Thread: Bears VS Donkeys game thread

Originally Posted by Dagan81

Thanks for the kudos. I'm glad that I came back here after BBPB was banned. He and I had it out, as you might remember, and I just didn't feel comfortable coming onto this site for the past couple of months because of that. I really missed seeing all my DBSters on a daily basis, and I look forward to another season of hard-hitting action.

Let's talk about this, though. Chris Williams is one angry customer right now. An article I read where he was interviewed by a newspaper reporter made that abundantly clear. I feel like Tice is seriously misusing him right now. It's almost as if they are slowly jamming a dagger into his beating heart and watching and waiting for the first opportunity where they can finally get rid of him. He hasn't lived up to the lofty expectations as a first round pick, for sure, but I see no reason why they can't put him back at LG because he was damn good there. I don't know what Brown is going to be like when he first steps in against NFL talent, but if he's as good as everyone says he is, why not put him in at swing tackle and give the LG position back to CWill? Neither EWill or Spencer are as good as CWill is at LG.

I don't know, but my gut feeling is that we have a ton of good interior linemen, but we are paper thin with not enough good/experienced veteran talent at tackle. Consequently, C.Will got screwed by circumstances. Tice probably doesn't feel comfortable playing a youngster at swing tackle protecting Cutler (right or left tackle). Webb just doesn't seem sharp enough to be anything more than a guy who focuses on 1 position. Heck, he has trouble remembering the snap count from the huddle to the snap. But, C.Will is a sharp guy. He can step in at either tackle position and be pretty solid. Not great. But good enough that Cutler won't get killed.

Nobody else on the roster can do this.

So C.Will is in a VERY critically important role this season. Odds are probably good that one of the tackles will not make it through an entire season without injury. If we truly ARE looking for a serious Super Bowl run, then we HAVE to have the tackle position covered by a SOLID swing tackle like C.Will who is capable of protecting Cutler. He may not be great, but he will be good enough. He can do it. Webb can't.

But Webb can be "decent enough" to hold down that LT slot. In fact, I think we could see Webb as honestly better at tackle than C.Will. Doesn't mean C.Will sucks, but just that Webb, at the NFL level, is a tad bit better at tackle THIS year (he sucked bigtime last year).

Anyway, that's my uneducated guess. Who really knows why Tice is doing it this way.

Watching parts of the game a 2nd time, I can see Webb had a few butt-ugly plays (C.Will too). But overall the two did well. Edwin Williams was the same at center. A few bad plays, but overall pretty decent. Both of our lines (D & O) need to clean some things up. They will. You can see the talent there this year. They just need the rest of this pre-season to work hard to improve. They sure worked Webb hard tonight, and I think that is exactly what he needs. Lots of reps this pre-season.

The cat is telling me it's bedtime. See you guys tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Blue Horse-shoe

Unimpressive is one thing . Flat out terrible is another and that's what Brian Price was tonight. He needs to really pick it up in the next few weeks to have any realistic shot of making the team. I'm rooting for him (he's been through hell) but unless they can put him on the PS ............... the guy looks nothing like he did in college.

That bad, huh? I didn't get to watch the game because I don't live in the Chicagoland area. The only thing I know is that the Donkeys led 10-0 at the half. It's a damn good thing that this is a preseason game and that this score wasn't blown up anymore than it was by halftime simply because we didn't play many of our star players. I think that's one thing we can all agree upon.

This whole thing w/Webb is silly. Tice is forcing the issue. His prerogative, he is the OC. I notice nobody has talked of Webb's mechanics. His kick slide is ok but he is playing on his heels. For someone who got posterized by Jared Allen he really really SHOULD dominate pre-season fodder.

Spencer didn't really tear it up. (I missed a series as a link to the game broke) Cwill is a insurance policy and crutch in case Carimi isn't 100% and splitting reps. So you have your best OG playing RT. Then you have the incident that Cwill and Tice had a run-in...imagine that. I think I'd be pissed too.

Tell you what. I'll give Webb a very long leash. He can have all the pre-season games to just do whatever. He can even stink it up. Just like the 2010 line did in pre-season and everyone said "oh you know it's the pre-season" fair enough. But then when the ol' Giants came to town oh did the board ever erupt.

Webb can be helped by scheme, and chipped, and rolled out but eventually....

Originally Posted by short faced bear

This whole thing w/Webb is silly. Tice is forcing the issue. His prerogative, he is the OC. I notice nobody has talked of Webb's mechanics. His kick slide is ok but he is playing on his heels. For someone who got posterized by Jared Allen he really really SHOULD dominate pre-season fodder.

Spencer didn't really tear it up. (I missed a series as a link to the game broke) Cwill is a insurance policy and crutch in case Carimi isn't 100% and splitting reps. So you have your best OG playing RT. Then you have the incident that Cwill and Tice had a run-in...imagine that. I think I'd be pissed too.

Tell you what. I'll give Webb a very long leash. He can have all the pre-season games to just do whatever. He can even stink it up. Just like the 2010 line did in pre-season and everyone said "oh you know it's the pre-season" fair enough. But then when the ol' Giants came to town oh did the board ever erupt.

Webb can be helped by scheme, and chipped, and rolled out but eventually....

Exactly. To help Webb out, you're going to essentially have to pull together a Wisconsin-style offensive line scheme where you throw in two TEs and run the ball about 50% of the time or more. I know Tice is all about running the football and I'm glad that he is with the weather in Chicago being what it is in December, but still, come on! There are going to be times where you are going to go up against secondaries where a five man front is what you need so you can get your TEs free as open receivers rather than strictly being utilized as blockers. There are secondaries out there that are just weak as hell, and I fear that we're not going to be able to take advantage of those situations enough just because of the ineffectiveness of one J'Marcus Webb. Tice's obsession with Webb has gotten out of hand. If he doesn't pan out and at least perform like what I mentioned to JABF99 (Jeff Backus in his prime - a good, not great, serviceable LT), Webb and Tice BOTH need to go, and I wouldn't rule out throwing out Lovie Smith with them if this season turns out to be like last year.

Originally Posted by Chi66

I seriously feel alright about the line. Yeah it's not dominant but this is our first pre-season game. We didn't even gameplan, plus Cutler/Forte never saw the field and Marshall was very limited. I have no doubt that when a team has a weak secondary Tice will capitalize and utilize our WR depth and Forte as well as TE's. We'll have a very solid offense with Cutler actually out there with a gameplan and Forte running over D's. I'm excited for the season, the key players had some great games. I look forward to seeing Jeffery and McC contribute this year whenever they can and I also am sold on Nate Collins, I hope he makes the team and gets some playing time. Hardin had a few good plays and as he settles into the position we have beautiful insurance behind Wright if he doesn't raise his play. DJ Moore is great and Frey had a breakup I thought was pretty nice. Wootton made pressure a few times in a row, he could really help out if he can put up some good numbers and give Peppers some rest. There was another guy at DT I believe who had some plays where he got good penetration, he had a long name or unique name that I can't quite remember. I'm pumped to continue to see these guys in pre-season and then once the regular season starts oh my lets do this.

I don't doubt that the line can be good, but the question is Webb again - will he be able to quit making mental errors long enough to solidify the left side of the line? I think we will be okay at the other four spots on the line, particularly at C with Garza and at RT with Carimi if he can stay healthy. I'm hoping that Tice will move Chris Williams back to LG sometime soon just so we have a grinder in the middle left side who can both run AND pass block. Chris Williams was our best offensive lineman by far last year, and I think it's simply a mistake to keep using him as a swing tackle and misusing his talents that way.

That being said, I feel that with the personnel we have on the offensive line, we can build up a Wisconsin Badger-like offense. The strength of the line is run blocking, and that's what Wisconsin does unrelentingly to its opponents at the college ranks. They put seven men on the offensive line (five linemen, two tight-ends) and grind away at opposing defenses. While you will never see these types of statistics in the NFL, Wisconsin is a team in college that rushes for 245 yards a game and passes for 245 yards a game. The Bears can rush for 150+ yards per game and perhaps pass for 250 yards per game under this offensive system. We have the potential to be an offensive juggernaut within the league if we go about our business the right way.

Originally Posted by Dagan81

Thanks for the kudos. I'm glad that I came back here after BBPB was banned. He and I had it out, as you might remember, and I just didn't feel comfortable coming onto this site for the past couple of months because of that. I really missed seeing all my DBSters on a daily basis, and I look forward to another season of hard-hitting action.

Just put people like that on ignore, and rest assured... once they become disruptive enough... once they flaunt the rules enough... the trigger will be pulled.

And as we head into the r(s)eason we are actually here for, trigger pull will occur more often for obvious trolls, Bears fans or not.

Originally Posted by loki520

Just put people like that on ignore, and rest assured... once they become disruptive enough... once they flaunt the rules enough... the trigger will be pulled.

And as we head into the r(s)eason we are actually here for, trigger pull will occur more often for obvious trolls, Bears fans or not.

Thanks loki. I missed seeing you, too, even though we've had our differences in opinion in the past. How have you been, and how are things on the other side of the world?