Why Brett Favre to the Vikings May Help the Bears Win the NFC North

Brett Favre sure sounded like he would be in a purple jersey on Sept. 13, 2009 when talking on HBO’s Joe Buck Live, which the Favre interview withstanding was quite possibly the worst hour on television ever viewed.

After really thinking about it, I am starting to believe that Favre signing to the Vikings actually may help the Bears win the division.

Favre claims Minnesota is a perfect fit because of “common terminology” used in the offense.

I do believe that the phrase “don’t force the ball into triple coverage” is the same in Minnesota as it was in New York.

Let’s look at who would be the Vikings QB if Favre stays retired.

A couple options are:

 

Tarvaris Jackson

T. Jack can run.  To me, he would be more difficult to plan for defensively because of that added dimension.   

Jackson (95.4) actually had a higher QB rating than Favre (81) did last year.

While only throwing for nine touchdowns, he also only threw two interceptions.  He did fumble a couple times, be’s not as careless as Favre is.

 

Sage Rosenfels

Rosenfels QB rating (79.5) was less than two points from Favre’s. 

Rosenfels turned the ball over a lot, including multiple fumbles in the fourth quarter of a single game against a divisional foe. He really is very bad. It’s safe to say that Favre would definitely do better than him.

 

Favre the Forcer

Even with Adrian Peterson, who is without a doubt, the scariest running back to watch run against your favorite team’s defense, gashing opposing defenses for limitless yards, Brett will still force the ball.  That’s the only way he knows how to play.

It wasn’t a bad thing ten years ago, but the fact of the matter is that his arm simply is not strong enough.

After having his secret arm surgery, I don’t anticipate the arm strength even being the same as it was last season at the beginning of the year with the Jets.

Favre’s thirst for revenge to get back at Ted Thompson is driving this. That is his true motivation.

As a Bears’ fan, I’d be much more intimidated by a TJack-led Vikings team than a Favre-led team.

Chicago Bears’ Madden 2010 Ratings: Are They Fair?

The new Madden ratings are out.  Let’s take a look at how EA has rated the Bears this year.

 

Let’s start with the Tight Ends and Wide Receivers.

WIDE RECEIVERS AND TIGHT ENDS
NUM	NAME	TM	POS	OVR	SPD	ACC	STR	AGL	AWR	STA	TGH	INJ	JMP	CAT	CAR	KR
82	G. Olsen	CHI	TE	82	85	87	64	85	78	85	85	91	89	85	70	5
88	D. Clark	CHI	TE	79	70	82	68	77	85	78	82	88	85	82	70	8
80	E. Bennett	CHI	WR	72	83	85	56	84	60	79	80	93	80	83	70	70
23	D. Hester	CHI	WR	71	99	98	52	97	74	85	70	93	90	73	49	99
81	R. Davis	CHI	WR	69	88	90	48	87	70	84	75	88	85	76	65	61
17	J. Iglesias	CHI	WR	69	85	87	43	87	61	92	74	95	81	84	51	55
87	K. Davis	CHI	TE	64	78	80	60	75	45	80	84	92	82	74	68	10
13	J. Knox	CHI	WR	62	94	96	40	92	29	84	76	90	88	72	65	75

 

Earl Bennett is rated higher than Devin Hester? Huh?  The dude hasn’t caught a ball yet.  I hope Earl is as good as they rated him.

Everything else looks good except Rashied Davis’s catch rating.  It should be 11, not 76.  Watching him play last season was like being at Times Square at 11:59 on New Years Eve. 

He couldn’t catch a cold. 

I don’t think Iglesias should have a strength rating of 43 either.

 

Let’s move on to Running Backs.

NUM	NAME	TM	POS	OVR	SPD	ACC	STR	AGL	AWR	STA	TGH	INJ	RBK	PBK	CAT	CAR	KR
22	M. Forte	CHI	HB	89	90	91	76	91	74	99	85	95	45	55	83	89	65
37	J. McKie	CHI	FB	82	67	70	80	65	88	80	78	86	65	55	64	74	45
27	K. Jones	CHI	HB	72	86	87	70	78	65	76	60	65	43	39	74	75	25
43	J. Davis	CHI	FB	70	84	84	76	78	55	72	75	86	52	46	80	76	40
29	A. Peterson	CHI	HB	69	80	85	73	76	69	81	71	71	22	23	70	76	63
25	G. Wolfe	CHI	HB	69	90	94	49	93	60	70	70	82	25	30	72	76	75

All in all, I think they got this one right.  The Stamina of 99 for Forte is fantastic and deserved.  With Jason Davis’ speed, I expect many will start him ahead of Jason McKie.

Kevin Jones took a hit, but he had very little production last year. 

AP and Garrett Wolfe look about right also.

Next we move to the quarterbacks.

NUM	NAME	TM	POS	OVR	SPD	ACC	STR	AGL	AWR	STA	TGH	INJ	THP	THA	CAR
6	J. Cutler	CHI	QB	87	70	74	70	70	77	90	85	95	97	85	65
12	C. Hanie	CHI	QB	45	66	66	56	64	36	92	84	93	80	66	66

 

I can’t argue with Cutler’s ratings. It seems fair. 

Caleb is rated pretty low! I would have had him over 50 overall at least. 

Absent from the list is Brett Basanez.

Now it’s time for the Offensive Lineman.

NUM	NAME	TM	POS	OVR	SPD	ACC	STR	AGL	AWR	STA	TGH	INJ	PBK	RBK
76	O. Pace	CHI	LT	87	53	59	94	50	90	75	40	40	91	93
57	O. Kreutz	CHI	C	87	60	75	91	55	92	82	95	84	88	86
63	R. Garza	CHI	RG	80	49	67	91	53	78	70	85	88	87	89
78	K. Shaffer	CHI	RT	79	58	70	89	64	84	90	85	92	90	87
67	J. Beekman	CHI	LG	75	51	64	86	57	65	72	90	92	85	80
68	F. Omiyale	CHI	RT	74	52	64	92	49	75	60	85	85	87	79
74	C. Williams	CHI	LT	73	68	88	87	71	56	75	35	45	78	85
72	D. Buenning	CHI	RG	72	48	64	88	50	68	78	90	88	87	83
65	P. Mannelly	CHI	C	63	57	70	84	57	66	55	81	60	70	70
64	T. Reed	CHI	LG	60	47	58	86	46	61	64	75	86	80	76

Pat Mannelly fans may be a little disappointed.  All joking aside, having Orlando Pace will be very nice when running on the left side with Forte.  He should also help neutralize good pass rushing DE’s.

Olin dropped under 90 overall for the first time in a long time.  I would have had Omiyale rated higher than Beekman. 

Shaffer also seems overrated to me ratings-wise.

It’s time to go to defense.

The LB’S look like this.

LINEBACKERS
NUM	NAME	TM	POS	OVR	SPD	ACC	STR	AGL	AWR	STA	TGH	INJ	JMP	TCK	CAT
55	L. Briggs	CHI	ROLB	95	78	84	80	82	92	93	90	96	62	96	34
54	B. Urlacher	CHI	MLB	94	85	90	77	87	95	98	97	93	81	93	60
92	H. Hillenmeyer	CHI	MLB	68	70	78	74	73	70	78	75	90	60	83	27
53	N. Roach	CHI	LOLB	68	83	82	67	76	60	86	85	80	70	73	50
58	M. Freeman	CHI	LOLB	63	84	87	64	83	39	92	85	93	77	69	54
52	J. Williams	CHI	ROLB	57	72	78	78	78	62	75	89	90	70	75	32
90	J. LaRocque	CHI	LOLB	57	75	85	70	78	58	78	80	91	78	63	58

 

Briggs is rated higher than Urlacher, finally.  It still feels that a 94 overall for Brian is far too high at this point of the year.  Newly acquired Tinoisamoa is not on this list, but I anticipate him to be rated higher than 80 overall. 

Is Urlacher really that much faster than Briggs at this point?

Let’s look at the big boys.

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN
NUM	NAME	TM	POS	OVR	SPD	ACC	STR	AGL	AWR	STA	TGH	INJ	JMP	TCK	CAT
91	T. Harris	CHI	DT	92	75	91	86	69	84	87	80	82	66	75	34
93	A. Ogunleye	CHI	LE	83	78	90	73	79	82	70	78	84	58	74	35
96	A. Brown	CHI	RE	78	78	88	74	75	67	70	85	94	67	70	39
73	J. Gilbert	CHI	DT	72	67	87	80	72	50	60	77	95	80	72	28
97	M. Anderson	CHI	RE	71	80	85	72	74	59	80	84	92	90	65	30
98	D. Dvoracek	CHI	DT	69	64	76	88	63	55	65	70	70	67	80	35
94	M. Harrison	CHI	DT	68	64	86	90	68	43	64	80	86	66	74	30
95	A. Adams	CHI	DT	65	54	70	87	61	68	69	74	80	57	74	14
71	I. Idonije	CHI	LE	65	65	76	80	64	68	69	80	88	52	65	25

 

The obvious surprise is how highly Tommie Harris is rated.  Hopefully they know something about Tommie that we don’t.

Also, I anticipated Marcus Harrison to be rated over Jarron Gilbert. 

Izzie Idonije, in my opinion should have been rated higher than Mark Anderson due to his versatility and steady production last season.

The worst rated group in my opinion is coming up next with the DB’s.

DEFENSIVE BACKS
NUM	NAME	TM	POS	OVR	SPD	ACC	STR	AGL	AWR	STA	TGH	INJ	JMP	TCK	CAT
33	C. Tillman	CHI	CB	82	82	88	68	83	85	92	78	89	94	70	67
36	J. Bullocks	CHI	FS	76	85	89	58	85	72	94	82	93	85	64	67
44	K. Payne	CHI	SS	76	85	87	64	84	66	90	85	92	86	73	67
31	N. Vasher	CHI	CB	75	85	86	45	90	76	92	84	90	84	35	80
30	D. Moore	CHI	CB	74	87	88	48	97	56	95	84	94	92	47	78
38	D. Manning	CHI	FS	70	88	92	60	88	64	90	86	93	91	60	57
26	T. McBride	CHI	CB	65	86	89	55	90	61	92	79	94	87	48	51
21	C. Graham	CHI	CB	60	83	87	48	84	59	90	75	88	84	35	64
20	C. Steltz	CHI	SS	60	74	80	65	75	46	95	90	94	78	74	58
35	Z. Bowman	CHI	CB	53	85	87	52	89	50	92	64	61	87	32	65

 

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where do I begin here?

Really?

Josh Bullocks is rated over Vasher and Corey Graham.  Corey Graham is a 60 overall??? I expected him to be a 70 at least.

Bullocks is far too high at 76.

According to this Mark Andersen is faster than Peanut Tillman.  I think they really got the defensive backfield wrong.

Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about Robbie and Brad.

NUM	NAME	TM	POS	OVR	SPD	ACC	STR	AGL	AWR	STA	TGH	INJ	POW	ACR
9	R. Gould	CHI	K	94	55	54	25	52	87	75	65	90	91	97
4	B. Maynard	CHI	P	77	49	48	31	40	96	93	60	85	82	90

 

Brad Maynard got jobbed! One of the best punters in the NFL deserves more than a 77 overall. 

According to this, he could beat Robbie Gould easily in an arm wrestling match.

Speaking of arm, an arm reminds me of a leg.

A leg reminds me of turkey.

Looking at John Madden eating that delicious turducken is making me hungry.

I’m out of here.

Chicago Bears: I Want Plaxico Burress (and Mateen Cleaves) on the Team

Fact: The Chicago Bears need a WR (who has more than zero career NFL receptions).

Fact: The Chicago Bears drafted 19984450.6 WRs (in reality three, plus one undrafted free agent) this year to address the need.

Fact: Even if you super-glued them all together to form one superhuman receiver named Juaquin Knoxkinderpeterman, they would not be as good as Plaxico Burress.

(Insert shooting or leg joke, or shooting in the leg joke here.)

 

Yes, I would like Plaxico Burress to be a Chicago Bear.

He can catch footballs.

He can run fast.

He can jump high.

He can make acrobatic plays.

He can push this team over the top.

Am I wrong to want this guy on my favorite football team despite his legal troubles?

The fact is, in a brilliant offseason by Jerry Angelo, this could be the icing on the cake. I believe the addition of Plax makes the Bears a lock for the NFC North and serious contenders for home field advantage.

While Burress would be an important piece of the puzzle, clearly there is someone else they should pursue as a two-for-one.

 

What will it take to land Plax?

Isn’t it obvious?  The Bears need to make a run at fellow Michigan State University Alum Mateen Cleaves.

During his rookie NBA season, he played in 78 games, averaging 5.4 points and 2.7 assists. Now that stat line may not strike fear in the hearts of men, but there is one statistic still left to consider.

Mateen has equal the number of NFL receptions as 86.7 percent of the current Chicago Bears receiving corps. How scary is that!

While Cleaves is playing professional basketball in Greece, it should be an easy buy out for his contract.

The Bears are only two players away from NFL glory.

JA needs to make this happen.

What Does Nascar and The Chicago Bears Have In Common?

Hmm….

Brad Biggs writes in his daily blog (http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears):

“Team spokesman Scott Hagel said the Bears are exploring the possibility of adding a sponsorship patch to practice jerseys, a move first made by the Tennessee Titans at least a year ago. The NFL tackled the issue at the owners meetings in March and the league granted approval for teams to use patches measuring 3.5 inches by 4.5 inches on practice jerseys only. The Bears will likely approach companies they already partner with to explore the issue before then considering outside opportunities.”

It is rumored that the Bears would partner with Illinois Lottery for the practice jersey patch.

 

Nascar

I throw up in my mouth when I see the Nascar “athletes” with obnoxious Viagra, FedEx, McDonalds, and Orkin patches as they are interviewed on SportsCenter. 

It would be different if Nascar  had  cool sponsors like Yoohoo (the delicious chocolate drink, not the search engine), Bleacher Report, Sonic the Hedgehog, or Yanni.

All Joking Aside, Or Not

In all seriousness, five years from now, will the NFL go the way of NFL Europe and allow corporate patches on game jerseys?

I think this opens up a can of worms, that as an NFL fan, I am not pleased with.

The Chicago Bears jersey is a classic jersey and while small modifications have been made through the years, the idea that there could eventually be a Depend patch on it, makes me sick. I would be embarrassed to go to road games with that on.

 

One corporate sponsor is already taken. 

Kleenex will be sponsoring the Broncos  for their practice jerseys since they just lost their franchise quarterback and many tears will be shed all season. 

So I ask what sponsor(s) would you want the Bears to choose for their practice jersey patch?

 

Jay Cutler Doesn’t Want To Sign Your Autograph: So What

As a long time Chicago Bear fan, I would like to issue a memo to Bears fans.

The memo reads: “Dear Meatball Bears fans, relax.”

Not even two full months after the much maligned and ridiculed (by me in particular) Jerry Angelo pulls the strings on perhaps the biggest trade in Chicago Bears history, I read that small pockets of Bears fans are “alienated by Jay Cutler” because he refused to sign 1,000 autographs at Wrigley Field while taking in a Cubs game.

The fact that he can endure an entire Cubs game without vomiting proves he has a great amount of intestinal fortitude and should endear him to Chicago fans forever. 

Hey, if he can win on Sundays, he can refuse to sign at Red Lobster after paying with a credit card for all I care. 

 

The Culprits

I can picture who the “small pockets” of Bears fans who are complaining are.  They are probably the “fire and passion” group.

You know the ones.

I am talking about the guys that call in to sports talk radio to complain that Lovie doesn’t have “the fire” and that they don’t believe there is anyone really on the other end of his headset. 

They also complain that Brian Urlacher doesn’t show an adequate amount of “passion” and that they want him to be “angrier.”

 

A Solution

Hey, I bet Rex Grossman will sign all of your autographs.  He will also fumble the snap from the center and often throw to people wearing jerseys that are not blue and orange (unless that week the Bears are playing the Broncos). 

Signing autographs is nice, but a laser-armed franchise quarterback who has yet to reach his prime is better.

Plus, Jay showed the “fire and passion” when he wanted out of Denver. 

If that doesn’t appease Meatball nation I don’t know what will.

Jerry Angelo Is No Jackass

In the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears chose WR Johnny Knox. 

Knox is blazing fast.  While coming from Abilene Christian, a D2 school, Knox put on quite a show at the NFL Combine. 

The question is:

Should Jerry Angelo have chosen Johnny Knoxville instead?

Look at the resume:

Blasted with a fire hose.

Bitten by baby alligators.

Tall.

Shot by four men with paintball guns for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

Hit hard in the junk by a sledgehammer.

Won 100 yard dash in the Special Olympics for the movie “The Ringer.”

Has been punched in the face several times for “fun.”

He could go across the middle… and probably be the best option in the slot for the Bears right now.

Finally, let’s look at what the Bears’ current WR depth chart would look like with the gritty Knoxville on the roster.

1. Devin Hester

2. Joaquim Iglesias

3. Johnny Knoxville

4. Weeman

5. Party Boy (w/ boombox)

6. Rashied Davis

While the future for Knoxville in a Bears uniform looks bleak at best, it is possible he will still be invited to rookie mini-camp.

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