SB Nation User Blog: Sklz711

Looking for the Brightside: Week 15

Sklz711 — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:52:40 -0000

4 days ago: Chicago Bears' Earl Bennett returns a punt during the first half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009, in Baltimore. Bennett scored on the play. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Browse more photos »

Another game, another loss, and another heaping helping of humble pie. I'll be incredibly honest and say that it was extremely hard game to watch, and an even harder game to find something to be happy about in. However, even in our darkest hour there is a new day just around the corner, and there were a few things to be happy about even in this extremely poor game.

The Offensive Line still doesn't look good, but it sure looks better than it did.

We didn't have a top 20 offensive line last night, but it sure wasn't the absolute train wreck that we saw at the beginning of the year. Kreutz still got manhandled too often, and Shaffer didn't look better than average most of the game, but there were no where near as many complete breakdowns of the line. The number of penalties seemed to be way down, and while it's just a start I didn't wish bodily harm on Ole a single time during the game.

The biggest difference in this line is CDub in his natural position, he gave quality protection on the edge all game, and even had a short stack of pancakes driving his attacker to the ground which is good to see from someone more known for his finesse game. If the improvement we see on a game to game basis out of Chris Williams continue we definitely have a rising star that should be starting at LT for a long long time.

Earl Bennett really showed why he is our slot/possession receiver for the present and future.

Fort Knox has received a lot of attention this year, and for good reason. He still makes a few mistakes, specially in regards to ball protection, but his talent is undeniable. Speed, ability to pick up an offense, veteran plays, good hands. It's because of Knox's breakout rookie year and Hester's remarkable improvement that Earl Bennett hasn't received the attention he deserves.

He was the sole Bears player to score any points this week, but he showed the same skill set in his return as he did in a short pass to the outside in the first quarter. Earl Bennett just doesn't go down from tiny bit of a weak contact like lots of other wide receivers. On both the return, and the reception there were more than one opposing player that made contact with him, and a few arm tackles that didn't phase the Vandy product. This guy is everything we ever wanted out of Rashied including the sure hands, and the ability for good yards after the catch.

It also doesn't hurt that on an offense still trying to gel that he has multiple years of experience catching the ball from our brand new QB. I think we can feel good going into next year with Bennett having locked up his WR position.

This season is almost over, and we've got some big changes to look forward to.

It's pretty much a given at this point that there will be some kind of change in the coaching this off season. Whether it's Lovie, Turner, Babich, or some combination of the three it's fairly obvious that they aren't all making it through the Spring. There is a lot of coaching talent in limbo floating around as well, so all signs point to someone catching the boot.

That helps salve some wounds, as does the fact that Christmas is in just a day or two depending on where you are and it's a time for family and friends, and not for bring down hatestorms on the the Bears organization as a whole.

Everyone take these two bright spots in what was an otherwise abysmal day and enjoy your holidays.

Merry Christmahanakwanaka to everyone!

Poll

Where do you think Bennett fits best at WR?

Long-Time UFC Sponsor Condom Depot Banned by Zuffa

Sklz711 — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:19:12 -0000

Promoted from the FanPosts by Kid Nate.

It appears that Condom Depot has been banned from both UFC and WEC by Zuffa

From an e-mail advertisement signed as from Jennifer Amato

Dana White Took Food From The Mouths of Our Sponsored Fighters Just In Time For Christmas! Sorry Spencer, Josh, Gabe, Jake and everyone else...
We have been notified that we have been Banned From the UFC and WEC!
We have provided fighters 100's of thousands of dollars DIRECTLY over the last 2 years but can no longer do so! Not to mention word came down during AIDS awareness month!!
UFC a Classy Organization runned by an even Classier Guy.

Say what you will about how much you love/hate the advertisements for things like Condom Depot on your favorite fighter's shorts, but it does help pay their bills and allow them to continue training MMA full time.

So what does everyone think? Is this going to be a part of a move to further reduce the number of "questionable" sponsors, or just another example of the pick and choose removal of various other sponsors and clothing lines over the past year?

Poll

Is the removal of Condom Depot from the UFC/WEC a good thing for the sport?

Coaches or Offensive Line - Which is more important to replace?

Sklz711 — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:45:48 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y Huh - AP

Browse more photos »

With this season swiftly coming to an end we've got some changes to make on our team and some of them are going to occur faster than others. Now, we are mostly in agreement that both the Offensive Line and the Coaches need to be replaced and rebuilt, but if history is any indicator there is a fair chance that all of our issues won't get addressed. So I ask you the Bears fans out there in internet land, if you could only pick one which would you replace?

Just as a quick exercise I'll add my two cents about each position.

Coaches

We've had a complete lack of a cohesive game plan this year in any single game.
When the offensive line was struggling there were zero changes attempted to help until things were way too late.
Multiple occasions when coming off of a long rest we came out extremely flat which falls directly on the coaches.
Complete lack of proper talent evaluation and building from Aromashodu, to leaving Omiyale at LG, to the multiple attempts to find a FS on staff only to never let any of them see the field.
The coaches in place are going to be the ones with the most input on how to rebuild the Offensive Line.

Offensive Line

Almost all of our offensive woes can be attributed in one way or another to the fairly terrible offensive line play.
Due to Cutler never having the time to throw more than a three step, or a shotgun drop we've found our ability to use some of our deep threat receivers taken away.
Our lack of a deep game has caused a crowding of the front half making the use of the TE and Slot WR extremely difficult.
An inability to consistently open holes while already having a shut down passing game has rendered both play action and the screen pass fairly ineffective.
That same inability to consistently open holes has led to a lot of stuttering behind the line of scrimmage and even more tackles for loss.

Poll

Which is more important to making our team better next year?

Looking for the Brightside: Week 14

Sklz711 — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:43:43 -0000

by Nam Y. Huh - AP

View full size photo »

Let's face it, this was not a good week to be a Bears fan. Nothing burns worse than a loss to a rival at home. I'd honestly go as far to say as the loss in the Super Bowl actually didn't burn as much even with the epic failure that existed in that game. There is just something that crawls up your throat when you see the Packers raising their hands in victory at Soldier Field. Enough negativity though, follow me below the fold while we look for the few rays of sunshine on that dark dark day.

We have the deepest and most promising group of WR outside of Arizona, Denver, and possibly Indy.

It's really amazing the amount of hate this heaped upon our wide receivers on a consistent basis.

We have Devin Hester, who a vocal minority of people were happy to see out of the game against Green Bay, previously on pace to be a top 15 wide receiver in the league. That's something he was accomplishing when what makes him special, his deep threat speed, was taken away by the lack of ability of our offensive line to allow deep plays to develop. To make up for this you've seen Hester really start showing a more complete game including better hands, better route running, more willingness to go over the middle, and catching the ball in traffic. For someone in only his second year at the position at any level, his progression is amazing.

Johnny Knox has been nothing short of phenomenal in this his rookie year which is a notoriously tough adjustment. He's looked great since the start of training camp, doing a great job catching just about anything thrown in his direction. He has also showed a great sense of the game by knowing when and how to bump DB's to create separation without getting flagged, as well as causing contact the other way to get the flags thrown on the other guy. He's floating around between the third and fifth best rookie WR in the league in a draft that was filled with quality WR. Right now the only people I have ranked over him are Maclin, Harvin, and Collie, and I think Knox has a lot more going for him than any of those three. He's shown himself to have elite speed and now really just needs to work on the timing and routes that come with time and experience. This guy has star written all over him.

Earl Bennett is finally seeing the field after experiencing a bit of DMS the first year from trying to learn all three WR positions in a single off season. He's really stepped it up in becoming a reliable possession receiver coming out of his slot, and his sure hands are a massively welcome change from the Droppapotamus that used to be in his position. Sitting pretty at 4th in receptions for all second year wide receivers you can expect the Vanderbilt connection to get even stronger once opposing defenses are forced to spread out and respect the deep ball more opening up the intermediate game for this great player to work.

Finally Devin Aromashodu has received the chance to showcase his abilities in the big show, and I for one couldn't be happier for him. Standing at six foot two inches he is one of the Bears tallest receiving threats, and having spent three seasons in the league he has more NFL WR receiver experience than anyone else at the position and it shows on the field. He has a great grasp of his routes and where he is supposed to be on any given play. He seems to give a ton of effort and makes the tough catches when it counts. Another diamond in the rough finally get his shot to shine, and he'll get a chance to be a diamond amongst gems on this great WR corps.

In this game we got to see Aromashodu and Knox both score a touchdown and look good the majority of the game, with a few miscues and wrong routes marring what was otherwise a superb performance by both men. The thing to take away from this game isn't that Hester is a bad WR and that's why DA could just immediately fill in, but that all of our WR are good now, and they are all getting better every game.

Even being under constant fire, Jay Cutler hasn't forgotten how to use his legs.

We finally got a chance to see Cutler get flushed out of the pocket in the game, and he took the opportunity to run up field for an extremely good looking 20+ yard scramble. Now, I know you're saying two different things to this, the first being why doesn't he do this all the time? Even on a QB scramble there has to be some kind of blocking and protection to get flushed out instead of crushed down. Most of the time when the pocket collapses for us this year it's much like a bubble that has been popped than a can that is slowly being crushed. With all of the stories about Cutler looking bad under the constant pressure it was really a relief to see that being shell shocked hasn't affected his confidence when it comes to his scrambling ability for a long first down. The second thing you're going to say is that it got called back. It may have been called back, but at the end of the day it showed me something I'd really been wanting to see from Jay so whether or not we got the first down is irrelevant to Jay's scrambling ability.

A lot of the issues that we have on offense can be fixed by next year.

For all the issues we have on offense we are in a pretty great lynch pin scenario. It can be argued that are problems stem from only two spots on offense, coaching and the offensive line. Since coaching salary doesn't apply to any cap or draft considerations that should be extremely fixable, and should be fixed this off-season. Better play calling, better talent evaluation, and ultimately better performance from parts that we already have would go a long way to fixing this offense.

The offensive line is the elephant in the room on this one, but we're really in a great position as long as you believe in Chris Williams, CDub, is the future at the LT position. I think he's looked pretty damn good in his first two appearances at LT, and as long as he continues to improve the penalties should decrease as the comfort level increases.

So if we have CDub holding down the LT position, a left guard position that needs filled, a center position that will likely be a great fit for Beekman, a RG position that should be okay with Garza for one more year, and a RT position that will likely either end up with someone new or Omiyale/Shaffer at the spot.

You can consider me one of the many that hopes Omiyale either does very well at RT or gets cut, and you can also count me amongst those that thing Shaffer hasn't been very good. However, even if both are awful and neither are better than a back up last year we should be able to find at least one quality lineman in the third and fourth round next year. Interior lineman are like the fruit and nut caramels in the Russel Stovers box. Sure they are okay, and they are caramel, but if you really want caramel your're going for the butter creme first. Fantastic interior lineman usually barely get into the second round, and usually fall to the third meaning we should have second or third pick at LG, or RT whichever we deem a more pressing concern and possibly our 5th or 6th pick at the other position in the 4th round.

That's not a guarantee of line supremacy next year, but it's really not that hard to imagine a vastly improved line with only these two second day picks to our name. Our offensive rebirth starts right here though, and if we can really improve the line then everything else is going to fall into place very quickly. Better protection means more time for Cutler to throw, more time for Cutler to throw means deep routes that our current #1 and #2 are unmatched in tandem at., more deep routes means less crowding the box and more Safety help coming out of the middle, that leads to the middle opening up for the slot and TE, and with the LB keeping an eye out on the slot and TE it frees up gaps in the run game and that's all she wrote.

We're just not that far away from being an offensive force, it's like we have all the game pieces but someone broke the board in half. Hopefully we can break the draft board in half this off season and grab what we need to show the league who the hell we are next season.

Poll

Will a coaching change and a revamped offensive line be enough to put the Bears offense in the top 5 next year?

Chicago Bears vs Green Bay Packers - Second Half

Sklz711 — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 19:42:59 -0000

After a first half that included some impressive defensive stops, some embarassing defensive blunders, some awful offensive line play with Omiyale, and some good offensive line play with CDub, we are now going into the second half down by only a score.

Join us below the jump for another addition of "Bears games make for good ratings and heart attacks".

A Rivalry Game At Its Finest: Bears vs Packers

Sklz711 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:32:33 -0000

More photos » by Jeffrey Phelps - AP

Browse more photos »

So our season was for all sane people over a few weeks ago, and Kathy Griffin has a better shot at becoming a leading lady than we do of making the playoffs. So what are the reasons to keep watching the games other than being a fan of the game and your team? To see how some of the young players look? To see if you're improving on anything going into next year? We're lucky enough to be one of the few teams with a deep seeded hate filled rivalry like few others. We have the Packers coming up this Sunday and we have a great reason to want to win this game other than pride.

That's right folks, the Vikings may have locked up the division already barring some kind of implosion of unheard of proportions, but there are still wild cards to be had and our most hated foe is eyeing one like a cheese head eyeing a wheel of cheddar to shove on their melon before a game.

The Packers are currently sitting at 8 and 4, and a loss to us would really set them back in their final rush to grab a wild card, and to be honest is there anything better that we can get out of this year? Seriously, we lost the first game against the Pack this year, and man after the season we've endured it'd be a nice salve to not only split the series for the year, but categorically keep the Packers fans silent until next year.

So what do you say, win one against our arch rival and fire a shot across the bow for next year? Who is in?

Poll

Is this our 'Super Bowl' for the 2009 season?

Yes, I always love beating the Packers.

176 votes

Yes, I'd love to knock someone in our division out of the playoffs.

64 votes

No, this season is a complete waste and no single win is going to make me feel any better about it.

142 votes

Playoffs? You're talking about playoffs?

44 votes

But, Lovie said we still have a shot...

52 votes

478 votes | Poll has closed

Looking for the Bright Side of the Chicago Bears: Week 13

Sklz711 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:05:30 -0000

More photos » by M. Spencer Green - AP

Browse more photos »

Another day, another dollar, and another season where if nothing else we can say we are better than the other team that wishes it could call Illinois its home. In a league now built around parity between teams no win is guaranteed, so even against a terrible Rams team we as fans can enjoy the fact that our losing streak is now broken.

If you think any win is guaranteed in the NFL, just have a talk with the Steelers fans about how that guaranteed W against the Raiders went this week. So in a week that saw the undefeated Saints get pushed to the brink against a hapless Redskins team, let us kick back for a few days and bask in the glow of a much needed win.

Now that we all have a fresh reminder of what the letter W actually looks like next to the word Bears, we'll sit down and examine the good things that happened on the field.

C Dub appeared to be a definite improvement at LT, even in his first game, and while we're talking about blocking Kellen Davis has stepped his game up.

Don't get my sunny disposition wrong, I sat down and watched this game looking for a reason to bring down a hate storm upon CDub, but I just couldn't find a reason to. The few times I was ready to throw a tomato in his direction, upon re-watching the tape it wasn't really his fault Cutler got nailed. Take the first quarter on the Hester deep ball, Cutler got squished, but the man that pummeled him was actually being blocked by none other than Greg Olsen.

In fact, the only really bad play I think I saw out of CDub was on a Cutler sack blocking Long solo, and just getting absolutely beat. However, if in his first outing at LT the worst that happened was a single bad play and absolutely zero penalties if my memory serves then I'm feeling good about him getting some playing time and seeing what he has.

Also, on at least three runs that I saw Kellen Davis in on he laid a massive block on all three. I've got to say Kellen Davis continues to impress at his improving blocking game and really makes me feel a lot better about the impending loss of Desmond Clark. Keep an eye on this man, he's really answered the call and solidified his position as the number two TE, and number one blocker.

The Chicago Bears WR corps as whole looked like a strength instead of a weakness.

Getting back to that Hester deep ball in the first quarter, it really showed a lot of what I want to see out of Hester as a number one, and it's something he's shown more than a few times this year. He showed awareness of the ball, awareness of the defenders, used his speed and the threat of his speed to create a window of separation, and finally jumped up and made a sure handed catch in traffic. Does he need to work on his blocking during runs, sure why not. Does he need to get a bit more consistent, no argument from me. However, to continue the litany of the never going to be a number one crowd is to set yourself up to look foolish. If he continues to improve at the rate he has in his first two seasons at wide receiver, you could be looking at a pro bowl WR in 2011.

Fort Knox has shown the same thing he has shown all year, absolute flashes of speed/brilliance that you want to see out of a deep threat, and a gameness that you rarely see in rookie wide receivers, let alone later round picks. The pass interference call in the first quarter was yet another example of a player you usually see coming from a veteran coming from this rookie. Knox fights his way down field against the CB, has his man beat, sees that the ball is going to be short, and creates the contact coming back to the ball against the CB looking the wrong way making it a very easy PI call. I'm impressed more and more by the maturity of this rookie every game.

Earl Bennett is really establishing himself this year as what we always wished Rashied Davis could be, a reliable receiver that's not afraid to go over the middle, can make some good catches, and can get a bit of YAC in a pinch. He needs to protect the ball a bit better, but I'm loving the Vandy connection at #3.

Some of our young DB are starting to show real promise.

Both Kevin Payne and Al Afalava looked pretty good today, with Payne finally showing some improvement in coverage which had been his real Achilles heel. Payne of all people was shown a few times wrapping up the runner from behind instead of just going for the big hit. Afalava had lots of extra effort plays including coming real close to the interception on a Jamar Williams tip in the second quarter. Good heads up play from the rookie. Not too long after that there was a great tackle by Bowman who laid a shoulder directly into the ball and once again Afalava keeps that nose for the live ball and makes a good return.

While the Safety position is still on my wish list, if Payne and Afalava continue to play at the level they did today, and improve the rest of this year and in the off season we might just have found a nice little safety combo already on our team.

Jamar Williams took the opportunity given to him to show he has what it takes to be an eventual starter.

Wow, just wow. If you would have told me that Williams would have exploded like this in what I believe is his second start I would have called you crazy. Coverage, run stopping, you name it, Williams was there. It's really a hell of a compliment when your best LB is out for the game and you don't have a huge talent drop off at the position. Tons of great plays for Jamar all game long including TFL, tipped balls, extremely close to interceptions and more. Just an absolutely fantastic game for Jamar Williams, and so good that it overshadowed what was a fairly good game for Nick Roach as well.

If our top 4 LB go into next year as Briggs, Urlacher, Jamar, and Roach, I'll be a damned happy man.

----

So did anyone else see a player that impressed them today that I didn't mention, or any stand out plays I didn't call out?

Bears Versus Rams May Be the Final Test for Offensive Line

Sklz711 — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:54:50 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

Browse more photos »

It's no secret to all of us fans, or the rest of the league, that our offensive line has been absolutely terrible this year. Orlando Pace has shown absolutely nothing left in the tank, getting dominated by even mediocre speed rushers, and not looking incredibly consistent against a power game or in run blocking.

Frank Omiyale was picked up ostensibly to be a left guard, or maybe as back up at tackle, but he has looked horrible no matter where he was placed on the line this year. Kevin Shaffer's first stint at right tackle lasted all of a single practice before he hit the pine with enough force to cause Orlando Pace to fall over offsides again. Chris Williams, also known as CDub, has looked passable at right tackle, but his finesse game is obviously better suited for the left tackle position.

Well it has finally become time to see who needs to go from the offensive line to the unemployment line next season, because there is apparently going to be a massive shift on the line for the game against the Rams.

First up we have the illustrious Chris Williams flipping it up and going to his natural position at left tackle. This is going to be a real test for the big man to see where he is at in his progression at left tackle. He should have a great idea of the game speed having receieved a large amount of playing time at right tackle this year. Chris Williams, while a very large man, has always been known as a finesse player and is entirely more suited to the blind side. We should get to see an immediate upgrade over the aging pace against the average Rams defense.

Next up, we've got Kevin Shaffer. You might remember him before he joined the league and grew a goatee from the Mr. Clean commercials. He came to our team in the beleaguered tackle "trade" that sent our John St.Claire to the Browns, and then we took Shaffer from them after he was cut. He's been lackluster the last few seasons, but has a history of being a very good run blocker. Well, Shaffer is going to get his chance to prove it this week against a bad Rams run D that is allowing over 140 yards on the ground every game. If he can't cut at right tackle against St. Louis it won't be surprising to see him off the team before next training camp.

Now for the part of this story that all good Bears fans dread, the mention of Frank "Ole" Omiyale. Apparently Omiyale is going to reprise his role as human turnstile at left guard against the Rams. Omiyale was a decent left tackle in relief last year for the Carolina Panthers, but has been a dark abyss on an already terrible offensive line this season. Frankly, and yes this is a terrible pun, Frank's only around because of the size of the contract he signed. His only two options of continuing to see the field on a regular basis are to really step his game up at left guard, or hope that Shaffer is still as bad as he looked in training camp and hope he looks better at RT than he did at LG.

So there we have it folks, we're going to get a really good look at what our line is likely to look like entering training camp next season, the only difference being Beekman probably lining up at center. Is anyone else excited to see exactly what happens against the Rams? It's like a teetering balance beam between stellar fishtail slide around a corner, and a huge explosive car accident at the line of scrimmage. Which will we see next week? For our sake I hope we keep the explosions for touchdown celebrations, or to destroy Ron Turner's office overlooking the field.

And hey, if nothing else we'll hopefully get a really good idea at what position we really need to target on the line with that coveted third round pick.

Looking for the Bright Side: Week 12 Chicago Bears

Sklz711 — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:36:41 -0000

More photos » by Andy King - AP

Browse more photos »

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.

The Pride and Joy of Illinois

Sklz711 — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:27:54 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Browse more photos »

A lot of other teams in this league would already be writing off this season as a complete waste, watching other games on Sunday, or otherwise turning their back on their home town team. However, that's not the way we work in the house that Halas built.

So, we lost another heart attack game against the Eagles, an absolute shame considering I'm surrounded by Eagles fans more often than not. We go into Minnesota and get dominated by the current top rung of the division lead by the undead lich known as Brett Favre. Sure, we mustered the troops to make a valiant stand against the bizarro AP, but without Urlacher in the middle to give Fav-ray his patented interception stare, it was game that was over before we hit the field.

We've lost six of our last seven, we look somewhere between terrible and bad depending on what part of the defense you're looking at, and I've seen more protection at a high school prom than what our QB is getting on the offensive side of the ball. There are no holes to run through, and we're quickly rushing upon a level of misery not felt since Dick Jauron was still our coach.

We're not gluttons for punishment, we're not masochists, and we're not cheerful rays of sunshine when it comes to our team losing, and losing to a big rival on a national stage, but there is absolutely nothing fair weather about Chicago, or its Bears fans.

The Chicago Bears have a unique place in the Chicago sports landscape, and the national landscape as a whole. The Bulls have tons of fans and the image of Jordan in the red and black will be etched into the psyche of more than a few generations. The Cubs have some of the most loyal fans in the world sticking to their team for over 100 years of failure. They both pale in comparison to the love and respect that the Chicago Bears receive every single year, no matter how bad the team was last year, or how painful it is to watch. No other team is more closely associated with the city of Chicago, and its fans. No other team is worn on the sleeves of its dedicated supporters to the extent that the Bears enjoy.

I've never been able to place my finger on one specific reason on why, but the Bears captivate the state of Illinois and surrounding areas like no other team. Maybe it's the fact that football is rough and tumble game, and Chicago at its roots is a working class city. Maybe it's the fact that compared to baseball and basketball there are so few games that every single minute matters, every quarter a lifetime, and every new game a chance at redemption. Maybe it could even be the fact that when the phrase football weather was coined that they had to be thinking of the Windy City. Just warm enough to keep the grass alive, still plenty cold to make the linesmen from both teams look more like raging animals blowing smoke from their nostrils than the gargantuan men they are, and while it may only be a 40% chance of flurries, it's a hundred percent chance of pain and suffering for the warm weather dome teams that come to Soldier field in the dead of winter.

Whatever the reason, our Chicago Bears take precedent over every other team in the city. Amazingly during the heyday of the Jordan years, you'd still hear plenty of talk about the Bears even during the off-season, and this is when the Bears then make the Bears of today look like the 85 squad reincarnated. From the city and suburbs of Chicago, down through the capital and farmland, and all the way into the rural south the Bears are the one team that you can readily guarantee that not only will the guy standing next to you in the bank have an opinion about, but he'll have his two cents about why his favorite second stringer isn't seeing more playing time.

This is why we're a bit different than other fans you'll see out in the NFL landscape, almost to a fault we know our team can do better than it is. We don't throw the entire team under the bus, we don't scream from the top of the spaceship known as Soldier Field that our team stinks. We hold players accountable, we hold positions accountable, we hold coaches accountable, and we back up our issues with players and coaches with cold hard facts. You won't see many of our female Bears fans trotting around in a pink Cutler jersey, not knowing the difference between a QB sneak and a bootleg, and in fact you'd probably be hard pressed to find one that doesn't know more about running an offence than our current OC does.

So what's the point of this post? It's very simple, and a preemptive strike more than anything else. As the fight song says, they are the pride and joy of Illinois. For better or worse they are our Chicago Bears. We have all, as fans, been through worse players, worse coaches, worse seasons, and worse losses. We might not have seen a team with more promise at the beginning of the year come crashing down as the flaws became so painfully obvious, but we've definitely been in worse situations over the years. Keep up the good spirits as much as you can, keep up the energy, and focus it all towards seeing your Chicago Bears get better every game, and get a good head of steam together going into the last quarter of this season so we can come out looking to take our crown back from the Viqueens that look like they'll be wearing it this season.

Oh, and just in case brush up on the fight song since we've not had a lot of opportunities to keep it fresh the last few games