NFL. vol 3

[davos]

carry on.

[Trebla]

Life just became insufferable for me. The Bears are good again. :P

[Jacen]

Damn it! :stillsick:

How many interceptions did the Pack get that were negated by penalties? Three?!

[awesome possum]

OH HELL YES!!!!!

[awesome possum]

Just so you know, the Bears are technically the best team in the NFC right now. Holy balls!!!!

[The Dude]

Damn it! :stillsick:

How many interceptions did the Pack get that were negated by penalties? Three?!

There were 2 that wouldn't have been INTs without the penalties, but they did actually drop a couple aside from that.

[davos]

Oh, God, what a depressing game for Packer fans. Despite all the analysts declaring this team is a Superbowl contender I've always had my concerns. They have done nothing to prove that they can consistently play at that level. Tonight proved the analysts just plan wrong. There are some serious coaching and discipline issues there. The penalties. The mental mistakes. Those problems were present last year and we had no reason to be certain they had been corrected. Its now clear they have not. Now they are a young team and maybe a legit contender by the end of the year. Or they may continue to struggle with stupid mistakes, poor pass protection and costly penalties.

On a slightly different note Jay Cutler is proving that he's still a top tier QB, like he was his last few years in Denver.

[Kalbear]

Cutler looked a bit haphazard, but he's definitely improved in this scheme. There was at least one play where he had time and simply threw it away, which was full of awesome. And while there were a couple of dropped interceptions by the Pack, there were as many by the Bears - and as many dropped passes by Bears receivers.

The Bears got lucky - don't get me wrong. But they also put themselves in a position to win and didn't give up, and that's something new. Beating Green Bay is a big deal, and Cutler simply being able to do small things better makes this team amazingly better.

[smegma]

I just have to say, finally Devin Hester listened to me and stopped running backwards on his punt returns. Loved it!

While the Bears certainly weren't without their flaws (someone find them an O-line please), the Packer simply didn't look as sharp as I had heard they were. I thought they were going to be a lock for the division, but it's nice to know that the Bears will be able to compete. I don't know if Cutler can stay healthy this year with that many hits, but I think it's at least going to be the year we were hoping for last year out of the team.

Also, I just needed to say hallelujah thank the lord almighty for getting rid of Ron Turner. Every game this year we have made offensive adjustments, something I can't say he ever did. He was simply the most predictable offensive coordinator I think I've seen in my lifetime.

[BLU-RAY]

Anybody else think the Bears could benefit a lot from V-Jax? They have a couple good speedster recievers, but no real physical presence/possession guy (not to mention, he's an awesome red zone target). Do they have the assets? What is the Lord of No Rings asking for him? 'Cause the Bears have a cake (CAKE!) schedule going into their week 8 bye, and could be 7-0 with a chance to integrate VJax over the bye and get him a game vs. the Bills.

Seriously:

@ Giants

@ Panthers

Seahawks

Redskins

BYE

Buffalo

I think the Giants will play them close next week, just from sheer embarassment at how bad they were this week, but Cutler has survived against two ridiculous pass rushes already, and IDK if the Giants have a secondary as good as GB or even Dallas.

[Rockroi]

The Bears got lucky - don't get me wrong. But they also put themselves in a position to win and didn't give up, and that's something new. Beating Green Bay is a big deal, and Cutler simply being able to do small things better makes this team amazingly better.

I think the Bears did wayyyyy too many things right to just say they got lucky, or at least, that cannot be the end of the discussion. Their D played hard all game, forcing two turnovers, one critical and game-altering. The Bears O was inconsistent, but Jay Cutler finally looked like Jay Cutler, circa 2008- I think we all have to admit that Mike Martz knows what he is doing; and special teams were the key- punt return for a TD and a blocked FG. This was always something that irked me when the Pats were dominant- people would claim they got lucky, but the reality is that the team put themselves in the best possition to get "lucky." I don't know- I watched most of the game and I did not see too much that I could just chalk up to "lucky SOB."

I have had my hopes crushed way too many times to be optimistic this early. Playoff team ? well .... We Chicagoans know, don't jinx them. Especially by being overly optimistic this early. And hey, it might just be that the Packers are fucking overrated.

However, conversely, the Packers utterly buried themselves this game under a tide of penalties- 18 penalties for 152 yards. That is a tell-tale sign of poor coaching (or at least until I read a FO article that says otherwise). Rodgers played well, but the D stumbled and everyone was committing penalties. You don;t win many games when you spot the other team 152 yards.

[awesome possum]

The Packers definitely shot themselves in the foot... and then in the other foot... and then in the first foot three more times for good measure.

Completely agree with Rock though. The Bears played very well and deserved to win as much as the Packers deserved to lose. And lets not forget the Bears shot themselves in the foot a few times as well. Gould missed the first FG and Clark missed the TD catch- not to mention going for a TD rather than FG in the first place. It would have been a whole different ballgame had the Bears been up by an extra 3 to 6 or 10 points through the 4th quarter.

As long as Brian Urlacher remains healthy, the Bears defense is one to be respected if not outright feared anymore. That guy is just all over the place almost always making plays. I don't see how anyone can look at his performances so far and still call him overrated. He's a beast. And Julius Peppers may still only have 1 sack on the season so far, but he's paid so much dividend already. He got in the head of #65 (Tauscher?) and messed with him badly most of the night. Those two holding calls and two or three false starts alone were worth 30-35 yards, all attributed to Peppers' intimidation. And the blocked FG was huge when all was said and done. Not to mention that his presence alone helps Urlacher and Briggs feel more secure playing their spots.

I'm actually starting to come around with the Cover 2. I don't love it, but I can see its positive effect. The Pack have one of the better passing games in the league, and while the Bears allowed a lot of passing yards they only allowed 1 passing TD. They give up the passing yards because more pass attempts means more chances to get a turnover, and that's how the Bears D helps the team win football games.

The offense looked stagnant too often with some really bright spots, but they were facing one of the league's best defenses as well. And for the second week in a row a big catch by Johnny Knox helped tip the momentum in the Bear's favor. Last week it was the 59 yard bomb, last night it was the 34 yard catch. And seeing Hester back to having an impact as a punt returner, whoa boy, that's going to have a positive effect the rest of the season. Just having him back there will cause teams to kick short or away from him because the fear factor is back. Hester back there once again will equal good field position.

The only thing this team is missing right now is an offensive line that can keep Jay Cutler safe. As harried as he was, I was surprised they only gave up three sacks. Thank the gods Cutler is mobile and can evade some pass rushes, else he'd be on life support by now. They also need some semblance of a running game, but as long as the ball is being moved I won't miss it too much.

The bottom may still fall out (and probably will with the killer second half schedule we have) but right now I'm riding the high of knowing my team is a legit contender right now. The only undefeated team in the NFC with a real shot of going into the bye with a record of 5-2, 6-1 or even 7-0.

[DanteGabriel]

Also, I just needed to say hallelujah thank the lord almighty for getting rid of Ron Turner. Every game this year we have made offensive adjustments, something I can't say he ever did. He was simply the most predictable offensive coordinator I think I've seen in my lifetime.

You might not say that if you'd seen more of the Jimmy Raye era in San Francisco.

[Stego]

On a slightly different note Jay Cutler is proving that he's still a top tier QB, like he was his last few years in Denver.

Did you watch the game? He's awful. Green Bay gave the game away, despite his trying to do the same.

[awesome possum]

Did you watch the game? He's awful. Green Bay gave the game away, despite his trying to do the same.

Did you watch the game? I would not call that performance awful. Unless you mean the interceptions he threw that were called back? The one that was a result of getting a face mask full of helmet and the second that was him purposely throwing in the general area for the easy pass interference call because he saw his receiver getting molested?

Yeah, he wasn't pristine last night, and the offense was stagnant for too long in the first half, but he still did his job and got his team into scoring position several times against a very tough defense.

And after three weeks he is ranked:

5th in passing yards (870) while ranking 20th in pass attempts (91 - the top 5 are all in the 120s) which equals 1st in passing average (9.6 per throw).

He's 5th in TDs thrown (6) and tied for 16th in INTs (2 along with Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Tony Romo)

He has the 3rd best passer rating (109.7), behind only Peyton Manning and Michael Vick.

Oh, and his team is 3-0, 1st in the division and the entire NFC. Yeah, he's totally awful :rolleyes:

[DanteGabriel]

Did you watch the game? I would not call that performance awful. Unless you mean the interceptions he threw that were called back? The one that was a result of getting a face mask full of helmet and the second that was him purposely throwing in the general area for the easy pass interference call because he saw his receiver getting molested?

I saw him rush a throw when pressure was coming at him on the first one. He shouldn't have tried to make that throw at all.

The second was just an underthrown ball. The receiver was smart enough to tangle himself up with a rookie DB when the ball was already in the air. There was nothing on purpose about that crap. Come on now. Don't tell us Cutler's piss is actually wine.

[sToNED_CAT]

Anybody else think the Bears could benefit a lot from V-Jax? They have a couple good speedster recievers, but no real physical presence/possession guy (not to mention, he's an awesome red zone target).

I'm not sure they would even play him. Martz seems to hold a grudge against tall recievers, they benched their best reciever who's 6'2. And if bears trade for someone it will be Mankins or Haynesworth (seeing that Tommie Harris was benched yesterday too).

[Stego]

Oh, and his team is 3-0, 1st in the division and the entire NFC. Yeah, he's totally awful :rolleyes:

The Bears win despite him.

He's awful. It will show. Nothing that has happened yet this year means anything. Form your opinions in November.

[Bronn Stone]

And after three weeks he is ranked:

5th in passing yards (870) while ranking 20th in pass attempts (91 - the top 5 are all in the 120s) which equals 1st in passing average (9.6 per throw).

He's 5th in TDs thrown (6) and tied for 16th in INTs (2 along with Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Tony Romo)

He has the 3rd best passer rating (109.7), behind only Peyton Manning and Michael Vick.

Oh, and his team is 3-0, 1st in the division and the entire NFC. Yeah, he's totally awful :rolleyes:

This is a case of stats lying. I'm not taking sides on the "Is He Good" argument, but a very large percentage of Cutler's numbers are coming from the dump off passes that stand in lieu of a running game in the Martz office. These take little if any skill on the part of the quarterback.

[Demonblade]

The Bears win despite him.

He's awful. It will show. Nothing that has happened yet this year means anything. Form your opinions in November.

Irony, meet Stego.