Sunday, October 07, 2007

Week 5 In-Game Blog

1Q First Green Bay Drive. These are not the Bears that I remember, many missed tackles already on this first drive, and a hole open a mile wide for the running back to run through. Brian Urlacher missed big time on one tackle. Wow, this is gonna be a loooooong game.

1Q 11:01 Packer Touchdown. So, it looks like it will be a good day to be a Packer fan.

1Q 10:56 So far the Pack are doing the right things... opening large holes for the running backs and taking advantage of big cushions by the DBs. On the ensuing kickoff, they kicked to one of the upbacks. They are the first team to flat out refuse to kick to Devin Hester, Smart Move.

1Q 9:44 So, the Bears come off the bus runnning, huh...
First play - pass for 1yd.
Second play - C Benson run for 1 yard.
Third play batted down pass.
Fourth play - punt
Why don't they not park 12 miles away from the stadium so that the team can run when they are on the field instead of runnning to the ballpark. Off the bus running, what a crock. I just wish they would run the ball three straight times to start a game.

1Q 6:40 Packers ball... Where is Wale Oguleye? I have only seen Idonije on the left end so far. And... just following a sack... where would this Bears defense be without Tommie Harris, he seems to be the only one actually playing defense today...

1Q 3:16 Bears ball, second three and out. Offensive line is truly offensive, would be nice to see even the slightest hole for the runnning back to run through.

1Q 1:32 Pack ball - Archuleta another missed tackle - looks real bad. Good thing, though Nutty Tillman just forced his second fumble of the game. We may be seeing a turnaround here if Tillman can keep forcing fumbles! Eventually I think that Brett will stop throwing to Nutty's side of the field... we'll see.

1Q :32 Bears ball after fumble... O-line actually gave Griese room to breathe and Griese overthrows by a mile. After that pass, St. Clair just let KGB run right by him, I hope that does not continue tonight or Griese will be a pancake by end of game. And, their third straight three-and-out. Who is to blame for this, Ron Turner?

End of 1Q - Just saw Wale Ogunleye at Left End, did he not start the game?

2Q 13:00 Bears ball and more passing from the "Running off the bus" Bears... I don't get it.

2Q 11:45 I though that John Tait was playing poorly until I am seeing John St. Clair let KGB right by him yet again... do they have someone else they can bring up from AAA? Devin Hester with the end around- probably the best call all night. Can I just say... RUN THE BALL!!! All of these short passes are making me mad, they have a good drive going here, but I want to see all run all the time.

2Q 9:30 Bears ball still - in the middle of a nice long drive... nice to see, they brought in two blockers in the backfield and ran the ball, for only a couple of yards, and they followed it up with a run up the middle for only a couple of yards, but they committed to running the ball, we got a field goal, but this is a huge, huge drive for the Bears. Now, just run the ball, run the ball, run the ball. It seems that Ron T is listening to me because they have finally run the ball three or four times in a row and they are doing well with it. To finish, Benson run for a TD, very, very nice finish to the drive!!!

2Q 4:55 ensuing possession, Favre long TD pass, corner beat pretty bad and the safety missed the tackle. You've heard it here before, this defense is just not the same without Mike Brown. Ensuing kickoff, another kick to one of the up backs, the Packers are learning...

2Q 4:24 Benson is running very, very well today, running with his blockers today and punishing the first defender trying to tackle him. So, my question to you is... when will the first snap infraction occur called on Olin Kreutz? It's bound to happen soon... Draw play was pretty much given away by the cracking down Desmond Clark, bad blocking play on the TE... Another time that Griese is given time to throw and he poorly overthrew the receiver, Griese needs work on his long passes.

2Q 1:47 Pack ball, Idonije is still playing a lot in the defense, I wonder why, on the other side of the ball, can Mark Anderson play anywhere but 5 yards outside of the OT's shoulder? They need Alex Brown to play more on the Right DE spot, seems that they would be better suited to stop the run with A Brown in there.

3Q Another Pack kickoff to Isreal Idonije. And during the posession, is it just me, or does Brian Griese look pretty good under center. He has had two poorly overthrown deep balls, but other than that, he has had good protection and has made good quick decisions.

3Q 6:00 The Bear have committed to running the ball. There will be lots of "3 yards and a cloud of dust", but eventually when you commit to it, there will be an opening for Benson to run through. If they continue, I am encouraged by what I am seeing in the third quarter.

3Q 4:19 So, B Urlacher steps up and intercepts B Favre and Brian Griese throws a perfect pass to Greg Olsen, very nice.

3Q End of third Quarter. Bears punt to GB, Ayanbadejo forces another fumble, Maynard recovers and Griese throws pinpoint accurate pass after play-action. Ron Turner needs to keep running the ball in the fourth quarter, though.

4Q start of Q. Griese is so afraid of throwing an interception, that he is overthrowing his receivers by a mile. For what it is worth, they are protecting the ball well and they are benefitting because of it. TIE GAME!

4Q 12:29 Seems to me that the momentum has shifted in the Bears favor and for one reason, the defensive line is getting a push up the middle and they are tackling well... good for the defense actually producing in the fourth quarter for the first time this year. If they can keep this up, they will win this game.

End of game Brett almost gave it to the Bears again with the last play of the game. Give it to the makeshift Bears defense for holding strong to make the win. I love it when the Bears beat Green Bay at Lambeau.

- Slim Tim.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Week 4 In-Game Blog

Cedric Benson and Devin Hester both fumbled again??? Lucky for us they went out of bounds.

Griese looks decisive in his progressions, but Bernard Berrian is not doing B Griese any favors with two major dropped passes, both would have been for first downs.

Defense defense defense... So far, B McGowan is stepping up and it's a real good thing that T Harris decided to play today because he real good.

Garret Wolfe just got in the game, I have to think it has to do with C Benson coughing up the ball again... We'll see how many more times we will see Benson after this...

2Q ~ 7:00Min - Berrian has just caught two big passes this drive and he needs to keep that up through the rest of the game.

2Q ~ 5:18min - Another thing... the Bears are running a lot of shotgun today and Kreutz seems to be firing the ball back to the QB with authority.

With Wolfe in and carrying for the third time this drive, it seems to me that C Benson might not see the field again this half.

2Q 4:16 - Muhammad just caught a beautiful TD pass from Griese. He was given a perfect pocket to throw from and Griese just made a perfect pass.

2Q 4:11 - B Ayanbadejo is real good on coverage teams, which reminds me... Isn't Obefemi Ayanbadejo set to come back next week? I wornder if they will activate both fullbacks against GB...

2Q 2:15 - It seems that the Bears' defense is playing well today despite having most of the side of the ball being inactive.

2Q 2:00 - So, the first half grade on Griese is better than what I would have given any half to Grossman during the first three games... and if you know me, you know how much it pains me to admit that...

3Q - Too many ticky-tack penalties today, what's with the two offsides penalties on Alex Brown? Awful calls, they never call that penalty. Griese seems to have a pretty good rythym going with the offense and the defense seems to be holding strong.

4Q - just gave up a TD to Detroit... I was thinking that the challenge flag happy Martz has continued his ways with Detroit today.

4Q 12:08 - No one ever calls a neutral zone infraction penalty - ever. The Bears have been flagged 3 frigging times for it today. Ticky-tack... Way too many penalties, Lovie will not be happy with them this week in practice regardless of the outcome.

4Q :58 - If you are going to send up a jump ball in teh endzone you throw it to Moose Muhammed, not Berrian, hence why they had to kick the FG.

Final - Well, in the end, it came down to blocking and tackling. Specifically the vauted Offensive line was not blocking and the injury-riddled defense did not tackle well. Hard to hold your head up going into Green Bay with a 1-3 record .

- ST

Monday, September 24, 2007

Bears Week 3 Postgame Thoughts...

So, Slim Tim may have finally reached his limit with his support of Rex Grossman... But, I have to point out a couple of other things that I saw...

- The Bears really miss Mike Brown.
- John Tait is showing his age.
- Why don't the Bears run the ball. Run the ball, run the ball, run the ball. The only pass plays should be play action passes. Run the ball.
- On the Rex topic, how is it that Cedric Benson turns the ball over and he gets benched in the last two games, but Rex turns the ball over three times and he still plays. Is there no problem with Cedric's psyche that he can handle sitting and not getting back into the game after screwing up?
- The Bears are really gonna miss Mike Brown now that N Vasher, T Harris and L Briggs got hurt.
- Oh yeah, I almost forgot... RUN THE BALL!!!

- Slim Tim

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Bears Postgame.

OK, my Bears thoughts...

This is probably their toughest game on the schedule, they aren't going to go 16-0 which means they have to lose a couple of games here or there, so just chalk this one up to their 15-1 season.

The bad taste in my mouth about the loss is all too familiar, though...
Defense works their collective tails off for 60 minutes and the offense just sputters. Benching the starting tailback for fumbling at a crucial time, and yes... Benson was benched. The Offensive Line seemed old and slow, huh, hard to believe because... they ARE old and slow. It all comes down to blocking and tackling. The defense did their part in tackling, but the blocking was just not there. No one would have been able to run through the non-existent holes in the offensive line.
And... Rex did alright considering, I mean the sacks that he had - no one would have been able to avoid - I am actually surpised that he did not fumble the ball... And, the turning point in the game was the fluke turnover on the punt return, your defense needs to rush back out onto the field right after stopping their offense...

Who would have thought that the Bears would be in sole possession of LAST place in the division (at any point in the season) - looking up and GB, DET and MIN.

The worst part of the weekend... the absolute worst part... and the one thing I feared most... was that Mike Brown is lost for the season - without much depth behind him.

So... next week we have KC in our home opener. KC is coming off a really bad loss to HOU and will be fighting mad. They do not want to start the season off at 0-2 just as much as the Bear do not want to start 0-2. The Bears will have their hands full again trying to stop Larry Johnson. So, looking forward... if the Bears Defense can match the performance turned in in week 1 against KC and the Bears offense can perform up to their level of talent, they have a real good chance of winning.

- Slim Tim

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Hass and Ball fantastic catches.

Ball and Hass fantastic back-to-back catches.

Bears in the rankings September 1st....

So, here are the Bears preseason rankings..

Bears at Number 4 at ESPN's power rankings - In the past few years, Super Bowl losers generally haven't fared well the next season. But if Rex Grossman can find consistency in 2007, the Bears could have an easy time in the NFC.

Bears at Number 5 at CBS Sportsline - When you play the style of football they do, the margin for error is small. Everything will have to go right for the Bears to be back in the Super Bowl. That rarely happens.

Bears at Number 6 at FOX Sports - Not exactly the way you want to enter the playoffs. The Bears, going with their starters in the first half of Sunday night’s game with the Packers, lost 26-7 at home. Rex Grossman went 2-12 and threw three interceptions before being replaced by Brian Griese. His thoughts afterward? "I've been in this position before. I hate this. I hate it." Hmm ... so do the Bears fans, Rex.

- Slim Tim

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

NFL Schedule (repost)

Hello, I just thought I would post the NFL schedule.

Slim Tim.


Aug. 28 -- Roster cutdown to 75 players.

Sept. 1 -- Roster cutdown to 53 players.

Sept. 6 -- Regular season opener.

Oct. 16 -- Trading deadline.

Oct. 22-24 -- Fall meeting, Dallas.

Dec. 29-30 -- Regular season ends. ^2008=

Jan. 5-6 -- Wild-card playoffs.

Jan. 12-13 -- Divisional playoffs.

Jan. 20 -- Conference championships.

Feb. 3 -- Super Bowl at Glendale, Ariz.

Feb. 10 -- Pro Bowl at Honolulu.

Feb. 20-26 -- NFL scouting combine, Indianapolis.

March 30-April 3 -- NFL annual meeting, Palm Beach, Fla.

April 26-27 -- NFL draft, New York.

May 19-21 -- NFL spring meeting, Atlanta.

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Slim Tim's Preseason Bears comments....

So, as the Bears are commencing training camp, I have a few thoughts on the upcoming season...

In my mind, here are the keys to success in '07-'08 in order of importance.

1) It is imperative to keep the Offensive Line intact and healthy - Kreutz, Tait, Miller, Garza and Brown - all of them need to stay healthy.

2) Mike Brown needs to have a complete, healthy season. Without him on the field, they are a completely different defense.

3) It's obvious, I know, but after #1 and #2 above, it's all Rex after that. It's nice to talk about the dual-TE sets that Olsen will bring, the X-factor in Devin Hester, and Cedric Benson needs to stay healthy, yada yada yada - on offense, it's all about the Rex.

Slim Tim

Monday, July 09, 2007

Bears rated Number 6 in USATODAY preseason poll

So, the Bears are the second rated NFC team behind the Saints (number 4) with the Bears at number 6. I remember the Saints game in the playoffs last year with just as many people picking the Saints as picked the Colts. Hopefully the Bear will be back in the SuperBowl this year as well.

Go Bears.

Slim Tim

Monday, May 07, 2007

2007 Draft...

So my buddy Bob tells me that the DE was a reach in the 2nd round, but the TE that they took in the first looks to be the TE that I have been begging for for a while now. There has been some news that has come out that the Bears may be shopping Alex Brown, and if those rumors are true, it would make sense to get a young DE to groom into the system. Also, it would make sense to get rid of one of the three DEs on the roster who are impact players... Alex Brown, A. Oguleye and the phenom Mark Anderson. So, if Alex Brown is the odd man out and Ogunleye doesn't have much time left, why not take the best DE available in the 2nd round - even if he is a stretch... I also like that they picked up OL help late in the draft... So, put Slim Tim down for the 2007 draft as a solid B rating. Sorry it took so long Jim C...

- Slim Tim

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Bears Draft...

Slim Tim will be OK with any pick this year as long as said pick has "lineman" in the job description. Offensive lineman, defensive lineman... 300Lbs or more, Beef.

ST

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Bears and Lovie Get-R-Done!!!

Finally! The Bears and Lovie agree on a 4-year contract extension. In other news, Jerry Angelo signs a contract extension as well. But LOVIE WILL BE BACK!!! Woo Hoo!!! Chalk Slim Tim up as one happy camper with this news!!!

Slim Tim.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Superbowl Thoughts...

So, it would have been great to have won the Superbowl. The Bears lost and got beat pretty bad. I pin the loss on coaching, they were just plain outcoached. And by outcoached, I mean Ron Turner got outcoached, just like last season in the playoff game against Carolina, the Bears went away from the run and got burned.

Just to overstate it... RUN THE BALL!!!

Some good notes:

Mark Anderson, Devin Hester and Daniel Manning were good.

Tommie Harris and Mike Brown are coming back next year.

GO BEARS, do it again next year!!!

Offseason Schedule

JANUARY

January 27: Senior Bowl, Mobile, AL

February 8: First day clubs can designate Franchise or Transition players.

February 10: AFC-NFC Pro Bowl in Honolulu, HI

February 12: Waiver system begins for 2007. Players with at least four previous pension-credited seasons whom clubs desire to terminate are not subject to the waiver system until after the trading deadline in October.

February 21: NFL Combine Timing and Testing Sessions at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, IN

February 22: Deadline for designation of Franchise/Transition players.
MARCH

March 1: Deadline for club to exercise options for 2007 on all players who have option clauses in their 2006 contracts. Expiration date of all player contracts due to expire after 2006 season. Deadline for clubs to submit Qualifying Offers to Restricted Free Agents whose contracts are expiring. Deadline for clubs to submit minimum salary offers to Exclusive Rights Free Agents (players with less than three years of free agency credit).

March 2: Free Agency period begins. Trading period begins for 2007

March 19: Clubs may begin voluntary off-season workout programs

March 25: NFL Owners Meeting at Arizona Biltmore, Phoenix, AZ

APRIL

April 20: Deadline for signing and submission of Offer Sheets by Restricted Free Agents

April 27: Deadline for Old Clubs to match Offer Sheets submitted by Restricted Free Agents

April 28-29: NFL Draft in New York City, NY

JUNE

June 1: Deadline for old club to send tender to its unsigned Restricted Free Agents or to extend Qualifying Offer, whichever is greater, in order to retain rights. Also, deadline for old club to send tender to its unsigned Unrestricted Free Agents to retain rights if player is not signed by another club by July 22 or beginning of veteran training camp, whichever is earlier.

June 15: Deadline for Restricted Free Agent to accept Qualifying Offer (if higher than 110% of previous year’s salary).

June 24: NFL/NFLPA Rookie Symposium – PGA National Resort and Spa, Palm Beach Gardens, FL

JULY

July 14: Any club designating a Franchise Player shall have until 4 pm EDT to sign the player to a multi-year contract or extension. After July 14 the player may sign only a one-year Player Contract with his Prior Club, and such Player Contract may not be extended until after the club’s last regular season game.

Mid-July: Training Camps open. Veteran players cannot be required to report earlier than 15 days prior to club’s first pre-season game or July 15, whichever is later. The July 15 date is not applicable to clubs playing five pre-season games.

July 22: Signing period ends at 4:00 pm EDT for Unrestricted Free Agents to whom June 1 tender was made by old club and for Transition Players and Franchise Players who

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Superbowl Quote...

I read this and I just loved it and had to share:

Let's face it, the Colts are pretty sterile. The quarterback is a finely-calibrated, laser-throwing robot, the coach is rarely emotional and they play in a dome. They seem like they were designed in a lab. The Bears, on the other hand, look like they were designed in Upton Sinclair's meatpacking district. The Bears are rough and ready. Black and blue. Smash-mouth. They play at Soldier Field. It's man vs. machine. The machine is a 7-point favorite. But so was the steam-powered drill against John Henry.

Found here: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/6399350?MSNHPHCP>1=9012

- Slim Tim

Monday, January 22, 2007

Slim Tim's Super Thoughts...

Bring on the Honey Bears for the Super Bowl!
Let the Bears wear their Orange jerseys for the Super Bowl! (if not orange, how about the Navy jersey with navy pants...)
Devin Hester is one fast exciting dude!
Anyone going to Miami?
Isn't Good Rex just fantastic?
Were you as surpised as I was that the Bears are underdogs for the Super Bowl?

Super Bears.

So, I just opened up the blog to additional authors... It could get interesting.

Go Bears...

Slim Tim