Chicago Bears - Northern Illinois University

[Ryche]

Well, I finally got FOF2K4, so it's time to get the Chicago end of my FOF/TCY combo going.

For the first two seasons of my NIU Huskies, click here:
http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15323

The Bears have a lot of community support and a team with a lot of holes.

<pre>
Front Office Football 2004
Chicago Bears Roster, Scout Overview

Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Chandler, Chris 12 QB QB 16 30 30 2 yrs
Stewart, Kordell 10 QB 9 17 17 2 yrs
Grossman, Rex 8 QB 1 10 38 3 yrs</pre>
Not a good group. Chandler will be our starter this year since he should make the fewest mistakes. Stewart looks pretty worthless. Grossman should develop into a decent backup and he'll be our holder. Not what you look for from a first round draft pick though.

<pre>Thomas, Anthony 35 RB RB 3 27 32 2 yrs
Peterson, Adrian 29 RB 2 30 37 2 yrs
Forsey, Brock 44 RB 1 30 45 3 yrs
##Dunmore, Hardy 41 RB 1 21 35 1 yr.
Pritchett, Stanley 36 FB FB 8 28 28 1 yr.
Abdullah, Rabih 27 FB 6 19 24 2 yrs</pre>
This is a mixed bag without a standout. Forsey may be the best of the bunch next year with decent ratings allaround, but I'll start Thomas for now. He has speed and can catch the ball a little. Forsey will get the short yardage work and Peterson will be the receiving back. The fullbacks are not much to speak of. Pritchett will be the starter, but all he can really do is run the football.

<pre>Davis, John 82 TE 7 27 27 1 yr.
Clark, Desmond 88 TE TE 5 37 51 6 yrs
Lyman, Dustin 89 TE 4 22 34 2 yrs
##Gilmore, John 85 TE 2 10 23 2 yrs
White, Dez 80 FL 4 33 38 1 yr.
Terrell, David 83 FL FL 3 35 49 3 yrs
Gage, Justin 87 FL 1 17 35 4 yrs
Booker, Marty 86 SE SE 5 57 57 6 yrs
Merritt, Ahmad 81 SE 3 23 36 1 yr.
##Wade, Bobby 84 SE 1 7 19 4 yrs</pre>
Booker is our best skill player and should be a major focus of the offense if our quarterbacks can get the ball to him. He's a bit weak on third downs, but otherwise looks solid. Terrell gets the second receiver spot by default. At least he should be able to use his size in the redzone. Desmond Clark is a pretty decent tight end, an excellent blocker and effective in the redzone. Lyman will be the long snapper.

<pre>Kreutz, Olin 57 C C 6 62 73 5 yrs
Mannelly, Patrick 65 C 6 26 41 3 yrs
Lacina, Corbin 63 LG LG 10 43 43 1 yr.
##Edwards, Steve 79 LG 2 22 41 1 yr.
##Metcalf, Terrence 60 LG 2 13 25 2 yrs
Villarrial, Chris 58 RG RG 8 46 46 1 yr.
Tucker, Rex 64 RG 5 26 46 6 yrs
##Warner, Josh 67 RG 3 13 31 2 yrs
##Sanderson, Scott 74 LT 8 17 24 1 yr.
Gandy, Mike 69 LT LT 4 24 44 1 yr.
##Liedtke, Nicky 62 LT 1 15 28 1 yr.
Gibson, Aaron 78 RT 4 22 32 2 yrs
Colombo, Marc 75 RT RT 2 18 35 4 yrs</pre>
Kreutz is easily the best lineman and a potential allpro. Lacina is halfway decent, but up there in age. This looks like a major draft target.

<pre>Maynard, Brad 4 P 7 41 41 3 yrs
Edinger, Paul 2 K 4 54 55 5 yrs</pre>
Maynard isn't a boomer, but he won't allow returns and can kick the coffin corner. Works for me. Edinger is fairly accurate, but not as good as real-life IMO.

<pre>Daniels, Phillip 93 LDE LDE 8 50 50 2 yrs
##Tafoya, Joe 99 LDE 3 13 19 1 yr.
Brown, Alex 96 RDE 2 31 42 2 yrs
Haynes, Michael 97 RDE RDE 1 40 68 5 yrs
##Swift, Mark 77 RDE 1 21 38 1 yr.
Traylor, Keith 94 LDT LDT 12 67 67 1 yr.
##Boone, Alfonso 70 LDT 3 15 20 4 yrs
Scott, Ian 95 LDT 1 26 40 4 yrs
Robinson, Bryan 98 RDT RDT 7 52 52 4 yrs
##Lafavor, Tron 73 RDT 1 17 37 4 yrs</pre>
I'm actually happy with what I have to work with on the defensive line. 1st round pick Michael Haynes looks like a force against the run and an adequate pass rusher. Daniels and Brown are both good pass rushers as well. Robinson and Traylor are both very good against the run on the inside although I have no depth behind them.

<pre>Urlacher, Brian 54 MLB MLB 4 66 69 7 yrs
Howard, Bobbie 52 MLB 3 17 22 1 yr.
Holdman, Warrick 53 SLB SLB 5 50 57 3 yrs
Knight, Bryan 90 SLB 2 12 28 2 yrs
Briggs, Lance 55 SLB 1 20 34 4 yrs
Odom, Joe 59 WLB WLB 1 24 47 3 yrs</pre>
Urlacher is a monster pass rusher and good enough against the run. Holdman is similar with less pass coverage skill. Unfortunately, I don't have a 3rd backer.

<pre>McQuarters, R.W. 21 LCB LCB 6 34 35 4 yrs
McMillon, Todd 26 LCB 4 22 36 1 yr.
Azumah, Jerry 23 RCB RCB 5 36 42 3 yrs
Williams, Brock 22 RCB 3 14 33 2 yrs
Tillman, Charles 33 RCB 1 17 45 5 yrs
Brown, Mike 30 SS SS 4 74 78 6 yrs
Green, Mike 43 SS FS 4 28 46 1 yr.
##Gray, Bobby 25 SS 2 11 27 2 yrs
##Worrell, Cameron 24 FS 1 16 41 3 yrs
Johnson, Todd 32 FS 1 24 47 4 yrs</pre>
This is the weakspot of the defense. McQuarters and Azumah are barely adequate. Brown is awesome and locked up for 6 years at a relative bargain price. Green and Johnson are a year from being a decent starter.

<pre>$$ - player is in starting lineup, ## - player is inactive.

Players Under Contract: 60
On Active Roster: 46

Salary Cap: $75,000,000
Cap Room: $7,900,000
Maximum for New Player: $8,170,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $0

Cap Room Lost Next Year (to old contracts): $0
Cap Room Required Next Year: $63,440,000</pre>
We are in great shape capwise with no significant free agents next year. Urlacher and Daniels are my highest paid players at over 5 million per year and we have Urlacher signed for the next 7 years. If I can get some help on offense and add a player or to in the secondary, we could be contenders in a couple seasons.

Staff:

Roy Lowe is my 63 year old head coach and looks pretty decent. He is an excellent motivator and seems to be defensively inclined. Good young talent rating and very good injury rating. I'll keep him around for awhile.

Jeff Towne is my offensive coordinator, but I'm not happy with how he develops skill players. His contract is up after this year and won't be renewed.

Jason Shelton is much better at defensive coordinator. He's not as good with the young guys, but he is good to excellent in all the defensive positions.

Howard Horning is my scout. Only average with the young talent, but he has excellent ratings at running back, offensive line and defensive line so he fits my philosophy perfectly.

It looks like Green Bay and Minnesota will be fighting for the division title. Green Bay's biggest problem is a porous offensive line, but I think their coach is good enough to lead them to the division title. For now Detroit isn't looking good, but the Harrington to Rogers combo could let them dominate the division in a couple years.

Predictions:
Green Bay 10-6
Minnesota 9-7
Chicago 6-10
Detroit 5-11

[Ryche]

Preseason

We made it through the preseason with a 3-1 record, supported by a very good running game.

Preseason running back stats:
Peterson - 27-142
Forsey - 38-115-2TDs
Thomas - 30-133

Peterson looked the most consistently explosive, so I'm going to move him into the starting lineup. Thomas will still get a lot of carries as my second back and Forsey did a nice job in short yardage situations. I'm going to move FB Pritchett into the receiving back position.

Stewart and Grossman got most of the snaps at quarterback to determine who would be the backup. Grossman was impressive and won the job easily.

Grossman - 47 of 77, 555 yards, 4 TDs, 3 Ints
Stewart - 26 of 41, 248 yards, 1 TD, 2 Ints

We only suffered one serious injury during preseason as WR David Terrell dislocated his knee and will be out for about 7 weeks.

Week 1

Chicago 0-0 at San Francisco 0-0

We put up an absolutely brutal offensive performance, not scoring until 3 minutes were left in the game. The defense played decently, but Chandler didn't hold up his end of the bargain, throwing 4 interceptions and only completing 19 of 48 passes. Booker was our star, catching 9 balls for 117 yards and the only touchdown. We also lost Mike Gandy, our left tackle, for 8 weeks with a stress fracture and WR Ahmed Merritt, one of my primary kick returners, suffered a horrific knee injury that probably ended his career. Final score, 27-7 San Francisco.

Green Bay beat Minnesota 28-23 and Detroit beat Arizona 20-17 to take the early division lead.

Week 2

Chicago 0-1 at Minnesota 0-1

Chandler rebounded nicely as we pulled off the upset in Minnesota. He completed 20 of 37 for 265 yards and 2 TDs, both to Dez White. One of those was a 72 yard pass. McQuarters sealed the win with a 38 yard interception return for a touchdown with a minute left. Final score, 24-14 Chicago.

Green Bay beat Detroit 21-13 to take the division lead.

Week 3

Bye week already.

Green Bay simulated real life, getting tripped up 21-20 by Arizona while Minnesota claimed their first win, 17-9 in Detroit.

Week 4

Green Bay 2-1 at Chicago 1-1

A very sloppy game that neither team wanted to claim. Ahmen Green was huge in the first half for Green Bay, rushing for over 100 yards, but Favre threw 4 interceptions so they only scored 7 points and took a 7-0 lead into halftime. Chandler almost matched Favre, throwing 3 interceptions of his own. We made the big plays in the second half as Booker caught a 53 yard touchdown strike and Thomas ran one in from 27 yards as we claimed the win and first place in the division, 14-10. The defense came up big, S Mike Green interceped 2 passes, LB Holdman picked off one and produced a sack and DE Daniels sacked Favre twice.

My running game isn't getting anywhere, only averaging 78 ypg. Peterson has only produced a 3.51 ypc, so I'm going to give Anthony Thomas a chance to start. I'm moving Peterson to the receiving back role and trying Pritchett in short yardage.

Detroit and Minnesota both lost, dropping their records to 1-3.

Week 5

Oakland 4-0 at Chicago 2-1

Our offensive woes continued as we managed only 52 yards in the first half and 276 for the game. We were penalized 9 times and only converted 2 of 12 3rd downs. Averaging 11 yards to go on 3rd down didn't help matters. We moved the ball well enough on the ground (4 ypc) but played from behind so we only ran the ball 21 times. Add 2 missed field goals and the result was a goose egg. Final score, 24-0 Oakland.

The division went 0-4 this week. Minnesota lost 23-13 in Atlanta, Detroit got crushed 34-3 against San Francisco and Green Bay was nipped at home against Seattle, 34-31.

Division:
Chicago 2-2
Green Bay 2-3
Detroit 1-4
Minnesota 1-4

Week 6

Chicago 2-2 at New Orleans 4-1

We outplayed New Orleans, gaining 382 yards compared to their 242, but they won the turnover battle by three and claimed the game. Thomas had our best rushing performance yet, 18 carries for 85 yards, but he fumbled twice. Booker was even more impressive, catching 10 balls for 122 yards and a touchdown. The defense was great as we gave the Saints the ball in our territory to start four times, but they only scored 13 points for the entire game. But we only scored 10 and lost 13-10.

Dez White pulled a calf muscle and will miss a few weeks. Luckily, David Terrell is able to play again, although we'll keep him as the third receiver as his knee is still bothering him.

Green Bay lost again 38-31 to Kansas City so we still lead the division, despite a 2-3 record. Detroit and Minnesota had byes.

Week 7

Chicago 2-3 at Seattle 4-1

This is a tough stretch of schedule. So far, none of our opponents have had more than one loss when we've faced them. We started out great with three touchdowns in the first quarter, including a 78 yard interception return by McQuarters, his second of the year. But Seattle responded with a 76 yard touchdown drive and then recovered a fumble on our 4 to score another touchdown. Our defense couldn't come up with a stop when we needed it as Seattle ended the game with an 80 yard touchdown drive that produced the winning score. Final score, 35-30 Seattle.

Detroit managed to win their second game, 28-10 over Dallas, moving into an embarrassing tie for the division lead at 2-4. Green Bay and Minnesota both lost again and my predictions are looking pretty awful.

Week 8

Detroit 2-4 at Chicago 2-4

A very big game for the division lead and we're lucky enough to get Terrell and LT Gandy back in the starting lineup, both listed as probable. We dominated this one as Chandler threw 3 touchdown passes and Thomas ran for 89 yards. Harrington only completed 18 of 41 passes for 198 yards and threw 2 interceptions for Detroit. Final score, 34-14 Chicago.

Unfortunately, Gandy reinjured his leg and is likely out until the playoffs.

Minnesota scored their second win, beating the Giants 17-10.

Week 9

San Diego 4-3 at Chicago 3-4

Thomas carried us to a strong win, turning in his first 100 yard game with 127 yards on 26 carries. The defense was all over Doug Flutie, forcing 2 interceptions ,5 sacks and 8 hurries. Final score 23-7 Chicago.

Midseason summary:

<pre>
Front Office Football 2004
2003 Summary for Chicago Bears

Record: 4-4
Winning Pct.: .500

Chicago Bears Team Rank
Rushes 213 18 (T)
Rushing Yards 858 22 (T)
Yards Per Carry 4.02 23
Pass Attempts 284 13 (T)
Completions 156 20 (T)
Passing Yards 1733 22
Yards Per Attempt 6.10 21
3rd Down Conversions 37.2 22
Points Per Game 17.7 22
Turnovers 19 29 (T)
Turnover Margin -3 22 (T)

Opponents Team Rank
Rushes 207 9
Rushing Yards 882 12
Yards Per Carry 4.26 15 (T)
Pass Attempts 285 20 (T)
Completions 157 12 (T)
Passing Yards 1615 3
Yards Per Attempt 5.66 3
3rd Down Conversions 36.8 9
Points Per Game 18.0 9
Turnovers 16 8 (T)

Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 7 at SFO 27
2 24 at MIN 14
4 14 GBY 10
5 0 OAK 24
6 10 at NOS 13
7 30 at SEA 35
8 34 DET 14
9 23 SDO 7
10 at DET
11 STL
12 at DEN
13 ARI
14 at GBY
15 MIN
16 WAS
17 at KCY

Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int
12 Chandler QB 284 156 1733 6.10 10 12
**Team --- 284 156 1733 6.10 10 12

Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD
35 Thomas RB 109 505 4.63 2
29 Peterson RB 73 289 3.95 1
**Team --- 213 858 4.02 3

Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD
86 Booker WR 74 42 589 14.0 92 4
87 Gage WR 51 25 230 9.2 13 1
88 Clark TE 25 18 215 11.9 32 2
36 Pritchett FB 19 14 151 10.7 97 1
83 Terrell WR 21 14 121 8.6 18 0
80 White WR 28 12 184 15.3 69 2
82 Davis TE 18 8 78 9.7 14 0
**Team --- 283 156 1733 11.1 376 10

Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn
54 Urlacher ILB 57 16 0.0 1 0 4
30 Brown S 47 17 1.0 0 0 5
53 Holdman OLB 43 16 2.0 2 3 1
26 McMillon CB 31 4 0.0 0 3 4
98 Robinson DT 30 10 2.5 10 0 0
21 McQuarters CB 29 3 0.0 1 3 3
94 Traylor DT 28 9 5.0 10 0 0
23 Azumah CB 24 4 1.5 0 0 7
93 Daniels DE 16 7 3.5 20 0 0 
Front Office Football 2004
43 Green S 14 15 0.0 1 4 4
97 Haynes DE 14 6 0.5 4 0 0
59 Odom OLB 12 9 2.5 0 0 1
33 Tillman CB 12 2 1.0 0 2 0
**Team --- 413 124 22.0 53 15 29</pre> 
Defense is definitely carrying this team, especially against the pass, where we have been surprisingly good, largely due to an effective pass rush.

[Ryche]

Week 10

Chicago 4-4 at Detroit 3-5

Our defense dominated again, forcing 4 turnovers. DT Keith Traylor was the player of the game, forcing 1.5 sacks, a hurry and a fumble. Thomas was also effective, rushing for 85 yards. Chandler threw 2 interceptions, but spread the ball to 9 different receivers and engineered a 16 play, 81 yard touchdown drive in the third quarter that won the game. Final score 13-7 Chicago.

Green Bay lost at home to Philadelphia, 20-17 while Minnesota lost in San Diego 38-35.
The division is ours to lose as we have a 2 game lead over the Packers now and we're in position to take the tiebreaker as well.

Week 11

St. Louis 4-5 at Chicago 5-4

The defense played well enough to win, but our offense and special teams let us down. The Rams picked off Chandler 4 times, with Aeneas Williams returning one 78 yards for a touchdown. St. Louis also returned a kickoff for a touchdown. Booker had a huge game, catching 13 for 182 yards, but that wasn't nearly enough to overcome the mistakes. Final score 34-16, St. Louis.

Green Bay was smoked in Tampa, losing 33-3. Detroit also lost 35-23 in Seattle. Minnesota finally got their third win by beating Oakland 29-27. We now lead the division at 5-5, everyone else is 3-7.

Week 12

Chicago 5-5 at Denver 5-5

I've decided it's time to try someone new at quarterback. He has thrown 10 TDs and 18 Ints, not acceptable. I think Stewart and Grossman are pretty similar talentwise right now, so I might as well start the young guy with upside. Grossman led the Bears to on an 82-yard touchdown drive on the first possession, helped along by a 42 yard run by Thomas. He capped the drive with his first touchdown pass, a 3 yard outlet to Pritchett. But the rest of the game was rough for him as he threw two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown. His final stats were 24 of 43, 180 yards, 2 TDs and 2 Ints. Thomas had a big game, carrying the ball 12 times for 148 yards and a touchdown. But Plummer and Portis led Denver to a 27-24 win.

Detroit won in Minnesota 17-10, keeping their division hopes alive. Green Bay lost yet again, 20-6 at home against the now 9-2 49ers.

Week 13

Arizona 5-6 at Chicago 5-6

Arizona jumped out on top 7-0 with a quick drive led by Jeff Blake and they took a 10-0 lead into halftime as offensive miscues (penalties, turnovers, bad snaps) kept us stalled. We came back with a field goal in the third and a touchdown pass to Booker to start the 4th quarter tied 10-10. A short punt set up an Arizona field goal, but a nice return on the ensuing kickoff set up our own field goal for a 13-13 tie with 3:22 left. Then Blake made a mistake, throwing an interception to CB Todd McMillon that he returned 28 yards for a touchdown. But Anquin Boldin burned our cornerback for a 52-yard touchdown, tying the game again at 17 with a minute left. Azumah returned the kickoff to our 49, setting us up in great field position for the potential game winning score. Grossman hit TE Desmond Clark for an 11 yard gain and two 2 yard runs by Thomas set up the 51 yard field goal attempt for the win. Edinger's attempt was up and....short. We won the coin toss in overtime. At our 43 yard line we faced a 4th and one and went for it, against my judgment. But Pritchett ran off tackle for two yards and the first. We went for it on 4th down again, this time 4th and 2 from the Arizona 47. This time Pritchett was stuff short. Bad, bad coaching decisions, we should have punted on both 4th downs. Arizona drove the ball down are throats for the winning touchdown. Final score 23-17 OT, Arizona.

Green Bay finally won again 10-9 in Detroit. Minnesota was crushed 34-6 in St. Louis. We still cling to a one game division lead, despite a 5-7 record. Now we have to go to Green Bay though.

Week 14

Chicago 5-7 at Green Bay 4-8

Good news for us, Ahmen Green is out for the year with a torn rotator cuff. Starting cornerback Mike McKenzie is also out for the Packers. Even better news, no Favre as he is out with a strained achilles tendon. Undrafted rookie Quinn Nygaard started for the Packers as the best of awful options. My defense ate the Packers alive, forcing three turnovers, sacking Nygaard 7 times and blocking a punt. We were ahead 27-3 at halftime and Thomas ground out 132 yards and 3 touchdowns on 21 carries to give us the win. We only threw for 94 yards. Philip Daniels was the defensive player of the week with 5.5 sacks. Final score 40-25 Chicago.

Detroit and Minnesota both lost, giving us a two game lead and the tie breaker. One win or one loss by Green Bay and Detroit puts us in the playoffs.

We sustained a couple of significant injuries. Grossman suffered a hip pointer at the end of the game and will be held out the rest of the regular season. DE Alex Brown pulled his calf muscle but should be able to play in the playoffs too.

Week 15

3-10 Minnesota at 6-7 Chicago

I know what Chandler can do, so now it's Stewart's turn to start at quarterback. Despite our records and the game being played in Chicago, Minnesota is favored by 2. I'll put 50 dollars on that one. Unfortunately, Stewart reaffirmed why he has been on the bench, throwing 3 interceptions, including one returned 66 yards for a touchdown. Minnesota dominated the time of possession with 4 10+ play drives and they won the turnover battle by 3. That was enough to give them the win. Final score 20-7 Minnesota.

Detroit and Green Bay were both so kind as to lose their games, Detroit 45-10 vs. Kansas City, Green Bay 24-15 vs. San Diego. So with 2 games left in the regular season, we have clinched the division title, despite a 6-8 record. Worst division ever.

Week 16

Washington 4-9-1 at Chicago 6-8

Stewart played much better this time, throwing 2 touchdowns. Washington ouplayed us for the most part, but committed three turnovers to zero for us. That was the difference. Final score 20-14 Chicago.

Week 17

Chicago 7-8 at Kansas City 10-5

Kansas City needed the win to take their division and they hammered us. KC returned 3 interceptions for touchdowns, 2 by Shawn Barber. Our lone bright spot was WR Justin Gage, who caught 5 passes for 131 and a touchdown. Welcome back to third string Stewart, hope you can find work somewhere next year. Final score 52-10 Kansas City.

The final division standings look like this:

Chicago 7-9
Green Bay 5-11
Detroit 5-11
Minnesota 4-12

Green Bay ran into some injury problems and their defense didn't force many turnovers. I don't think they were as bad as their record indicated. In Detroit, Harrington got pummeled, sacked 64 times and throwing 27 interceptions. He didn't have any support from his running game either. Minnesota was brutal all over, but their pass defense was the main problem. They allowed the most points of anyone and were the worst in the league at stopping 3rd downs.

Our team summary:

<pre>
Front Office Football 2004
2003 Summary for Chicago Bears

Record: 7-9
Winning Pct.: .437

Chicago Bears Team Rank
Rushes 427 18
Rushing Yards 1848 15
Yards Per Carry 4.32 14
Pass Attempts 551 9
Completions 310 17
Passing Yards 3295 23
Yards Per Attempt 5.98 26
3rd Down Conversions 38.0 25 (T)
Points Per Game 18.2 22
Turnovers 36 29
Turnover Margin -2 16 (T)

Opponents Team Rank
Rushes 429 11
Rushing Yards 1855 18
Yards Per Carry 4.32 21
Pass Attempts 561 26
Completions 313 17
Passing Yards 3426 14
Yards Per Attempt 6.10 7
3rd Down Conversions 39.8 15 (T)
Points Per Game 21.8 23 (T)
Turnovers 34 5

Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 7 at SFO 27
2 24 at MIN 14
4 14 GBY 10
5 0 OAK 24
6 10 at NOS 13
7 30 at SEA 35
8 34 DET 14
9 23 SDO 7
10 13 at DET 7
11 16 STL 34
12 24 at DEN 27
13 20 ARI 26
14 40 at GBY 25
15 7 MIN 20
16 20 WAS 14
17 10 at KCY 52
$$WC SFO

Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int
12 Chandler QB 358 201 2191 6.12 10 18
8 Grossman QB 97 59 518 5.34 3 3
10 Stewart QB 96 50 586 6.10 4 7
**Team --- 551 310 3295 5.98 17 28

Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD
35 Thomas RB 242 1181 4.88 7
29 Peterson RB 118 485 4.11 2
36 Pritchett FB 32 117 3.65 1
**Team --- 427 1848 4.32 10

Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD
86 Booker WR 158 84 1167 13.8 220 6
87 Gage WR 81 43 489 11.3 98 2
88 Clark TE 52 35 315 9.0 48 3
83 Terrell WR 50 32 364 11.3 39 0
36 Pritchett FB 38 27 218 8.0 126 2
80 White WR 55 26 338 13.0 72 3
82 Davis TE 32 18 135 7.5 23 0
**Team --- 549 310 3295 10.6 703 17

Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn
54 Urlacher ILB 109 38 0.0 2 1 5
30 Brown S 106 34 1.0 0 5 12
53 Holdman OLB 64 23 2.0 2 4 2
94 Traylor DT 55 17 8.0 21 0 1
21 McQuarters CB 54 7 0.0 1 4 4 
Front Office Football 2004
26 McMillon CB 52 16 0.0 0 5 7
23 Azumah CB 46 17 1.5 0 1 13
98 Robinson DT 45 20 2.5 21 0 0
93 Daniels DE 40 14 15.5 33 0 0
97 Haynes DE 36 13 4.0 8 0 1
43 Green S 33 25 0.0 1 4 5
33 Tillman CB 27 3 1.0 0 2 2
59 Odom OLB 25 17 2.5 0 0 2
55 Briggs OLB 23 4 0.0 1 0 2
**Team --- 834 260 45.0 98 26 58</pre>

Thomas did an excellent job once he became the starter. My only complaint was his 7 fumbles. Booker also did a great job with very little help from the other receivers or his quarterbacks. The offensive line also played its part with only one lineman allowing more than 4 sacks. But the primary reason for what success we had was the defense. Traylor and Daniels were wrecking balls up front. I also had five different players pick off at least 4 passes.

For sneaking into the playoffs, our reward is hosting 12-4 San Francisco, who we lost to 27-7 in week 1.

[Ryche]

NFC Division Winners:
Seattle 13-3
New York 12-4
Tampa 12-4
Chicago 7-9 (which one doesn't belong?)
Wildcards
San Francisco 12-4
Arizona 9-7

AFC Division Winners:
Tennessee 11-5
New Jersey 11-5
Kansas City 11-5
Pittsburg 10-5-1
Wildcards
Oakland 10-6
Miami 9-7

Wildcard

San Francisco 12-4 at Chicago 7-9

San Fran is damn impressive for a wildcard team. They ran for the most yards and allowed the fewest yards rushing. Their defense was ranked 2nd in points allowed first in passing yards per attempt. Barlow ran for over 1100 yards and Hearst added 600. Owens caught 79 balls for 1265 yards and 11 TDs. CB Ahmed Plummer led the league with 13 interceptions. San Fran also forced the most turnovers with 46. A tough matchup for our rookie quarterback as Grossman is listed as probable and will get the start. Our best hope is to force some turnovers, Garcia threw 19 interceptions on the year.

Neither team scored in the first quarter even though much of the half was played on our side of the field. San Francisco's holder bobbled the snap on a field goal attempt, ruining their best chance. Jeff Garcia found his rhythm and Terrell Owens in the second quarter, putting 10 points on the board for a 10-0 lead at halftime. Edinger missed our one scoring chance when he missed from 51 yards. We put together a good enough drive to kick a field goal to start the second half, but San Francisco responded with a 69 yard bomb to Owens, making the score 17-3. Our offense remained inept through the rest of the game and two 49ers field goals made the final score 23-3. We produced a grand total of 134 yards for the game. Grossman went 10 of 23 for 67 yards. He was overwhelmed.

Other wildcard games:
Tampa 34, Arizona 3
Kansas City 40, Miami 20
Pittsburgh 30, Oakland 10

Divisional playoffs:
San Francisco 22, Seattle 21
Tampa 26, New York 20
New Jersey 7, Kansas City 6
Tennessee 24, Pittsburgh 17

Conference championships:
Tennessee 6, New Jersey 3
Tampa 29, San Francisco 10

Super Bowl
Tampa 26, Tennessee 9

NFL MVP: Steve McNair - 3669 yards, 23 TD, 10 Int, 94.5 rating, 589 yards rushing, 3 TD
OPoY: McNair
DPoY: LB London Fletcher, Buf - 155 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 int
ORoY: RB Domanick Davis, Hou - 1200 yards rushing, 8 TDs (imitating real life?)
DRoY: LB Gerald Hayes, Ariz - 93 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 2 int

C Olin Kreutz was our only award winner, second string center. 43 of 134 KRB, 2 sacks allowed.

League leaders:
QB
Rating: Manning, Ind - 104.7
TDs: Warner, St. L - 33
Yards: Warner - 4291 (4 over 4000)
YPA: Manning - 8.68
Pct: McNair - 64.8
RB
Attempts: Dillon, Cin - 311
Yards: Dillon - 1402
YPC: Musa Smith, Bal - 5.8
TDs: Holmes, KC - 15
WR
Rec: Chad Johnson, Cin - 117
Yards: Johnson - 1583
TDs: Johnson - 12
Ave: Reche Caldwell, SD - 18.2
DEF
Tackles: Fletcher - 155
Sacks: Justin Smith, Cin - 18
Int: Ahmed Plummer, SF - 13

Well, my team met my expectations and somehow made the playoffs anyway. But the other teams in the division will get great draft picks now. Minnesota will have the number one overall selection. If I can find a decent quarterback next year, we should be able to take the division again before the rest of the division catches us.

[Ryche]

2004 Chicago Preseason

Each year I plan to play the pro season, then the college season, but since I've already played the 2003 college season, we'll do 2 years of the Bears in a row.

We have one retirement, Chris Chandler has finally decided to hang it up. It looks like Kordell Stewart will probably stick around another season as our backup quarterback.

We made a profit over 80 million dollars last year, thanks largely to a brand new stadium and no player bonuses. Our franchise is currently the third most valuable behind Carolina and New York.

Our offensive coordinator is the only staff member we have without a contract. Considering how bad the offense was last year, a change might not be a bad idea. I ended up 46 year old Renaldo Crutchfield. His strengths are working with linemen and young talent.

(I don't particularly like some of the nuances of staff hiring. I accidentally hired my new offensive coordinator as my head coach the first time through. Luckily, I had just saved the game. I also don't like that it only shows the salary for hiring as a head coach. It's tough to determine what a coordinator's salary should be.)

We are 21.4 million under the cap, 17.9 of which is available for free agents.

Significant free agents:
FB Stanley Pritchett - I'll bring him back for a cheap price.
WR Dez White - Not a priority.
LG Corbin Lacina - Did a nice job last year with 38% krb and only 3 sacks allowed. I'd like to bring him back.
RG Chris Villarrial - Not a priority although I need to bring one of my guards back.
LT Mike Gandy - Missed most of last year, but has some talent so I'd like to bring him back.
DT Keith Traylor - My biggest priority.
CB Todd McMillon - Intercepted 5 passes as my nickelback, I'd like to bring him back.
S Mike Green - Did a nice job at free safety, I'll probably bring him back.

Needs:
A proven starting QB would be nice.
A second wide receiver.
Help at offensive line, especially tackle.
Punter, Maynard just didn't cut it.
Weakside linebacker.
A topflight cornerback.

Looking toward next season, Philip Daniels and Anthony Thomas are my most significant free agents.

I considered placing the franchise tag on Traylor, but decided to take a chance that his age would keep his demand down. I discovered that Anthony Thomas is willing to renegotiate a five year deal with only a minimal bonus that would make cutting him painless. He would only count as 1.89 million against the cap in the final year of the deal. Consider it done. We'll see if he whines about the deal down the road. Back to my current free agents, Traylor wants 2 yr/ 13 mill. I'll wait him out a little. Lacina (3.5 mill) and Pritchett (1.7 mill) want much more reasonable 2 year deals.

Peyton Manning is clearly the jewel of the free agent crop, but his asking price of 6yr/93 million is beyond what I want to pay. Some of the other veterans, like Bledsoe, Dilfer and Maddox look much more appealing and cheaper. In fact, I'm sure one of them will at least replace Stewart on my roster. Warren Sapp is another big name available with a lot of appeal. He produced 12.5 sacks last year, but wants a 3 yr deal similar to Traylor's asking price.

Out of the gates, Villarrial signed a deal with Detroit for far more than I would have offered him. Manning also signed a deal in week 1, accepting Pittsburgh 7 yr/ 140 million dollar offer. The Redskins imitated real life, giving Warren Sapp a new contract. Traylor has two suitors, Miami and Cleveland. I decided to go ahead and offer deals to Traylor, Lacina and Pritchett. All three accepted our offers. I then went ahead and gave QB Trent Dilfer a 2 yr/ 4.54 million deal to be my new starter. We then signed Gandy, McMillon and Green to small deals. I also signed former Bear Bobby Engram to be my second or third receiver and primary punt returner.

Draft

We have the 25th pick, earned by winning the division. To put it in perspective, Dallas and Cincinnati also went 7-9 and are drafting 11th and 12th. Minnesota has the number one pick, Detroit 4 and Green Bay 8. The top player in the draft is clearly QB Timothy Hibdon from Oregon State, but Minnesota (arguably) doesn't have a need there. We have on Northern Illinois player available in the draft, our 2nd team all american Dusty Beckham. But he only carries a 2.1 adjusted grade and may not be drafted. 5-11 receivers who run a 4.65 don't get drafted. Two time Heismann winner, QB Lawrence Jarosek from Florida St., is way down in the list of quarterbacks. Maybe a potential sleeper.

Minnesota chose CB Zack Mandylor with the first pick. I would have done the same thing in their situation. 6-1 with 4.46 speed, he doesn't have a real weakness. Hibdon actually lasted until the 21st pick, where New Orleans couldn't resist him, despite having Brooks on their roster. I'm glad he didn't make it to my pick, I didn't really want him, but I would have almost had to take him at that point. But he threw 20 TDs and 15 Ints last year, scary numbers for a first rounder.

1st round breakdown:

1. Minnesota - CB Zack Mandylor, Georgia Tech, 58 tck, 3 int, 12 def
2. Buffalo - LT Harvey Whiting, Tennessee, 22-60 krb, 4 sa
3. Carolina - CB Leon Lyons, Georgia, 37 tck, 3 int, 11 def
4. Detroit - DE Oscar Severson, Texas A&M, 48 tck, 14.5 sck
5. Baltimore - DE Antonio Barton, Miami FL, 30 tck, 5.5 sck
6. Cleveland - WILB Dennis Griffin, 86 tck, 3 sck, 2 int, def
7. New England - WR Teddy Woods, LSU, 40-825, 6 TD
8. Green Bay - DE Dennis Corwin, Tennessee, 30 tck, 6 sck
9. Houston - DE Cory Henderson, Texas Tech, 38 tck, 7 sck
10. Washington - LG Joel Coe, Syracuse, 58-137 krb, 1 sa
11. Dallas - CB Anthony Sprotte, Arizona, 39 tck, 6 int, 13 def
12. Cincinnati - DT Albert Farr, Miami FL, 39 tck, 5 sck
13. Philadelphia - WR Lincoln Lake, Florida St, 40-747, 3 TD
14. Denver - SS Norbert Burgess, Michigan St, 80 tck, 2 int, 5 def
15. Jacksonville - LT Perry Dennis, Washington St, 46-115 krb, 1 sa
16. Indianapolis - LG Steven Sterne, UCLA, no stats (Was on academic probation. He has a 100 rating in TCY and was 31-78 krb, 4 sa last year.)
17. Atlanta - DE Britt Craig, Michigan St, 59 tck, 12 sck
18. St. Louis - RT Darrin Bernstein, Virginia Tech, 26-75 krb, 2 sa
19. San Diego - RG Donny Hancock, Colorado, 43-109 krb, 5 sa
20. Cincinnati - DE Tommy Ripken, South Carolina, 36 tck, 6.5 sck
21. New Orleans - QB Timothy Hibdon, Oregon St, 2377 yds, 20 TD, 15 Int
22. Arizona - LT Matt Stevenson, Florida St, 34-70 krb, 4 sa
23. Oakland - DE Reuben Farr, Clemson, 15 tck, 6.5 sck
24. San Francisco - LG Sam Harden, Texas A&M, 41-99 krb, 5 sa
25. Chicago - CB Jared Caldwell, Florida St, 41 tck, 0 int, 13 def
26. Pittsburgh - SS Jim Mauldin, Ohio St, 36 tck, 1 sck, 2 int, 12 def
27. Kansas City - WR Oliver Hoffman, Syracuse, no stats (never played in college, but he's 6-5 with 4.27 speed)
28. New Jersey - LG TJ Cheung, BYU, 27-85, 6 sa
29. New York - RB Ron Schultz, Purdue, 131-636 7 TD rush, 30-293 rcv
30. Seattle - LG Patrick Pingeton, Texas A&M, 22-60 krb, 1 sa
31. Tennessee - DT Jose Whitfield, Nebraska, 19 tck, 2.5 sck
32. Tampa Bay - WR Jake Starks, Miami FL, 39-610, 11 TD

My draft:

As a side note, even though I have all of the college stats available through TCY, I'm only using the stats given by FOF2K4 during the draft to avoid an unfair advantage over the computer.

1. CB Jared Caldwell, Florida - His stats were lacking and his volatility was 91. But I decided his special teams and return skills gave him the edge over other cornerback options. Unfortunately, his ratings took an immediate hit and it looks like special teams and returning are all he will be good for. That's what I get for ignoring warning signs.
2. FB C.J. Stevenson, Notre Dame - Easily the top fullback in the draft, I couldn't resist him in the second round. 244 pounds, 4.62 40, 35 repetitions. A monster.
3. QB Andy Halas (George's great grandson?), UCLA - The second rated QB in the draft, I had to pull the trigger on him in the 3rd. 6-2 204, 4.61 40 although he's not a scrambler. He was the Pac 10 MVP with 30 TDs, 14 Ints, over 3000 yards passing. I think his ratings actually increased after I drafted him, several of them have the potential to max out.
4. RT Hunter Garrett, Wisconsin - A big strong kid, won't be great but has the potential to be a solid allaround starter.
5. CB Ty Neufeldt, Maryland - A burner with 4.3 speed, should be an excellent return man and maybe a nickelback.
6. TE J.R. Schwartz, South Carolina - Nice size, 6-4 253 and productive in college with 1145 yds receiving and 8 TDs in two seasons. He may be able to replace Clark down the road.
7. WLB Nathan Rehberg, Stanford - Drafted strictly for his special teams ability.

For what it's worth, we were given a B-. St. Louis received an A+, probably because they found a stud center in the 6th round and a decent quarterback in the 5th. Kansas City was at the bottom with a C-

Heisman winner Jarosek went undrafted, as did a number of decent looking QBs. Northern Illinois WR Dusty Beckham was also undrafted, so I'll probably bring him into training camp.

Late free agency:

Now that I drafted a fullback in the second round, I've decided to release Pritchett. Rabih Abdullah can be the backup and he's well-liked as the backfield leader. I signed 4 veterans, all of whom should be backups providing depth for a low price.

I signed my 4th, 5th and 6th round picks before camp. Caldwell and Rehberg both declined my lowball offers. Stevenson and Halas declined good 4 year deals.

After training camp, I was able to sign the remaining draftees, giving Caldwell a better deal for a shorter time, giving Stevenson and Halas good long deals and Rehberg the minimum possible. I'm left with no real surprises among my signed rookies although Schwartz isn't quite as good as I hoped. Caldwell is a definite bust, but will stick around as a return man. Stevenson looks like an excellent blocker and receiver. Halas looks like our new quarterback of the future. His only ratings with below 50 potential are short passes (28), avoid interceptions (47), scramble (33) and kick holding (0). He's already better than Grossman and will probably backup Dilfer this year.

Front Office Football 2004
Chicago Bears Roster, Scout Overview

<pre> Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Dilfer, Trent 16 QB QB 11 45 45 2 yrs
Grossman, Rex 8 QB 2 13 35 2 yrs
Halas, Andy 6 QB 1 29 72 4 yrs
Aberdeen, Quinn 19 QB 1 15 57 1 yr.</pre>
Dilfer should give us a nice upgrade at quarterback this season, he threw for 3500 yards, 21 TDs and 21 Ints for Seattle last year. I could live with that. After that this might be Halas' team. Aberdeen was a pretty nice undrafted rookie, he'll probably knock Grossman off the roster next year.

<pre>Thomas, Anthony 35 RB RB 4 29 32 5 yrs
Peterson, Adrian 29 RB 3 32 35 1 yr.
Forsey, Brock 44 RB 2 30 40 2 yrs
Abdullah, Rabih 27 FB 7 21 24 1 yr.
Stevenson, C.J. 40 FB FB 1 38 72 4 yrs</pre>
Thomas did the job last year with almost 1200 yards rushing. If he can keep it up, that's some nice, cheap production. Stevenson will be a major upgrade at fullback and will take over all third down situations. Forsey and Peterson are both adequate backups.

<pre>Clark, Desmond 88 TE TE 6 47 51 5 yrs
Lyman, Dustin 89 TE 5 24 33 1 yr.
Schwartz, J.R. 18 TE 1 23 38 3 yrs
Terrell, David 83 FL FL 4 39 47 2 yrs
Gage, Justin 87 FL 2 22 36 3 yrs
Engram, Bobby 85 SE 9 42 42 3 yrs
Booker, Marty 86 SE SE 6 58 58 5 yrs
Wade, Bobby 84 SE 2 9 21 3 yrs</pre>
Booker is easily our best receiver. Terrell provides an endzone threat and Engram is a decent possession type player. Clark makes a decent tight end and is our receiving leader. Lyman is our long snapper.

<pre>Kreutz, Olin 57 C C 7 75 75 4 yrs
Mannelly, Patrick 65 C 7 27 40 2 yrs
Lacina, Corbin 63 LG LG 11 44 44 2 yrs
Hamilton, Ben 71 LG 5 30 47 1 yr.
Edwards, Steve 79 LG 3 21 39 1 yr.
Tucker, Rex 64 RG RG 6 31 44 5 yrs
Gandy, Mike 69 LT LT 5 27 45 1 yr.
Gibson, Aaron 78 RT 5 25 31 1 yr.
Colombo, Marc 75 RT RT 3 22 34 3 yrs
Garrett, Hunter 68 RT 1 24 47 3 yrs</pre>
Kreutz is the rock of the offensive line, but the rest of the group did a good job last year, with the exception of Gibson. He's now our fourth tackle, so hopefully that won't be an issue. Tucker and Hamilton, a late free agency pickup, will fight for the right guard spot.

<pre>Maynard, Brad 4 P 8 40 40 2 yrs
Gilmore, Jerome 17 P 1 24 40 1 yr.
Edinger, Paul 2 K 5 59 59 4 yrs</pre>
I wasn't happy with Maynard last year, but I don't think Gilmore is going to displace him. Edinger started out shaky last year, but came through for us nicely down the stretch.

<pre>Daniels, Phillip 93 LDE LDE 9 49 49 1 yr.
Brown, Alex 96 RDE 3 33 40 1 yr.
Haynes, Michael 97 RDE RDE 2 48 68 4 yrs
Swift, Mark 77 RDE 2 22 37 1 yr.
Traylor, Keith 94 LDT LDT 13 58 58 2 yrs
Boone, Alfonso 70 LDT 4 13 16 3 yrs
Scott, Ian 95 LDT 2 31 39 3 yrs
Robinson, Bryan 98 RDT RDT 8 53 53 3 yrs
Harper, Alan 72 RDT 3 26 51 1 yr.
Lafavor, Tron 73 RDT 2 19 37 3 yrs</pre>
Everyone is back from a strong unit last year. More experience for Brown and Haynes should only make us better. Traylor is our first mentor, maybe he can make some of our young guys into serviceable players.

<pre>Urlacher, Brian 54 MLB MLB 5 73 73 6 yrs
Luna, Tracy 56 MLB 1 26 39 1 yr.
Sampson, Jon 50 MLB 1 19 41 1 yr.
Posey, Jeff 92 SLB WLB 7 45 45 1 yr.
Holdman, Warrick 53 SLB SLB 6 65 65 2 yrs
Knight, Bryan 90 SLB 3 14 26 1 yr.
Briggs, Lance 55 SLB 2 22 34 3 yrs
Odom, Joe 59 WLB 2 30 47 2 yrs
Rehberg, Nathan 51 WLB 1 10 35 3 yrs</pre>
Adding Posey to start on the weakside should strengthen the weakest spot in our linebacking corps. He doesn't need to make plays, Urlacher and Holdman do that. He just needs to be respectable.

<pre>McQuarters, R.W. 21 LCB 7 34 35 3 yrs
McMillon, Todd 26 LCB 5 29 35 3 yrs
Allen, Will 39 LCB LCB 4 38 47 4 yrs
Caldwell, Jared 25 LCB 1 7 24 4 yrs
Azumah, Jerry 23 RCB RCB 6 43 43 2 yrs
Tillman, Charles 33 RCB 2 22 45 4 yrs
Neufeldt, Ty 48 RCB 1 21 49 3 yrs
Brown, Mike 30 SS SS 5 80 80 5 yrs
Green, Mike 43 SS FS 5 37 46 2 yrs
Worrell, Cameron 24 FS 2 17 37 2 yrs
Johnson, Todd 32 FS 2 27 48 3 yrs</pre>
I had hoped to shore up the secondary with the draft, but that effort failed miserably. Neufeldt, our 5th rounder, is easily better than Caldwell. The safeties will have to keep providing help.

<pre>$$ - player is in starting lineup, ## - player is inactive.

Players Under Contract: 60
On Active Roster: 60

Salary Cap: $82,100,000
Cap Room: $6,220,000
Maximum for New Player: $6,540,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $1,530,000

Cap Room Lost Next Year (to old contracts): $0
Cap Room Required Next Year: $75,150,000</pre>
My predictions:

Detroit has the lowest rated roster and still some major holes on the offensive line and in the secondary. Green Bay has a lot of offensive talent, but their linebackers and corners will give up some points. Minnesota has two new cornerbacks to upgrade their secondary, the number one pick and Delthea O'Neal. Their biggest problem will be the pair of rookies they have starting on the right side of their offensive line. If Culpepper bounces back, they will be our main competition. But with Dilfer providing more production at quarterback and returning a good defense from last year, we should be able to win the division...with a winning record even.

Chicago 10-6
Minnesota 9-7
Green Bay 8-8
Detroit 5-11

[Ryche]

2004 Season

We went through the preseason 2-2, winning our first 2 games impressively before putting some backups in for the second 2 games. Halas looked good, making plays and moving the ball while making some mistakes too. Ben Hamilton outplayed Rex Tucker to win the right guard starting role. We suffered two serious injuries. LT Mike Gandy is hurt again and will miss the season with after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery. Mark Colombo did a nice job subbing at left tackle last year, so we'll try that again and let the rookie, Hunter Garrett, start on the right side. He can't be worse than Aaron Gibson was last year. 1st round pick Jared Caldwell is also out for the year with a broken ankle. He'll be healthy in 7 weeks, but I decided to place him on injured reserve anyway. I have enough return men.

Week 1

Chicago at Minnesota

Our Dilfer led offense was completely stymied through the first quarter, only gaining 7 yards and turning the ball over twice, allowing Minnesota to jump to a 10-0 lead. It took a fumbled punt return by Minnesota that we returned for a touchdown to get going. Dilfer found his rhythm finally, throwing touchdown passes to Engram and Booker, giving us a 21-13 lead at halftime. We held on from there, doing just enough to win 31-26.

Green Bay went to Detroit and beat them 14-7, despite Favre sitting on the bench with a strained abdomen.

Week 2

Chicago 1-0 at Houston 1-0

Edinger won a defensive with a 35 yard field goal as time expired. Our defense held Houston under 300 yards and Thomas and Peterson combined to control the tempo with their running game. Final score 13-10 Chicago.

We suffered one minor injury as starting corner Azumah will miss a couple weeks with an hyperextended knee.

Everyone in the division won this week as Detroit beat Jacksonville 13-3, Green Bay defeated Tennessee 17-16 and Minnesota bounced back with a 23-17 win over Indy. It looks like the defense in the black and blue has picked up.

Week 3

Chicago 2-0 at Seattle 0-2

The schedule makers did us no favors as we start with 4 straight road games and 6 of 7 on the road. We were blown out of this game quickly as Seattle scored three touchdowns in the first quarter. Seattle ground out 185 yards while we were forced to throw. We were not built to come from behind. Final score 31-18 Seattle.

Minnesota won their second game 28-25 over Carolina. Detroit and Green Bay both lost their games.

Week 4

Bye week. We have a couple players banged up, so the timing isn't bad this year.

Green Bay moved into the division lead, beating Washington 24-17. Minnesota lost a tough game to Philadelphia 20-16 while Detroit got crushed 29-3 by Dallas. My predictions are looking better this year.

Week 5

Chicago 2-1 at Washington 1-3

The defense came up with its best game yet, forcing 3 turnovers and holding Washington under 300 total yards. Our offense played a crisp, if boring game, rushing for 156 yards and hitting Justin Gage for one big 77 yard touchdown pass. Final score 17-3, Chicago.

Green Bay beat Minnesota in an interdivision clash 34-20, becoming our main competition in the process. Detroit fell again, this time to Philadelphia, 19-16.

Week 6

Dallas 2-3 at Chicago 3-1

We were happy to be home finally and it showed. Dilfer had his best game with us, completing 22 of 27 for 291 yards while Thomas ran in three short TD plunges. Final score 33-10 Chicago.

Philadelphia continued their dominance over the North, beating Green Bay 41-31 in a thriller. The Eagles are now 6-0 and will be in town in three weeks. Detroit halted their skid 21-10 over New York.

Week 7

Chicago 4-1 at Detroit 2-4

We fought a tough defensive battle with Detroit, but they made the big play to win with a 74 yard TD pass from Harrington to Rogers, giving them the 19-10 win.

CB Azumah reaggravated his knee and will miss a few more weeks. Rookie FB Stevenson is also out for a few weeks with torn knee cartilage.

Green Bay lost in New York 13-10 while Minnesota got back in the division race with a 26-23 win in Dallas.

Week 8

Chicago 4-2 at New York 3-3

We got nothing from our running game, only 44 yards on 27 carries, while Tiki Barber ran for 114 for New York. But we got a 38 yard interception return for a touchdown by CB McMillon and we survived a late rally by New York to take the 22-20 road win. Sitting at 5-2, we are looking good with 7 of the last 9 games at home.

Green Bay won in a snowy Lambeau field 27-24 to keep pace with us. Minnesota also won, 20-7 at home over Washington.

Week 9

Philadelphia 7-0 at Chicago 5-2

Philadelphia is the only undefeated team and led by MVP candidate and the number one rated quarterback, Donovan McNabb. He has bounced back from a bad year last season to throw a 13/2 TD/Int ratio. And he's backed by a pair of running backs that is averaging over 5 ypc. Add the number one scoring defense and they are tough.

My defense played well, but 4 turnovers gave Philadelphia a short field and they capitalized to take a 21-0 lead. We got a ray of hope as Thomas broke a 66 yard touchdown run on the last play of the first half to make it 21-7. Unfortunately, our offense continued to flounder in the second half and the final score was 21-10.

Minnesota lost to New York 27-25 while Green Bay and Detroit had byes.

Midseason review:

We are tied with Green Bay for the division lead at 5-3, with Minnesota a game back and Detroit 2 back. We still have 4 division games left, 2 against Green Bay. Homefield in the NFL looks out of reach with Philadelphia 8-0 and St. Louis is 8-1.

Dilfer's stats are not looking good so far (53.1%, 1904 yards, 6 TD, 12 Int, 63.8 rating) but I'm actually pleased with him. With the possible exception of the Philadelphia game, I haven't felt like he has lost a game for me. Thomas has only rushed for 474 yards so far (3.7 ypc) but Peterson is getting a lot of snaps and averaging 5 ypc. Booker is on pace for 1000 yards again while Clark, Gage, Terrell and Engram are all getting their share of what is left. Robinson (6.5) and Daniels (5.5) are getting a decent pass rush while Urlacher and Holdman are both on pace for 100 tackles. My secondary isn't putting up very good numbers, nobody has more than 4 passes defensed, but my defense is still ranked 11th in points allowed.

Week 10

Minnesota 4-4 at Chicago 5-3

We started the second half of the season horribly as we got embarrassed at home 40-13 by our division rival. Turnovers killed us again as we gave Minnesota the ball inside our 20 twice in a row. At that point we had to throw and that's a formula for a loss.

Green Bay and Detroit both won, putting Green Bay in first and pulling Detroit within a game of us.

Week 11

Green Bay 6-3 at Chicago 5-4

Our first must win game of the year. The game stayed tight through the first half as both teams had success moving the football, but kept ruining their drives with a turnover or badly timed sack. It was 13-13 at halftime. Green Bay finally made the big mistake in the fourth quarter as Favre threw a pass that was picked off by finally healthy Jerry Azumah at the Green Bay 40. We scored the go ahead touchdown on a touchdown run by Thomas and Dilfer added insurance with a strike to Terrell. Dilfer finished the game with 246 yards and 2 TDs. Booker had 117 yards receiving and a TD while Terrell added 81 and a TD of his own. Final score 27-16 Chicago.

Detroit defeated Minnesota 13-9 to bring everyone within a game.

Week 12

Chicago 6-4 at Tennessee 6-4

Dilfer threw this game away with 5 interceptions. Despite that we were only down a touchdown with 3 minutes left before Dilfer threw his 5th pick. Final score 24-14 Tennessee.

Detroit defeated Indianapolis 30-10, Minnesota beat Jacksonville 20-17 and Houston defeated Green Bay 15-14 in this AFC South vs. NFC North week. And so, the entire division is now 6-5. It's been a strange two seasons.

Week 13

Tampa Bay 6-5 at Chicago 6-5

We really need a win to stop our slide and as a bonus, Tampa would be one of our rivals for a wild card. It wasn't meant to be though as we got crushed 25-10, with 7 of our points coming on a meaningless touchdown to end the game. We only managed 228 yards offense.

I would think we are not playoff worthy, but everyone else in the division lost as well, making it a 4 way tie at 6-6.

Week 14

Jacksonville 3-9 at Chicago 6-6

We won a game that we definitely needed and should have won. Thomas broke 100 yards rushing for the first time this year and caught one of Dilfer's three touchdown passes. Final score 28-10 Chicago.

The rest of the division lost to AFC South teams again, giving us the 1 game lead with 3 games left. But we have to go to Lambeau in December now.

Week 15

Chicago 7-6 at Green Bay 6-7

We lucked out on the weather, 33 and sunny. (I forgot to mention we're in a retractable dome now so we're not used to the cold) The game was going well through the first half as we were only down 7-6 at the break. But the Green Bay converted a series of big plays that knocked us out of the game. Donald Driver returned a punt 51 yards for a touchdown. We sacked Favre and forced a fumble, only to have Dilfer throw an interception that Sharper returned 74 yards for a touchdown. Then Ahmen Green broke a 43 yard run to set up a field goal. When it was all over, Green Bay had won 31-6.

Detroit also managed to win at home over Detroit, setting up a three way tie for first at 7-7. Unfortunately, we're 2-3 in the division with a game left against Detroit at home. Detroit is 3-2, Green Bay is 4-1. We need to win our last two games and have Green Bay lose one. We're in good shape though. We finish at home against Indianapolis (4-10) and Detroit (7-7). Green Bay is at Jacksonville (3-11) and home against Minnesota (6-8). Detroit is at Tennessee (10-4) and at Chicago (7-7) so they are definitely looking uphill. The wildcard looks like a longshot as Tampa and New Orleans are tied atop the South with a 9-5 record and Seattle would also be in the wildcards right now at 9-5 while 7 teams are 7-7.

Week 16

Indianapolis 4-10 at Chicago 7-7

Indianapolis, now led by a halfway decent undrafted rookie since Manning fled to Pittsburgh, gave us a scare, scoring first. Our defense had a stranglehold on the Colts, but a Dilfer interception gave them the ball on our 14, allowing them to score a touchdown. But for the most part, the Colt offense was helpless. Out of 13 drives, only 2 lasted more than 4 plays. Their only points came from short fields after turnovers. But our running game, led by Thomas' 113 yards, did just enough to win. Final score 17-10 Chicago.

Green Bay and Minnesota both won close games, setting up a clearcut divisional playoff picture entering the final week. We are tied with Green Bay and Detroit for the division lead at 8-7. But Green Bay has the tiebreaker so if they beat Minnesota in Lambeau, they win. Otherwise, the winner of our game against Detroit wins the division. New Orleans lost so we may still have a shot at the wildcard too.

Week 17

Detroit 8-7 at Chicago 8-7

Thomas started the game our for us by breaking a 56 yard touchdown run on our first play from scrimmage. Dilfer added two first half touchdown passes to give us a 21-0 lead. Detroit's offense finally broke through at the end of the first half with two long passes to our one yard line, but our defense stuffed three runs and forced a field goal making it 21-3 at halftime. Our offense stalled out in the second half while Detroit got back into the game with two more TDs, one via a 99 yard drive, the other with a short field after a Dilfer interception. Detroit had one final chance, down 21-17 with 1:36 left and the ball on their 29. Harrington hit Rogers for a 17 yard gain to the 46. Then a 6 yard run by Harrington and a sack by Daniels set Detroit up with 4th and 11. Daniels broke through again and hurried Harrington's throw so it fell incomplete. Unfortunately, he drove Harrington into the ground too had and was called for unnecessary roughness, giving them a first down at our 40 with 28 seconds left. No problem, Mike Brown picked off the next pass in the end zone, ending the game. Final score 21-17 Chicago.

Unfortunately, Minnesota didn't do their part as they fell in Green Bay, giving the Packers the division. But...New Orleans lost and Carolina won, setting up three teams at 9-7 vying for the last wildcard spot. And we got it. Carolina beat New Orleans with a better record against common opponents. And we had a better conference record than Carolina. Works for me.

End of season summary:

<pre>
Front Office Football 2004
2004 Summary for Chicago Bears

Record: 9-7
Winning Pct.: .562

Chicago Bears Team Rank
Rushes 415 23
Rushing Yards 1698 19
Yards Per Carry 4.09 16 (T)
Pass Attempts 538 15
Completions 299 24 (T)
Passing Yards 3437 23
Yards Per Attempt 6.38 24
3rd Down Conversions 42.3 12
Points Per Game 18.1 26
Turnovers 35 30
Turnover Margin -12 28

Opponents Team Rank
Rushes 422 11
Rushing Yards 1647 6
Yards Per Carry 3.90 8
Pass Attempts 527 13
Completions 310 12
Passing Yards 3476 10
Yards Per Attempt 6.59 13
3rd Down Conversions 37.4 7
Points Per Game 19.5 16
Turnovers 23 19 (T)

Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 31 at MIN 26
2 13 at HOU 10
3 18 at SEA 31
5 17 at WAS 3
6 33 DAL 10
7 10 at DET 19
8 22 at NYK 20
9 10 PHI 21
10 13 MIN 40
11 27 GBY 16
12 14 at TEN 24
13 10 TBY 25
14 28 JAX 10
15 6 at GBY 31
16 17 IND 10
17 21 DET 17
$$WC at TBY

Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int
16 Dilfer QB 534 297 3430 6.42 17 26
**Team --- 538 299 3437 6.38 17 26

Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD
35 Thomas RB 266 1084 4.07 9
29 Peterson RB 94 429 4.56 1
**Team --- 415 1698 4.09 11

Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD
86 Booker WR 152 80 1158 14.4 139 6
83 Terrell WR 84 42 479 11.4 62 4
85 Engram WR 70 40 528 13.2 108 2
88 Clark TE 63 39 358 9.1 103 1
87 Gage WR 76 30 505 16.8 98 3
35 Thomas RB 24 21 125 5.9 85 1
**Team --- 537 299 3437 11.4 715 17

Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn
54 Urlacher ILB 110 38 0.5 1 1 7
53 Holdman OLB 93 30 4.0 2 0 7
30 Brown S 83 23 0.0 0 5 15
43 Green S 59 21 1.0 1 0 4
92 Posey OLB 56 17 0.0 0 0 4
21 McQuarters CB 54 6 2.0 0 2 3
94 Traylor DT 52 28 3.5 8 0 1
98 Robinson DT 48 13 10.0 22 0 0
26 McMillon CB 40 12 0.0 0 3 4 29 Allen CB 39 20 0.0 0 1 5
97 Haynes DE 38 20 6.0 14 0 1
93 Daniels DE 25 21 9.5 29 0 0
23 Azumah CB 22 11 0.0 0 2 8
32 Johnson S 20 3 0.0 0 0 0
85 Engram WR 16 0 0.0 0 0 0
**Team --- 835 269 37.0 79 14 60</pre>

We are all about defense again and, quite frankly, our stats don't look like those of a playoff team. In fact, this is the second year in a row we have made the playoffs while giving up more points than we scored. I bet that's never happened before. The defense is playing well enough to keep us in games. The scoring average against our defense was hurt by all the turnovers the offense allowed. Dilfer has been a bit of a disappointment, hopefully we can move him into a backup role behind Halas next year. But at least he can make some plays. The offensive line didn't help, as Lacina, Hamilton and Colombo all gave up at least 10 sacks. Dilfer was the second most sacked quarterback. I think the offensive line will be the number one need to address during the offseason. Our punter, Maynard, is definitely in his last season with the team. He is dead last in the league for punting average, totally unacceptable. Edinger hasn't been lighting it up either, only hitting 22 of 34 field goals this year. But our 5th round pick, Ty Neufeldt, has been a bright spot in the return game. He finished third with a 10.6 punt return average and averaged 27 yards on kickoff returns.

[Ryche]

2004 Playoffs

Chicago 9-7 at Tampa Bay 11-5

We made the playoffs, but we get to face the defending Super Bowl champs. Brad Johnson had a great season at quarterback, throwing 27 TDs and only 11 Ints. His main support on offense came from RB Kevin Faulk, who ran for 1260 yards. Their defense has been just fine without Warren Sapp, finishing 3rd in points allowed behind 16.5 sacks by Simeon Rice. The team comparison page casts a grim picture. The only advantage we have is a better offensive line, which makes me wonder just how bad theirs is. One thing makes me think we have a chance, Tampa was 27th in yards per carried allowed while Thomas has really come on strong at the end of the season.

Dilfer started the game by ruining a decent drive with an interception in Tampa's territory. Tampa was unable to move the ball, but Gramatica hit a 51 yard field goal for the early lead. We responded with another drive that ended with a 47 yard Edinger field goal to tie the game. Brad Johnson's next throw was an interception to Mike Brown, but Thomas fumbled the first play of the next drive, giving it right back. Tampa took advantage with another field goal to reclaim the lead. Another exchange of field goals left it 9-6 Tampa at the half.

Tampa opened the second half with a quick touchdown drive and left us looking up a long hill. So much for the running game, not that it had done much to that point anyway. Dilfer hit a couple passes though and got us into Tampa's territory, but a false start and a sack forced us to settle for another field goal making it 16-9. Unfortunately, that was as much offense as we managed in the second half. Dilfer spent the rest of the game scrambling for his life as we couldn't get any consistancy from the running game and we faced a number of third and longs. For the game, Dilfer was sacked 6 times, hurried 5 times and had two passes blocked. Final score 16-9 Tampa.

Green Bay was also knocked out of the playoffs by Seattle, making the NFC North 0-3 in the playoffs so far. Tennessee defeated Pittsburgh in the AFC championship, advancing to the Super Bowl for the second straight year, this time facing Seattle who had knocked off the NFC favorite Eagles. This time, Tennessee took the title, beating Seattle 20-10.

NFL MVP: Donovan McNabb - 63.4%, 3749 yards, 25 TDs, 7 Int, 94.6 rating
Super Bowl MVP: Steve McNair
Offensive Player of the Year: Donovan McNabb
Defensive Player of the Year: Ray Lewis - 137 tackles, 5 sacks, 1 int
Offensive Rookie: QB Timothy Hibdon, New Orleans - 62.1%, 3892 yards, 18 TDs, 18 Int, 82.8 rating (He started over Aaron Brooks and looks like the real deal. But Halas, my 3rd round pick, looks almost as good)
Defensive Rookie: DE Oscar Severson, Detroit - 53 tackles, 10 sacks (3.5 sacks against us)

We were shut out of the awards, deservingly so.

I think it is obvious we need some help on offense. Everywhere. The offensive line was horrible outside Kreutz, especially pass blocking. And we're turning the ball over too much, especially Dilfer and Thomas. Halas will get his chance to replace Dilfer next year. As for Thomas, we'll see if there are any decent replacements available. But I think the offensive line will be my top priority.

[Blade6119]

bump since im a bears fan

[Ryche]

Actually, I'm a Vikings fan, but I've always liked the Monsters of the Midway mystique.

[Ryche]

2004 Northern Illinois

The biggest news in our mailbox is that S Nolan Jeffries is academically ineligible. That hurts as he is probably our best safety.

On the coaching staff, I'm tempted to replace my offensive coordinator, just because none of my recruits can stand him. But his other ratings are all pretty good so I guess I'll keep him for now. The one staff move I make is to replace my Midwest scout with 62 year old Marc Salinas. His best attribute is a terrific rating with the secondary, pretty important since none of my other scouts can evaluate talent there.

For the upcoming schedule, I get an away set up with South Florida in week 1. I also decided to set up an away-home series against Pittsburg for the hell of it. They finished last year ranked 14th, 9-3. I'd set the pointspread on that game at 50.

Time to look at what we have for the upcoming season. Rivals.com rated our recruiting class as 82nd in the nation.

<pre>The College Years
Northern Illinois Roster, Scout Overview

Player # Pos Elig Current Estimate Future Estimate
Liakos, Artie 6 QB Sr 17 28
Schulz, Quinn 16 QB Sr* 22 22
Wynn, Ron 14 QB So* 12 31
Ostroski, Wes 13 QB Fr 12 46
Mangold, Jonathan 9 QB* So* 17 34 </pre>

Not much to look at here. I'm starting Schulz, just because he can run if nothing else. Wynn will take over if Schulz can't manage respectability. Ostroski isn't quite as good as I hoped, but he will be the starter after redshirting this season. Mangold sucks, his rating is just inflated because he doesn't fumble.

<pre>Carlson, Leonard 28 RB Jr 34 38
Thomason, Jeffrey 41 RB Jr 20 21
Burnett, Ralph 38 RB So 25 46
Brass, Leroy 36 RB* So 12 18
Ray, Oliver 34 FB So 32 65
Davis, Adrian 46 FB Fr 25 59
Kelly, Eugene 22 FB* So 8 11 </pre>

Carlson is back as our starter with a 5.5 career ypc. Burnett proved a serviceable backup last year but the cupboard is bare after them. Ray will be our starter at fullback for one more season, but Davis could be a great one. Despite a lower future rating than Ray, his potential is twice that of Ray's. We'll redshirt him.

<pre>Phillips, Teddy 82 TE Sr 24 24
Wyatt, Rufus 84 TE Sr* 14 32
Talbot, Morris 94 TE Jr 13 26
Blackwell, Dana 99 TE So 21 68
Shaver, Gino 81 TE So* 22 54
Willis, Edwin 86 TE Fr 16 55
Tillitski, Brant 80 WR So 42 45
Neufeldt, Billy Joe 89 WR Fr 13 65
Roosenraad, Harvey 3 WR Fr 14 33
Richard, Wayne 8 WR* Fr 16 22 </pre>

Tillitski is ready to take over my one man show at wide receiver. His big play rating is 98. He'll also return kicks this season. Roosenraad actually looks like he could be a better receiver than Neufeldt. (The future ratings don't seem to match the player bars at all in some cases) Blackwell and Shaver will be my top two tight ends. Willis looks like a major stud who can catch and block, we'll put a redshit on him for this season.

<pre>Maxwell, Cris 55 C Sr 40 40
Stone, Jackie 50 C Sr* 12 36
Buel, Kenneth 73 G Sr* 15 63
Lucas, Walter 70 G Sr* 11 30
Musum, Juan 64 G Jr 33 40
Mazur, Mike 66 G Jr 21 22
Wilkerson, A.J. 69 G Fr 5 83
Jamison, Willie 65 G* Fr 13 52
Craig, Amos 77 T Sr* 28 28
Mayes, Earl 62 T Jr 20 55
Hopper, Martin 75 T Jr 16 49
Kroner, Rex 71 T Jr* 19 38
Reish, Les 78 T Jr* 28 32
Blackwell, Chris 61 T So* 35 68 </pre>

Maxwell is my starter at center, he did a nice job last year with 42% run blocks and only 2 sacks allowed. I've decided to switch Jamison, a decent walk-on at guard, to center. Musum and Buel are my starting guards. Wilkerson's ratings don't translate to an 83 in my eye, but we'll see. He looks average at run blocking and excellent pass blocking. But right now he's worthless and will be redshirted. Blackwell and Reish will start at tackle, with Mayes as their primary backup. Blackwell should really help our outside running game the next four seasons.

<pre>Cody, Quentin 12 P So 20 51
Seinfeld, Chuck 17 P Fr 33 80
Sawyer, Leo 10 P* Jr* 20 50
Pfeiffer, Devin 2 K Sr 35 40
Maciokas, Donovan 4 K So* 15 74 </pre>

Cody will stay as a starter this year while we redshirt Seinfeld. At kicker, Maciokas will take over the field goal duties from the strong legged, but erratic Pfeiffer. He will still handle kickoffs.

<pre>Burks, Matt 95 DE Sr 37 37
Brady, Ralph 93 DE So 14 65
Perry, Corey 90 DE Fr 3 32
Woods, Billy 72 DE* Jr* 23 27
Shapiro, Cole 96 DE* Fr 8 17
Robbins, Lawrence 97 DT Jr 15 49
Bueno, Brett 92 DT Jr 15 17
Garner, Conrad 91 DT So* 9 53
Idone, Matt 74 DT So* 12 40 </pre>

Brady and Woods will be my starting defensive ends while we redshirt Perry, who should develop into a good all-around player. Hopefully Brady will develop into a monster run stuffer with some experience. Robbins will be our nose tackle. This group has potential, but now they need playing time.

<pre>Everett, Kirk 56 ILB Sr 13 31
Nixon, Kenyon 54 ILB Sr 41 61
Grier, Marvin 52 ILB Jr 7 40
Talton, Dan 48 ILB Jr 13 23
Cochrane, Grady 40 ILB So* 40 78
Carr, Kelvin 45 ILB* Fr 1 23
Burroughs, Phil 44 OLB Sr* 16 36
Bergmann, Leland 43 OLB Sr* 12 30
Chapman, George 51 OLB Sr* 29 29
Bullock, Willie 53 OLB Jr 6 39
Bishop, Roy 49 OLB So 34 72
Cash, Gus 58 OLB So* 7 35
Waddington, Victor 59 OLB* Fr 8 39 </pre>

Sophomore phenom Grady Cochrane and Kenyon Nixon will be my starters in the middle. Cochrane will be solid everywhere, but right now is best against the run while Nixon can rush the passer and provide coverage. Bishop and Chapman will start on the outside, both are looking fairly solid. I'm going to have to tinker with the pass rush settings to get Nixon and Bishop after the quarterback. Waddington has nice potential for a walk-on player.

<pre>Summers, Tyrell 42 CB Sr* 15 19
Glenn, Stanley 23 CB Fr 14 68
Greene, Corwin 32 CB Fr 25 61
Lake, Nate 39 CB* Jr 27 27
McCormick, Sean 20 CB* So 1 21
Jeffries, Nolan 33 S Sr* 25 62
Holmes, Adrian 37 S Jr 36 36
Forbes, Luke 47 S* So 8 8
Huskey, David 25 S* So 1 1
Starks, Walt 31 S* Fr 39 79 </pre>

Our recruiting efforts paid off well here as we have two potential stars in Greene and Starks. Both have all of their potential ratings over 60. Greene has shutdown potential. Starks looks like our best walk-on yet. Both will be redshirted though if possible. I may not have enough depth however. For the season, Lake and Summers will be my starting corners and Holmes and Huskey will start at safety. Actually, after seeing my lack of safety depth I've decided to move OLB Waddington to safety. The change actually works great. His best skills were in coverage and he retained those.

2004 Season

We started out the year ranked 74th, a little too high in my estimation.

We began the season getting crushed 34-7 at South Florida by a team that had only won 6 games in the previous 2 seasons. We committed 19 penalties! The follow up was even worse, a 55-3 thrashing in Pittsburgh. Our first home game came against a 1-2 Bowling Green team and the thrashing continued with a 36-7 loss. This is looking seriously pathetic. At this point, I decided to make a change at quarterback, going with sophomore Ron Wynn to give him some experience. It's not like we'll do any worse. Unfortunately, we lost a couple of players for the season, WR Tillitski with elbow ligament surgery, and DE Burks with broken ribs. Tillitski really hurts as now I'll have to play true freshmen at receiver. We may not win another game this year.

I was proved wrong as the quarterback change paid immediate dividends. We went to Central Michigan and Wynn led a come from behind 28-21 victory, rushing for 74 yards and throwing for 247 yards and 2 TDs. Our winning streak stopped at one game however as we lost in Akron 17-6. Our fifth loss came at home against Eastern Michigan 27-22, despite outgaining them by 148 yards. The difference was a blocked punt and an interception, both returned for touchdowns by EMU. We followed up with another bad loss to a bad team, falling 31-19 at home to a Western Michigan team that came into the game 1-6. We didn't win again, we didn't even come close really.

<pre>
The College Years
2004 Summary for Northern Illinois

Record: 1-10
Rank: 118

Northern Illinois Team Rank
Rushes 375 80
Rushing Yards 1367 81
Yards Per Carry 3.64 65
Pass Attempts 297 75
Completions 143 91 (T)
Passing Yards 1928 83
Yards Per Attempt 6.49 78 (T)
3rd Down Conversions 35.4 57 (T)
Points Per Game 13.1 118
Turnovers 22 65 (T)
Turnover Margin -7 100 (T)

Opponents Team Rank
Rushes 416 69
Rushing Yards 1664 80
Yards Per Carry 4.00 79
Pass Attempts 296 29 (T)
Completions 178 79
Passing Yards 2313 68
Yards Per Attempt 7.81 101 (T)
3rd Down Conversions 39.0 97 (T)
Points Per Game 31.4 109
Turnovers 15 115 (T)

Primary Formation: Power-I Formation

Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 7 at SFLA (77) 34
4 3 at PITT (29) 55
5 7 BOWG (52) 36
7 28 at CMIC (76) 21
8 6 at AKRN (81) 17
9 22 EMIC (115) 27
10 19 WMIC (84) 31
11 6 at TOLE (36) 38
12 10 at TYST (101) 23
13 20 at BALL (55) 33
14 17 MIAO (80) 31

Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int
14 Wynn QB 229 118 1613 7.04 7 11
16 Schulz QB 68 25 315 4.63 1 4
Team --- 297 143 1928 6.49 8 15

Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD Stff YdLst
28 Carlson RB 145 565 3.89 4 24 26
14 Wynn QB 93 233 2.50 0 25 77
38 Burnett RB 52 219 4.21 0 9 7
16 Schulz QB 29 67 2.31 1 12 34
Team --- 375 1367 3.64 7 80 156

Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD
87 Roosenraad WR 86 36 694 19.2 157 3
81 Shaver TE 47 26 427 16.4 150 4
80 Tillitski WR 34 6 125 20.8 30 0
34 Ray FB 28 23 202 8.7 64 0
7 Neufeldt WR 26 10 178 17.8 24 0
41 Thomason RB 24 13 58 4.4 22 0
38 Burnett RB 20 12 83 6.9 30 0
99 Blackwell TE 14 7 76 10.8 19 0
28 Carlson RB 12 7 59 8.4 12 0
Team --- 297 143 1928 13.4 508 8

Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack TFL Ints Defn
40 Cochrane ILB 114 32 0.0 22 0 3
37 Holmes S 55 23 0.0 8 0 2
58 Cash OLB 54 17 0.0 6 0 6
49 Bishop OLB 51 21 1.5 4 3 2
54 Nixon ILB 42 11 0.0 6 1 5
97 Robbins DT 41 11 2.5 6 0 0
44 Burroughs OLB 30 5 2.5 5 0 0 
The College Years
39 Lake CB 24 8 0.0 1 0 3
93 Brady DE 23 12 4.5 9 0 0
42 Summers CB 22 12 0.0 2 3 2
24 Glenn CB 19 5 0.0 1 1 6
25 Huskey S 17 4 1.0 2 0 7
45 Waddington S 15 2 0.0 4 1 1
57 Carr ILB 11 7 0.0 2 0 1
Team --- 625 191 24.0 94 9 40 </pre>

Only 3 teams finished with worse records. I knew we would take a step backward with the transition between the players we started with and my first recruits, but everything collapsed.

Our postseason awards:
All-academic: OT Chris Blackwell
All-freshman: WR Harvey Roosenraad (reflecting my neglect in recruiting enough receivers)
2nd team MAC: OT Chris Blackwell (34% krb, 3 sacks allowed)
2nd team MAC: ILB Grady Cochrane (he definitely lived up to his billing) 
Our recruiting class:
<pre>
The College Years
Recruiting List, Ranking View

Player Pos HT WT ST NRank ByPos StRank ByPos
##Cooley, J.J. QB 6-4 197 NY 793 65 46 3
##Knight, Trevor QB 6-1 181 MN --- --- 32 4
##Blair, Kim RB 6-0 204 TX --- --- --- 10
##Rohrbach, Frankie WR 6-1 178 IL --- --- 60 4
$$Garrett, Cornell C 6-1 246 PA 470 17 19 2
$$Gabberty, Grady G 6-4 278 MO 889 70 16 2
##Prescott, Colin T 6-4 283 LA --- --- 23 3
$$Houston, Juan DT 6-3 254 ND 572 42 1 1
##Ledet, Sammie DT 6-4 251 MN --- --- 38 1
##Morrison, Heath ILB 5-11 202 MN --- --- 50 3
##Hernandez, Clay OLB 6-2 210 IN --- --- 39 2
##Johnson, Dean OLB 6-1 191 MN --- --- 75 5
##Constable, Corwin OLB 6-1 194 LA --- --- 32 2
##Giles, David CB 5-9 165 MN --- --- 33 3
##Harrison, Marcus CB 5-10 161 IN --- --- 44 6
$$Dawson, Victor S 5-10 168 IL --- 83 62 1

Player All-St All-US Status
##Cooley, J.J. No No Committed *
##Knight, Trevor No No Committed *
##Blair, Kim No No Committed *
##Rohrbach, Frankie No No Committed *
$$Garrett, Cornell Yes No Committed *
$$Gabberty, Grady Yes No Committed *
##Prescott, Colin Yes No Committed *
$$Houston, Juan Yes No Committed *
##Ledet, Sammie Yes No Committed *
##Morrison, Heath No No Committed *
##Hernandez, Clay Yes No Committed *
##Johnson, Dean No No Committed *
##Constable, Corwin Yes No Committed *
##Giles, David No No Committed *
##Harrison, Marcus No No Committed *
$$Dawson, Victor Yes No Committed *

Rough Estimate of Player Interest: No Prefix - player unlikely to be
interested, ** - a bit of a stretch for your school, $$ - likely interest,
## - almost certain interest. </pre>

We picked up some nice quality players, but not a lot of good depth. I'm finding an easy time recruiting offensive linemen and nearly impossible to get a good running back.

We didn't do as well this year academically either. My star freshman fullback, Adrian Davis, is in serious jeopardy of failing out of school. I knew that was a risk when I recruited him, he has 0 aspiration and 6 intelligence, a bad bad combo.

Around the league:

Florida St. defeated Michigan in a battle of undefeated teams to win their second straight national championship. FSU is on a 24 game winning streak, their only loss in three seasons was in the championship the first year. QB Marvin Pitts of Colorado won the Heisman with 34 TDs against 5 Ints and 3737 yards. He looks like a serious pro prospect.

The top recruits:

1. DE Edgar Fisk, Pinckney MI - Michigan
2. RB Jamal Newhart, Sierra Vista AZ - Arizona St.
3. DE Seth Buckner, Nashville TN - Tennessee
4. OG Timothy Hand, Ashland MA - Georgia
5. DT K.C. Keith, Branford CT - Penn St.
Michigan nabbed 4 of the top 12.

2003 recruits:

1. C Harry Middleton, BYU - Redshirt
2. OT Scottie Jefferson, Stanford - Redshirt
3. QB Casey Malone, Michigan St. - Redshirt
4. OT Arnold Gillespie, Florida St. - 5 starts, 2 of 11 krb, 0 sacks allowed
5. OT Ellis Stevens, Ohio St. - Redshirt

2002 recruits:

1. DE AJ Cox, Oklahoma - 37 tck, 13.5 sacks, 21 tfl
2. CB Adrian Godfrey, Vanderbilt - 7 int, 3 td, 18 def, 64 tck, 1st team all america
3. OT Donnell Clancy, Washington - 19 of 55 krb, 1 sack allowed, 2nd team pac 10
4. DE Paul Tuinei, UCLA - Only in on 23 plays.
5. DT Albert Alstatt, Texas - 24 tck, 3 sacks, 8 tfl

Let's just forget this year ever happened and get back to the Bears :)

[Ryche]

2005 Chicago Bears Preseason

Our last two seasons have been wildly unspectacular, despite two playoff berths. I think it's clear the offense needs an upgrade this year. We'll probably be going with 2nd year quarterback Andy Halas as our starter, so we need to give him support, especially on the offensive line.

No retirements or staff changes this year, we're pretty happy with what we have and they are all under contract.

We currently have the most highly valued franchise, probably a first ever occurance for me. Great support, great stadium, decent roster and a good economy will do that. We're also raking in the cash, over 56 million last year.

Halas is our one player on the green page currently, 5th on the list.

Our Free Agents:

RB Adrian Peterson - He's a nice backup with skills very similar to Anthony Thomas. I'd like to have him back as a cheap backup.
FB Rabih Abdullah - Strictly my backup at fullback, but my backfield leader. He has a couple affinities so he would be worth bringing back.
G Ben Hamilton - Nearly got Dilfer killed, giving up 15 sacks last year. I'd like to find an upgrade.
LT Mike Gandy - Has missed most of the last 2 years with injuries and he has lost some skill. Won't return, but leaves me with a major hole at left tackle.
DE Philip Daniels - My most significant free agent with 25 sacks in the past 2 seasons. Entering his 10th season, I'm hoping to get him back for a reasonable price.
LB Jeff Posey - Filled in on the strong side well enough, but not a playmaker.

Not too many really, and we have 11.65 million to use on free agents. Scanning the roster, I see two easy cuts to save us some cap room. CB RW McQuarters is my nickel corner, but I'm paying him about 4.5 million a year. And P Brad Maynard is making 1.3 million, too much for perhaps the worst punter in the league. That gives us 16.21 million to spend on free agents.

I get a very pleasant surprise, finding Daniels is only seeking a 2 yr/3.77 million deal. I'm all over that.

Other players catching my eye:

RB Dominick Davis - He won the rookie of the year 2 seasons ago with a 1200 yard campaign, then sat behind Amos Zereoue last season, still gaining 542 yards on a 4.2 ypc. He's asking for a miniscule 3 yr/3.19 million deal. And he's a fan favorite to boot.

RB Chad Morton - Ran for over 1000 yards last year in New England, but only had a 3.6 ypc. His best asset is returning punts and kicks, where he has had one return for a touchdown in each in the past two years. Very cheap, makes a perfect backup.

RG Marco Rivera - 9th season in Green Bay. An excellent pass blocker, only allowing 5 sacks in 32 starts, just what my young quarterback needs. He's also a leader and a fan favorite. All together, worth the 3 yr/16 million he's seeking I think.

P Josh Bidwell - He has averaged over 43 yards a punt the past two seasons. Can directional punt as well. The only concern is hang time.

I started out the free agency cycle with offers to Daniels, Morton, Rivera and Bidwell. Morton snapped up our 3 yr/3.48 million offer immediately while Rivera spurned us for Buffalo. I need to pick up at least one starting offensive lineman, so I made an offer to 14 year vet LT Bob Whitfield next. He's not spectacular, but Halas won't get killed with Whitfield protecting his blindside. Daniels finally signed with us in week 7, keeping my defensive line intact. Bidwell and Whitfield followed in week 8. I resigned FB Abdullah and picked up WLB Cornell Brown for the veteran's minimum and left free agency quite happy.

Draft:

Washington possesses the number one draft pick this season. Minnesota has the highest selection in the North at 9th, Detroit is 14th, we're 21st and Green Bay is 24th. The three top prizes in the draft appear to be DE Donny Redmon, a big, strong, fast player out of Utah, LT Clay Chavez, a dominating run blocker from Miami FL, and QB Clyde Brady from Pittsburgh. Brady has major warning flags though. He shows no stats, but a TCY check shows he's legit, having been on probation last year, but throwing for 46 TDs and 16 Ints in the 2 previous seasons and possessing a 98 rating from my Northern Illinois scout. Speaking of my Huskies, our only potential draftee is QB Jonathon Mangold, a non-scholarship player who left over a lack of playing time. He's not good enough to play for a 1-10 college team, but he wants to try the draft? Good luck. Heisman trophy winner, QB Marvin Pitts from Colorado, is a disappointment, only earning a 2.3 grade.

Offensive guard is probably what I'm seeking to start the draft. Two of the top 3 grades were given to guards, so I'm hoping one of them falls to 21, making my pick a no brainer. But outside of quarterback and fullback, I'm willing to consider the best player available at any position.

Washington starts the draft by surprising everyone and draft WR Shannon Carlson out of Kansas St. He looks like a clone of his new teammate, Laveranues Coles, a slightly undersized blazer. He's probably the most ready to contribute player in the draft. Jacksonville selected Chavez second to protect Leftwich's blindside. Arizona drafted Brady third to be their quarterback of the future, and probably the present. The first of my guards was selected 4th by Dallas, dashing my dreams of getting either I think. Redmon was finally selected sixth by an elated San Diego team. The other guard I was hoping for was selected 13th by the Giants. The other guards available look more like 2nd round picks, so we'll be looking in a different direction now. Ultimately, I decided the best value was at defense with my first pick.

1. WLB Brant Lee, 6-3 241, Texas A&M - A big, fast wrecking ball who might make my linebacking corps the best in football. Great potential in run defense, pass rushing and man coverage. He didn't play much in college though.
2. LG Russell Harrison, 6-3 282, Florida St. - Great run blocking potential, serviceable in pass protection. Much weaker than I'd prefer, I wasn't thrilled with this pick. But he was easily the best guard available.
3. WR Rico Hudson, 6-4 212, Florida St. - A tall target who may make a nice second receiver. Does the little things well, but won't be a go to receiver. Has some return ability. Caught 52-884 and 8 TD his senior year.
4. LT Donnie Petelle, 6-3 292, Arizona St. - Looks like a pass blocker who won't help the running game much. 97 volatility, so he could be subject to a major change. Gave up 5 sacks as a senior.
5. DE Alonzo Bishop, 6-4 257, UCLA - Purely a pass rush specialist with nice (4.75) closing speed. Recorded 15 sacks as a senior.
6. FS Adrian Hampton, 5-11 200, Elizabeth City St. - Our first Sol 8 player, from Moorhead University. Never played a down in college though. Shows excellent coverage potential, although 4.71 is damn slow for a defensive back.
7. RG A.J. Mondragon, 6-6 315, Tennessee - A big boy who projects to have some pass protection skill. But 45 of 100 krb caught my eye.

After the draft, Baltimore dangled a first round pick to us for Halas. No thank you, you guys should stick with Kyle Boller. We also have our first veteran holdout as Dilfer wants to be paid as a starting quarterback. Evidentally, he didn't get the memo that he's not the starter anymore. Instead of a new contract, he gets his walking papers handed to him. I was hoping to find a decent veteran backup who could also be a mentor to Halas, but none were available so I brought in Matt Hassleback to compete with Grossman for the backup job. I didn't sign any other vets after the draft, but brought in a full load of rookies. And this year all of my draft picks signed going into training camp.

After training camp, I check the green page to find we have two players there. Andy Halas is now listed 3rd while 1st rounder Lee is 19th. S Mike Brown and CB Ty Neufeldt are listed on the fastest player list. And we have no one among the strongest players.

Good news from our first rounder this year, he's projecting out to be just what I was hoping for. My other draft picks all ended up closer to the bottom of their potential. It looks like I hit on one quality player among my undrafted rookies, OT David Arnold from Oklahoma. Not much of a run blocker, but his pass blocking potential is 78. He looks better than 4th rounder Petelle.

Looking back at last year's draft, 1st round CB Caldwell looks like an absolute bust, it's just a question of when I want to release him. I'll give him some playing time during the preseason to make sure though. Neufeldt looks much better, an excellent return man with the ability to be my nickel corner eventually.

2005 Roster:

<pre>Front Office Football 2004
Chicago Bears Roster, Scout Overview

Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Halas, Andy 6 QB 2 34 74 3 yrs
Hasselbeck, Matt 12 QB 7 36 55 1 yr.
Aberdeen, Quinn 19 QB 2 18 53 1 yr.
Fisk, Mitch 14 QB 1 18 43 1 yr.
Grossman, Rex 8 QB 3 14 32 1 yr.</pre>
Halas is the starter and should be a good one. He's going to throw a few interceptions, but he should be clutch on third down. Hasselbeck will probably be the starter and I'll keep Grossman as #3 and my kick holder. Aberdeen has decent backup potential, but he has a strong conflict with Desmond Clark so I'll probably get him off my team.

<pre>Morton, Chad 31 RB 6 44 44 3 yrs
Thomas, Anthony 35 RB 5 31 32 4 yrs
Forsey, Brock 44 RB 3 30 32 1 yr.
Wortham, Kerry 46 RB 1 20 31 1 yr.
Stevenson, C.J. 40 FB 2 47 69 3 yrs
Leverson, Zach 22 FB 1 15 30 1 yr.
Abdullah, Rabih 27 FB 8 16 18 2 yrs</pre>
Thomas is the starter, Morton the backup, but he'll see a lot of playing time in passing situations. Stevenson is developing into a nice blocker and receiver, but he suffered three different injuries last year, so we'll have to see if that trend continues.

<pre>Clark, Desmond 88 TE 7 50 50 4 yrs
Rosenbaum, Terry 82 TE 1 12 38 1 yr.
Schwartz, J.R. 18 TE 2 25 36 2 yrs
Terrell, David 83 FL 5 43 45 1 yr.
Gage, Justin 87 FL 3 26 36 2 yrs
Booker, Marty 86 SE 7 57 57 4 yrs
Engram, Bobby 85 SE 10 41 41 2 yrs
Hudson, Rico 81 SE 1 25 37 3 yrs
Kemp, Matthew 80 SE 1 17 28 1 yr.
Wade, Bobby 84 SE 3 8 16 2 yrs</pre>
Booker and Engram will get the starting nod at WR. Terrell definitely seems like a 3rd receiver at best. Clark is solid, if unspectacular at tight end. He'll be replaced before his contract is over, but I can live with him starting.

<pre>Kreutz, Olin 57 C 8 74 74 3 yrs
Mannelly, Patrick 65 C 8 29 39 1 yr.
Pound, Darren 58 C 1 12 18 1 yr.
Harrison, Russell 67 LG 1 19 47 4 yrs
Lacina, Corbin 63 LG 12 42 42 1 yr.
Edwards, Steve 79 LG 4 24 39 1 yr.
Tucker, Rex 64 RG 7 35 45 4 yrs
Mondragon, A.J. 66 RG 1 15 28 3 yrs
Arnold, David 61 LT 1 15 49 1 yr.
Whitfield, Bob 76 LT 14 42 42 2 yrs
Petelle, Donnie 73 LT 1 25 35 3 yrs
Garrett, Hunter 68 RT 2 33 48 2 yrs
Colombo, Marc 75 RT 4 28 35 2 yrs</pre>
Kreutz is the stud of this group and the leader. Otherwise, the line is old on the left (Whitfield and Lacina) and questionable on the right (Tucker and Garrett). Lacina is now a mentor so hopefully he can help out the rookie offensive linemen.

<pre>Bidwell, Josh 9 P 6 47 49 4 yrs
Daniels, Bruce 13 P 1 27 30 1 yr.
Edinger, Paul 2 K 6 58 58 3 yrs</pre>
Bidwell should be a nice upgrade over Maynard and should help the defense keep the opposition on a long field. Edinger hasn't thrilled me with his accuracy, but he'll get at least one more year to prove he's worth keeping.

<pre>Daniels, Phillip 93 LDE 10 48 48 2 yrs
Haynes, Michael 97 RDE 3 60 65 3 yrs
Brown, Alex 96 RDE 4 35 40 3 yrs
Bishop, Alonzo 70 RDE 1 17 38 3 yrs
Swift, Mark 77 RDE 3 24 37 1 yr.
Traylor, Keith 94 LDT 14 56 56 1 yr.
Scott, Ian 95 LDT 3 34 36 2 yrs
Robinson, Bryan 98 RDT 9 53 53 2 yrs
Harper, Alan 72 RDT 4 36 52 2 yrs
Peterson, Britt 74 RDT 1 12 29 1 yr.</pre>
I really like this group although it's getting up there in age. Traylor and Haynes handle the run defense while Robinson and Daniels rush the passer. Brown is a nice pass rush specialist and Harper could be a starter if we don't bring Traylor back next season.

<pre>Thomas, Everett 92 SILB 1 17 35 1 yr.
Urlacher, Brian 54 MLB 6 74 74 5 yrs
Luna, Tracy 56 MLB 2 29 39 2 yrs
Streepy, Andy 91 MLB 1 13 33 1 yr.
Holdman, Warrick 53 SLB 7 64 64 1 yr.
Briggs, Lance 55 SLB 3 21 30 2 yrs
Lee, Brant 90 WLB 1 41 73 4 yrs
Odom, Joe 59 WLB 3 33 48 1 yr.
Brown, Cornell 99 WLB 10 39 39 2 yrs
Rehberg, Nathan 51 WLB 2 12 37 2 yrs</pre>
My linebacking corps could be scary good. Urlacher, Holdman and Lee can all rush the passer, so I'm going to unleash them and play an attack style defense this season. Briggs, Odom and Brown will all provide some decent depth.

<pre>Allen, Will 39 LCB 5 48 49 3 yrs
McMillon, Todd 26 LCB 6 35 36 2 yrs
Caldwell, Jared 25 LCB 2 8 21 3 yrs
Neufeldt, Ty 48 RCB 2 27 52 2 yrs
Tillman, Charles 33 RCB 3 26 46 3 yrs
Azumah, Jerry 23 RCB 7 43 43 1 yr.
Caminiti, Lee 20 RCB 1 18 39 1 yr.
Brown, Mike 30 SS 6 80 80 4 yrs
Green, Mike 43 SS 6 44 46 1 yr.
Johnson, Todd 32 FS 3 30 47 2 yrs
Kiani, Fred 28 FS 1 13 33 1 yr.
Hampton, Adrian 34 FS 1 12 33 3 yrs</pre>
The secondary is the weakest part of my defense, but should be good enough. Brown is perhaps the best safety in the league. I think my corners can stick with receivers long enough for us to pick up a lot of sacks.

<pre>$$ - player is in starting lineup, ## - player is inactive.

Players Under Contract: 70
Front Office Football 2004
On Active Roster: 70

Salary Cap: $89,200,000
Cap Room: $8,860,000
Maximum for New Player: $9,210,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $2,350,000

Cap Room Lost Next Year (to old contracts): $1,100,000
Cap Room Required Next Year: $65,060,000 </pre>
How well we do this year will be determined by Halas. If he throws fewer than 20 interceptions, our defense is good enough for 10 wins. If Halas struggles, we're closer to an 8-8 team. But if my defense isn't ranked in the top 10, I will be extremely disappointed. I think Detroit is going to be our main competition this season. Harrington and Rogers looked poised to become stars and their defense is probably the second best in the division behind ours. The division should be a fun race again, all the teams have good quarterbacks and should be able to put up some points.

[Ryche]

2005 Regular Season

We made it through the preseason with a 2-2 record and no real surprises among our players. Hasselbeck probably outplayed Halas, but not enough to change our starter. Our only injury out of preseason was an hyperextended knee that will keep starting RT Hunter Garrett out a few weeks.

Halas made his first career start in Lambeau Field and won the Chicago fans over instantly, throwing for 3 TDs, 266 yards and only 1 Int, beating Green Bay 24-13. We were hit by a massive bout of influenza in week two, but we still beat Baltimore in Soldier Field 31-19. Halas threw 3 interceptions, one returned for a touchdown, but our defense is playing as well as I hoped. LB Warren Holdman got the gameball with 6 tackles, 2 interceptions and a sack. Halas's mistakes cost us in week 3 as he threw 4 interceptions, with one returned for a touchdown for the second week in a row, and this time it was the difference as New York came into town and beat us 27-22. Carolina returned an Halas interception for a touchdown for the third straight week and Halas seems to be getting worse each week. He only managed 94 yards passing and 3 interceptions as we lost in Carolina 22-6, making our record 2-2, tied with Minnesota for the division lead, a game ahead of Detroit and 2 over winless Green Bay. Luckily, week 5 was a needed bye week.

Another week, another Halas interception returned for a touchdown, this time winning the game for Detroit in overtime 21-15. Unbelievable. Halas has thrown 13 interceptions, 4 returned for touchdowns, in the past 4 games. I have no choice but to sit him and let Hasselbeck start. My defense has been playing great and deserves the chance to win. Unfortunately, Booker is now on the bench for a few weeks to with an appendectomy. My defense responded with a huge game, forcing 4 turnovers and giving my offense the ball in New Orleans territory 5 times enroute to a 30-3 win at home. Hasselbeck threw 2 TDs and no interceptions, but for only 84 yards. 5-2 Minnesota came to Chicago next and our defense carried the day again. We went to overtime where we forced a fumble in Minnesota territory and drove the ball in for a 23-17 win. A 23-13 victory at home over winless Atlanta put us at 5-3 halfway through, half a game ahead of Minnesota, 2 games ahead of Detroit and Green Bay is 1-7.

<pre>Front Office Football 2004
2005 Summary for Chicago Bears

Record: 5-3
Winning Pct.: .625

Chicago Bears Team Rank
Rushes 223 16
Rushing Yards 1017 12
Yards Per Carry 4.56 9
Pass Attempts 271 19
Completions 147 26
Passing Yards 1517 29
Yards Per Attempt 5.59 29
3rd Down Conversions 40.3 17
Points Per Game 21.7 12
Turnovers 20 29 (T)
Turnover Margin -8 31

Opponents Team Rank
Rushes 204 8 (T)
Rushing Yards 776 6
Yards Per Carry 3.80 5
Pass Attempts 278 20 (T)
Completions 147 5 (T)
Passing Yards 1604 5
Yards Per Attempt 5.76 2
3rd Down Conversions 32.2 2
Points Per Game 16.8 9
Turnovers 12 16 (T)

Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 24 at GBY 13
2 31 BAL 19
3 22 NYK 27
4 6 at CAR 22
6 15 at DET 21
7 30 NOS 3
8 23 MIN 17
9 23 ATL 13
10 at TBY
11 GBY
12 at CLE
13 at SEA
14 CIN
15 DET
16 at PIT
17 at MIN

Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int
6 Halas QB 188 97 1086 5.77 8 14
12 Hasselbeck QB 82 49 425 5.18 3 1
**Team --- 271 147 1517 5.59 11 15

Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD
35 Thomas RB 122 512 4.19 1
31 Morton RB 76 386 5.07 5
**Team --- 223 1017 4.56 7

Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD
86 Booker WR 57 26 387 14.8 19 3
83 Terrell WR 43 24 301 12.5 31 4
85 Engram WR 46 23 257 11.1 33 1
87 Gage WR 38 19 236 12.4 20 1
31 Morton RB 22 18 112 6.2 36 0
40 Stevenson FB 12 10 75 7.5 20 0
88 Clark TE 26 9 55 6.1 8 1
27 Abdullah FB 8 8 39 4.8 9 1
**Team --- 270 147 1517 10.3 213 11

Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn
53 Holdman OLB 51 15 4.0 4 3 6
54 Urlacher ILB 50 20 4.5 0 0 4
30 Brown S 30 14 0.0 1 3 12
26 McMillon CB 30 5 0.0 0 0 4
98 Robinson DT 29 7 6.0 7 0 1
97 Haynes DE 26 7 3.0 5 0 0
23 Azumah CB 25 3 0.0 0 1 8 90 Lee OLB 25 8 0.5 0 0 1
32 Johnson S 24 4 1.0 0 0 0
93 Daniels DE 20 7 9.0 11 0 0
43 Green S 20 12 0.0 0 0 4
39 Allen CB 16 6 0.0 0 0 4
33 Tillman CB 14 1 1.0 0 0 2
94 Traylor DT 9 11 1.0 1 0 0
95 Scott DT 9 3 0.0 1 0 0
48 Neufeldt CB 9 0 0.0 0 0 0
**Team --- 426 128 31.0 38 7 46</pre>

Halfway through, the defense is absolutely carrying the team, as I suspected it would. Hasselbeck hasn't been playing terribly well since I made him the starter, but he's not making mistakes, which is enough for my defense to win most games. I also made a surprising discovery, Hasselbeck is a mentor, despite this only being his 7th season. I'm guessing extremely high leadership and intelligence skills are the reason. Morton is also doing a great job as my third down and backup running back.

My defense is top five in yards per attempt against the run and pass. Points per game allowed is deceptive considering how many touchdowns Halas gave to opposing teams. We're also getting a ton of pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Holdman in particular has played great and I decided to give him a contract extension rather than risk losing him as a free agent.

[Ryche]

The second half started with our offense getting shut down in a 17-6 loss in Tampa, but we bounced back, dominating Green Bay 17-3 while only allowing 203 yards of offense. The win put us a game ahead of Minnesota and two above Detroit.

Our next game was at 3-7 Cleveland, where we had our best effort so far. We ran for 188 yards, held Cleveland to 270 yards and Neufeldt returned a punt for a touchdown, leading to a 37-9 win. Minnesota and Detroit both won to keep pace. We then eeked out a 10-7 win in Seattle, moving our record to 8-4, still a game over Minnesota. We have the Metrodome looming in the final game of the season, so I'd really like to get a little separation first.

We welcomed Cincinnati to Soldier Field and our offense was totally stymied, only managing 167 yards for the game. But the defense kept the game close, we were down 13-10 with 3 minutes left when Mike Brown intercepted a Carson Palmer pass and returned it 52 yards for the go ahead score. 3 missed Cincinnati field goals also helped us steal the game, 20-13. Minnesota and Detroit finally lost, giving us a 2 game lead with three left. We next welcomed Detroit, looking to avenge our earlier overtime loss. We dominated most of the game, holding the ball for over 40 minutes on 30 first downs and 480 yards of offense, but 4 interceptions by Hasselbeck kept Detroit in it until the very end. We took the win though, 22-20 and another loss by Minnesota clinched the division title for us. At 10-4, we are tied with Carolina, Dallas and Philadelphia for the best record in the NFC.

Our next game sent us to Pittsburgh to face the 12-2, Peyton Manning led Steelers. For the first time this year, my defense met a team that it had trouble stopping as the Steelers ran for 233 yards and threw for another 253. But Anthony Thomas matched Pittsburgh with 120 yards of his own and Hasselbeck played an efficient game. My linebackers saved the game as Pittsburgh was driving for the winning score. Holdman jarred the ball loose from the Steelers' running back and Urlacher jumped on it, giving us a swee 27-24 victory. Carolina lost, setting us up to get a first round bye if we can win in Minnesota. We had a field goal battle in the Metrodome that wasn't broken up until a safety blitz by Mike Brown got to Culpepper, forcing a fumble at the Minnesota 40, from which we scored the only touchdown of the game, winning 16-6, completing an excellent 12-4 season, good enough for the second seed in the NFC, behind 12-4 Dallas

[Ryche]

<pre>Front Office Football 2004
2005 Summary for Chicago Bears

Record: 12-4
Winning Pct.: .750

Chicago Bears Team Rank
Rushes 452 10
Rushing Yards 1903 13
Yards Per Carry 4.21 20
Pass Attempts 544 19
Completions 304 21 (T)
Passing Yards 3092 28
Yards Per Attempt 5.68 30
3rd Down Conversions 40.8 12
Points Per Game 20.7 16
Turnovers 28 22 (T)
Turnover Margin -3 21 (T)

Opponents Team Rank
Rushes 382 4
Rushing Yards 1623 7
Yards Per Carry 4.24 17
Pass Attempts 572 30
Completions 293 4
Passing Yards 3236 5
Yards Per Attempt 5.65 1
3rd Down Conversions 31.4 2
Points Per Game 14.6 1 (T)
Turnovers 25 17 (T)

Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 24 at GBY 13
2 31 BAL 19
3 22 NYK 27
4 6 at CAR 22
6 15 at DET 21
7 30 NOS 3
8 23 MIN 17
9 23 ATL 13
10 6 at TBY 17
11 17 GBY 3
12 37 at CLE 9
13 10 at SEA 7
14 20 CIN 13
15 22 DET 20
16 27 at PIT 24
17 19 at MIN 6
$$CS CAR

Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int
12 Hasselbeck QB 355 206 2000 5.63 12 8
6 Halas QB 188 97 1086 5.77 8 14
**Team --- 544 304 3092 5.68 20 22

Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD
35 Thomas RB 271 1135 4.18 5
31 Morton RB 125 566 4.52 6
**Team --- 452 1903 4.21 12

Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD
86 Booker WR 118 55 785 14.2 44 7
83 Terrell WR 83 46 503 10.9 66 7
85 Engram WR 79 38 470 12.3 54 1
31 Morton RB 52 37 246 6.6 105 0
88 Clark TE 60 33 289 8.7 28 3
87 Gage WR 67 33 422 12.7 29 1
40 Stevenson FB 31 24 162 6.7 84 0
**Team --- 542 303 3086 10.1 490 20

Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn
53 Holdman OLB 92 32 7.5 8 3 7
54 Urlacher ILB 89 37 6.5 3 0 9
30 Brown S 69 28 2.0 3 5 20
26 McMillon CB 53 9 0.0 1 0 12
97 Haynes DE 53 13 7.5 14 0 0
98 Robinson DT 48 16 9.5 13 0 1
23 Azumah CB 46 9 0.0 0 1 20 32 Johnson S 45 6 2.0 0 0 1
90 Lee OLB 43 18 0.5 2 0 2
39 Allen CB 40 11 0.0 0 3 11
94 Traylor DT 36 18 2.5 10 0 0
43 Green S 35 15 0.0 0 1 7
33 Tillman CB 30 4 2.0 1 2 3
93 Daniels DE 27 10 11.0 21 0 0
48 Neufeldt CB 23 2 0.0 1 0 0
**Team --- 812 247 53.0 89 16 93</pre> 
This season was probably one of the more impressive defenses I've ever had. The defense absolutely dragged the offense to our 12-4 record. I think what is most impressive about the defense is how many players contributed. I could easily be without an allpro in the group, but Holdman, Urlacher, Brown, Haynes, Robinson, Azumah and Daniels all had excellent years. Hasselbeck had a 10-1 record after I made him the starter, setting up a Dilfer and the Ravens type decision for next year. Despite the record, all he did was avoid mistakes. Thomas ran for his usual 1100 yards and Morton did a nice job splitting time and catching the ball.

Divisional Playoff:

Carolina (10-5-1) at Chicago (12-4)

We suffered our worst loss of the season in Carolina 22-6, but the defense only gave up 9 of those points and Halas was still the quarterback. Delhomme has had a nice season as Carolina's starter, throwing 23 TDs and only 13 picks. In many ways, they look like a lesser of us, they can run the ball with Stephen Davis (1145 yards) and don't make mistakes. They are pretty tough against the run and the pass and forced the second most turnovers.

We won the toss and Hasselbeck promptly threw an interception, giving Carolina the ball on our 41. A quick drive and we were down 7-0. We responded with a solid drive of our own, getting to the Carolina 24 before Thomas broke a run into the endzone but...holding brought it back and we settled for a 51 yard field goal to get on the board, 7-3. We got another shot at a field goal, but Edinger missed from 46 yards. No one else had a chance to score as the game settled into a defensive struggle and the score remained 7-3 at halftime.

We finally moved the ball on our first drive of the second half, but the drive stalled and Edinger missed a 53 yard attempt short. Carolina took advantage of the good field position and dinked and dunked downfield until Delhomme hit a 21 yard touchdown strike, extending their lead to 14-3. Azumah returned the kickoff to the 42 and Hasselbeck moved us into field goal position before throwing another interception at the Carolina 9. Ouch. A quick 3 and out got the ball back for us at our 46, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty killed our drive. The defense held again and Neufeldt returned the punt 20 yards, giving us the ball on the Carolina 48. A 9 yard Morton run and an incomplete pass set up 3rd and 1 at the 39. Stevenson over the right side, no gain. 4th and 1 and we have to go for it. Stevenson up the middle on a draw play...loss of 1 and Carolina's ball. At this point there just wasn't enough time left and we lost 14-3, making us 0-3 in the playoffs.

Carolina advanced to Dallas where they got thrashed 27-7 by the Cowboys. An all Florida AFC Championship saw Miami defeat Jacksonville 20-15. Dallas won the Super Bowl 21-16 (yes, Quincy Carter is still their quarterback)

NFL MVP: Steve McNair - 68%, 3880 yards, 26 TDs, 13 Ints, 99.5 rating, 409 yards rushing. Tennessee finished 12-4. I would have voted for RB James Jackson, the former Cleveland backup who went to Dallas and ran for over 1700 yards this year.
Offensive Player of the Year: Steve McNair
Defensive Player of the Year: London Fletcher - 131 tackles, 1 Int (blah)
Offensive Rookie of the Year: QB Clyde Brady 1(3), Arizona - 55.1%, 22 TD, 15 Int, 3905 yards, 77.9 rating
Defensive Rookie of the Year: S Jerald Herrera 2(1), Washington - 49 tck, 1 Int for a TD, 10 def

Nobody from my team won an award and I really can't protest.

It looks clear that I need to add some punch to my offense. Hasselbeck did what was needed at quarterback, but we're probably going to anger the fans by giving Halas the job again. With a season as a starter, I'm sure Hasselbeck will leave as a free agent. We added some help for the offensive line this year, now I could use a skill player or two. Wide receiver, running back and tight end are all candidates. The offensive line is solid and has some young, developing players. No one gave up double digit sacks, so I'm fairly satisfied.

We have three starters on defense who will be free agents, DT Traylor, FS Green and CB Azumah. Of those, Azumah is the only one I want to keep for sure. I'd like to find a better ballhawk at safety.

If we either get better production at quarterback or running back next year, we should be Super Bowl contenders. It's nice having a pretty clear view of our needs.

[Ryche]

2005 Northern Illinois preseason

Not terribly good email to start the season as four players left the team and two are on academic suspension. S Nolan Jeffires and FB Kerry Bradley both left because of bad academics. Losing Jeffries hurts, but it's not surprising. QB Jonathan Mangold and LB Leland Bergmann also left, for lack of playing time. No losses there. We also lost 2 defensive ends to academic suspension, sophomore Corey Perry and a worthless walkon.

In other news, my offensive coordinator, who I considered replacing last year, has moved on, forcing my hand. He didn't like the rumors about his job security evidentally. He didn't move far, landing in Iowa. Nice move up for him. Our new OC is Cole Clayton, 47 years old, good with all the intangibles and excellent with running backs, very big in our offense.

We have a home game scheduled against Pittsburgh and for our other scheduled game, we arrange a home-away against San Jose St in week 3. They were ranked 96th last year, so I'm hoping for a win there.

<pre>
The College Years
Northern Illinois Roster, Scout Overview

Player # Pos Elig Current Estimate Future Estimate
Schulz, Quinn 16 QB Sr 19 57
Wynn, Ron 14 QB Jr* 14 44
Ostroski, Wes 17 QB So* 12 49
Cooley, J.J. 19 QB Fr 14 50
Knight, Trevor 5 QB Fr 15 19</pre>

I think we're going to hand the reins over to Ostroski this season. He's the best running quarterback I have and he can convert on third downs. Last year's starter, Wynn, will have to settle for a backup role. Freshman Cooley is very green and not much of a runner, but he could develop into a capable backup down the road. I decided to move Knight to running back, he never would have passed Cooley. At 6-1 195, he seemed to have the proper size. The conversion wasn't too successful, but his academics will keep him on the team.

<pre>Carlson, Leonard 28 RB Sr 39 46
Thomason, Jeffrey 41 RB Sr 16 16
Burnett, Ralph 38 RB Jr 37 37
Brass, Leroy 36 RB* Jr 11 33
Blair, Kim 33 RB* Fr 26 46
Ray, Oliver 34 FB Jr 46 46
Davis, Adrian 23 FB So* 34 79
Kelly, Eugene 22 FB* Jr 5 19</pre>

Carlson took a step back last year, but if he can stay healthy he should hit 1000 yards. I don't have much behind him, but I may have finally gotten lucky with a running back recruit in Blair. I offered him a visit in the last week of recruiting without seeing him in person, but right now he is projecting to be a similar player to Carlson. I can live with that. Running back is still my biggest need though. Davis looks like a monster at fullback, I just need to keep him eligible somehow.

<pre>Talbot, Morris 94 TE Sr 22 22
Wyatt, Rufus 84 TE Sr 19 33
Shaver, Gino 81 TE Jr* 25 41
Blackwell, Dana 99 TE Jr 28 44
Willis, Edwin 89 TE So* 22 80
Tillitski, Brant 80 WR Jr 43 44
Neufeldt, Billy Joe 7 WR So 21 43
Roosenraad, Harvey 87 WR So 29 52
Rohrbach, Frankie 1 WR Fr 19 62
Lane, Alex 88 WR* So 11 11
Richard, Wayne 8 WR* So 22 22</pre>

I'm going to try to make sure Shaver, Blackwell and Willis see playing time at tight end. Shaver is the best right now and did a decent job starting last year, but Blackwell and Willis both have a ton more talent. Tillitski will get the chance to be my receiver after an injury derailed him last year. My depth there is looking much better now though. I wouldn't have any problem with starting Roosenraad again. Rohrbach looks like the future here.

<pre>Stone, Jackie 50 C Sr 16 16
Garrett, Cornell 59 C Fr 22 74
Jamison, Willie 76 C* So 3 32
Musum, Juan 64 G Sr 38 58
Mazur, Mike 66 G Sr 17 23
Lucas, Walter 70 G Sr 28 51
Buel, Kenneth 73 G Sr 30 31
Wilkerson, A.J. 60 G So* 42 83
Gabberty, Grady 68 G Fr 9 70
Hopper, Martin 75 T Sr* 22 23
Kroner, Rex 71 T Sr* 31 31
Mayes, Earl 62 T Sr 26 73
Craig, Amos 77 T Sr 20 45
Reish, Les 78 T Sr* 27 54
Blackwell, Chris 61 T Jr* 53 67
Prescott, Colin 63 T Fr 11 37 </pre>

Garrett will finally give me a quality run blocker in the middle. He should be dominating, if a little lacking endurance. We'll suffer through Stone as our starter this year and get what we can from him. At guard, the future looks bright with Gabberty and Wilkerson. Blackwell is already our best player at left tackle. Prescott should be our right tackle for the future. We could use another recruit here though with 5 seniors at the position, 2 of them graduating. Wait a couple seasons and this offensive line will be incredible.

<pre>Cody, Quentin 12 P Jr* 31 31
Seinfeld, Chuck 11 P So* 50 50
Sawyer, Leo 10 P* Sr* 30 31
Maciokas, Donovan 4 K Jr* 44 44
Schulz, Jimmie 3 K* Fr 2 9 </pre>

Seinfeld is ready to be our starter and looks like a legit pro prospect. Maciokas is fairly accurate with field goals, but he can't kickoff. I definitely need to recruit a second kicker this year.

<pre>Woods, Billy 72 DE Sr* 38 47
Brady, Ralph 93 DE Jr 25 37
Perry, Corey 96 DE So* 20 52
Ford, William 98 DE* So 3 4
Shapiro, Cole 90 DE* So 7 50
George, Adrian 79 DE* So 10 10
Robbins, Lawrence 97 DT Sr 30 55
Bueno, Brett 92 DT Sr 6 6
Garner, Conrad 91 DT Jr* 20 48
Idone, Matt 74 DT Jr* 23 46
Houston, Juan 67 DT Fr 23 90
Ledet, Sammie 95 DT* Fr 13 52</pre>

We don't have much talent at defensive end, Brady and Woods will be the starters by default. Together, they make a good defensive end. I have a lot more talent at defensive tackle. Robbins has great potential, but we'll never see it since this is his last year. Houston, a recruit we found in Des Lacs, North Dakota, is going to be our future, he should be equally good against the run and pass. Given the talent difference between end and tackle, I decided to move Garner outside. Luckily, he didn't lose much and should be able to contribute.

<pre>Grier, Marvin 52 ILB Sr 7 40
Talton, Dan 48 ILB Sr 17 46
Cochrane, Grady 40 ILB Jr* 48 94
Carr, Kelvin 57 ILB* So 16 56
Morrison, Heath 56 ILB* Fr 12 59
Bullock, Willie 53 OLB Sr 14 14
Burroughs, Phil 44 OLB Sr 28 59
Chapman, George 51 OLB Sr 28 47
Bishop, Roy 49 OLB Jr 45 71
Cash, Gus 58 OLB Jr* 28 56
Hernandez, Clay 55 OLB* Fr 16 54
Johnson, Dean 43 OLB* Fr 9 55
Constable, Corwin 54 OLB* Fr 12 21</pre>

Cochrane is our first legit superstar, accumulating 114 tackles and 22 tfl in his first year of playing. And he has a ton of room to improve still. I don't have any other talent inside though and I have finally realized I need to run a 4-3 this year to use my talent best. Bishop and Burroughs will start on the outside. Constable and Johnson both have talent but a long ways to go.

<pre>Lake, Nate 39 CB Sr 24 24
Summers, Tyrell 42 CB Sr 29 29
Glenn, Stanley 24 CB So 25 39
Greene, Corwin 21 CB So* 36 67
Giles, David 46 CB Fr 8 45
Harrison, Marcus 31 CB Fr 11 30
McCormick, Sean 20 CB* Jr 5 13
Holmes, Adrian 37 S Sr 45 45
Dawson, Victor 35 S Fr 13 51
Huskey, David 25 S* Jr 6 23
Forbes, Luke 47 S* Jr 2 3
Waddington, Victor 45 S* So 14 55
Wahle, William 32 S* So 7 11</pre>

Holmes and Waddington will be my starting safeties although Dawson is definitely the future here at free safety. I still need to recruit more bodies. Losing Jeffries last year and this really wrecked havoc on my secondary. I'll try one more player move, shifting Giles to safety. Ouch, that turned him into a career backup. Greene is a stud at cornerback, awesome man cover skills. Glenn should be adequate as my second corner.

Right now, I think we will be conference champs in three seasons, when my first recruiting class is in its fifth season. We should have a dominant offensive line, a decent quarterback with a lot of experience, an excellent receiving corps and a few studs on defense. This year though, we'll be happy to see improvement from last year's abysmal 1-10 record.

[Ryche]

2005 Northern Illinois Season

I had thought I'd be using a 4-3 defense this year, but looking at my defense closer, I decided to go with a 46 instead. I have a nice run stuffing safety in Adrian Holmes to play near the line of scrimmage and I'm using CB Lake as my free safety

Our first game at Troy St. started out rough, giving up a 73 yard TD run and being down 10-0 in the second half. But then Ostroski came alive in his first college start, leading us to 4 straight touchdown drives and we claimed a 28-16 win. Ostroski went 19 of 24 for 259 yards, 3 TDs and one pick, a nice start to his career. We followed that effort by squeaking out a 20-17 win at home over San Jose St., already surpassing last year's win total. But it was a costly win as we lost our starting quarterback, Ostroski, and running back, Carlson, for 13 weeks each, both with wrist injuries.

We welcomed Pittsburgh the following week and received an expected 42-13 thrashing while suffering another major injury. WR Roosenraad tore his ACL and is out for the year. This started a string of games where we lost 5 of 6, dropping our record to 3-5. But we won 2 of our last 3 to finish the year 5-6, right about where I hoped to be. Most encouraging, of our 6 losses, only the blowout against Pittsburgh was by more than a touchdown. We actually outscored our opponents.


<pre>The College Years
2005 Summary for Northern Illinois

Record: 5-6
Rank: 79

Northern Illinois Team Rank
Rushes 472 31 (T)
Rushing Yards 1817 32
Yards Per Carry 3.84 44 (T)
Pass Attempts 244 119 (T)
Completions 153 77 (T)
Passing Yards 2005 82
Yards Per Attempt 8.21 27
3rd Down Conversions 37.5 54
Points Per Game 23.5 66 (T)
Turnovers 14 10 (T)
Turnover Margin +5 35 (T)

Opponents Team Rank
Rushes 353 6
Rushing Yards 1148 20
Yards Per Carry 3.25 33 (T)
Pass Attempts 305 45 (T)
Completions 160 34 (T)
Passing Yards 2170 49
Yards Per Attempt 7.11 59
3rd Down Conversions 30.0 16
Points Per Game 21.5 33 (T)
Turnovers 19 80 (T)

Primary Formation: Power-I Formation

Week Team Versus Oppnt
2 28 at TYST (97) 16
3 20 SJST (82) 17
4 13 PITT (23) 42
5 24 MIAO (46) 28
7 24 WMIC (75) 10
8 20 at AKRN (45) 27
9 27 at TOLE (26) 28
10 19 at EMIC (110) 21
11 44 BOWG (38) 21
12 16 CMIC (92) 17
13 24 at BALL (113) 10

Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int
14 Wynn QB 213 130 1677 7.87 14 7
17 Ostroski QB 31 23 328 10.58 4 2
Team --- 244 153 2005 8.21 18 9

Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD Stff YdLst
38 Burnett RB 179 852 4.75 4 50 59
14 Wynn QB 113 252 2.23 3 43 168
41 Thomason RB 51 159 3.11 2 16 17
36 Brass RB 38 221 5.81 1 7 11
23 Davis FB 33 174 5.27 0 6 5
28 Carlson RB 29 80 2.75 0 10 10
Team --- 472 1817 3.84 11 141 284

Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD
80 Tillitski WR 50 25 387 15.4 135 4
89 Willis TE 50 36 490 13.6 181 6
23 Davis FB 48 34 338 9.9 140 2
7 Neufeldt WR 41 23 438 19.0 205 5
38 Burnett RB 19 11 107 9.7 42 0
Team --- 244 153 2005 13.1 796 18

Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack TFL Ints Defn
40 Cochrane ILB 104 25 0.0 19 2 5
49 Bishop OLB 48 13 0.0 9 0 3
44 Burroughs OLB 32 13 1.0 4 1 2
97 Robbins DT 31 16 5.5 12 0 0
74 Idone DT 30 11 3.5 11 0 0
24 Glenn CB 28 8 0.0 2 1 6
39 Lake CB 27 12 1.0 3 3 2
21 Greene CB 26 11 0.0 3 3 5
57 Carr ILB 25 9 0.0 2 0 3 93 Brady DE 24 12 3.5 8 0 2
72 Woods DE 23 9 15.0 14 0 0
51 Chapman OLB 21 4 0.0 5 1 1
37 Holmes S 20 7 0.0 1 0 2
42 Summers CB 16 1 0.0 2 2 3
48 Talton ILB 13 7 0.0 1 0 0
Team --- 569 170 35.0 104 13 37 </pre> 
After Ostroski and Carlson went down with injuries, their replacements, Wynn and Burnett, stepped in nicely. Burnett's performance is especially encouraging as he will be the starter next year. Mainly, we played conservative, mistake-free football, just what I want from my offense. Neufeldt and Tillitski combined to make a decent receiver, but Willis really stepped up nicely at tight end, even though I really didn't think he would be ready this year. Davis did a great job at fullback, doing a little of everything while maintaining good academics. The offensive line did a good job except for T Blackwell, who gave up 12 sacks at an atrocious 5% clip. I think that was just an abberation though, he still looks like my best lineman right now.

Cochrane led the defense again, playing tackle machine in the middle. Billy Woods was my main pass rushing threat, amassing 15 sacks, 6 blocks and 20 hurries. Looking through the stats, one disturbing thing I notice is that my best safety, Adrian Holmes, barely played. Apparently in the 46 defense, 4 linemen, 4 linebackers, 2 corners and one safety plays. That's not what it shows on the primary formations chart (bug?). That may have cost us a victory or two.

Awards:
1st Team MAC: FB Adrian Davis - 174 yards rushing, 5.2 ypc, 34-338 receiving, 2 TDs, 16-52 krb, 1 sack allowed
1st Team MAC: TE Edwin Willis - 36-490 receiving, 6 TDs, 7-18 krb
1st Team MAC: OT Chris Blackwell - 48-133 krb, 12 sacks allowed
1st Team MAC: LB Grady Cochrane - 104 tck, 19 tfl, 2 int
1st Team All Academic: Chris Blackwell
MAC Academic: RB Ralph Burnett
MAC Academic: DE Cole Shapiro
MAC Academic: S Sean McCormick

New recruits:
<pre>
The College Years
Recruiting List, Location View

Player Pos HT WT ST NRank Home Town
**Henry, Jason QB 5-11 182 IL 880 La Salle
**Sheets, Joseph QB 6-2 197 WA 546 Vancouver
$$Tatum, Stan RB 5-10 181 SD --- Marty
$$Burroughs, Hunter FB 6-3 231 IL --- Alton
**Denman, Barry TE 6-4 229 MI --- Marion
##McIntyre, Bill WR 6-1 176 MO --- Trenton
$$Victor, Dwight WR 6-5 206 VA --- South Hill
$$McConnell, J.T. C 6-1 241 OK --- Oklahoma City
$$Bessette, Wes G 6-4 255 IL --- Batavia
##Bensen, D.J. K 6-1 184 WI --- Beaver Dam
Barfield, Harry DT 6-4 263 IL 801 Lawrenceville
##Francis, Brett ILB 6-2 205 WI --- Stanley
##Witcher, Earl CB 6-0 168 IN --- Fremont
$$Collier, Trent CB 6-1 163 MI --- Traverse City
$$Sisson, Norman S 6-1 172 PA 806 Alverton
**Fernyhough, James S 5-10 183 IN --- Jasper

Player High School Reg Ath. Prep
**Henry, Jason La Salle-Peru Township GL 14
**Sheets, Joseph Fort Vancouver NW 20
$$Tatum, Stan Marty MW 31
$$Burroughs, Hunter Alton GL 30
**Denman, Barry Marion GL 26
##McIntyre, Bill Trenton MW 9
$$Victor, Dwight Park View MA 9
$$McConnell, J.T. Western Heights DS 11
$$Bessette, Wes Batavia GL 20
##Bensen, D.J. Beaver Dam GL 37
Barfield, Harry Lawrenceville GL 39
##Francis, Brett Stanley-Boyd GL 18
##Witcher, Earl Fremont GL 29
$$Collier, Trent Central GL 0
$$Sisson, Norman Southmoreland GL 3
**Fernyhough, James Jasper GL 38

Rough Estimate of Player Interest: No Prefix - player unlikely to be
interested, ** - a bit of a stretch for your school, $$ - likely interest,
## - almost certain interest. </pre>

I seem to have an overabundance of quarterbacks now, I really didn't plan on getting 2. But Henry signed first and I couldn't bring myself to back off on Sheets. He was the top QB in Washington state, throwing 20 TDs and only 5 Int. Not as much a runner as I'd like, but I think he's the heir apparent to Ostroski. Henry may get shifted to running back. I finally recruited a decent running back I think in Tatum, he's a powerback despite his size. Overall, I'm not as optimistic about this recruiting class as I have been about my last few.

National Top 5 Recruits:

2005
1. QB Hardy Buckley, Orem UT - Utah
2. C Lamont Benson, Newburgh NY - Syracuse3. DE Shannon Rellford, Greenwood MS - Brigham Young
4. CB Jared Cote, Cary IL - Illinois
5. QB Oscar Mayes, Portland TX - Texas

2004

1. DE Edgar Fisk, Michigan - Redshirt
2. RB Jamal Newhart, Arizona St. - Redshirt
3. DE Seth Buckner, Tennessee - Redshirt
4. OG Timothy Hand, Georgia - Redshirt
5. DT K.C. Keith, Penn St. - Redshirt

2003

1. C Harry Middleton, BYU - 45-102 krb, 0 sa, 1st Team MWC
2. OT Scottie Jefferson, Stanford - 30-91 krb, 4 sa, 2nd Team P10
3. QB Casey Malone, Michigan St. - 51.3%, 2096 yards, 6.98 ypa, 10 TD, 14 Int
4. OT Arnold Gillespie, Florida St. - Redshirt (?)
5. OT Ellis Stevens, Ohio St. - 6-16 krb, 1 sa

2002

1. DE A.J. Cox, Oklahoma - 49 tck, 10.5 sacks, 24 tfl, 1st Team B12
2. CB Adrian Godfrey, Vanderbilt - 3 Int, 16 def, 36 tck
3. OT Donnell Clancy, Washington - 25-67 krb, 4 sa, 2nd Team P10
4. DE Paul Tuinei, UCLA - 6 tck, .5 sacks, 2 tfl
5. DT Albert Alstatt, Texas - 37 tck, 5 sacks, 14 tfl, 1st Team B12

Nationally:

Florida St. continued their awesome run, winning their third straight national championship and 36th straight game, crushing UCLA 52-7 in the title game.

QB Jessie Diaz from Georgia Tech claimed the Heisman, throwing 49 TDs and 4796 yards while leading GT to an 11-1 record and a #5 ranking.

Marshall was the top team in the MAC, finishing 9-3 and ranked #20. 5 other MAC teams were also ranked in the top 50, so we seem to be moving up in the world.

We are losing a number of seniors, including 8 starters, but all my best players are coming back and getting better. I think a bowl game is a realistic goal next year, especially if Ostroski can stay healthy.

[Ryche]

2006 Chicago Bears

We're coming off a 12-4 season where the defense carried us while the offense tried to avoid making mistakes. That will get you into the playoffs, but we need a few more playmakers to move from playoff team to Super Bowl contenders.

No retirements to report on our team, but there is a significant one in the division as Brett Favre has hung it up after a few less than stellar seasons. He missed all of last year with an injury, which led to Green Bay's 6-10 record. They ended up starting Mitch Fisk, an undrafted rookie QB who was on our roster briefly during training camp. Fisk went to school at Wisconsin, so it actually makes some sense.

Our staff is still under contract and we'll stand pat for one more season there

We're still making plenty of cash, up to 70 million last year. We have 24.79 million available to spend on free agents.

Significant Free Agents

QB Matt Hasselbeck - He's seeking a modest deal for a starter and the fans want us to bring him back. But I'm determined to give Halas another chance as I just don't think Hasselbeck can take us to the next level. If he's still available after the draft I'll sit down and talk to him.

WR David Terrell - He emerged as a nice endzone threat, catching 7 TDs last year. He's keeping his demands reasonable so I'll probably bring him back.

LG Corbin Lacina - He's been serviceable and he's a mentor in his 13th season. I'd like to bring him back, but I have 2nd round pick Harrison behind him so it's not vital.

DT Keith Traylor - I didn't get enough production to justify his asking price (5 mill/year), even if he is a mentor.

CB Jerry Azumah - He's staying reasonable in his demands, enough that I could keep him as a nickelback with his great kick return skills.

S Mike Green - I really want to upgrade my free safety position, but Green is seeking less than a million, so he may be back.

It looks like I have the money to go get an explosive running back and there are a number of good ones available. Portis, McAllister, James, Lewis, Tomlinson, Green, Bennett, Barlow. One of these guys will be on my team.

I started out free agency with offers to five players. Terrell, Azumah, Mike Green, Ahmen Green and TE Randy McMichael. I decided to go with Green to put a nail in Green Bay's coffin, and because he's relatively cheap and productive with 2500 yards the last two seasons. Mike Green signed immediately while McMichael spurned us to go to San Diego. Jamal Lewis signed with Washington while Portis signed in New Orleans. Azumah and Terrell signed in week 2 while Traylor got his deal from New England. Finally, Ahmen Green signed for 2 yr/7.11 million in week 11 and we now have quite a stable of backs with Green, Thomas and Morton. A few additional veterans signed for depth and we are ready for the draft, looking BPA.

Draft

There are a couple Northern Illinois alumni available in the draft this season, both players who showed a load of potential in TCY, but never managed to develop it. DT Lawrence Robbins looks like he'll be the first drafted Husky, he has some run stuffing skill and projects to be a nice third defensive tackle. OT Earl Mayes is massive at 6-8, 340, but he wasn't a starter in college and doesn't look like pro material. It looks like the Heisman trophy winner, Jessie Diaz from Georgia Tech, won't be drafted again, he's not even the best QB prospect from the Yellow Jackets this season.

We have the 28th pick in the draft

1. WR Junior Ballinger, Florida St. - Ballinger was a no brainer here. Blazing speed (4.33) with receiving and return skills. A Heisman finalist his senior year with 1400+ yards and 20 TDs. But....immediately after the draft we discovered his receiving skills are lacking. He lost almost all potential in route running and getting downfield. May still prove useful as a returner, but looks like a major bust. Volatility 67.
2. CB Neal Young, Texas - Another easy choice and another blazer (4.45), looks like an excellent zone corner who can support the run. Good size at 6-1, he was First Team All America in college
3. DT Otis Korr, Michigan - Looks tough against the run with some pass rush technique. Didn't play much in college.
4. TE Wendell Greer, Texas - A big target (6-7 262) who can get downfield. Can support the run with his blocking too. First Team All America with 576 yards receiving and 7 TDs. Should replace Clark in the near future.
5. DE Brett Wallace, Washington St. - An excellent run defender, posted 82 tackles and 10.5 sacks as a senior. Another 1st Team AA.
6. DT Lawrence Robbins, Northern Illinois - The first drafted Husky, probably would have went in the 7th round if I hadn't selected him. Posted 31 tackles and 5.5 sacks as a senior. Should develop into a good backup.
7. QB Billy Alexander, Illinois - Was suspended his senior year, started 3 games as a sophomore, throwing 10 TDs and 5 Ints. Right now projects average ratings across the board with nice scrambling abilities. Fast for a QB (4.65).

After the draft, I decided to go ahead and bring Hasselbeck back to backup Halas at a price of 3 yr/6.78 million. Let the quarterback controversy begin.

This is the roster we brought out of training camp.

<pre>Front Office Football 2004
Chicago Bears Roster, Scout Overview

Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Halas, Andy 6 QB QB 3 47 73 2 yrs
Hasselbeck, Matt 12 QB 8 45 55 3 yrs
Alexander, Billy 3 QB 1 15 42 3 yrs
Finch, Charlie 13 QB 1 19 39 1 yr. </pre>

We expect better things out of Halas this year, but Hasselbeck is back to give us a safety net. Alexander actually turned out decent and looks like he can be a backup down the road.

<pre>Green, Ahman 29 RB RB 9 53 53 2 yrs
Morton, Chad 31 RB 7 42 42 2 yrs
Thomas, Anthony 35 RB 6 32 32 3 yrs
Stevenson, C.J. 40 FB FB 3 58 61 2 yrs
Abdullah, Rabih 27 FB 9 14 15 1 yr.</pre>

I'm going to be busy trying to keep all three running backs happy. Green will start, Morton play third downs and Thomas will serve as the backup. Stevenson is a nice player who can do everything when he's healthy, but he always seems to have a minor injury.

<pre>Greer, Wendell 84 TE 1 26 58 4 yrs
Clark, Desmond 88 TE TE 8 50 50 3 yrs
Schwartz, J.R. 18 TE 3 27 33 1 yr.
Terrell, David 83 FL FL 6 43 45 3 yrs
Gage, Justin 87 FL 4 30 36 1 yr.
Booker, Marty 86 SE SE 8 57 57 3 yrs
Engram, Bobby 85 SE 11 41 41 1 yr.
Hudson, Rico 81 SE 2 26 34 2 yrs
Ballinger, Junior 80 SE 1 20 24 --- </pre>

Ballinger has a total of 1 rating point between avoid drops, getting downfield and route running. But I gave him a chance to play during the preseason and he proved adequate. He'll start the year inactive and go from there. Greer looks like he'll take Clark's place in a year or two, he's a good receiver if the quarterback doesn't make him work to hard to catch the ball.

<pre>Kreutz, Olin 57 C C 9 74 74 2 yrs
Petelle, Donnie 73 C 2 17 36 2 yrs
Harrison, Russell 67 LG 2 23 43 3 yrs
Lacina, Corbin 63 LG LG 13 41 41 2 yrs
Edwards, Steve 79 LG 5 23 32 1 yr.
Tucker, Rex 64 RG RG 8 45 45 3 yrs
Arnold, David 61 LT 2 18 53 2 yrs
Whitfield, Bob 76 LT LT 15 38 38 1 yr.
Garrett, Hunter 68 RT RT 3 42 48 1 yr.
Colombo, Marc 75 RT 5 32 35 1 yr.</pre>

It's Kreutz and the average bunch again. One interesting note is that Colombo is now a mentor, despite only being in his 5th season. A future offensive line coach maybe?

<pre>Bidwell, Josh 9 P 7 47 47 3 yrs
Edinger, Paul 2 K 7 70 70 2 yrs</pre>

They do their jobs, but are nothing spectacular.

<pre>Cochran, Antonio 71 LDE LDE 8 49 51 2 yrs
Wallace, Brett 92 LDE 1 22 48 3 yrs
Daniels, Phillip 93 LDE 11 44 44 1 yr.
Haynes, Michael 97 RDE RDE 4 68 68 2 yrs
Brown, Alex 96 RDE 5 40 42 2 yrs
Bishop, Alonzo 70 RDE 2 19 37 2 yrs
Korr, Otis 91 LDT 1 19 40 3 yrs
Scott, Ian 95 LDT 4 39 39 1 yr.
Payne, Seth 74 LDT 10 38 38 2 yrs
Harper, Alan 72 RDT LDT 5 45 59 1 yr.
Robinson, Bryan 98 RDT RDT 10 53 53 1 yr.
Robbins, Lawrence 94 RDT 1 16 31 3 yrs</pre>

I have some nice depth here, but Haynes is the man we're going to be building around as the older linemen are phased out. I'm looking for a breakout season from him.

<pre>Urlacher, Brian 54 MLB MLB 7 75 75 4 yrs
Luna, Tracy 56 MLB 3 32 39 1 yr.
Holdman, Warrick 53 SLB SLB 8 63 63 4 yrs
Lee, Brant 90 WLB WLB 2 47 72 3 yrs
Odom, Joe 59 WLB 4 31 43 1 yr.
Brown, Cornell 99 WLB 11 33 33 1 yr.</pre>

I love my linebacking corps, even my backups are halfway decent.

<pre>Young, Neal 20 LCB 1 29 57 ---
Allen, Will 39 LCB 6 50 51 2 yrs
McMillon, Todd 26 LCB 7 36 36 1 yr.
Caldwell, Jared 25 LCB 3 9 16 2 yrs
Neufeldt, Ty 48 RCB 3 33 56 1 yr.
Tillman, Charles 33 RCB 4 32 46 2 yrs
Azumah, Jerry 23 RCB 8 44 44 2 yrs
Brown, Mike 30 SS 7 80 80 3 yrs
Green, Mike 43 SS 7 44 46 1 yr.
Phillips, Jermaine 42 FS 5 40 51 2 yrs
Johnson, Todd 32 FS 4 37 47 1 yr.
Hampton, Adrian 34 FS 2 13 30 2 yrs</pre>

Brown is arguably the best safety in the game and the rest of the secondary is good enough to get by with the talent we have in the front seven.

We made it through the preseason with only one significant injury as backup linebacker Brown will be on IR for the season. I had to make some painful cuts after the preseason. My Husky, Robbins, just couldn't cut it. I also finally decided to give up on my first 1st rounder, Caldwell.

I really did a horrible job managing my salary cap as I still have 15 million available. I'm never too active in free agency, but now I'm wishing I had picked up a top flight receiver. Of course, if Ballinger had panned out, that wouldn't be a problem. Nothing to do about it now, no decent players are available and I don't even have any impending salary cap situations where I can use that cap room.

We went 12-4 last year, anything less this season will be a severe disappointment. Green Bay has lost Favre and Green, they should be playing for the number one pick this year. Fisk is back at quarterback there. It looks like Detroit got burned with their first round pick this year two, taking running back Corwin Scovill with the 11th pick. He looks terribly average. Minnesota looks like our biggest competition. They still have Culpepper and Moss and a lot of good young players on defense. Minnesota (73) and Detroit (63) both have better roster ratings than we do (43), but we went 12-4 last year, anything less this season will be a severe disappointment.

[Ryche]

2006 Regular Season

Week 1 - Detroit 0-0 at Chicago 0-0

Ahmen Green made a smashing Bears debut, rushing for 111 yards and scoring three touchdowns while the defense sacked Joey Harrington 5 times enroute to a 27-0 shutout.

Week 2 - Chicago 1-0 at Miami 0-1

Miami took a 17-7 lead into halftime behind Ricky William's rushing and after an exchange of touchdowns, we were down 24-14 in the fourth quarter. But a 10 play 80-yard drive was capped by a one yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Wendell Greer closing the gap to 3. A defensive stop gave us the ball again on our 27 and we drove the ball 10 plays again before settling for a 43-yard field goal with 1:12 remaining. A holding penalty on the following kick backed Miami up to their 4 yard line. Fiedler had a pass knocked down by Urlacher, then Haynes came around the end on second down, forcing Fielder to throw the ball away. A Fiedler scramble on third down was stopped short and Miami punted with 30 seconds left. Morton called the fair catch on the Miami 48 yard line. Marty Booker was then able to find a seem down the middle setting up a successful 41 yard field goal as time ran out for the 27-24 win.

Week 3 - Carolina 2-0 at Chicago 2-0

Our defense rebounded to hold Carolina to 241 yards and 6 points while Halas threw for 280 yards to lead a 23-6 win. Unfortunately, FB Stevenson tore his ACL and will miss the rest of the year. We dig up 11 year vet Detron Smith to fill the hole.

Week 4 - San Francisco 2-1 at Chicago 3-0

Terrell Owens had a big game for San Fran, catching 13 balls for 146 yards and a score and we found ourselves down 20-13 with the ball on our 43 with 2 minutes remaining. But Halas led us downfield and hit Bobby Engram for a 14 yard touchdown with 38 seconds left. San Francisco got the ball first in overtime, but Holdman ended their threat with an interception at our thirty. Halas went to work again, hitting Green and Booker for two passes apiece, but the drive was stalled by sacks at the San Francisco 40. We lined Edinger up for the 57 yard attempt...it's up and good, just over the crossbar for the 23-20 overtime win.

Week 5 - Arizona 0-4 at Chicago 4-0

This looked like a complete mismatch, but our disturbing trend of playing from behind continued as we were down 17-0 before Green ran the ball in from 4 yards out to make the score 17-7 at halftime. The third quarter was scoreless, but Green ran another one in from short yardage to make the score 17-14 early in the fourth quarter. On the next Arizona drive, their quarterback, Drew Brees, threw a wounded duck that Mike Brown snared and ran back 32 yards for the go ahead score. The defense kept Arizona frustrated and we cruised to the 21-17 win.

Week 6 - Chicago 5-0 at St. Louis 2-3

We rode Green to a 16-7 lead with 3 minutes left when St. Louis scored a touchdown, closing our lead to 2 points. Halas then made a horrible mistake as Rams corner Andre Dyson jumped a slant pattern and returned the interception 56 yards to give St. Louis a 21-16 lead with just over 2 minutes left. We got the ball back on our 33, but two sacks and a stuffed running play set up 4th and 21. But Halas found Engram for a 27 yard gain and the first. A short pass and a Rams penalty gave us the ball on the St. Louis 39 with 21 seconds left. Halas throws it up to Marty Booker and Booker hauls it in in the end zone for the game winner, 24-21.

Week 7 - Bye Week

Week 8 - Minnesota 6-0 at Chicago 6-0

Division games don't get much bigger than this. Minnesota has been rolling behind Culpepper and an opportunistic defense. Duante got Minnesota on the board first with a one yard sneak to give the Vikings an early lead, but we made the next four scores on four straight possessions. Unfortunately, they were all field goals, pushing us to a 12-7 lead midway through the third. Minnesota finally responded with a field goal of their own to end the third quarter 12-10 in our favor. A pair of 20 yard passes by Halas on our next possession moved us into field goal range where Halas took a shot at the end zone from the fifteen. But Minnesota 2005 first round pick, FS Phil Schalk made the interception in the end zone to keep the Vikings in the game. A quick three and out punctuated by a Haynes sack gave us the ball back on the 50. We managed to first downs, but two holding penalties stalled the drive, forcing us to settle for a 50-yard field goal attempt. But Corey Chavous broke through the line and got a hand up to block the field goal for the Vikings, which they recovered on our 19. Our defense came through again though, forcing a field goal that put the Vikings on top 13-12. We tried going deep on our first play of the next possession and instead found former number one overall pick Zack Mandylor, who showed some great open field running ability to return the pick 84 yards for the touchdown. That's where the score stayed with our first lost, 20-12.

Week 9 - Chicago 6-1 at Detroit 2-5

The loss to Minnesota totally deflated us and carried into Detroit where we were thumped 35-9 as Joey Harrington threw 3 touchdown passes.

At the midway point, we sat at 6-2, though riding a two game losing streak. Looking at the stats and games we've played so far, we could very easily be 4-4 or worse. Halas has thrown 6 TDs and 11 Ints. I don't think Hasselbeck is really an option though as the defense isn't playing well enough to carry us like last season. We're ranked in the middle of the pack against the run and pass. And Ahmen Green has been a bit of a disappointment, not topping 100 yards rushing since week 1, although he has 7 touchdowns.

Minnesota is looking like the class of the league, 8-0 now. Detroit started 0-4, but has now won 3 of their last 4. And Green Bay signed Tim Couch to be their QB after week 2. Couch is no savior though as he had a 66.5 rating with Cleveland last year and was cut by both Cleveland and Arizona this season. Green Bay is 4-4.

Week 10 - Chicago 6-2 at Seattle 5-3

This looked like it should be a good game, but we scored touchdowns with an interception return and a blocked punt. Green ran for 109 yards as we won 34-3.

Week 11 - Chicago 7-2 at Green Bay 4-5

Green Bay jumped to an early 14-0 lead, but an 84 yard punt return by Morton woke us up and Halas threw for 3 scores and ran in one to give us a 35-24 win. At the same time, Minnesota finally lost, in Detroit, bringing us back to within a game of the division lead.

Week 12 - New York Jets 4-6 at Chicago 8-2

We were overly confident and got ran over for 154 yards and 2 TDs by Corey Dillon. The Jets scored the game winning touchdown with 25 seconds left to win 20-16.

Week 13 Chicago 8-3 at Dallas 6-5

We could do nothing on the ground, but hung in there until Dallas hit a field goal with 27 seconds left to break a tie and win 20-17.

Week 14 New England 5-7 at Chicago 8-4

We took a 17-10 lead into the fourth quarter, only to see it slip away again as New England scored 4 times (3 field goals and a touchdown) to score the 26-17 upset. We are now officially concerned as it seems both our offense and defense are good enough not to lose game, but not good enough to win them.

Week 15 Chicago 8-5 at Minnesota 11-2

This is not the team we want to see when we need to break a three game losing streak. But our offense came to play finally and we had a 28-23 lead with 6 minutes to go. But we had a defensive breakdown in the secondary, allowing Culpepper to find a receiver open in the end zone for a 47 yard touchdown pass (his fourth of the game) and the two point conversion put Minnesota on top 31-28. We then traded punts, but on Minnesota's punt, Chad Morton broke a return back to the Minnesota 34 yard line with just over 2 minutes left. Minnesota only gave us four more yards though and we settled for a successful 47 yard field goal to tie the game at 31. Alas, our defense got carved up again on Minnesota's final drive as Culpepper hit two big passes to get them into field goal range, and then a 25 yard touchdown run by Onterrio Smith effectively ended the game, 38-31 Minnesota.

At this point, we are third in the playoff race, tied with Detroit and Philadelphia at 8-6. Detroit's comeback from an 0-4 record has been almost as impressive as our collapse.

Week 16 Chicago 8-6 at Buffalo 7-7

Travis Henry riped our defense for 132 yards, but Green ran for 2 TDs and Halas threw one as we pulled out a desperately needed 28-13 victory. Detroit and Philly both won so we need a win and help to reach the playoffs.

Week 17 Green Bay 5-9-1 at Chicago 9-6

We jumped to a 14-3 lead after one quarter with touchdowns by Green and David Terrell, but Green Bay answered with a Couch touchdown pass and a 91 yard punt return touchdown to take back the 17-14 lead. We managed a field goal late in the second quarter to make the score 17-17 at halftime. We traded punts to start the second half, but then Green Bay put together an 81 yard drive, starting from their 4, before they finally stalled and kicked another field goal for a 20-17 lead. We answered before the half ended though as Halas and Terrell connected for a second time to reclaim our lead at the end of the third quarter. Mike Brown then picked off Tim Couch at their 36, setting up great field position. But a holding penalty and three incompletions forced us to punt it back. We traded punts as both defenses stiffened, but Green Bay then engineered a 9 play, 72 yard drive where they continuously ate up 7-8 yards per play until Couch hit a 2 yard touchdown pass to give Green Bay the lead again, 27-24. On our next drive, we had a 12 yard pass called back by an illegal formation penalty. A couple of completions put us into a 4th and 1 situation with 3:12 left on our 48 yard line. Our coach chose to punt, a call that may be questioned for years to come. From there, Green Bay ran almost all the clock off, leaving us with one last play from our 27 yard line. The pass fell harmlessly incomplete and our collapse was complete, 9-7, out of the playoffs....the third team to start 6-0 and not reach the playoffs.

In the playoffs, Detroit won their wildcard game in Philadelphia, moving on to face Minnesota. In Minnesota, Harrington and Rogers combined to pull off the massive upset, defeating the 14-2 Vikings 27-16. Detroit then went to Atlanta and pulled off another upset, 33-27, earning the right to face fellow wildcard team Tennessee in the Super Bowl. There, the Lions finished off their improbable season winning a defensive struggle 10-9, claiming their first ever Super Bowl. Not bad for a team that started the year 1-5.

<pre>
Front Office Football 2004
2006 Summary for Chicago Bears

Record: 9-7
Winning Pct.: .562

Chicago Bears Team Rank
Rushes 440 14
Rushing Yards 1717 20
Yards Per Carry 3.90 27 (T)
Pass Attempts 505 26
Completions 294 28
Passing Yards 3682 20
Yards Per Attempt 7.29 10
3rd Down Conversions 41.0 19 (T)
Points Per Game 23.0 8 (T)
Turnovers 23 14
Turnover Margin +2 13

Opponents Team Rank
Rushes 422 13
Rushing Yards 1820 19
Yards Per Carry 4.31 21
Pass Attempts 566 26
Completions 326 20 (T)
Passing Yards 3827 17
Yards Per Attempt 6.76 10
3rd Down Conversions 38.3 5 (T)
Points Per Game 19.6 12
Turnovers 25 11 (T)

Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 27 DET 0
2 27 at MIA 24
3 23 CAR 6
4 23 SFO 20
5 21 ARI 17
6 24 at STL 21
8 12 MIN 20
9 9 at DET 35
10 34 at SEA 3
11 35 at GBY 24
12 16 NJY 20
13 17 at DAL 20
14 17 NED 26
15 31 at MIN 38
16 28 at BUF 13
17 24 GBY 27

Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int
6 Halas QB 505 294 3682 7.29 19 15
**Team --- 505 294 3682 7.29 19 15

Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD
29 Green RB 294 1173 3.98 13
31 Morton RB 112 355 3.16 2
**Team --- 440 1717 3.90 16

Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD
87 Gage WR 81 51 777 15.2 82 1
85 Engram WR 84 44 626 14.2 124 4
29 Green RB 65 43 425 9.8 224 1
86 Booker WR 78 41 552 13.4 56 1
88 Clark TE 55 41 456 11.1 140 6
83 Terrell WR 64 26 429 16.5 53 3
31 Morton RB 34 24 176 7.3 115 0
**Team --- 503 294 3682 12.5 887 19

Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn
53 Holdman OLB 109 29 6.0 6 1 4
54 Urlacher ILB 101 35 1.0 3 2 13
30 Brown S 92 37 0.0 1 8 11
97 Haynes DE 56 27 10.0 23 0 0
98 Robinson DT 51 13 6.0 17 0 0
23 Azumah CB 50 13 0.0 0 2 11
43 Green S 45 14 0.0 1 1 6
20 Young CB 45 13 0.0 1 2 4
90 Lee OLB 42 21 1.0 1 0 0
74 Payne DT 33 20 2.5 6 0 0
39 Allen CB 33 11 0.0 0 0 14
48 Neufeldt CB 30 5 0.0 0 1 1
42 Phillips S 22 10 0.5 1 0 1
72 Harper DT 21 10 0.5 4 0 0
**Team --- 865 278 41.0 88 17 67 </pre>

Halas actually recovered from a rough start to post a respectable season, but he played his best when the team was doing its worst. I'm not sure what to make of that. The running game really was not getting the job done, 27th in the league for yards per carry does not get the job done. My initial though was to blame the offensive line, but except for right tackle, all of my starting linemen posted at least 34% key run blocks. Hunter Garrett and Mark Colombo combined for a very lackluster effort at right tackle.

The biggest disappointment this year, though, had to be the defense. It took a very large and unexpected step back to the ranks of average. Haynes, Holdman, Green and Urlacher all provided great performances, but it seems they got little help. Two players absent from the above list are DEs Daniels and Cochran. They split time at left end and combined for 11 sacks.

Our special teams actually had an excellent year. Bidwell was tied for the league lead in punts inside the 20 while posting a 42.6 average. Edinger had his best year yet, hitting 27 of 33 field goals, including several clutch kicks. And Morton returned a kick and a punt for touchdowns, averaging 17.3 and 28.7 respectively.

<pre>
Front Office Football 2004
2006 Awards List

Award Player Team
Player of the Year Domanick Davis NED
Front Office Bowl MVP Boss Bailey DET
Coach of the Year Not Yet Awarded
Legend of the Game Not Yet Awarded
Offensive Player of the Year Domanick Davis NED
Defensive Player of the Year LaVar Arrington SFO
Offensive Rookie of the Year Shawn Elsea OAK
Defensive Rookie of the Year Mack Bradford NYK
All-League First-String Quarterback Steve McNair TEN
All-League First-String Running Back Domanick Davis NED
All-League First-String Fullback Fred Beasley GBY
All-League First-String Tight End Jason Witten DAL
All-League First-String Wide Receiver Charles Rogers DET
All-League First-String Wide Receiver Hines Ward PIT
**All-League First-String Center Olin Kreutz CHI
All-League First-String Offensive Guard Adam Timmerman DEN
All-League First-String Offensive Guard Randy Thomas WAS
All-League First-String Offensive Tackle Jonathan Ogden BAL
All-League First-String Offensive Tackle Damion McIntosh SEA
All-League First-String Punter Shane Lechler OAK
All-League First-String Kicker David Akers PHI
All-League First-String Defensive End Darren Howard BAL
All-League First-String Defensive End Dwight Freeney IND
All-League First-String Defensive Tackle Corey Simon SFO
All-League First-String Defensive Tackle Shaun Rogers DET
All-League First-String Inside Linebacker London Fletcher BUF
All-League First-String Outside Linebacker LaVar Arrington SFO
All-League First-String Outside Linebacker Julian Peterson HOU
All-League First-String Cornerback Samari Rolle TEN
All-League First-String Cornerback Tyrone Williams ATL
All-League First-String Safety Mike Doss IND
All-League First-String Safety Kwamie Lassiter ARI
All-League Second-String Quarterback Daunte Culpepper MIN
All-League Second-String Running Back Jamal Lewis WAS
All-League Second-String Fullback Ovie Mughelli BAL
All-League Second-String Tight End Daniel Graham NED
All-League Second-String Wide Receiver Terrell Owens SFO
All-League Second-String Wide Receiver Eric Moulds BUF
All-League Second-String Center Jeff Mitchell CLE
All-League Second-String Offensive Guard Eric Steinbach CIN
All-League Second-String Offensive Guard Roberto Garza ATL
All-League Second-String Offensive Tackle Jon Jansen WAS
All-League Second-String Offensive Tackle Tarik Glenn IND
**All-League Second-String Punter Josh Bidwell CHI
All-League Second-String Kicker John Hall WAS
All-League Second-String Defensive End Courtney Brown CLE
All-League Second-String Defensive End Mike Rucker CAR
All-League Second-String Defensive Tackle La'Roi Glover DAL
All-League Second-String Defensive Tackle Kenny Peterson NJY
All-League Second-String Inside Linebacker Dat Nguyen TBY
All-League Second-String Outside Linebacker Brian Simmons KCY
All-League Second-String Outside Linebacker NIck Rogers GBY
All-League Second-String Cornerback Ahmed Plummer DET
All-League Second-String Cornerback Champ Bailey WAS
All-League Second-String Safety Shaun Williams NYK
**All-League Second-String Safety Mike Brown CHI
League's Fastest Man Ashley Lelie STL
League's Strongest Man Eric Steinbach CIN</pre>

Dominick Davis had a big season with 2280 total yards and 14 TDs. This was our best showing yet for the season awards, with three players on the list. Kreutz remains probably our best player, he has only allowed 12 sacks in 4 seasons. Bidwell justified the free agent money I spent on him last year. And Brown's 8 picks finally got him the recognition he deserves.

I'm not sure what course we will take next year. A team that I really like suddenly looks very old and average. We have 6 players with 11+ experience, 8 with 10+, 11 with 9+ and 18 with 8+. Looking at our past 6 first round picks is just disturbing. WR David Terrell, bust. OT Mark Colombo, bust. DE Mark Haynes, great player. QB Rex Grossman, bust. CB Jared Caldwell, bust. LB Brant Lee, 95 tackles in 2 years (still hopeful though). WR Junior Ballenger, bust. Geez.

The question now is, do we try to make another run for the next couple of seasons, competing with the reigning Super Bowl champs and a 14-2 Viking team, or we blow this up? One thing I know for sure, we're going to see a major staff shakeup. Our head coach has to go, and our head scout will be right behind him.

[Ryche]

Northern Illinois 2006

I think this year we will be getting back on the positive side of the won-loss record after two losing years. With my first recruits now seniors, I'm hoping for 7 wins, and then a push for the conference title and a bowl game the following year.

Two players decided to leave our team during the offseason. T Martin Hopper was upset with a lack of playing time. That's too bad, he would have been an important backup this year. And DE Corey Perry flunked out of school. Good, stop dragging down the GPA. Additionally, FB Adrian Davis lost his girlfriend. Great, he's one of my best players but a timebomb waiting to happen.

I'm only making one staff change, our syndicate coordinator has to go. Terrible academics, terrible investigations and fair donations. Bleh. Not much to choose from for replacements, but we'll bring in 61 year old Alex Hardeman. He should be able to raise some money and help with the academics a little.

We already have one game scheduled at San Jose St. for the end of the year, so we want an early home game against a patsy. St. Cloud State is happy to oblige and will be our victim week 1.

<pre>
The College Years
Northern Illinois Roster, Scout Overview

Player # Pos Elig Current Estimate Future Estimate
Wynn, Ron 14 QB Sr* 20 44
Ostroski, Wes 17 QB Jr* 23 49
Cooley, J.J. 19 QB So* 23 50
Henry, Jason 15 QB Fr 18 85
Sheets, Joseph 18 QB Fr 15 73
Pinkston, Randy 2 QB* So* 7 7 </pre>

Ostroski looks to be our starter for at least the next two seasons. He played well last year before his early injury. Wynn provides a good backup as he has started most of our games the last two years. Both of the quarterbacks I recruited look good, but raw. Henry in particular though looks like the future here. The only downside with him is a lack of running ability, a trait I like in quarterbacks for our system.

<pre>Burnett, Ralph 38 RB Sr 40 40
Brass, Leroy 36 RB Sr 12 33
Knight, Trevor 5 RB So* 18 18
Tatum, Stan 48 RB Fr 33 72
Wissick, Zach 30 RB* So 8 8
Blair, Kim 33 RB* So* 30 46
Ray, Oliver 34 FB Sr 48 48
Kelly, Eugene 22 FB Sr* 7 19
Davis, Adrian 23 FB Jr* 36 80
Burroughs, Hunter 28 FB* Fr 15 67 </pre>

Burnett and Blair will carry the load this season. It should be interesting to see how Burnett does as the man as he carries a 4.6 career ypc. Tatum looks like his skill level will be similar to Blair's, which is a bit of a disappointment. They'll fight for the starting job next season though. The search for a big time running back recruit will continue this year. At fullback, Davis is an excellent blocker and receiver, but we'll have to see if he can stay focused after losing his girlfriend. Recruiting needs, 1 RB, 1 FB.

<pre>Blackwell, Dana 99 TE Sr 31 44
Shaver, Gino 81 TE Sr* 35 41
Willis, Edwin 89 TE Jr* 35 80
Denman, Barry 84 TE Fr 16 71
Tillitski, Brant 80 WR Sr 53 53
Roosenraad, Harvey 87 WR Jr 35 52
Neufeldt, Billy Joe 7 WR Jr 26 43
Lane, Alex 88 WR Jr 11 11
Rohrbach, Frankie 1 WR So* 28 62
McIntyre, Bill 83 WR Fr 18 70
Victor, Dwight 6 WR Fr 26 44
Richard, Wayne 8 WR* Jr 21 21
Webster, Terry 9 WR* So 11 11</pre>

Willis really emerged last year with 490 yards receiving and should play an even bigger role this year. Denman does not look nearly as good as his future rating suggests. Tillitski has playmaking skills, if he can just stay healthy. I added a pair of nice recruits in Victor and McIntyre, one of them will be a starter eventually, maybe next year. I have far too many receivers though considering I run 1 receiver sets. Recruiting needs, 1 TE.

<pre>Jamison, Willie 76 C Jr* 6 33
Garrett, Cornell 59 C So* 24 73
McConnell, J.T. 53 C Fr 8 41
Wilkerson, A.J. 60 G Jr* 71 84
Gabberty, Grady 68 G So* 14 70
Bessette, Wes 62 G Fr 16 62
Clinton, Freddie 69 G* Fr 10 36
Bell, Conrad 77 G* Fr 6 6
Reish, Les 78 T Sr 37 55
Kroner, Rex 71 T Sr 35 35
Blackwell, Chris 61 T Sr* 61 67
Prescott, Colin 63 T So* 22 36 </pre>

Wilkerson has developed quickly into an excellent blocker, particularly in pass protection. With another year of playing time for Gabberty and Garrett, this line could be frightening next season. Unfortunately, I left myself fairly short of guards. So limited, that freshman Bessette will may get playing time if we have injury problems. Recruiting needs, 1 guard, 2 tackles.

<pre>Sawyer, Leo 10 P Sr 32 32
Cody, Quentin 12 P Sr* 29 29
Seinfeld, Chuck 11 P Jr* 60 60
Maciokas, Donovan 4 K Sr* 54 54
Bensen, D.J. 16 K Fr 28 49
Schulz, Jimmie 3 K* So* 3 9 </pre>

Seinfeld and Maciokas are both solid enough and freshman kicker Bensen is going to handle kickoffs. Recruiting needs, 1 punter.

<pre>Woods, Billy 72 DE Sr 38 47
Brady, Ralph 93 DE Sr 34 36
Garner, Conrad 91 DE Sr* 13 32
Shapiro, Cole 90 DE* Jr 11 51
George, Adrian 79 DE* Jr 11 11
Ford, William 98 DE* Jr* 3 4
Idone, Matt 74 DT Sr* 31 45
Houston, Juan 67 DT So* 40 90
Barfield, Harry 70 DT Fr 10 78
Ledet, Sammie 95 DT* So 10 52 </pre>

Houston looks like he could be our best defensive lineman yet, both against the run and pass. Barfield could end up just as good once he develops, but he'll be redshirted this year. Idone does a nice job against the run. We have a pair of seniors starting at defensive end in Woods and Brady, and not much behind them. Recruiting needs, 2 defensive ends, 1 defensive tackle.

<pre>Cochrane, Grady 40 ILB Sr* 60 94
Francis, Brett 41 ILB Fr 23 53
Carr, Kelvin 57 ILB* Jr 20 56
Morrison, Heath 56 ILB* So* 12 59
Bishop, Roy 49 OLB Sr 58 71
Cash, Gus 58 OLB Sr* 32 56
Hernandez, Clay 55 OLB* So 16 54
Johnson, Dean 43 OLB* So* 17 55
Constable, Corwin 54 OLB* So* 25 25 </pre>

Cochrane has me drooling over his potential, I can't wait to see what he can do in the NFL. 2 seasons, 218 tackles, not bad. Bishop and Cash will start on the outside and we have plenty of talent lined up behind them. Easily our deepest unit.

<pre>McCormick, Sean 20 CB Sr 6 14
Glenn, Stanley 24 CB Jr 39 39
Greene, Corwin 21 CB Jr* 56 67
Harrison, Marcus 31 CB So* 21 29
Collier, Trent 37 CB Fr 18 62
Witcher, Earl 39 CB Fr 17 39
Huskey, David 25 S Sr 8 24
Forbes, Luke 47 S Sr 3 3 Dawson, Victor 35 S So* 20 50
Giles, David 46 S So* 7 26
Sisson, Norman 27 S Fr 24 93
Fernyhough, James 29 S Fr 24 45
Waddington, Victor 45 S* Jr 18 55
Wahle, William 32 S* Jr 8 11

* in eligibility - Player has been red-shirted. * in position - Player is
walk-on. ** before name - Player is in danger of becoming academically ineligible. </pre> 
Greene is a lockup cover corner on one side and Glenn will hold his own on the other. Our safeties are looking extremely weak though, so much that freshman Fernyhough will be my starting strong safety. But help is on the way in Norman Sisson, a potential do it all monster. His lowest potential is 71 for kick returns. CB Trent Collier also has nice potential, so I'm liking my secondary a couple years down the road. Recruiting needs, 1 safety.

Recruiting needs: RB, FB, TE, OG, OT, OT, P, DE, DE, DT, S
Recruiting possibilities: C, K, ILB, CB
No need: QB, WR

[Ryche]

The Season

We opened the season at home against St. Cloud State and got a huge game from the entire team. Burnett ran for 93 yards while Blair added 160. Ostroski looked very good in the first half, hitting 2 TD passes, but then suffered a high ankle sprain that would put him on the sideline the rest of the year, again. Cochrane made some big plays with a sack and 2 picks, one brought back for a touchdown. We won 45-22. We followed that with 3 more wins as my defense kept Troy St., Western Michigan and Kent to 8, 6 and 13 points each.

We were finally tripped up in our fifth game at Bowling Green 42-24 and we then lost a 36-31 shootout at home against Central Florida. The offense loses any explosiveness when Wynn has to play quarterback. Then it comes down to mistakes. We made plenty over the last two weeks.

In week 9, we went to Toledo to face a 6-1 team whose only loss came at Florida St. We played an almost flawless first half to take a 24-0 lead and then withstood a late assault by Toledo's star quarterback, Paul Patterson, to claim a 30-21 win. Our first win over a top 25 team (21st). The defense played huge, holding Toledo to 49 yards rushing, sacking Patterson 7 times, and forcing 3 interceptions.

The next week we lost 26-24 at Eastern Michigan, despite 3 touchdown receptions by Tillitski. 2 were for 35 and 55 yards in the span of 10 seconds. But at 5-3, our goal of 7 wins was well within reach. Next, we used 5 interceptions and 228 yards rushing to crush Central Michigan at home 34-8. Our defense then drug us to a 14-10 win at Ball St., despite only 143 yards rushing and 56 yards passing. So in the final week, we went into San Jose St. with a 7-3 record. The conference title was out of reach, but a win meant perhaps a bowl game? We kept up our end, rushing for over 200 yards more than SJSU enroute to a 28-7 win in our first game in California.

Does an 8-3 record and a 43 rank get a playoff game? Yes, we received an invitation to play in the Las Vegas Bowl against 8-3 San Diego St. SDSU's starting quarterback was out with a broken arm, forcing them to use freshman Roy Rogers in his first career start. Rogers is raw, but my scout rates his potential at 100. He also has a solid running game and a top 20 defense to back him up. That defense came up big, holding us to 100 yards rushing and intercepting 4 Wynn passes. The freshman quarterback threw 3 TDs and 2 Ints, but their offense was pushed along by RB K.C. Linton, who posted 164 yards on the ground. We played from behind the entire game and lost 31-14.

<pre>
The College Years
2006 Summary for Northern Illinois

Record: 8-4
Rank: 44

Northern Illinois Team Rank
Rushes 495 13
Rushing Yards 2055 20
Yards Per Carry 4.15 25 (T)
Pass Attempts 319 56 (T)
Completions 164 61 (T)
Passing Yards 2132 69
Yards Per Attempt 6.68 83
3rd Down Conversions 32.4 83
Points Per Game 25.1 51 (T)
Turnovers 20 61 (T)
Turnover Margin +8 24 (T)

Opponents Team Rank
Rushes 395 37 (T)
Rushing Yards 1226 23
Yards Per Carry 3.10 24
Pass Attempts 357 107
Completions 170 57 (T)
Passing Yards 2032 21
Yards Per Attempt 5.69 7
3rd Down Conversions 28.3 10 (T)
Points Per Game 19.1 23
Turnovers 28 12 (T)

Primary Formation: Power-I Formation

Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 45 STCL (119) 22
3 31 at TYST (76) 8
4 7 WMIC (87) 6
5 20 KENT (124) 13
7 24 at BOWG (25) 42
8 31 CFLA (31) 36
9 30 at TOLE (22) 21
10 24 at EMIC (113) 26
12 34 CMIC (74) 8
13 14 at BALL (107) 10
14 28 at SJST (70) 7
16 14 vs SDST (33) 31

Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int
14 Wynn QB 307 157 2043 6.65 17 15
Team --- 319 164 2132 6.68 19 15

Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD Stff YdLst
38 Burnett RB 127 560 4.40 2 27 39
33 Blair RB 126 674 5.34 4 32 45
14 Wynn QB 106 176 1.66 1 43 160
5 Knight RB 47 234 4.97 0 8 8
23 Davis FB 40 140 3.50 3 4 8
Team --- 495 2055 4.15 14 130 303

Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD
80 Tillitski WR 121 55 1028 18.6 455 11
89 Willis TE 60 32 415 12.9 121 2
23 Davis FB 45 30 203 6.7 91 2
33 Blair RB 40 23 168 7.3 87 1
87 Roosenraad WR 20 7 114 16.2 37 1
Team --- 319 164 2132 13.0 876 19

Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack TFL Ints Defn
40 Cochrane ILB 119 41 7.0 29 3 5
67 Houston DT 57 25 10.0 17 0 0
58 Cash OLB 51 24 0.0 6 1 6
49 Bishop OLB 48 13 2.0 8 2 4
29 Fernyhough S 46 16 0.0 5 3 6
35 Dawson S 44 10 0.0 5 4 6
24 Glenn CB 34 5 1.0 2 3 4
93 Brady DE 30 9 4.0 5 0 0
21 Greene CB 27 16 0.0 4 6 5
72 Woods DE 20 2 8.5 13 0 0 47 Forbes S 12 0 0.0 0 0 0
31 Harrison CB 12 6 0.0 1 0 4
Team --- 626 199 36.0 108 23 41</pre> 
Awards:

Top Defensive Player: ILB Grady Cochrane (WOW)
1st Team All-America: Cochrane
Top MAC Defensive Player: Cochrane
1st Team MAC: Cochrane, WR Brant Tillitski, OT Chris Blackwell, DT Juan Houston
All-America Academic: Blackwell
MAC Academic: Blackwell, C Cornell Garrett

On defense, Cochrane had the best season of anyone in the country. He was fourth in the country in tackles, third in TFL, picked off 3 and forced 2 fumbles to boot. Sick stats and he is now the all time college leader in TFL. And he still has one year to go, assuming he returns. Sophomore Houston was also spectacular in his first season. The defense overall was the main reason we did so well. Finishing in the top 25 against the run and pass is pretty damn impressive. Add in top performances on third down and in forcing turnovers, and it's not surprising we finished 8-4.

Wynn stepped in at quarterback and did a good job running a conservative offense. I never envisioned he would be my main starting QB for 3 season and I hope we don't make it four. But it seems Ostroski can't stay healthy and my other QBs won't be ready to take the reins next year. Burnett and Blair provided a nice one two punch with Blair taking over in the last few games as Burnett was injured. Tillitski finally stayed healthy and had a big final season, leading the MAC in receiving yards and touchdowns.

While we enjoyed our best season so far on the field, we also may have had our best recruiting year. We managed to land our first top 100 recruit, FB Thurman Bush from Normal, Illinois. Distance was a huge concern for him and he's a German major, one of our best programs. We edged out Illinois and Notre Dame to land him. He had 1,540 total yards and 19 TDs his senior season. We also, finally, landed a top 1000 RB, Jumbo Grant from Hanover, New Hampshire.

<pre>
The College Years
Recruiting List, Ranking View

Player Pos HT WT ST NRank ByPos StRank ByPos
$$Grant, Jumbo RB 5-11 177 NH 842 56 5 1
Bush, Thurman FB 5-10 203 IL 87 1 4 1
**Sim, Edward TE 6-3 232 MO 857 39 19 3
$$Campbell, Winston G 6-3 267 MI --- --- 52 7
##Culjat, Hardy T 6-5 251 VA --- --- 55 2
##Poole, Nathan T 6-4 288 TX --- --- --- 20
**Hyman, Ernie P 6-4 198 IL 612 14 24 1
**Cox, T.J. K 6-1 172 IL --- 46 64 3
##Stuart, Darrin DE 6-4 228 OH --- --- 69 9
$$Quimby, Don DE 6-2 232 WI --- --- 27 1
##May, Ronald DT 6-2 242 MO --- 79 26 2
##McElroy, Kendall DT 6-2 261 NH --- --- 9 2
##Knowlton, Herman ILB 6-0 209 ND --- 75 3 1
##Davidson, Paul CB 5-9 154 IL --- 98 74 8
##Conley, Donnell S 6-1 187 IL --- --- --- 6
##Torrence, Eugene S 5-8 179 IN --- --- 44 6

Player All-St All-US Status
$$Grant, Jumbo Yes No Committed *
Bush, Thurman Yes No Committed *
**Sim, Edward No No Committed *
$$Campbell, Winston No No Committed *
##Culjat, Hardy Yes No Committed *
##Poole, Nathan No No Committed *
**Hyman, Ernie No No Committed *
**Cox, T.J. No No Committed *
##Stuart, Darrin No No Committed *
$$Quimby, Don Yes No Committed *
##May, Ronald Yes No Committed *
##McElroy, Kendall Yes No Committed *
##Knowlton, Herman Yes No Committed *
##Davidson, Paul No No Committed *
##Conley, Donnell No No Committed *
##Torrence, Eugene No No Committed *

Rough Estimate of Player Interest: No Prefix - player unlikely to be
interested, ** - a bit of a stretch for your school, $$ - likely interest,
## - almost certain interest. </pre>

Top National Recruits:

2006

1. RB Bubba Dollilole, Uniontown PA - Penn St.
2. OG Clifton Hicks, Fresno CA - Southern California
3. LB J.J. Winslett, Glade Spring VA - Alabama
4. QB Robbie Bernard, Troy NY - Virginia Tech
5. RB Donovan Plotz, Russellton PA - Indiana

2005

1. QB Hardy Buckley, Utah - 56.9%, 2591 yds, 9.52 ave, 22 TD, 18 Int, 219 rush, All Freshman
2. C Lamont Benson, Syracuse - RS3. DE Shannon Rellford, Brigham Young - RS
4. CB Jared Cote, Illinois - RS
5. QB Oscar Mayes, Texas - RS

2004

1. DE Edgar Fisk, Michigan - 26 tck, 7 sck, 8 tfl
2. RB Jamal Newhart, Arizona St. - 1531 yds rush, 4.5 ypc, 256 yds rec, 15 TD, 2nd Team P10
3. DE Seth Buckner, Tennessee - 33 tck, 4.5 sck, 10 tfl
4. OG Timothy Hand, Georgia - 36-80 krb, 3 sa
5. DT K.C. Keith, Penn St. - 53 tck, 2.5 sck, 11 tfl

2003

1. C Harry Middleton, BYU - 16-32 krb, 2 sa, 4 games (elbow injury)
2. OT Scottie Jefferson, Stanford - 48-120, 3 sa, 1st Team AA
3. QB Casey Malone, Michigan St. - Academic Probation
4. OT Arnold Gillespie, Florida St. - 6-28 krb, 3 sa
5. OT Ellis Stevens, Ohio St. - 8 games, 0 starts

2002

1. DE A.J. Cox, Oklahoma - 72 tck, 11.5 sck, 24 tfl, 2nd Team AA
2. CB Adrian Godfrey, Vanderbilt - 1 game (ACL injury)
3. OT Donnell Clancy, Washington - 23-68 krb, 2 sa, 2nd Team P10
4. DE Paul Tuinei, UCLA - 9 games, 0 starts
5. DT Albert Alstatt, Texas - 32 tck, 3.5 sck, 11 tfl, 1st Team B12

National Scene

The big news in college football was Florida State's first loss in four seasons, a huge upset in Florida by Maryland. The championship game saw UCLA defeat Georgia 28-20 to cap off an undefeated season. Locally, Illinois had a great season, finishing 11-1, second in the Big Ten to Minnesota, and crushing Florida State 66-39 in the Sugar Bowl. Illinois was led by Heisman candidate QB Cedric Wormser, who threw 41 TDs and only 7 Ints.

Top 25

<pre> School Record Conf Comp Poll Loss Sched Total Rank
California-Los Angeles 12-0 P10 1.00 1.00 0.00 0.92 2.92 1
Illinois 11-1 B10 3.00 3.50 1.00 0.88 8.38 2
Missouri 12-1 B12 2.00 6.50 1.00 1.00 10.50 3
Miami of Florida 11-1 BEC 6.75 2.00 1.00 1.56 11.31 4
Colorado 10-2 B12 4.00 7.00 2.00 0.28 13.28 5
Texas 11-2 B12 5.75 7.00 2.00 2.12 16.87 6
Georgia 11-2 SEC 8.50 5.50 2.00 1.12 17.12 7
Florida State 10-2 ACC 10.50 3.50 2.00 1.80 17.80 8
Southern California 10-2 P10 5.75 9.50 2.00 1.44 18.69 9
Stanford 10-2 P10 9.00 10.00 2.00 1.84 22.84 10
Air Force 10-2 MWC 8.00 12.00 2.00 1.32 23.32 11
Washington 9-3 P10 10.25 12.00 3.00 1.04 26.29 12
Minnesota 10-2 B10 9.75 15.00 2.00 3.04 29.79 13
Brigham Young 10-3 MWC 12.75 14.50 3.00 0.48 30.73 14
South Bend 9-3 IND 15.00 11.50 3.00 1.88 31.38 15
Army 10-2 CUS 14.00 20.00 2.00 2.16 38.16 16
Texas Tech 9-3 B12 17.50 16.50 3.00 3.52 40.52 17
Hawaii 10-2 WAC 18.75 17.50 2.00 2.88 41.13 18
Virginia Tech 9-3 BEC 19.25 17.00 3.00 3.36 42.61 19
Auburn 10-3 SEC 17.50 20.00 3.00 2.40 42.90 20
Maryland 9-3 ACC 22.00 21.00 3.00 1.68 47.68 21
Syracuse 8-4 BEC 17.75 26.50 4.00 0.40 48.65 22
Bowling Green 9-3 MAC 19.50 24.50 3.00 1.72 48.72 23
Toledo 10-3 MAC 23.75 23.50 3.00 2.56 52.81 24
Boston 8-4 BEC 21.75 29.50 4.00 0.84 56.09 25 </pre>

2 MAC teams snuck into the top 25, including the Toledo team we beat in Ohio. The bad news for us is Missouri is also becoming a powerhouse, giving us some strong recruiting competiton.

The Heisman trophy went to QB Marvin Kayer from Southern Cal. 4139 yards, 47 TDs. Not my choice, I liked RB Lee Jones from Notre Dame. He rushed for over 2000 yards and 20 TDs for the second year in a row and holds all the career college rushing marks.

Quite the season, but I expect next year to be even better. We want our first conference title and perhaps we can even sneak into the Top 25.