Category: New York Jets

Replay Still Needs Reform and Other Points of View

Bears

“Most NFL teams would not want a fourth-year pro as their No. 3 quarterback. It’s a situation where if the team didn’t believe in him as a No. 2 after that much time, it’s never going to be comfortable with the player in that role.”

“The most logical scenario would be to make him the No. 2 or allow him to compete with another veteran. If he doesn’t win the job, it would be time to move on.”

  • Biggs also reports that the Bears are looking at running backs, another low priority.  Cal’s Shane Vereen is on the radar.
  • With only two linebackers on the roster, the Bears would appear to be thinking about that position as well.  The Bears are reportedly working out Syracuse linebacker Doug Hogue.
  • Amongst the players at the higher priority categories, Biggs says that the Bears are hosting Boise State wide receiver Austin Pettis for a workout and offensive line coach Mike Tice was at Florida’s pro day to watch what seems like their entire offensive line workout.  That would include guard/center Mike Pouncey who I’m sure the Bears would love to take in the first round but who is unlikely to be there for them.  Tice and Martz were also taking a good look at likely first round offensive tackle Gabe Carimi at Wisconsin’s pro day (via Vaughn McClure at the Tribune).  Biggs reports that the Bears are also bringing in Northwest Missouri State corner Ryan Jones for a workout.
  • And finally, Dan Pompei at the Tribune had an article focused on the Illinois pro day where three highly regarded draft picks attract almost every team in the NFL.  These are defensive tackle Corey Liuget, linebacker Martez Wilson and running back Mikel Leshoure.  The Bears would be most interested in Liuget but Biggs reports that Tim Spencer, the Bears running backs coach, had “a long chat” with Leshoure.
  • ESPN‘s Todd McShay released another mock draft.  This one is two rounds.  He has the Bears taking Mississippi State offensive tackle Derek Sherrod in the first round and North Carolina defensive tackle Marvin Austin in the second.  This would be a reach for Sherrod with guards Danny Watkins from Baylor and Orlando Franklin from Miami still on the board.  McShay has Watkins going in the second round to the Lions and Franklin going to the Steelers at 31.

Elsewhere

  • Kevin Seifert, ESPN‘s NFC North blogger, tries to get a handle on the Vikings draft.  He says the first thing the Vikings have to do is decide if they want to target a quarterback and if Jake Locker is their guy.  If so, look for them to trade down into the twenties.  They could try to trade up for Cam Newton or Blaine Gabbert but it would likely be a long, costly climb.  The knock on Locker is his accuracy.  He never managed a completion percentage better than 58.2 percent in his career.  Statistically, quarterbacks with a completion percentage of less than 60 percent in college don’t do well.
  • McShay has the Vikings picking Boston College offensive tackle Anthony Castonzo in the first and Dalton in the second.  That would certainly work.  He also is giving Lions fans wet dreams by projecting Nebraska cornerback Prince Amukamara to still be there for them in the first with Watkins in the second.
  • Tom Sorenson at the Charlotte Observer says that there are lots of indications that the Carolina Panthers are planning to take Newton as the first overall pick.
  • The New York Jets are on the clock:

  • Chad Ochocinco will be trying out to play professional soccer during the lockout according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.  Whatever.
  • The NFL isn’t the only one on the other end of a lawsuit from Tom Brady.  Poor baby’s had a rough week.

One Final Thought

Farmer also reports that the competition committee will be recommending changes to instant replay.  they took some steps in the right direction but they didn’t make the change we all know should be made.  Challenges should be completely eliminated and the decision to review should be made in the booth.  The NFL is the only league where the burden of making sure the calls are right falls upon the head coaches. The whole system is ridiculous.

Offseason Brings Plenty of Off Field Player Troubles, Even More to Follow and Other Point of View

Bears

“Broncos executive vice president of football operations John Elway recently said it’s not a sure thing that QB Kyle Orton will be traded, but a PFW insider said it would be very tough to bring the veteran back. While QB Tim Tebow may not give the team the best chance to win, he does have the backing of the fans in Denver. Elway has talked about reconnecting with the fans and could lose some credibility by sticking with Orton. A daily team observer said he gets the feeling that fans would rather win three or four games with Tebow than six or seven with Orton.”


Elsewhere

  • Barry Rozner at the Daily Herald thinks that there will be no games lost in 2011 due to a work stoppage.  I hope he is right.  I fear that he is wrong.  To every argument I can only say one thing:  “Remember 1994 when we lost and entire World Series”.
  • Daren Gannt at the Charlotte Observer highlights the decision of former Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Mike Trgovac to leave for a defensive backs position in Green Bay for less money.  Trgovac seems happy but I wonder how pleased he’ll be when someone tries to interview him for a defensive coordinator position elsewhere only to have Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy block the move.
  • Agent Drew Rosenhaus is doing what he can to keep Plaxico Burress in the back of the NFL’s mind.  Burress is serving out a two year sentence for accidentally shooting himself in the leg with unlicensed handgun while at a night club in November of 2008.  He is expected to be released June 6.

The Bears need a go to wide receiver and Burress would be an ideal candidate to fill the position.  But he hasn’t played in two years and he would have to come at the right price.

“Don’t be surprised if Matt Flynn follows the path of Matt Hasselbeck, Aaron Brooks, Mark Brunell and Kurt Warner and leaves Green Bay to become a starting quarterback elsewhere. Teams in need of a quarterback are taking a good look at Flynn, who performed exceptionally well against the Patriots in New England in December.”

“It seems there rarely are enough good cornerbacks to keep pace with all the good receivers. But the coming draft offers a deep group of cover men. April will provide the opportunity for teams to stock up and build depth at the position. As many as 19 corners could carry grades that would justify them being picked in the first four rounds.”

This fact has probably not been lost on the Bears.  Playing a base cover-2, they have not traditionally invested a lot in the position.  But they could arguably could use a good cover corner now as they mix in more single coverage against select NFL teams.

“On the same day Green Bay was dispatching the Steelers for the NFL title, the Bangor Daily News reported, a man was arrested on suspicion of breaking into an auto-parts store in Ellsworth, Maine.

“And in Iowa City, Iowa, The Des Moines Register reported, a man injured his back when an argument turned violent during a Super Bowl party.

“Their names: Vince Lombardi and Aaron Rogers.”

One Final Thought

Looks like there are plenty of players stirring up the usual amount of trouble as the offseason begins.  Here are some samples:

A work stoppage with no offseason workouts and some very bored players should bring some interesting things to the news this year.  Can’t wait.

Bears in a Bind if Titans Try to Take Mike Tice

Both Sean Jensen at the Chicago Sun-Times and Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune are reporting that the Tennessee Titans might have an interest in hiring Bears offensive line coach Mike Tice as their offensive coordinator.

Some interesting aspects to this:

1)  New head coach Mike Munchak was the offensive line coach there and he would certainly see Tice’s value to the team as a replacement for himself.  However Tice’s value as a coordinator is debatable.

Though he is definitely a leader of men and he would make a fine head coach, there’s been very little evidence that he would make a good X’s and O’s man.  He seemed to recognize the value of the tight ends that he had in Minnesota and he knew how to use them.  But I’m guessing that he had very little to do with designing any kind of a complex passing game involving multiple route combinations beyond creating some individual mismatches.

2)  Lovie Smith and the Bears must give the Titans permission to contact Tice about the job.  Ordinarily this is a no brainer.  Smith has always been supportive of assistants who were seeking to advance and it would take an extraordinary circumstance, indeed, to prevent him from doing that.  This might be that circumstance.

The Bears offensive line is a work in progress.  Tice has been crucial to the training of young players such as J’Marcus Webb and Lance Louis.  To lose him now would be a blow to thier development.  In addition, the Bears are likely to add at least two more linemen to the mix over the next few months, at least one of whom may be a draft pick.  Those linemen will need to be indoctrinated in the Bears offensive system.

But I don’t think that these factors would ultimately cause Smith to hold Tice back if it weren’t for one more major difficulty, as Biggs describes it:

“In mid-February, it would be difficult for the Bears to find a replacement for Tice, who Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo have called one of the league’s best line coaches. Most of the coach shuffling is complete so the pool of candidates isn’t deep.”

This may be part of the reason why the New York Jets denied the Titans permission to talk to offensive line coach/assistant head coach Bill Callahan.  Tice is not an assistant head coach.

3)  The fact that the Titans are looking to raid the Bears coaching staff rather than one of the Super Bowl staffs is as much of an indictment of Angelo as it is a compliment to Tice.

The Bears offensive line was roundly criticized and was generally believed to be one  of the worst in the league.  Its obvious that the Titans believe that Tice worked miracles with a talent depleted line and this offer is a general acknowledgement of this fact.  Teams know that if Tice had any players to work with, the Bears offensive line would have been one of the best units, if not the best unit, in the NFL.  Tice should be proud.  Angelo should be ashamed.

Perhaps the Bears can offer Tice an assistant head coaching position and a bump in pay for him to stay.  But if not, I think Smith knows what the right thing to do is.  Generally speaking, you want the people around you to be happy.  Good people do what they can to make that happen.  If nothing else, on a professional level you want to make it so that other coaches and players around the league want to work for you.  Long-term, that’s how you become the best.

Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy was roundly criticized by this blogger when he held quarterbacks coach Tom Clements back from interviewing for the Bear offensive coordinator position.  I would hate to see the Bears sink so low.

Wide Receiver Seems to Be the Bears Issue of the Day and Other Points of View

Chicago Bears

  • David Kaplan and Fred Mitchell at the Chicago Tribune talk to former Bears and Colts general manager Bill Tobin about how he went about drafting two members of this year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame class: Richard Dent and Marshall Faulk.
  • Former NFL safety and current Chicago Tribune contributor Matt Bowen‘s needs for the Bears:  offensive tackle, cornerback, wide receiver.  The Bears surely do need all three but they probably see defensive tackle as a more critical need than both cornerback and wide receiver.  Probably.
  • Looks like Todd McShay agrees with me.  Maybe I should reconsider my position.  Via ESPN’s NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert.
  • Having said that, Brad Biggs, also at the Tribune, continues his excellent positional review of the Bears, this time with the wide receivers:

“The Bears continue to value their receivers more than others do. They lack a difference-maker at the position and if they want to see Cutler flourish, it’s a position that will have to be addressed.”


Elsewhere

Kevin Van Valkenburg, Baltimore Sun

Here is why there is no chance NFL owners and the NFL Players Association work out a new labor agreement by March 3: It takes only nine owners to shoot down whatever proposal both sides come up with.

This isn’t just a labor dispute in the eyes of some owners. It’s a battle for the future of the sport. Rich men do not like parting with their money, especially the richest and most eccentric of the bunch, and they can (and most likely will) block whatever proposal the two sides put together in the next three weeks until they get exactly the deal they want.

I get a kick out of it when people say that the people involved in this are “too smart” to let it go into the season next year.  If the baseball strikes of the seventies, eighties and nineties taught us anything, its that this is definitely not true.

  • Chris Mortenson at ESPN talks about the labor impasse.  Note that he thinks that the current labor deal has to be allowed to expire to get it out of the jurisdiction of the federal courts in Minneapolis.  Very interesting but not surprising.  The owners are not happy with judge David Doty.

Mortenson comes through with more details in this article.

“’Typically in the staff meeting after the season concludes, I pretty much a have the whole season laid out for our coaching staff,’ McCarthy said. ‘That’s not the case this year.’

“As a result, McCarthy said he and the staff have taken what he called a ‘prepare for the known’ approach to the offseason. Since the annual NFL Scouting Combine is being held as scheduled in Indianapolis in two weeks, and the 2011 NFL Draft is set for April 23-25, the staff is focusing on those set-in-stone events. McCarthy said the assistant coaches are off until Feb. 21, then will have some more time off after the scouting combine. They’ll then return to work to do their scheme evaluation work the first two weeks of March, another annual offseason ritual.”

  • ESPN’s Trent Dilfer thinks more of quarterback Cam Newton than I do.

I’ll give Dilfer his due as a former NFL quarterback.  But I think the guys at Scouts Inc., who have Newton as the 28th rated prospect and who have undoubtedly studied a lot of tape rather than simply judging him based upon a workout, probably have a better handle on him.

  • McShay talks about his mock draft below.

One Final Thought

The Sports Pickle reports that the NFL has made an interesting offer to those who were not allowed to sit in the seats they paid for at Super Bowl XLV.

Chad Johnson’s Application for a Name Change and Other Points of View

Bears

“Every player has Lovie’s back. After last season we all got together and talked about how we are going to screw up a great thing if we don’t turn our team around. He treats us like men and he is the kind of coach you want to play for. We are very lucky to have him.”

“‘I just got off the phone with (coach Lovie Smith) and he made the comment, ‘Kevin, you’re not coming back, you’re coming home,’ ‘ O’Dea said. ‘Any time someone makes a comment like that to you, that’s pretty special.'”

  • Biggs also reviews the interesting story of wide receiver Devin Aromashodu as he heads towards restricted free agency.  I’ve talked to fans who are irrate that Aromashodu didn’t make it on to the field more this year.  We probably won’t find out for sure what the Bears problems with him have been unless or until he leaves but there surely is a problem.  It could be as simple as a lack of ability on special teams but I’ve a feeling there’s more to it than that.
  • Packers quarterback Aaron Rogers on people questioning the toughness of Bears quarterback Jay Cutler:

“I was real disappointed, to be honest with you.  I’ve known Jay for a few years now and know what kind of competitor he is. I thought it was disrespectful, some of the stuff said about him.”

Yes, I would say that total disrespect for Cutler as a person and a player sums it up well.

“Urlacher insists that the Julius Peppers hit on Aaron Rodgers was clean. What is your take? Will there be a fine? Jim Johnson, Skandia, Mich.

“Peppers hit Rodgers’ helmet with his helmet. You can’t do that. He might not have intended to do that, and he might not have even been able to avoid doing that, but he did it. I think he is going to be fined.”

  • Pity this little girl.  Not because the Bears lost.  Little girls need their daddy and how can she have any opportunity to grow up normal with so little respect for hers?  Via The Sports Pickle.

Elsewhere

  • Carson Palmer might want out but to no one’s surprise, the Bengals have no intention of trading him.  Its idle speculation but I was stuck by the timing of Palmer’s statements.  He made them almost immediately after the Bengals decided to keep Lewis.  One wonders if Chad Johnson isn’t the only one who has a problem with the head coach.
  • Florio also reports that ground work is being laid at the Senior Bowl before assistant coaches meet at the NFL Scouting Combine to discuss forming a union.
  • Florio also correctly points out that not all players will begin missing pay checks in September if there is no collective bargaining agreement.  Those due roster bonuses or who would ordinarily be getting signing bonuses in March as part of free agency will be vocal about making a deal as soon as possible.
  • Michael David Smith, also at profootballtalk.com, takes us through the Steelers goal line stand as they played the Jets last Sunday with the NFL Network show Playbook.  The Jets tipped at least one play.
  • Rob Demovsky of the Green Bay Press Gazette reports that the Packers have decided to take their Super Bowl picture with everyone in it instead of leaving out those who are on injured reserve.  Good move which would have only been better had the correct decision been made in the first place.
  • Tim Twentyman at The Detroit News says that though the Lions biggest need is at cornerback they aren’t likely to get an elite one in the draft.
  • Twentyman also says out that the Lions are in a very stable position with the coaching staff and their core players intact heading into a period of labor uncertainty.

As Pompei pointed out today, the NFC North is shaping up to be one tough division next season.  Whether the Bears win or not, we’re going to see some good football.

“The Steelers’ usage of Troy Polamalu is very interesting — and perhaps very telling. In Pittsburgh’s two playoff games, Polamalu’s and Ryan Clark‘s roles have often flip-flopped, with Polamalu often in deep coverage in the middle of the field instead of tormenting the offense by attacking the line of scrimmage and being used in his usual variety of ways. That tells me that he just isn’t healthy and in a way, he can be hidden in the deep middle of the field, where there is far less contact. The extra rest before the Super Bowl could do him very well.”

One Final Thought

Rick Telander at the Chicago Sun-Times on Cutler:

    “Socially, Cutler has major issues, ones that have come home to roost.”

    “People say Cutler is arrogant, cocky, immature. I wonder.
    But whatever ails him now, it’s all in his head.”

Bear Vs. Bear and Other Points of View

Bears

“In short, all of the problems this team has experienced at different points of the season showed up in one game — and it just happened to be the most important game of the season.”

  • I will quibble with only one of Pompei’s grades.  He gave the linebackers a 9 of 10 and I did think they made big plays in this game.  But I also strongly suspect that poor linebacker play was behind many of the huge holes that we saw in the running game in the first half.  I probably would have down graded them a bit more.
  • Pompei was tough on Tim Jennings and rightfully so:

“For the second time in three weeks, the Packers went right at Jennings.

“Rodgers threw in Jennings’ direction 13 times and exploited him whether Jennings was playing zone or man. Only four of the 13 passes did not result in gains for the Packers.”

I agree with all of the people who believe that the Bears need to look towards improving the team at the line of scrimmage.  But the Bears also need help at cornerback.  Its a need that too few people are mentioning.

  • Not surprisingly, the Bears would like to extend Lovie Smith‘s contract rather than let him go into the 2011 season as a lame duck.  Brad Biggs at the Tribune hits the nail on the head:

“The question now is how many years will be in a new deal.”

“Why is it that the Packers draft Bryan Bulaga in the first round of the NFL draft (No. 23 overall) and he starts in the NFC Championship Game and shuts down Israel Idonije. While Chris Williams, the Bears’ No. 1 pick in 2008 (14th) overall, is playing his third position and was at the very least one-fifth of a poor effort against the Packers’ defensive front Sunday?”

“How can you have a quarterback [Todd Collins] like that in the NFC Championship Game? The Packers started Matt Flynn against the Patriots on the road and nearly won. How do they do that?”

“If Frank Omiyale is the Bears’ starting left tackle next season, the Bears are in trouble. You don’t have to see the film or know what protections were called to know that the Bears should expect better than that at left tackle to win a championship. There’s room for good-but-not-great on all NFL teams, but not at key positions like that. Not when you’ve got good-but-not-great — and that’s being charitable — all the way down the line.”

For those who don’t know, the “key positions like that” are left tackle, defensive end, and quarterback.  The Bears didn’t draft any of the starts at those positions.

“He engineered two successful surprises: Opening the game with three cornerbacks and one safety, and then making a rare line call that resulted in nose tackle B.J. Raji‘s interception return for a touchdown. The alignment in the secondary left cornerback Charles Woodson as a hybrid safety/cornerback, and defensive end Ryan Pickett said, ‘It gave us a chance to cover and it gave us a chance to play the run at the same time. We had big guys to match up on the run and we had the guys to match up with their receivers on the outside.’ If nothing else, it was the kind of back-straightening curve ball Capers is known for. Meanwhile, Capers accurately presumed the Bears would target tailback Matt Forte on a third-and-5 pass at their 15-yard line midway through the fourth quarter. As a result, he made a rarely-used call for Raji to ‘spy’ on Forte. While rookie nickelback Sam Shields blitzed, Raji backed off the line and surprised quarterback Caleb Hanie. ‘We were taking away the quick routes,’ Raji said. ‘He looked for the check down, and I was there.'”

  • ESPN compares the speed of Bear Devin Hester to that of…  a bear:


Elsewhere

“(NFLPA executive director) DeMaurice Smith aspires to be a politician and is milking the labor situation for short-term fame to blow up his name and help earn a spot in office, with no regard for future of the NFL. The longer his name is in the headlines, the better for his career. It’s unfortunate — a lockout is not as much about the players and owners as it is Smith’s ego.”

  • This report from The New York Times via ESPN would seem to support that conclusion:

“I wasn’t sure about (Panthers new head coach) Ron Rivera hiring Sean McDermott — guys who get fired usually get let go for good reason. But what you have to remember, this is going to be Rivera’s defense. He’s going to call the plays and run it. It’s a lot like Rivera when he came to Chicago. Lovie Smith was there and expected to run (the defense). There’s not as much risk as you think. What Ron needed was someone who could break it down and do the dirty work and that’s where McDermott will be great for him. I think they’ll be a great team. And I like the (Rob) Chudzinski hire (as offensive coordinator). You have to remember — San Diego had the best offense and defense in the league, and they were missing a lot of parts this season. (OLT) Marcus McNeill was out. (WR) Vincent Jackson was out. They were missing a lot of receivers. The defensive line was beat up. They coached the heck out of those guys. Carolina pulled from the right tree.”

One Final Thought

ESPN’s Kenny Mayne starts trash talking since Rex Ryan wouldn’t:

The Bears Offseason Begins and Other Points of View

Bears

“Cornerback Tim Jennings said they were more aggressive defensively in the second half, playing more man-to-man and trying to put more pressure on Rodgers in order to make him move in the pocket and get rid of the ball more quickly. [Linebacker Brian] Urlacher had a more simple explanation.

‘‘’We just hunkered down,’ he said of what changed in the second half. ‘Guys got off the line. We got takeaways, we got pressure on them and played how we play.’’’

  • Even after such a brutal loss, linebacker Brian Urlacher‘s mind was still on playing general manager.  Via Vaughn McClure at the Chicago Tribune:

“‘We’ve got to get Olin signed up,’ Urlacher said, referring to 13th-year center Olin Kreutz. ‘If we get him back, we should have a chance to be good again.'”

  • More Urlacher via McClure with a comment that only confirms that Urlacher doesn’t understand the way the new NFL works:

“‘Julius Peppers wouldn’t say much about the helmet-to-helmet hit on Packers quarterback [Green Bay quarterback] Aaron Rodgers that resulted in a 15-yard penalty, but Urlacher spoke up. ‘It was a good hit. (Pepper is) 6-7. What is he supposed to do?'”

It was not a good hit.  It was a penalty.  The fact that Peppers is so tall only means that he has to try harder to lower his target.  To my eye he didn’t try at all.  Urlacher needs to stop complaining and get used to it.

“As it turned out, Cutler was less efficient than not only Rodgers, but also Caleb Hanie, who is supposed to be a professional clipboard holder.

“‘I kind of wish we had Jay in there the whole game the way things were going,’ Packers linebacker Clay Matthews said.”

“After the crowd around him dispersed, Cutler turned and faced his locker. His eyes grew watery as he took his time buttoning his purple jacket.

“Cutler’s car was parked inside the tunnel and he walked to it slowly, his left leg as stiff as his upper lip.”

“Almost instantly, Cutler was criticized across the Internet (for coming out of the game). Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew said on his Twitter account he played the entire season on a bad knee, and Cardinals safety Kerry Rhodes also chimed in.

“‘Who? Where’s he at right now?’ Urlacher said about Jones-Drew. ‘Home. It’s easy to talk (crap) about someone when you’re sitting on your couch watching their game. That’s what I am saying. I don’t understand it. I don’t get it.'”

Neither do I.  Though I do have some thoughts on it here.

“Either through the draft or free agency, it is likely the Bears will try to bolster their offensive line. They could use another pass rusher as well.”

Though the Bears apparently like what they have, there will be much talk amongst the fans about the need for a sizable wide receiver as well.  But we’ve got all kinds of time for that.  All kinds of time.

Elsewhere

“I don’t even feel like the bridesmaid.  We’re more like the flower girl, I guess. We can’t get past that last hurdle. It hurts.”

“We almost pulled out another one, but again, our goal for next year, I got news for you … it won’t change and it will never change.  We are going to chase that Super Bowl. We are going to chase it until we get it. And we’ll chase it after that again.

“But that’s it.  If you want to criticize us, then go ahead, but you have no right.”

One Final Thought

Rogers knows how the Packers got to where they are this season.  Via Michael Hunt at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

“Character.  Look at our roster and a number of players who were not with us or were not counted on to play a big role. The biggest difference between last year and this year is our character and that we believe in each other.”

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PTI Word on Potential Obama Super Bowl and Other Points of View

Bears

  • Having just watch ESPN’s NFL Matchup show, I’m glad Michael David Smith at profootballtalk.com took the time to note down some of the interesting and unique analysis of the Bears-Packers game by Ron Jaworski and Merril Hoge.  You can find it here.
  • The village mayor basks in the big city spot light as he wagers with Mayor Daley  on today’s game.  Via the Chicago Sun-Times.
  • Earl Bennett‘s wife just had a baby boy.  I guess he was involved somewhere in the process as well.  Via Neil Hayes at the Sun-Times.
  • Five year old Jack Lawyer won the Bears game face contest by ripping the head off of a Packer Christmas ornament.  Via the Sun-Times.

“It’s a risk to send pressure at [Green Bay quarterback Aaron] Rodgers. He has shown the ability to get the ball out of his hands quickly and accurately. With the Packers using a six-man protection (the running back stays in the protection scheme), there is no guarantee the Bears will get a hit on Rodgers. Therefore, the coverage and tackling in this scheme are crucial to the Bears’ success”

“‘I think if he gets under pressure, he’ll just start slinging that sucker around like free loaves of bread in the hood, man,’ Strahan said during an appearance on the ‘T.Ocho Show.’ ‘I don’t think he’s going to sit back there hold it and be cool with it.'”

  • Pompei also got this comment from Saints safety Darren Sharper regarding the leadership ability of both quarterbacks in this game:

“You talk about body language — Aaron’s might be 10 times better than Jay’s.  Jay’s body language sometimes just kills you.”

“It so happened the college kids were playing the defending NFL champion Packers.

“‘It’s an all-star game and they came out to pounce our ass,’ Buffone said. ‘I remember what Jimmy Taylor’s first words were: ‘You guys didn’t come up here to play football, you came up here to count your money.’ I told him as he was screaming at me, ‘Look you (jerk), I was drafted by the Bears. There is no money.'”

“Under [Bears offensive coordinator] Mike Martz, the Bears have not attempted to get Olsen the ball downfield as much. In fact, they have not attempted to get him the ball as much, period.”

Its worth noting that Olsen was not Cutler’s primary receiver even on that play.

  • PTI debates Barak Obama going to the Super Bowl.  Couldn’t agree more with Tony Kornheiser on this.

Elsewhere

  • Dan Le Batard at the Miami Herald writing about the Dolphins.  But he could have easily been saying the same thing about the pre-Jay Cutler Bears.

“A slew of alleged Dolphins leaders have been run through this rinse-repeat car wash since – a cornucopia of alleged offensive minds, defensive minds, culture changers, hot candidates and legends. And all have left here varying degrees of exposed or diminished. It isn’t a coincidence that the organization’s descent began when Dan Marino’s did. You don’t need greatness and stability atop your organization as much as you need it atop your huddle.”

“Ideally, find a young guy, build around him, know you’re going to have him for the next nine, 10 years as your starting quarterback. Those guys are sometimes hard to find.”

A former Bear ought to know.

“I called him up, interviewed him on the phone. I said, ‘Hey, man, you want to come out here and help me out, help us win a championship?’ That was his interview.”

“Asked about the 18-game season by Judy Battista of the New York Times, Steelers chairman and American ambassador to Ireland Dan Rooney said, ‘I’d rather not have the money.’ I say the NFL needs this guy more than Ireland needs him.”

“Mike McCarthy will need to win about five Super Bowls before most Packers fans will elevate him to Vince Lombardi‘s exalted status, but I say he’s already a better coach.”

“With two picks in every round for the first four rounds, the Patriots will not have enough roster spots available to ensure those players will make the team. As a result, I can see them being aggressive in the draft to ensure they come away with the specific players they need. They have depth, they have youth, but they need an impact defensive player who can be impactful right away — not down the road.”

  • The New York Jets did well keeping their mouths shut this week.  But they finally exploded Thursday.  Here’s Jets safety James Ihedigbo‘s message to Jets fans.  Via Steve Serby at the New York Post:

“Stock the refrigerator full of champagne and get ready to celebrate.”

One Final Thought

Rod Marinelli on his visit to Charlotte, NC with coach Lovie Smith to recruit defensive end Julius Peppers to play for the Bears.  Via Vaughn McClure at the Tribune:

“One thing I wanted to make sure he knew was how important it was for me to be there,” Marinelli said of the meeting. “He was important to us.

“You have to know the guy. He doesn’t want to hear someone in his ear yakking. I understand players. I have a good beat on a person. And one thing I really wanted to express to him was that I really wanted to coach him.”

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Brett Favre Is Ready to Let the Packers Beg Him to Come Back and Other Points of View

Bears

  • I don’t know if I should respect this or be worried by it.

  • Tom Skilling‘s game day forecast:

“Of course Dom does a great job. It’s the final four. There are a lot of great coaches coaching this week, but in the end, what it will come down to is it’s a players game. I think it will be something as simple as blocking and tackling. Some of those basic fundamentals will win this football game.”

Give the Bears credit.  No matter what happens tomorrow it has to be admitted that they are generally a well-coached team with good fundamentals.  Smith has a point.

“Would the Bears be playing in the NFC Championship had they lost as many starters for the season as Green Bay has? Tom Zanette, West Chester, Pa.

“I doubt it. I doubt any other team would have made it this far with as many injuries as the Packers had. And I’m surprised the Packers made it this far. I don’t think the Bears have the same depth. Look at what happened to them last year when they lost Brian Urlacher. It’s a real testament to the entire Packers organization that they made it this far. General manager Ted Thompson and his staff built up the team’s depth with draft choices, and then they found replacement parts on the street. Coach Mike McCarthy and his staff found ways to minimize the impact of player losses. And substitute players stepped up big time.”

Hard for even a jealous Bear fan to argue though I might point out that the Bears have a pretty good coaching staff as well.

“How come Jay Cutler never pump fakes before throwing a pass? I think there are a few times a game where he could get a D-back or D-lineman to bite. Jim from Los Angeles

“He pump fakes a little, but certainly he could use the pump fake more frequently and effectively. Some players are just more comfortable doing it than others. What’s more important is that he’s not locking onto receivers and telegraphing his passes. And for the most part, he’s not doing that.”

“PEOPLE ARE WORRIED about the SI cover jinx now that Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, center Olin Kreutz and guard Roberto Garza are on the current cover of Sports Illustrated.

“You know how the superstition goes: Be on the SI cover, and you’re doomed.

“‘Doesn’t affect me because I’m Mexican,’ Garza said with a chuckle at Halas Hall.

“Here’s the thing: Joe Montana, John Elway, Michael Jordan and every Super Bowl winner has been on the cover of SI.

“It’s kinda up to you.”

“Maybe it’s me, but I’ve sensed a I-know-something-you-don’t attitude from the Bears all week.”

Maybe its me but I’m sure the Packers are giving off the same vibe.  I’ll bet they all have some surprises in store.

“(Bears WLB Lance) Briggs plays with great base. He is great taking on blocks. He is always around the ball. He is very underrated. … (On the other hand, Bears RB) Chester Taylor is 31 and can’t avoid anymore. He’s done.”

  • For those who put any stock in such things EA Sports simulates the NFC Championship Game:

  • These characters kind of look like Brian Urlacher.  If he had hair:

  • For those looking to make an investment:

Elsewhere

“On Friday, Mark Sanchez said of Scott: ‘That’s his personality. If I would have done an interview like that, it wouldn’t have gone over so well. That’s just not me. But that’s Bart to a T.’”

  • The Buffalo Bills have hired former Bears head coach Dave Wannstedt as assistant head coach and inside linebackers coach.  Wannstedt certainly knows his X’s and O’s.  Good hire.
  • And the Browns have hired another former Bear head coach, the stubborn but even-tempered Dick Jauron, as their defensive coordinator.
  • Todd McShay at ESPN thinks that another quarterback from Delaware might be on the NFL radar:

  • Former Jet Greg Buttle talks about the inspiration the Jets have drawn from Dennis Byrd:

  • Adam Schefter at ESPN talks about how the Steelers are different compared to the first time they played the Jets:

  • More good betting advice on the Jets-Steelers:

  • There isn’t a single comment I could make about this college mascot that wouldn’t get me in trouble.  From The Sports Pickle:


One Final Thought

The author’s name isn’t going complete on the page but I’m going to guess its Telander:

“The game today hasn’t even started, but there’s already an elemental urge to preserve it, to keep it just as it is, in suspended anticipation. The game can’t possibly live up to the buildup, can it?

“Can it?”

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Jon Stewart Has a Message Just for You Patriots Fans and Other Points of View

Bears

  • A shout out to Bear Goggles for the Packer jokes found in this post.
  • Kudos to Packer running back James Starks for being classy, at least publicly, about being passed over by the Bears in the draft in embarrassing fashion (via Mark Potash at the Chicago Sun-Times):

“Starks said he had no hard feelings over being snubbed by the Bears, who told him they were going to draft him in the sixth round, then had to tell him they had changed their mind. The Packers selected him 12 picks later.

‘‘’I was thankful, actually, that they thought of me,’ Starks said. ‘Most teams wouldn’t have thought of me in situations like that. I prayed on it. I knew things would fall my way. Now I’m a Green Bay Packer, and I’m lovin’ it.'”

  • —

A first grade teacher explains to her class that she is a Cheesehead.

She asks her students to raise their hands if they are
Cheeseheads too.

No one really knowing what a Cheesehead was, but wanting
to be like their teacher, their hands explode into the air like flashy
fireworks.

There is, however, one exception. A girl named Kristen
who has not gone along with the crowd. The teacher asks her why she has
decided to be different.

“Because I’m not a Cheesehead.”

“Then”, asks the teacher, “what are you?”

“Why, I’m a proud bear Fan,” boasts the little girl.

The teacher is a little perturbed now, her face slightly red. She asks
Kristen why she is a rebel.

“Well, my mom and dad are Bear Fans, so I’m a Bear Fan too.”

The teacher is now angry. “That’s no reason,” she says loudly. “What if
your mom was a moron, and your dad was a moron. What would you be then?”

A pause, and a smile. “Then,” says Kristen, “I’d be a Cheesehead”

“We won’t play a player unless we feel like he can be effective and won’t hurt the team – that he can help the team. I don’t think any of our players would put themselves out there knowing that they can’t do their job and that would definitely be the case with Chris. He’s making progress. There’s no reason really to think that he can’t and won’t be able to perform the same way he normally does.”

  • The obligatory intermission:

“That’s who we are. We believe in our basic philosophy of eventually it’s going to come down me beating the guy across, a one-on-one battle no matter how you get in it. There is only so much you can do. The teams who have a philosophy just blitzing every snap, eventually, though, as you blitz you are going to have to beat someone to get there most of the time. You are not going to have a free guy. If you have a free guy, it’s someone on the outside. So it still comes down to a one-on-one football game. For us it’s the same situation. We just do it a little bit differently, but in the end, as our players said, we’re not going to change a whole lot. For the most part, you are going to know what we are going to do and we are going to try to out-execute you.”

We’ll see.

  • —

Q: Did you here about the Packer fan that died at a pie eating contest?

A: The cow kicked him in the head!

“The one thing we did see when we looked at Tim was he was a tough, competitive guy, but he’s taken that to another step. Both our corners are so physical. I’m so proud of what these guys do and how tough they are and how well they tackle and how well they compete. They have good ball skills, man coverage, but in our system you have to tackle. You have to be physical, there’s no ifs, ands or buts about it and both of them have done a great job with tackling. To answer your question, he’s a heck of a ballplayer.”

I would agree.  But I’ve been waiting all year for someone to take advantage of Jennings short stature.  Hopefully I’ll still be waiting next week.

  • —

Q: What’s the difference between a porcupine and Lambeau Field?

A: The pricks are on the outside of a porcupine.

  • Marinelli, again via the Tribune, on Brian Urlacher, who the Bears were missing all last year:

“The biggest thing he does is he brings a calming effect to the entire defense because he they know if something comes up that is a surprise or whatever, he’s going to handle it. It’s a tremendous calming effect for the defense. His verbiage, his communication, is always right. He’s able to put the players in the good situation all the time. So it’s a comforting feeling for a coach, but also for the defensive team.”

  • —

Q: What do you call a Packer fan with a sheep under his arm?

A: A pimp.

“It’s part of what we are, built in. You have to adjust all four guys that are rushing, unless we’re blitzing, they’ve got to work together. I always tell them four equals one. We have to know where each other is. Each guy has got to do his job and be accountable. You can’t let it take the aggressiveness out of our pass rush.”

  • —

Q: Why is it a good idea to bring a Packer fan along to a Vikings game?

A: You can park in the handicap zone.

  • Fred Mitchell at the Tribune points out that beginning Friday, the bronze lions guarding the Art Institute will sport a Bears helmet (south Lion) and earmuffs and scarf (north Lion) throughout the weekend.
  • —

Q: What do you call a sober Packer fan?

A: A liar.

Q: How do you save a drowning Packer fan?

A: Take your foot off his head.

  • Mark Schlereth at ESPN makes his pick. Jerk:


Elsewhere

  • Eric Mangini discusses how the Jets might go about beating the Steelers Sunday with profootballtalk.com‘s Mike Florio:

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

  • Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu missed practice again yesterday.  I’m guessing he’ll play but if he’s less than 100% it could be a huge blow to the Steelers.  Via Florio.
  • We’ve heard repeatedly about how good Bears long snapper Patrick Mannelly is but Pro Bowl coach Mike Smith chose to go in another direction (via Michael David Smith at profootballtalk.com).
  • Todd McShay at ESPN has released his first mock draft:



One Final Thought

Jon Stewart has a message just for Patriot fans (via The Sports Pickle):