Tag: Chicago Bears (Page 32 of 49)

Driver rips Bears’ receivers…I guess.

July 20, 2009 / Anthony Stalter

Several media outlets including SI.com and ESPN.com have reported that Packers’ receiver Donald Driver “ripped” or “trashed” the Bears’ receiving corps on a recent radio interview. But further examination of his comments might suggest otherwise.

This is what Driver said in the national radio interview last week on Sirius NFL Radio:

“I think Chicago did a great job, and Lovie Smith went out there and got Jay Cutler to lead this team, but one thing they don’t have is they don’t have the receiver group,” Driver said. “They have the running back, they have the offensive line and they have a great defense. But you’re going to have to need receivers to make plays down the field, and they don’t have that right now. So I can see on our end we have all of that on our offense. And then you go back to look at Minnesota. Minnesota has a great running game, but they just don’t have the top-of-the-line quarterback that they need. So I’m hoping my guy doesn’t go over there, but if he does then I wish the best for him.”

Does that sound like Driver was trashing the Bears receivers to anyone? He’s essentially saying what everyone already knows – the Bears don’t have the best set of receivers. In fact, one would even dare to say it’s a weakness for them.

When I first read that Driver “ripped the Bears receiving corps” on SI.com, I saw the quote and said “meh,” and moved on. But then I was recently in my car and a couple of Chicago radio hosts were talking about the topic and one of them (you’ll have to excuse me for not catching which jockey it was on which station but I was merely skimming through the AM dial looking for a ballgame) suggested that Driver shouldn’t provide the Bears with any bulletin board material and essentially should keep quiet. Then I read a similar headline to this story in ESPN’s “rumors” section as I did on SI: “Driver trashes Bears receivers.”

Seriously? Driver’s comments were the skim milk variety of trashing an opponent. Again, he’s not stating anything that we (including probably the Bears) don’t already know and I hardly deem what he said as “bulletin board material.” I’m shocked that this has caught fire as much as it has.

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Top 10 active NFL field goal percentage leaders

July 18, 2009 / Mike Farley

It’s almost fantasy football time, and many of you, like me, have already been doing your research. So let’s take a look at a category that you may not pay much attention to, and many experts will tell you not to anyway. That’s field goal percentage. I realize choosing a kicker is like throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks, but good references are to pick those on good offensive teams, or those that can’t score TDs and create more field goal attempts. But it’s also good to pick an accurate kicker, whether that kicker plays in a dome or not. I mean, why take your chances on someone who kicks 25 field goals but misses another 25? So here is a list of the active Top 10 in field goal percentage. You can thank me later.

1. Nick Folk, Dallas Cowboys (86.79%)—For as good as Folk’s rookie season was in 2007, he had less attempts but was even more accurate in 2008, kicking 20 of 22 field goals (90.9%). Which reminds me, what the hell ever happened to Mike Vanderjagt?

2. Nate Kaeding, San Diego Chargers (86.13%)—Sure, he kicks mostly in warm weather, but Kaeding is about as automatic as they come.

3. Robbie Gould, Chicago Bears (85.94%)—If you’re hitting better than 17 out of 20 times when your home field is in the WINDY city, you’re damn good.

4. Shayne Graham, Cincinnati Bengals (85.64%)—One of the lone bright spots on a team that is perpetually going nowhere.

5. Stephen Gostkowski, New England Patriots (85.56%)—No Adam Vinatieri? No problem. This kid stepped in as a rookie in 2006 and has improved each year, hitting 36 of 40 field goal attempts last season (90%) and leading the NFL in total points (148).

6. Rob Bironas, Tennessee Titans (84.50%)—Bironas is extremely dependable, but nothing topped his 2007 All-Pro campaign, when dude kicked an NFL record 8 field goals against Houston.

7. Matt Stover, free agent (83.70%)—The amazing thing about Stover is that he’s been doing it for so long. He broke in with the Browns in 1991 and moved with the team to Baltimore in 1996, where he played until last season.

8. Phil Dawson, Cleveland Browns (82.81%)—One of the original “expansion” Browns, Dawson, like his counterpart Graham in southern Ohio, has been a bright spot on a bad team for years.

9. Jeff Reed, Pittsburgh Steelers (82.65%)—Every year they seem to talk about how hard it is to kick in Heinz Field, so the fact that Jeff Reed is even on this list says a lot about his ability. I’d love to know what the guy could do playing in Minnesota for a year.

10. John Carney, free agent (82.59%)—Carney stepped in for Lawrence Tynes last season and all he did was hit 35 of 38 field goal attempts, an amazing 92.1% clip. It’s even more amazing because Carney played half his games in windy Giants Stadium, and because he did it at the age of 44.

Source: Pro Football Reference

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Bears say no on Marshall, but Burress remains an option

June 18, 2009 / Anthony Stalter

According to a report in the Chicago Sun Times, Bears’ GM Jerry Angelo is giving the idea of trading for Brandon Marshall a big fat “no,” but signing Plaxico Burress still remains an option.

Smith, who can’t comment on players under contract with other teams, harshly said ”no” when Brandon Marshall’s name was brought up. Marshall has requested a trade out of Denver, and a reunion with Cutler is a natural storyline, but Marshall has a checkered off-field history, is coming off hip surgery and would require substantial compensation to acquire. Go ahead and rule him out.
Burress, though, remains a possibility.
”Plaxico Burress is a good football player,” Smith said. ”Of course, we all know that. We keep all of our options open. We’re constantly evaluating all the players who are out there. But I feel good about our team that we have right now, and I feel good about the receivers we have right now.”

I doubt that the Bears would be interested in one malcontent (Burress), but not the other (Marshall). Chances are, they’re interested in both, but there are more factors involving trading for Marshall, including putting together enough trade compensation to lure him out of Denver.

If they signed Burress, it would probably only be to a one-year deal for a minimal amount of money. If he acts up or goes to jail, then Chicago could part with him at the end of the ’09 season and not have to worry about carrying his baggage into 2010.

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Marshall’s agent says Broncos will try and trade receiver

June 16, 2009 / Anthony Stalter

Brandon Marshall’s agent has confirmed that his client requested a trade from the Broncos and has said that the team will do everything in its power to accommodate the receiver’s wishes.

This news doesn’t mean that the Broncos will go through with a trade, of course, but it might offer a glimpse into their thought process regarding this potentially ugly situation with Marshall.

Denver certainly doesn’t want to lose another key piece to its offense after trading quarterback Jay Cutler to Chicago a couple of months ago, but it might have little choice. Marshall has a history of off-field incidents and if the team doesn’t want to risk paying him what he wants, a trade might be in everyone’s best interest.

The problem is getting max value for Marshall, who certainly is productive on the field but as previously noted, is a major liability off it. He’s a Pro Bowl caliber player but the Broncos might not get Pro Bowl caliber compensation for him when they pick up the phone and see who’s interested.

Speaking of which, Rotoworld speculates that the Ravens could be interested if the Broncos eventually do trade Marshall. Baltimore did nothing to upgrade its receiver corps this offseason and if they’re willing to pay, Marshall could be a nice addition. Don’t forget that the Ravens were the team that traded for Terrell Owens a couple years ago before he made a stink and eventually wound up in Philadelphia, so clearly GM Ozzie Newsome isn’t afraid to take a risk.

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2009 fantasy football is coming soon—a look back at 2008 RBs

June 13, 2009 / Mike Farley

So you still want to draft a running back with your number one pick after we crunched the numbers to find that quarterbacks have become equally or more valuable in fantasy football? Well, I can’t blame anyone that goes the traditional route here, especially with guys like Michael Turner and Adrian Peterson looking like legitimate #1 picks. Here are last season’s Top 10 running backs in fantasy points, keeping in mind that this is based on my league, and stats vary from league to league:

1. DeAngelo Williams, Carolina Panthers—I know some players take a few years to develop, but I live in Tennessee and saw Williams play on TV a lot when he was with Memphis. I drafted him in 2006 because I knew what not everyone knew—his upside was tremendous. Of course, he had 501 yards and a TD that year. But once DeShaun Foster was gone, Williams exploded, and last year racked up 1639 yards from scrimmage and 20 touchdowns. Potential realized, and there’s more where that came from despite Jonathan Stewart sharing the load.

2. Michael Turner, Atlanta Falcons—Turner “The Burner” finally got out from under LT’s shadow in San Diego and showed with his new team that he can be a #1 RB—in a big, big way. In fact, Turner out-rushed LT by almost 600 yards. Take that, AJ Smith.

3. Thomas Jones, New York Jets—Jones had a big year, with 1519 total yards and 15 scores. But something tells me to expect a substantial drop-off this year. I mean, this is the same guy who scored 1 rushing TD in 2007.

4. Matt Forte, Chicago Bears—A rookie in 2008, Forte was a pleasant surprise and was basically the Bears’ entire offense. Now they have Jay Cutler at QB, which could mean just a bit less focus on the running game. Still, it’s the Bears, and plus Forte is just as valuable a receiver as he is a runner. Don’t expect a re-run of 2008 (1715 yards and 12 total touchdowns) but don’t expect a crappy season either.

5. Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings—He may be frequently injured but AP is about as explosive as any player in the NFL. In fact, he may be what everyone expected Reggie Bush to be. Who? Yeah, I know. Anyway, Peterson had 1885 all-purpose yards but only 10 TDs. This season, I’m looking for 2400 yards from scrimmage and 15-20 scores. I can feel it.

6. Brian Westbrook, Philadelphia Eagles—Off-season surgery is either going to hamper Westbrook or make him better. I’ll still take a Brian Westbrook at 70% than, say, a Willis McGahee at 100%. When Westbook is on the field (1338 total yards, 54 catches, 14 total TDs in ‘08), he’s fantasy money.

7. Brandon Jacobs, New York Giants—Jacobs seemed to perform best when he shared carries with Derrick Ward, who is now in Tampa. Jacobs will still share carries, but with Ahmad Bradshaw. Jacobs had his second straight 1000-yard season (Ward also topped 1000 yards) with 15 touchdowns, and there is no reason to believe he’ll fall short of that in ’09. Well, unless the injury bug bites again.

8. LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego Chargers—I’m still sick about drafting LT #1 last season in my league. I know that having the top pick doesn’t happen too often, and this guy just killed my season and probably everyone else’s that picked him first or second.
I mean, 1536 yards from scrimmage and 12 scores is not bad, but consider LT’s 2006 season—2323 overall yards and 31 TDs. Last year, LT was more like Thomas Jones in a good year.

9. Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville Jaguars—Streaky yes, but a solid player who can run and catch passes effectively. MJD had 824 rushing yards, and 62 receptions for 565 with 14 total touchdowns. With Fred Taylor in New England, expect those numbers to jump this season.

10. LenDale White, Tennessee Titans—This guy was the touchdown bogart for Chris Johnson, with only 773 yards but 15 scores. Should we expect an encore? It’s hard to say, but Jeff Fisher is definitely a creature of habit.