Thursday Night Football: Bears @ Dolphins

[CW McGraw]

Quote: Originally Posted by ImTellinTim

What do you mean by "bury the team even further?" I think the current regime is doing pretty well with what they have.

Don't tell me you honestly think this success is sustainable? I don't have any hate for the Bears as a team, but they'll ever be a consistent playoff team under Lovie Smith with Jerry Angelo running the team. Their record speaks for itself. Even when the Dolphins were winning under Dave Wannstedt, I wanted him fired because there was absolutely no way that moron was ever going to coach a team to a Super Bowl win. With every winning season and "strong finish" under Wannstedt, I knew my suffering would be prolonged. All the Bears are doing by winning now is allowing a bad regime to hold your team back.

[BleacherBum2310]

Quote: Originally Posted by DaveDQ

The Bears run D is solid. The problem for Miami was Thigpen. He was running around way too much. He could have stepped up in the pocket a few times but took off instead. Miami could have won that game had Henne and Marshall been in. No doubt. The problem is that Miami is not even average right now. It's not play calling. It's execution. That reverse fumble on the first drive was a momentum killer for sure.

Yeah their RUN D is solid, but when the QB has the same amount of carries as Ricky and Ronnie Did combined, you know that's a bad game plan.

And where was the Wildcat? I know it hasn't been as effective this year but it takes the pressure off the 3rd String QB.

As For the Bears, they have a tough schedule the rest of the way.. We'll see if this is a similar story to the Broncos of last year. IMO I think they will make the playoffs but as a WC team.

[ImTellinTim]

Quote: Originally Posted by CW McGraw

Don't tell me you honestly think this success is sustainable? I don't have any hate for the Bears as a team, but they'll ever be a consistent playoff team under Lovie Smith with Jerry Angelo running the team. Their record speaks for itself. Even when the Dolphins were winning under Dave Wannstedt, I wanted him fired because there was absolutely no way that moron was ever going to coach a team to a Super Bowl win. With every winning season and "strong finish" under Wannstedt, I knew my suffering would be prolonged. All the Bears are doing by winning now is allowing a bad regime to hold your team back.

I'm not in the bash Jerry Angelo boat. He's built a decent team (especially the D) mostly through the draft. Do I like the Mike Martz decision? Not so much. The Rod Marinelli hire was just great. For every WTF moment, there's been good decisions as well. I just think the Bears are in a lot better shape than most teams in the NFL. As for Lovie, he did coach a team to the Super Bowl with Rex Grossman as QB...

I don't think it's easy to snap your fingers and put together an NFL team. So unless they're damn sure they have something better in mind, I'd rather run with what's there than blow it up.

EDIT: Also, LOL @ Wannstedt. Born loser right there. Lovie Smith looks like Vince Lombardi compared to that guy.

[DaveDQ]

Quote: Originally Posted by PackersFan1285

Yeah their RUN D is solid, but when the QB has the same amount of carries as Ricky and Ronnie Did combined, you know that's a bad game plan. And where was the Wildcat? I know it hasn't been as effective this year but it takes the pressure off the 3rd String QB. As For the Bears, they have a tough schedule the rest of the way.. We'll see if this is a similar story to the Broncos of last year. IMO I think they will make the playoffs but as a WC team.

I think Miami's intentions were to play it safe with Thigpen. I thought we'd see more Wildact, but there was zero momentum after that first quarter fumble. Miami had a good return, drove down field and then fumbled the ball. That has been their mantra this year.

As for the Bears, I think they'll compete but they have some divisional games on the horizon. We'll see. They are obviously not a top contender though.

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by Senator Palmer

I've always liked Thigpen and wanted to see him get a real shot. I think he'll play solid, but he has been a 3rd string QB for most of the year with no rep period. It's one thing coming off the bench, anothing thing all together going in as the starter against a Bear defense that leads the league in takeaways. (--are you listening wwharton? a 4-3 d leading in takeaways j/k)

lol, I never said a 4-3 D couldn't get takeaways, I said the Redskins D has been good but HADN'T gotten takeaways... which is why THEY decided to switch to the 3-4. I'm not even saying I agreed with the decisions, just explaining why they did it and that they have improved drastically since making the change.

Quote: Originally Posted by slickdtc

Bears are the ugliest 7-3 team I've seen. I don't know how they did it. They kind of annoy me how they're not just hanging around, they have one of the best records in the whole league. Ew! It'll be interesting to see if they can keep it up. But with cold weather comes weaker offense and more emphasis on defense, and that's the Bears strong point. Getting through the first half and some of the schedule with a good record was big.

This reminds me of the Orton led Bears a few years ago. Grossman was hurt and they were supposed to be terrible but with Orton managing the game and the D dominating, they snuck into the playoffs... and threw Grossman back in there to lose, lol. They ended up in the SB the next year so maybe this is a good sign for Bears fans.

[edubbz708]

Quote: Originally Posted by CW McGraw

Don't tell me you honestly think this success is sustainable? I don't have any hate for the Bears as a team, but they'll ever be a consistent playoff team under Lovie Smith with Jerry Angelo running the team. Their record speaks for itself. Even when the Dolphins were winning under Dave Wannstedt, I wanted him fired because there was absolutely no way that moron was ever going to coach a team to a Super Bowl win. With every winning season and "strong finish" under Wannstedt, I knew my suffering would be prolonged. All the Bears are doing by winning now is allowing a bad regime to hold your team back.

this regime has taken this team to a super bowl before. shocking news huh?

i'd even go on to say that with some draft and FA help they could get better next year, if there's football

[Dewie12]

Quote: Originally Posted by CW McGraw

How can Bears fans seriously be satisfied with their team though? How can you enjoy this season when you know it will allow Lovie Smith and the current regime to bury your team even further?

Lovie Smith brought us to the super bowl with the same formula.

I never understood why people think Lovie Smith is a bad coach. He runs a cover 2 scheme, doesn't blitz a lot, bend but don't break defense that puts a lot of emphasis creating turnovers and everyone running to the ball.

The team does that. He is doing his job.

The problem has been the offense. And everyone knows that Lovie would rather run the ball and punt than chuck the ball around.

I think Lovie Smith has done a great job handling the Bears situation for years. Everyone wanted him canned last year. But I would hate to get a new system in here and watch the defense suffer.

[CW McGraw]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dewie12

Lovie Smith brought us to the super bowl with the same formula. I never understood why people think Lovie Smith is a bad coach. He runs a cover 2 scheme, doesn't blitz a lot, bend but don't break defense that puts a lot of emphasis creating turnovers and everyone running to the ball. The team does that. He is doing his job. The problem has been the offense. And everyone knows that Lovie would rather run the ball and punt than chuck the ball around. I think Lovie Smith has done a great job handling the Bears situation for years. Everyone wanted him canned last year. But I would hate to get a new system in here and watch the defense suffer.

I don't watch every Bears game, but I've heard horror stories of his awful game management decisions. Just this year, the Bears are playing the Lions and he's up by one on the one inch line and goes for it on 4th down instead of kicking the FG. The Bears don't covert. Then, I recall a time near the end of the game tied up against the Vikings where instead of calling a timeout and giving Devin Hester, the best return man ever, an opportunity to run a punt back, Lovie lets time run out and allows the game to go to OT. Once again, I don't catch Bears games very often, but these mistakes coupled with the mediocrity of the Bears during his tenure wouldn't endear me to the guy.