Bulger headed to the Ravens. Nevermore!

For all you Bears fans out there who thought that Marc Bulger would be the ideal veteran backup to Jay Cutler, you’d better start working on Plan B.  Or C.  Marc Bulger has agreed to terms with the Baltimore Ravens on a 1-year deal that will reportedly pay $3.8 million.

Bulger will be the insurance policy in case Joe Flacco can’t build on a successful 2009 campaign.  He’ll be competing with Troy Smith and John Beck to be Joe’s backup.

Why couldn’t Mike Martz deliver his former quarterback to the Bears?  If it seems like he’s resigned himself to be a backup, why isn’t he a Bear?  I’ve got 3.8 million reasons for you.

For even more Bears coverage be sure to check out my Fire Lovie Smith blog on ChicagoNow.

After Zampese interviewed with the Bears for the position Jan 12-13, Lewis gave his coach a week to make a decision.

“For us, that time has come and gone as far as the deadline,” Lewis said Monday. “That’s kind of closed up, and I don’t think Lovie (Smith) has made a decision on what he wants to do yet.”

Hue Jackson is interviewing, not Hugh Jackman.

Now add Ravens quarterbacks coach Hue Jackson to the carousel.  No, not Wolverine.  That would be an improvement to the crap that they’re left to sift through for this job.  Just check out the highlights from Jackson’s resume:

- The Ravens’ 2009 passing game ranked 18th, one spot behind – you guessed it – the Ron Turner led Chicago Bears with Jackson mentoring Joe Flacco as QB’s coach.

- Back in 2003, Jackson was the OC of the Washington Redskins.  You know where that offense ranked?  23rd.

- Better yet, how about the 2007 Atlanta Falcons, where Jackson led the Falcons to a 23rd ranked offense as the OC.

Hey, at least he’s consistent.   My guy Decon is calling this whole coordinator search a joke.  Me, I’m getting pissed about the whole thing.  This is such a goddam disgrace, it makes me sick.  It almost makes me miss Ron Turner’s good old predictable bubble screens.

But don’t worry, Tim Hassellbeck thinks Jackson “has a presense.”  Yeah, so does a bad fart.  And this from the guy whose biggest accomplishment is marrying that chick from Survivor.

Maybe that’s how this whole coordinator search should go.  Turn it into a reality show.

The tribe has spoken.

Even though the Bears‘ season is over (sigh), it doesn’t mean football season is over.  Wild-Card Weekend featured plenty of teams the Bears faced this season (5), ex-Bears runners, a crumbling dynasty, an ex-Chicago team and a hated Bears rival in an instant classic.   Here’s my wrap-up:

Jets 24, Bengals 14

Ex-Bears ran wild in this game, especially Cedric Benson, who ripped off 169 yards and a long TD run in a losing effort.  Former teammate Thomas Jones added a TD of his own as the Jets cruised past the Bengals behind Rex Ryan (yes, Buddy’s son) who runs a lot of the old Bears 46 defense.

The loneliest guy in Cincinnati has to be Shayne Graham.  It seemed like every time the Bengals tried to close the gap, he was missing a short field goal.  It’s going to be a loooong offseason for that guy.

The Jets head to San Diego to take on Phillip Rivers and the red-hot Chargers.   (more…)

View of M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday afternoon

On the day after the East Coast was buried under nearly two feet of snow, the Chicago Bears were buried by the Baltimore Ravens, falling 31-7 in yet another humiliating loss.  If you didn’t have the stomach for the game or if you were busy shoveling, here is a link to the lowlights.

After the game, talk of job security and votes of confidence dominated the postgame discussion.  That seems to be at the core of the problem; there is more concern about saving jobs and laying blame for another forgettable season rather than attempting to actually, oh, I don’t know, formulate a goddamn game plan and coaching this team.

In a sequence that is emblematic of the 2009 Chicago Bears, the Ravens miss a field goal attempt just after the 2-minute warning.  The Bears have a perfect opportunity to march down the field to tie the score and build some momentum heading into the half.   The first play was a failed screen pass to Matt Forte, where Jay Cutler had to chuck the ball into the dirt.  The next play is a handoff to Forte.

As the play breaks down and appears to be going nowhere, instead of going down in bounds, Forte inexplicably goes out of bounds to stop the clock.  Now it’s 3rd and 10 with still well over a minute left to go in the half.  Cutler drops back to pass, but as he usually does, runs for his life.  But Cutler also runs out of bounds.  Ravens get the ball back without having to burn a time out.

Ray Lewis led the Ravens over Jay Cutler and the Bears

Ultimately, the play didn’t cost the Bears, as the Ravens stalled in their drive, but it’s just such a good example of the utter lack of discipline and coaching.

(more…)

The Bears were not scheduled to leave O’Hare Friday night on their United Airlines charter flight until 10:30 p.m. The team sat on the plane for two hours before the flight was cancelled. According to a passenger, an announcement was made that there was a mechanical issue, and the team would need to change planes. Before that could happen, the window of opportunity to leave closed and the Bears arrived back at Halas Hall on buses at about 1:15 a.m.

Typically, the Bears leave for road games early on Saturday afternoons. Why the team didn’t try to leave earlier on Friday is unknown. It did not begin snowing until after 9 p.m. and there wasn’t any accumulation on roads until around midnight Eastern.

I heard the Bears couldn’t leave earlier because they used miles to book the flight and the tickets were not transferable.  This goes to show just how fucked up this organization is – they  can’t get something as simple as a flight arranged.   If they knew the storm was set to hit on Friday night, why not load up the old Family Truckster Friday afternoon and get out of Dodge?

There is a possibility that the game could even be moved to Monday night.  Great, another national embarrassment!  Stay tuned for more details.

BEAR DOWN!!!

Second Time Around

Even though it’s Week 14, this marks the first opportunity that the Bears will have to play an opponent for the second time this season.   We know that the coaching staff sucks at making adjustments, but I’m really interested to see how Jay Cutler adjusts to a repeat opponent.  Can he find things on film that he can exploit?  Can he correct for past errors?  Heck, can he just stop throwing interceptions?

Measuring Stick

Three of the final four games are against the NFC North and it’s time to see how we really stack up.  We already have an idea about how we stack up to the Packers and Vikings, but the one that really scares me is Week 17 in Detroit.  It could be a painful wake-up call if we lose to the Lions.  At the start of the season, this one seemed like a slam dunk, but I think we’d all agree that this isn’t the case.   (more…)

New Orleans -13.5 at Rams – A Dome is a Dome is a Dome.  The spread is under the dreaded 14 because it is an away game and people got burned by picking New Orleans last week against Carolina (i.e. Me).  Don’t fear the big points this week – keep pounding New Orleans.  It will pan out in the long run.

Broncos -3.5 at Redskins Having a hard time figuring this one out and that usually scares me away from a game.  The Broncos are coming off two losses and it is time to right the ship.  Playing a woefully awful team is the way to do it.  I’m not letting that hook (.5) scare me away on this one.

Ravens -10.5 at Browns Typically would stay away from a “bad blood” rivalry, but this time around, the scales are too heavily tipped Baltimore’s way.  For crying out loud, the Bears beat Cleveland by 24 – you don’t think that Baltimore’s Defense will shut down the Brownies?  Think of it like this: how many points will Cleveland score?  Most – probably 10.  Do you think that Baltimore’s offense can put up 21 or more points?  Well then, load up.

Season Total 19-18

The Bears’ next 4 opponents are all in the playoff picture.  The course for the season will be set by the time the calendar hits December.  If the Bears can’t get through this next stretch at least 2-2, start booking your January tee times gang.  Let’s take a look at this critical stretch:

Cardinals 4-3

Kurt Warner brings the high-flying aerial attack of the defending NFC champs to town.  The Cards come to town after a discouraging home loss to the underachieving Carolina Panthers squad.  The Cards have been nearly as erratic as the Bears this season.  This is exactly the kind of game the Bears have to win.  We’ll take a closer look at how they’re supposed to go about doing that, but for now, let’s just say we need this one.  (more…)