Julius Peppers is a Chicago Bear | ProFootballTalk.com

Chicago Bears make a big defensive upgrade which should help them almost make the playoffs next year, since they weren't even close this year. And sadly, as far as I can see, Lovie Smith is still the head coach, so, don't expect too many miracles for the 40 million their throwing this man's way.

While certainly a pretty good player, frankly most "casual" football fans probably couldn't even identify him off the football field other than by his size, along with his gold plated Porsche 911 or whatever the hell 4o million buys these days. (or in other words, about 4o million for what used to be known as an average "no name".

One good note is that I'm sure Obama's happier than "a pig in s**t" about this as much as Peppers, since that'll mean about 35 million for our freaking behemoth big government out of his 40 million paycheck... and that sure is a lot of Obama Care premiums, some free check ups and welfare checks for those loyal and brainwashed supporters!

That's why to most of the republican men that play in that league,  NFL, as it pertains to Obama, means "not for long".

Julius Peppers is a Chicago Bear | ProFootballTalk.com: "The deal is done, and the biggest free agent of the 2010 off-season is going to Chicago: Julius Peppers is a Bear.

Although the team hasn't formally announced it yet, ESPN reports that a six-year deal is done. Adam Schefter reported that the Bears are expected to pay Peppers $40 million in the first three years.

The Bears will be expecting big things from Peppers, who has 81 sacks in his NFL career, which began in 2002. That's the third-most in the NFL during that time, behind only Jason Taylor and Dwight Freeney.

For the Bears (who also signed Brandon Manumaleuna and Chester Taylor on a huge first day of free agency), it's a sign that they're serious about winning, and winning now. After the disaster that was the Bears' 2009 season, that's a sign the fans of Chicago needed to see."

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Buck Doesn't Stop At Top As Lovie Smith stays, but OC Ron Turner walks the plank for Bears

Not that offensive coordinator Ron Turner doesn't deserve to be fired after some really questionable play calling for a couple years now, but if head coach Lovie Smith had any semblance of class, he'd re negotiate his recently renegotiated contract downward as his portion of the blame for how the team has sucked so much since he rode the wave to the Super Bowl LOSS from all the work everyone did before he showed up.

The Bears offense wasn't even really their main problem,  with the offense ranked 12 and the defense 9 in the NFC they're not that far apart, but in my opinion it's their defense that needs the help more than anything, as their top players were injured all year long with their very best player out for the entire season, some who may never return as far as we know.

But that's Lovie's territory so gotta blame something else, like the offense. But like I said, Turner's play calling has always been goofy to say the least in the eyes of this lifetime fan at least, so he won't be missed to much by the fans.

Phillips said money wasn't a factor in retaining Smith, but his comments indicated both Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo will enter 2010 on the hot seat.

Yea right, and Obama was born in, well, wherever he was born. They're more afraid of firing him because he's black more than anything, I'll tell you that much.

However, as far as the money goes and contrary to what the quote above says, it has a lot to do with money as well, since the Bears owners, the McCaskey's, who are descendants of original football charter member Papa Bear Halas, squeeze nickels so tight they make the gosh darn eagles scream.

 USATODAY.com: "LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Chicago Bears retained head coach Lovie Smith on Tuesday, but will be looking for new offensive and defensive coordinators.

'Status quo was not an option,' Bears president and CEO Ted Phillips said in confirming the coaching staff shakeup that replaces 75% of the offensive staff.

Offensive coordinator Ron Turner and five other offense assistants were fired.

Smith, who has two years for a total of about $11 million left on his contract, will return for his seventh season but relinquish the defensive coordinator role he assumed in 2009. He said he will look outside the organization for both coordinator berths.

Also ousted with Turner were quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, tight ends coach Rob Boras, offensive assistant/assistant offensive line coach Luke Butkus and offensive assistant/assistant wide receivers coach Charles London.  continued

Related articles

Smith survives Bears coaching purge (cbc.ca)

• Bears May Hire the Naked Fast Food Drive-Thru Coach (ballhype.com)
• You: Bears opt to keep Smith, but dump six assistants (sportsillustrated.cnn.com)
• Bears start over on offense, fire Turner, five aides (cbssports.com)

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Bears & Lions Face Off At Noon In the NFL's 2010 "Toilet Bowl"..

 

Bears beat Lions to finish season on upbeat note - "DETROIT -- The Bears and Lions played as if they had nothing to lose Sunday. And, in fact, they didn't as the two sub-.500 teams slugged it out in the season finale at Ford Field.

In the end, the Bears prevailed 37-23 behind four Jay Cutler touchdown passes to wind up with a 7-9 record, while the woeful Lions finished 2-14 in spite of a valiant effort against their NFC North rival.

At the conclusion of a monumentally disappointing season that saw the Bears miss the playoffs for the third straight season, only the future of embattled head coach Lovie Smith remains in doubt."   continued

Pretty much what I said before the game  ; ) Not as dumb as I sound  :)  Woo Wee, they beat the shittiest team in the NFL, just a notch or two below  them by the way.

Many of we Chicagoan's, particularly sports fans,  know "suck" when we see it, and this young team really sucked for the most part, not winning but one game on the road all season.... that is except for the mistake on the Potomac some missed November 2008 after many emphatic warnings to the contrary. But that's a horse of another color for another time (like tomorrow morning).

********   ORIGINAL POST BELOW  ********

I think most NFL fans would concur that these two teams, near the very bottom of the NFL heap right now, have a long way to go to become part of the NFL elite, most of whom will be mostly coasting today to save their best for the upcoming playoffs.  A maneuver I've always looked upon as "gipping" the fans, who tune in or even worse actually "go to the events"  expecting  pro teams to always field their best players, even the last weekend of the season.

For the Bears it'll be no different, as they haven't been fielding their best players all year because their best defensive players have spent most of the year injured starting from the first game. That's when star linebacker Brian Urlacher was knocked from the roster for the year added to by a litany of others along the way, decimating the team and leaving them left with what we'll see today.

And if they like their head coach Lovie Dovie Smith they'll win today against the hapless Detroit Lions, although it's hard seeing the CheapAssed McCaskeys, who own the Bears, eat 11 million dollars they mistakenly paid this man after their freak super bowl appearance a few years back by firing him now, although we can at least dream for a while until the team announces anything otherwise.

So for the Bears and their fans it may be "wait 'til the year after next year " for any remarkable improvement instead of the usual Chicago "wait til next year" cry at the end of most pro sports seasons in this town since the Jordan Bulls days and da' days of " Da' Coach" himself..

I'd send Smith walking but then I never would have extended his first contract in the first place. Then again I don't own the Bears nor do the millions of others who pay through the teeth to see this team or any others in the league play in person even though we've seen many college teams better than  these two midwestern mopes over the years.

So don't hope for any miracles because they're not on the way after QB Jay Cutler turned out to be chopped liver instead of the "veal cutlet" we were sold on. They have no money left having wrapped it all up in those two in the picture above, Smith and Cutler.

Bears will make changes, but not the kind fans want

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :Neil Hayes: "Despite Lovie Smith repeatedly referring to the ''big'' game today between the 6-9 Bears and the 2-13 Lions, the drama won't truly begin to unfold until the team plane touches down at O'Hare on Sunday evening and the evaluation of what has gone wrong this season and how it might be fixed begins.

Changes are coming to Halas Hall. It's a certainty after a season as wretched as this. How sweeping those changes will be remains to be seen. Ownership might decide to replace general manager Jerry Angelo based on his draft-day track record alone. Smith could be gone, too, along with all his assistants, which would be a popular move among Bears fans who have lost confidence in a general manager and a coach who have presided over a team that has defined mediocrity for three consecutive seasons since appearing in Super Bowl XLI."  continued

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Bears Throw A Little Monkey Wrench In The Brett Favre Story, 2010 Viking Version

 

Not to mention throwing off the playoff picture sending the NFC now through New Orleans or bust.

Now I finally figured out what was wrong with this team all year, that seems to be, whenever I don't write about them before the game they win. Simple as I usually follow the games on Sunday and when I have this year, they lost most times.

And tonight, in what most expected to be a Viking blowout, it was great to see the Bears take them into overtime, that is after blowing a 16-0 halftime lead in true Bears fashion, and then coming up with the win at home in front 50,00 mostly hammered Bears fans.

 chicago tribune photo..(more)

But first their normally perfect field goal kicker Robbie "Good as" Gould (I know, it's GOULD as in Elliot, but that's what we call him) missed game winning field goal on the 1st ot possession, with the Bears defense stepping back out after that, finally stopping Favre at the most opportune moment after being virtually smoked by him the entire second half of the game.

The often bumbling '09 Bears then took the field for their second possession in "OT" after a "brutally inopportune" Vikings fumble, and on the first play, Bears flop QB Jay Cutler took it 50 yards for the game winning td in one shot to wide receiver Devan Aromashadu (thats Ah- Ro Mah-Sha_doo)to win the almost 4 hour game.

Great game!

That is, unless you're a Vikings fan or all out Favre freak like Greta van Susteren from Fox news is. Also not bad for a team that sucked all year and missed the freaking playoffs, costing me $500 at the beginning of the season that would have blossomed into a nice $15,000 payday if they miraculously won the Super Bowl.

If I put $75 on tonight's game I could have recovered my $500   :(  DAMN!  lol

Well, win some lose some. Lose more when a Chicago Bears fan, but not tonight.

 I'd still fire that guy, Coach Lovie Smith, but that's another rant another day on that one. The links below were from the past week as you can see some people feel the same way I do, you just don't go from the Super Bowl, even a loss, to below 500 ball and expect to keep your job.

Only in Chicago.

Related articles

'Fire Lovie Smith' Campaign Hits Fever Pitch Headed Into Monday Night Football Against Vikings (huffingtonpost.com)

• Devin Aromashodu's career game doesn't guarantee prominent role on Chicago Bears' offense (ballhype.com)
• Bears Fans Erect Billboard Asking for Firing of Lovie Smith (chicagoist.com)

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Bear Weather In Baltimore as Chicago Makes It After 24 Hours Of Delays

 The east coast in the DC area doesn't cope with snow to well which actually was one of the first things Obama addressed when arriving in Washington and seeing kids get snow days for a couple inches of snow:

When it comes to winter, "Folks in Washington don't seem to be able to handle things," he joked. Maybe, he suggested, they need some "flinty Chicago toughness."

That's the first of only two times I can recollect agreeing with him, the second being the Afghan Surge, and it was the same thing when I lived in Charlottesville Virginia as a young teen after living up in Chicago and Green bay, where snow starts in November and is on the ground essentially 'til March.

These are everyday scenes at Soldier Field and Chicago but are from the Baltimore stadium last night.

 

but again, not in Baltimore where the Bears were scheduled to play at 12 pm eastern which has been pushed tentatively now to 3:15 pm eastern as the weather will keep fans away with many suburban areas impassable...

 and of course because the Bears for the most part "suck" this year will keep 'em away too.

Chicago Bears off to slow start to Baltimore

chicagotribune.com: "BALTIMORE -- Getting off the bus running isn't the only issue the Bears have. Getting off the plane, period, proved to be an adventure this weekend.

The team left O'Hare International on a United Airlines charter flight Saturday night, nearly 24 hours after it attempted to depart for Baltimore, a trip hampered by mechanical issues and a potentially record-breaking storm here that continued late into the evening and was expected to dump more than 20 inches of snow.

The Bears took off shortly after 8 p.m. and were scheduled to arrive at a closed Baltimore/Washington airport at 10 p.m. Their game Sunday with the Ravens has been moved to 3:15 p.m.

The storm, which was classified as a blizzard much of Saturday, prompted Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley to declare a state of emergency as airports were closed all along the eastern seaboard.

Originally, the team was to leave Friday at 10:30 p.m. but a mechanical problem necessitated a plane change that never happened. The Bears returned to Halas Hall at 1:15 a.m.

Now they must deal with a short night of rest near the end of what has been a long season. The Ravens' playoff hopes are on the line and it was business as usual as they went through their walk-through Saturday before checking into a hotel.

A crew of 700 workers began clearing snow at M & T Bank Stadium at 1 a.m. Saturday to prepare for the game. The field, which is a Sportexe artificial surface, is covered.

The city of Baltimore petitioned the NFL on Friday to move the start of the game back from noon. In Philadelphia, where snow was expected to reach up to 20 inches, the Eagles also moved the start of their game with the 49ers to 3:15.

It's expected there will be lots of empty seats as some residential streets remain impassable. But moving the game to Monday, where it would have competed with the nearby Redskins' game against the Giants on Monday night at FedEx Field, was not an option."

This is an interesting article from a former NFL player about his days in the leagu and the 20 miserable ones after leaving the league playing ONLY 5 YEARS

Former NFL star Dave Pear is sorry he ever played football 

Jeff Pearlman - SI.com: "Dave Pear has a message for you.

'Don't let your kids play football,' he says. 'Never.'

It is an odd thing, hearing these sort of words from a man like David Louis Pear, University of Washington standout, Pro Bowl defensive lineman for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Super Bowl champion with the Oakland Raiders. His five-year NFL career was one thousands of high school and college athletes would envy -- charging out of a darkened stadium tunnel, 70,000 fans screaming for you, loving you, praising you, idolizing you.

'You wanna know the truth?' says Pear.

The question lingers -- the 56-year-old ex-athlete preparing to unload one more skull-splitting hit.

'I wish I never played football. I wish that more than anything. Every single day, I want to take back those years of my life ...'"  continued

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Bears not sure when they're flying to Baltimore - Noon Start Pushed to Sun 3 Central

This might be gift from above to save the Bears from another embarrassing ass whooping this weekend as they've been getting whooped all season like red headed Kenyan stepchildren.  This is the story at O'Scare Airport this morning...

 
So coupled with the Muslim terrorist checks everyone must unneccessarily go through thanks to unbridled PC gone mad since there's never been a non Muslim airline hijacking in aviation history we know darn well all that needs to be done is a little racial profiling and all the airport misery disappears.

But that's another rant for another day.

Bears not sure when they're flying to Baltimore

Chicago Breaking Sports: "BALTIMORE -- The Bears were planning to hold a meeting this morning in an effort to determine when the team will be able to travel here with a snowstorm pounding the Middle Atlantic states.

A club official said it is possible the team will not depart until Sunday morning. Whether or not that would affect the status of the 3:15 p.m. game Sunday remains to be seen. It is unknown if the game could be pushed to Monday where it would go up against the already scheduled 'Monday Night Football' game at nearby FedEx Field between the New York Giants and Washington Redskins.

'We are monitoring the situation,' a league spokesperson said.

The Bears' arrival isn't the only logistical matter. A blizzard warning has been issued, and WBAL-TV is forecasting 20 to 30 inches of snow by the time the storm ends late tonight or Sunday. The worst of it has yet to come. The record for a snowstorm in Baltimore is 28.2 inches from Feb. 15-18, 2003."

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Chicago Bears looking for new coach and GM? -

They say no officially but I say yes and it's about time they looked to canning "Lovie Dovie" Smith which me and my friends believe hasn't taken place up to now because the Bears are afraid of the racism bullshit they'll have to tolerate, what usually happens nowadays every time anyone of color gets fired from a high profile job, that's the mantra..

As for me, I would have fired his ass after the Super Bowl embarrassment, but that's just me..I hate losing, and frankly the team has progressively gotten worse and worse, so we'll see if the Bears have the balls to send Lovie packing knowing the Rev Jesse and his race baiting foil "Fat Ass" Al both sit perched and ready to pounce on the cracker owners known as the McCaskey's..and believe me, they don't come any whiter than that family.

They also owe him a ridiculous amount of money on his just extended contract which of course they'd have to eat, at a present cost of about 11 million right now, which the McCaskey's are way too cheap and frugal to do. That is unless the dollar keeps plummeting like a skydiver without a parachute thanks to another Chicago man of color, or at least half black who's also doing a crappy job at present  and also finds himself in a job that's way way over his head, as we're all well aware.

And so for those reasons, personally I don't think they (Mike McCaskey, a real momma's man) have the nads  to cut him loose, and they're just sending out the feelers to take the "racism temperature" I guarantee you.

Chicago Bears looking for new coach and GM?

- Yahoo! Sports: "The news came yesterday via the Chicago Tribune that the Chicago Bears are on the list for former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher. The idea of taking over the Bears or the Houston Texans supposedly 'would excite' Cowher.

But current Bears coach Lovie Smith has another two years on his contract and the team supposedly doesn't want to pay two coaches simultaneously, especially if Cowher wants around $10 million annually.

And today the word is that some Bears exec is starting to look for a replacement for Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo, according to the Tribune. Former Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, who has spent a lot of time with current Bears quarterback is on the list. The Buffalo Bills are supposedly talking to Shanahan this week about taking over there. Other folks on the list are reportedly Cowher and former Buccaneers and Raiders coach Jon Gruden.

The Bears are officially saying there is nothing to the rumor. Nada."

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Come To Think Of It: Chicago Bears Problems Start at The Top (bleacherreport.com)

• Bill Cowher To Bears or Texans? (bleacherreport.com)
• Martz Denies Bears Rumors (chicagoist.com)
• Are Bears Looking for New Coach? (chicagoist.com)

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Chicago Bears Entire Season In The Balance TOAST today

Game Over....... This little screen grab says it all about the meeting at Soldier field today a week after they beat the Browns brains in the Cardinals came to town and returned the favor as you can see.... 

Bears / Cardinals Wrap Up

At Halftime, Bears suck and are getting their asses kicked up and down the field to the tune of 31 to 7 at halftime which means the game and the Bears season is for all intents and purposes over thanks to this man's childish penalty getting him ejected from the game on the very first set of downs....

I would check and see if he layed some money on the game were I the NFL, slugging a man in the head on the fourth play sounds like a "wanted" ejection to this fan ....as this one singular play threw the entire game away.

 Update: Defensive tackle Tommie Harris received a personal foul penalty and was ejected from the game early in the first quarter. He punched Arizona right guard Deuce Lutui in the facemask on the game's fourth play. The two had gotten into a squabble on the previous play. Harris was replaced by Israel Idonije.

 *************original post before kickoff below***************

 This from FOX NFL who is in Afghanistan this weekend hangin with the troops and doing their pregame show and halftime from there ....

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=029e77d9-4d92-4c61-8c07-d59166eefcff&from=IV2_en-us_foxsports_videocentral" target="_new" title="NFL on FOX: NFL and the military">Video: NFL on FOX: NFL and the military</a>
Hopefully no one ever decides to assassinate me someday because they can easily find me in front of the TV set on most Saturday's and Sunday's watching college and NFL football like millions of others... and this weekend is no exception.

However, here in Chicago this Bears game today at Noon Central against the Arizona Cardinals on Fox holds the key to the rest of their season, and any hopes for football in January are over if they choke it somehow..... and they way they've played thus far this season anything is possible, so we'll have to see what happens.

I'm gonna go with Chicago here at home on a nice 65 degree day by a score something around a touchdown while most say bet Arizona with 3 points ..

This is another video from Afghanistan that I just wanted to put up here that's really cool as the soldiers talk about the mission and what they're doing there for us each day....




One interesting note ...If the Bears Robbie Gould makes his first two field goal attempts today, he will surpass Mike Vanderjagt to become the most accurate kicker in NFL history..

Hopefully we Bears fans don't see much of this today or the Bears lose since their defense isn't what it usually is, and particularly their secondary with linebacker Brian Urlacher out for the year, they can't take any chance

Chicago Bears season on line Sunday -- chicagotribune.com: "Welcome to Round 1 of the NFL playoffs between the Bears and the Cardinals.

The winner between the NFC's last two Super Bowl losers keeps hope alive that 2009 will matter. The loser spends the next two months figuring out who to fire.

According to coach Lovie Smith's calculations, of course, this is only the Bears' fourth game of the second quarter with an entire second half of the regular-season left. But that's fuzzy math, like equating pay day with the other six days of the week for a guy who has been out of work.

Without a victory over the Cardinals, the Bears' playoff equation becomes nearly impossible for logical football people to compute. This is what NFL reality tells you that Smith won't: Given the schedule, the underachieving Bears need to enter December no worse than 7-4 to harbor any realistic playoff hopes." continued

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Today's Games Around the NFL / Bears vs Cleveland, Walter Payton Day

“Walter was the best football player to ever play the game of football!” -Coach Mike Ditka

Today is the tenth anniversary of the way untimely passing of one of  THE greatest if not best all around football players and true gentleman to ever play between the chalk in football history.

And, having had the pleasure of meeting him a number of times throughout the years around town near until his tragic death a decade ago,  he was all that, and much much more to most real Chicagoans, is obviously still dearly missed as  today there was a great tribute to the man and his wonderful family at Soldier Field during halftime of the Cleveland Game..

So hopefully in his honor the Bears go out today and win one not for the Gipper, but for the man known as Sweetness, Walter Payton..my favorite professional athlete alongside one Michael Jordan, two men who will never be replicated in pro sports ever again.

Two of The classiest men to ever play pro sports as far as I'm concerned..these players of today can't hold their jocks on or off the field and court.

So in his memory today we say "Go Bears" and we'll have much more after the games today as I usually post.......

It's 16 to 0 Bears at Halftime by the way led by a scores from running back Matt Forte, a field goal from solid gold Gould and hopefully more to come....

By the way, here's some of my favorite pics of Walter throughout the years which are actually part of my webshots screensaver even today.

Walter in two of his most famous airborne goal line vaults we came to love in the 70's and 80's

On the lighter side here's a poster of him working his famous Arlington Heights Illinois  mountain a mere couple miles from my home here which is now memorialized in a public golf course and named aptly Walter's Hill I do believe....

It was called Nickol's Knoll after his career BUT before his passing.... however,  after his making it his world famous workout regimen (which we even tried duplicating as young high school football players unsuccessfully of course) was always known to Chicagoans as Payton's Hill ...which it is called today in his memory and always will be....

Here's another famous shot with a lesser known (lol) player of certainly lesser durability, old pain in the a** Jim McMahon, who couldn't keep himself from being injured while playing for the Bears, but did manage to help guide them to the Super Bowl in 1985 while Walter Led the Way, despite the major disappointment for he and fans alike when he was denied a touchdown in his only Super Bowl appearance..

He is truly a sports legend who is missed that will forever in the minds and hearts of football fans from all walks of life as the old saying goes..."God broke the mold after this man"...

In addition, here's a story featured in today's Trib about Payton and a statue standing in his honor back in his hometown Columbia Mississippi......another  great read about a great man....

************************************************

Chicago Bears great Walter Payton always at home in bronze sculpture -- chicagotribune.com: "COLUMBIA, Miss. -- On the night before Walter Payton died from bile duct cancer 10 years ago Sunday, he couldn't speak. Feebly, Payton pointed to his lip as he lay in bed and asked his sister, Pam, to trim his mustache.

That was the image stuck in Pam Payton Curry's mind when she walked into a warehouse four years later to approve the life-sized sculpture of her brother. The sculpture's mustache had to be perfectly trimmed just like Walter requested the last night of his life, Pam told local sculptor Ben Watts.

'I wanted it to look like a better replica of him than the one in the (Pro Football) Hall of Fame,' Payton Curry said. 'And it does.'

This is how you honor Walter Payton with a statue." continue

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Bears Get Smoked 45-10 By Bengals

This was what the Bears get for getting rid of running back Cedric  Benson sending him to the Bengals as he piled up enough yards today to beat the Bears all by himself in this game, about 2 field's worth, as this offensive group pictured below only managed to counter with 10 lousy  points as the QB Jay Cutler who was amazingly signed to a contract extension last week for a couple years and tens of millions on the far right  threw three, count em three interceptions...

Nobody wins when they play that bad and they didn't, getting spanked nearly as bad as the 85 Bears whipped the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 20. That was 22 years ago and 46-10 by the way.as opposed to 45-10 today.

In other words they totally sucked.

CINCINNATI -- The Bears' 45-10 loss to the Bengals on Sunday challenged the axiom that it is better to give than receive.

The Bengals received to the tune of five touchdown catches. The Bears gave way beyond the point where it hurt.

And there was no question who got the better of this deal.

If giving the Bengals the running back who leads the NFL in rushing and a starting defensive tackle weren't enough, the Bears also spotted their opponent 31 points before they scored a meager field goal at the end of the half.

They gave them almost everything they could, short of George Halas' dusty fedora and a game program from the 1985 Super Bowl. continued

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Bears Vs Cincinnati Bengals and Other NFL News

Today here in the Bear Den we're watching Grandpa Brett Favre take his undefeated Minnesota Vikings into the home of the Super Bowl Champ Pittsburgh Steelers, whom I'll be pulling for by the way, and then the late game here and across the nation on Fox will be the Bears across the three rivers from Pittsburgh PA in Cincinnati OH, hoping to improve on their 3 and 2 record that has them chasing Minnesota like everyone else.

 (full NFL Standings Here)

Around the rest of the league the schedule looks like this

and for all the final NFL scores and links throughout the afternoon check back later after you enjoy the regional games in your neighborhood, til the Bears again come on nationally as the double header on Fox..

Today's Game In Brief (Dave Martin / Associated Press)

Chicago's Matt Forte has struggled to get going in 2009.

Last meeting:

Carson Palmer had three touchdown passes as the Bengals roughed up the Bears, 24-3, in Week 3 of the 2005 season.

Streaks:

The Bengals have won four straight over the Bears and own a 5-3 overall series edge.

Last week:

Cincinnati saw its four-game winning streak come to an end with a 28-17 loss to Houston. ... A late Bears comeback attempt fell just short and Chicago lost in Atlanta, 21-14.

Related articles

NFL Diary: Vikings at Steelers (blogs.wsj.com)

• Week Seven NFL Picks By WhatIfSports.com (bleacherreport.com)
• Minnesota Vikings Vs Pittsburgh Steelers Football Picks (bleacherreport.com)
• Brett Favre : The Man on A Mission (bleacherreport.com)

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Chicago Bears Throw Away Winnable Game In Atlanta Sunday Night

Matt Forte fumbles at the 1-yard line (William DeShazer / Tribune)

Game was exciting, particularly for the winners, but if you're gonna embarrass yourselves there's no better time to do it than on the road on national television against an equally matched team losing the ball 2 times inside (above) the opponents red zone in the last ten minutes like the Bears did tonight...and those were just the top 2 TOP mistakes the Bears made costing them the game...there were many, many more.

Like 2 Jay Cutler interceptions for starters ...Running back Matt Forte fumbling back to back plays actually losing it the second time on the goal line, stuff like that/

photo chicago tribune

Tough loss dropping the Bears to 3 and 2 and the Atlanta Falcons to 4 and 1, which keeps the heat on the first place New Orleans Saints who we used to call the "Aints" they were so bad for so long....not this year thus far at least..

Watch the video highlights of the game between Bears and Falcons.

 
Brady's 5 TD passes in 2nd quarter an NFL record...

 The day's full game highlights here at NFL.com

Falcons 21, Bears 14 - NFL- nbcsports.msnbc.com: "ATLANTA (AP) -Chicago made another huge mistake in the red zone, and the Atlanta Falcons held on for another wild victory over the Bears.

Michael Turner scored the go-ahead touchdown on an otherwise forgettable night, powering over from 5 yards with 3:06 remaining, and the defense held at the end to preserve a 21-14 victory Sunday night.

Matt Ryan threw two touchdown passes for the Falcons (4-1), who matched the best five-game start in franchise history. The Bears (3-2) will surely be moaning about all the mistakes down close that helped end their three-game winning streak: a fumble at the 1, an interception at the 9 and a crucial penalty when they had fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 5 with less than a minute to go." more

Related articles

• Falcons rally, then hold off Bears in 4th quarter (nbcsports.msnbc.com)
• Bears Battled Two Foes in Atlanta loss- the Falcons and Themselves. (bleacherreport.com)

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Today, Chicago Bears Hibernate While Marathoner's Freeze Their......

you know what's off........ with the city in the thralls of global warming, it's going to be a nippy day for the folks running the Chicago Marathon taking over the city for a good part of the morning.....(road closures)

Temperatures will hover in the mid-30s Sunday at the 7:30 a.m. start of the Bank Of Amigo I mean America Chicago Marathon, in sharp contrast to last year's 66 at the start and the debilitating 75 degree open of the heat-shortened 2007 race.
 
 And with a healthy 3 and 1 record the Chicago Bears have a bye this week, so we'll take the time today to catch up on other things and teams ....

Here's today's matchups and more at NFL.com

Washington at Carolina, 1:00 PM

Pittsburgh at Detroit, 1:00 PM

Dallas at Kansas City, 1:00 PM

Oakland at NY Giants, 1:00 PM

Tampa Bay at Philadelphia, 1:00 PM

Minnesota at St. Louis, 1:00 PM

Atlanta at San Francisco, 4:05 PM

Houston at Arizona, 4:15 PM

Jacksonville at Seattle, 4:15 PM

Game of the Day Week 5?

click for all WEEK 5 NFL scores and stats

Has to be Denver, who now goes to a perfect 5 and 0 this evening in overtime against the New England Patriots winning  Twenty to 17 ( two isn't working on my keyboard)  which is now their fourth come from behind victory this year, keeping them among the league leaders after 5 weeks into the season already!

A feat which, better yet, is being done with former Chicago Bear quarterback Kyle Orton at the helm of the Broncos,  who went to Denver in the now infamous trade for new Bears "franchise quarterback"  Jay Cutler who is 3 and 1 with the Bears who had the day off today.....

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Bears Light UpThe Hapless Lions For A 48-24 Win

hey won last week after a couple seasons worth of losses, that being the Detroit Lions against the Washington Redskins.Then they came to Chicago today and for the first half kicked the Bears around like red headed step children for 30 minutes.

Well, It took a while as the two teams came to halftime tied at 21 points each, but finally in the second half the Bears did what they had to do to tame the Detroit Lions, doubling their final point output for a 48-24 win in front of 59,757 fans today at Soldier Field, bringing the Bears to a 3-1 record with next week off to nurse some injuries during the bye week.

Great game if you're a Bears fan as I am minus the loss of super returner Devan Hester, although his kick return backup Johnny Knox opened up the floodgates with a 102 yard kickoff return to start the second half, possibly earning himself the full time spot, at least while Hester recovers from his shoulder injury incurred again in the first half of the game.

Matt Forte scores on a 4th quarter run to give the Bears a 41-24 lead.
(Scott Strazzante, Chicago Tribune / October 4, 2009)

 CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Sports: "After a see-saw start, the Bears finally took control of the game in the third quarter. Johnny Knox opened it with a 102-yard kickoff return that took all of 12 seconds as the Bears never looked back.

Matt Forte returned to 2008 form with 121 yards rushing on 12 carries and one touchdown. Jay Cutler continued his solid play with 18-of-28 for 141 yards and two touchdowns."

The Bears struggled to manage a 21-21 tie at halftime against the hapless Detroit Lions. More troubling were injuries to two key players.

After the Bears defense spotted Detroit leads of 7-0 and 14-7, the Bears stormed back on the strength of Jay Cutler's arm to take a 21-14 lead in the second quarter. The Lions came back and tied it late in the second quarter on a 3-yard run by Kevin Smith.

Cutler hit Kellen Davis with a 2-yard scoring early in the second to tie it at 14. Then, after a Detroit turnover gave the Bears the ball deep in Lions' territory, Cutler found Greg Olsen from one-yard out to put the Bears on top 21-14. Originally, the Bears had kicked a field goal, but a Detroit penalty extended the drive and the Bears capitalized. more

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Chicago Bears Victorious 25-19, Video Highlights

You can see in the post below this I predicted a Bears victory, while although I expected a slightly larger point spread at 10 as opposed to 6 points,  a victory is a victory, as this one brings the Bears now to a 2-1 record as they repeat the Chicago White Sox of the late 70's at "Winning Ugly"

Jay-Cutler-highlights click

Game Highlights Click pic below

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Chicago Bears and Seattle Seahawks- 3 pm Central

Ten minutes to gametime with the Bears coming off a big win last week by a mere filed goal against the World Champion Pittsburgh Steelers,  who's  by the way playing the Cincinatti Bengals this afternoon... also at three central.. (NFL.com)

With these star Seattle players injured; Matt Hasselbeck, Lofa Tatupu, Walter Jones, Leroy Hill, Marcus Trufant, Sean Locklear, Josh Wilson,  I'm picking the Bears by ten when all's said and done..Chicago 30, Seattle 20

We'll see how we did later after the  game.

 

.here's today's earlier scores..

Hey, anything's possible as the Detroit Lions finally won a game after two years of losses!! Boy the Redskins of Washington must really suck this year, losing 19-14 this afternoon to the Lions..(lol)

Maybe things are finally looking up for the long embattled  Motor city.

Related articles

• Inactives list: Hasselbeck, Jones, Tatupu all out (seattlepi.com)
• Hasselbeck 1 of 7 Seahawks starters out (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• P-I prediction: Wounded Seahawks won't beat Bears (seattlepi.com)
• Jim Mora's challenge: Keep Seahawks afloat in sea of injuries (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

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