Every year there's that one team that the experts seem to get behind. Some call it the trendy pick others call it the sexy pick, I prefer 'sexy', because it's, well... sexy. In 2012 the Chicago Bears may be that team. Comcast writer John "Moon" Mullin believes the Bears can bounce back to the playoffs after their 8-8 season, then again his could be considered a homer pick seeing as how he covers the Bears. But in his article he actually references an NFL.com piece that mentions the Bears.

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All hail Pete Dixon and his playoff predictions!!! Pete finished at 8-3, just edging out David Taylor for the WCG Crown. And speaking of head-wear, click on the link to see what Taylor's avatar is sporting thanks to his bet with Pete. And who was the loser in our little WCG playoff predictions contest? I'll not mention her name, that way she can carry on in anonymity. It'll be our little secret. As far as the Super Bowl goes, it was a good game. It was hard to really get into the action with New York and New England, two teams I don't care for, going at it. I found myself looking more forward the the breaks in the action and the supposed stellar commercials... Which were not stellar. On to my Thoughts.

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Last season, the NFL moved the kickoff line to the 35-yard-line from the 30, and reaction to the move was mixed, from claiming it was the end of the kickoff return to assertions that it would be no big deal.

When Roger Goodell was asked about it in his annual presser on Friday, in addition to his comments regarding the Super Bowl as posted earlier, he also said...

'We knew there would be less kickoff returns, but we thought safety was really a part of the initiative until we come up with a better solution. ... We will evaluate again this offseason. But I don't think we're moving it back."

So how much of an impact did the rule change have, and what can we expect in the future? Hit the jump...

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We're not gonna put this to a poll, as the candidates seem to change daily, but who would you like the Bears to hire to work with the Bears quarterbacks? New offensive coordinator Mike Tice and head coach Lovie Smith are looking for a passing game coordinator / QB coach to add to the staff. New GM Phil Emery will no doubt assist in the search.

The last few weeks Chicago Bears fans have been teased with the Twitter back and forth between quarterback Jay Cutler and Miami Dolphins wide receiver, and former teammate of Jay's in Denver, Brandon Marshall. The rumors and speculation were running wild linking Marshall to the Bears. After seeing how Marshall can look with a good QB throwing him the ball (his 4 TD MVP performance in the Pro Bowl) I wonder if Miami management will think twice about moving him. Then again, I wonder if there's any truth to his being shopped in the first place? But, that ugly trophy could lead the 'Fins to up their asking price. Then again, it's only the Pro Bowl, it's not like any one was playing defense any way. On to my Thoughts which will be Pro Bowl-centric for the first few...

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Since being drafted by the Bears in last year's draft, linebacker J.T. Thomas hasn't had much of an impact on the field. His rookie season was ended prematurely when he was put on injured reserve due to a back injury in September, getting the old "redshirt year" that's been commonplace for rookies under Lovie Smith. However, Thomas has proven in his first-year of professional football you can still make an impact in people's lives without stepping onto the field. Jump ahead for some heart-warming goodness that would make the Grinch weepy.

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Reading through the comments in yesterday's Emery announcement thread, I get the impression that Phil Emery - who I've confused in Google-searching with Blackhawks backup goaltender Ray Emery on more than one occasion (...what?) - is receiving a mixed reception as either the front-office equivalent of Tyler Hansborough, a workaholic who works hard at working really hard, or as the savior to all things Beardom with an incredible eye for talent... which may or may not come about through working really really hard.

With all that being said in quite possibly the longest run-on sentence in blogging history (which given the Internet is probably an accomplishment in and of itself)... I suppose I fail to see why being a hard-working, nose-to-the-grindstone workaholic is a bad thing when it comes to the front-office positions of keeping the football team staffed with guys with actual ability at their actual positions.

So the phrase "hard worker" was attributed to current ex-GM Jerry Angelo. It was also attributed to another guy who, so far, has built up a pretty solid team up north: Ted Thompson.

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The things he's had to say about the offense are nice, but all he's really doing is speaking common sense.


Have we really come to this, Bears fans?

Just a few short weeks after being promoted to the offensive coordinator position, and narrowly missing the opportunity to interview for someone else's Head Coach position, Mike Tice is already being very outspoken about how he intends to run his offense.

The only problem is that the things he's saying aren't earth-shattering...they're just common sense.

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