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NFL: Bears could clinch this weekend

cycloneworld

cycloneworld

Facebook Knows All
Mar 20, 2006
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Urbandale, IA
If the Packers lose at NE (and it looks like Rodgers won't play) and the Bears win at Minnesota, the Bears clinch the NFC North.

Prior to the season, with Minnesota and Green Bay looking like championship caliber teams, I was just hoping Chicago would keep it respectable this year. The coaching staff (especially Martz) has been very good, except for Lovie's ability to challenge. They are leading the division with by far the worst offensive line in the NFL.

Looking forward to football this weekend!
 
What a crazy season the Bears have experienced. A lot of people thought Lovie would be the first coach to be fired, the debacle with the O line early in the year had Bears fans losing their minds and yet with 3 weeks to go the Bears are in position to clinch the division! I love Chicago and love rooting for their teams (not the north side team though and the Steelers are my favorite NFL team) so this has been a fun fall for football.

I wonder if Lovie will get an extension based off this season?
 
Too bad, the Packers looked so good there for about two games.
 
CTTB78 said:
Too bad, the Packers looked so good there for about two games.
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I really think that even though the Packers were a game back (still are), they controlled the division until their loss to the Lions last week. The Bears schedule to close out the season is brutal....last 4 games: NE, @Minn, Jets, @ GB. And if the Packers and Bears matched wins/losses, the game at Lambeau in Week 17 could have (still could I guess) decided the division.

Now the Packers have to go on the road to the hottest team in the NFL with Matt Flynn likely starting and the Bears are playing Minnesota in a climate they aren't used to likely against their 3rd string QB.
 
The Bears are just winning the battle of attrition. I still think a healthy GB team is the best in the North (maybe the NFC), but we have just been decimated by injuries this year. That said, for the first this year, GO VIKINGS!!!
 
RayShimley said:
The Bears are just winning the battle of attrition. I still think a healthy GB team is the best in the North (maybe the NFC), but we have just been decimated by injuries this year. That said, for the first this year, GO VIKINGS!!!
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I'll agree, the Packers are the best team when healthy, but I'll take the division, nonetheless. :smile:
 
This isn't meant to diminish the position the Bears are in at this point, they've got the W's on the board. But wow have things gone right for them this year.

-Injury free
-The opening game against Detroit
-Playing a team that is starting a third string or rookie QB for the 4th time this season
-Home for ALL of their tough games (NE, NYJ, Philly), where Packers have road games (@ATL, @NYJ, @NE, @Philly)
-Their two floater NFC games they got to play Carolina and Seattle
-Etc., etc.

I expect a quick exit from the playoffs for them. If the Packers manage to make it, probably much the same with the lack of firepower left on their roster.
 
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jtd9046 said:
This isn't meant to diminish the position the Bears are in at this point, they've got the W's on the board. But wow have things gone right for them this year.

-Injury free
-The opening game against Detroit
-Playing a team that is starting a third string or rookie QB for the 4th time this season
-Home for ALL of their tough games (NE, NYJ, Philly), where Packers have road games (@ATL, @NYJ, @NE, @Philly)
-Etc., etc.
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I agree but don't forget the Bears have adjusted well to having a horrible OL and WRs that are nothing special.

I never would have thought the Bears would have finished ahead of the Packers though...as someone stated earlier, for a two/three week stretch the Pack looked Super Bowl bound!
 
I love the Bears but we are definitely getting the breaks this year. We are super healthy, the Calvin call in week 1, Pack with 18 penalties in week 3, losing Cutler for a week and having that game be against Carolina, playing the Bills on basically a neutral site, Miami with Thigpen at QB, Detroit with Stanton at QB, the huge Rodgers injury and loss to Detroit the day the Bears get decimated and now the Joe Webb experience on Monday.

There's nothing to apologize for in getting some breaks or even a lot of breaks. Until last week they were improving each game. They will be a tough out in the playoffs, unless the line goes "first half of the Giants game" on us. Last week showed that we probably don't have a SB champ on our hands.

Lastly, don't extend Lovie. Make him do it again next year before you lavish him with another contract. Before the year he was unfireable b/c he was too expensive to fire. Let's hope Ginny McCaskey remembers this. She's a huge Lovie fan.
 
It's going to be a beatdown at TCF Bank on Monday Night. Vikings 30, Bears 10. The Bears won't even get past the Vikings 20, let alone get into the endzone, until the last minute of the game.
 
Neckbeard said:
There's nothing to apologize for in getting some breaks or even a lot of breaks. Until last week they were improving each game. They will be a tough out in the playoffs, unless the line goes "first half of the Giants game" on us.
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I'm a huge Bears fan, and I've been thrilled that they have exceeded expectations this season. That said, I've been fairly luke warm on this team for the most part. My excitement probably peaked before the Pats game last weekend, and it was quickly doused by the time the 1st quarter had ended. I didn't expect a win but the Bears absolutely laid down on their homefield in the middle of a playoff hunt.

I'll be fired up for the playoffs if the Bears take care of business and clinch it, but I have to disagree that the Bears will be a tough out. The defense seems to have lost a little bit of its edge in the past few weeks, and this team is nothing without that. A good QB can sit back and pick this defense apart at will, and the Bears will need some very favorable matchups to make any noise in the postseason.
 
psychlone99 said:
I'm a huge Bears fan, and I've been thrilled that they have exceeded expectations this season. That said, I've been fairly luke warm on this team for the most part. My excitement probably peaked before the Pats game last weekend, and it was quickly doused by the time the 1st quarter had ended. I didn't expect a win but the Bears absolutely laid down on their homefield in the middle of a playoff hunt.

I'll be fired up for the playoffs if the Bears take care of business and clinch it, but I have to disagree that the Bears will be a tough out. The defense seems to have lost a little bit of its edge in the past few weeks, and this team is nothing without that. A good QB can sit back and pick this defense apart at will, and the Bears will need some very favorable matchups to make any noise in the postseason.
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I don't blame you a bit for being uncertain with these guys. The reason I think they will be a tough out is the way that they play. The Bears have a unique ability to "ugly up" a game against talented teams. With turnovers and good special teams (returns and punts) they are constantly flipping the field and setting themselves up with scoring chances. Some people call it luck but they have done it so many times that it has to count for something. Jay and the line can go ahead and put us out of it if they decide not to pick up blitzes.

The Pats game sucked but there isn't an offense like that in the NFC. Brady and his jockey-sized receiving corp are the perfect answer to the Cover 2 and we aren't fast enough to cover them in man. We aren't built to play man. It doesn't change my feeling a whole lot about how they stack up in the NFC. If we win the division we will get a home game whether it be in the Wild Card or hopefully the bye and the divisional round.
 
Neckbeard said:
I love the Bears but we are definitely getting the breaks this year. We are super healthy, the Calvin call in week 1, Pack with 18 penalties in week 3, losing Cutler for a week and having that game be against Carolina, playing the Bills on basically a neutral site, Miami with Thigpen at QB, Detroit with Stanton at QB, the huge Rodgers injury and loss to Detroit the day the Bears get decimated and now the Joe Webb experience on Monday.

There's nothing to apologize for in getting some breaks or even a lot of breaks. Until last week they were improving each game. They will be a tough out in the playoffs, unless the line goes "first half of the Giants game" on us. Last week showed that we probably don't have a SB champ on our hands.

Lastly, don't extend Lovie. Make him do it again next year before you lavish him with another contract. Before the year he was unfireable b/c he was too expensive to fire. Let's hope Ginny McCaskey remembers this. She's a huge Lovie fan.
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OK, maybe this is coming from a Viking fan perspective, but the Bears are not yet assured of even being in the playoffs. If the Vikings pull a rabbit out of their hat with Webb (concede it's a huge if), things could get dicey even if the Pats also win as I expect this week.

The thing that Bear fans should be concerned about is that Webb is a freak of an athlete and from the sounds of reports out of Minnesota is naive enough to believe that he can get the job done. If the Viking defense can force Cutler into one of his turd games, it could be an interesting game on the hopefully thawed frozen tundra.
 
The Bears have had more than their fair share of seasons destroyed by injuries. They are due for a healthy year.
 
RING4CY said:
I'm more worried about the Bears having to go up against the rookie in Webb than I would be had the Vikings been forced to start Ramsey.
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Those worries might be more justified if he were playing in better conditions. He has a chance to both make some rookie mistakes along with some "wow" plays. My concern is that he has probably never played in anything close to Monday's weather conditions and that he reportedly doesn't like the cold.
 
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