Bears
- Fred Mitchell at the Chicago Tribune reports general manager Jerry Angelo‘s reaction to the rumors that he might retire after the season.
“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.
- Dan McNeil echos my thoughts on Angelo as he reviews Angelo’s press conference yesterday:
“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.
- Steve Rosenbloom at the Chicago Tribune reports that Vegas doesn’t think much of the Bears:
“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.
- Kevin Seifert at ESPN makes the pint that Greg Olsen has suffered inBears offensive coordinator Mike Martz‘s system.
Elsewhere
- Sean Jensen at the Chicago Sun-Times reports Bears head coach Lovie Smith‘s reaction to the fact that Jim Harbaugh is about become the highest paid coach in the NFL. Harbaugh has a grand total of two years of NFL coaching experience, none as a coordinator. I’ll never understand how these the wonders of these franchises decide to throw their money away.
- Rex Ryan continues to entertain (via Michael David Smith at profootballtalk.com).
- Gregg Rosenthal, also at PFT, says that Vince Young has now become everybody’s cheap option for a possible starting quarterback. It says something about both Young and head coach Jeff Fisher that Fisher might be the guy who Titan’s owner Bud Adams thinks could bring something in a trade (via Mike Florio at PFT).
- Carolina has some bad Luck (via Michael David Smith).
- And Smith also points out why teams make their own luck:
“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.”