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.

Bears in the Pro Bowl

The Two Bears players that are starters in the Pro Bowl are Julius Pepper and of course, Devin Hester. I'm going to talk about each players season and why they deserve to be in the Pro Bowl and starting like they are. First is Devin Hester.
Hester had a great season this year. He had a good rookie year and then it seemed like people had figured him out and he went slow for the next two years. Now this year he is back in his rhythm and is taking back kicks all the time. He has obviously been the the best this season, and because of his performance this season, he is being considered as the G.O.A.T at returning kicks. I don't think he is quite there yet, but maybe. He had a great season and anyone who argues that he doesn't deserve to be a starter in the Pro Bowl has no brain.
Now onto Peppers. I think he had a great season. His numbers didn't show very well that he did, but if you watched all the games you could see that he got to the quarterback a lot. He was key in stopping vick, because he could actually run to keep up with Vick, to an extent. He has been a great addition to the Bears defense that is already a great defense. He is a fast, athletic and strong defensive lineman and that is what makes him great. He can do it all. Yet again if you don't think he deserves it look at the tape and get a brain.

Packers at Bears

What better way to determine the NFC champion than to have the Packers play the Bears. These two teams have a combined 21 NFL World Championships (Packers-12, Bears-9). It is only right that one of these two historically dominant teams will once again be on football’s greatest stage.

This game will eventually come down to who wants it more. These teams play each other twice every year and are the oldest rivals in the NFL. They know what to expect from each other. This makes it very difficult to predict the winner but I, obviously, am picking the Packers. Below are some key factors as to why I think the Packers will come away with a victory:

1. I AM A PACKER FAN. If I picked the Bears I would be disowned by the Packer nation.

2. Clay Matthews: He has truly emerged as one of the league’s top defenders and is a leading candidate for the Defensive MVP. Separate from this, Matthews plays with pure passion every time he steps on the field. During his two playoffs starts this year he has 3 sacks, including one on the very elusive Mike Vick. If Matthews can once again show off his pass rushing skills and consistently pressure Jay Cutler, the Packers will be in good shape to pull off a win. Cutler is known to make some bad decisions when he is under pressure so getting to him early and often will be huge for Matthews and the rest of the Packer defense.

3. Green Bay’s Running Game: The Packers struggled running the ball during the regular season and were very one dimensional. Although, Aaron Rodgers and his very talented receivers can take control of a game, it is always nice to have a consistent running game. Surprisingly, the Packers have found a solid ground game for the playoffs. James Starks has the most rushing yards out of anyone this postseason with 189 yards. He broke out onto the scene in the wildcard round in Philadelphia, when he carried the ball 23 times for 123 yards. This was more than he had the whole regular season due to him being on the physically unable to perform list. If Starks can gain positive yards consistently against the Bears’ greedy defense, it will open up the play action passes and help Green Bay’s already dangerous passing game.

4. Special Teams: Green Bay’s special teams unit has always struggled. If they want to win this game they will have to contain Devin Hester and Danieal Manning. In week 3, when the Packers lost to the Bears, it was due to a lack of punt coverage. Devin Hester returned a punt all the way and that swung the momentum to the Bears and carried them to victory. Green Bay certainly can’t match the explosiveness of the Bears’ special teams, but they can try to eliminate the big plays by just staying in their coverage lanes and finishing their tackles.

I’m sure there are many other factors that will play into the outcome of this game but these are some that I found most important. If you disagree please comment and let me know what you think.

5 Links From The NFL

• Coach Mike Tomlin had a question and answer on the Baltimore Ravens yesterday, and had this to say this about Ray Rice

"He’s got ridiculous lateral quickness. He can stick his foot in the ground and change direction at full speed. Not only is he a talented runner, but he has 60-plus catches over the course of the season. We have to do a good job defending him in the check-down game, the screen game, and he also does a real nice job running the wheel-route out of the backfield."

Here is the rest of the "Q" and "A" with Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin

• Though the Packers have had A LOT of takeaways this year, the Falcons however they are very hard to get takeaways from.  With a sure handed Michael Turner and a quarterback with a very high IQ the Packers must find a way to get the Dirty Birds to cough up the ball.  The reason for the the success of the Falcons have been just that.

• Could Antonio Cromartie be the "X-Factor" in the Jets vs. Patriots game? Here is a video from the NFL on the match up between the two teams. http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-total-access/09000d5d81daf5a4/Cromartie-the-X-factor

• Ten players, or impact players, to look forward to in the Seahawks and Bears game would include:

Matt Hasseback, Matt Forte, Devin Hester, Marshawn Lynch, Julious Peepers, David Hawthorne, Brian Urlacher, Mike Williams, Leon Washington and Chris Williams. Bleacher Report has the explanation on why these players are going to impact the game.

• Here is a video of some big plays this past regular season