The Bears Den: 12/01/09
by Dane Noble on Dec 1, 2009 4:00 AM CST
in The Bears Den
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Where we wonder if there really will be changes in 2010...
Injuries made defeat to Minny even worse.
Lovie Smith not addressing future beyond short-term.
Biggs: 10 reasons the Bears were brutal.
Bears notes from the Sun Times.
RosenBlog: Urlacher's hit on Cutler.
Urlacher: It wasn't criticism.
Pace could miss game versus former team.
Imrem: WWPBD?
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Well Urlacher just added himself to the list of trade bait this offseason
Good thing IMO. We won’t be competitive again before his contract or body run out. Send him off for a Lineman (either side would do, prefer OL then DT of course) or draft picks. Only bad is his not playing this year reduces his value. Still better to trade him for long term value.
yeah right
Might be the best thing for both sides, he may get to go to a SB contender, and the Bears would get…what?
It would be a sure sign of re-building, no not rebuilding…a complete overhaul.
Given that his injury was a freak wrist injury, I don’t think his value dropped any.
"I am not an animal!" - Merrick
If the Bears lose to the Rams...
then can we openly talk about the firing of Lovie Smith? Everyone keeps saying that Lovie is expected to be around next season. Maybe if all of us, including the media, simply talk as if he’s going to be fired at any moment, it will come to pass. A sort of Pygmalion effect if you will.
We can get Lovie some ruby slippers and he could stand on the sidelines. We could keep chanting, "There’s no place like home…
When you find yourself in a hole, STOP DIGGING!!!
Urlacher is an idiot
urlacher seems jealous to me. he’s no longer the face of the franchise and he doesn’t like it. i had respect for him but calling out jay is a bush league move. i don’t think he even watches games. “run first and let the defense take over?” first of all our oline can’t even creat holes big enough for a flea to run through and lastly our D can’t stop anyone. Ever. those 2 functions he called out are our WORST 2 aspects of the team. he really does believe it’s still 2006.
We added another leap year day?
How long has there been 31 days in November? Why didn’t anybody tell me!?!
I still love him
People like to criticize Urlacher and I’m certain that most of those same people who like to criticize him were really upset when they heard he was out for the year. I know I was.
Most importantly, what has he said that isn’t true? He’s outspoken. Lots of players are. He gets results (certainly better than what we have). He can still play. I can’t wait to see him with his pads and uniform on next year.
well, his criticism is wrong
irrespective of his spin job now, he blamed cutler for making mistakes, forte for making nobody miss, and turner for not running the ball non-stop. well, for one, cutler has no line to give him any time…and no run game…and WRs who are young and don’t really get open or fight for the ball. forte has no line to give him any holes. this all makes the pass game the only chance we have on offense, and jay has to take ridiculous risks because he never has any time and his guys just don’t get open. not to say forte and cutler don’t deserve some blame, but the crux of the problem on offense is the o-line. and if we had the old bears philosophy with this line and orton, we’d never score. orton had a better line last year (unbelievable, but yes, he definitely did), and worse, but experienced, WRs who at least fought for balls and found ways to get open. and the old bears game plan urlacher longs for doesn’t really work when your defense gets carved up, which, btw, has been the case since the tail end of the superbowl season. the problems are o-line, defense (particularly d-line), and coaching. cutler and forte are on the list, but further down. urlacher calling them out instead of the other problems is pretty low and stupid.
by guy incognito on Dec 1, 2009 9:56 AM CST up reply actions
Brian is just telling it like it is
this team is garbage. they can’t run, they can’t pass block, they can’t tackle, they can’t defend the pass. I don’t think he was out of line so much in what he said as he was just saying the team sucks right now. he was watching the Vikings game saying the same things lots of us were probably saying.
His shot on Cutler – or so it’s being perceived – is not all that bad. He’s simply saying this team used to pound the football, which allowed them to throw the ball more. it’s simple logic, albeit this offensive line is so terrible that the team can do neither with any consistency or impact. I think Urlacher knows Cutler is going to be good for the franchise in the long run, but right now everything looks bad, so his comments make him sound like he’s piling on.
Evil will always triumph, because good is dumb.
I sense a little bit
of a schism between Urlacher and Cutler, I had a feeling that this wasn’t squashed. I think the last thing we need is players playing the blame game and ripping the locker room apart.
Honestly i like Jay but man, the only reason Lach is busting his you know what
Is because Jay is playing with no swagger. Like it or not, he is the Chicago Version of Broadway Joe..lol, Jay needs to just pick his head up, get a lil fired up during gametime, fire the team up in general. He is a Captain for the team, it is part of his job to (even if it’s a lie) pretend that he is optimistic and fired up, maybe start high fiving offensive lineman after a long play or something. I think if The QB gets some more fire in him , the rest of the team will feed off it. You remember how Orton did it, with his Russel Crowe “Are you not entertained” pose lol.
I think Lach will lay off Cutler if if he shows a bit more passion come gameday. Like my old Drill Sergeant used to say, “False motivation is better than No motivation”
by Chitownproduct on Dec 2, 2009 7:58 AM CST up reply actions
Brad Biggs
I like him more each week. Also, when I first started to hear him on The Score, I always thought he was black.
I'm a firm believer in the philosophy of a ruling class. Especially since I rule. -Randal Graves
I love Urlacher
but I love the Bears more!! If the Bears can recoup that 1st round pick for Urlacher, you do it!! This team needs draft picks more than a 32 year old aging LB who was once great but now is a shell of his former self. He can’t help that he got injured and his back is acting up. I understand that. But the fact is he’s not as great as he once was. If a team will give up their 1st round pick for him, which no team will, but if they do, the Bears owe it their future to trade him!!
I wouldn't be upset...
If we could trade Urlacher and Harris to get a 1st round draft pick. That might give us a chance to land Ndamukong Suh, he’s a beast with all the athleticism you could want in a DT. He also doesn’t lose his composure and punch defenseless players.
From Bears Team site
Even though the Bears have been all but eliminated from playoff contention, they don’t plan on giving untested rookies such as defensive lineman Jarron Gilbert, wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias and cornerback D.J. Moore playing time at the expense of more seasoned pros.
"We will play the guys that we feel give us the best chance to win this week, period," Smith said. "It’s short term. It’s no more than that. That’s what we’ve done every football game. We play the guys that give us the best chance to win that week. That’s what we’ll do this weekend."
Gah. So our only hope for the remainer of the season (finding out what we have in our young players for next season) is taken from us. Damn you Lovie!
Of course he said that!!
He’s worthless!! Someone needs to ask him if he’s playing the guys that give them the best chance to win, and they’ve lost 6 of their last 7, then those guys don’t give them the best chance to win now do they?
you make the classic mistake
of arguing for logic with the bears. that isn’t how our coaches function.
by guy incognito on Dec 1, 2009 9:57 AM CST up reply actions
Well, the alternative is that he’s intentionally being as bad as he is. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt and going for “utterly clueless”.
"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." - Bertrand Russell
"F*** everybody outside of Halas Hall. BEARDOWN" - WavyGravy
ridonkulous!
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"Newbie, if the next two words out of your mouth aren't 'See ya' then the third word will be 'Oh my god. My crotch. You've punched me in my crotch." - Dr. Percival Ulysses Cox
by David Taylor on Dec 1, 2009 10:21 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
But if he did play
those “untested rookies” and we lost, you guys would all be yelling for his head. What more do you want? I want him to play the best players to win, because I want to win!!!
"A lot of fans were drawn to me because they knew that whatever the score was, I was going to run as hard as I could on every play. You don't have that now, you have guys waiting for next week or even next year." - Walter Payton
"winning"
is subjective at this point. And to me, finding out if some of these young guys can play is the only win we have the ability to reach now. As much as I actually like Lovie, I think his beds already made. Whether it comes this year or the next.
But, winning out and finishing with a 9-7 record means nothing. Especially coupled with the losses to San Fran and Atlanta. I want to see a restructuring of the lines, on both sides of the ball… see what you have now, when the games don’t technically matter (playoff speaking).
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"Newbie, if the next two words out of your mouth aren't 'See ya' then the third word will be 'Oh my god. My crotch. You've punched me in my crotch." - Dr. Percival Ulysses Cox
Totally agree, send this to the Bears organization
and have it implemeted immediately.
Ditka Avenger and Original WCG Power Poster!!!!
Want to be a blood donor? Insult Chuck Norris.
Figures
Losing to the Rams or Lions, or getting blown out again is not good for job security. It makes senses that Lovie would want to put in his veterans instead of rookies. The Bears long term future doesn’t mean anything to him if he gets canned.
are you guys nutts
trade urlacher….the defensive super guru..our defense has sucked a lot worse this year because of his absence on the field. he may not be a pro bowl MLB ever again but he has knowledge of everything. there is not another defender on our team that knows the playbooks better. his skills may have fallen but his knowledge has made up for it. our coaching staff is to blame for a lot of the bad calls..our line is to blame for the bad run game and forced throws. he isnt even on the field so why would he be the problem? he is the monster in the middle..he is the leader in that locker room. i guarantee that every player looks up to him. I GUARANTEE IT
Bring back our honey bears...sick and tired of hearing about the dallas cowboy cheerleaders and the bars they go work at when they quit. cold weather + cheerleaders in skimpy outfits = lots of fun
I agree completely
He is still a great player. Better than anything else we have or that we could get. His understanding and knowledge of the game is top notch. His body is healing, and a year off might be something that puts him back to Pro Bowl form. Regardless of who is at fault, ie offense, defense, coaching, management, etc. the true cancer here is losing. If we are winning games, none of this happens. When you lose, and lose a lot, as is this case, everyone starts pointing fingers. If it weren’t for pointing fingers and speculating, most threads wouldn’t be here. Even as fans we are divided already, the Jay lovers and the Jay haters, pro Urlacher or negative Urlacher. Let us not forget we are all Bears fans. This team definitely has problems. We all think we know what they are, but non of us really know exactly, 100% how to fix them. We need to realize Rome wasn’t built in a day. It may take Jay Cutler time to develop into a “franchise” quarterback. Look at Drew Brees. He was in San Diego, and was not regarded as a great quarterback, so they let him go. Now look at him, perhaps the best in the league right now. We as fans are short on patience and even shorter on understanding. We want instant results. Unfortunately, in my mind, trading away Brian Urlacher does not help this team, it hurts it.
by Bears Fan Chad on Dec 1, 2009 10:48 AM CST up reply actions
It was more that Brees hadn't broken out as a great
QB yet and Manning was the best available athlete on the board, but didn’t want to play for SD. Brees’ contract was about to expire and SD wanted a QB in the wings. Brees exploded, became all world and they franchised him.
It was more they couldn’t afford to pay for two starting QB’s than they “wanted” Rivers at that point.
at daver's request, Let's frontload this B**ch!
yep
i just wish all bears fans just acted like nice fans and didnt blame players who havent been on the field. Urlacher is my hero and my favorite player of all time. i never want to imagine him in any other jersey than a bears one. this year is a tough year for the whole team. last thing we want to do is run somebody out of town before given enough time to prove themselves.
Bring back our honey bears...sick and tired of hearing about the dallas cowboy cheerleaders and the bars they go work at when they quit. cold weather + cheerleaders in skimpy outfits = lots of fun
Then what?
So the Bears keep Urlacher!! What’s the best that can happen? He comes back healthy and has a couple more good seasons!! What’s the worst that can happen? He comes back looking very old and tired on the field. He then retires in 2 years because his back starts acting up!! What’s most likely to happen? He comes back, has a couple more mediocre seasons and retires in 3 years before he gets too old!! So instead of getting a possible 1st round pick(highly unlikely, more like 2nd round) and getting a big piece of a future Bears dynasty, we settle to keep an aging former Superstar for 3 more years!! What would you rather have?
This is all predicated on the Bears cleaning house and hiring a HC and GM that actually know what they are doing!!
Well
If Urlacher is old and washed up, who in the hell is going to give us any draft picks for him? If he can play back to form, keep him and groom a young linebacker to take over when he does retire. One second round draft pick will not fix all of the Bears problems. Losing Urlacher in the middle would only cause more problems, hence the terrible defense this year. I understand the concept of rebuilding and clearing out the old to bring in the new, but I do not believe you do that with an Urlacher. His knowledge alone is worth more.
by Bears Fan Chad on Dec 1, 2009 12:55 PM CST up reply actions
I never said
he was old and washed up!! I was speculating on what the Bears can expect from Urlacher in the next 3 years. He’ll be 32 next year. They will be lucky if they get 3 more quality years out of him. Do you really believe that Urlacher will come back next year and the defense will automatically be better? This defense is not struggling because they’re missing Urlacher. They’re struggling because teams with good WRs that can run an option route and find the zone weaknesses are killing the Bears soft zone coverage, and the defensive line is creating ZERO pressure on the QB. Urlacher does not change this defense this year. He was on this team last year and the defense was just as bad.
The most likely thing to happen
if the Bears traded Urlacher away, is he would immediately return to Pro Bowl form, and go on to lead some other team’s defensive revitalization and an ensuing push to the Super Bowl.
However, if we keep him, he’ll continue to be above average, but not spectacular, battle a couple more injuries, and fade out.
That’s just how the Bears’ fortunes have always turned under the current administration.
Players always seem to get better when they go to other teams.
Which says a lot, doesn’t it?
Yes it does
and the organization is too stupid to realize it!! Can anybody give me a name of a free agent acquisition the Bears have made that was as good as he was on the Bears as he was on his former team? The only one I can think of is Thomas Jones but he’s been better on the Jets than he was for the Bears.
I didn't say you did
I’m just saying if he is seen as old, on the way out, who would give us draft picks. If he is still a superstar, we would be better off with him. As far as the defense better or worse last year, we were 9-7 last year with a shot at the division title. Urlacher is out this year and we are 4-7 with a likely 6-10 final record (if we’re lucky). Yes there has been no pass rush, and yes the scheme might be shit, but the Tampa 2 is predicated on having a superior middle linebacker. Nick Roach and Hunter Hillenmeyer just don’t cut it. I do believe the defense will be better next year because Urlacher will be there to get guys in the right position, make the proper reads. Statistically and record wise, the defense was not this bad last year. I guess tyhe bottom line is with or without Urlacher, the team has many, many more issues to fix, but I feel without Urlacher there becomes one more issue..
by Bears Fan Chad on Dec 1, 2009 2:21 PM CST up reply actions
Agreed
but I’m hoping that the Bears will not be running the Tampa 2 next year. There are pros and cons to trading Urlacher. My initial comment was if you can get a 1st round pick, then you do it!! I’m not saying give the guy away for a 4th. I’d like to see the Bears get back the 1st and 2nd and if that means they have to trade Urlacher and somebody else, then to me, you have to do it. This team is still going to be here 5 years from now when Urlacher won’t be. That’s all I’m saying!!!
Pace...
“They looked at the salary cap and they needed to make changes. They needed to save room. They needed to move forward. I was OK with that. … It was almost like a mutual thing.”
Hmmm… that’s possible. Or it’s more likely they parted ways with you because you flat-out suck now and can no longer consistently block. Which, as it turns out, is pretty effin’ crucial to you d*mn job, who knew?
But no worries, it’s what we all thought… that the Ram’s cut you to save money. However, I’ve got a news flash for you Walter Kronkite… it wasn’t entirely about the money!
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"Newbie, if the next two words out of your mouth aren't 'See ya' then the third word will be 'Oh my god. My crotch. You've punched me in my crotch." - Dr. Percival Ulysses Cox
What did Urlacher say that was so bad?
the vast majority of us who post on this website constantly criticize Lovie and the Bears for giving us lip service and always ask “why can’t they just tell us the truth?”, then when, arguably, the most respected member of the team does just that, we’re worried about dissension! Stop worrying about Cutler’s feelings, he’s an NFL QB, and a very highly paid one at that, it comes with the territory. If he can’t deal with it (and I haven’t seen any indication from him that he can’t) then he might not be the QB we need him to be.
He didn’t criticize Cutler as much as he questioned the direction the team seems to be taking. He’s right, they did win behind Orton, whether you like him as a QB or not, and they did it running the ball and stronger defense. I didn’t read into his comments that this defense would be better with Orton, just that they didn’t worry about turnovers from our offense as much, which is a fact.
I’m a fan of Cutler’s and Orton’s, as I’ve said many times since the trade, but only one of them has a winning record as a QB in college and the pros. You can make the argument about who is the “better QB”, but you can’t argue with the won/loss record.
I felt that Urlacher was calling out the Bears organization more than he was his teammates and, if that’s the case, GOOD FOR HIM!!!
by BearFan611 on Dec 1, 2009 10:59 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
Keep Urlacher
and trade Harris—change the defensive scheme and bring back Blache’s double fat-as$ d-line scheme, to let Urlacher and the LBs roam more freely and to make plays.
What are Ted Washington and Keith Traylor doing these days anyway?
How’s the Fridge feeling?
Harris is starting to play better of late
is he slowly getting back healthy? Not sure how much of a market there is for him unless he’s 100% and if he is 100% he’s worth keeping.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Dec 1, 2009 12:14 PM CST up reply actions
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