The Raiders beat Tampa Bay....the hell you say.

The Eagles beat Dallas...the hell you say.

That means the Bears are in the playo...wait.  We lost?  Imagine that!

So the 2008 NFL season is officially over for the Chicago  Bears.  So I decided to put up this post now instead of after the Super Bowl, because I assume some of you will leave for the offseason or at least not stop by as often.  

Firstly, I wanted to thank each everyone of you who stopped by regardless of whether you just lurked in the darkness to get your Bears fix or if you were one of our more active and louder commenters.  You all attributed to the success of Windy City Gridiron this year.  We saw record numbers across the boards.  From visitors to comments to new users alike, we saw our highest numbers.

I also want to thank ChiFan13 for stepping in this year and helping out with the site. The biggest areas that benefitted from his involvement are the site’s improvement with participation in the comment section and in spam control/ runaway comment thread prevention.    You can expect to see more including front page posts out of him coming soon. 

It seems that everybody is getting used to the new platform, towards the end of the season the Fan Post sections saw a significant bump as did everybody's willingness to REC a Fan Post.  I expect we will see more cool new features in the future.  Again if you have any problems with the platform or have a idea of how we can improve feel free to email me and I'll make sure it gets passed on to the appropriate people.

Secondly, I want to let everybody know that just because our season is over does not mean the site hibernates.  In fact it may just be getting going.   We will continue to bring you all the Bears news and opinions we can and we will continue to give you Game Threads right up to the Super Bowl for you to discuss.

Soon you will start seeing post season breakdowns and recaps.  We will look at all positions, groups, coaching and schemes and try to lay out what would be the best option for the Bears moving forward.

As many of you old timers know the Free Agency period and NFL Draft are big deals around here.  I am hardcore into both and that will not change.  Windy City Gridiron will be your best stop for all the news, rumors, gossip, opinion and reaction up to and after both periods.  How about the first mock draft prediction?

JEREMY MACLIN, WR, MISSOURI

There is no question that Devin Hester has made strides as a wide receiver but he is the only real weapon the Bears have at wideout and they still need some more playmakers on offense. Jeremy Maclin is actually similar to Hester in many ways and they are both the types of all-around threats that opponents must account for as receivers, runners and return men. The explosive Maclin was the nation's leader in all-purpose yardage and not only would he give the Chicago offense a major shot in the arm but he could also share the return workload with Hester and help keep him fresh. Maclin is an even better prospect than former #9 overall pick Ted Ginn, Jr. was coming out of college and there really isn't as much separating him and Michael Crabtree as some might think. Despite using their top pick last year on Chris Williams the Bears could still use some more help along the offensive line and with age and injuries beginning to take their toll it wouldn't hurt to add some reinforcements in the secondary either. With that said it's pretty clear that above all else Chicago needs more guys who can put the ball in the endzone. If they are lucky enough to get a crack at a Top 10 talent like Maclin the Bears should pull the trigger.

If it is Free Agency or Draft related, you will see it here.

If you recall at the beginning of the season, ChiFan13 was running some Chicago Bears history posts.  We pulled those since it was unimportant once the season kicked off.  You can expect that those will be returning, including new items like Best/Favorite Bears player of all time and Best/Favorite Bears Game/Moment of all time.

As always the success of this site depends on you and I am always interested in hearing what you have to say.  Feel free to drop me a line on anything, even if it is to criticize my lack of grammar skills.  Do you have any ideas for what you'd like to see on the site?  Email me.  Do you have a complaint or suggestion about the site?  Email me.  Are you interested in helping with the running or posting of the site?   Email me.  

Despite the Bears inconsistent play it has been a great season here at WCG and I look forward to a great off season and to the Bears Super Bowl run next year.