The Bears Den: 12/03/09

by Dane Noble on Dec 3, 2009 3:00 AM CST in The Bears Den Comment 12 comments

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Where we are wondering why Shaffer is the only other OT on our roster.

Clayton: Bears did NOT reach out to Cowher. But he would be interested.

The Bears official site talks about Jay Cutler's season so far.

RosenBlog: Keeps playing his role (and getting blasted in the comments).

Haugh: 5 Things the Bears must do this year to make playoffs next year. Does not mention coaching.

Payton family dissolves relationship with Roundhouse.

Dez and Tommie banged up.

How the new concussion policy will affect Tillman.

Ron Turner reacts to Urlacher's comments. Sort of.

Injury reports from December 2nd.

Forte: "If I couldn't make anyone miss, I probably wouldn't be in the NFL"

Helmet-tip to Brad Biggs for all of the activity yesterday. He does a damn good job.

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was this football outsiders article on cutler mentioned?

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/cover-3/2009/cover-1-whats-wrong-jay-cutler

if you haven’t seen it, make sure you do.

by Hatchetm on Dec 3, 2009 8:35 AM CST reply actions 2 recs

That was a great read on Cutler

by MuleTrain on Dec 3, 2009 8:55 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Thank you very much!

He’s always been a tight window thrower. That’s one of the things that makes him different and that’s an attribute I think you have to have in the NFL, but he needs receivers who are bigger, who are more physical, who attack the football, who can make contested catches — he doesn’t have one receiver like that in Chicago. And I’m not talking about tight ends, I’m talking about wide receivers. He’s got receivers who are runners. They don’t attack the ball; they don’t make contested catches."

Greg assured me that at his root, Cutler has talent that can’t be duplicated. “He is probably the best pure thrower in the National Football League. I’m just talking about throwing a football. Even off-balance, there are throws he makes that are just absolutely remarkable.”

It was difficult to know what to make of Cutler’s mechanics early on — the guy’s obviously talented enough to complete quick outs — but I was astonished to see Pace get no help with Allen on any of those plays. Offensive coordinator Ron Turner managed to combine the protection leakage of wide sets with the inflexible non-production of a quick-screen-only offense. It was mind-blowing.

"You win because of the quarterback. We have to get that position stabilized. We're fixated on that." -- Jerry Angelo (12.30.2008)

Jerry Angelo trades for Jay Cutler! (4.2.2009)
.

by SackMan on Dec 3, 2009 9:11 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

We've got the most talented QB we're ever going to have. Yes. EVER.

Get the god damn right personnel people and coaching staff in here, who know what the heck they’re doing, to get the right pieces around him and win.

I’m sick of watching our WRs never fight for a ball… I’m sick of watching WR screen passes against 2 yard cushions… and I’m sick of watching our pass protection fall apart over and over again with little help from TEs or FBs on either side.

"You win because of the quarterback. We have to get that position stabilized. We're fixated on that." -- Jerry Angelo (12.30.2008)

Jerry Angelo trades for Jay Cutler! (4.2.2009)
.

by SackMan on Dec 3, 2009 9:15 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

This story will be on the front page this afternoon at 5pm

Thanks for the link

by MuleTrain on Dec 3, 2009 10:33 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Oops, I just posted a FanShot on this.

Feel free to take it down.

I’d also recommend the Bears page at Pro Football Focus. They also break down every play of every game, and seem to concur that as bad as Jay has played, he’s still the best player on offense.

The other thing to note there? The Bears OT’s are abysmal. Go here and sort by “QB Pr” (QB hurries/pressure). The Bears have the OT’s with the most and 3rd-most pressures allowed in the league. If you sort by overall rating, their tackles are the 4-th and 6-th worst. Note this list includes backups, so those rankings put them in the 70’s.

Yikes.

by shawndgoldman on Dec 3, 2009 12:25 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Link

Pops

You are all gentlemen (and ladies) and good judges of cheap whiskey.

by Dane Noble on Dec 3, 2009 11:35 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

how mightily the mighty fall!

-------
"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 smudgers on Dec 3, 2009 12:28 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Guess the Texans get their revenge

They got crucified for taking Mario Williams over Bush. Williams seems to finally proving to be worth the pick.

by TheMan1 on Dec 3, 2009 12:53 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

How many teams really carry more than 3 OTs, though?

I mean, some carry 4, but I don’t think everyone does. Am I wrong?

by TCBullfrog on Dec 3, 2009 3:14 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I think that most teams carry 4 or even 5.

I’m sure there may be a few rosters with only 3, but that’s because they got hit by the injury bug, or they have 3 very solid OTs. Neither of those things apply to the Bears.

You are all gentlemen (and ladies) and good judges of cheap whiskey.

by Dane Noble on Dec 3, 2009 3:35 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

OK, so I looked it up

With the roster pages at ESPN. Here’s the list of teams with 3 (or fewer!) OTs:

Kansas City (2!)
San Diego
Cincinnati
Indianapolis
Arizona
Minnesota

I’m not sure how much I trust those…some of the teams had REALLY high numbers, like the Ravens who are listed as having 13 OLs and 7OTs! I think maybe they’re listing practice squad players as well. And in our case, we’re listed as having 4 (Frank Omiyale is listed as an OT). So who knows. But I think having only 3 is not unheard of. However, your point is also true—a team like the Bears, who have a weakness at that spot, should probably have an extra one. I could see where they could have thought it wasn’t a problem in the offseason—I believed they were okay—but now…we’ve got problems.

by TCBullfrog on Dec 3, 2009 8:31 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs