Bears Take a Dump on Detroit

Oh fuck yes. Revenge is delightful. The Lions are a bunch of assholes - cheap shots and dirty plays all over the place. Aside from losing Chris Williams for the season (NOOOOO!!!!), this was a statement victory.

Classic Bears win from all the things we do well: special teams, defense, take away's and limited mistakes on offense. Loving Cutler right now. And I guess we shouldn't pay Forte?? I like him running angry...

Now go back to not making cars, Detroit.

That was a pleasant surprise!

Good to have you back, Earl.

Bears 30, Eagles 24.

Our offensive line just dominated that entire game. Pass protection was great (Cutler was only hit ONCE tonight and it was a late hit penalty that saved our final drive), run blocking was great (Forte and Barber: 33 carries for 164, 1TD) and only a handful of penalties instead of the normal barrage of false starts and holding calls.

Cutler played yet another awesome game and looked a lot more comfortable in the pocket with big Earl out there as a safety valve. The Eagles were supposed to have one of the best secondaries ever assembled and we beat them pretty handily. We only punted twice all game (not including the final kick to run clock) and without the Forte fumbles, we probably would have put up even better numbers offensively. No problems converting 3rd downs and overall not a lot of mistakes.

Our defense was also stout - loved the hustle from Idonije and Briggs and really impressed with Peppers' ability to impact pretty much every play (even when he's hurt). Our inexperienced secondary was supposed to be a big question mark tonight but we completely locked down Jackson and Maclin. I really like Tim Jennings out there: fast, aggressive and doesn't give up big plays.

The only cons were the uncharacteristic Forte fumbles and the fact that Hester injured his ankle towards the end of the game, although the severity wasn't clear.

This leaves us at 5-3 with a legitimate chance of moving into 2nd place in the NFC North if we can exact revenge on the Lions next week (now a huge game). They kicked our ass a few weeks back but we're a better, healthier team now with a lot more confidence. If Cutler keeps leading the offense the way he's been doing the past few weeks (minus the TB game, he's had QB ratings of 99.6, 115.9 and 96.9), we should be in good shape. He finally looks comfortable back in the pocket and with Forte keeping defenses honest, we might be able to finally implement some crazy Martz aerial fireworks.

GO BEARS!!!

-KEG

A WR Dynasty?

The ball is superimposed in this image. They had 15 takes where they lobbed it at him for him to catch it when the picture was taken.

So, while the Bears were busy showing those Brits what American football is all about (read: huge financial injustice as Barber's high paycheck mooches carries from the infinitely more productive Forte), I was thinking about Bears WRs.

More accurately, I was watching ESPN 12's in-depth story about Peyton Manning as told by his receivers, and there's a very clear progression: first it was Marvin Harrison who was "the man", then it was Reggie Wayne, and now it's becoming Pierre Garcon. You can clearly see when the WRs are getting phased out of the offense, when guys are up-and-coming, and who excels where.

The same example exists for the Rams (Isaac Bruce -> Torry Holt -> Donnie Avery), the Packers (Antonio Freeman -> Javon Walker -> Driver -> Jennings), the Vikings (Carter->Moss->Rice->Harvin), and the Bengals (Ochocinco -> Houshmandzadeh -> Chris Henry [oops] -> AJ Green) . Sometimes it's not as clear as the examples I have listed above, but there's usually "a guy", and the next in line to take his place.

Sometimes there's a jump in the line (e.g., Berrian's joke of a stint for the Vikings), but generally, there's a visible progression and you can either tell if/when the torch will be passed.

Want to know the last time that the Bears had "a guy?" The last time you could tell who the next Bears WR would be?

Curtis Conway -> Marty Booker -> Bernard Berrian

And that was back in 2004, when Berrian was good. He's been gone since 2007, with nobody to hand the reins to. Want to know what clusterfuck we've been calling WR1 since then?

2007: Mushin Muhammed

2008: Brandon Lloyd

2009: Rashied Davis

2010: Devin Hester

2011: Roy Williams

God help us.

And as for the talent...oh the talent! Whatever happened to Aromashodu (Vikings), Sanzenbacher (WR5 behind Knox, Bennett, Williams, and Hester), and Juaquin Iglesias (Texans)? Weren't these supposed to be our guys of the future, the guys our QBs loved to throw to and wished could see the field more?

As it stands, Cutler is only as good as the talent around him, which other than Forte, is a total joke. Get the man a big WR to hit and some time in the pocket, and watch him turn into a top-5 QB all over again.

Bears / Vikings

Only 2 false starts so far (6:41 left in 2nd quarter)

Spontaneous urge to blog!

The Bears offense looks good!

Martz is calling a perfect game, Hester hasn't dropped any balls, the O-line has been surprisingly solid against one of the toughest pass rushes in the league and most exciting of all, Jay Cutler looks AWESOME for the second game in a row.

I was really impressed with Cutler last week - he literally had no protection at all and still made plays all game long. He extended plays, kept his eyes downfield and didn't really make any mistakes. All this while literally having 1 second to get set.

Tonight, it appears that we're leaving 7 guys in to protect the pocket and it's working quite nicely. Martz can call his 7 step drop / hour-long routes and Cutler is playing well enough to find the open man and make the right throws. We're also using Forte to keep the defense honest (otherwise they would just drop all the linebackers into coverage). I even think I saw Roy Williams make a catch...

Now, it's not even halftime yet and there's plenty of time left to implode, but I'm so impressed with Cutler that I had to blog. Sorry if I end up jinxing us. Jay looks calm, cool, collected and is making awesome throws. I'm amped! Look at this sexy beast:

-KEG

Robin Ventura to Coach Sox

Forward-Forward-High Kick lets him do the flying kick...

Robin Ventura is going to coach the Sox?

I mean, I always liked the guy, and he was a good 3B, but I don't think he's exactly a managerial wonder. It's like saying that Joe Crede should be the conditioning coach simply because he was a beloved member of the White Sox.

Not sure how this is going to pan out, but for all things Ventura, I will always remember this:

Greg Walker Resigns!

I don't know about you guys, but this is probably the best thing I've heard all day!

Many of our younger readers may not remember this, but the Sox used to be able to hit. The ball. Effectively.

Here are the statistics for years that Walker "helped":

2011: .252 BA

2010: .268 BA

2009: .258 BA

2008: .263 BA

2007: .246 BA (worst in the majors)

2006: .280 BA (top 10...a fluke?)

2005: .262 BA

2004: .268 BA

2003: .263 BA

2002: .268 BA

The White Sox, despite spending tons of money on hitters every year, failed to crack the top 15 team batting averages more than once in Walker's career as Sox hitting coach. This is a guy who was so bad that Frank Thomas insisted on going back to Walk Hriniak to salvage his swing. With the exception of Paul Konerko, the Sox have not had a consistent .300 hitter since 2003 or earlier.

This is a team that has had players come from other teams where they were successful and fail horribly after "adjustments" (Rios, Dunn...etc) and has had rookie hitters become unable to hit the ball (Beckham).

See ya!

A Haiku, For You

Cutler is a mope

Martz has some saggy bitch tits

Our offense is bad

Matt Forte is good

Poor guy don't make no money

Still runs like a beast

Gabe Carimi, Jew

Faking a knee injury

For Holiday food?

Hope you found those amusing, could use a good laugh after getting beat up by the Packers at home (although this was pretty funny). Now, I'm going to go place another call into Jerry Angelo's office and remind him that nobody likes him.

-KEG

The End of Ozzie?

For the last time...I TOLD YOU NO ONIONS!

Apparently, this may be Ozzie's last night representing the White Sox. The rumor is that the Sox have a deal in the works to send him to the Marlins (where he can be back with some old friends). I, for one, am wondering how we really got this far.

Let's all keep in mind: Ozzie is the only living manager to guide the Sox to a World Series victory.

That's a hell of a stat for your resume. It's like saying, "Hey, I AM THE ONLY PERSON ALIVE WHO CAN DO THIS." I, frankly, would interview him for pretty much any job if his resume told me he was the only living person capable.

Even so, Ozzie hasn't really done much else to get him on the good graces of the South Side brass. He runs his mouth, maintains a Twitter that rips on whoever whenever, tries to do a reality show, has an asshole son who gets himself into trouble, and Ozzie himself is kind of an asshole.

Oh, and then there's the questionable decisions. The repeated "gut calls" or "non-calls", such as letting Konerko run for himself in games where we're down run, batting Adam Dunn countless times despite his total uselessness, or obsessing over players like Jerry Owens for their speed and not much else.

Even so, when all is said and done, you gotta be able to respect a guy who comes into contract negotiations with this line:

“F--- more years. I want more money,’’ Guillen said. “I don’t work here for years. No, I want more money. Years, what, I’m going to die poor with the White Sox? Hell, no. Listen this is my job. It’s the only thing I can do. I have to make money out of somewhere. I’m not a doctor or a lawyer, where you’ll have a job for the rest of your life.

I mean, that's pretty baller right there.

Ozzie, if this your last game, I salute you.

Update: Yup. He gone!

Please Take Our Shit. I Beg Of You

Fellow readers,

I was recently offered the opportunity to do a giveaway by the fine folks at A&E entertainment. They told me "Hey - would your readers love the opportunity to win some free crap?" and I was all like "Yes I would like --- er, I mean, Yes our readers would like some things."

Then they showed up.

Let me tell you right now that no human alive needs two copies of "The Minnesota Twins 1991 World Series Collector's Edition" DVD set. Likewise, I could give a flying fuck about "Angels Memories: The Greatest Moments in Angels Baseball History." Do I look like a fucking Angels fan? THIS IS A CHICAGO BLOG. COME ON.

But wait, there's more!

What about "Magic in Minnesota - Remembering the 1991 World Series Championship?" I REPEAT - I DO NOT GIVE A FLYING FUCK ABOUT THE TWINS. YOU HAVE NOT DONE ANYTHING IN ROUGHLY 20 YEARS. GIVE IT A REST.

Oh, and then there's "Baseball's Greatest Games - 1986 World Series, Game 6." Yeah, go Mets over BoSox! Or Maybe "Baseball's Greatest Games - Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit?" Bonus points for being recent, but again, who gives a shit?

And did I mention that they sent me TWO OF EACH DVD!? This is the same company that has actual television shows that people watch! You know, ones that AREN'T ABOUT THE FUCKING MINNESOTA TWINS!

So please, I beg of you, take this DVDs from me. Write an email to GepettoZHog AT gmail.com with the subject line "I'LL TAKE THE SHIT!" and you can take some DVDs from me. Because I sure as shit don't want them.

PS - As part of this "giveaway," I must list the Amazon link to the product. Here. Now, I know what you're thinking - you're thinking "THIS HAS VALUE! I WILL TAKE THEM AND RE-SELL THEM!" and you would be right.