Kyle Is Our Quarterback

Lovie Smith has seemingly scotched any rumours of the Bears signing a Free Agent Qaurterback agfter declaring he is comfortable with Orton being the number 1:

I'm a big Kyle Orton fan. I like him leading our football team. He'll do that this coming season. Of course you're always trying to add different pieces to the mix, but Kyle Orton will be leading our football team this coming season.

Over the last few weeks the rumours had abounded that the Bears would target a veteran free agent with the names of Garcia and Warner figuring prominently. Now I don't have a problem if the Bears think they need to bring in competition for Orton though targeting players who are 37 and 38 would have been a retrograde step. They would have only been able to give the Bears 1 or 2 years which defeats the object if you are looking for a franchise passer. The Bears should be looking at youth and not aged veterans.

Two other names mentioned are Simms and Leftwich; question is are they an upgrade over what we have? I think the answer is no, Simms hasn't done enough in the games he has started to convince me he would be a better prospect.

Leftwich, meanwhile, might have a more powerful arm than Orton but he is less mobile; Devin Hester might appreciate that he can ping a ball downfield.

Whilst Orton was not perfect by any means last year he did enough to warrant a chance to be given another go this season. Adding a true #1 Wide Receiver would aslo help as the Bears receiving corps last year was pretty abysmal and if someone was brought in they would face the same problem.

Beardown Blog

There's been a UK based fans site for a number of years now and the guys have embarked on a journey into the blogosphere having set up the Beardown Blog.

Go check it out.

Season Recap Part 4

Season Recap Part 3

Brown On His Way Out?

Elsewhere in the news is the report that Mike Brown is not going to be offered a new deal by the Bears bringing to an end his stay in Chicago.

Brown has been a great player for the Bears, playing with emotion and a fire some other players lacked. The downside to such emotion is his injury record as over the last 4 years he has missed a considerable amount of time. With that in mind I'm not surprised that the Bears have decided to take a different route - though I'm less than convinced that Danieal Manning is the answer.

The suggestion that Charles Tillman is from Corner to Safety has cropped up a number of times in the last few weeks, but as he's our best corner coupled with the fact that Nathan Vasher seems to be a way of his best moving Tillman would further weaken a position that has its question marks. Maybe when Tillman is nearing the end of his career the move to FS would be a sensible one.

Looks like safety needs to be added the list of Bears needs along with right tackle and defensive end.

Tait To Retire?

Several reports have Bears right tackle John Tait retiring prior to the start of the season. If that happens it may just blow a hole in the Bears plans for free agency and the draft.

Tait has one year left on his contract and if he played it would give the Bears a year to think about what they want to do at RT. Not that I advocate leaving a year - I'd rather draft a tackle this season for them to get use to the system and the speed of the league. If Tait does go we'd only have Chris Williams as a contracted tackle and he's essentially a rookie.

Tait looked his years at times last season; why is it that the last 2 years our right tackles have hardly been the bastion of scintillating play?

Whatever happens in the next few weeks it looks like the Bears may have a different starting right tackle for the 3rd year in a row.

Booker Released

Marty Bookers brief return to Chicago is over as he was released yesterday. The move should come as no surprise though as was hampered by poor performances and injuries through out his stay.

A wide receiver was always going to be on the Bears radar as the WR corps was often missing in action last year and this move reinfoces the Bears need at wideout.

Its quite disappointing that Booker never matched his own and fans expectations and I wish him well in whatever he does, after all you can never fault his effort nor his level of performance in his first stay with the Bears.

Bears Should Bring Back John St Clair

As it stands the Bears starting Left Tackle from last year is slated to be a Free Agent when the free agency period starts on Feb 27th.

Now St Clair might not be the best tackle around but he did a very credible job last year, on a line that was expected to struggle, especially in pass protetion. (The line as a unit didn't open enough holes in the running game). I would be looking to bring him back, not necessarily as a designated starter, as he has the flexibility to play both tackle positions and inside. Last year it was thought he may challenge for one of the guard jobs.

I guess it comes down to money and ambition. No doubt after starting last year St Clair sees himself as a starter. There's no way though that Chris Williams doesn't start on the left side this year and though John Tait is in the last year of his contract I can't see him being displaced. Whether he should or not keep his job is a different story as at times last year he started to resemble the previous years incumbent Fred Miller.

Favre Finally Calls it a Day

Brett Favre has finally hung up his boots for good - and probably a year too late. The unedifying spectacle of last years move away from Green Bay damaged his reputation, tarnished a fine career and helped confirm the view that Favre was an attention seeking media whore.

No doubt he will enter the Hall of Fame and rightly so as he has been amongst the top 5 Quarterbacks of the last 15 years. I see on the NFL official website that they have indulged in a discussion about whether he is the greatest of all QB's - which is not a view I subscribe too. In his later years he was as much a hindrance to his team as a help - witness the play off defeats in 2007 and 2008 where his turnovers proved costly.

For the record I would obviously go for Jim McMahon.....ok maybe not, but Joe Montana and Tom Brady are neck and neck.

No doubt some Green Bay fans will accuse me of anti-packer bias, to which I would reply I would snatch your hand off to have a peak of the career Favre as a Bears QB. Plus I dislike the Cowboys and 49ers more than our friends from Wisconsin.

Mancunians Man of the Year 2008

With the season now coming to an end with today's bore bowl (I've sounded off about why I'm not a fan before lets just say reputation often comes before performance) and I thought I nominated my Man of the Year.

After contemplating the choices for all of a few minutes my decision was pretty easy, step forward Matt Forte. Now you might think it should be an obvious choice to go with the rookie but Lance Briggs and Greg Olsen gave Forte a run for his money.

Despite some early game fumbles Olsen became a key component of the offence often creating favourable match ups. Briggs was the best player on a much maligned defence and was rewarded with a pro bowl spot.

Forte, however, was the fulcrum of the offence rushing for over 1200 yards and contributing 477 yards on 63 receptions and combined 12 Touchdowns.

Without Forte, arguably the Bears would have had no offence at all and over the next couple of weeks I'll examine what the Bears need to do in Free Agency and the draft.

Season Recap Part 2

Season Recap Part 1

Anyone any idea how to stop the videos autoplaying?

Bears Sign QB

Whilst I've been away the Bears went and signed a QB. Nope nobody too high profile but Brett Basanez, a Chicago native and former Northwestern Wildcat. After leaving Northwestern Basanez joined another group of cats in Carolina.

He's not seen much first team action, completingt 6 of 11 passes for 56 and an interception back in 2006.

Bringing in competition is something the Bears need to do but I guess when Free Agency officially starts we could expect more moves in the QB market.