 MCL sprain. In case you were wondering, that's the exact same injury Cutler had in the NFC Championship Game. How come nobody is questioning Forte's toughness like they did Cutler?

Obvious double standards aside, the Bears actually have me worried about playing Jesus-err Tim Tebow and the red hot Denver Broncos next week. Don't get me wrong, I'm still far from a Tebow believer. Very far actually.

I'm concerned about the defense now. The Bears just made Tyler Palko look like Boomer Esiason. It would be just like this Bears team to be unable to stop The Option or the Zone Read that Denver is running because their quarterback is so awful he can't run anything else.

Then again, this Bears team is full of surprises. They've had their backs to the wall once already this season and responded. That was when they were just bad at football. This time they're both bad and unhealthy.

Once again, get well soon Jay...

The Hangover

Well I guess we know why the Bears were hot to reunite with Kyle Orton this week. In a game where both teams were missing not just key players, but dynamic superstars as well, the Chicago Bears lost to the Oakland Raiders 25-20.

Both teams had plenty of chances to run away with the victory. The Raiders left plenty of points on the field, as their offense had no trouble moving the ball on the Bears from 20 to the 20. The Bears also had red-zone problems, particularly late in the first half with the Bears driving deep in Oakland territory down 9-7. Caleb Hanie threw an ill-advised passed which was intercepted and returned by the Raiders. Were it not for an unbelievable chase down by Lance Louis, it more than likely would have resulted in a Raiders touchdown.

Anyway, it was a winnable game for both teams, and unfortunately there are no moral victories. Here's what I (drunkenly) witnessed :

Offense : In the interest of fairness, I expected a lot worse than I got from Caleb Hanie. Don't get me wrong, Hanie still came through with some "WTF are you looking at?!" throws, but he made some passes that actually looked decent. Hanie also surprised me by displaying some nice scrambling ability. Unfortunately the game still came down to him, and he blew it, plain and simple.

While Matt Forte didn't have one of his better days, (at one point it looked like he was benched again), the Bears running attack produced 122 yards on 22 total carries (discounting Hanie scrambles). Forte also hauled in 6 passes from Hanie as well, but they didn't really add up to much. The Bears needed to produce more rushing yards than they did, particularly against one of the worst rushing defenses in the NFL. The Bears lack of explosive runs forced the Bears to rely on Hanie to make plays.

In terms of the forensics of Hanie's performance, we all saw the three hideous interceptions he threw. His 254 passing yards were padded by an 81 yard prayer to Johnny Knox. Hanie did throw 2 touchdowns, but his accuracy isn't there on a consistent enough basis to leave any Bears fan with any hope for him to get better.

Defense : Bend but don't break essentially. Carson Palmer has historically shredded Lovie Smith-coached defenses over the years. A point reflected in the fact that despite Palmer playing in his fourth "preseason" game since coming off the couch, still threw for 301 yards.

Still, the defense played well enough to win. They were stout against the run, limiting Raiders running back Michael Bush (by cracky!) to 69 yards on 24 carries. They generated a good pass rush in the first half sacking Palmer 4 times, 2 by Julius Peppers alone. Even though the Bears didn't generate as many turnovers as they wanted to, the secondary also got a key interception by Corey Graham.

It would have been nice however, if the Bears decided to cover Marcel Reece, as he had 5 catches for 92 yards. The defense even let the corpse known as Darrius Heyward-Bey have 4 catches for 42 yards, as Palmer threw to 7 different receivers on the day.

Despite not doing as much as they needed to, bend but don't break...

Special Teams : A mixed bag in many respects. Devin Hester got grounded by the lead foot of Shane Lechler. On a personal note, an 80 yard punt is a lot of fun to witness. On the other hand, Robbie Gould kicked a 53 yard field goal, and accounted for 8 points on the day.

Where Do We Go From Here? : The 4-7 Kansas City Chiefs are coming to Soldier Field. Ron Jawarski's favorite quarterback Tyler Palko might be under center, then again it might be Orton.

Either way, the Chiefs aren't very good. They have an awful run defense, as well as an inept offense. The problem is, it's impossible to know what the Bears are going to do? They have to be able to run the ball down their throats, just like they had to against the Raiders.

Will they be able to get the ground game going against the Chiefs? In my view, the Bears don't have a choice. If Hanie has to throw the ball more than 25 times again, it will be a bad day for the Bears.

Please get healthy soon Jay...

Gaines Adams

Usually when the Bears win or lose, I offer up a summary of what I saw. Only rarely do I deviate from my hack observations and evaluations, but today has provided an opportunity to do so, and I'm taking advantage.

Yes the Chicago Bears won their 5th game in a row over the San Diego Chargers 31-20, but that is not what people will be talking about. People won't concern themselves with the fact that the Bears defense failed to stop Vincent Jackson, or generate any pass rush. Bear fans won't be celebrating the fact that the Bears offense rebounded in a major way from last week. We all know what the main area of concern is, and that is the condition of the right thumb of Jay Cutler.

Early reports indicate that Jay Cutler has broken his thumb, it requires surgery, and he will be out 6-8 weeks. Everyone suspects it happened during the return on the interception he threw. Everyone is wondering whether or not he will be back in time for the playoffs, assuming the Bears will even be alive at that time.

First things first, I don't want to hear any retard suggesting that Cutler did this to himself by throwing the pick. I don't want to hear any MJD Parrots of "Dis Jay Cutler aint tough enough! He's gotta play wit da broken thumb because he of da money he makes!" or "I told ya he's not a leader! A leader would play with a broken thumb like dat rapist Ben Roth-el-sumthin!" Just shut your ass! Your kind isn't welcome in Whitey Guccionne's Establishment.

With that out of the way, lets focus on what's important. The important thing is determining the severity of Cutler's injured thumb. If we assume the worst is true, and that he actually does need surgery requiring 6-8 weeks of recovery time, that's the length of the rest of the regular season. It's been speculated a 3-3 split record would be enough to get into the playoffs. I don't think that would be enough to get in.

New Orleans is 7-3, Atlanta is 6-4, Cowboys are 6-4, Giants are 6-4, Detroit is 7-3, and the Bears are 7-3. That's a pretty crowded playoff picture even WITH a healthy Cutler. Call me crazy, but I'm pretty convinced that Caleb Damn Hanie is not good enough to get a 3-3 split. Even if he were, considering the records of the teams above, it wouldn't matter anyway.

Does that mean the season is over? On the surface it would appear so, however....I just can't shake the feeling that Cutler is going to try and tough this out. I know everyone is saying he won't. I know everyone is guaranteeing he's done for the regular season. I understand all of it, and it may very well be the case.

My own overly optimistic projections aside, if we go with what we're being told, I officially declare this Bears season : "over". That, along with the combination of Cutler was unjustly crucified for "not being tough enough" last season, leads me to believe that Cutler will try to play the rest of the way.

I've been wrong before, and I'll more than likely be wrong with this prediction. Still if I'm either Jay Cutler or the Bears, I really don't have a choice.

Rock Fight

I've often been accused of being too negative about things. I'm confident I'll be accused of it again after this post. While most people will choose to focus on the thuggish play of the Lions and the ensuing fight that took place, I feel the way that I feel, and at this moment I feel the Chicago Bears got away with a win over the Detroit Lions today, when they should have lost.

I mentioned it to a couple of people throughout the game : thank goodness that fight happened because it took my mind off of how poor the offense played. I understand that it's impossible to be perfect week in and week out in today's NFL. I also understand that Detroit, despite exposing themselves as nothing but dirty cheap-shot artists that try to injure rather than defeat opponents, still has some very talented football players on their team. I also understand the lesson Bill Parcells taught us that "you are what your record is".

With all that said, the Bears cannot continue to rely on superb Special Teams and opportunistic Defensive performances if they wish to reach the Super Bowl. Here's what I had a problem with :

Offense : The main source of my consternation involves the dramatic step back this unit took today. The Detroit Lions front 7 absolutely blew up the Bears pull-blocking based running scheme the entire game. The Lions spent plenty of time in the Bears backfield on passing situations as well, as Jay Cutler was hurried all game. As we know, when Jay feels pressure, most of the time he plays really, really stupidly. Today's game was no exception.

The stats reflected the offensive impotence as Cutler was 9 of 19 for a paltry 123 yards and no TD's. Mister "Pay Me" Matt Forte, was a pedestrian 18 carries for 64 yards 40 of which were gained on one play. Only one offensive touchdown happened on the day, and it was a 6 yard run by Forte early in the first quarter. Other than that, there were occasional fumbles combined with a whole bunch of "3 & outs".

Earlier in the week Mike Tice had warned us that the Offensive Line was far from where it needs to be, and the Lions proved Tice's assessment was correct. Too many times it seemed that the Lions front four were playing on field turf, while the Bears linemen were playing on mud. The O-Line needs to be doing their jobs quicker, and with more aggression than today's performance if they're going to go anywhere.

Defense : On the surface, it would appear that this unit was the very definition of dominant. In many respects that is true. Julius Peppers continues to show how versatile and vital he is to the defense's success. His early forced fumble on Calvin Johnson paved the way for the Bears first touchdown on the day. Peppers also spent a lot of time lined up at the 3-technique and got great penetration through the A-gap all day, while adding an extra dimension to the line stunts the Bears like to use. The most amazing part of Peppers play, was that he's doing it on one leg! I'm of the opinion that his knee is more injured than he and the Bears are letting on.

Henry Melton and Anthony Adams also played well on the defensive line while Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs played even more aggressive than usual to fall in line with the overall chippiness of the game. The secondary had a notable day as well with 3 picks on the day, 2 of which were "Pick 6's".

I'm not fooled by this performance however, and neither should you. It was obvious the Bears took advantage of Matthew Stafford's injured right hand. Stafford was oddly inaccurate and sailed a lot of wobbly passes that I know for a fact he normally connects on. Not to mention there were plenty of open receivers, many of which dropped a lot of balls they normally catch.

Despite those factors however, the Lions still had little trouble moving the ball on the Bears. Not convinced? How about the fact that the Bears STILL gave up 393 yards to the Lions on the day? How about the 4.2 yards per carry the Lions averaged on the ground? How about Nate Burleson having 8 catches for 83 yards? Calvin Johnson having 7 for 81 yards? How about 7 different Lions receivers having receptions on the day?

In my odd football world, those numbers are not reflective of a dominant performance by the defense.

Special Teams : No complaints here. Devin Hester continued to add to his NFL Record total of Returns for Touchdowns. Gould missed a field goal, but made three others while having several touchbacks on the day. Dave Toub's unit picked up the slack in the  points department for the offense.

Where Do We Go From Here?: For as much as I'm bitching, the Bears have won four in a row. They are now tied for second place in the NFC North at 6-3. If the playoffs started today, the Bears would be a #6 seed against the #3 New Orleans Saints.

1 month ago, the Bears were 2-3 and looking very much out of the playoff picture. They needed to win the next four games, and they've done so. In that respect, I'm very impressed and I give them all the credit in the world.

My issue however, is that the way the NFL is set up in 2011, you must pass the ball to win in January/February. The rule changes alone, dictate the importance of the passing game. Anybody who tells you differently, is not living in this century. If you look at any of the past ten Super Bowl winners, you will largely see Hall Of Fame caliber Quarterbacks hoisting the Lombardi Trophy (Rodgers, Manning, Brees, Brady, etc).

Today's game showed that the Bears passing game, largely the pass protection, is still a work in progress, after showing promise the last three games. I'm confident they can adjust starting next week against the San Diego Chargers.

Still, these types of offensive performances cannot stand, and must never be repeated again.

"Dream Team" This!

How's a come-from-behind win on the road sound? That's what happened on Monday Night's nail-biting win for the Chicago Bears over the Philadelphia Eagles. Both teams are already fighting for their playoff lives at the midway point, and the Bears scored a crucial win to up their record to 5-3 on the season. This game was vintage Lovie Smith in terms of it being far from perfect, but with an effective result. The main cause of victory as I saw it, centered around both the Bears' offensive and defensive lines performing exceptionally. Here's the rest of what I saw :

Offense : It's hard to really summarize this groups effort tonight. Overall, they played well, but the few mistakes they made were very costly. Matt Forte's case for not getting the contract he wanted, got a couple of dings in it tonight with two fumbles - one of which directly resulting in 7 Philadelphia points. Sure Forte ended up with 133 rushing yards on the night, but not before being benched for a while after his second fumble. Hopefully Matt starts to realize that fumbling is not an option when pissing and moaning about getting "only" a $14 million in guaranteed money contract offer from the Bears - which he rejected.

Jay Cutler was his usual blend of brilliant and maddening. Cutler certainly took advantage of the time his offensive line provided, and despite a couple of wide open drops from Roy Williams and "Doe-Eyed" Dane Sanzenbacher, hit 9 different receivers on the night. Cutler will never be confused with Aaron Rodgers, but there's no denying his ability anymore. Anybody who still thinks he sucks, clearly isn't paying attention, and anyone who still treats him like he's an axe-murderer is clearly overstating things.

It can't be overstated however, the huge lift Earl Bennett gave the Bears tonight. Playing in his first game back since New Orleans, Bennett hauled in 5 receptions for 95 yards, including the go ahead TD catch late in the 4th quarter. Bennett's touchdown is significant because it was not the play that was called from the booth. Cutler and Bennett checked each other at the line and each knew the fade was on despite the huddle call. That tells me that no matter what happens the rest of the way, come next season Mike Martz is out of a job.

None of tonight's performance happens without the play of the Offensive Line. They get a game ball. Despite hearing all the worry about the Eagles "Wide 9" technique, they still didn't allow any Eagle sacks of Jay Cutler. The line also displayed their Power O blocking scheme, and are getting much better at pulling their guards on both sides of the line of scrimmage, while opening up bigger holes for Forte and an emerging Marion Barber. This unit has showed continuing improvement in the past three games, especially with the odd combo of Chris Spencer at right guard, and Lance Louis at right tackle. It's gotten to the point, where rookie first round pick Gabe Carimi might find himself not starting when he's fully healthy...

Defense : You heard it all week long. Julius Peppers, Henry Melton, and the rest of the line had to show up for this game, and they did. Peppers, while tweaking that gimpy knee he's had all season, got back on the field and was incredibly disruptive.

Most importantly though, Peppers finally wasn't a one-man gang as Melton, Amobe Okoye, and Izzy Idonije got great push up front, while showing excellent contain and pursuit. Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher also played outstanding, as they continued their career excellence against Michael Vick aka Ron Mexico.

Even though the front 7 got gashed by LeShon McCoy a couple of different times, the unit did what they needed to do in limiting a vaunted Philly offense while generating a key turnover in the second quarter.

Special Teams : The return game never got going, as Philly didn't allow the Bears to set up their blocking the entire game. They also got away with not being prepared for a fake punt, which if the Eagles punter Chas Henry didn't throw like a girl, probably would have gone for a touchdown.

Still Robbie Gould was excellent, particularly when he nailed a 51 yard field goal in the first half. For as much as I didn't think Robbie was anything special when he first joined the Bears, he really has blossomed into a legit NFL Kicker. I give him all the credit in the world for working as hard as he has.

Where Do We Go From Here : As I mentioned earlier, this was a huge win for the Bears and their playoff chances. Next week is an even bigger test, as they have a rematch against the resurgent Detroit Lions. A win against Detroit puts the Bears in a tie with the Lions for second place in the NFC North.

Can the Bears do it? It will still depend on the play of both lines, of course, but there's something else that's starting to really bother me and that's the play calling of Mike Martz in short yardage situations. Something really needs to be done about this, as there have been at least three different games now, where Martz tries to be too cute around the goal line, calling plays that have little to no chance of success i.e. throwing a play action fake to a double covered Kellen Davis on 3rd & 1, near the end zone. It makes me long for the Gary Crowton-style wide receiver screens we saw so much of a generation ago.

Either way, it's clear to this observer that Martz is being completely phased out by the rest of the players and coaching staff, and it's with just cause. How long can we trust Martz to not be Mike Martz? He still wants to run what he wants, despite everyone else knowing that what he wants to run will get Cutler killed, aka "Mark Bulger'ed".

Despite the Bears winning three in a row, the question must still be asked, "Do you fire Martz  right now?" My answer hasn't changed, has yours?

Ugly But Effective

A win is a win, right? The Chicago Bears 24-18 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday helped the Bears chances of reaching the postseason, as they are now featuring a 4-3 record. The game itself wasn't really memorable, but the results may prove to be quite memorable when the regular season concludes.

The novelty of the contest was predominant, as the game was yet another display of NFL Marketing gone awry with the game being played in London before a largely indifferent and uninformed British crowd. Irony was not absent however, as the British got to hear a performance of The Star Spangled Banner - a poem/song written about the Defence of Fort McHenry FROM the British, during the war of 1812. Irony was also on display as Roger Goodell hinted at the possibility of an NFL Franchise in London someday, while the #2 television market in his own country is teamless. In the end none of that matters because what the Bears needed to do to keep their postseason hopes alive was accomplished. Here's my tale of the tape :

Offense : I guess we don't have to wait for after the Bye Week to realize that Martz has been neutered again. For the second week in a row, the Bears offense featured Double Tight End, and Max Protect formations, with Matt Forte heavily featured on the ground. Forte had another great game, amassing 145 yards carrying the ball and scoring the games first touchdown early in the first quarter.

Forte was also one of six different receivers quarterback Jay Cutler completed passes to on the day, on his way to 226 yards passing. Even though Cutler found the end zone once to wide receiver Roy Williams, Cutler did not have one of his best days. Along with two interceptions (one of which clearly wasn't his fault), Cutler seemed out of sync in general as he threw some passes that were the result of a combination of bad decisions and bad footwork. Still, Cutler was good enough when he needed to be overall in leading the team to victory.

While I won't say they're out of my doghouse yet, the Offensive Line has made noteworthy improvements in the past couple of games. Yes Matt Forte makes a lot of would-be tacklers miss, but overall the O-Line is getting out of their stances much quicker, and they're better at the Power O, Pulling Guard running plays which provide the biggest holes for Forte. The O-line has also gotten better at giving Cutler time, which in turn has allowed for more Roy Williams sightings to take place. Roy is the closest thing the Bears have to a legit NFL receiver, so getting him more interested in football can only be a positive for the Bears.

Defense : Even though they went to sleep a little in the fourth quarter, overall this unit played well. A major sign that they're returning to their once dominant, stingy ways are the four interceptions they had on the day, including a fourth quarter, game clinching pick by cornerback DJ Moore. As any Bear fans who actually watch the games know, this defense is predicated on generating turnovers, which is an aspect that has been largely missing this season. Hopefully this is a sign that all the corrections Lovie Smith has been mentioning are finally happening.

The Front Seven was noticeably improved as they were stout against the run, and the front four generated plenty of hurries of Bucs QB Josh Freeman - at least for three quarters. While only registering 1 sack on the day, the Front Four took advantage of a depleted Bucs Offensive Line while in the process knocking out Bucs running back Earnest Graham early in the game.

The guy that really has caught my eye is Chris Conte. Ever since he's started in place of Chris Harris in the Free Safety spot, Conte has made an impact. I'd actually be very optimistic about him if Al Afalava, Craig Steltz, Danieal Manning, and Kevin Payne didn't happen already. Still, it's tough to ignore that Conte has facilitated the Bears defense no longer giving up passing plays of 25 yards or more.

Special Teams : Safe to say this unit disappointed. Robbie Gould missed a makeable 41 yard field goal in the third quarter that would have made the ending a little less nerve-wracking. Devin Hester couldn't get off the launching pad in the return game as well.

For a team that goes out of it's way to mention how vital their return game is to their success, they cannot be happy with the results today.

Where Do We Go From Here : A much needed Bye Week is next on the schedule. Hopefully that should give the Bears/Martz more time to develop a makeshift playbook based on the Double Tight End formations they've decided on. While the Bye Weeks suck for us as a fan base, they are to be taken advantage of . Last season's Bye Week ended up being the catalyst for a season turnaround resulting in an NFC Championship Appearance.

Will that happen again? Maybe Better this time? Maybe Worse? We'll find out. First on the menu after the Bye Week will be a pivotal game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Every game is essentially a playoff game for the Bears from here on out anyway. So there's no need to worry about the Bears not realizing the gravity of this one .

Interesting...

Well that was different wasn't it? Dare I say, that's more like it? To say that the Chicago Bears emerged victorious against the Minnesota Vikings tonight, would be an understatement. A more befitting description would say that the Bears routed the Vikings tonight, as the Bears took control of this game from the opening possession, and never looked back.

Tonight's victory over the Vikings was such a dramatic contrast versus the previous three weeks of Bears Football. The Bears looked especially sound in all three phases, as some familiar faces found themselves in new positions, and some new faces finally found themselves dressed and on the field. Let's commence lighting the victory cigar...

Offense : When he screws up, I need to call him out. When he does well, I must give him praise. Mike Martz has earned praise after tonight's game. Granted, the re-tooled offensive line helped a tremendous amount, but the key was Martz finally acquiescing to more 3 and 5 step drops for Cutler tonight to go along with the Double Tight End formations. Cutler did take some shots deep, specifically in the opening possession where he hit Devin Hester on a 48 yard TD strike on the Bears first possession.

Matt Forte continued to play very well both on the ground and catching the ball, on his way to 123 yards from scrimmage on the night. There were a couple of Roy Williams sightings as well, as Cutler found 8 different receivers for completions.

None of it's possible without the offensive line. Lance Louis played very adequately at right tackle, but considering he was replacing Frank "OMIGODISUCK" Omiyale, he looked like Damien Woody! Chris Williams received (just) praise from Chris Collinsworth. Chris Spencer played well at right guard, while J'Marcus Webb benefited from plenty of chip's from the backs and tight ends to help contain Jared "Meth-Face" Allen.

While this newest line arrangement played better than I expected, it remains to be seen if they can continue this success, particularly when Gabe Carimi returns and when they face teams that run a 3-4 based defensive scheme. The good news is that they at least played like they knew what the snap count was...

Defense : It's hard to assess or conclude how good this unit played tonight, considering Donovan McNabb looked like Daunte Culpepper post 2005. Julius Peppers played awesome considering he hadn't practiced and is practically playing on one leg at this point.

The surprise of the night was rookie Stephen Paea however. After not even dressing for the first 5 games, Paea busted out with a safety in the first quarter, to go along with 2 tackles and 1 sack on the night. If you want to feel good about Paea's performance go ahead, but keep in mind the Bears coaching staff concluded that he couldn't play before the season began, and Paea's success is a direct reflection of their inability to assess who can play, and who can't.

As far as the new starting safety tandem of Major Wright and Chris Conte go, again it's hard to say. Wright played better than I thought, particularly when lined up in the box, while Conte did his best to not look like Craig Steltz, in which case he was successful. Still, if this defense is going to do anything I believe Chris Harris will eventually need to be the starting Strong Safety.

Special Teams : I guess that Devin Hester guy is still pretty good. With a 98 yard kickoff return in the third quarter, Hester showed that the NFL remains an Ego over Common Sense league. You would think that after 5 years of unparralled success teams would stop kicking to him. Especially in light of the new kickoff rules which diminish Hester's chances of success. Nevertheless, the Vikings kicked to him, and Hester took advantage of the futile attempt to arm-tackle him.

Where Do We Go From Here? : A Foggy Day In London Town is the Bears next destination as they will take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Forgive me for refusing to get caught up in the novelty of playing a game in London. I think it is completely silly that the NFL does this in the name of "marketing" or "prospecting" for the possibility of an NFL franchise being located in Great Britain someday. The NFL can't even get a friggin team in Los Angeles for goodness sake, yet they continue to beat the dead horse that is London.

Be that as it may, the Bears are at .500 again, after winning a game that was vital to their already slim chances of making the postseason. The Bears are still looking down the barrel of the Lions and Packers, but there's still plenty of football left.

Here's hoping they've finally found an offensive line combo, and a play-calling template that works, because if they have, they (gulp) still have a chance at the playoffs.

Finger On The Button Now?

How does the worst start to a season since 2007 sound? Reason I ask is because that's what we've officially got on our hands, fellow Bears fans. The real irony is that while most Detroit Lions fans are destroying their livers at the moment, a cerebral Lions fan has to be asking him/herself, "Are we that good, or are the Bears that bad?" I think I can help them answer that question...

Overall, despite my low expectations going into this game, I still can't help but feel even worse about this Bears team. The Bears might need to start pushing some figurative Panic Buttons after this game, to try and salvage this ever-growing catastrophe of a season. Something similar to how they had to rein Mike Martz in a year ago, only this time these Panic Button moves might need to be on a grander scale. More on that in a minute, but first lets get to the TPS Report on tonight's game:

Offense : I'm really struggling to come up with a worse Offensive Line in Bears history than this group? This unit is flirting heavily with the 2004 bunch that gave up 66 sacks. All night long, Jay Cutler was running for his life, and that was when they got the play off! The Bears committed 6 False Starts in the First Half, an NFL Season High according to Stats, Inc. That's OK though because they made up for it by not picking up blitzes while letting Detroit's Front 7 set up shop in the Bears backfield.

Say whatever you want about Jay Cutler, but he played his ass off tonight, as he constantly had to throw on the run, took a ton of hits, and did his best to make Chicken Salad out of our Chicken Shit Offense called by our Chicken Shit Offensive Coordinator. More on "The Mad Genius" Mike Martz in a moment, but most importantly Cutler maybe had time to plant his back-foot....what....9 times? Maybe 10? Not.Enough.

Again, I know everyone loves Matt Forte and thinks the Bears should give him a gagillion dollars. Even though I like Matt Forte, I'm  not one of those people who feels the Bears should commit long term money to him, but he had a terrific game once again.

I also can't wait for Roy Williams to come off the injured list and be active! Oh wait, he was active wasn't he? Didn't somebody say Williams would have 80 catches this year in this dynamic offense? Wonder who that "genius" was???

Defense : Somebody said "We'll get that corrected" when addressing all the big plays of 30 or more yards his defense had given up. Don't know about you guys, but I didn't see a whole lot of things "corrected". Especially when Calvin Johnson burned the Bears deep for a 73 yard touchdown pass, and the great Jahvid Best ran right up the middle for an 88 yard TD run, on his way to 163 yards rushing on the day. Not too cool, Lovie...

Julius Peppers injured his knee, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that he might have been hurt in the games prior to tonight's, as Peppers has been invisible all year. It's also not a coincidence that the Bears defensive line has been invisible on Passing Situations ever since the opener against Atlanta as well.

Oh before I forget, the Brandon Merriweather Experiment needs to end. He's a free-lancing headhunter, which is completely the opposite of what the Bears defensive scheme requires from it's Free Safety. Chris Harris' return to the lineup did very little to help the pass defense, as Matthew Stafford found plenty of his receivers in the open holes that the Tampa 2 allows, on his way to 219 yards and 2 TD's.

Special Teams : Robbie was Robbie, and Adam Podlesh did a wonderful job kicking the Bears into good field position. Devin Hester couldn't get off the launching pad on both the kick and punt return opportunities he got tonight.

Where Do We Go From Here : I'm not going to sing the same song every week, where I lament that Jerry Angelo has done an abysmal job in giving Jay Cutler the weapons he needs to succeed, both on the Offensive Line and the receiving corps. I'm not going to howl about the predictability and antiquity of Lovie Smith's Tampa 2, or Mike Martz's version of Air Coryell. I'm not going to continue to whine about how Jay Cutler is being wasted by continuing to take beating, after beating, after beating in every game he plays.

I believe we're beyond that point now, because of a very frightening reality that the Bears face. The reality being, that this Bears team as presently constructed, is supposed to go to the Super Bowl THIS season. Not in 2013-2020, but NOW, simply because there is ZERO talent in the pipeline. These past three drafts that have occurred on Jerry Angelo's watch have produced next to nothing, at best! Please don't make me have to mention Jarron Gilbert, Al Avalava, Marcus Freeman, Major Wright, and Steven Paea. With the absence of good draft picks, combined with the fact that outside of Cutler and Forte, the best players on this team are on the wrong side of 30 years old.

That being the reality of this season, the question must be asked if firing Mike Martz this week would be something worth considering? It's more than obvious that Martz is unwilling to make the changes he made a year ago. Would launching him and appointing Mike Tice as Offensive Coordinator be a step in the right direction?

I guess it would depend on what Tice wanted to do if he were to be OC. Personally I wouldn't care if it's Tice or Dave Toub or Shane Day or some random dude I've never heard of. All I want is a coordinator that knows the strengths and weaknesses of his personnel, and will make the necessary adjustments to give his team the best chance to win! That's not too much to ask is it?

According to Mike Martz....it is.

Yeah But You Still Suck...

I honestly didn't think it was possible for a Bears win to make me feel bad, but here we are. Today's game against the Carolina Panthers and their #1 draft pick rookie sensation Cam Newton was to serve as a measuring stick for how good the Bears are. Unfortunately for us, the results were not good for the Bears long term prognosis.

Regardless of the score, this Chicago Bears victory is hardly what I would term "resounding". As a matter of fact, the Bears were pretty fortunate to escape with the "W" when you consider that the Panthers - who are in a rebuilding mode mind you - absolutely decimated the Bears vaunted defense both through the air and on the ground. Were it not for a few lucky breaks from the officials (see Jeremy Shockey's non-pushoff "push off"), and some fortuitous turnovers amid some stupid-ass flips/back flips, this game could have easily dropped the Bears to 1-3. Let's get to the particulars:

Offense : After weeks of hearing how the Bears need to run the ball more, Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz went Full Retard and called a grand total of 31 rushes, including 9 straight to open the game, paving the way for Matt Forte to rush for 205 yards on the day. Forte's 205 yards tied him for #2 in franchise history for yards in a game.

Martz called plays in a manner that seemingly was meant as a direct middle finger to all the arm-chair play callers that have been pissing and moaning for three weeks about "balance". The problem is, it completely backfired as now the meatballs get to say "See I told you so". Never mind that while the offensive line is getting a lot of credit, people who actually watched the game know that Forte made a lot of those plays happen all by himself. There were plenty of times where lineman missed their block (completely whiffing in many cases), and only the sheer athleticism of Forte made something out of nothing.

In the end it meant 17 pass attempts for Jay Cutler amounting to 102 yards. Jay might as well have been neutered right on the 50 yard line once the final gun sounded. Congratulations Bear fans/Jerry Angelo. Through your constant idiotic consternation and lack of obtaining good offensive lineman, you have turned a 4,000 yard Pro Bowl passing quarterback into Mike Tomczak. I hope you're proud of yourselves because all you've done is show that you haven't accepted the fact that the only way to win championships in the NFL is to throw the football. Want proof? See Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, do I need to go on?

Defense : The beast known as "Lovie Marinelli" shouldn't be sleeping well tonight. In case you were wondering, the Bears defense gave up 543 total yards today. The Bears haven't given up that many yards in a game since 1982! Think about how many AWFUL Bears defenses have taken field since then. I'm talking about the Wannie and Jauron years specifically, where many a team went through the Bears defense like they were a high school team, yet NONE of them touched what the Panthers did today.

It wasn't exactly a one dimensional approach the Panthers took either. Despite Steve Smith doing his best "2005 version of Steve Smith" imitation en route to 8 catches for 181 yards, the Panthers also got 169 yards on the ground as well. In case you were wondering, the Bears didn't feel the need to sack Cam Newton either, as anytime the Bears generated any pass rush, Newton stepped up in the pocket and drilled a (WIDE) open receiver.

This unit should be embarrassed. There is no excuse for this type of performance.

Special Teams : Bail Outs are fun, and the Special Teams unit gave the rest of the team a BIG one today. Devin Hester broke off a 69 yard punt return for a TD, while Julius Peppers blocked a field goal in the third quarter. Punter Adam Podlesh gave the Bears good field position, and Robbie Gould was his usual efficient self. Make no mistake about it, Special Teams gets the Game Ball for this one.

Where Do We Go From Here : To Detroit, where I fully expect the Lions to practically castrate the Bears. Aside from the fact that I believe the Lions are for real this year, I just don't expect the Bears to come up with a realistic game plan offensively to attack the weak spots (read : secondary) of the Detroit Defense. Concurrently, I don't expect the Bears defense to be able to stop the Lions offense - specifically Calvin Johnson - with a non-existent pass rush and a depleted safety corps.

In a world where the most dynamic, innovative, and talent-laden teams throw the ball to win, the Bears are running it 63% of the time...