Defensive coordinator of the Titans and a man that appreciates Football Outsiders and statistical analysis...

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3835911

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/sports/football/23titans.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&sq=jim%20schwartz&st=cse&scp=1

I shall watch with intrigue...

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One other tidbit I gathered this morning is that a certain former coach of the Giants, Patriots, Jets and Cowboys has the itch to coach again. That's right, a source has told me Bill Parcells is telling those close to him he would consider a return to the sidelines. I'm guessing it would have to be the right opportunity for a premier franchise (Jets again????). Parcells has an out in his Dolphins contract if Wayne Huizenga sells the team, which apparently is going to happen. So far, reports have Parcells potentially jumping ship to be the GM of another franchise. But I'm hearing he would also like to coach the talent he selects.

http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2008/12/spagnuolo_sweepstakes_begin_to.html

Fire them all, bring in Parcells....ego-maniac that he is, he's generally on the right side of the playoffs almost every year.

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/dvoa-ratings/2008/final-2008-dvoa-ratings

Bears rankings

17th Overall in DVOA, 18th in Weighted DVOA (puts more significance on later games)

    4th in Variance (4th most consistent from week-to-week)

    18th Hardest Schedule

22nd on Offense, 25th in Weighted DVOA
  21st in Passing
  24th in Rushing
   2nd in Variance (2nd most consistent from week-to-week)

7th on Defense, 7th in Weighted DVOA as well
   11th vs Pass
    5th vs Rush
   11th vs #1 WR
    8th vs #2 WR
   19th vs other WR
    3rd vs TE
    24th vs RB's
    21st in Variance (rather inconsistent in other words)

5th on Special Teams

The simple version: DYAR means a quarterback with more total value. DVOA means a quarterback with more value per play.

Orton - 19th DYAR, 25th in DVOA
Forte rushing - 27th DYAR, 38th in DVOA,  37th in Success Rate

This number represents the player's consistency, measured by successful running plays (the definition of success being different based on down and distance) divided by total running plays. A player with higher DVOA and a low success rate mixes long runs with downs getting stuffed at the line of scrimmage. A player with lower DVOA and a high success rate generally gets the yards needed, but doesn't often get more.

Forte receiving - 2nd in DYAR, 8th in DVOA, 83% catch rate (tied for best with M. Jones-Drew)

Hester - 63rd DYAR, 64th in DVOA, R. Davis 73rd DYAR, 74th in DVOA

Olsen 23rd DYAR, 20th in DVOA, D. Clark - 43rd in both

Offensive Line (http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol2008)

24th overall, 20th on Power Rank, 16th in 10+ Rank, 27th in Stuffed Rank, 11th in Sack Rank (explanations at above link)

(rather incredible that Benson had a decent season behind a terrible line in Cincy)

Defensive Line (http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/dl2008)

2nd overall, 11th in Power Rank, 27th in 10+ Rank, 1st in Stuffed Rank, 27th in Sack Rank

It's officially time for Bears fans to worry about the offensive line this season: Head coach Lovie Smith is starting to make excuses for the inept play of his blockers up front during training camp.

"When they come out in practice," Smith said after Monday's afternoon workout in Bourbonnais, "they're going against a great defensive front. So it can only make us a better team."

http://chi.scout.com/2/661085.html

Kreutz, Williams still hurt and...

Assuming Williams gets back on the field and proves he is the best option protecting the quarterback's blind side, that would allow St. Clair to slide inside because Terrence Metcalf has no business being atop any team's depth chart. But how much time would St. Clair need to get adjused to guard after spending all of training camp at tackle?

also said Grossman and Orton both had miserable days on Monday...

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3499320&campaign=rss&source=NFLHeadlines

According to sources, Urlacher and the Bears have come to terms on a revised contract, which includes a one-year extension, thus ending their offseason contract squabble.

Urlacher, 30, had four years and approximately $25.5 million remaining on his contract. Under the terms of the upgraded deal, Urlacher will receive a $6 million signing bonus along with a $1 million bump in salary each of the next four years. The sides also have agreed to extend the pact into 2012, at a salary of $7.5 million. Urlacher can earn an additional $500,000 in a workout bonus in 2012.

That's a total of roughly $43.5 million over the next five years, with $18 million in new money for the six-time Pro Bowler and four-time All Pro.

to keep playing, so says Chris Mortensen and Al Harris. Poor  Aaron Rodgers...

http://deadspin.com/5021546/brett-favre-seriously-considering-unretirement-nfl-live-says

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http://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/blog/roto_arcade/post/Juggernaut-Index-No-32-Rex-Grossman-is-proba;_ylt=AqUo6W6kwW5nTs_cOZWT50lNC5kB?urn=fantasy,91153

I know it's just fantasy football, but the Bears are ranked #32 in the "juggernaut index"

The Juggernaut Index is our annual attempt to rank every NFL team for fantasy purposes. We're not concerned with real-life wins and losses here. No, here we just care about imaginary winning. If an NFL team gains lots of yardage, limits turnovers, and scores when they reach the red zone, then you'll want to own their skill position players in fantasy leagues.

http://chi.scout.com/2/761055.html

Brandon Lloyd continues to be the best receiver on the field by far, which is either a testament to his natural ability or an indictment of the other wideouts on the roster. Both Grossman and Orton appear to be getting more comfortable with him in the offense, as they are looking for him more and more once the initial read on a pass play isn't there. Lloyd could be on his way to resurrecting his once-promising career, or he could simply be teasing yet another team since he has a reputation for not showing up on game day – feel free to ask the 49ers and Redskins.

Grossman vs Orton:

Because of all the drama surrounding the tailback position Monday, quarterbacks Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton continued their battle for the starting job in relative anonymity. Grossman's best delivery of the day came on a deep pattern down the seam to Forte, who got behind Michael Okwo in coverage and made the catch with relative ease – it was the kind of route that Benson simply wasn't capable of running, by the way. Orton was again checking down to his secondary reads more often than not and somewhat reluctant to air it out down the field, and Corey Graham picked off one of the few deep balls he tried on an underthrown fly pattern to Greg Olsen down the right sideline.

http://chi.scout.com/2/756618.html

- Orton getting more first team reps than Grossman at the moment, writer speculates that it's just because Grossman got the majority over the last few seasons.

- " Caleb Hanie has clearly separated himself from Nick Hill and stands a relatively decent chance of making the 53-man roster as the No. 3 QB."

- Forte looking good

- "As expected, John Tait looks like he has been moved from left tackle over to the right side, although it's not the team's No. 1 pick, Chris Williams, who's protecting the quarterback's blind side. John St. Clair is currently running with the first team offense at left tackle, although this seems like a subtle tactic to make sure Williams earns his spot as a rookie."

- Terrance Metcalf starting at left guard so far

- Dvoracek looking healthy..