Oct 13, 2012; Dallas, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooner tackle Lane Johnson (69) in action against the Texas Longhorns during the red river rivalry at the Cotton Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Cardinals are up next in our Reader’s Mock Draft.  Check out all the results so far here.

The Cardinals had a big swing and miss with quarterback Kevin Kolb and it appears they’ll start over again at the position.     If there was a team with a worse offensive line than the Chicago Bears, it may very well have been the Arizona Cardinals.   The bad news for the Cardinals is that the top two OT’s are off the board in our Mock Draft.  Do they reach for Lane Johnson or do they take the top OG prospect Chance Warmack.  I’ve heard the Cards are sniffing around Carson Palmer with expectations of the Raiders cutting him.  Could they take a shot at USC quarterback Matt Barkley?  Do they try to bolster their defense?  (more…)

Dec. 16, 2012; Glendale, AZ, USA: Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson (21) celebrates a touchdown in the second quarter at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Bears head to warmer climes to face the Arizona Cardinals, their former inter-city rivals.  If they don’t pull off a win, their hopes for a playoff appearance will be dashed and I’d suggest that Lovie Smith and his coaching staff stay in Arizona because they won’t be welcomed back.

The Cardinals are sort of like the mini-Bears – they started off with a surprising 4-0 record before going into a tailspin and ruining a strong start to the season.  Their offensive line might be worse than the Bears’ and their quarterback carousel reminds me of the Bears before Cutler came to town.   Needless to say, those factors make the Cardinals offense abysmal, ranked 32nd in the league.  But don’t go to sleep on these Cardinals either; they went out to New England earlier this season and beat the Patriots.

Their defense and special teams are stellar, like the Bears were before their collapse.  They’re anchored by Patrick Peterson, a legit #1 cornerback who’s expected to be matched up on Brandon Marshall all day.

To help us get primed for this critical game we’ve reached out to longtime friend Scott Allen from Raising Zona for our weekly 5 Questions.  Below are my questions and Scott’s answers.  (more…)

Dec 20, 2010; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre (4) lays on the ground after getting hit during the second quarter against the Chicago Bears at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-US PRESSWIRE

The writing is on the wall in Minneapolis or actually it’s been handed in to the NFL office today! The Minnesota Vikings plan on being a terrible team in 2012, and they have the paperwork to prove it!

The Vikings are the fourth NFL franchise (Miami, Tampa Bay, Oakland) to ask for a reduction in ticket manifest at the Metrodome so that they can avoid home game blackouts this season.  The official capacity for the Vikings  is 64,000 but they will only have to sell out 54,ooo to lift any blackout bands this season.  When was the last Minnesota blackout? The answer is 1997.

The Vikings front office can spin it anyway they like citing poor non division match-ups this season against Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans, and St. Louis Rams, but the experts have predicted a long winter in Minneapolis, and the front office verified these experts by asking for the new rule relief!

The lose lose situation for the Vikings is that any ticket sold over the 54,000 mark has to be shared 50% with the rest of the league instead of the normal 34%.  If the Vikings are really bad, they may be asking for the blackouts anyways?!?

It’s BEARly worth mentioning, but they are our rivals!

DA BEARS!!

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@Lfitzgerald11 layin' the smackdown on Tommie Harris. (Photo courtesy of @cdrobinson83)

I wonder if Fitz was getting revenge on Tommie for the Deuce Lutui fight from last season.

If you come across a cool picture like this, e-mail me at beargoggles.boomer@gmail.com.

BEAR DOWN!!!

Steve Breaston dives into the endzone to make it 14-0. The Cardinals would go on to beat the Bears 14-9. (Photo courtesy of AP via NFL.com)

Things could not have gone much worse for the Bears in their 14-9 loss to the Arizona Cardinals to drop to 0-3 in the preseason.  In the setup of the Open Thread, I outlined three main points for the Bears to follow for me to deem this game a success, regardless of the final score.  None of them went according to plan:

Protect Cutler: FAIL

Cutler and the offense were out of sync all day.  Cutty was dropped 4 more times and picked off twice for good measure.  This O-line is brutal!!!  Do you think Jay misses Josh McDaniels yet?  I bet he would have gladly swallowed his pride and stayed in Denver if he had known he’d be protected by this revolving door of a offensive line.

Defense must get off the field: FAIL

The first string defense was bad.  They allowed Arizona to convert 57% of their 3rd downs and most concerning were more 3rd and longs that were converted.  And this was with Cardinals All-World receiver Larry Fitzgerald in the sidelines and Kurt Warner comfortably in a rocking chair enjoying retirement.  This was Derek Anderson and Matt Leinart carving up your defense.

Get out healthy: FAIL

Lance Briggs left the game with an ankle injury.  I even pointed to the linebacker position as getting thin.  I think I put some bad mojo on them!  I’m not overly concerned about the Briggs injury, but it’s these little sprains that can drag on and impair performance for weeks.

Now it wasn’t all bad.  There were a few peanuts to be found in the turds.

• (more…)

We had a lot of fun talking about the game tonight against Arizona as well as discussing the business of the Bears, based on a Forbes article about how the Bears are missing lots of opportunities to maximize their revenue and a post I wrote about it on my ChicagoNow blog, FIRE LOVIE SMITH.

Have a listen:

[podcast]http://fansidedblogs.net/podcasts/bears/ChicagoNow Radio 8-28-10.mp3[/podcast]

BEAR DOWN!!!

In case you haven't noticed, I am trying to force feed this Open Thread thing. Try it, you might like it. (If you are the creator of this image, e-mail me at bearoggles.boomer@gmail.com)

The Bears face off with the Arizona Cardinals at Soldier Field tonight in the always important third preseason game.  I mean as important as preseason games go.

The Cardinals look like a team in disarray.  With Kurt Warner retiring, it looked like it was going to be Matt Leinart’s turn to take the reigns, but he’s struggled in the preseason, so Ken Wisenhunt will turn to veteran Derek Anderson to see if he can lead this Cardinals offense.

For the Bears, there are three key things that I’ll be watching:

1. Protect Cutler – the offensive line has been facing a media blitz after two disappointing preseason games.  They need to improve, period!  It’s hard to evaluate Cutler and the receivers and see how they’re coming together when the quarterback is running for his life.
2. Defense must get off the field – and by that I mean that they must stop the Cardinals on third down.  The Bears were awful last year and if they don’t improve, it won’t matter what Cutler and the offense do.
3. Get out healthy – the Bears’ depth scares the heck out of me.  Even the linebacker position, which at one time seemed endlessly deep is getting awfully thin.  You add a glut of injuries to the safety position and concerns to the depth at cornerback and you’ve got a recipe for disaster if they don’t come out of this game healthy.

As you’re watching the game, or after the game, feel free to post your thoughts in the Comments.  I’ll try to address what I can and who knows, if you make a great point, I could turn it into a post!

BEAR DOWN!!!