2010-2011 NFC North Division

[Dish]

Martz wanted Collins because he didn't think Hanie could grasp his system. Collins isn't long to stay on the roster from what it appears. Rumblings still about Jeff Garcia, but he's not a Martz guy either.

Bottom line for the Bears is if Cutler misses a prolonged period of time, you can stick a fork in their season.

Be interesting to see if Rodgers is ok after his concussion. Hopefully he is, like to see both qb's back on the field.

[HoopsMalone]

Bears really need to take advantage of this schedule coming up. Seahawks, Redskins, @ Buffalo (Toronto). I didn't realize how brutal of a stretch the Pack and Vikes both have coming up. No reason the Bears shouldn't be 7-1 at the halfway point.

I am a Bears fan and would love to see that.  The Bears will find a way to blow one of those games and be 6-2 which is better than I would have predicted in August.

I think 9-7 can make the playoffs in the NFC this year, so the Bears would be in a nice spot to go 3-5 and still squeeze in.  Atlanta and New Orleans will likely make the playoffs out of the South, one winner from the east, one winner from the west, and then 2 teams from the North (and call me crazy, but I would not completely discount Detroit yet, though they are least likely).  No reason the Bears cannot be one of them.

I hope the Bears can make one last run with Urlacher.  I am enjoying this year's Urlacher renaissance as the year off seems to have helped his mobility, and hopefully he can give three more seasons.  I am not expecting the o-line to be good enough to win in the playoffs.  Get some playoffs experience this year, develop the line, learn Martz's offense, get a few more young players, and make runs in 2011 and 2012 (just like Marquette).

[WellsstreetWanderer]

Viking Fans: Please don't share your nude photos of Farve. Keep them to yourselves

[JWags85]

I am a Bears fan and would love to see that.  The Bears will find a way to blow one of those games and be 6-2 which is better than I would have predicted in August.

I think 9-7 can make the playoffs in the NFC this year, so the Bears would be in a nice spot to go 3-5 and still squeeze in.  Atlanta and New Orleans will likely make the playoffs out of the South, one winner from the east, one winner from the west, and then 2 teams from the North (and call me crazy, but I would not completely discount Detroit yet, though they are least likely).  No reason the Bears cannot be one of them.

I hope the Bears can make one last run with Urlacher.  I am enjoying this year's Urlacher renaissance as the year off seems to have helped his mobility, and hopefully he can give three more seasons.  I am not expecting the o-line to be good enough to win in the playoffs.  Get some playoffs experience this year, develop the line, learn Martz's offense, get a few more young players, and make runs in 2011 and 2012 (just like Marquette).

This worries me, cause despite success, the Angelo/Lovie braintrust needs to be shown the door, and a playoff berth I feel will delay that move.

[NavinRJohnson]

This worries me, cause despite success, the Angelo/Lovie braintrust needs to be shown the door, and a playoff berth I feel will delay that move.

This may be a thing. If the Packers injury woes derail their season as it appears they could, and the Childress/Favre led Vikings collapse upon themselves, this could truly be a case of the Bears being the tallest midget (same could probably be said about the entire NFC this year). I don't know anyone who thinks the Bears are good, or that they are young and full of potential. I think it would take double digit losses for the Bears to make changes after this year, but a playoff appearance could potentially delay it even longer.

[HoopsMalone]

I don't know anyone who thinks the Bears are good, or that they are young and full of potential. 

First place in the NFC, at the top tier of power rankings.  Cutler is a good young player, they have some good safeties, a good running back combo, etc.  They have plenty to look forward to actually.  That defense is solid again and should be for some time to come. 

[NavinRJohnson]

First place in the NFC, at the top tier of power rankings.  Cutler is a good young player, they have some good safeties, a good running back combo, etc.  They have plenty to look forward to actually.  That defense is solid again and should be for some time to come. 

So are you saying you think the Bears are good? I'm aware what the standings say, but are they a good team?

Is Cutler a good young player? He seems like he should be, at least it looks that way to me, but the reality is he is in his 5th season, and the jury is still very much out. He has all the tools, but he sucks as often as he's good.

I see little to look forward to on either side of the ball. Who are these good safeties? Cornerbacks are bad. Urlacher is certainly on the backside of his career. Julius Peppers probably has some good years left, but he is not a young man.The O-line is a complete joke. WR corps is among the worst in the league. Forte is an average RB, and Chester Taylor is in his 9th year...To suggest any sort of bright future for this team as currently constructed is questionable at best. They have way more questions than answers.

[spartan3186]

I'm not saying the Bears are good by any stretch of the imagination, but they are not as bad as you make them out to be.

The wide receivers you say are "among the worst in the league" are not nearly as bad as you make them out to be. Johnny Knox and Hester fit very well in a Mike Martz offense, in my opinion.

I would Knox and Hester and better than

Buffalo (Lee Evans, Steve Johnson)
Cleveland (Massaquoi and Stuckey)
Jacksonville (Sims-Walker and Mike Thomas)
KC (Dwayne Bowe and Chris Chambers)
Oakland (Murphy, Heyward-Bey)
Seattle (Branch, Mike Williams)
SF (Crabtree, Josh Morgan)
STL (Mark Clayton, Laurent Robinson)
TB (Mike Williams, Sammie Stroughter)
Ten (Kenny Britt, Justin Gage)

Maybe you don't agree with me on all of these, but thats 10 teams that have worse WR than the Bears, and theres a couple of teams that are about on par with the Bears.

So are you saying you think the Bears are good? I'm aware what the standings say, but are they a good team?

Is Cutler a good young player? He seems like he should be, at least it looks that way to me, but the reality is he is in his 5th season, and the jury is still very much out. He has all the tools, but he sucks as often as he's good.

I see little to look forward to on either side of the ball. Who are these good safeties? Cornerbacks are bad. Urlacher is certainly on the backside of his career. Julius Peppers probably has some good years left, but he is not a young man.The O-line is a complete joke. WR corps is among the worst in the league. Forte is an average RB, and Chester Taylor is in his 9th year...To suggest any sort of bright future for this team as currently constructed is questionable at best. They have way more questions than answers.

[NavinRJohnson]

The point is, there is not much to support Love Smith and Jerry Angelo keeping their jobs. Neither the present, nor the future are particularly promising.

[Dish]

No matter what happens to the Bears this season, the greatest reason for job security for Lovie/Angelo is the threat of a lockout.

As far as how good/bad they have been this year, their defense has been very good thus far. The LB corp is among the best group in football, and they've gotten surprisingly good play out of their secondary. Peppers is playing at an elite level, and if Idonije can benefit playing the opposite end of Peppers like he did against Carolina, then their front 7 is excellent.

Cutler overthinks at times and subsequently gets himself in more trouble than he should. He still has one of the best arms in football. If he could get a halfway decent line in front of him, it'd be interesting to see him put his talent together. They can get by with their WR's, as Forte/Taylor are combo wise good.

Tough to say what they are long term. Their defense is in "must win now" mode, and youth is much more on the offensive side of the ball.

Who knows what is going on in the NFC this season. Vikings/Cowboys can't beat anybody, Pack is not as good as we thought and beat up now, Saints can't outscore people, NFC West is a laughingstock. Best position to be in might be the Wild Card that gets the NFC West "champ" in the Wild Card round.

[MU B2002]

I think the Vikes would be better off with Tjax at this point.  Favre just seems uninterested/lost/old/etc.

Note
*This comment was made at about the 10min mark of the 3rd quarter, and until then applied perfectly.  The final 20 min are somewhat of a different story.

[LON]

I think the Vikes would be better off with Tjax at this point.  Favre just seems uninterested/lost/old/etc.

Note
*This comment was made at about the 10min mark of the 3rd quarter, and until then applied perfectly.  The final 20 min are somewhat of a different story.

Complete with the patented game-icing INT

[ATWizJr]

Favre to Moss!  Favre to Harvin!!  Favre to Lowrie for a game ending Pic-6!!!!

As probably noted elsewhere, even his text messages are being intercepted.

[NavinRJohnson]

Has any player in recent memory gone from revered superstar to punchline as quickly as That guy, Brett Favre? Tiger Woods certainly comes to mind, but seems like he is still young enough to recover. Granted, much of it is related to his behavior and drama off the field, but man has he turned himself into a joke.

[JWags85]

SKOL VIKINGS.. crown us after tomorrow night, fellas

Just wanted to quote this for effect.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Favre to Moss!  Favre to Harvin!!  Favre to Lowrie for a game ending Pic-6!!!!

As probably noted elsewhere, even his text messages are being intercepted.

actually, it's more like a pick-4.25....

[muarmy81]

Just wanted to quote this for effect.

Where is Jayboy?

[Spotcheck Billy]

that still leaves the Bears receiving corps well in the bottom half of the league 

I'm not saying the Bears are good by any stretch of the imagination, but they are not as bad as you make them out to be.

The wide receivers you say are "among the worst in the league" are not nearly as bad as you make them out to be. Johnny Knox and Hester fit very well in a Mike Martz offense, in my opinion.

I would Knox and Hester and better than

Buffalo (Lee Evans, Steve Johnson)
Cleveland (Massaquoi and Stuckey)
Jacksonville (Sims-Walker and Mike Thomas)
KC (Dwayne Bowe and Chris Chambers)
Oakland (Murphy, Heyward-Bey)
Seattle (Branch, Mike Williams)
SF (Crabtree, Josh Morgan)
STL (Mark Clayton, Laurent Robinson)
TB (Mike Williams, Sammie Stroughter)
Ten (Kenny Britt, Justin Gage)

Maybe you don't agree with me on all of these, but thats 10 teams that have worse WR than the Bears, and theres a couple of teams that are about on par with the Bears.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I noticed they had the banner up on ESPN that said 500th TD pass.


Didn't see a similar banner when he set the all-time fumbles list and then broke the all-time interceptions list in the same game.

[Spotcheck Billy]

I noticed they had the banner up on ESPN that said 500th TD pass.


Didn't see a similar banner when he set the all-time fumbles list and then broke the all-time interceptions list in the same game.

he's had that record for years now, the NFL just records it in pencil until he finally retires for good

[ChicosBailBonds]

he's had that record for years now, the NFL just records it in pencil until he finally retires for good

Exactly....which means every time he throws one they should put up that banner that he just broke the record...again....and again....and again

[ChicosBailBonds]

Classic play on words

[Jay Bee]

Picture looks like a midget is banging him. 

Beating the Cowgirls will be very important... at 2-3, with 4 combined games left against Green Bey and Checago, we'll be in an OK-enough position. 

I don't know how long our stud QB is going to hold up, though.  Certainly a far different look from a physical-health perspective this year compared to 2009. 

Randy is a pleasure to watch.  Great to have him back.  We'll be fine.  SKOL VIKINGS!!!

[ChicosBailBonds]

Picture looks like a midget is banging him. 

Beating the Cowgirls will be very important... at 2-3, with 4 combined games left against Green Bey and Checago, we'll be in an OK-enough position. 

I don't know how long our stud QB is going to hold up, though.  Certainly a far different look from a physical-health perspective this year compared to 2009. 

Randy is a pleasure to watch.  Great to have him back.  We'll be fine.  SKOL VIKINGS!!!

If you can't beat my Cowboys, you have huge issues.  Talk about a team devoid of intelligence, heart, intelligence, intelligence, discipline, intelligence, etc....

[Dish]

Losing Finley for the year is a huge blow. Few teams had a LB or Safety that could cover him.