Author: Tom Shannon

Aaron Roger’s Extensive Comments on Brett Favre and Other Points of View

Bears

“It was interesting to hear the Green Bay Packers praise the play of nose tackle Anthony Adams prior to the NFC Championship Game. It was also very telling. By nature, the position doesn’t produce much in the way of statistics, but he proved long ago to be a shrewd free-agent signing. Adams is a dependable and durable two-down performer and quietly he’s one of the real leaders in the locker room, making him a priority to re-sign as he’s an unrestricted free agent.”

“The 23rd overall pick of the Packers, Bulaga has mostly played at right tackle, and his performance has been inconsistent. One NFC scout told me that Bears seventh-round pick J’Marcus Webb has more upside than Bulaga.”

Elsewhere

“I bet two dozen [Steeler] players … Not one, not a single player, went to his defense. It wasn’t personal in a sense, but all kinds of stories like, ‘He won’t sign my jersey.’ ”

The original quote was reported by SI.com’s Peter King. King has admitted that he put the “Steeler” in brackets and that the commissioner never implicitly stated that this was the case. But it not exactly a denial by Goodell, either.

“I asked Ochocinco how [quarterback Carson] Palmer’s situation compares to when the receiver tried to get traded a few years ago.
“’The difference is I would be scrutinized,’ he said. ‘In Carson’s case, they would do everything they can to fix the situation.’”

Ochocinco thinks the Bengals fired offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski to make Palmer happy.

  • I know that football players are a superstitious lot.  But this is ridiculous.  Via Jim Litke at the Associated Press.
  • This expert is obviously better than most as he makes his Super Bowl pick:

  • Hmmm.  He makes a good point.  But I’m not so sure I trust that guy.  Let’s see what this expert has to say:

Yep.  That pretty much finalizes it.

“No.”

  • Steeler’s center Maurkice Pouncey speaks to Chris Berman at ESPN.  He really seems to think he can play.  We’ll see.


One Final Thought

Florio collected some interesting quotes from Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. This was among them“

“’That’s what makes you enjoy this week so much: All those times getting your ass kicked,’ Arians said in reference to the times he was actually fired as a college coach.”

Thinking of Betting on the Super Bowl? Maybe Better Think Again. And Other Points of View

Bears

  • Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune does another positional analysis, this time of the offensive line. He concludes that the Bears need two linemen, probably one veteran and one draftee, probably one for the interior who can play center and probably one for the tackle position. I generally agree. Perhaps the most interesting point was his bottom line:

[General manager Jerry] Angelo has his work cut out for him. The Bears assign one person to be a crosschecker for each position in the draft, an overseer if you will. Angelo has been that man for the offensive line. The draft is his baby and the line has been his position. It’s time to produce.

  • David Haugh, also at the Tribune, talks to backup quarterback Caleb Hanie.  The Bears are in a bit of a bind with Hanie because they’ll probably have to pay $1.759 million next year to keep him.  I found this quote to be interesting:

“‘You think about fourth-and-4, if I had just pumped that ball into Earl (Bennett),’ Hanie said. ‘Or on (B.J.) Raji‘s (interception return for a touchdown) if I would have taken just three steps instead of five steps, would he have just missed it. Or if I had gotten reps on that play, I would have maybe progressed over to Devin (Hester). But that’s how it goes sometimes.”’

This is the classic “loser’s lament”, worthy more of a Lions player who is still learning how to finish a game..  Hanie should know than to make these kinds of statements.


Elsewhere

Tom Brady and Drew Brees averaged 44 attempts against the Steelers this year. They picked Pittsburgh apart with short precision passing for 655 yards, five scores, and one pick.

I doubt this fact has been lost on the Packer coaching staff.

In any case, hope that the Packers coaching staff will still be raided is not lost (yet).  Let’s not forget that Dom Capers would certainly still look good on that Titan sideline as head coach. Assuming Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy doesn’t decide to refuse to give him permission to interview, of course. After all, he might find his way from there to the Bears one day.

“Rush four—and drop seven. That’s it. Whenever you send the corner cat (Sam Shields in this situation, “C” in the white square), you are playing coverage in the backend and looking to steal a play.”

Raji is the defensive tackle that drops into coverage as Shields rushes.

“Dom has done more as far as moving people around,” Fox analyst Jimmy Johnson said. “LeBeau has done a fantastic job, but they are pretty standard with their zone blitzes. They let their players’ abilities be better than the guy across from them. Dom really moves his people around a lot. They can be coming from anyplace. He’s probably a little more diverse than LeBeau.”

  • Chris Erskine at the Chicago Tribune gathers hair advice for Troy Polamalu and Clay Matthews.  Sunday, for heaven’s sake, please come quickly.
  • Sam Farmer at the Los Angeles Times does a pretty good job of bottom lining this game for me:

“Tell me how the Packers do at stopping Rashard Mendenhall, and I think I can tell you who wins this game.”

Mustain was rated ahead of Tim Tebow and behind only Matthew Stafford among prep quarterbacks in 2006.

But don’t let that spoil the rest of National Signing Day.

  • Some of the Super Bowl ads are starting to hit the Internet.  This Doritos commercial looks promising.

One Final Thought

Via BenMaller.com we have this little nugget for those thinking of investing in the Super Bowl.  R.J. Bell at pregame.com says that Vegas has won money on 18 of the last 20 Super Bowls – the exceptions being 2008 (Giants vs. Pats) and 1995 (49ers vs. Chargers).  What’s the estimated net amount that gamblers have lost over that time period?  Over $11 BILLION dollars.

Don’t go betting the house on this one, folks.  Or barn if you live in Green Bay.

Fran Tarkenton Addresses Cutler Situation with Interesting Insights

I keep promising myself to let the issues surrounding Jay Cutler‘s injury during the NFC Championship game die. But little interesting points of discussion keep coming out of it.

Fran Tarkenton made some interesting comments on the “Mully and Hanley Show” on WSCR in Chicago (via the Chicago Tribune).

“It’s going to be very difficult. I don’t question Jay Cutler’s toughness. Anybody who plays in the National Football League is tough. I don’t question his courage. I question his judgment.”

“He made a bad decision by taking himself out of the game. I think he’ll have to live with this decision for a long, long time, and I think it will be a very hard decision to overcome, inside the locker room, outside the locker room, in the fan base, wherever he might go. I think it’s a very unfortunate thing.”

“We’re not football players like the rest of the guys. The rest of the guys are hitting people and knocking people down; we’re running away from them. We’ve got to be the emotional leader, the inspirational leader and the physical leader out there. That’s what quarterbacks have always been … in Chicago, from Sid Luckman, (Jim) McMahon, Bobby Douglass and on — the (Roger) Staubachs and all of them — that’s just what you do.

I’m not so sure I agree with the leadership part of this. Cutler is probably better off being who he is rather than forcing himself into this role. But that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be setting an example.

As tough as Cutler is and as many hits as he took during the year, I have to wonder if Tarkenton doesn’t have a point. I’ve said before that Cutler’s history suggests that he might not be who handles the tough times well mentally. He was playing poorly you have to wonder if he just said to himself, “The knee is hurt. That’s it.” rather than deciding to fight through both the bad knee and the poor play simultaneously.

Tarkenon says that this is likely a problem “inside the locker room, outside the locker room, in the fan base”. As supportive as they’ve been publicly of Cutler is it possible that Brian Urlacher or Lance Briggs could watch Cutler riding that exercise bike and not wonder if they wouldn’t have been out there playing on that knee? How about Tommie Harris, whose knee hasn’t been right since 2006? As part of that fan base, I’m starting to wonder.

Defensive Tackle High on the List of Needs as Harris Shows Flashes and Toeaina Wears Down

Brad Biggs and the Chicago Tribune addresses the tackle position in his latest positional analysis, this time of the defensive line:

The talk of Peppers’ arrival impacting Tommie Harris was just that — talk. Harris was limited to six starts as Matt Toeaina took over the role for the majority of the season. At 27, he’s not the same player he once was and he won’t be again. But just as the former first-round draft pick did a year ago, he showed signs of being a disruptive force down the stretch.

The problem is, of course, that as Harris got his chance to come on late in the season because Toeaina wore down. This appears to be a problem with Toeania as it has happened virtually every year he’s played for the Bears. He starts with a strong training camp and plays well early. But he tends to disappear as the season wears on.

Biggs makes the point that Henry Melton might take a big leap next year at this position. He envisions a competition between him and Toeania for the starting position. But I’m not so sure I’m depend upon either of these guys doing the job. Melton did show flashes this year and was a contributor. But if I’m the Bears, I’m not holding my breath waiting for him to show more. He may well be as good as he’s going to get and “situational pass rusher” might be his MO.

Biggs calls the the position of “medium priority shading toward low”. I will disagree and put it higher on the list, perhaps just below offensive line. Israel Idonije did a reasonable job taking advantage of the attention Julius Peppers drew at the opposite defensive end. But the three technique tackle is still a central position in the Bears defense. They may, once again, be looking for defensive linemen.

Player Says Seventy Percent Are in the Game Only for the Money and Other Points of View

Bears

  • Eric Washington has left the Bears to become the defensive line coach for the Carolina Panthers.  He held the same position with the Bears but I’m sure everyone knows that, title aside, Rod Marinelli really hods that position here.  Via Neil Hayes at the Chicago Sun-Times.
  • Hayes also reports that the Eagles have requested permission to interview Jon Hoke, the Bears defensive backs coach, for their defensive coordinator position.  this is all well and good but let’s see these teams show a little love for that wonderful Packer defense by raiding their staff.
  • Dan Pompei answers you questions:

“Please tell me that you would not prefer any of [the backup quarterbacks on the free agent market], simply because of their experience over [Caleb] Hanie as the Bears backup QB. Tim Flynn, Denver”

“Look, the market for backup quarterbacks is not a pretty one. There aren’t enough good players go around to be starters, let alone backups. I wasn’t suggesting any of those players. I was just stating they may be available, and they may be fits for the type of players Martz is looking for. My suggestion would be to make Hanie the No. 2. He is as good an option as the Bears could find.”

Pompei is probably right.  But you never know.  Offensive coordinator Mike Martz obviously likes the veteran back ups…

“It’s not a story that is going to disappear for Cutler — it can’t after so many peers throughout the league kicked him while he was down. That was the bigger issue. It wasn’t that the Chicago Bears quarterback’s toughness, which is well-established, was questioned. It’s the fact that given an opening, so many chose to pounce on him, crossing unwritten lines in doing so.”

  • But not all of the players are jumping on Cutler.  Broncos right offensive tackle Ryan Harris, who played with him in 2008, had some nice things to say.  Via Vaughn McClure at the Chicago Tribune:

“I know him from my experience with him, and my experience was that he was always tough and always focused on the game.”

Harris is a free agent this offseason and the Bears are widely believed to be shopping for offensive linemen.  Coincidence?  I think not.

“Sometimes it’s considered hidden yardage, and Cutler sure supplied plenty of it with his legs. He rushed for 232 yards, 35 behind Chester Taylor for the second-most on the team.”

  • Biggs rates the draft/free agency priority as “low”.  But that depends upon your definition of “low”, I think.   Assuming they’ll end up settling for Hanie as the number 2 (a big assumption) I’d think the Bears might look to draft a quarterback to develop as the number three.  Angelo has said in the past that ideally he’d like to take one every year.
  • Matt Forte speaking to profootballtalk.com about whether he’s heard anything from the organization about an extension.  “I’ve expressed my interest.”  Via Sean Jensen at the Chicago Sun-Times.

Elsewhere

“However, not everything about broadcasts is moving forward. When the NFL moved the umpire this season, bumping him from the middle of the defense to a spot behind the quarterback, it was a huge setback for TV.

“Why? Because the umpire wore a microphone in games, allowing him to pick up the sound of the quarterback and defensive players making their calls at the line of scrimmage, and get the ambient noise of bodies colliding.

“Broadcasts, [NBC’s “Football Night in America” producer,Fred] Gaudelli said, “took a 20-year step backward when they moved the umpire… From a pure television technological standpoint, right now we’re so handcuffed that we’re putting out sounds that are not remotely close to being state of the art in 2011. We don’t have any sounds.”

One Final Thought

Player X, an anonymous player turned blogger, writes for ESPN about “pay check players” in the NFL:

“It’s Super Bowl time, which means right now there are 30 NFL teams whose seasons are over. In other words, almost 1,600 players are sitting at home watching. (Okay, or maybe on vacation somewhere.) And guess what? Most of them couldn’t be happier.

“That’s because the majority of the guys — I’d say probably close to 70 percent — are in the game only for the money. They don’t care about winning. The editors showed me the story on Super Bowl rings, and, man, I couldn’t disagree more: Most players don’t care about championship bling. Sure, in interviews, 100 percent of them will say it’s all about winning championships. But they know that’s what the public wants to hear. I’m telling you, most of them are lying. They couldn’t care less about getting a ring.”

We can only hope this is just a cynical jerk popping off.  I’d hate to think that these guys are throwing their bodies around and away every week for a pay check.

Andy Reid’s Run in Philadelphia May Be Nearing an End and Other Points of View

Bears

  • I’m sure all will join me in expressing our sympathies to the McCaskey family upon the death of Tim, second son of Ed and Virginia.  He is in a better place.
  • It seemed like every week I was talking about how the Bears would have liked to have gotten more turnovers.  Despite that, according to Larry Mayer at chicagobears.com, it turns out they did pretty well in that department.  At 35 take aways they generated the second most in Lovie Smith‘s tenure as head coach.  Not surprisingly they generated the most in 2006 at 44.

Elsewhere

“‘As soon as [Vernon Davis] catches the touchdown,’ York said, ‘you might want to see where Vernon grew up, or hear the story of him being raised by his grandmother. Maybe you want to see his highlight reel from high school. ‘”

Or you might want to see an ad.  Odds are good you’ll get one.

  • The Titans are interviewing offensive line coach Mike Munchak for the head coaching position today.  Indications are that the Titans want to make a quick hire, possibly by the end of the week.  That would be bad news for those of us hoping to get Dom Capers out of Green Bay.  It sounds like the Titans are unlikely to wait for him to be available to interview.
  • Omar Kelly at the South Florida Sun Sentinel reviews some of the top quarterbacks in the draft that you may not know much about. The video below is of the rapidly rising Colin Kaepernick out of Nevada. I can’t help but notice that the vast majority of the throws in this video are to wide open receivers.
  • Chad Ochocinco/Johnson is doing everything he can to get out of Cincinnati. This time he’s tweeting about owner Mike Brown. Via Gregg Rosenthal at profootballtalk.com.
  • Mike Florio, also at profootballtalk.com, suggests the possibility of the league declaring an impasse rather than staging a lockout on March 4.
  • Judy Batista at The New York Times does as good of a job as anyone as she reviews the current state of negotiations on the CBA.  None of it has the spice of Florio’s speculations, though.
  • Jeff McClain at the Philedelphia Enquirer makes the case that head coach Andy Reid is running out of time. I’ve been wondering about this for a while. The reversal of the decision to start Michael Vick over Kevin Kolb came a bit too suddenly for my comfort. My gut feeling was at the time that the order came from above and I’m thinking it hasn’t been the only one issued.
  • Speaking of Vick, Adam Schefter at ESPN is reporting that the Eagles will be placing the franchise tag on him while listening to offers for Kolb:

One Final Thought

Kelly also describes the bind that Steven Ross, who to my eye is on his way to becoming one of the worst owners in pro sports, has put Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland in.

“Exactly how would you approach satisfying Ross, a glorified and powerful fan (he’s really just like you, just in power), while making sure you do what’s in the best interest of the football side?

“Deuces.”

For those who manage people for a living, this is a prime example of how you don’t handle things.

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Big Game Causes Stripper Shortage and Other Points of View

Bears

  • Dan Pompei at the Chicago Tribune reviews his four most pressing needs for the Bears.  He emphasizes the largely under appreciated need for a good hard look at back up quarterback.
  • Bryan Dietzler at the Bleacher Report runs thorough five potential draftees for the Bears in the first round.  Not surprisingly three are offensive linemen.  He also mentions Justin Houston, a prospect we’re starting to hear a lot about.  Many think he’d be a good defensive end in a cover two type defense.
  • Drew Sharp at the Detroit Free Press makes the interesting point that those players criticizing Jay Cutler have no right to complain about the proposed 18 game seasaon.
  • Who says the Bears don’t have cheerleaders?   This video is wonderful.

Elsewhere

What?  There’s something else going on?

Via Michael David Smith at profootballtalk.com.

“Late in the third quarter against Green Bay, he watched from his private box as the Packers scored their scored fifth consecutive touchdown to take a 42-14 lead. Fans began to stream out of the Georgia Dome.

“’People said to me, ‘You must be upset about that,’’ Blank said. ‘I said no. I wasn’t upset that they were leaving, I was upset about the way we were playing. The fans were incredibly supportive all year. After that third quarter, it would’ve taken a miracle just to come back and make the game competitive. It was like the fans were getting hit on the head with a hammer, and it wouldn’t stop. The only way they could make it stop was by leaving. So they left.’”

“In that division, you have to build a team that can play in the elements and play outside.  I didn’t realize that right away. My first year there, we took Terrell Buckley in the first round. After seeing what it’s like in November and December in Green Bay, I figured out you need to get a bigger person. So we eliminated the smaller stature guys. It helps to get people from the Big Ten and that area that it doesn’t affect. You need bigger people.”

Anyone else wondering if Bears general manager Jerry Angelo still hasn’t learned this lesson?

“One of the reasons four teams have yet to name their defensive coordinator is the Packers still are playing.”

Too bad its only the assistants that look to be raided.  Let’s all hope the Tennessee Titans have their eye on Dom Capers.  He’s certainly deserving and he’d be out of the division.

  • Its Dan Pompei Day here on a slow time for NFL news.  Pompei’s long column at The National Football Post is well worth reading in its entirety and the good news is that we’ve got the time to do it.  Here he elaborates upon opinions that Jake Locker had a bad Senior Bowl week:

“The reason for so many different opinions on Jake Locker’s performance is the quarterback was very inconsistent. You could make a highlight reel of Locker’s best plays that would have been very impressive. And you could have made a lowlight reel of Locker’s worst plays that probably would result in him being undrafted. If a team is looking for a player with great athleticism and ability and the potential to wow you, they will be able to overlook some of Locker’s deficiencies. If a team is looking for a polished performer who gets the job done, it probably won’t be interested in the Washington QB.”

“What’s your favorite thing about Super Bowl week?

A) Hearing about all the times the Packers and Steelers have won.
B) Seeing what Joe Montana is promoting this year.
C) Stories about Jerry Jones and his big ol’ stadium.
D) The game’s on Fox, one of the few football networks that doesn’t employ Matt Millen.”

“Don’t dwell on the dead hooker incident at the team party

“Remember even though they’re mostly all mediocre alternates replacing good players who thought of excuses not to come, they still don’t completely suck.”

One Final Thought

One more Pompei item:

“Whether the meatball in us likes it or not, the game we love is changing, as this story eloquently points out.  We don’t like change—that’s in our DNA. And we like violence in football—that’s in our DNA too. But once we accept we can’t change what’s going to happen, we’ll all probably agree this is a good thing. With Super Bowl week kicking off Sunday, we can expect a lot more stories about head injuries.”

Bears Don’t Have The Pieces. Must Rebuild Offensive Line

Dan Pompei at the Chicago Tribune wrote a nice long column today about what the Bears need to do to compete in the already good and rapidly improving NFC North.  Not surprisingly, Pompei starts with the offensive line:

“If the team was starting to convince itself the starting five offensive linemen could continue to improve and become a solid unit next year, the Packers pass rush gave them some sobriety. The problem the Bears are facing is the three defensive lines in their division may be the best three in the NFL.”

Dead on.  But what should be done is another problem altogether.  Pompei has some specific solutions in mind:

1.  Move Chis Williams from guard to tackle

I hope things are not as bad here as Pompei thinks they are.  I didn’t think Williams did all that badly at guard.  If they move him back to tackle, they might as well just call him a bust and make him a back up.  I’m going to mildly disagree and say Williams should be left to further acclimate and compete at guard.

2.  Move J’Marcus Webb to left tackle

I wouldn’t do this either.  Webb does seem to have a lot of talent but moving him to left tackle where he’d have to more consistently take on the best pass rush in the league seems to be stretching it.  He needs to pass protect, of course, but I see no reason to take him out of his comfort zone by moving him to the left.

I realize that I’m being a nay-sayer here and its always easiest to say “no”.   But I’ll say this.  The only thing worse than doing the wrong thing would be to do nothing at all.  The Bears need an influx of talent on the offensive line to compete.  Many Bear fans like to criticize Mike Martz but he did a good job of getting some favorable match ups on the field last Sunday.  Jay Cutler left at least four touchdowns on the field with bad passes.  Not all of that was the line’s fault.  But all three quarterbacks were under pressure all game.  Asking anyone to run or perform in an offense without the big boys up front is asking the impossible.

Olin Kreutz is a warrior and a leader but they need a succession plan for him.  Frank Omiyale isn’t a left tackle.  Williams may not be a guard.  There isn’t a single elite lineman on the roster to stabilize the unit.  The Bears need a complete overhaul from top to bottom, attacking the problem aggressively in free agency and the draft or the next season may be as bad as this one was good.

Only Guarantee in CBA Battle is That Everyone Loses

Dan Pompei once again comes through with a nice article as things slowly shift into the offseason.  This time he addresses what teams can and can’t do during a lockout, which will likely start when the current CBA expires March 3.

Pompei ends his piece with this thought:

“The best guess is there will be a lockout, and many harsh words. But eventually, maybe in August, the players will buckle at the thought of losing $4.4 billion in salary and benefits. A new CBA will be agreed upon, and the NFL will have a very short period to sign free agents and get teams prepared for a season that could be shorter than usual.”

Don’t count on it.  The degree of stupidity which men in these situations can exhibit is awesome in its scope.  One only need look at baseball in the early nineties to know how stubborn people who are full of pride can ruin a good thing.  The players may well hold out longer than people think.  If the lockout lasts through August, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see regular season games lost.

The best hope for the fans, who are, of course, paying the bills for both sides, is the scenario which Mike Florio at profootballtalk.com has repeatedly emphasized as a possibility.  The union has prepared to de-certify and if they do that, the owners will be forced to impose common work rules.  An anti-trust suit filed by the union would follow and we’d have football in 2011.

But absent that, everyone from the fans who lose games to the owners and players who will lose billions of dollars, comes out the worse.  Lets hope it doesn’t’ come to that.

Aaron Rogers Creates an Unnecessary Distraction, Needs to Watch Comments

One of the things about the Bears that you have to like is that they stick together as a unit.  For instance, you know there are guys on that team who don’t 100% approve of Jay Cutler and the way he choses to conduct himself.  But they’d never dream of commenting on it publicly because nothing good can come from it.  We therefore hear about nothing but the good things from Cutler’s teammates.

Contrast with Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rogers.  Last week, Nick Barnett and Jermichael Finley expressed some hurt feelings over the plan to leave them out of the team’s Super Bowl photo.  The team re-scheduled the date of the photo – partly at Rogers’ request – and we all thought the issue was over.

But apparently not.  Rogers couldn’t help himself as he commented further yesterday via Pete Dougherty at the Green Bay Press Gazette:

“Rodgers suggested that players shouldn’t complain about not being in the photo if they conducted most of their rehabilitation away from the team.

“’I’ll say this, I was on IR back in 2006, and I chose to stick around and finish out the season with my guys and be here every game,’ Rodgers said. ‘Some of those guys didn’t.

“’So we love ’em, we care about ’em, we don’t wish injury on anybody. But this is a group of guys that’s really come together, and it’s been great to work with the guys we brought in, midseason some of them, and the young guys. Some of the guys who were injured, they’re still a part of this team, but some of them didn’t choose to stick around.’”

Not surprisingly, Barnett and Finley took exception via Twitter.  Barnett started the ball rolling by this amongst other things:

“Doubt you get the full attention needed.. It’s easy to speak about others when you are not in their position.. Talk about ‘union’ ha.”

Finely responded to Barnett:

“TRUE FACTS RIGHT THERE.”

Before Barnett deleted his comments, he finally tweeted this:

“Before I delete this page just wanted to say I was never trying to be a distration”

Too late.

Once the genie is out of the bottle, you can’t put it back in.  It’s lesson that the veteran Rogers needs to learn fast as he enters the spotlight on the big stage.