These were Phil Emery’s comments when the Bears signed Willie Young away from the Detroit Lions in March, courtesy of Chris Boden at CSN Chicago:

“Our thoughts about defensive players is to get the toughest, most aggressive, instinctive players that have a little bit of an old-school mentality, a ‘Bear’ mentality, and we certainly feel Willie has those attributes,” said Bears general manager Phil Emery. “(It’s) another positive step in improving our roster to the point where we can contend and win a championship.

“This was important for us to get a second defensive lineman, a quality starter, an opportunity for Willie to grow and for us to grow with him. When we went into free agency we thought if we could find a way to get two starting defensive linemen, we would’ve made forward progress.”

What do you think was the first comment listed below this post?

Read More …

It is one of only two times I’ll say it all year but here goes.

Go Lions.

Chicken parm you taste so good.

Enough with the Play Calling

From Mark Potash’s column in the Sun-Times:

The other issue on Cutler’s second interception was Trestman’s play-call itself. Why not run on third-and-one? Matt Forte had gained 62 yards on 14 carries to that point, though he had been stopped for no gain on the previous play.

“Most of the time we do, but we have to have some balance to what we’re doing,” Trestman said. “And the fact that it was a two-down situation gave us an opportunity to get a big play, and we’re going to take an aggressive approach at times.”

Nothing is more tiring in the NFL than fans and media criticizing play calling after the fact. If Cutler throws the football away, nobody complains. If he gets the yard with his legs, the play is an absolute afterthought. If he completes the pass, HEAVEN PRAISED TRESTMAN IS  GENIUS!

Play calling is the single most overrated element of football games. When runs don’t work, people want passes. When passes don’t work, people want runs. Now all of a sudden the Bears should run on short-yardage when the number one criticism of Matt Forte’s career has been his inability to get first downs in short yardage AND the Bears are without their starting center and left guard?

You know why offensive – and never defensive – play calling are often the most criticized elements of football games? Because it is the element of the game the casual fan and media member believe they can do. Spoiler alert: they can’t.

I prefer to exit the realm of the hypothetical and put the blame where it belongs: on the guy who threw the ball to a defensive lineman.

Read More …

Five Final Thoughts

1. If the Bears manage a push from the interior of their offensive line they could be looking at an even more productive offensive outing. Success in the run game early will open up the whole of the play book.

2. If Bears commit more than four to the rush look out for E.J. Manuel hitting Scott Chandler quickly over the middle. This is still an area of the field where the Bears are susceptible to attack.

3. With the strength of the Bills offensive line being Cordy Glenn at left tackle, look for Lamarr Houston to make a greater impact today than Jared Allen.

4. There are only two ways to limit Sammy Watkins damage: tackling and pass rush. Tackling contains him in the screen game. Pass rush restricts his ability to do damage over the top.

5. Remember, no style points in September. I predicted the final score to be 31-16. 3-2 would be just as acceptable. September and October are about one thing in the NFL: stockpiling wins.

As always you can follow my (sporadic at best) in-game commentary on Twitter by following me @DaBearsBlog.

Administrative note: DBB’s LINKS section – located along the right rail – is now operational again and will be updated regularly. It will not be the regular old beat writer/columnist stuff. It will be specifically curated material for Bears fans that might not be on their normally beaten path.

What, if anything, can be gleaned/enjoyed this evening?

• Do the Bears currently have a kick returner on their roster or are they going to be scouring the waiver wire this weekend for some speed? (I’d like to see Senorise Perry given a good run back there tonight.)
• Hey, you get to watch Jordan Lynch carry the ball for the last time before he’s buried on the practice squad for the 2014 season!
• David Fales can follow Matt Blanchard and Caleb Hanie as fourth preseason game darlings: quarterbacks who thrive against third-string defensive units.
• Pat O’Donnell is playing.

I will be watching the game live tonight and responding on Twitter. You can follow me on Twitter by CLICKING HERE or just watching the right rail of this page.

Last year’s column saw my predictions ONCE AGAIN surpass the 50% mark though down slightly from the previous year’s 67%. But as my daddy always said, “If you’re right half the time, that’s better than being wrong a bunch.”

Here are 50 prognostications and thoughts for the 2014 NFL season. Every team gets their moment. The Bears get more.

1. If Jay Cutler stays healthy he’ll throw for 4,000 yards but come up short of his career high 4,526. 

__________

2. In a deliciously dramatic moment, Devin Hester will break the all-time return record not against the Chicago Bears but against his former head coach Lovie Smith on week four’s Thursday Night Football installment.

__________

3. If the Broncos beat Seattle the third week of the season I give them a more than plausible chance to go undefeated. The offense is a machine. The defense is going to be terrific.

__________

4. Bears tied the Jacksonville Jaguars for fewest sacks in football last year with 31. (Carolina had 60 last year. That is DOUBLE!) This year they move to mid-table and finish the season with 45.

__________

5. Kelvin Benjamin will win offensive ROY because of this depth chart:

__________

6. I completely agree with Brandon Marshall’s assessment on Jay Cutler. If he stays healthy he is going to have an MVP-type season this year. But there is no way the writers will give Cutler the MVP. None.

__________

7. Never rent an apartment from a guy calling himself Tom Benson! From Scambook:

The so called Tom Benson claims to be the doorman of an apartment complex that is situated just across from the Crowne Plaza. He mentions that he is the doorman and that the owners are away for vacation but that they rent the home. He then goes on to send you pictures and says that he will even offer a free airport shuttle. This is an illegitimate offer and the Department of Homeland Security has already investigated this crime. I sent out a money transfer, only to then quickly cancel. I was lucky and I hope that this helps other people as well.

__________

8.  Sammy Watkins (and all NFL fans) will wake up midseason and wonder aloud, “Why did he have to end up in Buffalo?” Bills will be forced to get Watkins the ball on bubble screens and underneath when they realize EJ is both afraid and unable to get him the ball over the top.

__________

9. Every season a team goes from worst to first they tell me. This season that will not happen. I repeat: this season that will not take place.

__________

10. Tampa Bay will have them some…

Read More …

As the Chicago Bears prepare for their third preseason game they’re still trying to figure out if two of General Manager Phil Emery’s highest draft picks can play.

Although they’re both still young, there wasn’t much evidence at all that either Shea McClellin or Jon Bostic were going to be good football players. But last week’s game against Jacksonville was interesting and was enough to once again raise the question: Who are these guys?

Read More …

The 2014 version of the Chicago Bears defense looked much like the 2013 version in their last preseason game against the Jaguars, but the fact that they didn’t break could be a good sign for this season.

Technically, the Bears did break once, but we all know that was bull. The Jaguars started their third possession at the Bears 23 and the drive seemed to be stopped when Trevor Scott sacked Chad Henne on third down, but Kelvin Hayden was called for a bogus illegal contact penalty. (The excuse was that the NFL referees have “points of emphasis” in preseason, but it’s hard to see how a receiver running into a defensive back can be a penalty on the defense no matter what the case is. The sack would’ve forced the Jaguars into a long field goal attempt. Josh Scobee is an excellent kicker, but kicks over 50 yards in Soldier Field are another story.)

Prior to that, the Bears held the Jaguars to field goal attempts after Jacksonville had a third-and-1 on the Bears 27 on their first drive and a first-and-goal at the Bears 7 on their second.

Preseason is basically just a glorified practice, maybe we shouldn’t put any stock into anything that happens, but there are reasons to think that the Bears can be a “bend but don’t break” defense.

Read More …

Here are some thoughts on last night’s “game”.

• Starting with the pregame interview, it isn’t easy to adapt to Jared Allen in a Chicago Bears uniform.
• I think we saw a few clues last night as to how Shea McClellin is going to be deployed. DJ and Lance will be behind the defensive line and Shea will be sent at the quarterback.
• Both McClellin and Bostic made excellent pursuit tackles. Good to see them showing instincts for the position.
• If Chris Williams is going to be the starting kick returner against Buffalo, great. In the meantime the Bears need to be giving someone other than Eric Weems a look back there. I don’t know what Weems does well but I haven’t seen it.

Read More …