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.

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.

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.

London? England?

Recently the NFL schedule was released, and the Bears found out they are one of the lucky teams to get to travel out of the country and play in London. When I heard this at first I was thinking it would be a cool experience for the players and that they would really enjoy it. When I got to thinking about it more, I thought about how much jet lag they will have. The biggest problem is, what if they don't win? The losing team is going to look at the game and trip and think it was pointless, which it is. Why is the NFL trying to reach out to European countries? They don't like the sport, so just let them have their football which is soccer and we will have ours. This one game in London thing is just making a mess for the NFL, the players, and the coaches. As a coach you have to leave time for your guys to catch up on sleep, leaving you with less time to prepare for the next week. The more I think about it, the more I hate the fact that the Bears have to play in England this year. I mean no offense to England or other European countries, but this game is so unnecessary. There are other ways to reach out and one game with different teams every year isn't going to help the fanbase very much. I don't like this at all and I won't be looking forward to the game; losing would put way too much of a dent in our season. This game is not going to be cancelled; I'm going to have to live with this game. This game is a must win, though, because a loss means we go back to Chicago with not very many days to prepare and needing help. If the Bears lose this game it could throw them off their rhythm and perhaps ruin their season, they have to win.

Bears YouTube Video Of The Day
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I had to watch this with a heavy heart, and yet laugh a little. The late Dave Duerson is a big part of it, and he will forever be in my heart as a great Bear and man who died too early.

Bears Draft Picture

I've always said that the worst thing about the draft is that you could have a good regular season, get far in the playoffs and not win the Super Bowl and then you have a bad pick. Basically, you tried very hard to play well and you got pretty far, but not far enough and you get stuck with a bad pick. The Bears had one of those seasons, they played well in the regular season and caught a few breaks. They got to the playoffs and caught another break in playing Seattle; they moved on to the NFC Championship game and lost. That is what put them in the awkward position of we got far in the playoffs, but didn't win anything and now we have a very low pick in the draft. They still have options at the position they want, though. In my opinion, and the opinion of Jeff Dickerson (ESPN Chicago Bears writer) who you can follow on twitter @ESPNChiBears the Bears need an offensive linemen. This was the big issue on our team last year, and can easily be fixed by drafting a linemen. You can read my post about one option, Mike Pouncey, here: I used Jeff Dickerson's mock draft and who he picked for the Bears to make this post. You can read and check out that mock draft here:



Derek Sherrod played offensive tackle for Mississippi State last year, and this year he is entering the draft. I will admit that I don't know very much about him as a player, because I don't watch his school at all. I do know that the Bears need an offensive linemen and this guy will probably be the best they can get with their late pick. The Bears are obviously going to take whatever is the best in that position at the time, but I'm guessing this will be the best they can get.

With Sherrod playing tackle he can't really take over Garza's place like Pouncey would have because Sherrod isn't a guard. If the Bears can make him into a guard for the beginning of the season, that would be great. A guard is what we really need, and most offensive linemen can make the switch easily from tackle to guard.

The big problem with depending on a rookie to take a starting place on the team is that there is a lockout. This means that workout and training time for the rookie with the team will be limited. If the Bears want to make him into a guard, they will need some time. He won't be able to just jump in and play a different position then he has played his entire life. If he has played guard before and can move there easily this won't be a problem. This is just a minor setback and I'm sure he will do fine if the Bears pick him.

Bears YouTube Video Of The Day
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Cute Kid.

Cutler Speaks

My last post covers a lot of what this post will talk about, but I will say a lot of it again anyway. Jay Cutler received a ton of hate when he left the NFC Championship game with a knee injury. He let things cool down and stayed away from the media for a couple months and just recently commented on it for the first time. The specific quote I want to focus on is this, "I think I've been through a lot here in Chicago, and I would have loved to play." (thank you for the quote)

Cutler specifically said that he wanted to play, which I never doubted. I'm sure Cutler was begging to be out there on the field, but the trainers were telling him to stay on the sideline because they knew that he couldn't truly play well with that injury. The haters forget that after the injury first happened he did go out there and played a series. He didn't play well and he was probably in pain, after that the trainers probably said that he had to sit. Cutler and the Bears made the right decision in not playing him. This controversy will help make the team stronger and help make Cutler a better quarterback.

Another thing I liked about what Cutler said was this: "Those are the guys you are with a lot of the time," Cutler told the Sun-Times, "and those guys didn't flinch. I've got to thank them for that." (again, thanks ESPN Chicago) It was talking about when Urlacher and Kruetz stood up for him. I loved what Urlacher said and you could tell that he was mad at the people talking about Cutler. Maurice Jones Drew better look out the next time the Bears play the Jags, because Urlacher will be gunning for him big time. Urlacher didn't just say what he said because he had to or was supposed to, you could tell that he meant what he said and Jay was very right to thank him for that.

I really liked how the two veterans stood up for Cutler, it shows how well this team sticks together. I think this whole situation has and will bring the team together. The hate on the Bears has really brought the team together and joined them in one goal: make the haters eat their words. The Bears are going to be good next year and Cutler will play a lot better and be really impressive.

Another thing I like about the Cutler thing is that one of his biggest haters, Tim Hasselback, was on ESPN talking about it. He was saying good things, too and the whole time I'm watching I was getting more and more mad. He was one of the people saying bad things and one of the people that Cutler was addressing and now he is saying that waiting and now saying what he said was the perfect thing to do. This just makes me dislike Tim Hasselback even more than I already did, at least Trent Dilfer wasn't there also.

Like I said in my last post, Cutler is a guy who needs motivation and all this crap talk on him will motivate him to be a great quarterback next year and hopefully bring us back to the NFC Championship game and win it this time.


Bears YouTube Video Of The Day
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These "fans" can go die, RIGHT NOW.

I Support Jay Cutler

Since there is a lockout and the Bears draft options aren't very exciting I thought I would talk about Jay Cutler. He received a ton of hate during the NFC Championship game which is totally unnecessary. A torn ligament in a knee is legit, I would know. I tore my MCL in high school and too be able to not be screaming in pain the whole game it shows how tough he is. The pain is constant and terrible. Yes, they would have a lot of pain killers available for him, but it was a better choice to just put Hanie out there and hope for the best. This isn't the last year we want to use Jay Cutler, we want him for a long time so playing him there would have been a stupid mistake even if Cutler wanted to play.

I think this adversity will make Cutler stronger. He is a guy who needs a lot of motivation to work on his game, this could be the great motivator that all Bears fans have been hoping will happen. I know that Bears haters say that Bears fans themselves were burning his jersey, but those aren't real fans. Real fans who know the game know that him not playing didn't make a huge difference and that we still need him in the future. I plan on going to training camp and hope to see him out there with better footwork and that he will be on page better with his receivers.

I was entertained by the fact that some Bears fans wanted to see what Hanie could do in that starting role. If Jay Cutler never works out, I think Hanie might be the next good quarterback for Chicago. I don't think he is ready yet, though. The way he played reminded me of the National Championship game last year. Colt McCoy went out and Garret Gilbert came in and made a little comeback. It wasn't enough to win the game, but it put the thought in peoples head, this kid will be golden next year and in the future. Hanie put that same thought into my head, this kid will be golden in the future. Replacing Jay Cutler right now is not a good plan, but keeping Hanie is a good plan. He is a great backup.



Jay Cutler needs to not listen to the people like Trent Dilfer and Tim Hasselback who think they can judge him when he is still young. He should want to prove them wrong. If somehow they put fire and desire in his heart, then I would laugh. Jay is ready to come back and have a monster season. I can see the Bears winning the NFC North again, but I can also see them being in the middle or just below the Packers. I'm being honest that the Packers are a good team, but we can beat them and we have. Jay Cutler needs to step up this offseason and learn that if you work hard in the off season it will pay off in the regular season.

If Jay finds the passion to get better this year will be a monster year for him, if he decides to listen to what the haters say and tell himself that he is a loser, we might have to put Hanie in sooner than wanted. This coming year for the Bears all depends on how Jay Cutler handles all this adversity, and I think he will do well with the adversity and make them eat their words. I SUPPORT JAY CUTLER- a phrase that REAL Bears fans can say proudly.

Bears YouTube Video Of The Day
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It's amazing how many great Bears youtube videos I can find.

Mike Pouncey and the Draft

The Bears are in need of a linemen of some sort. The official word is that they are interested in defensive linemen, but that might just be a front so that nobody steals what they really want. I think they need an offensive linemen, and Mike Pouncey fits exactly what they need. He can play both guard and center which will be very helpful as our center gets older, but is not ready to leave.

The Bears are probably going to sign Olin Kruetz to a one or two year contract when the lockout is over. If they draft Pouncey, Kruetz will stay at center while Pouncey plays guard for a year, then when Kruetz is ready to retire or to just instruct Pouncey we can make pouncey into our center. I think Pouncey and the Bears will mesh well together and the fact that he can play both center and guard will be helpful in introducing him to the NFL.



Mike Pouncey has a lot of talent, it might be hard for the Bears to get him with the 29th pick in the draft. If the Bears get him, he will be used well and will fit our team well. The offensive line was the major problem last year, and drafting Pouncey might help a little.

Bears YouTube Video Of The Day
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These guys have the best Chicago sports based songs, subscribe to them on youtube, their name is theretarcrew.

Windy City Flyer

My last post was about the rule change for kickoffs, so I figured I would piggy-back off of that idea and talk about the greatness of Devin Hester.

I don't know how he does it, but somehow every time you kick to him he is a threat to run it back. He actually caused himself to be benched for kickoff returns for awhile because he was too good. Lovie Smith was hoping that he would get more yards off the kickoff without him out there at all instead of them kicking away from him and not getting all the way to the 20 yard line. This past year he was put back on to receive the kickoff as a surprise in the beginning and then Lovie realized how good he was and is and kept him there for most of the kickoffs.


Even though he is great at returning kickoffs, the thing he is the best at is returning punts. Just this past year he had 3 returns for a touchdown off punts. He is the best punt returner I have ever seen. Yes, DeSean Jackson is good and other fast receivers but nobody beats Devin Hester. Devin Hester is a monster and a beast.
Devin Hester will not be beat.

Bears YouTube Video Of The Day
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I chose this because its a collection of Hester's best returns. This just proves everything I said above.

New Rule

The rules for the kickoff have just been changed, and they are going to change the whole entire game. The kickoff spot was moved from the 30 yard line to the 35 yard line and it will change a lot in the game. The owners say that it will make the game safer, by not having the high speed collisions that often happen on kickoffs. I don't think it will make it that much safer, now kickers will kick higher so that guys on their team have more of a chance to get down to the receiver quicker, which will cause more collisions. This is another example of the owners trying to say that they want the game to be safer, but then being hypocrites by trying to add games to the season and not caring about health care.

This rule will not only affect the kickers, it will affect the receivers and the Bears in particular. We all know that Devin Hester is one of the best kick returners in the league. Before this past year Hester wasn't receiver very many kicks, but Lovie Smith decided to start using him to surprise teams. This year was another brilliant year for him, he is the best. This rule change is going to hurt Hester a lot and the Bears.




The Bears are not a great offensive team. The offense of the Bears is not consistent and I will admit that. They need help from the special teams. The big thing about a kickoff return is that the other team scores a touchdown or a field goal and because your receiver is good you stay in the game by scoring another touchdown. The Bears need kick return touchdowns. This is going to hurt them a lot. A touchback doesn't help the Bears. They can't move down the field like a really great offense does, but they have good kick returners that get them further than a touchback position, or get them a touchdown. Without the factor of Hester, Davis, and Manning returning kicks for touchdowns the Bears aren't as scary on special teams. Yes, Devin Hester can still return punts, but kickoffs are big because its after the other team has just scored and then you get a chance to score. The Bears are not nearly as good as they were this year without the Hester effect in full swing.


Bears YouTube Video Of The Day
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In honor of Jimmer's last game in the NCAA and at BYU, he scored 32, but it was not enough to move his team along. I hope he has a good NBA career, and I LOVE this video.

Soldier Field

First I want to say that while other people are blogging about the lockout and can't find ways to be optimistic about the situation, I think that the best way to get through it is too just move on like it's a normal year. Yes, I did post about the lockout last time, but I probably won't again. I don't want to think about it, I'm ignoring the situation, because there is nothing I can do about it. I just hope we have football next year. Okay, my lockout rant of the day is done and on to the real topic I planned on writing about.

Soldier Field is terrible. I love the Bears and I would love to go to Soldier Field anytime during the season to see a game. The grass is the problem. While other teams and fields have switched to some kind of false field, the Bears remain firm in believing that our field should suck. Once again they have said that they won't change it this offseason. The problem is, it's not only hurting the other teams, it's hurting us.

The other teams complain and say that they can't play on such a terribly conditioned field, but the Bears have to play there too. Some teams complain that it gives too much of a home field advantage, but the truth is that our defense and offense probably play better on the road.


While watching games at Soldier Field you see Bears players slipping and falling and you see players from the other team doing the same. It is equal. I agree that it is terrible, but there is not much you can do about it because they won't change it. I'm sure the players don't like it a lot of the time, but right now they don't have much say.

Our defense is deeply hurt by this. We have a very fast defense, but if you go too fast on the grass at Soldier you are going to slip. If you are playing defense and you slip it will probably cost you a touchdown. The Bears can't afford to stick with the grass the way it is now. The defense will be much better than they were before the switch and the offense will be better also. All too often you see Devin Hester or Johnny Knox slip on the grass and then not catch the pass, and the pass could possibly lead to an interception. The field conditions need to be changed.


Bears YouTube Video Of The Day
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I am a die-hard Bears fan I still find this very funny. The end is the best, the beginning is a little stupid.

Lockout's Effect on the Bears

I stated my opinion of the lockout in my last post, so I'm not going to talk anymore about how stupid it is that rich people can't find a way to handle their money, while people are living on the streets and starving. This post will be about how the lockout will effect the Bears.

The first big thing that it will do is put us out of shape mostly because they won't get to work out as often as normal and they won't be able to use good equipment like they have. I think most of the Bears players won't have a problem with finding ways to keep in shape, though. There is one player that I am a little worried about not trying and thinking that he doesn't have to work out or stay in shape.

You could probably guess that that player is Jay Cutler. If there is no lockout and he finds the motivation to work on his footwork and timing he can be a great quarterback. Now that the lockout is in place I don't think he is going to find the motivation to work on his game and get better. This is will be a giant stopage in the Bears growth and in Jay Cutler's growth. The Bears were hot, they were winning games and getting better with each game, now that there is a work stoppage they are going to lose a lot of that momentum. Now I'm worried that the Bears are going to lose all their momentum and have to start from scratch again. The lockout is going to have a huge effect on the Bears.

There is some light in the situation. The Bears owner says that there has to be a lockout to solve things and that there will still be normal play by the time that the season is supposed to start. I don't know how accurate that is and how right that is, but I hope he is correct. The Bears will not be a good team if this lockout continues, its just the facts.


Bears YouTube Video Of The Day
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This is a great video, Real Bears beating up on whatever a packer is.

NFC North

The Bears won the division this year and I think they will have a good chance to win it again. The rest of the division is strong, but the Bears are strong too and they can compete with every team in their division. The Packers did win the Super Bowl, but I don't care and that won't make a big difference, they can only go down from there so I'm fine with them winning it. The Vikings aren't the same without Favre, but they will have a chance this year. The Lions are up and coming and will probably have a good year, but I can't guarantee that because the Lions always find a way to screw things up.

The Vikings were not good last year. The Bears swept them and the vikings did not live up to the high expectations for the team. Brett Favre was expected to lead them back to the NFC Championship game and farther and he did not. I like the quarterback that they started to play towards the end of the season. He played well and seemed like the right guy for the Vikings. Adrian Peterson was expected to fix his fumbling issues to be solved and they just got worse. I do think they will be better than last year, but I don't think they have a huge chance to win this division. They are a big question mark, because when you think they will be good they are bad and when you think they will be bad they are good. I don't know what to expect truthfully, but I don't believe that they will make a run at the division.

The Packers are probably the best team in the division, as much as it pains me to say that it is true. That doesn't mean they won't make a mistake along the season and end up not winning. The Saints ended up losing there division this year and losing to a bad playoff team. The Packers could make that same mistake. Championship hangovers are real, look at the Blackhawks this year. A championship hangover is more likely with a young team, and the Packers are a young team. I don't want to sound like a stupid Bears fan, so I'm being honest. They are a good team, but sometimes good teams make mistakes and end up having bad years, I hope the Packers make those mistakes. If the Packers win the division, don't call me an idiot, they are contenders but I have faith in the Bears to get better this offseason and win this division again.

The Lions are always a big question mark. I think that they will be a contender, and then they have a bad season. I think the problem last year was that from the first game when that call was made against them they lost all their momentum and hope. Matthew Stafford got hurt in that game and they didn't think they had hope from then on. They do have good players and a pretty good team, they need to figure out how to get over the Lions curse. The curse that every Lions team must be terrible. They have drafted well in the past few years with Stafford, Suh, and Calvin Johnson but that still hasn't been enough to push them to be contenders in the NFC north. Next year will not be their year to climb to the top, because the other teams will be too good, but I think eventually they will be included in division winner talk.





All this talk about the NFC North is only going to be true if the Lockout ends before the season starts. I don't want a lockout, I want football. This is the first I have talked about the Lockout, but I don't want it to happen. People keep asking me which side I am on and I say that I am on the football side. I don't see why Billionaires can't agree with Millionaires about playing football. Just keep things the same, everything was fine. As a fan, I don't care if there is two more games and I don't care if the preseason is boring, it is still football and I want football. Just give the money to charity and play football. This is just getting ridiculous.


Bears YouTube Video Of the Day
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This was my reaction when I found out the Bears clinched the Division. Just kidding, this is a crazy Nets fan that I love in a non-gay way.

Bears Hate

As a HUGE Bears fan I can admit that I didn't think the Bears would be the #2 seed in the NFC and did not think they would make it to the NFC Championship game at the beginning of the year. If you say you did, you are most likely lying, or you were major drinking the kool-aid. This year surprised me, but at least I wasn't one of the haters that didn't think the Bears deserved anything all year. I know they deserved everything they got, because they won. Winning is all that matters, if you don't win you don't have a good record if you do, then you will be in the playoffs it doesn't matter how you win. The Bears faced a lot of hate this past year and that is what fueled them the whole year, the more that "experts" said they couldn't play with top teams the better they played.
The specific hate that I want to address is the hate on Jay Cutler when he tore his MCL. I have torn a ligament in my knee and it hurts incredibly bad. I did try to continue playing basketball on that knee and almost made the injury worse. If Jay Cutler would have gone out there and maybe not even won the game he could have ended his career. It is ridiculous to expect him to be out there with a torn ligament.
That is what Maurice Jones Drew was doing while he tweeted about Jay Cutler. I would like to see him running the ball with a torn ligament. Good luck, ever seen Friday Night Lights? Boobie Miles tears a ligament, then tries to go out there too early and ruins his future. I don't want that happening to Jay Cutler. Maurice Jones Drew can go back to sitting in his house waiting for next season, and who knows maybe once they will be able to top the Mannings, I mean Colts.
The other two people that have put the most hate on Jay Cutler would be Trent Dilfer and Tim Hasselback. All year long they were saying bad things about Jay Cutler. Also going on all year long, Jay Cutler was becoming a smarter and better QB. I hope Cutler works out a lot this offseason and works on his footwork and all around game and whenever football is played next Jay Cutler shows them what he is made of and they will be left eating their words. Jay Cutler has unlimited potential, if he taps into that potential its gonna leave those "experts" shocked.











Bears YouTube Video Of The Day
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6 Questions Surrounding the Bears this Offseason

Before I talk about the Bears and their off season I have to ask you one thing. Please keep Japanese people in your prayers and thank God that the LCMS missionaries are ALL okay in Japan and if you have time thank God for how blessed you are that you are safe. That is all.

The Bears. Today's post is very similar to the Mike&Mike off season two-a-days and that is where I got the idea from, but I gave it a little Bears twist by changing the normal question number (5) to 6 for Jay Cutler.


1. Will the Bears sign Plaxico Buress?
When I first heard that there would be thoughts to sign him I was excited because I know he is a great receiver. The problem is that the Bears don't like to have any bad character on their team. They have a clean locker room and they want to keep it that way. The Bears will find a way to sign a big aggressive receiver, but they will not sign Buress because of his character issues and the stupid stuff he does. The Bears are strict on the character thing and so no matter how good the receiver is they won't sign him if he has shown character issues in the past or might in the future. Final answer to this question is no.

2. Will the Lovie Smith Extension Pay Off?
I have contradicted myself about this over and over again. When I first started to post about whether or not he should get an extension I was for him. Then, I read a really well written article about the opposing opinion and that totally switched my opinion. I think this will blow up in the Bears' face. Lovie Smith is a good coach and has been for years, but out of the years he has been with the Bears he has had two good years. After the first good year he dropped. I hope that the team doesn't drop after this good season, but it seems like whenever you give lovie a new contract he has a better year. I know the players like him, but if he doesn't get the job done, you eventually have to get rid of him. I do understand the point that keeping him will keep the Bears rolling, because if you fire the coach it stops the whole team's momentum. My thing is that I don't want what happened to the Vikings this year to happen to the Bears this coming year. My final answer is that I hope so, but I honestly think that it won't pay off.

3. Will Jay Cutler be Better or Worse Next Year?
The injury is the one problem that might slow his progress. He is progressing. You can tell by looking at the beginning of this season and the end that he progressed a lot over the course of the season. When he gets healthy, this off season he can improve even more. I truly believe that he has the talent to be a great quarterback. The problem is that he doesn't have good footwork and sometimes he gets over-confident or under-confident. This off season he can workout three times a week on footwork and improving his football IQ and he will be 100% better. If he does all that during the off season and then goes to training camp with the right footwork and being a little smarter he can focus on timing with receivers and overall teamwork. If he does all that he will be a very good quarterback next year, but the problem is that Jay Cutler will probably never have enough motivation to do all that. I am one of the Bears fans that supports jay cutler, not burns his jersey, so don't get me wrong I like that he is our quarterback. I'm just stating the fact that he doesn't have very much motivation. I still think he will improve, but not as much as he possibly could. Final answer is that he will be better but not a whole lot better.

4. Will the Bears Draft Wisely or Foolishly?
I want to believe that they will be smart in this draft, but judging from the past few years they won't be wise. They aren't going to be foolish, but I don't think they are going to get everything they want and need. Right now they are probably going to get a defensive lineman first, but they really need an offensive lineman more than anything and if they can get their hands on a good receiver that would be a huge plus. I think picking a defensive lineman would be a huge mistake. Right now we have a good line. Yes, they could be improved but the top priority is our offensive lineman. I could be wrong about what they are going to pick. I got the idea that they would sign a defensive lineman from mock drafts and we all know that mock drafts aren't always right. I hope the Bears are very wise in this draft, because it could make a huge impact on the Bears season. My final answer is that they will be somewhere in between wise and foolish.

5. Will there be a Lockout?
There have been ups and downs of this process recently. There was a plus when they agreed on the rookie salary cap. Then, there was an all-out twitter war and things got bad again. Today the NFLPA decided they would not sign a new agreement. This means if there is a lockout the players can sue. The thing that people need to know is that this does not mean there will be a lockout. It means that the NFLPA will take the NFL to court. I think the NFLPA has a good case and all football fans should be hoping that they win. A loss would mean a 99.99% chance of a lockout and would cause major chaos in the NFL. I want NFL football next year. There has never been a year in my whole life where there hasn't been an NFL season and I would like to keep that streak alive. My final answer is reluctantly yes.

6. Are the Bears going Up or Down?
This is the toughest question of them all. My problem is that they had a really good season last year and won a few of those games because they got a little lucky. I do like this team. I think they are going to be a good team. Going up will be hard for them to do so I think they may go down, but not by a lot. It will be hard to win the division again over the Super Bowl champs. The Packers and the Lions are both going to be good teams next year. I don't see the Bears having the same dominance in their division as they did this year, but I think they can make it in through the Wild Card and make a run like the Packers did this year. My final answer is down, but barely and will still be contenders.


I'm going to start adding a new feature to my blog posts and that is the Youtube video of the day.

YouTube Video Of The Day
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Can these black and yellow remixes please stop?

Love Smith

At the beginning of the year Lovie Smith's job was a question mark. A lot of people thought that he should have been fired after last year, but Angelo gave him one more year and Smith lead the Bears to a 11-4 season and an NFC North Championship. I don't know about you, but I think think thats pretty good for a guy who was supposed to be hired. I don't always like the things that Lovie does. He leaves me scratching my head often. I still think that having him as the head coach is better than taking a chance with a guy who will do worse. I say that Angelo should give him another year and if he screws it up, he should be fired. I think the Bears are headed in the right direction and hiring the coach stops that momentum. The boys in the locker room like this coach and as long as they are winning while playing for him and they like him the GM should be happy. The situation in Minnesota is the opposite of what a GM wants. They want a coach that wins games and is loved, or at least liked, by the players. Right now Lovie is doing that so there is no reason to fire him. That would just add negative attention to the team and stop the progress they are making as a team. If you fire him right now you lose what could be a really good season next year and I don't want to see that happen. No fan should want to see that happen.

The Bears Draft Needs

We all know that this season did not go as planned, because we ended up losing to the last team we ever wanted to lose to in the NFC Championship game. There were many reasons that we lost, one of the most important was that parts of our team needed major improvement.
The first thing, in my opinion, is that we need a wide receiver that is physical and tall so that Cutler has somebody to throw it up to if he has no better option. Don't get me wrong, I love Knox and he is a great receiver, but he doesn't fight for the ball at all. He has great speed and can catch well, but he doesn't get physical with the cornerback to fight for the ball. This is a must, our offense is struggling without it.
Another thing that we need is offensive linemen. Some people argue that this is more important than receivers and I see their point, but if you have that receiver the offensive line can remain bad, you need that receiver no matter what. Offensive linemen is my number two need for the Bears. The offensive line this year was putrid, especially in the Giants game. Cutler got sacked so many times. I think I saw him on the ground more than I saw him make a good pass to a receiver. They were terrible in that game. After the bye, they got better, but in certain games you could see that they still needed a leader and somebody who was a little bit better. By drafting a linemen they are saying that they want this guy and Jay Cutler to work together for years and become great teammates. That relationship will be important, so you have to find someone who will respect Jay and who has talent. I don't think Jerry Angelo will have a problem with that.
The final need is cornerbacks. I like peanut and bowman, but they aren't as good as they once were. I'm not saying that we should get rid of Tillman and Bowman, but we should draft a new guy, just so that we have a security blanket. This isn't a huge need, but basically all the Bears need is a wide receiver and some offensive linemen.