macbob
  • macbob
  • Veteran Member Topic Starter
13 years ago
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/3707116-452/bears-fans-worst-nightmare-hated-packers-figure-to-get-even-better.html 

Bears fans worst nightmare: Hated Packers figure to get even better

DALLAS Other than a Super Bowl MVP award and a share of the Lombardi Trophy, the quarterback has no baggage.

The general manager actually knows how to build a team through the draft.

The coach has enough confidence in his players that he lets them be measured for Super Bowl rings the night before the game.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Packers are going to be very, very difficult to beat whenever the NFL decides to play football again.

The Bears lost to them in the NFC Championship Game, but no one with decent eyesight can say the teams are close. Theyre in the same division, not the same league.

No one can question Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers anymore, not after he torched the Pittsburgh Steelers for 304 yards and three touchdowns Sunday in Super Bowl XLV.

No one can question GM Ted Thompson as a talent evaluator, not after the Packers finished the season with five starters on injured reserve and still won the Super Bowl. Thats called depth. Four of their first-round picks started for them Sunday. Thats called being right a lot. Three years ago, they traded legend Brett Favre so Rodgers could play. Thats called guts.

No one can question coach Mike McCarthy, who didnt flinch when he lost wide receiver Donald Driver and cornerback Charles Woodson to injury during the game Sunday. He found a way to win.

Does any of this sound like the Bears? No.

We all know the NFL is a topsy-turvy enterprise. We all know that success one season doesnt guarantee success the next.

But, man, do the Packers look good.

Optimism reigns

Its going to be exciting, McCarthy said. On paper, its a lot like this year. Coming out of training camp, it was the best football team that I had stood in front of. I knew that we were going to have an excellent opportunity to win the Super Bowl. When you look at our returning roster next year, its going to be the same type of situation.

Life isnt fair, which is why Bears quarterback Jay Cutler forever will have to answer why he sat out most of the second half of the NFC title game. Its a dumb question, considering he had a torn knee ligament and a long history of getting up after taking a beating.

But he was a major topic of conversation during Super Bowl week here, even though he wasnt in attendance. Thats a good indication the debate isnt going away. Its one of several issues Cutler will have to address in the offseason, another being whether its time for him to take a good look at himself. Can he be a better leader? A better teammate? Is it possible his way isnt working?

Are the Bears going to demand he change?

Rodgers, a team player to the hilt, only has to answer questions about whether the Packers are capable of repeating as champions.

Its a challenge, but I feel like we are kind of reloading, he said. We are going to have the best tight end in the NFL [Jermichael Finley] back into the mix here. We are getting, I think, 15 guys back from [injured reserve]. Im sure a number of those guys will be back.

It will be a different team. Every team has a different face to it. Every year, different players, guys come and go, but I think the core, the nucleus of this team, is intact to make runs like this for the next four or five years.

Is Angelo taking notes?

The Bears hardly had any injuries in 2010, and chances are slim theyll have similar luck in 2011. Packers starters missed 91 games, by far the most in the NFL. The odds would seem to favor them having better health next time around.

Bears general manager Jerry Angelo likely is staring at the Green Bay blueprint as we speak, but unless he learns talent evaluation through a correspondence course, hes going to be behind his Packers counterpart.

Thompson found cornerback Tramon Williams, who went undrafted in 2006, on the Houston Texans practice squad. That was Williams breaking up Ben Roethlisbergers last-gasp pass near the end of the game Sunday.

Thompson used a sixth-round pick this season on running back James Starks, who missed his senior year at the University of Buffalo with a shoulder injury. That was Starks tearing up the Eagles in a playoff game last month.

Thompson jumped at the chance to take Rodgers when 23 teams passed on him in the first round of the 2005 draft. You saw what Rodgers did.

People are going to write stories about him 10 years from now, Thompson said. Hes pretty special. Even though hes done so much, hes still just kind of getting started.

Scary stuff for the Bears, or at least it should be.

Chicago Sun Times wrote:

Greg C.
13 years ago
How sweet it is. One thing he might have added is, when he mentioned Starks, he could've pointed out that the Bears were all set to take him in the draft just before the Packers and then Jerry Angelo changed his mind. Instead they took a QB from Central Michigan who did not make the team.
blank
djcubez
13 years ago
Didn't we have 5 first-round draft picks starting? Rodgers, Hawk, Raji, Matthews and Bulaga.
mi_keys
13 years ago

Didn't we have 5 first-round draft picks starting? Rodgers, Hawk, Raji, Matthews and Bulaga.

"djcubez" wrote:



You are correct. I thought there might be an outside chance we started our first defensive play in an odd formation, maybe leaving one of those guys off the field making them not technically a starter but I checked and they all officially got starts.
Born and bred a cheesehead
Mckennj3
13 years ago
Yeah when I first read that I thought it might of been a mistake, but assumed Hawk got the snub from some sort of nickel defence start. As much as we rag on the Harrell pick, I can't imagine any other teams not having one first round flop in the past 5-6 years. While still having the homeruns we did (BJ, Clay, Arod).
We are born naked, wet and hungry. Then things get worse.
Zero2Cool
13 years ago

Didn't we have 5 first-round draft picks starting? Rodgers, Hawk, Raji, Matthews and Bulaga.

"djcubez" wrote:



I think Charles Woodson and Pickett were also 1st round picks who started, albeit by other teams.
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packerfanoutwest (11h) : Jaire Alexander says he has a torn PCL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : Even with the context it's ... what?
Mucky Tundra (20-Nov) : Matt LaFleur without context: “I don’t wanna pat you on the butt and you poop in my hand.”
beast (20-Nov) : We brought in a former Packers OL coach to help evaluate OL as a scout
beast (20-Nov) : Jets have been pretty good at picking DL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He landed good players thanks to high draft slot. He isn't good.
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He can shove his knowledge up his ass. He knows nothing.
beast (20-Nov) : More knowledge, just like bring in the Jets head coach
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : What? Why? Huh?
beast (19-Nov) : I wonder if the Packers might to try to bring Douglas in through Milt Hendrickson/Ravens connections
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : The Jets fired Joe Douglas, per sources
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : Jets are a mess......
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Pretty sure Jets fired their scouting staff and just pluck former Packers.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Jets sign Anders Carlson to their 53.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : When you cycle the weeks, the total over remains for season. But you get your W/L for that selected week. Confusing.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the total and percentage are the same as the previous weeks
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the total and percentage are the same as the previous weeks
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the totals are accurate..nrvrtmind
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : I don't follow what you are saying. The totals are not the same as last week.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : ok so then wht are the totals the same as last week?
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : NFL Pick'em is auto updated when NFL Scores tab is clicked
Martha Careful (19-Nov) : The offense was OK. Let's not forget the Bear defense is very very good.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : Who updates the leaderboard on NFLPickem?
beast (19-Nov) : Has the Packers offense been worse since the former Jets coach joined the Packers?
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Offense gets his ass in gear, this could be good.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Backup QB helped with three wins. Special Teams contributed to three wins.
bboystyle (18-Nov) : Lions played outside thats why. They scored 16 and 17 in the only 2 outside games this year
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : The rest of the NFL is catching up to Packers ... kicking is an issue throughout league
packerfanoutwest (18-Nov) : Packers DL Kenny Clark: We knew 'we were going to block' Bears' game-winning field goal attempt
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : Lions seem to be throttling everyone, but only (only) got 24 lol maybe the rain is why
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : Packers vs Lions game doesn't seem so bad.
beast (18-Nov) : Dennis Green "They are what we thought they were, and we let them off the hook!"
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : comment of the day Z2Cool "Bears better than we want to admit. Packers worse than we think. It's facts."
Mucky Tundra (17-Nov) : my worst case scenario: Bears fix their oline and get a coach like Johnson from the Lions and his scheme
Zero2Cool (17-Nov) : Bears get OL fixed amd we might have a problem
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : Pretty sure they already have scouting reports on guys who aren't even starting for their college team. The future is now for me.
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : I tend to let Gute and Co. Worry about the future.
beast (17-Nov) : That's great news and Packers need to keep upgrading their OL, DL and DBs this off-season, so missing one guy doesn't kill them
beast (17-Nov) : That's great news and Packers need to keep upgrading their OL, DL and DBs this off-season, so missing one guy doesn't kill them
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : Jaire and Evans Williams are both ACTIVE! Good news.
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : The badgers really need to change the whole offensive scheme. No draws no screens plus the quarterback is marginal
Cheesey (17-Nov) : If the Badgers had a decent QB, they would have won. The guy can't hit a wide open receiver
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : chop block
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : there was a very questionable job Block call that upon viewing replay was very borderline
beast (17-Nov) : How so? (I didn't watch)
Zero2Cool (17-Nov) : Badgers got hosed vs Oregon
packerfanoutwest (16-Nov) : damn,he hasn't played since week 2
Mucky Tundra (15-Nov) : poor guy can't catch a break
wpr (15-Nov) : wow. That three different things for the kid.
Zero2Cool (15-Nov) : MarShawn Lloyd has appendicitis according to Matt LaFleur.
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