DaBears - Chicago Bears Message Board and Fan Blog Site - Blogs - gammabears http://www.dabears.com/blogs/gammabears/ Chicago Bears Fan Blog and Message Board en Sun, 19 May 2013 00:30:50 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.dabears.com/images/misc/rss.jpg DaBears - Chicago Bears Message Board and Fan Blog Site - Blogs - gammabears http://www.dabears.com/blogs/gammabears/ Richard Dent for the Hall of Fame http://www.dabears.com/blogs/gammabears/richard_dent_hall_fame-50/ Thu, 03 Feb 2011 23:15:44 GMT

Let me start of by saying that it's a crime that he isn't in the Hall of Fame already. I was so sure he would of made it in a few years ago, but was snubbed. I will never understand why Andre Tippet was voted in before Richard Dent. In the Super Bowl that Tippet did play in was against the Bears and Dent was the MVP for that game. Anyways, enough of that rant. Here's hoping that none of my stats are off.


Here's Richard Dent's Resume to the Hall of Fame:

8th Round Draft Pick (203rd overall)

Years with the Bears 1983-1993, 1995


Stats:

Sacks: 137.5 sacks (124.5 sacks with the Bears)

Interceptions: 8

Touchdowns: 1

Tackles: 671 (641 with the Bears) Source: Pro Football Reference

Forced Fumbles: 37 (34 with Bears) Source: Pro Football Reference


Sacks, Interceptions, and Touchdowns are from NFL.com - Richard Dent


Awards:

4× Pro Bowl selection (1984, 1985, 1990, 1993)

2× First-Team All-Pro selection (1984, 1985)

2× Second-Team All-Pro selection (1988, 1990)

5× All-NFC selection (1984, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1993)

2× Super Bowl champion (XX, XXIX)

Super Bowl XX MVP


Source for Awards: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dent



Taken from Wikipedia. Great summary of his 1985 season.


In the 1985 season, Dent and the Bears had one of the most spectacular seasons in NFL history, finishing the season with a 15-1 record and shutting out both their opponents in the playoffs. Dent was a major factor in Chicago's success, leading the NFL with 17 sacks, while recovering 2 fumbles and intercepting 2 passes (1 of which was returned for a touchdown).


In the 1985 playoffs, Dent was phenomenal, performing in what was quite possibly the most impressive defensive post-season performance in history. In the divisional playoff game in which the Bears hosted the New York Giants, Dent had one of the most dominant playoff performances in history. In the game, he recorded 7 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles. In the NFC Championship Game, Dent, along with teammate Wilber Marshall, provided one of the most memorable playoff moments in history. It was late in the 4th quarter and it had just started to snow.


Quarterback Dieter Brock dropped back to pass, but Dent got there and sacked him, knocking the ball loose. Marshall picked up the loose ball and returned it for a touchdown, a moment that was said to be a perfect end to the Bears' season (at home) and others say that the snow was "Papa Bear" George Halas giving his thumbs-up to the team.


When the Bears went on to defeat the New England Patriots in 46-10 landslide in Super Bowl XX, Dent was selected as the game's MVP. During the game, he shared 2 sacks, forced 2 fumbles, and blocked a pass. Dent made a mere $90,000 in base salary for his efforts in 1985. ($173,000 in 2007 dollars) He was a featured soloist of the "Shuffling Crew" in the video The Super Bowl Shuffle in 1985.


Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dent



I am not too confident about this year, mainly because the Bears aren't going to the show. I just have this suspicion that most of the voters are just haters. That's the only reason I can come up with. He was one of the best defensive ends in the game when he played. That's not an opinion, that's a fact. I would like to send a letter to each of the voters for the hall of fame to let them know that they have been committing a crime every year Richard Dent is not in the Hall. ]]> gammabears http://www.dabears.com/blogs/gammabears/richard_dent_hall_fame-50/ Bears finish the preseason 0-4 http://www.dabears.com/blogs/gammabears/bears_finish_preseason_0_4-17/ Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:05:57 GMT So the Bears finished the preseason 0-4 this year. Does this bode well for the regular season? In my personal opinion, it does say something. That... So the Bears finished the preseason 0-4 this year. Does this bode well for the regular season? In my personal opinion, it does say something. That something would have to be proof. They need to prove themselves they are not some pretender this season. They need to be hungry out there.

Todd Collins looked like he could be a valuable backup for the Bears if anything did happen to Jay Cutler. Let's hope it never comes to that. He went 10/15 for 139 yards and a touchdown. It wasn't good enough for a win, but it didn't certainly help when the Bears defense let rookie Colt McCoy go for a perfect 13/13 for 131 in two quarters. Thankfully he didn't torch the Bears for a few touchdowns.

A few good things I read about the defense was that third string MLB Kevin Malast had 12 tackles, one sack and one fumble recovery. Jarron Gilbert recorded sacks in back to back games. Defensive End Barry Turner had four tackles and one sack. Also, Joshua Moore struggled at first but then settled down and recorded 6 tackles.

Also here's a fun fact, Rashied Davis had 3 catches for 65 yards. He had the most catches by a Bears receiver during the last game. I wonder how he's going to fit in with a crowded WR group. ]]> gammabears http://www.dabears.com/blogs/gammabears/bears_finish_preseason_0_4-17/ Bears shopping Alex Brown http://www.dabears.com/blogs/gammabears/bears_shopping_alex_brown-14/ Sat, 27 Mar 2010 04:45:39 GMT Straight from my own Bears blog, here's my view on the Bears "great" idea of shopping Alex Brown.

I think exploring trade options for Alex Brown would be the dumbest thing to do next to trading Greg Olsen. Alex Brown has been nothing but a solid defensive end for the Bears since they drafted him in 2002 as a fourth round draft pick. He has racked up 43.5 sacks and trails only Richard Dent, Steve McMichael and Dan Hampton on the Bears all-time sack list.


Browns career stats.
Tackles: 372
Sacks: 43.5
Forced Fumbles: 14
Interceptions: 5
Pass Deflections: 36

via NFL.com - Alex Brown


So he doesn't have Hall of Fame stats, but he has been a solid player for the Bears since they drafted him in the fourth round. Brown leads the Bears with 127 consecutive games and it's the second longest active streak by a defensive lineman in the NFL. That streak goes all the way back to the second game of his rookie season. So he's definitely healthy and why give up a player who hasn't missed a game since his rookie season and has put up solid stats since then. Trading or releasing Alex Brown would be a huge mistake and if the Bears end up doing that, it will sincerely piss off a lot of fans. Including me.


Just my opinion.

Da Bears Superfan Blog: Bears shopping Alex Brown ]]> gammabears http://www.dabears.com/blogs/gammabears/bears_shopping_alex_brown-14/ Thank you Bye-Week http://www.dabears.com/blogs/gammabears/thank_you_bye_week-6/ Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:23:09 GMT Thank goodness for the bye week. I for one didn't like it was an early one when I first glanced at the schedule. I think the Bears are blessed with the early bye week. It's a time to heal up, a lot of banged up players including the starting strong linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa. He went down in game one, I really hope he doesn't get too shy when it comes to contact after that injury. Bears need all the ferocity on defense they can get. Ever since Mike Brown left, it just doesn't seem the same anymore. Probably didn't help that Urlacher is done for the season. But so far the Bears have been undefeated since he was put on the IR. Nick Roach has been doing an excellent job filling in those big shoes. It's tough to replace a legend like Urlacher... That's right. I said LEGEND. What does that make Butkus and Singletary? UBER LEGENDS, lol. Anyways, back to the topic at hand. The depth at the LB position has shocked me to be honest. I thought the Bears were done for when Urlacher and Pisa went out in the first game. I really hope the LB Corps continue to produce and really put a hurting on the Packers, Vikings and the Lions.

Guess I'll get down to breaking down the offense, defense and special teams.

Offense - Despite Jay Cutler having a horrid outing against the Packers in his first regular season games as a Chicago Bear, he has put up some great numbers since. After throwing 1 TD and 4 interceptions, he threw 7 TDs and 1 interception. I'd like to call that a great improvement. I am very impressed with his ability to throw on the run and throw the long ball. After doing some research, the longest he's thrown as a Bear was 68 yards. Not bad eh? I would have to say he's better on the run than he is in the pocket sometimes. Which is something he has to do a lot because the line doesn't usually hold up a lot. I'm not knocking the o-line guys, they've done their job. I would prefer that Jay would have a little more in the pocket before scrambling. Another thing I'm really impressed about is Jay's ability is producing game winning drives. The Pittsburgh and Seattle games were nail biters to the end. I have this new feeling whenever the Bears are down in the 4th quarter. It's hope for Jay to produce a drive to win the game. I don't think I've ever had it before. I do wish he is able to score right off the bat on the Bears opening drives. I really hope the offense gets the ball rolling quickly because the Bears just can't live on 4th quarter comebacks. The stress alone for Bear fans would make doctors cringe! Lol. I have a feeling they will start to dominate on the offense very very soon after the bye week. Anyways, here's Jay Cutlers stats.

First game
GB - 17/36 for 277 yards, 1 TD, 4 INT, 43.2 QB Rating

Last three games
PIT - 27/38 for 236 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT 104.7 QB Rating
SEA - 21/27 for 247 yards, 3 TDS, 1 INT 126.4 QB Rating
DET - 18/28 for 141 yards, 2 TDS, 0 INT 100.4 QB Rating (Also had a rushing TD)

So after 4 games 8 TDS, 5 INT, 901 Yards and a rating of 89.3 . I have a feeling Jay will continue to improve overall.

Alright down to the WR and RB's. Coming into the season, about damn near every "sports analyst" said the Bears have one of the worst WR cores in the NFL. Well look at the Bears now! at least 5 WRs have 10 catches or more. Devin Hester is becoming a good WR, making some clutch catches. The rookies certainly have stepped up haven't they. The emergence of Johnny Knox has surprised about dang near everybody. From his touchdown catch in the Steelers game to the 102 yard KO Return for a TD against the Lions. The dude is fast and has some great hands, can't wait to see him later in the season making more great plays. Speaking of making great plays, Kellen Davis, the emerging TE. So far he has caught two touchdowns and I expect a lot more out of him down the road. I just wish Greg Olsen would have bigger numbers right now. I hope he will improve his game after the bye week. Really need it badly.

Now to the RB Core.... Matt Forte sure has been struggling this season. I think it's partly to due to an injury and the o-line not creating enough holes for him to break a big one like he did against the lions. Plus he's not getting the ball as often like he did last year. He was grinding the defense into the ground last year because of all his carries throughout the game. It's going to be really tough for him this year. I think he'll pull through and improve his game. So far he has 71 carries for 271 yards and 1 TD for a 3.8 average. I think without the Lions game his average and yards would be a lot lower. The bye week will be good to him, lots of rest and the o-line to practice creating holes for a truck to run through. Since AP is expected to miss a few weeks and Kevin Jones done for the season, the just leaves Garrett Wolfe as the 2nd string running back. I think the area he needs to work on is pass blocking. Really hard for a 5ft 7 running back to block 6ft+ defensive tackles, linebackers and db's. Especially the one that literally hurdled over Wolfe. Just can't happen. Other than that, he's done his job. I am very very happy he finally got a touchdown. It was the first one of his career and it was a beauty. His stats for 09 currently is 11 carries for 45 yards, 1 TD with a 4.1 average. Keep it up man, keep it up. Bears need your help. I would like for the Bears search for a 3rd string running back this season. I just don't know if that's going to happen though. Well.. for the first four games of the season. I give the Bears Offense a B+. It's not an A because of the lack of scoring in the first quarter and opening drives and because of the slow start to the running game.

Alright, down to defense. There have been many injuries to the defense. Urlacher done for the season, Pisa played once and hasn't played since, Hunter Hillenmeyer has injured ribs and didn't play against Detroit. Israel Idonije had arthroscopic knee surgery on Monday. Pisa and Idonije should be ready to play against Atlanta after the bye week. Bears D really needed this break to heal and work on their game. I for one wish they would just start to dominate in the first quarter. After seeing them give up all those points to the Lions was a little depressing. Lovie and the D always seem to make halftime adjustments though. Which was something they didn't do last year. Another thing they didn't do last year was sack the QB often. Which is what they are doing this year with the help of Hot Rod (Rod Marinelli)! I for one was giddy with excitement when they demoted Babich and hired Rod. After reading up on what Rod did in Tampa , I wished the season would start so I can finally see some dominance on the d-line. Here are the sack numbers for the d-line for last year.

Ranked 22 - 28 sacks for the year. I think that's really bad with all that talent on the line. Right now the Bears are Ranked 3! I didn't make an error.. I said 3! With 14 sacks going into the bye week. I would have to say that's a major improvement! Really hope they keep it up. Need to pressure that QB to force plays and make mistakes. I will give Babich and the D credit last year for being great in the run defense. They were ranked 5 in the league. Pretty darn good when you can't even get to the QB. I don't even want to talk about the secondary play from last year... it was horrid to be honest. Watching QB's throw the ball that much with so much ease made me sick to my stomach every game. They need to step it up this year. I think the addition of rookie Al Afalava starting on defense helped out. He's a fierce player, I can't wait till he get's a pick 6. So just to sum up what I think about this years defense. They deserve a B+. I think they have improved greatly on the d-line, improved a bit in the secondary, but there's room for improvement. I would like to see some hard hitting out there that will make receivers, running backs, and QB's crap their pants.

To the special teams now. Four weeks into the season, I will give them an A. Special teams play is key to winning games. As we have seen in the past with Devin Hester, Daniel Manning and now Johnny Knox. It was a beautiful KO return by Knox, he was untouched all the way. Probably helps when he's fast as Manning and Hester... could be faster imo. Also helps when everyone is blocking their guy and creating a nice gap for Knox to run through. I could go on all day about Knox, but I think a lot of credit is also due to Robbie Gould and Brad Maynard. Robbie Gould has been excellent so far this year, except that stupid choice made by the Coaching staff to make him kick 50+ yards out in Seattle. Brad Maynard has also been excellent this season. 18 punts with an average of 43.9 yards, including a long boom of a kick for 66 yards. He also has 9 punts that have landed inside the 20 yard line. That was key in that Lions game. Pinning an opponent back to the wall is key to winning the game.

So overall I will give the Bears as a team a B+. There's a lot to improve on, which they will. I expect the Bears to go big this season. So till next time, :18_1_205::18_1_205: ]]> gammabears http://www.dabears.com/blogs/gammabears/thank_you_bye_week-6/