The Bears have some serious issues, but they’ve played a murderers row for these first 5 games. Even that easy Panthers game wasn’t nearly as a easy as it looks on paper with Cam actually being good.
Here…
The bears are a 8-8 maybe 9-7 football team. With the dominance of the Packers (ooh writing that hurts.. ) and the emergence of the Lions.. the Bears are average.. and mediocre teams are hard to fix..
Next step.. I’m not sure of Angelo is the guy i want drafting anymore. Major Wright.. the lineman from Vanderbilt.. lack of acquiring a difference maker at the wideout spot tells me that I need to go in a different direction. Ted Thompson just dominates Angelo when you look at drafts and signings..
Let Lance go.. let someone else give him career reward money.. Urlacher deserves to retire a Bear. Pay Forte and steal James Jones from the Packers.. They can’t pay everyone.. and when that guy comes up we have to make a move on him.
The team needs to get faster.. another lineman needs to brought in.. and as much as I love Lovie.. it may be time to go in a different direction.. He did a fine job.. but everything runs its course in due time. Our secondary is old.. and signing castoffs like Merriweather and Roy Williams will not solve the problem..
The Packers just gave James Jones an extension.
Right now, Bears have had the fourth hardest Strength of Schedule, behind:
Dallas (2-2)
Denver (1-4)
Miami (0-4)
Have the Lions beat a good team yet?
No, every team they face will be 1-15.
They won in Tampa and in Dallas. Those two teams are a combined 5-2 in their games not counting vs. Detroit. Those are not easy road games by any stretch of the imagination, regardless of the egg Tampa put up vs. San Fran.
Not really. Tampa is still working on last season’s reputation but they’ve regressed. Dallas was out Miles Austin and Romo and Bryant were suspect to even play in the game at all.
But there’s something to be said for how they’re winning those games, even if they’re games a good team should win. Gotta like the toughness in coming back against Dallas and the swagger to blow out the Chiefs.
They beat the Cowboys, Bucs and Vikes. They were all supposed to be good teams this year. The Bucs are 2nd in their division.
They beat NFL teams, that’s all you need to know. There are no gimmes in the NFL. Last year the Pats went 14-2, one of their losses was a beatdown by the Browns. You gotta be ready every week.
Football is a lot about matchups. If your defense is prone to the run and you face a team with good runners and run blocking. you could lose to a team with a worse record. If your secondary is injured a great receiver could kill you in one game.
Tampa hasn’t regressed. The running game is better, the defense is a bit worse, and everything else is basically the same. We were 3-2 at this point last year (with a significantly easier early schedule) and we’re 3-2 now. Last year, the team suddenly improved after Week 7 when LeGarrette Blount became the starter. This year, the team will suddenly improve around the same time when Tanard Jackson is reinstated.
I still discount the 49ers’ win, but that’s because it was a day road game against a west coast team; even the best teams have trouble with those road trips.
The Buccaneers are one of the six best teams in the NFC; the 49ers might be better.
Packers, Lions, Redskins, Saints, 49ers, and Giants. Personally, I’ll add the Falcons, Cowboys, Eagles ahead of them too. The Bucs are at a -38 point differential, which would rank them as the 2nd worst in the NFC (only to the lowly Rams).
The Redskins are a mirage, and that -38 point differential is entirely the result of one game. The Falcons, Eagles and Cowboys all have losing records.
Like most things in the NFL, there is a big pack in the middle. In the NFC, there are, to me, 2 teams at the top (Packers, Saints), two more a step down (49ers and Redskins) from them. There are 3 teams at the bottom (Rams, Cards, Panthers). And then the other 9 teams all in the middle, neither great, nor really bad. That’s where I put the Bucs. I don’t think there’s much to be gained by debating which teams in that morass are better than which others.
In other news, Brandon Meriweather was fined for the second week in a row for an illegal hit, this one cost him $25,000. With his record last year, he’d better be in line for a suspension if he keeps doing it. That’s your Chicago Bears $3.5 million dollar safety folks.
Sure there is; four of those teams are going to make the playoffs. I’m not sure why you think the Saints are one of the elites. They didn’t even win their own division last year.
It’s not last year. They’re 4-1, with their only loss coming to the best team in the NFC, the Packers. They a top 5 offense and a top 5 QB, and continue to win despite having a negative turnover ratio. I would be surprised by anyone not including them in the top 3 teams in the NFC.
Freeman has as many picks so far this season as he had all of last season, which may be excusable if he were throwing touchdowns. He isn’t. He’s 29th in QB Rating (behind such luminaries as Sanchez, McNabb, Henne, and Grossman). He’s 25th in Yards per attempt. He stinks so far this year. They’ve regressed.
It’s also worth pointing out that Tampa has three wins by a total of 14 points… against teams with a combined record of 3-12.
I’d say they’re about 45 points better, actually. How could you say they “might” be better?
You do know there are 21 other starters on the team besides Freeman, right? He’s actually playing fairly well; the receivers are not, other than Winslow.