***NFC North Thread***

wheels · Post by **wheels** » Tue Sep 13, 2011 5:56 pm

You're taking things too far

blastmaster · Post by **blastmaster** » Tue Sep 13, 2011 6:38 pm

Its only too far if it happens. If they stay at the Hilton i have a bitch on the inside who owes me a favor.

capable_keL · Post by **capable_keL** » Tue Sep 13, 2011 7:05 pm

i will ride shotgun on that broly

i dont think things are being taken far enough

we got muthafuckers with punters in their sigs, everyone's brain is being affected

time to get trill or move aside

an-also · Post by **an-also** » Wed Sep 14, 2011 2:37 pm

This dude better not turn into Justin Harrell v.2

Aaron_Nagler Aaron Nagler
RT @mikefinksports: Mike neal is having surgery and will be out several weeks.

capable_keL · Post by **capable_keL** » Wed Sep 14, 2011 2:41 pm

an-also wrote:This dude better not turn into Justin Harrell v.2

Aaron_Nagler Aaron Nagler
RT @mikefinksports: Mike neal is having surgery and will be out several weeks.

pretty sure i called this a month ago and was doubted, being a nfc north insider has a stigma, but i am sick of being right

capable_keL · Post by **capable_keL** » Wed Sep 14, 2011 6:26 pm

sorry roy

Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher(notes) has left the Chicago Bears for an open-ended period of time to be with his family following the unexpected passing of his mother, 51-year-old Lavoyda Lenard. Mrs. Lenard passed away on Monday, according to a statement released by the team.

No other information has been given as to the reason for her passing, and Lt. Brent Smith of the Titus County (Texas) Sheriff's Office told reporters that there was no evidence of foul play.

In a 2002 piece for ESPN Magazine, Urlacher called his mother "my heart."

"My mother, Lavoyda, unexpectedly passed away Monday at her home in Texas," Urlacher said in a statement. "My first priority right now is to be with my family as we mourn her loss and make the arrangements to lay her to rest. This is a very difficult and emotional time for us and I sincerely ask that you respect our privacy. Thank you."

The Bears are obviously prepared to be understanding if Urlacher can't play, but they also know his value on the field. The team travels to New Orleans to play the Saints this Sunday afternoon.

"That's going to be tough for our football team (if Urlacher doesn't play Sunday)," Bears receiver Roy Williams told ESPN Chicago. "Whoever takes his spot (if necessary) will play well. My thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family. He is the emotional leader of the football team, so we have his back."

Defensive end Israel Idonije(notes) agreed. "Our hearts are with him," Idonije said. "It's one of those times that you can't imagine, and 100 percent of our support is with him. At the end of the day, family and life comes first."

Bears quarterback Jay Cutler(notes) talked about what Urlacher meant to a team that is 21-13 with Urlacher in the lineup, and 7-8 without him since 2008. "You can't replace a guy like him," Cutler said. "He's the heart and soul of this team."

an-also · Post by **an-also** » Wed Sep 14, 2011 7:28 pm

capable_keL · Post by **capable_keL** » Wed Sep 14, 2011 8:59 pm

this is how you look when you are great and concur epic pussy

team #godgers

Roy Johnson · Post by **Roy Johnson** » Wed Sep 14, 2011 10:57 pm

capable_keL wrote:sorry roy

Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher(notes) has left the Chicago Bears for an open-ended period of time to be with his family following the unexpected passing of his mother, 51-year-old Lavoyda Lenard. Mrs. Lenard passed away on Monday, according to a statement released by the team.

No other information has been given as to the reason for her passing, and Lt. Brent Smith of the Titus County (Texas) Sheriff's Office told reporters that there was no evidence of foul play.

In a 2002 piece for ESPN Magazine, Urlacher called his mother "my heart."

"My mother, Lavoyda, unexpectedly passed away Monday at her home in Texas," Urlacher said in a statement. "My first priority right now is to be with my family as we mourn her loss and make the arrangements to lay her to rest. This is a very difficult and emotional time for us and I sincerely ask that you respect our privacy. Thank you."

The Bears are obviously prepared to be understanding if Urlacher can't play, but they also know his value on the field. The team travels to New Orleans to play the Saints this Sunday afternoon.

"That's going to be tough for our football team (if Urlacher doesn't play Sunday)," Bears receiver Roy Williams told ESPN Chicago. "Whoever takes his spot (if necessary) will play well. My thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family. He is the emotional leader of the football team, so we have his back."

Defensive end Israel Idonije(notes) agreed. "Our hearts are with him," Idonije said. "It's one of those times that you can't imagine, and 100 percent of our support is with him. At the end of the day, family and life comes first."

Bears quarterback Jay Cutler(notes) talked about what Urlacher meant to a team that is 21-13 with Urlacher in the lineup, and 7-8 without him since 2008. "You can't replace a guy like him," Cutler said. "He's the heart and soul of this team."

Only 51 years old - Jesus Christ

capable_keL · Post by **capable_keL** » Thu Sep 15, 2011 10:19 am

James Jones is disappoint

Packers receiver James Jones was only on the field for 19 offensive plays in the opener against the Saints, and heגs not happy about that.

גI donגt care about the ball at all, but I truly, truly want to be in the game plan. Everybody plays this game because they want to play,ג Jones told ESPNMilwaukee.com. גIגm not selfish; I understand weגve got a lot of weapons, so Iגm not saying I want the ball every play. But I think I deserve to be on the field more than I was.ג

Jones had one catch for one yard against the Saints, but he made clear that he wasnגt blaming Aaron Rodgers for not getting him the ball. Instead, his complaint is with the coaching staff for not putting him on the field.

גAaronגs got his hands full. Weגve got a lot of weapons. Itגd be stupid for me to come up to Aaron and tell him Iגm open,ג Jones said. גEvery receiverגs going to say theyגre open on every play even when theyגre covered. I donגt bother Aaron. Aaron throws to the open guy. Heגs been good throwing to the open guy. Aaron doesnגt tell me to sub into the game. So if Iגm not in the game, he canגt throw it to me on the sideline.ג

Jones noted that what really matters is the Packers beat the Saints. He just wishes he had been a bigger part of that.

גAt the end of the day, we won the ballgame, thatגs the main focus,ג Jones said. גDo I want to be more involved? No doubt.ג

capable_keL · Post by **capable_keL** » Thu Sep 15, 2011 10:20 am

an-also · Post by **an-also** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 10:23 am

Rooting for Urlacher to have a big game.

Roy Johnson · Post by **Roy Johnson** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 10:53 am

Great article by Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune:

Playing as if there's no tomorrow
So many Bears are on 1-year deals they have to prove themselves every day

You saw it Sunday in special teams play, where the grunt work is done.

You can see it in the weight room, where players like Tyler Clutts are clanging plates before the rooster crows.

You can see it after hours in the meeting rooms, where bleary-eyed scrubs are burning the midnight oil watching tape.

And especially, you can see it on the practice fields, where the old, cranky vets bark at the chippy, indefatigable youngsters, demanding they take it down a notch.

There is an element of the Bears locker room that wouldn't dream of being content or bloated or cocky. All this element can be is hungry, passionate and unrelenting.

And this is a very healthy yang to the yin.

On the roster are five undrafted rookies and 14 players who came into the NFL without being drafted.

There are 17 Bears whose contracts will be expiring after the season, including eight starters. Eight of those players signed one-year deals.

Defensive tackle Amobi Okoye, one of those who signed for one year, believes having so many players with expiring contracts heated up the competition for roster spots and playing time.

There are 15 players on the Bears who know what it's like to be cut.

"Every opportunity I get, I treasure," said defensive end Nick Reed, who spent last season out of football wondering what he might be doing with the rest of his life. "I watch all the film I can. I work my ass off every rep I get. Every day is a like a game day to me.

"I've bounced around enough to know that every opportunity could be your last. I make it a point of telling myself before every practice that I'm going to leave it all out there today."

If the mentality of the undrafted free agent and the player who's performing for his next paycheck can permeate this team, the Bears can play well beyond their abilities.

The attitude of these players is absolutely refreshing.

"I thank God every day for being here, because He gives me strength to capitalize on this opportunity," rookie tight end Kyle Adams said. "Being an undrafted free agent does make it challenging at times, and I think it has given me some extra incentive to give it everything I have."

Clutts, a 26-year-old who played in his first NFL game Sunday after stints in Canada, with the Arena League and with the UFL, also said he feels very blessed to be in an NFL locker room. He appreciates his opportunity so much that he intends to work until his face matches the color of his helmet.

Last week, his first with the team, Clutts arrived every day at Halas Hall at 6:45 a.m. for a morning lift. After meetings and practice wrapped up at 5 p.m. or so, he stuck around for individual meetings with coaches for a couple of hours. After he went back to his hotel, it was playbook study until 11 p.m.

No one is going to outwork these guys.

"It makes you go harder, harder than normal knowing they didn't draft you because they didn't think you were ready to play on this level," rookie defensive end Mario Addison said. "Now you can show what you are really about."

Insecurity ג glorious insecurity ג is the hallmark of the undrafted player.

"I'd be lying if I said not being drafted had no effect on me," rookie Dom DeCicco said. "When you aren't drafted, you have a chip on your shoulder. You have to play like it and work that way every day."

Veteran Anthony Adams has noticed many of his teammates ג both the undrafted kids and the vets on one-year deals ג aren't trying to make friends in practice. They're trying to win jobs, even if they've already won them.

They know better than most that tomorrow isn't promised.

In addition to Okoye, players on one-year deals are Kahlil Bell, Corey Graham, Caleb Hanie, Brian Iwuh, Brandon Meriweather, Edwin Williams and Roy Williams. Others in the last years of their contracts are Earl Bennett, Zack Bowman, Kellen Davis, Matt Forte, Roberto Garza, Chris Harris, Israel Idonije, Tim Jennings and Craig Steltz.

These players know the Bears are sitting on more than $19 million of cap space, and the team would like to use some of that space signing players to contract extensions.

So they and many of their teammates essentially are salesmen who won't get paid unless they can convince someone to cut a check.

If they keep making such dynamic pitches, they even could persuade cynics to buy into the Bears' chances.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/co ... .columnist

capable_keL · Post by **capable_keL** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 2:47 pm

capable_keL · Post by **capable_keL** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 7:45 pm

i might be alone in thinking forte is a good back who needs to be featured, but why is cutler throwing 45 times a game? i know mike martz's offense but cmon man. he is getting sacked hard

ric · Post by **ric** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 7:48 pm

cutler under 50% right? what happened?

wheels · Post by **wheels** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 7:49 pm

He's fucking terrible at football and doesn't have any receivers.

Brougham33 · Post by **Brougham33** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 7:50 pm

wheels wrote:He's was fucking terrible at football today and doesn't have any receivers or protection.

an-also · Post by **an-also** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 4:22 pm

Tickets ordered. Trip booked. Heading to Detroit for the Packers lions thanksgiving day game.

naturalborn103 · Post by **naturalborn103** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 4:34 pm

Brougham33 wrote:
wheels wrote:He's was fucking terrible at football today and doesn't have any receivers or protection.

Forget him being terrible and his receivers, he has maybe the worst offensive line I have ever seen and Mike Martz is not giving him any extra blockers and keeps giving him 5 step drop plays... I don't think any QB would look good there.

naturalborn103 · Post by **naturalborn103** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 4:39 pm

Packers FS Nick Collins' neck injury is season ending.
A tough break after an initial CT scan of Collins' neck came back negative. Any time a neck injury is serious enough to end a player's season, it has to also be considered career threatening. A Pro Bowler three years running and one of the NFL's more underrated ball hawks, Collins will be nearly impossible to replace. It's a huge blow for a Packers' pass defense that's been torched in each of its first two games. Charlie Peprah is first up to replace Collins in the starting lineup, likely at strong safety with Morgan Burnett at free.

an-also · Post by **an-also** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 4:40 pm

Nick Collins out for the year. fuck. Might never play again. Hopefully he can make a full recovery.

capable_keL · Post by **capable_keL** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 6:18 pm

an-also wrote:Tickets ordered. Trip booked. Heading to Detroit for the Packers lions thanksgiving day game.

blastmaster · Post by **blastmaster** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 8:30 pm

Fuck i hope Collins is ok.

Huge shouts to Panthers fans. I have never seen that building so pumped for a game and especially after a loss. Killa Cam is changing a culture.

Roy Johnson · Post by **Roy Johnson** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 3:53 pm

Dan Pompei's Bears Grades

We've seen boxing matches in which a fighter doesn't get hit as frequently as Jay Cutler was hit Sunday in New Orleans.

The total was 16 hits by the Saints. Cutler was knocked down on a dozen of them. He was sacked six times.

Most of the damage came late in the game. Until there was a little more than 10 minutes left to play, the Bears had given up only one sack. Then they went through a stretch of 12 plays in which seven of them resulted in a sack or a penalty by an offensive lineman.

By that time, the offense had been mentally and physically worn out by the Saints. Through the course of the game, the Bears were blitzed on 34 of 51 dropbacks.

The Saints brought seven pass rushers seven times, including on four of the sacks. They brought six pass rushers 13 times. They brought five pass rushers 14 times.

Against the blitz, the Bears were sacked five times, completed 34 percent of their throws and had a 50.6 passer rating.

New Orleans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams also caused problems by frequently rushing only three men when he wasn't blitzing. Many times, he would do this after showing a presnap look that would indicate a blitz was coming.

He rushed three men nine times, mostly with success. The Bears did score their only touchdown, an 8-yard catch by Dane Sanzenbacher, on a three-man rush.

Grading key: Grades are between 0 and 10 with 0 being complete failure and 10 being perfect.

Offensive line

Grade: 4

For the most part, that pass protection train wreck was not about poor execution by offensive linemen as much as it was about a complete offensive meltdown.

Offensive linemen appeared to be responsible for only two of the sacks. The first was in the fourth quarter, when Junior Galette got around right tackle Frank Omiyale and Sedrick Ellis burst past Roberto Garza up the middle.

The second appeared to be a mental lapse when J'Marcus Webb and Chris Williams both blocked the same man, leaving Gallette unblocked for the sack.

The biggest problem with the offensive line: the run-blocking was putrid. The Saints often guessed right and loaded up the box on runs, but the Bears line got no movement and often gave ground on handoffs.

Quarterback

Grade: 4

Cutler had a near-impossible job in this game, and he didn't help himself a bit. He held onto the ball too long in spots, especially on the first sack of the game that resulted in a fumble. That was a huge momentum-shifter.

We have to cut him some slack because of the beating he took. But his accuracy was awful. He was bailing out on throws. He didn't have a good feel for where the pressure was coming from.

Running back

Grade: 7

Tough to gain many running yards when you keep getting hit in the backfield. If you take away Matt Forte's first two runs, he had 6 rushing yards the rest of the game. On 60 percent of his carries, he failed to gain a yard. That's not on the runner though.

When Forte got the ball in space as a receiver, he was electric, breaking tackles and making defenders miss. He had 10 catches for 117 yards.

Wide receiver

Grade: 4

Not much impact from this group. They were given a lot of lousy passes to catch, and they didn't catch many of them. They didn't catch some good passes either.

The Saints' secondary looked vulnerable going into the game, but the Bears could not capitalize.

New Orleans was without starting cornerback Tracy Porter, so Patrick Robinson, who had been abused by Packers QB Aaron Rodgers one week before, had to step into the starting lineup. Instead of attacking Robinson, the Bears virtually ignored him, throwing to a wide receiver he was covering only three times and completing none of the passes.

Robinson's promotion also forced the Saints to play Leigh Torrence on nickel downs, but the Bears didn't go after him either. They threw to a receiver he was covering three times. Twice, the receiver dropped the ball. The other was an overthrow.

The corner who saw the most action from the Bears was Jabari Greer, their best cover man. He was thrown at seven times, and gave up one catch for 15 yards.

Tight end

Grade: 3

Zero catches from the tight ends. Kellen Davis was shaky in pass protection.

Defensive line

Grade: 3

Paging Henry Melton, paging Henry Melton. Anyone seen him? Aside from a hit in the end zone in the fourth quarter, Melton had hardly any impact on the game.

Julius Peppers was quiet too, both as a pass rusher and run defender. It may have been his least-effective game as a Bear.

Peppers moved around quite a bit in an effort to exploit Saints right tackle Zach Strief, who gave up the Bears' only sack to Israel Idonije. Peppers took 30 percent of his defensive end snaps on the left side.

Linebackers

Grade: 4

Lance Briggs was pretty active against the run and made quite a few tackles. However, he appeared to have two costly lapses in coverage. On the first, in the second quarter, Briggs failed to get deep enough on his drop from a Cover-2 look, and Saints quarterback Drew Brees hit tight end Jimmy Graham for a 31-yard gain. In zone coverage in the third quarter, he drifted up and to his left on a pump-fake by Brees, only to have Brees connect with Robert Meachem on a 4-yard TD pass.

Safeties

Grade: 4

Brandon Meriweather made some nice hits and showed explosiveness out of the secondary.

Major Wright was a step slow when Devery Henderson turned on the afterburners in the second quarter. That is somewhat understandable, considering Henderson once ran a 4.36 40-yard dash. He runs by safeties for a living.

But then Wright failed to tackle Henderson. Then he wiped out Chris Conte, who also had a shot at him.

Cornerbacks

Grade: 7

With the exception of Henderson's big play, which was on Wright, the Saints receivers didn't do much damage. Credit the cornerbacks, who covered well despite the absence of an effective pass rush.

Credit the cornerbacks, too, with pretty good tackling, especially Tim Jennings. He went high on Mark Ingram once when he should have gone low, but other than that always got his man on the ground quickly. His nine tackles were second on the team.

D.J. Moore chipped in too with a nice pass breakup and a nice blitz. Charles Tillman had another forced fumble. He also held tight end Jimmy Graham in check in man-to-man situations.

Special teams

Grade: 5

Devin Hester fumbled a punt return out of bounds and let a kickoff bounce off his hands and out of the end zone. The best return of the day came from Johnny Knox.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/co ... .columnist

Roy Johnson · Post by **Roy Johnson** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 4:01 pm

The opening 3 game stretch was supposed to be brutal:

Atlanta
@New Orleans
Green Bay

And then were were supposed to enter a lengthy stretch against inferior opponents, starting with these two teams:

Carolina
@Detroit

Fuck me.

wheels · Post by **wheels** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 4:13 pm

Do you want to hang on to Lovie and Cutler or should the Bears clean house when we lose Urlacher and Briggs?

Do you just keep throwing oddball skill players into a Martz offense or do you trade for young talent and rework this thing?

How much longer do you give the coaching staff?

Do you count last year's successes as legitimate progress, or were they fluky?

I ask you, Roy, where do you stand??

capable_keL · Post by **capable_keL** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 4:17 pm

easy there wheels, we about brotherhood here not backing our fams into obvious corners

wheels · Post by **wheels** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 4:27 pm

I really want to hear his opinions. He's more of an optimist than I am, and I feel like he's paying more attention.

I apologize if I'm leading the witness

Roy Johnson · Post by **Roy Johnson** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 10:06 pm

wheels wrote:Do you want to hang on to Lovie and Cutler or should the Bears clean house when we lose Urlacher and Briggs?

Do you just keep throwing oddball skill players into a Martz offense or do you trade for young talent and rework this thing?

How much longer do you give the coaching staff?

Do you count last year's successes as legitimate progress, or were they fluky?

I ask you, Roy, where do you stand??

I'm fine with Cutler, Lovie Smith, and even Mike Martz. Jerry Angelo should have been fired years ago, but the McCaskeys are loyal to a fault. These units are bottom 5 in the NFL:

Offensive Line
Wide Receivers
Secondary

With Carimi injured, we'll be trotting out the worst tackle combo in NFL history - JaMarcus Webb/Frank Omiyale

Should we have made it all the way to the NFC Championship game last season? Of course not.

It's gonna take a horrible season to get Jerry Angelo the fuck out of here, unfortunately.