ChicagoSportsBlogs : Non Compete

I haven't posted about the White Sox in a long time. I'm been consumed by the Bears and their run at the playoffs. You will have to forgive me. The Hot Stove reports have been flying fast and furious thanks to our ambitious GM Kenny Williams and I haven't been keeping up on my commentary. I was waiting for a big trade to wake me up from the football coma.

Today's trade of Brandon McCarthy, the promising 23 year old right hander from Glendale California has come as a shock to me. There were many teams calling about McCarthy. I'm not blind to this fact. Sox fans have endured almost 2 years of trade rumors with McCarthy as the focal point. Who wouldn't want a young, talented pitcher like Brandon?

It all started in the second half of the 2005 season. Who could forget his performance in Boston in '05? Brandon proved he belonged in the starting rotation. The problem was Kenny Williams went out and signed Javier Vazquez. Vasquez took McCarthy's spot in the rotation as our fifth starter. Javi was inconsistent, and towards the end of the season I started to wonder if McCarthy was struggling because he was coming out of the bullpen. As the Sox struggled to close out the 2006 season, people started to call for Brandon's injection into the starting rotation. He didn't have the best season, and people used his status as a long reliever as an excuse to explain away his struggles.

Earlier this offseason, Kenny Williams traded away Freddy Garcia (I need to vent on that move a bit later) for a couple of younger arms, and everyone took that dose of bad news pretty well. Yea, it was bad news to see a guy who was a workhorse get traded to the Phillies for a AAA pitcher we originally traded for Jim Thome at the start of the season. People shook their heads in disbelief around here. We were robbed on that deal. Sure, send Garcia to Philly for Rowand and one of those arms, but no every day players in that deal meant that something scary was going on in Williams plan for 2007. The only thing that calmed everyone down was the fact we had this young arm, McCarthy, finally with a spot in the starting rotation. Deep down everyone in this town thought McCarthy was our version of Detroit's Verlander.

Now he's gone too, for 3 more young arms that I know very little about. I'm not going to crap on this deal yet, but my hunch is that something goofy is going here. It makes no sense. The deal was too good to pass up, those are William's words. I guess he looks at it like this: He just traded his fifth starter for some young prospects that are cheap. But McCarthy was already cheap, and he had been with the organization for a few years. He had real experience in the bigs. I think we traded the wrong pitcher. (again) I'm looking at a packed Cell, and a team that was only a few games away from sneaking into the playoffs last year get younger, and therefore weaker for next season. Kenny's good will with the fans, which was built up on his great moves to get us a championship will be tested in 07. If this deal goes bad, watch out. It won't be pretty.

This is the face of determination. It is the face of our defense. To be more precise, it is the face of the entire Bears organization. Brian Urlacher is they key to our success. I know it, you know it, and anyone who casually watches a Sportscenter highlight knows this fact. The Bears success in this year's playoffs will be determined by the number of tackles and broken plays that Brian Urlacher can muster.

The 2006 Bears season began with great expectations for the defensive unit. We were a great defense in '05, and with a much easier schedule (at least on paper) this year was going to be a cake walk. The fantastic start Rex Grossman had achieved proved this point. We all know last year's defense was carrying Kyle Orton and with Grossman's early successes the defense had one less thing to worry about.

Unfortunately the old cliche about football being a tale of two seasons is true. Grossman took a turn for the worse and the defense started to fall to injuries. Todd Johnson, Tommie Harris, Leon Joe, Nathan Vasher, and of course Tank are all out. (take the jump to see how the Bears gave this guy another chance) We haven't been able to stop the run very well if at all and I'm forced to look at Peanut Tillman as a leader with Mike Brown's yearly exit from the field of play. Things are not right.

If you need more evidence, look to last week's collapse against the Bucs. Tim Rattay threw for 3 touchdowns in the 4th quarter. Rattay is not Drew Brees. As it stands now, Brees will be joined by Romo, Hasselbeck, Jeff Garcia, and either Eli Manning or Atlanta's Mike Vick in this year's chase for the Superbowl. I won't speculate on which one of those quarterbacks will be coming to Chicago but I'm pretty confident they pose a much bigger threat to our dreams of a championship than Mr. Rattay.

Defense wins championships. How often have we heard that old cliche? If you believe this, then our defense has some work ahead of it. The front four has not been able to rack up the sacks or to keep pressure on the quarterback. Pressure = Mistakes. Mistakes = Turnovers. That simple equation is how the Bears can coast into the big game. The first thing I would do is find a way to get rookie Mark Anderson more plays. He has a nack for getting to the quarterback. I don't know how you find a place for him, with Wally on one end and Alex Brown on the other, but do it. The next thing I would do is get Todd Johnson healthy. We need some help at safety. Todd can get the job done. He hits hard and his effort is there. He knows the position. You either get Johnson healthy, or deal with Chris Harris.

On a related note, the health of the defense is something you will read about for the next 3 weeks. This is typically the time of year when teams start to clinch their playoff position and start to rest their starters. Our starters are either lost for the season or finding ways to end up in jail. This doesn't bode well for our chances. Sound a little harsh? The news today that Tank is being suspended for one game hopefully removes the distraction he caused by getting his drink on.

Its presumptuous for anyone, especially me, to question Coach Rivera and his play calling. In reality the defense is still pretty damn good. Its just banged up. I'd like to see more pressure on the quarterback, fewer yards gained against us on the ground, and Brian Urlacher stepping up like he always does. This time I'm hoping someone tries to emulate his effort and matches his results.

GO BEARS

Offense is Next...

I am taking a different tact here with my Bears coverage starting with this post. I have been slowed down by real life and as a result my writing has suffered. I'm fully aware of this and it is bothering me. I started this site (it's been over 3 years now) so that I could offer up a few thoughts on Chicago Sports for all my friends who have made the mistake of moving away from the greatest city in the country. Game recaps are not my forte. Smart ass commentary isn't my forte either.  I have to find  somewhere to fit. There is a great story that began on the horizon. It was the Bears. After the sloppy victory over our former division rival, the Bucs, the rules have changed. The stakes are high.

The Bears have home field advantage throughout this year's playoffs. This is as good a time as any to change things up around here. If you haven't noticed, even our old friend Shaj316 is back. We're starting to ramp up around here.

The Bears are Superbowl bound and I have a lot to say about it. If there are any Bulls fans in the audience you'll remember the way Phil Jackson saved the team for the playoffs. The regular season is a means to an end. With the playoffs almost upon us, I'm taking the next few days to lay out what I think the Bears need to do to win the whole thing. I'm talking about raising a trophy baby! And this time, I'm going to be old enough to actually go to the parade.

For Tomorrow: The Bears' Defense.

This is the post you want to read if you're a Bears fan. Woohoo! We just clinched home field throughout the playoffs with this victory over the Bucs. The Bears are 12-2 and on a 3 game win streak. We've looked pretty good these past two games, at least in spurts. The first half of tonight's game was great. Ron Turner showcased his ability to call a well balanced set of plays, and the offensive unit executed on it to perfection. Sexy Rexy was back, this time looking for tight end Desmond Clark more often than Berrian. The results were identical to the early season success the team had on offense. It's clear that unlike other teams in the league, most notably the Chargers, the Bears can't let their young quarterback run wild and loose out there. Sorry gunslinger, the check down is your friend.

I'm not doing a game recap on this one. You've got lots of other sites to visit for that. There are a ton of things I do need to cover, and a game recap isn't one of them. There were important things that some of you outside of Chicago probably won't hear about. Take for example the fact we had a 24-3 lead in the third quarter. That isn't a surprise thanks to the box score but the large lead had an effect on the fans in the audience. People were heading back to the tailgate mid way through this game. It was a lock to some people. The scoreboard proved it. Why not celebrate the home field advantage in the parking lot with that case of Old Style? Its as if the poor performances of the past few weeks could be forgotten with a couple of completions to Clarke. I have to just shrug this behavior off.

Tim Rattay did. He came in and dropped 21 points on the Bears defense in the 4th quarter to make everyone who left that game wonder why they broke rule number 1 when attending a Bears game: Don't leave early. No matter what. I'll put the over under of people who were screaming in the Soldier Field parking lot at 15. I could hear them shout, "Why did I leave the god-damn game?! They can't win without me! See!!". As if your presence actually could have solidified the defensive play in the middle of the field. Fan Karma is measured like a commodity being traded on an exchange. When you're in the building, the karma is high. When you walk out of the building, mid 3rd quarter, you're karma is low. By the time you leave to get stuck on Lake Shore Drive traffic, your karma is at zero. Thankfully, most of the fans who left stayed in the parking lot long enough for their karma to eek out a victory in overtime. Thanks for drinking slowly next to your Yukon in the parking lot Big Ted.

Bear Down!

I got an interesting challenge from a very good friend of mine who currently lives in St. Louis:

We need to have a major gentleman's bet on "daaaaaaaaa" Bears vs. "daaaaaaaaaa" loser Rams this Monday night. 

That's just what I need, more pressure during tomorrow night's game! The Bears have had some serious bad press lately. That last one is yet another article by someone who writes as if they are a blogger, except they get paid for it. Clearly, I am doing something wrong with this site. Maybe I should write more like this guy. Drew is talented, because he makes me and about 100 other dorks I know laugh. I promise, I'll rant more if we drop another stink bomb on St. Louis. Speaking of which, back to the Bears:

There are a lot of problems to discuss with this team, and it doesn't always have to begin and end with Sexy Rexy. I'm going to switch it up here tonight and basically give the Rams the playbook for how to beat the Bears. You heard me, do all of these things and you're going to hand the Bears their third victory.

1. Make sure that Tillman is covering Torry "no I in Torry" Holt. There is no question the Bears have a great defense, but with both Mike Brown (again) and Tommie Harris out for the season there aren't many guys left to stop him. Tillman is the weak link. Trust me.

2. Run up the middle. I know this doesn't make sense with #54 staring you down like a mad dog, but this will work. Jackson is a brute of a runner and lesser backs than him have had success running against us. The trick is to do it up the middle. Side to side won't work. Urlacher will own you on the edges. Run at him, and maybe a bit to his left.

3. Don't kick to Hester. This is just dumb to even discuss, but there are guys out there who take 7 or even 10 point leads against the Bears and decide that kicking to Hester is ok with that lead. Its not. Don't do it.

4. Blitz Rex. I told you I wouldn't begin with picking on the much maligned QB, but this isn't rocket science. Sexy Rexy is a HEX. If you really want to win this game, only pick him off once in the first half. This will ensure that Lovie doesn't yank Rex for Griese at the half. You don't want Griese in there any more than Ido (I'll explain later)

5. Stay away from anyone named Manning. The Bears defense is pretty banged up. The only healthy, and actively dangerous players on the D besides Urlacher are both named Manning. Do what you can to just have guys run underneath and avoid either of the Mannings. They can make big plays, and if the front 4 get pressure on Bulger, you don't want him throwing off his back foot at Danieal Manning. Or Ricky Jr.

6. Watch for the deep pass on the first play of the game if the Bears take possesion to start the game. Turner loves to throw deep on the first play. I know it. You know it. Just sit back and watch Sexy do his thing.

7. Hit Benson right on the ball. This hint is for the linebackers getting ready to face what I wish would be the best 1-2 running back combo in the league: Cedric Benson will run you over. There is an easy way to stop his success. First, if he is attempting to slide by you, or put a move on, he will have the ball extend outside his body line. He waves the ball around a bit much when forced to go outside. Hit the ball, and watch him fumble. Second, get coach Turner to call lots of pitches to the outside instead of running between the tackles for Benson. He isn't good at it. The secret to Jones is to just lay a hand on him. He doesn't break tackles very well.

I think that should be enough hints for how the Rams could stick it to the Bears. It tears me up inside to point out all these flaws in our team. This is especially true when I realize we sit atop the NFC with a 10-2 record. The good news is that the list of things the Bears have to do to win tomorrow night is much shorter. It comes down to one thing: no turnovers. Tomorrow night will be a very tough game for the Bears. I'm going on record (again) to say that Rex is getting yanked if he has another 2 interception performance at the half of this game. Griese took some snaps this past Friday and he says he is ready. Lets hope we don't have to find out.

GO BEARS. 

I can admit that I have fallen a bit into a pessimistic state of mind thanks to our troubled QB and his horrible performance last week against the Vikings.

It's almost game time and I realized that I was sleeping on the job. So the answer to my little game in the title is: What it will take for the Bears to beat the Vikings today at Soldier Field. First, if you are at the game, you know that it is FREEZING out there today. You should be wearing warm socks. (I'm looking out for all you loyal Bears fans) Second, Turner has to call a better game. No more throwing down field on the first play of the game. I know Berrian is back, and healthy, but today is not the day for throwing deep. Today is the day you hand the ball off, 20 times, to Thomas Jones. Take the extra 10 deep pass calls out of the play book for the new mistake by the lake, Rex the Hex Grossman and give those possessions to Cedric Benson. The wind is strong and the ground is hard. Run the damn football today. Finally, it will take 17 points for the Bears to beat the Vikings today. 1 touchdown has to come from the defense, thanks to Brad Johnson's interception prone decision making. The second touchdown should be from one of our running backs. I'm throwing in a field goal from "Good as Gould" and there you have it. A Bears victory in the near below zero conditions today to open up the month of December in Chicago! Bears 17-7 over the Vikes.

BEAR DOWN!