Category: New York Jets

Aaron Rogers Refuses Autograph to Dying Child and Other Points of View

Bears

  • Steve Rosenbloom at the Chicago Tribune:

“’As you go back to the preseason,’ Lovie Smith said, “no one really saw us being in this position.’ Raising my hand.”

Mine too.

“When. The. Bears. Have. The. Ball. Shut. The. Hell. Up. Already.”

This leaves hometown American Idol winner Lee DeWyze to sing at halftime instead of the anthem (via Jeff Dickerson at ESPNChicago.com).

“So we didn’t win a couple of years there. That’s not Lovie’s fault.  It wasn’t because we weren’t coached well or weren’t prepared. And this is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league, so, yes, I think Lovie should get an extension now.”

So whose fault is it?

Step carefully, Brian.  Perhaps you should stick to talking about the Packers.

“At the same time, we know the Bears can do better. Would the Bears be playing for a playoff berth today if they had had the injuries the Packers’ have dealt with this season?”

“A small, but not insignificant part of the improvement of the Bears running game is Greg Olsen’s improved blocking. The Bears always insisted Olsen was a true tight end when it was pretty clear that his ineffective blocking made him a wide receiver playing tight end. Tight ends coach Mike DeBord gets credit for improving Olsen’s blocking to passable for an NFL tight end.”

Olsen’s blocking has improved and it was down right good against Seattle.  But I don’t think one good game makes it “passable”.  I don’t think he’s ever going to be a good blocking tight end.

  • Dan Pompei at the Chicago Tribune puts his finger on the problem that the Bears have with defensive tackle Tommie Harris, who they may have to pay as much as $5 million next season if they don’t cut him.  Harris did well against the Seahawks last week:

“And it would be foolish to make a multi-million dollar decision based on one game. But if he plays against the Packers the way he did against the Seahawks, hold everything.

“What needs to be defined is what Harris is, and why he is what he is. Is Harris the player you don’t notice because he is getting blocked or is he the player you can’t see because his feet are quicker than the eye?”

“’There’s no question Mike could be a coordinator, if he wanted to,’ Billick said. ‘But he should be thought of as a head coaching candidate going forward.’”

I would agree.  Tice strikes me as a leader but I’m not sure how he’d do calling plays.

“ESPN.com columnist Rick Reilly took [Jay] Cutler to task last week for not working hard enough to be, in his view, likable.

“‘Cutler could own Chicago if he wanted … (and) have his name on half the billboards,’ Reilly wrote, connecting dots to produce a portrait of a sullen brat who dates a former MTV reality star rather than the strong, silent type others might see in Cutler, especially if he manages to actually win a Super Bowl.

“‘Mr. Reilly wasn’t very happy with me,’ [Cutler] said, grinning slightly after last weekend’s divisional playoff victory. ‘There are a lot of distractions, especially the situation we’re in now. We’ve just got to focus in and do our jobs.’

“There’s plenty of time to pose for billboards and tape commercials later.”

Yes, but Cutler won’t be doing any of that.  Because its not important to him and simply he doesn’t want to do it.  And, as is evident particularly when he deals with the media, Cutler doesn’t do things he doesn’t want to do.

“’The first couple times we went up there, it was easy to be impressed, especially if you were a young coach. There was all this history and tradition, Vince Lombardi and all that,’ Ryan said. ‘But after they rubbed it in a few times, it gets under your skin.

“’So, yeah,’ he added, ‘there were some games when we were more interested in making points than scoring them.’”

“The question for the NFC championship game this week is whether Smith’s game plan Sunday will be more like the teams’ first meeting in Week 3, when he sat back in Cover-2 zones and gave up big yardage but kept the Packers from putting up many points in a 20-17 win at Soldier Field. Or will he play it more like the regular-season finale three weeks ago, when in the Packers’ 10-3 win Smith played mostly with a single safety deep and, very un-Cover-2-like, used extensive man-to-man coverage that included pressing receivers at the line of scrimmage?”

I’d say both.

  • Rob Demovsky at the Green Bay Press Gazette got this interesting comment about the last regular season game when the Bears played the Packers:

“At least one player on the Packers’ side questioned whether the Bears really did go all out in the season finale. To injured running back Ryan Grant, from his perspective on the sideline, something seemed amiss that afternoon.

“’Honestly, it didn’t look like necessarily that they might have been giving it their all,’ Grant said. ‘But who knows? This is a different atmosphere. They’re going to want this game.’”

I don’t know about the coaching staff but if the Bears players were giving all out effort during that game they sure had me fooled.

  • Most of us took note when it was announced that Terry McCauly, the referee when the Packers got called for 18 penalties in Week 3, would be officating this game.  But Demovsky makes a key point:

“But it won’t be the exact same officials. During the regular season, the referee works with the same crew. But at this point in the playoffs, the NFL compiles what it believes to be the best officials at each position.”

  • Tim Hasselbeck at ESPN thinks the Bears are overrated:

  • ESPN’s Ted Bruschi thinks the Bears defense will stop Aaron Rogers:

  • ESPN’s experts this Heinz Field is worse than Soldier Field.  Warning, Skip Bayless is in this video.  Be prepared to scoff:

  • They also debate which defense is better.  I note that there are no debates about which is the better offense.
  • Mel Kiper has completed his first mock draft for ESPN.  Here’s the relevant video for Bears fans. The sharp fan will note that Kiper has the Bears picking THIRTY-FIRST:

  • Demovsky avoids autograph seekers.  At least he didn’t blow by a cancer patient:

  • Green Bay center Josh Sitton talks about the problems that come with preparing to play an opponent for the third time this season:

  • Here’s a little lesson in etiquette for those Packer fans who plan to attend the game at Soldier Field:

Elsewhere

  • Hasselbeck thinks that the Jets became more conservative on defense as the season wore on and that has made them more unpredictable:

  • Vince Young makes a vain attempt to convince the sporting world that he’s a grown up:

  • Here are the Kiper picks that everyone who isn’t a freak like me cares about:

“According to a report released this week by the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, more than 86 percent of NFL wideouts became receivers as a way to compensate for the lack of things thrown at them during their childhood.”

“Pittsburgh police issued an arrest warrant today for Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes, who allegedly racked up nearly 200 felony charges that were accidentally misfiled during his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.”

They’re also supplying Ben Roethlisberger with police women to have sex with.  True story.

“Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers created a controversy today while shopping at a grocery store near his home. Witnesses say Rodgers purchased his groceries and left the store without once acknowledging a child in the store who will one day die.”

Eventually….

One Final Thought

This fan apparently wants everyone to know what he’s doing in the dark upper deck seats near the rafters.  Like the people who know him wouldn’t have guessed it already.  From the The Sports Pickle:

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Patriots are a Cautionary Tale as Preparation Still the Key for the Bears This Week

Former NFL safety Matt Bowen describes the preparation for such a familiar foe in the Packers:

“Maybe offensive coordinator Mike Martz can install a new route scheme to take advantage of the Packers’ pressure defense, or get Devin Hester free in the open field on a new wide receiver screen that hasn’t shown up on tape. But those plays are small in comparison to what we will see Sunday. The Cover 2 defense from the Bears, Matt Forte in the run game and the empty, wide open looks from [Green Bay quarterback Aaron] Rodgers and the Packers offense.”

It would seem that this kind of preparation can be a challenge because players feel that they’ve seen it all before.  In this respect cornerback Tramon Williams had some interesting comments on how Green Bay handles the problem:

“It’s going to come down to the small details. When you play a team like that, you may not feel that you have to put in as much studying because you feel you know that team. But you don’t take that approach. You have to go back in, pay attention to more details, and kind of go into Chicago Bears locker room and see [whether you] can understand their players like they understand it. That’s something that my coach just finished telling me that he’s going to do, detailing this work like that. That’s something that our defense has been doing, detailing their work all year. I think that’s what made us play the way we’ve been.”

Hopefully the Bears won’t be complacent in their study either.  I doubt they will given how hard fought the last regular season game against the Packers was.  Nevertheless, despite the comments of both Williams and Bowen, I wonder if someone won’t try to pull a major change this week end.  ESPN‘s NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert wonders the same thing:

“Will that really be the case? This game features two of the most creative coordinators in the NFL. I heard Hawk’s quote and wondered if he wasn’t feeding into the cliché in the name of gamesmanship. With a Super Bowl berth on the line, do we really think that Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz and Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers will simply let ’em play?

“The smart money says no way, a sentiment Bears center Olin Kreutz expressed in the moments after last Sunday’s 35-24 divisional playoff victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

“‘With the coaches that are going against each other, Coach Martz and Coach [Dom] Capers, there will be some new stuff out there,’ Kreutz said. ‘So we’ll be ready.'”

Let’s hope so.  I’m sure Tom Brady was thinking just as Bowen describes last week before the game against the Jets.  He then walked into a buzz saw as Jets coach Rex Ryan designed what was by all accounts a brilliant game plan to take away the middle of the field.  It was a scheme that Brady never solved and the result was an improbably Jets win.  Michael Silver at Yahoo Sports describes the players reaction:

“When Ryan’s defensive players saw the X’s and O’s their coach had cooked up, there was no mistaking them for hugs and kisses.

“’It was an unbelievable game plan,’ veteran defensive lineman Trevor Pryce (notes) said. ‘It was out of sight. We did some stuff I’ve never seen a football team do. We flooded coverages, had man schemes that looked like zone, and zone that looked like man. Our first reaction was, ‘How are we gonna do this? How is this gonna work?’ I mean, 14 years in the NFL, and I’d never seen anything like it. Rex came up with some Madden [expletive], like it was a video game. He said, ‘Hey, let’s try this.’ And it worked! They couldn’t figure it out.'”

Such things are undoubtedly exceedingly rare.  But nevertheless lets hope the Bears players and coaches are on their toes for anything this weekend because anything could still be what they’ll see.

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Time to Retire the Nickname “Matty Ice” and Other Points of View

Bears

“The only way the Bears (12-5) against the Packers (12-6) for the NFC championship and a berth in the Super Bowl could be any bigger would be if George Halas and Vince Lombardi were on the sidelines, Red Grange was in the backfield and the halftime entertainment was Jack Dempsey vs. Gene Tunney.”

By the way, how angry would you be if this game was blacked out locally whether it was a sell out or not?  That was the situation in the NFL in 1963 when the Giants-Bears game for the NFL championship was played.

Packers receiver Greg Jennings called the turf at Soldier Field “probably the worst in the league.”

“’It’s rough,’ he said.

“’At the same time,’ he said later, ‘you have to go out before the game and kind of get a feel of what you’re working with, what you’re dealing with, get your footing, because that’s going to play a huge, huge role.’”

  • ESPN‘s NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert is reading my mind (its a truly frightening place):

“There has been a lot of talk about replacing the grass at Soldier Field, which is annually in terrible condition. Even some Bears players are complaining about it, but I have to wonder if their sentiments aren’t partly strategic. The Bears know the field better than anyone and have a far better chance of anticipating its condition than opponents, even a regular vistor like the Packers. Conversely, the anticipation of problems is a powerful psychological disadvantage for the visiting team. If I were a Bears player, I would complain about the turf every time someone put a microphone in front of me, whether or not I believed it or not. Planting that concern in the minds of an opponent is a powerful home-field advantage.”

‘‘Once the game got out of hand score-wise, I felt like they were just doing stuff to do stuff,’’ Hasselbeck said. ‘‘Just trying to get all their coverages, all their blitzes on film for their next opponent. I didn’t think it made any sense to do [that]. It seemed like they were running every pressure they had when traditionally those guys have been, ‘We just do what we do. We play cover-2. We sit back and we win the game.’ But because they [didn’t do that], they gave us opportunities to get back in.’’

  • Potash points out that the Bears offensive line has improved with notably fewer penalties over the last few games but also noted this:

“On the other hand, left tackle Frank Omiyale, who struggled against the Packers in Week 17, struggled again Sunday, beaten by defensive end Chris Clemons on at least a couple of occasions. Maybe he was great on the other 75 offensive plays the Bears ran, but it sure seems like an acute area of needed improvement against the Packers. It’s doubtful Packers linebacker Erik Walden has gotten worse in the last three weeks.”

“It’s going to come down to the small details. When you play a team like that, you may not feel that you have to put in as much studying because you feel you know that team. But you don’t take that approach. You have to go back in, pay attention to more details, and kind of go into Chicago Bears locker room and see [whether you] can understand their players like they understand it. That’s something that my coach just finished telling me that he’s going to do, detailing this work like that. That’s something that our defense has been doing, detailing their work all year. I think that’s what made us play the way we’ve been.”

  • Chris Berman at ESPN thinks the Bears might have an advantage after playing the Packers hard in the regular season finale:

  • Tony Dungy thinks the Bears found their identity over the last month offensively but that the key will still be pressuring Aaron Rogers without blitzing. via ESPN:

  • Derrick Brooks agrees.  And he thinks Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rogers will fold under pressure.  And he thinks that the Bears are going to win the Super Bowl.  I think I’m in love.  In a non-sexual, manly kind of way…:

  • The Chicago Tribune photojournalists uploaded this nice video celebrating the 2011 season to YouTube:

Elsewhere

“’We’re still the face of the N.F.L.,’ Branch said. ‘We were still the best team in the N.F.L. in the regular season.’”

“There appears to be a reason the Jets intend to tone down the trash talking. The winner of this game goes to the Super Bowl, and that will be enough motivation.”

“The Jets fell one game short of the Super Bowl a year ago, losing to the Colts in the A.F.C. championship game. Nose tackle Sione Pouha recalled walking off the field at Lucas Oil Stadium after the loss with Shaun Ellis, blue and white confetti hitting him in the face.

“’I cannot tell you how horrific that was,’ [nose tackle Sione] Pouha said.”

  • Peter King explains to Mike Florio at profootballtalk.com why they should retire the name “Matty Ice”:

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

One Final Thought

Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason on why teams embrace the “disrespect” card.  Via Sam Farmer, writing for the Chicago Tribune:

“We’re all still little football players at heart — and little football players like to be motivated, like to have an edge going into a game, some sort of anger, some reason to be more focused.”

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Bart Scott Sounds Off and Other Points of View

Bears

“’No, I’m not satisfied,’ Tillman said after one of his best games of the season. ‘We’re in the NFC Championship Game. Great. But those two plays, you’ve got to make those plays because they could’ve been the keys to the game.’”

Tillman’s right.  I loved the aggressive man-to-man defense that the Bears played.  But it also leaves zero room for error.  Usually that kind of pressure in on the safeties.  With that defense, its on the corners.

“But you simply cannot overstate how much losing Carlson in the first quarter threw the Seahawks off their game on offense. One veteran Bears defender said in the postgame locker room that without Carlson, Seattle lost its ability to run numerous formations and attempt numerous plays that otherwise might have been successful vs. the Bears’ defense.”

  • Quarterback Jay Cutler says that Greg Olsen wasn’t his primary receiver on his first touchdown in the first quarter:

  • No surprise that coach Pete Carroll and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck were disappointed after the loss:

  • The Chicago Tribune goes back in time for what I thought was an interesting look at the 1941 playoff game against the Packers – the last time the two teams met in the postseason.
  • I hope Devin Hester was kidding when he said this of Sunday’s game against the Packers (via Brad Biggs at the Tribune):

“Its going to be a shootout”

I think a good defensive game might be more likely to work in the Bears favor.

  • Steve Rosenbloom at the Tribune reports that the Bears opened as 3 point home dogs to the Packers and that most of the money immediately started pouring in on Green Bay.  I wouldn’t touch that game either way with a ten foot pole at that number.  Too much depends upon which Green Bay team shows up.
  • Dan Pompei at the Tribune gives one key stat for the Packer game:

“The Packers have sacked Jay Cutler nine times this year; the Bears have sacked Rodgers twice.”

“I don’t care about what happened late in the game, I still believe Charles Tillman made Mike Williams want to quit. Can he do the same to Green Bay’s Greg Jennings?”

  • Cornerback Charles Tillman sounds like he’s already tired of the hype (via ESPNChicago.com).  Its only just begun, baby!

  • Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris would seem to agree (via Michael C. Wright at ESPNChicago.com):

“‘I don’t know all about the history,’ he said. ‘I just know my gap. I have to control that gap. I will next week.'”

“Indeed, there will be ungodly hype, especially on this blog. From this point forward, I’m tagging this game “Epicenter of Humanity.” So I don’t want to minimize how big and fun this is going to be for fans and media members alike. “

  • Brian Urlacher knows that there won’t be many big surprises Sunday (via ESPNChicago):

  • Kenny Mayne at ESPN describes the Seahawks-Bears matchup as only he can.  The video was, of course, shot before the game but its definitely worthwhile:

“While the Bears’ offense is still particularly average by today’s NFL standards, their preparedness ranks right there with the best of ’em. They haven’t had a moment of controversy, a moment of off-the-field idiocy that undermines the team. That speaks to the coach, in this case [Lovie] Smith, the same way it spoke to the respect Tony Dungy‘s players had for him all those years.”

Elsewhere

  • WBAY-TV has taken down a video of Aaron Rogers blowing past a cancer patient who wanted an autograph.  Mike Florio at profootballtalk.com comments:

“The folks at WBAY, who probably should have realized that the station’s relationship with the only team in town may have been undermined with the publication of the video of Rodgers treating a cancer patient like a panhandler with leprosy, apparently have taken down the clip.  The key moment has been uploaded to YouTube.  Check it out before it disappears, too.”

Here it is.  For now.

  • Fortunately Clay Mathews chose to show more class:

“Asked if he’s stunned the season is over, Brady said: ‘You always are. It’s like you’re on the treadmill running at 10 miles an hour, and then someone just hits the stop button.'”

“It is tough.  Your emotions are going to be at one extreme. You’re either going to be really happy or really sad, and I hate that we all have to feel this way.”

“Well you work on one thing all week and then you get something different. We adjusted, but at the end of the day it’s about us making plays and moving the ball down the field. We didn’t do that on a consistent basis.”

One Final Thought

I love Bart Scott.  He sounds off, starting with a statement that the Bears need to remember this week.  Via ESPN:

Playoff Atmosphere More Intense at Soldier Field or on Saturn? And Other Points of View.

Bears

“What is different about playoff football is there is no letup. Every play is played like it’s the last play. That isn’t always the case in the regular season.

“‘The tempo in the playoffs is a 10, but the tempo in a normal regular-season game (can be) a 10, especially if it’s a big game,’ one general manager said. ‘If the tempo is off, it may be as low as a seven. But it’s not like playoff football is played at a tempo you never had played before, especially if you are a team that made the playoffs.'”

“How the week off affects the Bears: The last time the team received significant time off, it struggled in its return. Coming off a bye in October, the Bears faced the Buffalo Bills in Toronto and won 22-19. But with 10 minutes left to play, the Bears trailed to a Bills team that racked up 340 yards of offense and converted 63 percent of third downs. Although Chicago owns the obvious home-field advantage, the way it starts out Sunday’s game could ultimately determine the victor. The Bears can’t afford to get off to a sluggish start against the Seahawks, which enter the game riding a wave of momentum. “

Both the Steelers and the Falcons looked rusty to me yesterday at the beginning of their respective games.

  • The Seahawks don’t even think their own fans believe in them:

  • This Seahawks fan would seem to share the same goals that his team has:

  • Bill Cowher expresses doubts about Chicago as he continues to hope in vain that the coaching position comes open.  Perhaps I’m exaggerating:

  • And, of course, The Onion gets into the act with their keys to victory for the game.  This would seem to be an important one for the Seahawks:

“There must be a way to give Leon Washington room to run, perhaps by devising a method to obstruct defenders attempting to tackle him.”

“Although Urlacher claimed that the high concentration of hydrogen and trace amounts of methane, ammonia, phosphine, and acetylene would leave players gasping for breath, quarterback Jay Cutler insisted the thin Rocky Mountain air made INVESCO Field at Mile High a harder place to play.”

“After a great 1949 season, [Luckman successor Johnny] Lujack earned All-Pro honors in 1950 although he threw 4 touchdown passes and had 21 interceptions, largely because the Bears went 9-3. Future Bears quarterbacks took Lujack’s example to heart, striving to achieve victory while committing as many turnovers as possible.”

“[Jay] Cutler, like [Billy] Wade and [Jim] McMahon, is just competent enough to not hinder the Bears during a championship run. In the 60 years since Luckman, that is the highest praise any Bears quarterback has earned.”

Don’t speak too soon, Mike.

  • Here’s some surprisingly good betting advice for today’s Bear game.  The one who knows what he’s talking about is Marco D’Angelo, the guy in the tie:


Elsewhere

  • More Raji from Kareem Copeland, also at the Press Gazette:

“Let me say this about No. 34 the fullback (Ovie Mughelli). He was talking real crazy about how soft we were and we came in here and showed him. That’s what happens when you talk a big game.”

  • Tramon Williams thought the Falcons were predictable:

“I’m proud of our coaching staff because it’s not an easy thing to keep bringing new guys in and getting them ready.

“But our coaches and players have handled this extraordinarily well. I’m proud of that.”

The Packers coaches have done an unbelievable job this year.

  • Most of us understand that the Packers-Bears rivalry is pretty intense.  But they don’t have anything on the Steelers-Ravens.  Yesterday’s game was classic (via the Associated Press):

“‘What better way to put the Ravens out of the tournament,’ Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward said. ‘They keep asking for us and we keep putting them out of the tournament. They’re going to be ticked about this for a long time.'”

  • Give Terrell Suggs credit for at least knowing where to pint the finger after the loss:

“‘I just heard the most inspirational message of my life from former Jet Dennis Byrd,’ wide receiver Braylon Edwards tweeted.

“In a follow-up tweet, Edwards added, ‘As God is my witness, I have never been more ready to perform in my life. Dennis Byrd, I respect, salute and honor you.'”

It certainly sounds like Edwards isn’t the only one ready to play as the hype continues to increase as game time gets closer:

  • So you non-Bear fans are wondering who to root for in the playoffs.  Once again, we turn to The Sports Pickle for this handy chart.  (I think you Falcons and Ravens fans may still be in a bind, though):

One Final Thought

I found video of one young fan who seems to be pretty excited about today’s game:

What Coaches Should Really Say and Other Points of View

Bears

“‘You know what we have? We have the best offensive line coach in the league, period,’ said Olin Kreutz, a 13-year veteran who was a third-round pick by the Bears in 1998.”

The Bears offensive line coach is former Vikings head coach Mike Tice.

“[Offensive coordinator Mike] Martz is one of the best in the world at what he does.”

Jensen also mentions in passing that Martz will be calling the game from the press box.  That would be a change from the regular season where he stayed on the sideline.  I’m not sure what the reason for the change is but ti would seem odd to be changing a formula for success right as the post season begins.

“The biggest thing for them, when Jay [Cutler] tries to make things happen, is in the red zone,” [former Ram quarterback Kurt] Warner said. “You can’t have turnovers. You have to score points when you have opportunities.”

I have quoted someone or said this in some form every single day.  The surest path to disaster for the Bears is for the Bears quarterback to try to do too much.

“The good thing is the Bears won the division and earned the bye.
“The bad thing is the void of fresh, local football analysis. I’m pointing the thumb as much as the finger because I have participated in the blather.
“‘The quarterback doesn’t smile.’ … ‘A contract extension is due Lovie Smith.’ … ‘ ”Enlightened’ Greg Olsen finally realizes he should contribute more.’
“I feel shame.”

“The remarkable array of NFL coaches spawned by the 1985 team — [Leslie] Frazier, Ron Rivera, Jeff Fisher, [Mike] Singletary, plus ballboys Rex and Rob Ryan, not to mention [Jim] McMahon successor Jim Harbaugh — help keep the Bears of the ’80s on the front page.

“Standing ovations get tiresome after 25 years, but don’t sit down yet.”

  • Biggs interviews former NFL safety Matt Bowen for the Tribune.  Not surprisingly, they focus on the Bears-Seahawks matchup.  Bowen comments on Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch in this little nugget:

“The one thing Seattle is doing, what they did a lot against the Saints, is they ran the ball on the slot side. What that does for a running back is it gives him more room to choose. He gets the ball deep in the backfield and he has the ability to cut back, take the first hole or stretch it all the way to the edge. Marshawn Lynch is an excellent cutback runner.”

Though it hasn’t been as evident this season, speed teams like the Bears can be beaten by cutback runners as they flow rapidly to the ball.

  • I couldn’t find the video but former NFL quarterback Ron Jaworski broke down the Bears-Seahawks matchup on ESPN‘s Pardon the Interruption.  When Bears fan Mike Wilbon asked him why he should be worried about the Bears chances, Jaworski pointed out the the Bears led the league in negative plays.
  • Profootballtalk.com‘s Mike Florio picks the Seahawks to win:

“Sometimes, football makes no sense.  Last week, a clearly superior Saints team went to Seattle and lost.  This week, the Seahawks return to Soldier Field with plenty of confidence and a lot of momentum, against a Bears team that isn’t as good as the Saints team that the Seahawks beat last weekend.”

“Besides, the Bears could be tight and the Seahawks could catch them flat-footed and Seattle could do that which no one — including the Bears — expects them to do.”

Reserve your spots on the roofs of the best buildings now Bear fans.

Elsewhere

  • The Browns hired Rams offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur as their new head coach:

  • And the Broncos hired John Fox:

One Final Thought

Kyle Koster at the Chicago Sun-Times provides a day-by-day look at how the Bears good fortune could continue to a historic Super Bowl run.  Here’s a sample:

“Wednesday, Jan. 19: [NFL commissioner] Roger Godell unilaterally abolishes instant replay. Despite the outcry, Bears fans take to the streets celebrating the end of [Bears head coach Lovie] Smith’s long red-flag follies. [Packers head coach Mike] McCarthy appears on “SportsCenter” and calls for Goodell’s ouster.  The emboldened commissioner bans the Packers coach for life.”

Ryan, Belichick and the Fine Art of Leadership

The Patriots-Jets feud has been heatin gup over the last week.  But what’s interesting to me isn’t the comments that are coming out of both sides but the nature of those comments.

Jets head coach Rex Ryan led off early in the week by saying this (via FOX Sports):

“‘This is about Bill Belichick vs. Rex Ryan,’ the Jets’ brash coach declared Monday. ‘There’s no question. It’s personal. It’s about him against myself, and that’s what it’s going to come down to.'”

Belichick‘s response (via ESPN):

“We’re gonna do our best to win on Sunday.  They’re a good football team across the board: good on offense, defense and special teams. They beat the Colts in Indianapolis. We all know how tough that is. Everything concerns me [with them]. They’re good across the board.”

So what?  Typical Ryan.  Typical Belichick.  But let’s take a look at what happened yesterday in relation to the players feelings about the game and each other.  As was the case early in the week, the Jets threw the first salvo.  Antonio Cromartie said this when ased if he had ever seen Patriots quarterback Tom Brady pointing after a Patriots score late in their blow out win over the Jets earlier in the season (via Gary Myers at The New York Daily News):

“‘We see that a lot. He does it a lot,” Cromartie said. “That’s the kind of guy he is. We really don’t give a damn, to tell you the truth.’

“Okay, what kind of guy is Brady?

“‘An ass—-.

“‘—- him.'”

Brady’s response (via ESPN):

“I’ve been called worse. I’m sure there is a long list of people that feel that way.”

“But he’s a good player. [Darrelle] Revis is a great player. They have a great secondary. They’re one of the best defenses we’ve faced. We spend a lot of time preparing for them, and what they’re capable of doing over there. To shut down the Colts’ offense like they did is pretty impressive, because we know how good that offense is. We’re going to be ready to play.”

Or perhaps more humorously according to Ian Rappaport:

“Belichick has called me that. My offensive coordinator has called me that. They like me, so maybe he likes me.”

So what’s my point?  When you assess the comments by both players you come to the same conclusion as I did above.  Typical Rex Ryan.  Typical Bill Belichick.

Its a source of constant amazement to me how true it is that those who follow take on the personality of those who lead.  Individual players and, indeed, entire teams are affected and can be characterized generally by the way their head coach acts and reacts.  On some level every good coach knows it and when you see the way they react publicly you can consider it to be a sign of how they expect their players to react.

The Patriots-Jets contest isn’t just a game of talent of even a game of wills.  It also a philosophical conflict in terms of leadership.  Just one more aspect of the game that makes the NFL so interesting.

Marshawn Lynch or Mario? And Other Points of View

Bears

“’I was on the phone for a minute or so with Starks when [general manager Jerry] Angelo walked in my office and told me he had changed his mind and was drafting [quarterback Dan] LeFevour,’ Gabriel wrote. ‘I put Starks on hold, and then said to Angelo that [contract negotiator Cliff] Stein already had talked to the agent and I had the player on the phone. We couldn’t do business like that. He said he was sorry, but he decided he wanted LeFevour and the card had been turned in.

“’I then had to tell the player (a player that I had developed a good relationship with over the previous two years) that in fact we were not drafting him. Hearing a kid go from being extremely excited to silence was not easy. It was the most embarrassing moment I had experienced while scouting. In my mind everything is about integrity, and I felt our integrity had been damaged.’”

“’The Bears won a lot of games this year, but didn’t get a lot of respect,’ said John Avello, director of race and sports book operations for the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas. “I don’t see them losing this game. The only X factor for me is (Bears quarterback Jay) Cutler. He can make some bad decisions. He doesn’t have to do that in a game like this.

Exactly.  If Cutler tries to do too much on the big stage, it will be the surest path to disaster for the Bears.

“[Matt] Forte still managed 91 yards on 15 carries in that defeat, and he carries the momentum of averaging 5.8 yards per attempt over his last three games. But [Chester] Taylor, the team’s designated short-yardage runner, has to be more productive, especially against a Seattle team that ranked 21st in the league against the run.

“’I don’t know if I have to do anything differently,’ said Taylor, who has played in four career playoff games. ‘I just have to make a play whenever I get the ball. That’s it.’’’

And, of course, he has to hope the coaches haven’t called a time out when he does.

Elsewhere

  • Why the Colts really lost.  I still think she should be a linebacker.
  • Congratulations to former Bear Ron Rivera on being hired as head coach of the Carolina Panthers.  The Bears will face Carolina next season at Soldier Field.

  • Rivera will be using a 4-3 scheme, presumably similar to what he used with the Bears, rather than the 3-4 he coached in San Diego.
  • Tedy Bruschi says that Bill Belichick actually respects Rex Ryan.  Whatever… :

  • Marshawn Lynch’s run was more like something you’d see in a popular video game:

  • Former Bears wide receiver coach and current Kansas City head coach Todd Haley may call the plays next year.  That should help him attract a competent offensive coordinator.

One Final Thought

Fred Mitchell at the Chicago Tribune overheard this:

“New Cubs pitcher Matt Garza on WGN-AM 720’s ‘Sports Night’ when he was asked about people who say he is too emotional: ‘When you care about something as much as I care about pitching, you get emotional. I don’t think of it as emotion. I think of it as passion. I’m very passionate for what I do because I love what I do. People who love their jobs are very passionate about their jobs. They are going to pour their heart and soul into their job. That’s the way that I feel about it.’”

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Thoughts of Bears Game Drives Jets Sanchez to Win Over Colts and Other News

Bears

“Kansas City and Chicago are extremely strong with their coordinators, but the Chiefs’ Todd Haley is unproven as a head guy and the Bears’ Lovie Smith has some game-day inconsistencies. Smith has guided his team to the Super Bowl, though.”

He rates the Bears coaching staff a disappointing 9th of the 12 playoff teams.

  • Milwaukee Journal Sentinel beat writer Bob McGinn gives Bears GM Jerry Angelo some love probably though gritted teeth.  (I had to link to this story through commentary by Tom Kowalski at mlive.com rather than directly to the Journal Sentinel because I didn’t want to become a “Packer Insider”.  It didn’t sound too masculine to me…

Elsewhere

“Sanchez credited his poise and the team’s overall coolness under pressure to the lessons learned in a regular-season loss to the Bears.

“‘The most important thing to me was remembering the Chicago game,’ he said. ‘A field goal … just give us a chance, give us the fourth down, and not turn the ball over like the Chicago game.”’

  • ESPN‘s Merril Hoge makes some interesting comments about what the Jets did to beat Peyton Manning:

  • Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck tells ESPN that the Seahawks took advantage of the Saints defense making “educated guesses”:

Saints defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, is going to take some heat this week.

  • Ben Maller at FOX Sports Radio reports that the bettors took a bath yesterday.  Seventy-five percent of the action was on Indianapolis.  Sixty-eight percent was on the Saints.  Like Maller, I can’t say I’m surprised.  Bookies aren’t in the business to lose money and when the split isn’t close to 50-50, you can figure that the result is more likely to end up in Vegas’ favor.
  • Williamson rates the top ten NFL rookies this year.  The Super Bowl favorite Patriots have two.  The Bears have zero.
  • Williamson also had this provocative comment:

“If you were not aware, there is an offensive line shortage in the NFL. There are fewer elite lines than in my recent memory. And even some of the best teams in the league are fielding very ordinary units up front.”

I would say that every breathing Bear fan is definitely aware.

  • Dave Hyde and Mike Berardino at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel point out that the Dolphins aren’t the only ones who made mistakes in botching the attempt to hire Jim Harbaugh.  The press had a bad week as well:

  • Darrelle Revis talks to the New York Post about the Jets matchup with the Patriots next week:

The key question is whether the Jets can recover form the butt kicking they took from the Patriots late in the season to play with the needed confidence to win.

One Final Thought

Seattle coach Pete Carroll on their upset win over the Saints (via the Chicago Tribune):

“It didn’t matter what I said to them, or what was said outside, and all of the story lines and all that, they just did not buy it.  Where that came from? If I knew that, we’d have something special here. It came out of an attitude and it came out of a faith in one another.”

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“Vince Lombardi” Motivates the Teams for Wild Card Weekend and Other News

Bears

“I don’t even know why that is even important to anybody,” Angelo said. “I’ve heard it. … It’s no big deal. … I am very fortunate to be here, and as long as I am blessed with health, I continue to do what I love to do, and that’s being a part of football.”

I haven’t seen a transcript of the press conference so I don’t know what else was said.  But that’s not a denial.

“Maybe [Angelo] was referring to his litany of personnel mistakes when he admired the team for overcoming ‘all it has been through.’

“What?

Angelo would be correct if what he meant was that not fielding a professional offensive line can be an obstacle. It also is problematic that he plopped an eternally mortal cast of receivers in Jay Cutler‘s lap.

“Did you ever dream you’d be thinking “Man, we gotta get Earl Bennett back” as you were after the Bears’ 10-3 loss in Green Bay on Sunday?”

To be fair, the column should be balanced against Dan Pompei‘s more positive article yesterday.

“A No. 2 seed is usually a solid team, a team people feel is a favorite to win everything,” said John Avello, director of race and sports book operations at the Wynn. “But that’s not the case with the Bears.

“Eleven-to-1 to win the Super Bowl for a second seed is the biggest number I can remember putting up. But once you get to this point, we’ve seen the Giants run the table, and the Steelers too.”

For what its worth, the Bears seem to have beaten the odds all season.

Elsewhere

“In any event, the Panthers had better choose wisely [in the draft]: They have the first pick for a reason, and that reason is that they were the worst team in the league this season. Oh, and they don’t have a second-round pick because they traded what turned out to be the 33rd pick in this year’s draft to the Patriots to acquire the 89th pick in last year’s draft. They used that pick to draft Armanti Edwards, a wide receiver who played in three games and didn’t catch a single pass as a rookie.”

  • Florio says that Miami GM Jeff Ireland was breaking the unwritten rule that says that you don’t interview people for head coaching jobs that are currently occupied, in this case by Tony Sparano. In fairness, Jay Galzer at FOX sports said last night on the Tony Bruno Show that Ireland has been pushing owner Stephen Ross to retain Sparano. Its more than likely that Ross, who is less likely to understand or care about such niceties, is the one who wanted to interview Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh without firing Sparano first.
  • Former Bear Adam Archuletta is reportedly engaged to this:

  • “Vince Lombardi” opens Wild Card weekend with words of encouragement for the teams involved in Saturday’s playoff games. (I wish I could have embedded this video into the page. It’s absolutely beautiful.)
  • The Vikings are reportedly interviewing Josh McDaniels for offensive coordinator and Mike Singletary for linebackers coach (via Seifert). McDaniels is likely a candidate in Kansas City as well, where he’d be a better fit. But it might depend upon whether he wants to work with head coach Todd Haley.
  • Mark Schlereth at ESPN thinks the Packers will beat the Eagles this weekend by blitzing Michael Vick:

One Final Thought

Isreal Idonije on Brian Urlacher (via McClure):

“He hasn’t changed. He’s the same guy. He worked tirelessly to get back to the player he was after last year’s (wrist) injury. Adversity never got him to the point where it changed his attitude. Through everything, he just has been an incredible leader.”