In a video Wiley broke down each individual game for the Vikings and called it a win or a loss.

He had the Vikings sweeping the Bears. Now normally I really don't pay that much attention to preseason projected wins but with all the Favre frenzy I thought I would bring this up. Here are my reasons why the Vikings don't sweep the Bears.

1. Both games are played late in the season (week 12 and week 16) and that is around the time that Favre completely collapsed last season, I know it was because of injury, but he is going to be 40 when these games are played so I wouldn't be suprised to see his body collapse. Also remember Pat Williams is going to be 37 by the time of those two games, so he might collapse two.

2. Favre has had real problems against Lovie Smith's defense, don't believe me then just read this article.

3. The Bears split the series against Minnisota last year, and after significetly improving both sides of the ball we now lose both games. I know Minnisota added Favre, but they also lost pro-bowl center and team leader Matt Birk which I think is a big loss.  

4. I definitely don't see them winning the game at Soldier Field late in the season. Despite the fact that Brett Favre used to be amazing in the cold, he know has turned into a liability at an old age. Also remeber the bones start to ache a little more in the cold weather so that will hurt Favre's abilities given that he is already old and already has a hurt soldier.

P.S. The Vikings are also sweeping the Lions according to Wiley, I would be willing to bet against this as well. Remember, the Vikings barely squeaked by the Lions last season, one win coming because of the run out of the endzone play, and I think the Lions have greatly improved. So if the Williams Wall suspension is upheld for this game then I can definitely see Detriot winning the game.   

I really haven't been able to visit WCG as much lately, but after seeing all these posts from Broncos fans about how immature Cutler is and how he is not as good as he is hyped up to believe I thought I would bring up a few points. I hate commenting late because I feel that nobody reads posts after a certain time period, so I thought I would start a new post.

1. On the big deal Bronco's fans seem to have with Cutler drinking, Bears fans seemed to joke knowing that Orton is a notorious drinker himself. But that was somewhat refuted by Endzone; who said...

I was not aware before now that Orton had any drinking or bad party habits. All the news here in Denver is that he shows up early and leaves late and is completely focused on the Broncos

via blogs.westword.com

This shows Orton as a drinker with some serious party habits, my point being you can go out and have fun and still be a team oriented guy.  

2. The differences in winning percentages was brought up, and Bears fans countered with the fact the Orton had a better defense. Again Endzone (sorry to somewhat pick on you dude, but I'm just trying to respectfully disagree) responded with this... 

I’ll admit your D was better than ours. But not by much

Okay last season was a bad year for our defense but Orton won 10 games in 2005 when I believe our Defense was ranked #1 in the NFL, so that helps his winning percentage. Also Orton received a lot more help from his running game than Cutler did. This was brought up by Ditkavsworld, but I just wanted to rebring it up.

3. The difference in O-Line talent between the Bears and the Broncos, while I'll admit that the Bronco's have a better O-Line I would argue not by much. 

LT- We brought in future Hall of Fame Orlando Pace, which will bring the natural he is only a shell of his former self debate, but I would like to point out 2 things, 1) He only gave up 2 sacks last season, and 2) for an athlete at the end of a highly successful career I think their is a big difference between playing for a championship contender and a league bottom dweller.

LG- Most likely Frank Omiyale will be starting, which brings the he is a league journeyman response, but I will point out a few things, 1) He was a league journeyman at LT, and OT is a lot harder to play than OG, ex. Leonard Davis from the Cowboys who was initially labeled a bust after failing to produce as a highly rated LT in the draft for the Cardinals, and is now a 2 time pro bowl selection at RG, and 2) Omiyale is actually considered a very good pass protecter and that is good news for Cutler. 

C- Olin Kreutz will be starting, and he was at one point considered the best center in the game, and I would argue a future Hall of Famer. 

RG- Roberto Garza will be the starter, and according to stats is still one of the best RG's in the NFL

RT- Most likely Chris Williams, and this brings the unproven response, but the Bronco's did pretty good with unproven Ryan Clady last year at LT an even harder position. Now Williams was highly regarded as one of the best pass protectors in the 2008 NFL draft.

I don't know about you guys but this looks like a pretty solid pass protecting O-Line for Cutler

In this article on the Truth and Rumors section of SI.com, Cutler's true maturity is shown:

Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has put off any talk about endorsement deals so he can concentrate on his new teammates and the playbook. There's a perfectly good reason Cutler hasn't been seen or heard doing commercial spots for car manufacturers, hotel chains or anything else. He's not interested, at least not right now.s about endorsement deals so he can concentrate on his new teammates and the playbook. He already is one of the most popular and recognizable athletes in a city with plenty of big-name players. But capitalizing on that popularity commercially isn't an immediate priority for Cutler.

This shows that he is serious about coming to Chicago to win games and make plays. I have a feeling that all of the people in the media that are doubting him have put a huge chip on his shoulder. He really hasn't gotten any respect in this league, he was overshadowed in the draft by players like Vince Young, Matt Leinart, and Reggie Bush, then when he finally proves that he is better than them on the field people start questioning his maturity. I have a feeling that Cutler is going to blow people out of the water next year, so the rest of the NFL better watch out.  

via media.scout.com

This article from the Chicago Tribune talks about how Chance McCoy (Colt's little bro) played at ACU with Knox. In this article Chance talks about his brother's reaction to Knox's play.

"Colt compared (Knox) favorably to Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby at Texas,'' Chance McCoy said. "He said Johnny was the same type of guy, just at a smaller school. He said there was no doubt he'd be able to play in the NFL.''

I remember a lot of you raving about Jordan Shipley in that Will We Still Need WR Help Next Year? article, so you guys should be excited at these comparisons. Except I believe that Knox has way more speed than both of them. I have a feeling that Knox will end up as the starting slot WR, and that he will make some huge plays next year. If that happens and Iglesias can have a rookie year similiar to Steve Smiths(NYG), minus the injuries, then I feel confident in our WR core. 

via www.chicagotribune.com

On a side note, I can't believe Texas didn't offer Chance a scholarship, even if it is only because of his brother, or at least didn't guarantee him a walk-on spot. Then again they might have, and Chance was smarter than his brother and chose not to go. That's directed at you ChiFan.

On espn.com, someone wrote Kevin Seifert what would be his dream team of coaches from the NFC North. And below are his positions:

Head coach: Lovie Smith (CHI)
Offensive coordinator: Scott Linehan (DET)
Quarterbacks: Tom Clements (GB)
Running backs: Eric Bieniemy (MIN)
Wide receivers: Jimmy Robinson (GB)
Offensive line: TBD
Defensive coordinator: Leslie Frazier (MIN)
Defensive line: Rod Marinelli (CHI)
Linebackers: Fred Pagac (MIN)
Secondary: TBD
Special teams: Dave Toub (CHI)

3 Chicago coaches made the list, but what I found most interesting was that Lovie was chosen as the head coach for the division, especially after the lack of national respect for him as a head coach in SI's rankings. I agree with Lovie's appointment, because I feel that he has accomplished more than any other coach in the division.

What do you think of these rankings are their any coaches you'd change and who would be their replacement on the list? What do you think about Lovie being named head coach? stuff like that.

via volball.files.wordpress.com

John Mullin over at SI.com composed a list of players and coaches going into no-win situations in the 2009 NFL season. And, Ron Turner makes the list:

Ron Turner, Chicago Bears offensive coordinator

The Bears sent two No. 1's, a No. 3 and Kyle Orton to the Denver Broncos in April. What they got in return was Jay Cutler and a civic case of Mile High that stopped just short of queuing up for Super Bowl tickets, playoff ducats being a foregone conclusion.

After all, the NFL's charter franchise already had a franchise running back in Matt Forte (NFL's No. 3 in total yards) via the 2008 draft and now a franchise quarterback was de-planing at O'Hare. Never mind the questions inherent in no current Bears wide receiver having more than 74 career catches; the answer to all questions is Cutler, so if the Bears win, it's because of Cutler.

"I don't need the credit," Turner said. "Let Jay and the players have it. That's fine with me."

A complicating factor for Turner, and others like Caldwell, is that significant NFL forces are always at play that are beyond the control of the no-win'ers. Turner's 1994 Chicago offense ranked 23rd but the Bears reached the playoffs. The Bears even won a road wild-card game as Turner guided an offense with afterthought Steve Walsh when the marquee QB signing, Erik Kramer, flopped. The following year the Bears again went 9-7, with Turner's offense setting franchise records behind Kramer. But they missed the playoffs when the pass defense collapsed from fifth to 27th during a stretch of eight of nine games allowing no fewer than 24 points.

When Rex Grossman went down in the 2005 preseason, Turner's steady hand kept the offense controlled under Orton in an 11-5 playoff season. The next year the Bears went to the Super Bowl with Grossman. Two years later both Orton and Grossman are gone, the defense ranked 21st in yardage and 16th in points allowed.

Coach Lovie Smith is taking over as the de facto defensive coordinator. But if the Bears miss the postseason for a third straight year, all eyes will turn to Turner.

"That's just the nature of the business," Turner said. "All you can do is focus on what you can control and not worry when they say good things or bad things."

I kind of agree with the opinion that Turner won't get any credit if the offense improves, Jay Cutler will receive it as stated above. Which in someway is deserved.

But my question to you is, if(when) the offense improves will you give all the credit to Cutler for being a beast or will you only give most of the credit to Cutler while leaving some for Turner because he was able to succesfully use the weapons given to him? 

via assets.sbnation.com

I was perusing NFL.com, and noticed Kirwan's rankings for the NFL next season. The Bears come in at...

13. Jay Cutler changes everything for the Bears. He's a playmaker with a cannon arm who can win a game with a fourth-quarter drive. The offensive line is better, but are the receivers good enough to take advantage of Cutler's skills? The defense will be better with Rod Marinelli reuniting with his friend Lovie Smith on the Bears' coaching staff.

First off I find it funny that the Bears are 4th in Peter King's rankings but fall all the way to 13 in these rankings.

Next off, why is everyone complaining about our WRs this offseason? They have everyone back from last season except Marty Booker, not much off a loss in my opinion, and only added more talent in Knox and Iglesias. The Bears went 9-7 last year, with Orton and this WR core, they add Cutler and an improved O-Line, and our new predicted record by Kirwan is still 9-7, come on. My point is, Orton had a good season last year with these same WRs, so good that people were even talking about Orton being in the Pro Bowl before his injury, and since Cutler is a better QB you would have to assume that the WRs get better with him.  

What are your thoughts?

So I was browsing ESPN.com and came across this question on the NFC North Blog.

If you had to pick, would you prefer a great quarterback with average receivers or vice versa? After all, that pretty much describes the situations in Chicago and Minnesota, respectively. What's the preferable arrangement?

In response to the question as related to the Bears and Viqueens, I take Cutler all day and the reason  don't believe that the Minnesota receiving core is that dominant. They have Berrian who is a solid #2 receiver and Wade who is a very weak #2, possibly even a #3. Then when you throw TEs into the mix, all I have to say is I take Greg Olsen and Desmond Clark over Shiancoe any day. So my point is that Minnisota doesn't have a good enough receiving core to make this a debate.

Now in response to the question throughout the NFL, I still take the QB and the reason is found in Seiferts reponse

A really good group of receivers can bail out an average quarterback at times, but not to the extent that an elite quarterback can lift an average group of receivers. I'll take Tom Brady with Troy Brown and David Patten over Ryan Fitzpatrick with Chad Ocho Cinco and T.J. Houshmandzadeh any day.

and who wouldn't?

What are your thoughts?

When people started talking about how good this guy was I didn't believe him. But, after hearing it from multiple sources and having nothing better to do, I decided to YouTube him. Suprised I even got any hits being that he was a FB, I noticed how light on his feet he was and how he was juking people out. Not only was he an effective run-blocker and receiver, he also layed some monstor blocks on people, he was putting people on their backs. After seeing this I'm going to be really depresed if the Bears keep McKie over this guy, not only is he good but he has a way better FB name which is probably the most important thing. Plus, according to his teammates he seems to be a real hard worker and a team leader.(See Video 3)

Highlights:

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3 

via www.dailycal.org

While being a seventh round pick, I think that he can contribute immediatly. He was an all Big East selection in 2007 before tearing his ACL in 2008. Plus he had Tyler Palko as his QB, I really don't think of him as a stud. Plus, coming from Pitt, he basically already knows the offense and could be the next Marquis Colston.

Here are some highlights (all are relatively short):

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

Video 4

Video 5  

via cache.daylife.com