Free agent frenzy in Seattle

Now that the lock out is over sports radio and twitter is non stop talk about what the Seahawks need to accomplish. First and formost they need to resign Matt Hasselbeck to 1 or two more years and get a young quarterback to back him up and be his successor. Second they need to get Brandon Mebane signed then worry about the other 20 free agents on the team. More as it comes in. Check out the fan website to support Matt Hasselbeck at www.bringbackmatt.com

Without football this season, is the Bears anger and momentum lost?

Everybody knows what happened with Jay Cutler in the NFC Championship game and everyone knows about Urlacher standing up for Cutler immediately after the game. This was not a big surprise to me, as I knew that they were pretty good friends on the team and because I knew that Urlacher is a leader that will stick up for almost anybody on that team. The big question is whether or not Urlacher will be able to continue with that frustration against the Packers, and other players and people who have doubted Cutler, even through the lockout.

I don't think Urlacher is going to stop being upset until he knocks a few heads around. He is that kind of guy. The lockout will be a setback for him and for most of the other Bears players. They will not be able to train as hard or get ready for the season in the same way, but they will still have the fire and passion that came out of that NFC Championship game.

To answer the question, yes. The Bears have a lot of momentum and anger and they are not the type of team that will let that go away just because they can't play football right away. The Packers should know that the Bears are going to rip them apart and eat them alive the first time we play them. The Bears won't let this momentum fade. Urlacher and others will be ripping heads whenever football comes back.

Sidney Rice?

I recently saw an article on Bleacher Report about the Bears needing to sign Sidney Rice. I was intrigued by this and decided to read what the writer had to say. They make a valid point that the Bears need a receiver who has the speed, like most of our receivers do, but also has the ability to fight for the ball. Johnny Knox was phenomenal last year, but he still had times when he could have made catches if he had gone up and fought for the ball. Sidney Rice is a receiver who has proven that he can do that in the past. He won't take over Knox' position, but he will work with Knox to make a great tandem of receivers for Jay Cutler to throw to. I have watched Sidney Rice as a Viking and he rapidly became a well-known receiver in the league. It is good to see that he worked well with Brett Favre, because Jay Cutler is the same type of quarterback as Brett Favre was. Too many of Cutler's interceptions were due to receivers not going up for the ball or fighting for it at all. That gave Cutler a bad wrap and made people question his decision making. Signing Sidney Rice would be a huge help to Cutler.

With Knox and Rice leading the Bears' receiving core, I think Jay Cutler could have his breakout season. I have said it before that I thought he would anyway, but this will only help him. He will work hard this off season and try to become a better quarterback and overall football player. He surprised a lot of people with his quickness last year, and I think he will improve that as well as the things he needs to improve to be a good quarterback.

The Bears sent a great message to Cutler by drafting an offensive lineman in the first round. They can send an even better message by signing a good receiver and well-known guy like Sidney Rice. It will show Cutler that the organization has faith in him and trusts him to lead the team. It shows that they are going to build around him and make a team out of his talent. That is a huge confidence booster for Cutler and will help him become a better player.

Long story short, signing Sidney Rice would be a very smart thing to do. I don't know how they have to go about this, because the lockout is still happening. All I know is; if the Bears get Sidney Rice I will be very happy and I'm certain Jay Cutler will too.

Bears YouTube Video Of The Day

If you think the Bears don't need him, Check this out.

Will Football be back for 9/11?

With what happened last night, writing about the Bears and some stupid draft crap doesn't seem right. The big thing on a lot of American's minds is whether or not football will be back by September 11th. This year is the 10th anniversary and will be even more special now that the man who planned the attack is dead. Sports are a great way to cope with the feelings that these events bring to people. Having football back will be a must. The way sports and patriotism collide was shown even last night at the Phillies game as they simultaneously started chanting USA USA USA. Having football back will bring people together in one big crowd and will show how much patriotism our country still truly has.

Saying that we want football is not going to solve anything. The owners and players need to realize how greedy both sides are being and come to an agreement. Most of the issues aren't even that important, granted I don't know all the details. My personal opinion is that this greediness is just going to make people mad and not get anything solved. If the people who went on this mission were greedy, someone would have gotten hurt, but they knew that together they can accomplish more. When the two sides try to work together and not argue about everything they will go far and make an agreement in no time.

If both sides truly look at the story and think about how terribly greedy they are being, they will lay down the gloves and make an agreement. Right now it's a fight over who can have more control, but if they meet in the middle they can get a lot more solved.

Monday Morning Falcons Hangover: Special Post Draft / Post Osama Bin Laden Edition

There's an Odd Couple joke somewhere in here.

It has been awhile since I have written. To be honest, there has not been a lot to write about. The NFL Labor Mess cast a pall over all football proceedings and made thinking about football not even remotely fun for me.

Plus, I have spent much of the last two months doing everything I could to get back into school. Long story short: I had to take some time off because of personal reasons, but because I was out longer than a full academic year, I had to reapply and there were grade change issues involved, and it was pretty much a big mess.

All of that work paid off though, as I’m back in school, have only a few classes until I attain my degrees, and will be able to enjoy one last football season at UGA (looking to be a HUGE bounce-back season for the Dawgs, hoping SEC East winners!) before the real, real world beckons.

Draft Hangover

First thing’s first: anyone ripping the Falcons for trading away five draft picks for Julio Jones is WRONG.

The Falcons traded away four draft picks for Julio Jones: this year’s 2 and 4, and next year’s 1 and 4. They swapped 1’s with Cleveland, moving up 21 spots from 27 to 6 to take what many experts believe is the best receiver in the draft.

So, getting that out of the way, was the four draft picks the Falcons traded to Cleveland “too much” for a player who will change the way every single team can defend the Falcons offense, opening up the field not only for Roddy White, but for Tony Gonzalez, Harry Douglas, Michael Turner, and the new kid, Jacquizz Rodgers?

Um, no.

The Falcons were 16th in the league in total yards last year. They were 31st… THIRTY-FIRST in offensive plays of 20 yards or more. Roddy White had his worst YPC averages of his career (even when he was trying to catch errant throws from the DogKilla). Matt Ryan had the worst YPC average of his career, and the second worst of any QB in the playoffs.

The Falcons need defensive help, it is true, but the Falcons offense scared NO ONE last year. Part of that is because of Mike Smith’s play not to lose philosophy of football, and part of that is the fact that they possessed no receiver to really stretch the field (White isn’t a burner) or take double teams away from White. I mean, it is absolutely amazing that Roddy White led the NFL in receptions last year with all of the double teams he faced.

Now, the Falcons possess a burner receiver in Julio Jones who will stretch the field. He will take double teams off of White, yes, but even more than that, Jones will do so much more.

Jones will keep opposing defenses from dropping one or both safeties into the box to stop the run, meaning Michael Turner will only be seeing the normal seven or six men in the box. Imagine Turner running into the second level of a defense unfettered. Can you say rampaging bull?

By keeping the safeties honest, Jones will open up the middle of the field for Harry Douglas, the Falcons’ slot receiver and Tony Gonzalez, Atlanta’s HOF TE. Think about it: once again, TG will be single covered by a smaller, slower LB like in the earlier days of his career, no bracketed coverage with safety help. First downs to the TE all… day… LONG.

Jones will also open up a more creative ability to approaching the Falcons offense, allowing for more screen passes to succeed with Jacquizz Rodgers creating mismatches on LBs without having to worry about safeties who cheated-up.

To put it simply, Jones makes Atlanta offense much like Green Bay’s offense, or Indy’s offense, or Arizona’s offense from a few years ago.

He makes other teams fear the Falcons. When is the last time anyone said that?

As for the defensive help that the Falcons need, if you don’t think the team will fill their pass-rushing defensive end need (Ray Edwards, Charles Johnson) in free agency, y’all haven’t paid attention to how this team has done business in the last three years.

The fact is, the Falcons could afford to give up four draft picks for Julio Jones, who is faster than AJ Green, who is a better blocker than AJ, and who, by all accounts, is a better team leader than AJ (and it pains me to say that as a loyal Bulldog), because the Falcons only had two glaring holes to fill, not four or five.

And in the end, Julio Jones, like Larry Fitzgerald or Megatron, is a slam-dunk, sure-fire pick. None of the DE’s in the draft were sure-fire picks. NONE. Most of them were Big-10 players, and we all know you are far more likely to get a bust d-lineman from the Big-10 than any other conference.

If you had the chance three years ago to draft Megatron, would YOU trade four picks for him?

You of course answer “HELL YEAH!”

So stop killing the Falcons for doing the same damn thing.

As for the rest of the Falcons' draft, it was excellent if you choose to forget they took a kicker in Round 6 when TE Virgil Green was still on the board. And I choose to forget they took a kicker in Round 6 when TE Virgil Green was still on the board.

Akeem Dent is going to be a playmaker for years on this team, and I'm not just saying that as a loyal member of Bulldog Nation. The guy is Bobby Boucher... he's a Tackling FOOL!

The best steal of the draft belongs to the Falcons, taking mighty midget Jacquizz Rodgers on the 3rd Day. Rodgers is going to be the Falcons' Dave Megget, without the felony conviction. We're talking a kid who, although small in stature, can run it up the gut AND block LBs coming after his QB. Rodgers told reporters he models his game on Warrick Dunn, and it shows on tape. Plus, he has mad hands. Get him a screen pass in space on a LB, and you'll next find him 20 yards down field.

Picking up some o-line and d-line depth at the end of the draft worked out well, and the Falcons will be going hot and heavy after Ray Edwards or Charles Johnson in free agency to fill their need for the consistent LE Kroy Bierman, who works better as "instant energy off the bench guy," isn't.

As Charlie Sheen would say, the Falcons filled-up this past weekend on tiger's blood and are most certainly... WINNING! (is that still topical... I don't know).

The Seven Things I Know

1) It was completely idiotic to have the first round of the draft on Thursday night.

2) We have all heard by now that ratings for the draft were down 20%, but do not let people like the esteemed Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports try and convince you it was because of labor issues. It was because the first round of the draft was on Thurday night, not Friday.

3) Thursday night is by far the most crowded night of television in this country, and every single show was a brand new episode. We are talking 30 rock, Bones, The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation, Community, and the two biggies, American Idol, and Steve Carell’s final episode of The Office. Against that Murderer’s Row, the NFL Draft didn’t stand a chance.

4) So, WHY did the NFL decide to hold the 1st Round of the Draft on the most crowded night in television? Well, here, guys like Mike Silver have the right answer: GREED. Only this time, the NFL, like the clueless old guy they sometimes appear to be, really had no clue that they could not beat even a Simon-less AI and certainly was not going to beat Steve Carell’s final The Office.

5) The NFL would be wise to have the 1st Round of the draft on Friday, a day that is usually devoid of quality shows (except for Fringe... seriously people, WATCH FRINGE… it is easily the second-best show on television after Justified, both shows have their season finales this week… WATCH!) and much easier to maneuver a DVR around.

6) I am still amazed at how many usually smart people in the media continue to act as if all of the psychological red flags put up by Cam Newton are not the exact same red flags put up by Ryan Leaf. Conceited. Arrogant. Dishonest. Immature.

7) Yeah, Leaf did not win a BCS Title, but he led a whole team of kids who rallied around him to take Washington State to their first Rose Bowl in over FIFTY YEARS, and he did so while remaining a fake, unrepentant douche bag, just like Cam Newton. So, telling me Newton is not the same guy because he “led” a bunch of 20 years olds to a title is a line of b.s. a mile long. Newton is going to set back the Carolina Panthers for years.

As a Falcons fan, I am fine with that, and I cannot wait to watch this train wreck.

Today in History (Yesterday, 01 May 2011 Edition)

We got that mother------!!! Osama Bin Laden is now Satan’s new favorite plaything!

What an AWESOME day to be an American, a former active duty Marine, and a lover of freedom!

Oh, and one more thing: to all of those complete and utter fools on Twitter who are trying to make this into a political “win” for the Democratic Party, I hope you people seriously reprioritize your lives and understand just how pitiful you are.

Yesterday was a win for America, you tools. Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians… it does not matter!

I am happy for our President (even though I didn’t, and won’t vote for him). I am happy for our service men and women who made this victory possible.

But unlike many unfortunate, misguided ideologues, (like Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and too many douchey actors, actresses, & writers to count) I am an American FIRST.

Keep politics out of this. This is a win for America and the world, not a political party. This behavior is no better than the Republicans who tried to do the same thing when we got Saddam. They were wrong then, and you are wrong now. You people should be ashamed of yourselves!

Film Real

I do not have anything prepared for Film Real this week. I have been getting all my ducks in a row for school. Been crazy.

Smart Quote

Death comes equally to us all, and makes us all equal when it comes.

John Donne

And do y’all know what the quickest way to equality is? Two 5.56mm NATO FMJ rounds to the head, courtesy of US Navy Seal Team 6.

Rot in hell, Osama Bin Laden!

Hey, Check This Out!

Do I have to say anything else?

Please follow me on Twitter at @UGABugKiller. Thanks!

Bears Draft Grade

 

The first two rounds of the draft for the Bears were amazing. I was finally happy with the picks that Jerry Angelo was making and was actually complimenting him on twitter for making smart decisions, then in the third and fifth rounds he made huge mistakes. First, lets talk about the good though. 

In the first round, the Bears had their sites set on an offensive lineman from the start. They knew that was the need that needed to be addressed first and took care of it nicely. They draft Gabe Carimi; you can read the post I wrote about him here. I was very happy with this pick and look forward to seeing Carimi grow as a player. Jerry Angelo gets my approval on that pick. 

In the second round, the need to be addressed was well known again. We needed a defensive lineman. We took one. We took a player from Oregon State named Stephen Paea. I look forward to him growing on the Bears. He already looks like a good player from the scouting reports I have seen and looks to have a bright future. He will probably play a similar role to what Corey Wooton played this last year. Now Wooton has moved up and Paea will get a chance to play every once and awhile, but will probably not be a regular starter for the Bears yet. 

In the third round, things got a little messy. Some people thought the Bears should have taken a wide receiver, some thought that a safety or cornerback should have been taken. A safety was taken and a lot of Bears fans were upset. I was not happy with this pick, but understand it a little. Overall it is a stupid pick, because we are letting all of those safeties that we have drafted in the past pass by without giving them a chance to become good NFL players. This is the first pick that I did not agree with Jerry Angelo on and he didn't give me much confidence in him with the next pick. 

In the fifth round, the Bears selected yet another late in the draft quarterback. They tried the same thing last year and ended up letting him go. If you are going to draft a quarterback, don't wait until the high talent is all gone. I don't think they should have been drafting a quarterback in the first place, but at least draft one that will make a name for himself one day. Right now the Bears have Jay Cutler and Caleb Hanie, and I'm happy with them. Most likely, Jerry Angelo was thinking that he didn't want to have to deal with signing a third string quarterback and he saw this kid, so he went out and got him. I don't think that's a very smart thing to do in a draft, but it's Jerry Angelo and we couldn't expect him to have a perfect draft. 

Overall: I give the Bears a C on this draft. The first two picks were As but the last two were Ds to level it out to a C. 

Jerry Angelo did better than he does most years, but he still needs to draft better or else the Bears are never going to win another Super Bowl. 

First Round Draft Pick...Approved.

As the Bears turn was approaching, I was looking at possible offensive line guys for the Bears to take. I was also looking at twitter and the guy that seemed to be wanted the most was Gabe Carimi. After looking him up, I joined in on the beg for Carimi tweets. When the Bears announced they would draft him, I was immediately happy. The best part was Jay Cutler's fiance Kristen Cavallari tweeting that she was happy the Bears drafted an offensive lineman. She doesn't want her man to be hurt like he was this past season, and I find it really funny that she actually tweeted it.

Onto a more serious note, I really like what this kid has done. He is a great pass and run blocker. Today, the offensive line coach for the Bears, Mike Tice, said that Carimi would stay at tackle and would not be moved the the guard position which they also need to fill. The Bears would have liked to take a guard, but finding this kind of talent with the pick they had was too much to pass up and we also needed a tackle. In my opinion, this was a great pick and will play out well for the Bears in the future.

On a side note, when the Lions picked Fairley I almost peed my pants and I'm almost certain that Jay Cutler DID pee his pants. Having Fairley and Suh on the same defensive line is going to be a tough challenge for this growing offensive line. I hope Jay Cutler doesn't die the first time we play the Lions.

Bears YouTube Video Of the Day
The embed codes won't work, so no video for today. I had a good one too.

Next Year

The lockout was just ended by a judge. This doesn't guarantee that football will be back in full swing soon, but it is a good sign. Now the NFL has me excited for next season, so I'm going to do a little preview of what might go down at Hallas hall.

The first thing is that they are still upset about everything that happened in that NFC Championship game. Urlacher was extremely mad after the game, and I guarantee that he is going to come into this season hitting and hitting hard especially against the Packers. Jay Cutler was ridiculed and you can read more about that on some of my other Around Pro Football posts like the Bears hate post or the I Support Jay Cutler post. The Bears have received a lot of hate for what they did last year and I think that is going to fuel them this coming year.

I think Matt Forte is going to do really good things this year. Last year he was good and a lot better than the year before, but I still think he can play a lot better than he has shown lately. His rookie season proves how good he CAN be, if he tries hard enough. I think he will try hard this offseason and get a lot better and perform better and help balance this team out. The run game is very important for the Bears, and he is leading that running game. If he has a great season, it will change the whole outcome of the season for the team.

Jay Cutler is going to be fueled by the hate on him, and is going to work hard. I have no doubt that he will work hard and try to improve his footwork and other skills during the off season. When he heads to training camp all of his personal issues will be over and he will just be working on timing with his receivers. He will no doubt be a lot better this year than he was last year.

The offensive line will get a boost from the draft which starts this Thursday. Draft news is always available on ESPN Chicago but I didn't feel like overloading this site with draft information. With the offensive line being better, the Bears and Jay Cutler will be a lot better.

The defense doesn't need much work, but the little work needed will be taken care of in the draft. The defense has always been the strong point of Bears teams and this year it looks like that trend will continue. The core guys are coming back and I think Corey Wooton, the rookie who knocked Favre out, will be a lot better and improve his game a lot this off season.

Overall the Bears will have an equally great, if not better season next year.

Bears YouTube Of the Day

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A Look at the Schedule

The Bears regular season schedule just recently came out and I figured looking at each game and predicting what could happen would be a nice thing to do. The Bears have a tough beginning, but overall a good schedule.

Week 1
The Bears start with a home game against the Falcons. Last year the Falcons had a great regular season, but fell to the super bowl champion packers in the playoffs. Expect them to be good this coming year, too. Matt Ryan is the real deal and if Roddy White is out there playing well they are dynamic. The Bears are going to have their hands full, but we also have a good quarterback. Jay Cutler is going to be playing with a vengeance this whole year and it will be easy to see from the first time he touches the ball. This is going to be a tough game for both teams. Look for the game to be low scoring and for the quarterbacks to show that these were the top two teams in the NFC last year for a reason. This will be a low scoring game and I don't think I can pick a clear winner at this point.

Week 2
After playing the Falcons, the Bears schedule is not going to get easier. They are once again going to face one of the premier quarterbacks in the league. This time they are playing the Saints and Drew Brees. The Saints were a little off last year and fought with the Falcons the whole season. They ended up getting upset by the Seahawks in the playoffs, but they are still a good team. They are mostly the same team that won the Super Bowl two years ago. They can easily do that again. This game is not going to be easy. The Bears defense is going to have to make a stand and force a couple of turnovers so that our offense can stay in this game. This game could easily be won or lost by the Bears depending on the effort from the 3 phases of the game.

Week 3
The Bears return to Soldier Field for week 3 and face off against the Packers. The Bears players are going to have a lot of their mind for this game and are going to play with a lot of vengeance. I know for a fact that the Bears players hate that they lost to the packers. The Bears players are going to be hitting hard and playing well in this game and I have no doubt that the Bears will win.

Week 4
The Bears finally get a break from tough teams when the Panthers come to Chi-town. The Panthers were not very good last year, and will get the number one pick this year. They may or may not get immediate help from their pick. I don't think they will good enough to compete completely with the Bears in this game. It might be a struggle, but I think the Bears will pull through this one.

Week 5
In week 5, the Bears play the Lions. Every year the Lions get better and better and look like they might have a chance to compete. They have a good quarterback and receiver combination that the Bears need to shut down. If our defense plays well and keeps Stafford under control, the Bears can easily win this game with a few good plays from Cutler. That is a big if, though and I think its very possible the that the Bears lose to the Lions. It's also very possible they win, so don't take me wrong.

Week 6
The Vikings come to Chicago in week 6 and this could be a very good game. The Vikings didn't do much last year and the Bears had almost no problem sweeping them. The Vikings looked good at the end of the year with their rookie quarterback and will make waves in the NFC North this year. This game is another one of those pivotal games against our division where we can easily lose or easily win the game. I'm thinking the Bears take care of business.

Week 7
The Bears travel to Tampa Bay in week 7. This is a game that can easily be won by the Bears. Execution is all that needs to be done. As long as the Bears stick to their gameplan and play like they should this game shouldn't be a problem. The problem is, last year we had trouble against the teams that were easy to beat and gameplan against. I'm not extremely worried about this game, but it could easily spiral out of control and make me want to smash my tv with a hammer.

Week 8 is a bye week for the Bears.

Week 9
The Bears came off the bye week very well last year, and I think they will do the same this year. This year they play the Eagles right away on MNF. This is going to be a very interesting game. The Eagles are a good team and Vick is a very good quarterback. The Bears defense was able to shut him down last year, and they better be able to do the same this year. The Bears defense is not the only thing that needs to show up, the big reason we beat them while they were sizzling last year was because Jay Cutler had a great game. He needs to step up this year also and win this game for us.

Week 10
The Bears play the Lions for the second time and this time it is in Chicago. I'm thinking the 4th phase makes a huge difference in this game. The Bears will be coming off a tough game win or lose from the previous week, so they might be a little too loose for this game. I do think that they will win this game handily and really impress some people in the media with a win against the Eagles and then big win against the Lions.

Week 11
The Bears start their play against the AFC in week 11 when they play the Chargers. The Chargers are always a good team and always come out to play. The Bears are going to need to stop Philip Rivers from dominating the game and keep him from killing the Bears. On the other side of the ball, the Bears will need to step it up on offense to compete with the high power offense the Chargers have.

Week 12
The Bears will play the Raiders this week, I think the Bears can win this game without a problem. The Raiders did have a burst of energy last year and were looking very good. I think the Bears can beat them as long as the defense doesn't allow their good running backs to take advantage.

Week 13
The Chiefs and Bears were two of the surprise teams last year and this year they will face off. This is an interesting matchup that I think the Bears can win. This could go both ways, the Chiefs are a good team with a good young quarterback. They have the core people needed to win games, but I still like the Bears to win this game.

Week 14
The Bears finish their AFC stint playing the Broncos. Tim Tebow will probably be playing quarterback which is cool, because I like to watch him play. I don't think the Bears will have a problem shutting him down and winning this game, though. This will be interesting because Jay Cutler will be back in Colorado for the first time since the trade two years ago.

Week 15
The Bears have a rematch of the one playoff game they won last year against the Seahawks. I think the Bears are going to win this, but expect the Seahawks to come out wanting this game a lot. The Bears will want it too, but the Seahawks were not happy getting beat in the playoffs and might play with major vengeance. I still think the Bears can get the job done.

Week 16
The second Bears and Packers matchup is this week. This will be interesting. The Bears aren't going to play with as much vengeance as they will in the first game against the packers, and might end up losing this game. I hate to predict a loss especially against the packers, but the packers are a good team and I would not be surprised if we tie them in the season series.

Week 17
The Bears finish with their final division game against the Vikings. At this point, the Bears might not need to play any of their starters. I hope that is the case and we can just mosey through this game. I would love for the Bears to win, but I would love it more if that was unnecessary to win.


Bears YouTube Video Of The Day

A little preview of the draft.