Month: December 2010

Free Agency at the Right Spots the Route to Success… For Now

David Haugh at the Chicago Tribune writes an interesting column about how the Bears got to the top of the NFC North division:

“Becoming the first team to win a division championship this season dispels two commonly accepted myths:

“1. The McCaskeys are cheap. (Not when it comes to saving their football franchise.)

“2. Free-agency often is the wrong path to take to the playoffs. (Not if the road winds from North Carolina to Chicago.)

“As we begin debating playoff scenarios, it cannot be overstated how one signature from Julius Peppers changed everything we thought we knew about the Bears. It was as if the McCaskeys adopted overspending Redskins owner Daniel Snyder. When (Julius) Peppers signed a 6-year, $91.5 million contract last March it reflected fiscal urgency to which Bears ownership previously seemed immune.”

I’m not entirely sure why the Bears ownership has decided to spend money now.  I have my theories but those will wait for another entry someday, perhaps in the off season.  But what is clear is that their willingness to spend money this year has helped them win now.  But don’t think that general manager Jerry Angelo just  spent this money willy nilly on bad investments the way that Snyder has.  They spent it at specific spots.

The three most important positions on any football team are left offensive tackle, quarterback and pass rusher (defensive end in the 4-3).  These are represented by Frank Omiyale, Jay Cutler and Peppers on the Bears.  They have invested heavily in the last two and the first came through free agency as well.

But, even recognizing the importance of the positions, to his credit Angelo didn’t just spend it on anyone.  Defensive end Julius Peppers is a quality person and a team player who reflects well upon the franchise.  Contrast with Albert Haynesworth, signed by the Redskins, and you see that the Bears did it right.

But as worth of praise as these acquisitions are, Haugh’s characterization of the method as a success isn’t completely warranted in the long view:

“Given the emphasis on the draft and salary cap complexity, conventional wisdom says you can’t buy a winner in the NFL. The Bears just did.”

Yes, but for how long?  Angelo has been justifiably castigated because not a single one of these three players at the three most important positions came to the Bears through the draft.  In fact, the Bears have generally been a failure in the draft overall and as a result they have a very old, very veteran starting lineup.

Much though we all laud the McCaskeys for their willingness to spend money to bring a winner to Chicago in the short term, they don’t have the deep pockets that Snyder does.  For the health of the franchise, Angelo needs to find success in the only proven path to long-term competitiveness.  The Bears have to start drafting players at the positions that count the most.

Ryan Fetish Flap Just Part of the Entertainment

When I came across the Deadspin Rex Ryan news story via Kissing Suzy Kolber a couple days ago, I pretty much ignored it.  I should have known better.  Given the way people react to such things I guess its no surprise in retrospect that Ryan is being dogged with questions about it.  Ryan has been accused of making foot fetish films with his wife, Michelle, for a web site (I’ll leave you guys to follow the link to Deadspin).  He hasn’t denied it.

Other than thinking the whole thing is pretty funny, I really didn’t give this much of a second thought.  Like everything else about Ryan, I find it to be very entertaining.  But not offensive.  By modern standards, this barely rates as a sex scandal in my book.  Heck, it barely rates as a scandal at all.

One thing is certain in my mind and its in complete agreement with what former Bear defensive tackle Dan Hampton told Sean Jensen at the Chicago Sun-Times regrading Rex and his brother Rob Ryan, defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns:

“(Hampton) thinks the Ryan twins are good for the league.

‘‘’They coach the right way,’ Hampton said. ‘The NFL is the No Fun League. But not these guys. They still like to have fun.’’’

It’s Often the Little Things That Count the Most

Harriet Beecher Stowe once said, “To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization.”

Gary D’Amato at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel indirectly points to the difference between winners and losers in the NFL by writing a critique of the Packers loss to the Patriots:

“One glance at the box score from the Green Bay Packers-New England Patriots game confirms the adage about statistics being meaningless.

“Going strictly by the numbers, the Packers outplayed the Patriots.”

“So how in the world did the Packers lose, 31-27, at Gillette Stadium on Sunday night?

“The same way they lost their other five games this season: by failing to convert in critical short-yardage situations, by committing costly penalties and by making game-changing blunders on special teams.”

You could really sum it up in two sentences:  The Patriots know how to win.  The Packers don’t (yet).

Even as a Bears fan, I have to confess that I love the Packers and their aggressive style.  The team has guts.  But the Bears have been better this year because, like the Patriots, the Bears avoid many of these issues.  Admittedly they haven’t done well in short yardage.  But that aside, they don’t commit that many penalties, they don’t drop many balls, they usually win the turnover battle, and their special teams excel.  Ask the Vikings how important that last one is.

There isn’t that much difference in talent between teams in the NFL.  The margin between winning and losing is often discipline and doing the little things.  Success in these small areas add up to victories on days when you don’t play well, sometimes against a better team.

I’m not exactly ready to canonize anyone.  But in a week when the Bears clinched their division, it seems appropriate to give the Bears and their coaches, especially Lovie Smith, kudos for recognizing this and consistently getting the best out of their players in these areas.  Along with their amazingly good health, this success is the major reason they are headed to the playoffs this year.

Points of View, December 22, 2010

Bears

  • David Haugh at the Chicago Tribune mentions that Virginia McCaskey was at the game in Minnesota and was apparently quite lively.   Kudos to her.  My grandfather is 89 and let me tell you, there’s no way I’d be able to get him out in that kind of weather to watch a football game.
  • I’m not one to criticize referees but I thought the officiating was uneven to say the least in the Vikings game.  It didn’t cause anyone to win or lose the game but the guess here is that the film won’t look good on review at the league office.
  • After Brett Favre came back to start on Monday, most people attributed it to his miraculous healing powers.  I doubt that his shoulder got better quite as fast as his desire to try to play through it did.  With the Bears getting ready to take the field I’m guessing that the old blood got flowing and Favre decided to try one more time to prove to himself that he could or couldn’t play.  In the end, he couldn’t survive it.

I wouldn’t have a problem with this is it weren’t for the fact that it sets a dangerous precedent.  “Out” really should mean “out”.  I couldn’t prove that Favre was better physically than he appeared Saturday.  But given his history, I think its safe to say that he got the benefit of the doubt because he is who he is.

“The Bears won’t acknowledge it, but there is a direct correllation between Devin Hester’s reemergence as a lethal kick returner and his diminished role on offense.”

“Take it for what it’s worth that ESPN analyst Matt Millen enthusiastically endorsed the Bears as Super Bowl contenders, saying they could beat the Saints or the Falcons on the road in a playoff game. Millen was one of the best analysts in the game in his first stint on TV, but his credibility took a hit with the disastrous run as president of the Lions.”

Say what you want about Millen but his credibility can’t possibly be any worse than Bill Cowher‘s.  Last week Cowher not only predicted that the Bears would miss the playoffs but said that they wouldn’t win another game all season.

  • The Bears attracted the usual large TV audience (via the Chicago Tribune) we’ve come to expect for their national games.  I always take pride in this but at the same time it does nothing to help the cause of keeping Bear games on Sunday afternoon and out of prime time.

“Not much in the way of a Bernard Berrian sighting, was there? Look for the ex-Bear to potentially become an ex-Viking in the offseason. He has fallen way out of favor there.”

I’m not sure what Berrian’s problem has been.  Its possible he could become a Bear again if he came at the right price.  But if he does he’s going to have to be more physical.  Ask Devin Aromashodu.

Elsewhere

  • Biggs also mentions some of the political talk that went on this week as the Vikings seek a new stadium:

“Certainly NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was on hand trying to get support lined up.

“‘I think there’s a recognition that we need to find a long-term solution for the Vikings here to get a new stadium built,’ Goodell said. ‘We met with the business community. We met with the legislators. And we met with the governor-elect. So we’re all going to be working hard to try to find the best solution to keep the Vikings here in Minnesota.’

“Keeping the Vikings in Minnesota would be good for the rivalries in the division, that is for certain.”

I would agree.  But I’m not holding my breath that a deal will be made unless the Vikings and the NFL kick in a substantial portion of the money needed to build a stadium.  It’s a bad time to be asking for money at any level of government, let alone from the Minnesota legislature with their impending $6 billion deficit.  The state isn’t going to put money in unless they are absolutely convinced that they will break even in terms of job creation and tax revenue.  Its a tough sell.

“‘Football should be played outdoors,’ Wilf said before the 40-14 loss to the Bears, ‘and for the Vikings in the past, the weather has given the Vikings a big advantage.'”

  • Aaron Rogers has passed all of th necessary test and will be back for the Giants game according to Jason Wilde of ESPNMilwaukee.com via Greg Rosenthal at profootballtalk.com.  They’re going to need him.  They need to win their last two game sot make the playoffs, starting with the Giants this week.  The Giants will certainly have sufficient motivation themselves.  They are in the playoffs with a win.
  • Kevin Goheen at the Cincinnati Enquirer reports (via benmaller.com) head coach Marvin Lewis‘ response to a profootballtalk.com report that the Bengals were considering making Terrell Owens inactive for the last three games because of his attitude and performance:

“Lewis denied the report, which was attributed to an anonymous league source.

“‘Pro Football Talk? Enough said. I don’t need to address it,’ said Lewis. ‘Have I ever addressed anything in here from Pro Football Talk? No. I don’t even know where it is.'”

Lewis has apparently been taking lessons from Lovie Smith on how to answer reporter’s questions.  This could have easily come from him.

In any case, even though the reporter called it one (twice), those of you who are paying attention might note that failing to address the report is not a denial.  Just sayin’.

  • Donovan McNabb feels “disrespected”.  But presumably not enough to quit and give up any money he might have coming to him.  Mike Shanahan waited until Thursday evening to tell him he wouldn’t be starting last weekend.  Maybe McNabb should get on board and do what the offensive coordinator asks him to do.
  • The Lions won a road game last weekend and, though the significance of it went by most of us, Jamie Samuelson at the Detroit Free Press points out that they did it with their third string quarterback.  With three quarterbacks who can play ball, the Lions enjoy a luxury most teams would love to have.

The Lions are a team worth keeping an eye on the last two games.  If they finish strong it could be taken as an indication that they will be ready to turn the corner next year.

One Final Thought

Its Potash day here.  He got this interesting comment from Rashied Davis regarding Devin Hester after he set the record for career returns for a touch down:

“Asked the best thing he could say about Hester, Rashied Davis had an interesting answer:

‘‘’He’s a good dude,’ Davis said. ‘He respects what we do, which makes us play harder, because he doesn’t think it’s all him. He knows we have a huge part of it and gives us credit. So we definitely. appreciate his attutude toward what he does.'”

Bears Must Continue to Work to Improve

Mike Mulligan at the Chicago Sun-Times makes a debatable point about what the Bears should do with their last two games:

“The battle cry might be that winning the division title is just one step, but you can’t help but wonder if you might be able to find a shortcut to the Super Bowl by settling on the No. 3 seed and calling it a day on the 2010 regular season.

“Yes, it is a great betrayal of the integrity of the league and might leave an indelible stain on the franchise. It also might work out just fine.”

I know that there are always health concerns when it comes to playing football games.  Most coaches believe that you keep your guys healthy and rest them before the playoffs whenever you can.  I understand that.  But I think Mulligan might be taking it a bit far in this case.

Before the season began I said that this year was going to be one where self-improvement was going to be the theme.  At the time I thought the Bears would have eight wins.  But the fact that they’ve got more than that and are on their way to the playoffs doesn’t change my opinion.  They need to continue to improve if they are going to make a deep playoff run.

New England taught us that the defensive backs need to get better, particularly in man coverage.  There are young defensive linemen that need to improve if they are going to take maximum advantage of Julius Pepper‘s presence.  And more than anything else the offensive line has to continue to develop technique and work toward attaining better cohesiveness.  Dan Pompei at the Chicago Tribune did his weekly film review and also found a number of aspects of the Bears play against the Vikings that need to be cleaned up.

Three weeks is forever in the NFL.  All of these things and more need to continue to improve and they can do so dramatically if the team continues to put the correct amount of effort into the games they have left.  If they are going to be able to look in the mirror after the year is over and be able to say that did everything they could and played their best when it counted, that’s what they have to do.

Steve Johnson Twitters a Picture of His

Buffalo wide receiver Steve Johnson sent a picture of his johnson to his Twitter followers (via benmaller.com).  The photo can be found at Media Take.  Johnson says it was an accident but that’s beside the point.

Someone familiar with the mentality of the average NFL player is going to have to explain this to me some day.  Really, I don’t care how proud you are, do they really feel the need to take a picture of it?  Can’t you just look in the mirror?  For heavens sake, can’t you just look down pretty much any time you want?

The NFL is unlikely to be amused, particularly given that you might expect this guys to be a bit extra careful after the Brett Favre flap.

Bears Offensive Line Improving, Deserves More Respect After Win

Every once in a while I’ll quickly write up game comments and put them up, then sleep on it and regret some things I said.  Well, probably more common than every once in a while.  Last was one of those times.

Steve Rosenblom at the Chicago Tribune makes a good point that I probably should have emphasized more strongly:

“The offensive line has been the biggest reason to doubt the Bears this season. On Monday night, the line was perhaps the biggest reason there was no doubt they’d beat the Vikings.”

You can say a lot about the team that the Bears beat last night.  The offense was banged up with their best player, Adrian Peterson, on the sideline.  They got more beat up when they had to put in their third string quarterback.  But there’s not much wrong with the Viking defense beyond the fact that they just plain aren’t play well.  And even that isn’t true of defensive tackles, Kevin and Pat Williams.

Like the rest of the team, the Bears offensive line starts slow.  That biases people like me for the rest of the game because, like most men, we see what we expect to see.  Though I did say that “all of it got better as the game wore on”, the offensive line deserved better than I gave them last night.  They allowed the team to attack off tackle on the ground and everything flowed from there.  The pass protection got better as they were allowed to run more play action.  Despite the fact that the Vikings kept on blitzing, they plugged the holes and gave quarterback Jay Cutler a decent amount of protection.

The line is still a weakness.  They still make too many mistakes, especially early in games, and they commit too many penalties.  But it appears to me like they might also be coming together and there really is hope that in a few weeks they’ll be good enough to carry this team into a deep playoff run.

I sincerely hope so.  Last night they were a big reason why this team succeeded.  But as Rosenbloom points out, one bad game in the wrong spot and they could also be the biggest reason why they won’t.  It that important.

Bears Spread the Ball Around in Dominant Win

Mike Florio at profootballtalk.com made an interesting point about the Bears game last night:

“Despite the placement of 54 total points on the board, no quarterback threw for more than 200 yards, no running back rushed for more than 100 yards, and no receiver generated more than 100 receiving yards.”

I don’t know if this was supposed to be complimentary (Florio is a Vikings fan) but I took it as a positive sign.

The fact that so many pints were scored despite the fact that no quarterback threw for more than 200 yards is an indication of how well the running game was working, at least for the Bears.

No running back for more than 100 yards?  No receiver for more than 100 receiving yards?  All good.

In particular, much has been made about the Bears’ lack of a receiving threat.  But this game serves as a reminder that there are advantages to that.  If you are an opposing coordinator, who are you going to concentrate on?  No one.  It simply up to Cutler to find the open man and throw it to him.  Lately he’s been pretty good at that.

Michael Vick, “a True Story of Redemption”?

My favorite feature, Pro Football Weekly‘s Audibles, has another provocative (and anonymous) quote:

“(The Eagles) had one of the greatest comebacks I have ever seen (against New York). (Michael) Vick is a true story, (a true example of) redemption. They are on a run. Andy Reid keeps looking better by the week. The best football is being played in the East right now — New England, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.”

Michael Vick “a true story of redemption”?

Let me get this straight.  The guy goes to jail for dog fighting.  He gets out and now his job, his teammates and his family depend absolutely on him staying out of trouble.  So what happens?  He immediately goes back to associating with people who slave their problems with guns.  He goes to a party where his friend shoots somebody literally minutes after he leaves.

How long before this guy finds himself suspended again?  How can anyone depend on his to be their starting quarterback?

Michael Vick has been conning people most of his life by telling them what they want to hear.  He’s Cedric Benson with more talent and more dangerous friends.  In this entire affair he hasn’t once told the truth right up until he went to jail.  I was and am willing to give anyone a chance after they’ve paid their debt to society and by heaven Vick paid more than most of these athletes ([cough]benroethlisburger[cough]).  But that doesn’t mean I’m going to ignore the indications that he is wasting it.

I have no problem with Vick having a job in the league.  I have no problem with him playing.  I have no problem with him period.  He’s fine.  But it will be a long, long time before I’ll believe he has “redeemed” himself.

Game Comments: Bears Vs. Vikings December 20, 2010

Defense

  1. Bears came out with a blitz on the first play.  But beyond that, they correctly anticpated that the Vikings would try to keep it on the ground as much as possible and, though they mixed it up, they played quite a lot with eight in the box in an effort to stop the run.  They played more cover two late as they anticipated that the Vikings would pass from behind.
  2. It was pretty scary for a while in the first quarter as the Vikings literally ran over the Bears, particularly as they attacked the edges.  When a team is running on you and you are stacking the box there’s the potential for real trouble.  Fortunately the Bears tightened things up in the second quarter, playing with better discipline and speed, and they did a better job of stoping the running game.
  3. 50 seconds left in the first half and I was wondering if there was going to be another coverage break down to allow a big score.  There wasn’t.
  4. The Vikings were running at the edges, taking advantage of the Bears stunting their ends inside.  It worked well until the Bears adjusted.
  5. The Bears tackling was awful at times.  Just awful.
  6. The Bears also looked pretty slow and sluggish at the start of the game.  I’d like to see the Bears better prepared to play mentally coming out of the locker room the last few weeks.
  7. Kudos to Henry Melton and Corey Wooton for making big plays.  These are young players that need to show that they can play.  On the down side, Wooton lost contain on Joe Webb’s first ever touchdown.
  8. Webb looked OK but its obvious why he was considered to be a receiver by the Vikings scouts.  He’s quick mentally, throws sharp short passes and he’s mobile.  But, though he’s got a good strong arm, based upon what I saw this game he’s not accurate deep.  Though Brad Childress apparently decided to try, I’m not sure you can coach that.

Offense

  1. The Bears also came out running and did it with some success.  They didn’t do really well, however, until they stopped running inside and, like the Vikings, started running off tackle and attacking the edges )or at least until Matt Forte started finding the holes there).
  2. The Bears offensive line had their usual problems, particularly with the Williams boys, Pat and Kevin, inside.  Generally speaking they were allowing too much penetration inside.  They did better away from the center and that’s where the holes were.
  3. The pass protection wasn’t much better.  There weren’t many sacks but there was a lot of pressure.  It didn’t help that the Vikings anticipated the pass on third down.  It looked like a jail break out there with a lot of blitzing in those situations.  All of it got better as the game went on, as it usually does.  The running game got going and that helped.  But just once I’d like to see them come out and play well immediately.
  4. Johnny Knox’s touchdown was an example of some poor play by safety Madieu Williams.  Its nice to know that happens to safeties on other teams, too.  Tough position to play in the cover two.
  5. Wonderful game by Forte who really ran well.  Maybe the best I’ve seen him all year.
  6. As much as anything, the Bears success on the ground really set things up for success.  The play action worked to perfection and the Beas got some big plays.
  7. Jay Cutler generally looked sharp when he had time, which he frequently did once the running game got going.

Miscellaneous

  1. Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski did their usual great job.  Both Jaworski and Gruden did a nice job of noticing things that other color men often miss or fail to point out.
  2. The kicking game was definitely hurt by the cold weather.  Neither kicker could kick off very deep.  The kick coverage by the Bears was spotty and the first return was particularly long.
  3. The Viking coverage was poor on punts, giving Devin Hester a record for returns for a touchdown.  I’ve no idea why they stopped kicking the ball out of bound and started kicking to him.  In any case, there was some bad Viking tackling out there and some good blocking by the Bears.
  4. Way, way too many penalties.  As usual the offensive line was largely, though not entirely, at fault.  Successive penalties set the Bears back to first and thirty before the long connection to Johnny Knox for the first touchdown.
  5. There were too many drops, possibly because of the cold.  They have to do better than that no matter what the weather.
  6. The Bears did well in the turnover department.  I guess that’s no surprise with Brett Favre and a rookie at quarterback.  Still, its good to see them back on track in that respect.  They need to win the turnover battle if they are going to win games.  Cutler threw a bad interception under pressure.
  7. Kudos to the Bears for winning what admittedly turned out to be a weak division.  Give them credit for doing it despite some obvious weaknesses.  Hopefully they will continue to improve in those areas to get it together for a long playoff run.