The Bears “Best Player” and Other News

Bears

“Word around the league is that the Bears aren’t in a hurry to spend more money on Smith. In fact, they may want to trim some salary off the coaching staff. That could be a lot easier to do after next season than this one.

“Phillips negotiated a bad contract with Smith the last time out because his timing was awful. No need to blow it again when you already have the guy for an extra year.”

  • Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune believes that leaving Corey Graham off of the Pro Bowl roster was a snub.  I agree.
  • Biggs also reports that the Bears brought in four punts for a look.  Current punter Brad Maynard will be an unrestricted free agent.  He’s been consistent but he’s also 36 and he’s had health problems.
  • Neil Hayes at the Chicago Sun-Times has this quote about Devin Hester from Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy:

“He’s the best player on their football team.  They have a lot of fine football players, too. No disrespect to [Julius] Peppers, [Lance] Briggs and the rest of those guys. He’s having probably his finest year there.”

I guess its not exactly the same thing but I tend to think in terms of who the Bears could least afford to lose when asked this question.  Hester wouldn’t be at the top of the list.  I think I’d at least put Peppers, Jay Cutler and probably Brian Urlacher ahead of him.

  • The Bears are talking big about taking this game seriously and I’m sure they’ll try to.  But actions speak louder than words and the fact that Olin Kreutz got a veterans day off indicates that – to an extent – they aren’t treating the practices as seriously as they otherwise would (Via Vaughn McClure at the Tribune).  This seems to be consistent with this statement from Smith is Dan Pompei’s column at the Tribune:

“Most of you reported that we pulled our guys (in the finale in 2005). Even for this game, if there’s someone that’s a little banged up, we’re not going to put him at risk then.”

  • Speaking of Pompei’s column, he gives a well-reasoned opinion of what the Bears will actually do against the Packers Sunday.

In his last eight games, Cutler has a 96.9 quarterback rating on third down. His 54.7 percent conversion rate is the highest in the NFL during that span.

The defense is ranked second in forcing three and outs, are third best at stopping the run and are second in opponent passer rating.

The Bears had a lot of trouble with third down last year and early this year.

The Bears have forced 33 turnovers this season while the Packers have turned it over just 18 times. “Zero giveaways will be an important statistic this week,” McCarthy said

Elsewhere

  • Sam Farmer at the LA Times (via the Chicago Tribune) highlights the fact that if Seattle beats the Rams Sunday night they will be the first ever team with a losing record to make the NFL playoffs.
  • Barak Obama‘s statement commending the Philadelphia Eagles for giving him a second chance is causing an over blown storm of controversy.

I’m not in the habit of making political or social commentary.  But I’m going to make an exception here.

Obama’s statement doesn’t bother me.  The fact that people don’t like it doesn’t bother me.  What bothered me about this article is that of all the organizations to go to for comment the writer went to PETA.

PETA is not just an organization of animal lovers.  They are fringe extremists who, though welcome to their opinion, should not be sought for comment in an informed publication of any kind.  To do so only furthers their agenda and gives them an air of legitimacy that they in  no way deserve.

  • Michael Salfino at the The Wall Street Journal points out via benmaller.com that Michael Vick is 36% worse in cold weather, something Bear fans already know from his visits here.  This may be one of many reasons why head coach Andy Reid hesitated at first to make Vick the starter earlier in the season.  The Eagles won’t do it but they should reconsider their starting options if their road to the Super Bowl goes through Green Bay of Chicago.
  • Dominic Raiola may find himself in some hot water for this graphic suggestion (mlive.com via benmaller.com).
  • Cedric Benson further devalues the Ed Block Courage Award.  Via profootballtalk.com.
  • Green Bay offensive line coach James Campen on how to avoid a letdown similar to the one the Packers had against the Bears in their first game where they had 18 penalties.  Via Gary D’Amato at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

“You have to maintain good and the only way to do that is to strive to be great.”

  • Manish Mehta at the New York Daily News quoted this interesting statistic when talking about the difference between a Jet loss this Sunday, leaving the 10-6 and a Jet win:

When you look at recent Super Bowl history, 11 is the magic number. In the past 10 Super Bowls, 18 of the 20 teams had at least 11 regular-season wins.

  • According to the AP the Bears’ win over the Jets led the way to the highest preliminary television rating for the single-game window in the 13 seasons of the current AFC package with CBS.  Its nice to see CBS get a return on the Bears after televising the miserable contest against the Patriots where they had to switch away to a more competitive game in most markets.
  • Leave it to the Daily News to generate this headline:  “Rex Ryan is yet to put his foot down on issue of Mark Sanchez starting Sunday against the Bills”
  • Donovan McNabb continues to want to have his cake and eat it, too, according to the AP:

“Donovan McNabb sees ‘nothing wrong’ with an inflammatory statement in which his agent attacked Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan.

“Yet McNabb also tried to distance himself from that statement Tuesday in his weekly radio appearance on ESPN980. McNabb said he wasn’t aware that his agent was planning to release the statement before it came out last week.

“‘He put his thoughts into the whole deal, not Donovan’s thoughts,’ McNabb said.”

“No, I want to say, ‘F- you.’ And I mean that in the most professional way.”

  • If the Packers qualify for the playoffs they will be bucking a serious trend to make the Super Bowl.  According to Mike Vandermause at the Green Bay Press Gazette no NFC 6 seed has ever made it.
  • Via the AP we have Fox analyst Tucker Carlson who said Vick “should have been executed” for his role in a dogfighting ring.  Execution?  I mean really…

Can we do it on television?

One Final Thought

Thanks to George Vecsey at The New York Times for highlighting this spoof that could in actuality be of any of 95% of all NFL coaches.

Bears Must Address Defensive Backfield in the Offseason

For all those Bears fans who are cover-2 haters, Andrew Furman at the ultimateny.com comments on the Giants use of it in their disastrous loss to Green Bay:

    “You get success vs weaker teams with these schemes, but when you play against the GOOD QBs, it does not work. Aaron Rodgers picked on the off coverage so often (slants, etc..) that he racked up 225 yds in one half.  (Terrell) Thomas and (Corey) Webster were playing on Pluto while (Greg) Jennings, (James) Jones and Rodgers were playing pitch and catch.  By the time the second half came and we began to see a little more press coverage, it was too little too late.”

    “To the untrained observer, the press coverage was equally unsuccessful.  That is a completely faulty conclusion.  Rodgers and his WRs were forced to make some terrific throws and catches.  They did, but at least they earned it.”

    Contempt for the cover-2 amongst offensive players weeks to be very common.  LaDainian Tomlinson‘s comment after the Jets game was typical (via Vaughn McClure at the Chicago Tribune):

    “‘I knew they were a tough defense,’ Tomlinson said, ‘but they’re predictable. We know the things that you can get against Cover-2 defenses no matter who’s out there. They’re a great defense, but we had a great game plan against this scheme.”’

    We hear this over and over again from opponents.  The cover two is fine.  It really is.  But it needs to be properly mixed with other defensive schemes to make it work.

    In particular the New England game and, to a lesser extent, the Jets game taught us that this is the case and, to their credit, though they still play too much of the zone, the Bears have tried to do mix it up.  But the problem is that they aren’t built for anything but the cover two and they don’t execute other schemes very well.  For instance, most of the time when the Bears play man-to-man the opposition’s worst wide receiver is better than the Bears worst defensive back.  That’s the simplest form of a mismatch.

    The comments above are yet another indication that the Bears are going to have to look toward improving their defensive backfield in the draft.  They are beyond the point where they can just attempt to load up on defensive linemen while ignoring everything else.

    Jets Victory New Bears Signature Win

    Steve Rosenbloom at the Chicago Tribune describes the up and down nature of the game yesterday:

      “I thought the game was over early when the Bears pounded the Jets all over the place. Did it with all their units, too.”

      “Then I thought it was over when the Jets scored three straight touchdowns, keyed by Tim Jennings’ dropped interception after Jay Cutler threw a pick six.

      “Then I thought it was over when the Bears seized on a failed fake punt — what was Rex Ryan thinking about? Don’t answer — with a bomb to Johnny Knox followed by Devin Hester’s big punt return and eventual TD catch to the put the Bears up 31-24.

      “But the Jets came back. The Jets always came back. But so did the Bears.”

      And that’s the key.

      The Bears have been criticized repeatedly for beating up on bad and wounded teams.  Fans would say, “Yeah, but the had to play with their third string quarterback.”  “Yeah, but this guy was injured.”  “Yeah but (insert excuse here).”  Up until now the Bears signature win was the one against the Eagles.  But even with that game the Eagles came out flat and didn’t play well.

      That wasn’t the case yesterday.  Yesterday the Bears played a good football team who played like a good football team.  They came through with their best performance to date.

      If they want to go deep into the playoffs, the Bears need to keep improving.  This was a very, very good example of how that is continuing to happen and if it does, no one is going to want to play them in January.

      Easy to Criticize Jets Fake Punt in Hindsight

      David Haugh‘s attitude in his column for the Tribune toward Rex Ryan‘s decision to fake punt in the second quarter seems to be typical.  He thinks it was a bad decision and it certainly was in that it didn’t work.

        “‘They wouldn’t put (Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez) in the game and punt the ball, you’re not going to make the starting quarterback block,’ (Bears special teams player Rashied) Davis said. ‘They did what I thought they would do. Maybe they thought we’d panic.’

        “Or maybe Ryan’s arrogance in thinking he couldn’t possibly guess wrong loosened the Jets’ grip on a winnable game in a New York minute.

        “‘It could have been,’ Davis said. ‘From watching ‘Hard Knocks,’ (on HBO), he seems like an arrogant guy.”’

        But I’m not inclined to criticize Ryan too much for being bold.  His defense was performing well and he didn’t want to kick to Devin Hester.  Seen without the benefit of hindsight, I didn’t have a big problem with the decision.

        Having said that, as implied by Davis, perhaps Ryan or one of his coaches should be worried about how they ran the play.  It’s evident that the Bears picked something up on tape.  Vaughn McClure reports for the Chicago Tribune:

        “(Jets utility man Brad) Smith was told the Bears called out, ‘Fake,’ before the play.

        “‘You could tell they kind of knew,’ he said. ‘They get paid too.”’

        Game Comments: Bears Vs. Jets, December 26, 2010

        Offense

        1. The Bears came out running and the Jets came out playing aggressive man-to-man defense, crowding the line and blitzing a lot.  The Bears struggled and their wide receivers just weren’t getting open in the short passing game.  The Jets won the first half in this respect.
        2. Late in the first half the Bears stopped running the ball quite as much, which I thought was a mistake. On the other hand they started throwing to Matt Forte out of the back field which was extremely effective.
        3. Jay Cutler’s mobility was a great plus against the Jets blitz and he was constantly running out of trouble and throwing it down field.
        4. On a related note, Cutler’s accuracy was frequently off in the first half and that hurt the Bears (see the first interception when Cutler threw behind Earl Bennett).  Though he’s usually good on the move it didn’t get better until the second half when he was able to stay in the pocket.
        5. And speaking of that, the Bear offensive line did as good a job as they have all year protecting Cutler in the second half.
        6. Kudos also to Cutler for throwing with more anticipation this game in response to the blitz.  He was getting the ball out of his hand quickly in response to the blitz as the receivers adjusted.  He still held the ball too long on occasion when trying to make a play but not as much as he has been.
        7. Matt Forte’s first touchdown came off of a wonderful block by the full back (Greg Olsen?).
        8. There were times when the Jets defense was too aggressive and it hurt them.  For instance, they badly lost contain on Cutler’s touchdown in the second quarter.  I’m wondering if more misdirection in the ground game would have worked if the Bears had done more of it.
        9. The Bears did a nice job of adjusting at half time this game.  Realizing that the short passing game in response to the Jets blitz and their aggressive man coverage wasn’t working, they started throwing deep to great effect.  Touchdowns by Johnny Knox and Devin Hester resulted.
        10. If the Bears threw at Darrelle Revis all game, I didn’t see it.

        Defense

        1. The Bears came out blitzing and loading the box. Generally speaking they mixed it up with a lot of cover two and even some quarters coverage. But whenever they had to play man-to-man they got burned.  The Jets responded with a lot of sort passes.  The defensive backs played too far off of the Jets receivers and there were large gaps for Mark Sanchez to throw in to.  Ultimately the Bears couldn’t handle the Jet passing game in the first half and it looked like pitch and catch at times out there.  They did better in the second half with some tight coverage.
        2. The Jets attacked the edges of the Bear defense in the running game.  It was also very effective.
        3. Tommie Harris made got good penetration on the first defensive play of the game. How unfortunate that this was the exception to the rule.  The Bears had a lot of trouble getting pressure on Mark Sanchez this game.  Even the blitz wasn’t getting to him most of the game.
        4. Santonio Holmes really thought they should have challenged his fumble in the first quarter but it looked like the ball was out before he was down to me.
        5. There was some bad tackling out there but the real problem that the Bears had with stopping the run was over pursuit.  This used to be b Bear weakness but they’ve done well with it this year up until now.  Hopefully it isn’t rearing its ugly head at the wrong time.
        6. On a related, Lance Briggs overran the play on the Jets first touchdown.  Indeed, it wasn’t a good game over all for the Bears linebackers.
        7. Tim Jennings also had a bad game.  He dropped an interception and he struggled in coverage.  He lost contain on at least on long run around end.
        8. Danieal Manning bit on a short route in the third quarter, resulting in a Santonio Holmes touchdown.  Fortunately Chris Harris didn’t do the same thing on the Jets last offensive play, intercepting the ball.

        Miscellaneous

        1. I watched this game in a sports bar in St. Charles, Missouri.  It was good to be among so many Bear fans.  This must be how the Bears feel while on the road.
        2. Per the Chicago Tribune‘s Brad Biggs’ Twitter, the last time a game was played on a Tuesday was 1946.  The Vikings and the Eagles will now be doing it this week thanks to a blizzard in Philadelphia.
        3. I sure do wish the Bear offensive line would cut down on the penalties.
        4. The ball was dead all day, causing kicks to be short and giving both teams good field position, especially the Bears.
        5. Heaven knows Robbie Gould has earned the right to do it but I’d have appreciated it if he had finally missed in a game which was less close.
        6. The Bears dropped a couple easy interceptions this game (Tim Jennings and Charles Tillman were two culprits).  That can’t be allowed to happen.  I’m not complaining too much but they should have had more turnovers.
        7. There weren’t too many drops this game (not counting the Bear defensive backs) but its hard not to notice that Knox dropped another one.
        8. The Bear defense was a disappointment today.  Although they still played a lot of cover two, the game plan required them to really mix it up and I don’t think they responded well.  There wasn’t much pressure on Sanchez most of the game and they didn’t play with the needed discipline.  The man defense wasn’t as bad as it was against the Patriots but it still needs a lot of work and both Jennings and D.J. Moore are weaknesses.
        9. This was a great game for the Bear offense.  The offensive line did a very nice job of protecting CUtler in the second half.  That was a good team they beat today and they played well.  It was about as good a performance as you can reasonably expect.

        A Christmas Miracle and Other News

        Bears

        Elsewhere

        “’That’s really been a big part of the problem around here,’ Portis said. ‘People start playing for safety. So it’s like, ‘I gotta play safe and sound, instead of going out on the limb and making plays.’ . . . If a guy scared in the locker room, he gonna always play scared.’”

        • Andrew Brandt at the National Football Post takes a look at the current state of the collective bargaining negotiations between the NFL and the NFLPA.  His prediction is not good news for those fans and players who don’t like the thought of an 18 game season as much as I do:

        “Despite the apparent contradiction to the player safety initiatives, the 18-game season will happen as the complaints will be drowned out by the pronouncements of labor peace for the foreseeable future.”

        “I called Donovan on the phone, mentioned I wanted to have a conversation with him to find out what this was all about,” Kyle Shanahan said Friday, according to Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post.   “And when I talked to Donovan [on Thursday], he said he didn’t say any of that.

        “I’m like, ‘Well yeah, your agent did, which to me is you.’ And he said he didn’t agree with any of that, those words didn’t come out of his mouth, he didn’t tell his agent that stuff.  So all I can go off is what Donovan tells me. And we’ve never had a confrontation all year, never had an argument, everything’s been good.”

        This is pretty much just cowardice on McNabb’s part.  I’m glad Shanahan is calling him out.

        “It was a Christmas Eve miracle!”

        Perhaps he was being a tad sarcastic.

        The shoulder was a welcome distraction from head coach Rex Ryan‘s personal difficulties.

        “Rex Ryan is a believer in “Homecoming Heroes,” a term he uses for players returning to their home cities or college towns performing above their standard level, but he will not allow himself to think of the Chicago area, where he spent his high school years.

        “‘The teacher had it in for me,’ Ryan said. ‘Lots of C’s and D’s.'”

        One Final Thought

        Mike Florio at profootballtalk.com highlights the dichotomy in performing well enough to be considered for head coaching positions in the NFL.

        “It’s unclear how hot of a candidate (Bears offensive coordinator, Mike) Martz is or will be.  Much of it depends on how his offense will perform in the 2010 postseason — and whether the available jobs will be filled before Chicago’s run has ended.”

        Points of View, December 24, 2010

        Bears

        “Some players felt that ‘‘Monday Night Football’’ analysts Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden were too tough on Cutler during the broadcast after they likely heard about it from friends and family.

        ‘‘’It doesn’t make sense,’’ veteran center Olin Kreutz said. ‘’In the booth, you’ve got two guys who are supposedly quarterback experts, and they’re going to try to criticize Jay. We don’t worry about those guys. Everybody hears the criticisms, but what can you do? It doesn’t make sense.’’’

        I admit that I’m only listening to the broadcast with half an ear most of the time.  But having said that, I’d suggest that if the players are really interested, they should watch it themselves before commenting.  They wouldn’t be doing their jobs if there wasn’t some criticism but I can say that both Jaworski and Gruden repeatedly gushed about Cutler’s ability and both talked about how much they loved him.  I din’t think the broadcast was particularly imbalanced.

        • Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune asks a key question:  Is Corey Wootton the real deal?  I’m on record as doubting it.  But I hope I’m wrong.  The Bears have drafted heavily on the defensive line in recent years with little to show for it.  Henry Melton‘s been showing up every once in a while, as well.  They need good, consistent play from these draft picks and they need it sooner rather than later.  I can guarantee that this great health the Bears have enjoyed won’t last forever.
        • Biggs also has this from Dave Toub, Bears special teams coach, on the possibility of his assistant, Chris Tabor, getting a job as a special teams coordinator:

        “‘He is so ready,’ Toub said. ‘I’ve been in that role, same as him three years as an assistant when I was in Philly. This is his third year and I know how he feels. He’s needs to get his own spot. He has the system, he can motivate, he’s a great teacher. The guys respect him. It’s time.'”

        The same could be said of Toub.  If there was any justice, he’d be a head coach somewhere soon.

        “(Head coach Rex) Ryan says the Jets plan to kick away from Devin Hester. Lovie Smith said the Bears plan to kick away from Sal Alosi. Ba-bum-chuh.”

        Elsewhere

        “Far be it from us to sniff out a conspiracy on the part of Ryan and the Jets to divert the flood of attention on Ryan’s “personal matter” by putting an overly dramatic spin on Sanchez’ status, but …

        “From offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to the offensive players who were on the field in practice, they all thought Sanchez, who took most of the reps, looked fine.

        “‘Watching him throw, I thought he looked very good,’ Schottenheimer said.”

        “If this is only about some home movies, then it is a personal matter, absolutely, it’s Rex Ryan’s business and his wife’s business and nobody else’s and please leave me out of it. But that is only if you think the videos posted themselves.”

        • With a five game suspension hanging over him starting next year, scouts have begun commenting upon Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor as an NFL prospect.  Former NFL scout Dave Razzano gives his evaluation to Pete Thamel at the The New York Times: “I wouldn’t touch him with a 10-foot pole.”

        I can only agree.  I was never impressed by Pryor and I always thought that it was presumptuous of him to choose Ohio State because he thought the offense would prepare him better for being a professional.  When you are already thinking about going to the NFL coming out of high school, I have to believe that winning football games is probably too far down your list of priorities and what I’ve read since has not made me think better of him.  Bottom line, I think he’s got a lot of growing up to do.

        • Gregg Rosenthal at profootballtalk.com comments on Omar Kelly‘s report that former 49er head coach and current Miami defensive coordinator Mike Nolan regrets not replacing 49er quarterback Alex Smith with current Lion Shaun Hill sooner:

        “’I always thought [Hill] was good,’ Nolan said via the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.   ‘I would admit to making a mistake not making him a starter at the end. The last year I was there I should have [switched QBs] because he’s a baller.  . . . He checks it down. But he’s a guy the players trust will lead them to the end zone. That’s a huge factor.’

        “(Translation: Alex Smith is not one of those guys.  Or a baller.)”

        Current Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz was the 49er offensive coordinator at the time.

        • Mike Florio at profootballtalk.com comments upon the theory that the Redskins are starting former Bears Rex Grossman in an effort to tank the season and get a better draft pick.  I don’t doubt that the Redskins want to win and I don’t doubt that they want to see what Grossman can do.  But if a good quarterback fell into their laps in the draft at the same time, I’m sure it wouldn’t break their hearts.  One has to wonder if Grossman would be starting if the Redskins had 8 wins and still had a shot at the playoffs.
        • Despite getting a contract extension with $8.1 million guaranteed, former Bears quarterback Kyle Orton is less that thrilled about being benched for Tim Tebow (from Jeff Legwold at the Denver Post via benmaller.com).  He’s likely to be traded.

        Despite proving repeatedly that he can perform in the league, Orton can’t seem to catch a break as team after team looks for reasons to replace him.  I’ll never quite understand it.

        • The Dolphins still run the Wildcat formation more than any other team.  But Chris McCosky at The Detroit News points out the key statistic illustrating why teams no longer fear it like they did:

        “Of the 55 plays the Dolphins have run out of the Wildcat, 52 have been runs. All three passes were incomplete. None of that, however, eases Cunningham’s worries or lessens the preparation this week.”

        “‘People make it more complicated than it is,’ said Lions middle linebacker DeAndre Levy. ‘All you do is take the quarterback out and it’s pretty much the same run plays. You just can’t get tripped up by all the window dressing.'”

        “‘Ricky Williams, I want him to know this, if he hits one of our defensive backs in the back on a crack-back block, I am coming on the field,’ Cunningham said. ‘He’s had a couple of knockouts, but they’ve not been legal.’

        “Dolphins coach Tony Sparano, when asked for a response, told the media in Miami Thursday, ‘I don’t know what you are talking about.'”

        Cunningham’s attitude is both a blessing and a curse in that I can actually see him doing that if provoked.

        • Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel thinks that Matt Flynn could carry on the Green Bay tradition of developing quarterbacks by becoming a valuable commodity for the Packers after his solid start against the Patriots.
        • Silverstein covers the league “by the numbers” with this telling statistic:  “24 Difference in the amount of sacks the Minnesota Vikings defense had in 2009 (48) and this year (24).”  The Viking defensive ends in particular just aren’t what they were last year though I really can’t tell why.
        • Brian Murphy at the Pioneer Press points out that the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson hasn’t had a fumble this year.
        • Bob Sansevere, also at the Pioneer Press, gets an interesting comment from Vikings linebacker Ben Leber on whether a player can try “extra hard” in an effort to get Leslie Frazier the head coaching job (the post is short and I didn’t want to quote the whole thing).
        • Vikings defensive coordinator Darrell Bevell didn’t exactly rule out the possibility that Brett Favre could start this weak in an interview with Sansevere:

        “BS: Are the chances remote that Favre will play?

        “DB: Last week was miraculous (when Favre started despite a sprained shoulder). I don’t even know how that happened. It was amazing. Concussions are different. There are all the protocols you have to pass, and I don’t think he has passed those yet.

        “BS: So right now, you’re planning on Joe Webb being your starter?

        “DB: Right now, yes.”

        One Final Thought

        More from Rosenbloom:

        “Cutler said he has seen a different side of Bears coach Lovie Smith this season:  ‘(He’s) more assertive. He knows what he’s doing, he’s leading us.’ He was coaching to keep his job, hel-lo. He finally held people accountable based on play, not pay, hel-lo. Amazing how productive a win-or-go threat can be, huh?”

        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.’’’