Monday, November 09, 2009

Tommie Harris wants to be a Bengal

Other subjects I was considering:



Wake up, Mr. Shanahan – Bob Virene might be onto something

Troy Aikman – One astute broadcaster

They’re called holes, linebackers – Fill them!

Olin, Olin, Olin – What The ____?

It’s still Bears season.



OK. Here we go. Tommie Harris wants to be a Bengal. He obviously has seen the success of Ced Benson, who did just enough to get kicked off the Bears, but not enough to land in jail. Also, look at Tank Johnson – again just enough to get kicked out of here, but not in jail. Tommie is doing just enough to get kicked off the Bears without winding up in jail… While on the subject, how is it that all of Urlacher’s indiscretions and that swept-under-the-rug Lance Briggs crashing his car while drunk incident has not gotten them kicked off?



Wake up, Mr. Shanahan – Bob Virene might be onto something. For the first time since Lovie has been head coach (and now subsequently taken over as defensive coordinator as well) do I start to see ever so slightly that Lovie might be starting to lose this team. But that’s as far as I am going for today. He still took most of these Bears to the Superbowl.



Troy Aikman – one astute broadcaster. If you haven’t already read about them or heard about them, look up the Aikman Efficiency Ratings. These look at offense statistics the correct way. They do not included points scored by the special teams or points scored on defense. If he was truly the architect of this system, then I’m all in. I was never a large fan of Aikman as a QB. I feel that he was a by-product of having worked behind one of the best offensive lines in recent history. You know them all, Larry Allen, Nate Newton, Mark Tuinei… But I digress. Aikman said it best and I am paraphrasing here, “Either you play with purpose and try to win the game or take Jay Cutler out of the game.” Hats off to Troy, those was a very poignant statement. The Bear were not playing to win the game, they were playing slow, even while still in the game… Nice work, Troy.



They’re called holes, linebackers – Fill them! Not much else to say there.



Olin, Olin, Olin – What The ____? Again, nothing much else to say there. You all know where I stand on Mr. Kreutz.



It’s still Bears season. I did not get one single response from last week’s Bears recap. Not one. I just want to remind everyone that it is still Bears season, even though the Hawks are playing well, Toewser and the new guy will be skating real soon for the Hawk. For those Bulls fans, bummer about Tyrus Thomas – he was starting to play well. Again, the Bears are still playing, right???



Next up - San Francisco coached by Mike Singletary.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

No Love for Mark Bradley (former Bear)

Chiefs to add veteran wide receiver - Kansas City Star

Follow this link for a story about former Bear Mark Bradley. For those who have been following my blog, you will know that I am not the biggest fan of Mark Bradley.

- Slim Tim

Monday, September 14, 2009

Bears breakdown - Week 1

OK, here it is: from Flambeau Field.



Bears Pass Offense: Cutler did not make very good decisions throwing the ball. There were times that he threw on the run where he definitely should have stopped, set his feet and thrown. For those Cubs fans, he reminded me of Carlos Zambrano after giving up a home run. He looked like he lost his focus and could not concentrate on the current play, he was so lost in the fact that he threw the interceptions that he couldn’t move forward… Also, Ron Turner did not throw the ball to the tailback at all, those plays tend to be very low risk, high reward plays that were lacking in their gameplan. Devin Hester and Johnnie Knox caught two nice passes, Earl Bennett also caught the ball well. Green Bay made a point of taking Greg Olsen out of the Bears offense and it showed. It was like the Pack had the Bears playbook and knew where they were going with the ball most times.



Bears Run Offense: It looked to me like Matt Forte was handed the ball and was told to run in a certain hole in the offensive line and no matter what was happening around him, he ran through that hole without regard to people actually being in that hole waiting to tackle him or not. There were times were daylight was seen on the left or right of where the play was supposed to go and Matt Forte did not have the vision to look around and see what else was available. For what it is worth, the offensive line did not do him any favors either, it did not seem like there was very much room for Forte to run at all.



Bears Run Defense: Seemed that they were pretty solid, Tommie Harris played all game and was his usual disruptive self. Hopefully Urlacher does not miss much time after dislocating his wrist during the game.



Bears Pass Defense: The DLine actually got to the Quarterback. Adewale O played an excellent game and really had the number of the O Tackle that he was playing against. That being said… Their secondary did not look good at all. Nathan Vasher is a shell of his former self, Charles Tillman will get better. Daniel Manning looked lost out there, many of GB’s pass plays were definitely directly to take advantage of him while he was on the field.



Special Teams: There was an obvious gaffe on the fake punt and there will be much made out of that play in the media this week. Don’t get as good as solid Gould – he was very good including a special teams tackle. Their return game was good and Rashied Davis made some nice special teams plays.



All in all, some good but most bad. They sustained some injuries that are definitely going to hurt them and if they don’t get their running game going, this will be a very looooong season.



Go Bears.

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Bears' Wildcat.

Not only have there been reports of Devin Hester lining up in the QB spot, just saw on Comcast Television Matt Forte lining up in the QB spot. The play they ran had Kevin Jones linep up as HB and Cutler lined up as WR. The play had Forte fake a handoff to K. Jones, but it was a QB keeper run off tackle. - More to come.

Sunday, June 07, 2009

Burress to the Bears?

Figured I would just add to the growing list of sites on the internet proposing that Plaxico Burress's next stop is here in Chicago. Angelo = GM of the year before the season starts. Take a moment to reflect just how odd that sounds coming from Slim Tim. I was of course a big opponent to Mr. Angelo asking everyone to visit the Fire Jerry Angelo website. I can admit when I am wrong, one Superbowl appearance and more to come with O. Pace, J. Cutler, and now P. Burress!

ST.

Bears signing draft picks...

I just love the fact that the Bears are the quickest to sign their draft picks year in and year out. Small things like this make me even happier to be a Bears fan.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

With the 49th-overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft...

The Chicago Bears select Pat White - QB/WR West Virginia. (He's a special guy).

"White is a gifted athlete who can alter a game in many ways on the field. He lacks ideal size, but his vision and playmaking ability make him stand out. He has a strong arm and can read a defense, but he struggles with accuracy and touch. He’s better on the move than in the pocket. He’s a game breaker who’s dynamic in the open field. He’s a tremendous leader; a player others look up to. - Chris Steuber, Scout.com"

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Bears waive Mark Bradley...

So, a favorite person on SlimTim's list of persons who deserve to be waived, Mark Bradley, got the axe today - ending a very tumultuous career with the Chicago Bears. This also continues a string of very, very poor decisions in the draft recently.
.
Here is the cut list of some high draft picks - let's take a trip down memory lane:
.
2007 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
2 62 Dan Bazuin DE Central Michigan
3 94 Michael Okwo LB Stanford
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2006 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
This was a pretty good draft for the Bear
.
2005 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 4 Cedric Benson RB Texas
2 39 Mark Bradley WR Oklahoma
5 140 Airese Currie WR Clemson
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2004 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
2 47 Tank Johnson DT Washington
5 147 Claude Harriott DE Pittsburgh
5 148 Craig Krenzel QB Ohio State
.
2003 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 14 Michael Haynes DE Penn State
4 100 Todd Johnson DB Florida
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2002 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 29 Marc Colombo T Boston College (never panned out for the Bears)
3 72 Roe Williams CB Tuskegee
.
2001 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 8 David Terrell WR Michigan
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2000 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
3 69 Dez White WR Georgia Tech
3 87 Dustin Lyman TE Wake Forest
.
1999 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 12 Cade McNown QB UCLA
2 48 Russell Davis DE North Carolina
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1998 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 5 Curtis Enis RB Penn State
4 94 Alonzo Mayes TE Oklahoma State
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1997 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
2 38 John Allred TE USC
3 69 Bob Sapp G Washington
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1996 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
This was actually a good draft
.
1995 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 21 Rashaan Salaam RB Colorado
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1994 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 11 John Thierry LB Alcorn State
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1993 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
2 35 Carl Simpson DT Florida State
3 61 Chris Gedney TE Syracuse
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1992 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 22 Alonzo Spellman DE Ohio State
9 246 Mirko Jurkovic G Notre Dame (Related to Jurko???)
.
1991 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 22 Stan Thomas T Texas
.
1990 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
3 61 Tim Ryan DE USC (Does anybody like him as an announcer?)
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Monday, September 22, 2008

Week 3 - Bears lose to TB

What to say, the Bears lose. They had a good game plan, no receiver screens and no receiver end-arounds. Orton let loose on some passes to Brandon Lloyd their clear number one WR. They just didn't want it enough and ran out of gas. Really could have used more pressue on Griese.

Oh, I almost forgot to point out that Olin Kreutz had another typical day for himself, snap infraction at a very critical juncture. :(

T.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Week 2 - Bears should have beaten Panthers

So the Bears lost. It just stings because they should have won this
game. They had this game and gave it away. Don't you just want to get
a hold of the entire Bears offensive playbook and burn all of the pages
that have Wide Receiver Screens on them? There is no reason for a
professional football team to ever run a Wide Receiver Screen play,
especially when the previous two times you ran them they were almost
picked off. An intelligent offensive coordinator would take advantage
of the advancing defensive back and call a "fake" wide receiver screen
play - knowing that the DB would be in the backfield by the time the
throw is off.

What is up with Olin Kreutz - not his best game by far - on the play
where McKie was stuffed at the line of scrimmage, Kreutz was on his
behind completely taken off balance by the DT.

Chris Harris played with a chip on his shoulder - I think that we may
need to have a Chris Harris award - given to the player that the Bears
cut who does well... Chris Harris, Marc Columbo, Bobby Engram, Tony
Parrish, Ted Washington, Walt Harris, etc...

My final point... and this is a big one... Why do you deactivate Adrian
Peterson and activate Mark Bradley??? Mark Bradley had one pass thrown
his way on a poorly ran route and almost had the pass intercepted. With
Adrian Peterson out, kick and punt coverage severely suffered...

Next up, Tampa Bay at home.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Week 1 - Bears upset Colts.

So, football comes down to blocking and tackling - two things that the Bears have not done well in a couple of years. Today, they blocked for Kyle Orton and Matt Forte very well. Matt Forte gained yards where he was not touched until he was 4 yards past the line of scrimmage. Also the defense tackled very, very well. How about Lance Briggs with solid tackling today. The third thing to mention was limiting injuries - we came out of the game today without significant injury - especially no injuries to MIKE BROWN or Dusty Dvorcek.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Slim Tim's Preseason Bears predictions...

BEST CASE: BIg plays on Defense and Special Teams vault the team into contention. The offensive line somehow gels together and forms into a cohesive unit. They still have calls out to a couple of free-agent Tackles in Fred Miller and Willie Anderson both of whom can assist this team. Matt Forte's blocking skills can help the passing game immensely. With this best case scenario coming to fruition, the Bears will easily make the playoffs.

WORST CASE: The Bears get no assistance in the offensive line, Mike Brown gets injured again, the Linebacker core continue to show their age and continue missing blocks. Matt Forte and Kevin Jones do not get it done as professional running backs. Neither M Booker, B Lloyd, D Hester, M Bradley or R Davis prove that they belong in the same uniform worn by T Waddle. In this worst case scenario, the Bears will have a tough time scratching out 4 wins.

LIKELY CASE: The Bears will win some games based solely on Defense and Special Teams. The Bears will likely lose some games on Offense. This team has so much money invested in their first string defense, that there will be hell to pay if they incur serious injuries… My prediction is 8 wins and 8 losses.

Slim Tim

Slim Tim'

BEST CASE: BIg plays on Defense and Special Teams vault the team into contention. The offensive line somehow gels together and forms into a cohesive unit. They still have calls out to a couple of free-agent Tackles in Fred Miller and Willie Anderson both of whom can assist this team. Matt Forte's blocking skills can help the passing game immensely. With this best case scenario coming to fruition, the Bears will easily make the playoffs.



WORST CASE: The Bears get no assistance in the offensive line, Mike Brown gets injured again, the Linebacker core continue to show their age and continue missing blocks. Matt Forte and Kevin Jones do not get it done as professional running backs. Neither M Booker, B Lloyd, D Hester, M Bradley or R Davis prove that they belong in the same uniform worn by T Waddle. In this worst case scenario, the Bears will have a tough time scratching out 4 wins.



LIKELY CASE: The Bears will win some games based solely on Defense and Special Teams. The Bears will likely lose some games on Offense. This team has so much money invested in their first string defense, that there will be hell to pay if they incur serious injuries… My prediction is 8 wins and 8 losses.

Thursday, August 07, 2008

2008 Preason Game 1 Breakdown...

Did not get much pressure out of middle of DLine
Mike Brown took away his side of the field from the opposing QB
Starting D gave up a 9 minute scoring drive to start the game
Josh Beekam does not look very big at all
Kyle Orton looks like he has shortened his windup/delivery
Screw Mark Bradley
Kyle Orton made some very nice passes
OLine giving QBs lots of time to throw tonight
Erik Kramer hit it on the head - Rex looks very focused tonight
Orton was seen hanging out with the OLine on the sidelines when not throwing
The Bears actually scored in the 3rd quarter
Hester should have been in the game at WR throughout the second half.

Slim Tim.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

2008 Training Camp Opens

OK, I have to get these two things off of my chest...

Devin Hester is not a Number One Wide Receiver AND
Chris Williams signing and getting into camp ON TIME is the lead story of the opening day of camp in Bourbonnais.

Now for some more thoughts...

I heard from Hub Arkush that Devin Hester was offered a contract that would make him the highest paid Return Specialist ever. He went on to say that it also includes an escalator clause that would pay him more if he produces as a wide receiver. Given that information, I am 100% on the Bears side of this little disagreement. If that is the case, then every day that Devin Hester holds out, I would decrease the offer and not increase it. Because if Mr. Hester is ever going to be a true #1 WR, he needs to learn the position - he has not been anything close to being a WR, but just a gimmick on offense and the worst thing that the Bears ever did was to complete a long touchdown pass to him from Brian Griese because that is the only clip that I have heard on the radio today. I did not hear any talk about how many times he was out of position as a wide receiver and how many times he ran the incorrect route, or how many times he was caught for a loss behind the line of scrimmage on a reverse... Devin Hester should use his God-given speed and sprint to sign the deal that the Bears have offered him. The Bears are not using good judgement if they capitulate and pay him as a wide receiver because he has not proven in college or the NFL that he can be relied upon to be a real WR.

Back to the real story... Chris Williams signed on time! That is the best news so far out of camp... I knew that somehow he would be in on time. Very, very good news and congrats to Ted Phillips and Jerry Angelo for getting that accomplished. I now have some hope for the OLine this year...

The Marty Booker that I remember can catch the football. That is what I like in a wide receiver - good hands. Now this is a weapon on offense, he is not flashy, never has been and he is not on the time to light up the world. But if he can catch all of the routine passes that Moose Muhammad did not catch, than we are worlds better with him than with Moose.

Mike Brown healthy means that this defense will be good again. Mike Brown hurt again means a shaky defense.

Alex Brown is the starter on the Right Side of the defensive line and not Mark Anderson. I like Mark Anderson a lot, but Alex Brown makes the run defense much, much better.

That's all for now.

- Slim Tim.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Forte Signs...

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8091e154&template=with-video&confirm=true

So, just one day after posting that the Bear had signed 10 out of their 12 draft picks, the Bears up the ante and sign Matt Forte, their 2nd round pick. Congrats, I have much higher hopes for this Bears running back now that he will be in camp when it opens. Nice work Teddy Phillips and Jerry Angelo!!!

- Slim Tim

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Three more draft picks reach contract agreements - Chicago Bears

Three more draft picks reach contract agreements - Chicago Bears


I have to share this news with y'all... best news from the draft thus far... The Bears have now signed or agreed to terms with 10 of their 12 players chosen in this year’s draft, the most in the NFL. To date, 67 picks from the 2008 NFL draft have signed or agreed to terms with their respective teams. Slim Tim is very happy. I like to see the guys in camp without holdout.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Matt Forte looks like a 1st rounder!

For those of you wondering who this guy is...

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

NFL.com expert predicts Bears will draft Otah - Chicago Bears

NFL.com expert predicts Bears will draft Otah - Chicago Bears

So, scout.com has Jeff Otah ranked as the third highest ranked OT in the draft... I of course would like the Bears to find a way to get Jake Long.