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The Packers seem to be built to own the division for a few more years. The Vikings under Frazier are a franchise on the rise. They will be very competative with the Packers and maybe surpass them as division champions at some point.
The Bears look like the 3rd place team that we are. We will share the bottom with Detroit. Emery cannot change this unless he upgrades the HC.
one, if Minny doesn't get a competent qb they are in the bottom w/Det and Chi. That guy is brutally bad, and the only thing saving him is that OL and AP.
Det is a 2ndry away from being a damn scary team.
Chi is a OL away from being a damn scary team.
GB is a scary team right now.
Of the 3 which is easiest to put together? That's the real question. Frazier did an excellent job copycatting the 9'rs from last year w/a even more limited QB in Ponder; if Smith gets cut I wonder if the Vikes will pick him up?
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Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99
and....?
I disagree, mostly about the Vikings. They put together the season they did this year because AP put up probably the greatest single season performance of any RB ever... and they still needed to get miraculous 3rd down completions on two balls Ponder just threw up to anyone (the sky duck ball that somehow ended up with Jarius Wright and the Jenkins TD that passed right through the GB defender), and some well timed penalties (hands to the face on 3rd down against Williams) to pull out a 3pt win. Add in the fact that they probably won't have Percy Harvin long term (definite friction between him and the organization) and I don't really think they are "on the rise", I think they just had a season where everything fell into place.
All that being said, it was the Bears division to lose at 7-1 and lose it they did. We need to fix the gaping problems and that may need to start with replacing the HC.
I believe Frazier has been a great coach and has a solid team now. It will be even better next season.Quote:
Originally Posted by Riczaj01
Ric, I don't think we got worse. I think Lovie puts this level of team out most seasons. The Division has gotten better. We pretty much stay the same. Sure the names of the players change. Certainly the coaches change. But Lovie puts a product on the field that is not bad, but not good enough to win this division. The Packers organization is built better right now. Less dysfunctional than Chicago.
I don't see us getting out of 3rd place with Lovie here - unless the division would become less talented again. But I don't see that happening with Green Bay or a Frazier-coached team.
Welcome, JohnLew!Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnLew
Lovie Smith teams will always be able to beat bottom-feeders. He puts a decent team on the field. He isn't an elite coach who is going to beat the elite teams, or win a Super Bowl.Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnLew
I disagree about your comment on the Vikings. They are more than just AP. And of course, AP is not going anywhere, and will continue to power the Vikings for the foreseeable future. I admire what Leslie Frazier has done with the Vikes in a short time. They are a franchise on the way up. They will continue to get better.
We will stay as we have been under Lovie Smith, a mediocre to good team. Our problem is that the OTHER teams in the NFC-N have gotten better since Lovie has arrived in Chicago.
Pretty much this. Anyone else in the backfield and 8-8 would be a good season. Without AP they're sitting in third place at best, if not dead last.Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnLew
The point is, they have him. They will continue to have him in the foreseeable future.Quote:
Originally Posted by Evernight
The team was a joke (IMHO) before Frazier arrived. They had AP before Frazier was HC and they were still a joke. Under Leslie Frazier they are a team on the rise. And they could very well replace the Pack at the top in a year or two.
I think we have the 2nd best roster in the division right now. Even with us having the worst o-line.
But unfortunately, our team collapsed in the second half of the season, while the team with the third or fourth best roster manned-up & played their best when it mattered most.
After the San Francisco game, the Bears were never the same. The same thing happened to the '87 and the '91 teams, getting hammered by the 49ers and then going into a funk for the rest of the season.
I think it's a demoralizing thing --- when you're cruising along, thinking you're among the best and then someone just comes along and mops the floor with you. Especially for an older, veteran team.
For the Vikings, just making the playoffs was a huge deal. They played their butts off and deserve to be there.
For the Bears, the sense I got after the 49ers game and for the remainder of the year was that they knew they weren't Superbowl caliber, they knew the problems they have weren't going to heal themselves without off-season changes and that getting to the playoffs just to lose wasn't enough to motivate this team.