SB Nation - Lance Briggs

A Break From the Hysteria- Top 10 Chicago Lists

Dane Noble — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:15:44 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

To try and navigate around the interwebs and find anything noteworthy about the Chicago Bears that is not centered around firing Lovie Smith and/or Jerry Angelo can be quite a task. We realize that people are fired up right now, but sometimes you just need a break from all of the outcries and dire curses.

If only for a few moments, we bring you that opportunity. ESPNChicago has put together some top-10 lists that focus on the Bears, other professional teams in the city, and even athletes from Chicago who play for other city's teams. We'll post the top-10 Bears players from this decade, but make sure you check out the other lists as well if you have time.

10- Ruben Brown

4- Mike Brown

2- Olin Kreutz

Also listed are the top-10 Cubs, White Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks, Fire; top-10 games, and top-10 players from Chicago.

Thoughts? (besides the fact that we should fire Lovie)

Game Recap: Ravens Whooped Us Edition

Dane Noble — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:21:26 -0000

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So, a few quick numbers, and a link for your perusement.

Jay Cutler: 10/27, 94 yds, 0 TDs, 3 INTs, 7.9 Rating

Joe Flacco: 21/29, 234 yds, 4 TDs, 0 INTs, 135.6 Rating

Lance Briggs: 13 tackles

Bears: 1 penalty/ 6 yds.

Jerry Angelo: No decision made yet on Lovie Smith's future.

Up next: Vikings

Your turn... sound off.

Bears Updates: Briggs, Hester, and June

Dane Noble — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:16:42 -0000

While feathers are flying all over the internet (including here at WCG) about the most recent loss for the Chicago Bears, we thought it might be a good idea to poke around and see if there are any updates from Halas Hall today.

First, it looks like Devin Hester will still be sidelined when practice resumes Wednesday, but it is unclear how serious his calf injury really is. More to come on this as we get it.

Also, with Lance Briggs back, the Bears released Cato June, the linebacker whom they had only recently signed. To take the place of June on the 53 man roster, the Bears promoted OT James Marten from the practice squad.

Notes, Scribbles, and Things Jotted Down: Packers Part II

Dane Noble — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00:23 -0000

by Nam Y. Huh - AP

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If there was any small mathematical chance that the Bears could challenge for an NFC Wild Card spot, losing to the Packers wiped those numbers away. Not that there were too many people who were still believing it would actually happen, but it is still hard to imagine that we would have a third year in a row without reaching the playoffs after reaching the Super Bowl in 2006.

In six years with the Bears, Lovie Smith has three seasons with a winning record, and two playoff births.

- Not only did Cutler look to Aromashodu often, he looked towards him early. The first two plays of the game were passes to DA (1 complete and 1 incomplete).

- Omiyale had 2 penalties in the second series for the Bears (false start and holding). Penalties are drive killers.

- I really feel sorry for Cutler when he has to constantly throw off his back foot, but on the rare occasion he can set his feet and step into the throw, it looks great. He throws a damn good football.

- Lots of 3WR sets early in the game... indicative of absolutely no running game.

- Yes, our OL is still awful, but things looked much better this week than most weeks. CWilliams made some errors, but he also made some great blocks. Let's hope he keeps getting live reps for the rest of the year.

- Omiyale was very similar to Williams... made some bone-headed plays, but also made some damn good blocks. Steadily showing improvement.

- I like Knox, and I think he's going to turn out to be a mighty fine WR next year, assuming the OL is improved.

- What happened on the Bears extra point attempt? Was there a penalty on Pat Mannelly? ( I had no sound)

- Glad to see Tommie doing something again. Let's see if he can keep it going over the next few weeks.

- Afalava loves to hit people. And I love watching him hit people.

- The Bears defense showed improvement in getting off the field after 3rd down plays... GB was only 5/13 on 3rd down attempts.

- 13 penalties/ 109 yards. For shame.

- The guy we gave up a second round draft pick for registered his fourth tackle as a Chicago Bear on Sunday. In seven games he has been active, he's got 4 tackles and 0 sacks.

- Lance Briggs, despite not having his usual 10+ tackles, still played like a madman.

- I dislike seeing Bullocks on the field, even if he does make a few tackles.

- Knox/ Aroma's combined numbers: 13 rec/ 159 yds/ 2 TDs.

- Jason McKie made a couple of great blocks on DTs that our OL was unable to block.

Up next... @ Ravens. Should be fun!

Friday Injury Report: Packers at Bears

Brandon — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 04:37:23 -0000

It's a fairly short injury report for the Green Bay Packers, only 9 players listed, but it includes the top 4 defensive lineman. The Bears report is even shorter, but it might expose their lack of depth at wide receiver.

For the Packers: the big story has been that their top 4 defensive lineman are listed on listed on the injury report. While technically true, the only player likely to miss the game is NT Ryan Pickett, who hasn't practiced all week as he tries to recover from a hamstring injury he suffered during the win on Monday night. NT B.J. Raji will slide into replace him, and he's already making friends with Bear C Olin Kreutz. Raji is listed too, but he was a full participant in Friday's practice. DE Cullen Jenkins and DE Johnny Jolly were both limited in Friday's practice, but I expect they'll go. Late in the Monday night game, DE Jarius Wynn was in on several plays, and I don't expect the coaching staff has any concerns going with the 277 lb. rookie, if necessary.

Everyone else was a full participant in practice, except backup LB Jeremy Thompson, as he tries to recover from a career threatening neck injury. One name not listed is rookie OL T.J. Lang, who missed last Monday's game with a concussion, which is good news since LT Chad Clifton did miss some practice this week, and Lang will also be available to spell RT Mark Tauscher, if he needs a break.

For the Bears: it looks like WR Devin Hester is unlikely to play. While he isn't the greatest receiver and he's no longer the best kick returner on the Bears either, but he's still their leading receiver. Their great kick returner, WR Johnny Knox, would be counted on more in the offense, alongside WR Earl Bennett. Their bigger problem is that they don't have any depth at receiver behind their top 3 (none of their other receivers have more than 2 receptions on the season). The Bears might rely on their 2 TE packages even more than usual. LT Orlando Pace could return this week, but it's not clear whether he would start even if healthy. LB Lance Briggs should return this week, but his replacement, LB Jamar Williams, did very well in his place with 18 tackles against the Rams last week.

The complete injury report is after the jump.

Player	Pos.	Injury	Friday Participation	Friday Status
Nick Barnett	LB	Knee	Full Participation	Probable
Chad Clifton	T	Hamstring	Full Participation	Probable
Jermichael Finley	TE	Knee	Full Participation	Probable
Cullen Jenkins	DE	Hamstring	Limited Participation	Probable
Johnny Jolly	DE	Knee	Limited Participation	Questionable
Ryan Pickett	NT	Hamstring	Did Not Participate	Doubtful
B.J. Raji	NT	Ankle	Full Participation	Probable
Jeremy Thompson	LB	Neck	Out	Out
Charles Woodson	CB	Shoulder	Full Participation	Probable


Player	Pos.	Injury	Friday Participation	Friday Status
Lance Briggs	LB	Knee	Full Participation	Probable
Tommie Harris	DT	Knee	Full Participation	Probable
Devin Hester	WR	Calf	Did Not Participate	Probable
Hunter Hillenmeyer	LB	Groin	Full Participation	Probable
Israel Idonije	DT	Knee	Full Participation	Questionable
Orlando Pace	T	Groin	Limited Participation	Probable

Bears Injury Updates: Briggs, Hester, Cutler, Pace

Dane Noble — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:16:31 -0000

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There are a few different ways that NFL teams get to evaluate their depth at different positions, and the Chicago Bears have been presented those chances as the 2009 season dwindles down.

During a slide of disappointment like the Bears have seen, many teams like to turn their attention to younger players, as to see what sort of future they might have the following season. Also, injuries always occur, and backups get to see the field to prove that they deserve a roster spot.

Here are some updates that might prove to present interesting scenarios for the Bears this week and beyond:

Lance Briggs is set to return this week at WLB... he missed last week with a knee injury and hip pointer. His backup, Jamar Williams, had a career day last week against the Rams. Does this mean that Williams will sit versus the Packers, or does he slide over to the strong side in place of Nick Roach, who is also having a strong season?

Orlando Pace is also set to return this week. Chris Williams slid over from the right side to the left in Pace's absence, and Lovie Smith sang the praises of Williams following his first game at LT. If Pace is good to go, which it looks like he will be, do the Bears return him to his starting LT role, or do they continue with Williams and Shaffer?

Smith has repeatedly said that they will field the team who is most likely to help win the game, so we'll see what combo at the OT positions they will go with. Pace said that he feels like he can play, and hasn't shown any interest in retiring. He still has 2 years on his contract after 2009.

Jay Cutler (hand), Matt Forte (hand), and Devin Hester (calf) are all expected to have full participation Wednesday.

Random Ramsdom: 12/5, getting warmed up

VanRam — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:49:38 -0000

Before you shift into big college football game mode, here's a look at what's happening with the St. Louis Rams.

Steven Jackson is still hurting, his back is. The coaches and Jackson himself seem to think this will be a deal like last week and he'll end up playing. I hope...I guess I hope. I hate to see Jackson get injured trying to gut it out in the middle of a 1-10 season, but then again, that's why we like SJ39.

In fact, Jackson has emerged as one of the team's leaders, firing guys up and giving his all in the midst of a 1 win season.

Former Rams great LT Orlando Pace is doubtful for this game. So is LB Lance Briggs.

The Bears will move OT Chris Williams to the left side in Pace's stead, matching him up against Chris Long and James Hall. The interesting thing about this move is that some say Williams is an upgrade over the high-mileage Pace. The left side is Williams natural spot.

The Bears put an OL atop their wish list for the Holiday season, er, offseason, or at least the fans do.

A loss to the Rams could have sweeping implications for the Bears.

Week 13 Preview: Rams (1-10) @ Bears (4-7)

Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:30:16 -0000

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When you are sitting at 4-7 there isn't a lot that can put your team in a good mood, but taking on the worse off 1-10 St. Louis Rams could be a good start. If things go as they have all year the Bears should be able to win. They lose to the real good teams and beat the real bad teams. However if the flip side occurs and the Bears actually get dropped by the hapless Rams, in Chicago no less, then it could be a start to the end of season house cleaning many fans want.

Week 12 Recap

The Rams: Seattle running back Justin Forsett had a career day in St. Louis last week with two tuddy's and 130 yards rushing as the Seahawks won 27-17. The Rams actually out gained Seattle 364 to 265, but that Seattle D picked up 4 sacks and 2 picks. Ram QB Kyle Boller (yes the former bust out with the Ravens) threw for his third most yards ever, 282, and hit 10 different receivers while doing it. He also added 26 yards on the ground. A less that 100% Steven Jackson still racked up 89 yards rushing and chipped in with 5 grabs out of the backfield for 29 yards.

The Bears: Chicago looked like a Sophomore team trying to take on the Varsity. The Vikings whipped up on the Bears in every possible way winning 36-10, and it wasn't even that close. Brett Favre had one of the better days of his stellar career and Jarred Allen's 2 sacks led the Viking D to a dominating performance. Here are the ugly final yardage totals, Minnesota 537 - Chicago 169, and don't forget the Bears only had 2 yards of total offense in the second half. U-G-L-Y.

Quick Numbers:

20: A career high (so far) interceptions for Jay Cutler.
8: Number of interceptions the Rams defense has picked off so far this year.
7: Turnovers by Kyle Boller in just 4 games played.
6: Charles Tillman leads the league with 6 forced fumbles this year.

Key Injuries:

STL - RB Steven Jackson - Questionable (Back) Likely will play

STL - FB Mike Karney - Questionable (Neck)

STL - OT Jason Smith - Out (Concussion)

CHI - OLB Lance Briggs - Out (Knee)

CHI - LT Orlando Pace - Out (Groin)

CHI - Desmond Clark - Questionable (Neck)

CHI - Charles Tillman - Probable (Concussion) Likely will play

When the Rams have the ball.
Steven Jackson, Steven Jackson, and more Steven Jackson. Jackson leads the team in rushing and receptions and the Rams look to get him the ball as much as possible. Look for QB Kyle Boller to target Jackson early to try and get his confidence up.

The key match-up for the Rams: Rams OL vs. Bears DL
The Rams offensive line should welcome back starting guard Richie Incognito and center Jason Brown. If the interior of the Ram line is able to neutralize the Bears DT's look for them to methodically pound the 231 pound Jackson inside all day. With the way the Rams defense has been playing controlling the clock is their best chance at a win.

The X factor on offense for the Rams: QB Kyle Boller
As I mentioned above Boller tossed for his third most yards ever, if the Rams are able to establish the run, their play-actions and roll outs could give the Bears fits. Boller is a mobile QB and won't hesitate to take off and pick up what he can.

When the Bears have the ball.
The Rams have given up the fifth most total yards and are fifth worst against the rush (148.5 per game), so I would expect the Bears to try and get the run game going. After only 8 rushing attempts against the Vikings last week the Bears have to try and get it going vs. the Rams. Matt Forte rushed for 139 yards last year in St. Louis, his most as a pro, and should be a big part of the offensive game plan this week. Jay Cutler has played much better at home this year, but the Bears should allow him to easy into the game this week. And for the love of God, could we not see the wide receiver screen this week?

The key match-up for the Bears: RT Kevin Shaffer vs. DE Leonard Little
I alluded to this match up in my preview I did on the Sporting News, so it makes sense to bring it to light here as well. The Bears picked a heck of a week to plug Shaffer in at RT. Little is the best pass rusher the Rams have with 5.5 sacks on the year (and 86.5 on his career), but Shaffer played mostly right tackle in Cleveland so it isn't new to him.

The X Factor on offense for the Bears: QB Jay Cutler
Can someone of the stature of Cutler be an X Factor? I'm not sure, but he is this week... Since I had Boller as the X Factor for St. Louis why not throw Cutler in there for Chicago? The only way I see the Rams having a chance this week is if Cutler allows them, with a few more interceptions. Play in the system, take what is given to you, and run when some open field presents itself. I can see another unsatisfying win just like the Cleveland game, but at this point the Bears will take any win they can get.

Side notes from the NFC North:

Vikings: Sunday Night Football and a trip to Arizona, this may be the last team on the schedule that could trip up the Vikings.

Packers: Baltimore is a tough place to play and Ray Rice is gonna be a tough test for the Packers, he's #2 in the NFL in yards from scrimmage.

Lions: Look for the Bengals passing game to make quick work of a banged up Lions secondary.

Looking for the Bright Side: Week 12 Chicago Bears

Sklz711 — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:04:08 -0000

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Every week, win or lose, there are some things to improve upon for the next game. The opposite of this is equally true, and no matter how soul crushing a loss is there are always a few good things to take from the game as signs of some kind of improvement or life.

So follow me below the jump and lets look at the few pinpoints of light in the loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Johnny Knox is looking more like a top flight WR every game.

This goes beyond Fort Knox scoring our only touchdown of the game, which was a combination of being a good WR and a picture perfect pass. This is looking specifically at the play in the end zone where Cutler threw a bad ball that instead of going in front of Knox, it went straight behind him right into the man in coverage. How does this make Knox a good receiver you may ask? He didn't come up with the ball, but what he did when he realized he didn't have a play on the ball is something we have been missing for a long time. He immediately went into "CB" mode and attempted to punch the ball loose to save the INT. That's a veteran move from a rookie player, and this isn't the first time Knox has played beyond his years.

If you remember back a few games where Knox drew the unsportsmanlike conduct call by not letting them walk all over him, but then stopping when punches started to get thrown. Great call. Knox consistently impresses me when he's on the field, both as wide receiver and in the return game, and if he's this good as a true rookie we may have the steal of the 2009 draft playing as WR for a long time.

We have an embarrasment of riches in the return game.

Speaking of Fort Knox in the return game, sure he fumbled one against the Vikings but it wasn't your normal guy attacking the ball and knocking it loose fumble. It was one of those spinneroonis on top of the back of an opposing player fumbles that happens once in a blue moon. If you run that play one hundred more times it's likely that Knox is downed and no fumble occurs. He also showed great heart and ability to dust himself off by giving us a fantastic return later in the game that was very close to being a touchdown.

Knox leverages his speed in a different way than Hester tends to, going more straight up field than side to side looking for the home run. Both methods have their place, but when Hester starts dancing too much it spells problems at times. Also back returning we've got Daniel Manning who returns very much in the mold of Joshua Cribbs, less of a finesse runner and more of a bruising return man, he'll make a few shifts but he's heading up field no matter what is in his way. He may not hit the home run ball, but he's going to grab every single yard that he can take from the opposing team on his returns.

If you said two years ago that we'd have two good returners, and neither would be named Hester most people would have called you crazy. Add both of them, and a Hester that could emerge again at any moment and you've got a return game that has to respected even if the rest of the team doesn't earn it.

Al Afalava has a great shot at developing into a quality safety for us.

I'm a guy that likes to admit when he was wrong, and I was wrong about Afalava. I really was against the pick of Afalava due to his off the field issues, since at least the descriptions of the incident showed a real lack of maturity and responsibility. However he's been nothing but a model citizen since coming to the NFL and has had zero negative reports about any of his activities on the field, or off. Boy am I glad I was wrong.

Afalava has really burst onto the scene as one of the only Safeties that I don't cringe when I see him on the field. After watching as much of the game as I could looking for him you could see him dutifully covering his man in the flat at times, and laying absolutely vicious hits at others.

One specific instance of Afalava stepping up would be the pass at the front of the end zone. If you watch the play, HH is the closest man to the play, but doesn't even move more than a couple of inches towards the ball even when he sees it coming in his direction. Meanwhile, Afalava coming back towards the ball makes a really hard hit on the receiver in the end zone. What does this matter? It was still a TD? Yeah, the coverage failed, but at that point the only shot you have is to knock that ball loose and break up the reception which is a duty that Hillenmeyer apparently wanted no part of.

As long as Afalava continues to get better in his understanding of coverages and work a bit more on his mobility, and you could be looking at another hard hitting safety in the mold of Mike Brown in the years to come.

Lance Briggs is getting an opportunity to show himself as a monster with Urlacher's absence.

If you look at the way Lance was talked about during the years of his contract dispute there were definitely two factions. There were the people that wanted to trade him for whatever we could get, and there were people that wanted him to stay. Everyone knew he was a good player, but there was a real undercurrent of thought that Briggs only looked good because teams had Brian Urlacher to deal with. We can put that argument to rest right now.

Sadly Briggs was apparently hurt in this game which is blow I'd rather not have dealt to the team, or to Lance, but while he was on the field he was showing, like he has shown every week, that he is a star in his own right. If you look at the little swing pass to the outside right before Favre got nailed to Chester Taylor you see Briggs literally throw Taylor to the ground with what amounted to one hand. A bit earlier when Hillenmeyer got his first FF, it was HH that caused the fumble, but it was Briggs who launched into the backfield to slow AP down enough to let HH make solid contact and get that fumble.

Lance Briggs has been one of the few bright spots on the defensive side of the ball all year, and he has shown himself in Urlacher's absence as being perfectly capable of being the anchor for our linebackers even once Brian is done with the game.

Rob Gould is rock solid, and may in fact be the real concrete cyanide.

Robbie Gould is a monster with a genetically enhanced kicking leg, woven with dark magick and the tendons of a gorilla. Seriously, Rob Gould is one of the few players on the Bears team that doesn't induce heart attacks when he's on the field. He's one of those few kickers in the league that has earned a trust from the fans and his team, and speaking for myself at least, in Gould we trust. If it's anything less than a 50 yard kick I assume that it's three points on the board and that's that. If you tell me that the Bears missed out on a field goal, I immediately assume there was some kind of blocked kick, and that's how good Gould really is.

Brad Maynard is still looking great, even at age 35.

It's hard to really fathom that Maynard has been in the league for almost fifteen years, but then again the way this guy punts someone may have doctored his birth certificate. He's right there with Gould in the lack of stress factor of this team, whatever you ask of Maynard he does. If you want a high pop fly, it happens. You want them pinned deep with a corner kick, it happens. This year with his new strength program he's even regained some of that pop that had started to diminish the last few years. When you go three and out as much as we have been lately, it really pays off to have a monster like Maynard back punting.

QuickHits: Updates From BearsLand

Dane Noble — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:51:13 -0000

The team officially placed Pisa Tinoisamoa on IR today, clearing the path for Cato June. June will wear Pisa's old number.

LB Kevin Malast is brought back to the team on the practice squad. Another LB... how significant is Lance Briggs' injury anyhow?

Brad Biggs tweets that Sunday will see Chris Williams at LT and Kevin Shaffer at RT. Frank Omiyale will play LG.