Bears put it all together in rolling Vikes for NFC North title

With all the talk going around before the game how the field was not playable and the Bears were going to fall on their face after getting blown out by the Patriots the week before, there was little to argue with after the dust settled Monday night.
The Bears are NFC North champs and have one of the most complete teams in the NFC going toward the playoffs. Don't think so? Well, OK, here are my points.
The Bears have a quarterback who can make the big throws and aside from one game this season has taken care of the football. I know all the Jay Cutler haters out there will rag on him no matter what, but he and Mike Martz have clicked. The biggest key has been the fact they've taken a lot of the shots downfield out of the arsenal for Cutler. That may stick out, but he's done a lot better hitting the intermediate receivers down field and limited the turnovers over the last six games when the team has won five of six and won the division.
Maybe more important than Jay and one of the reasons he has turned it on, has been the offensive line. Since the bye week in Week 9, the Bears have come together and shown the ability to run the ball. That has taken a lot of pressure off Jay while Matt Forte and Chester Taylor have shouldered more and more of the offensive load. Those five guys have put it together enough to keep Jay upright enough to be effective in the pocket.
Of course, the consistent for this team has been defense. The front four has gotten pressure every week since the bye week and have let the linebackers and safeties do what Lovie's Cover 2 defense does best, roam the field and cause chaos. It's all about speed and ball hawking in the defensive secondary for this team and when the front four that is led by Julius Peppers do what they did Monday night in getting hits on the quarterback.
Say what you want about the Bears being lucky and not being good. I haven't seen many teams be "lucky" and get to 10 wins in a season before. You have to have talent to put yourself in position to catch breaks and that's what the Bears have done this season.


Of course one player I did not mention above was Devin Hester. There was talk last night on Twitter after the game after he set the all-time return record that he is a future Hall of Famer. At first I didn't know how to take that. But the more I thought about it, the more I think it is actually the right call. Not just because I am a Bears fan, but if you think about how he changes the game and is part of every team's gameplan that takes on the Bears, it makes total sense. In his very first game in Green Bay, Hester ran a punt back for a touchdown in starting the 2006 team's run to the Super Bowl. That was his start of greatness.
Last night after the game in the press conference, he got emotional when talking about the guys that clear the way for him. He is right that it wouldn't be possible without them, and showed what kind of a player he has become. He is an X-Factor on this team and has been his entire career to this point. So, I say in just five years he has become the best return man in NFL history and that, to me, says he is most certainly a future Hall of Famer.

It is Christmas week and to keep with the post I made yesterday on the iBand, today I feature The Roots playing a Christmas song. That in itself is quite awesome, but when they team up with Dr. Elmo, the original singer of "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" it is so much better. So here you go! So good! There is no video of it on its own, so you have to fast forward to around 37:30.


Alright, time for the Nussie Hunter portion of the program. Marisa Miller is one of our favorites here at Wilber's Way. When she made the jump to do work for Victoria's Secret, we were elated. Take a look for yourself, she sure is something special. There's more of where this came from, here.

Bears put foot in mouth before heading off to Baltimore

A couple weeks ago it was Brian Urlacher, who hadn't been on the field since the first quarter of the Week 1 loss to the Packers that made waves with his words. Well, this week, it was Lance Briggs and Devin Hester's turn to send shockwaves through Halas Hall and send speculators running rampant through the Bears organization.
With the words he spoke in this story in the Chicago Tribune (among other places) Briggs set the world a fire and now the Bears, who aren't playing for a draft pick in the first two rounds to better, are in a public relations nightmare.
The focus here, should be on winning and with this nonsense it seems the last thing on the minds of Bears players and coaches is this week's opponent, the Ravens.
The attention is more on who will be gone and who will stay from what I am dubbing "The season of disappointment." Yeah, it's been rough, but really now this is no time for it.
I know what it is, really. It's media types, much like myself, who poke and pry and try to get something to write and they sure did it.
As mentioned in the story linked to above, Devin Hester had to turn to his Twitter page to set the record straight as to what he was meaning with his words.
To be fair, both of these guys are right with what they said. But hindsight is 20/20 and we can't afford to look back. You can't take back losing that girl you broke up with years ago and you can't change letting a coach or a player go here and there.
The guys need to play out the final three games against the Ravens, Vikings and Lions and hopefully win at least two of those.

As for this week against the Ravens, I did pick the Bears to win and there is good reason. I liked what I saw out of the Bears defense last week against the run after the big one to start. I hope they can bring that same intensity again this week because they'll need it against Ray Rice and this running game.
I think they will bring it. And Tommie Harris has started to show me something the past few weeks, too and if he keeps building, he could find his stride, too.
So, it comes down to the offense. Jay didn't play an awful game last week, but did make the awful throw that led to the winning touchdown.
He did admit this week that it has been hard to stay confident this season and that is the reason I tell the fans to not jump on this guy. It's a work in progress around him. He's trying to make plays. This week, I say he makes a couple, let's just hope it's not the big one that leads to the collapse again.
My prediction is this: Bears win this one 17-14 in a snow game that was moved back to 3:15. Both QBs give way to running games that move the pile and put some points on late, but it comes down to a Robbie Gould field goal.

A Friday night blog needs some comedy and we have to keep the Jersey Shore trip going. "Whereas and in reference to" The Situation and "Such as" Snooky this Bobby Bottle Service aka "The Service" is coming on strong. Haha. This is awesome!

Bobby Bottleservice - Jersey Shore Audition Tape - watch more funny videos

Alright, we quickly head to the Nussie Hunter portion of today's broadcast and it's a bit of Brewers news as well. The Crew signed another catcher in veteran Matt Treanor to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training. That isn't news in itself that is fit for the Nussie Hunter, but when he did a search and Tom Haurdricourt pointed out Treanor is married to an Olympic medalist, Misty May-Treanor, he perked up.
Yes folks, the Brewers added another WAG to the stands at Miller Park. And the fans rejoice!

Matt, Jay and the rest of the Bears put on a show

OK, I know I was the guy last week that said not to get too excited about preseason football after a lackluster showing by the Bears in almost every phase of the game.
Well, after Week 2 of the preseason, I'm not punching my ticket to the Super Bowl just yet, but I'm more encouraged by what I saw (or shall I say heard listening to the game on Sirius|XM) Saturday night by the No. 1s on offense and defense.
Jay Cutler made his debut in that navy jersey I'm looking forward to purchasing when I get the coin and the season starts. He engineered two touchdown drives, one of which ended in a pass to Desmond Clark.
Matt Forte delivered the other touchdown on a 32-yard scamper, but even that play gets a credit to Cutler who changed the play from a pass at the line to let the second-year stud do the rest.
In all, Jay went 8 of 13 for 121 yards and a passer rating of 117.8.
"I need to quote David Haugh's story here, because it has a great point in it:
Collectively, it made a statement that echoed through every NFC city and reminded other potential Super Bowl contenders besides the Giants that things have changed in Chicago. Not since the Bulls' last NBA championship in 1998 has there been this much excitement over a No. 6 along the lakefront."
Right on!
Forte's 58 yards on 9 carries is something to take note of, too. It was his preseason debut after coaches sat him out of last week's game against the Bills. There was no sign of that offseason hamstring injury as he came in with something to prove. Have to say, this is where a little preseason use can go a long way. (Check LT who doesn't play in preseason to say it's not always necessary).
Both of those spots are known commodities as we enter the season. The wide receiving corps is the spot all the doubters are pointing too as the weak link for this team. Through two preseason games, they are showing otherwise. It is something I've said all along, a QB make make WR better and Jay will do that. The fact that Earl Bennett and Jay played together at Vanderbilt will be big, too. He's his favorite target so far of the WRs and could be a factor through the season.
Also, David Haugh's story he filed today was about Devin Hester. Actually makes a good point that Devin doesn't need to be a No. 1 like everyone is wanting him to. He can still be valuable without carrying the load of a No. 1. Well say Haugh!
There was some bad news out of Bears camp today, as Dusty Dvoracek was place on IR after straining the MCL in his right knee. The more I read on this it goes back and forth between MCL and a torn ACL. Either way, Dusty is done, again, for the season. Tough luck for him.
Here's some other notes on guys that hurt their standing as the team leaves training camp and notes on those who helped their case to make the 53-man squad. And yes, Earl Bennett is on the helping list. If you're not a Bears fan, be sure to learn the name.
Next week is a trip to Denver to see Kyle Orton and for the Broncos fans to have some fun with Jay. Hold on to your hat!

Now that I've dropped major Bears knowledge on you, it's time for some fun. First, Friday's post on Cowboy's Stadium helped net me 2,500 hits this weekend. Thanks! But who knew that huge HD TV would be a magnet for footballs? Here's another story which Titans punter A.J. Trapasso talks about how many times he hit the thing. Take a look. Jerry says he's not moving it, but hey. C'mon, might be an idea. And if you're wondering the rule is a re-kick. Kind of fifth grade if you ask me.

Got some vids for you now. This one is an NBA vid, again shown to me by Luke. I think he likes being shouted out in the blog, but hey, this is good. Got a bunch of NBA guys together for a Footlocker campaign called Hyperize. This is a main rap video. Take a look at the rest of the page, here. Pretty funny stuff from Mo Williams, Kevin Durant and Co.



I know this Brett Favre thing is getting a bit old, but couldn't pass this up. You'd think this commercial was fake, but no, someone at the office told me they saw it the other day. Too funny. Hat tip to Brett for actually having a sense of humor about this whole deal.



Now finally, today's Nussie Hunter. Got my new Maxim the other day and maybe it's because I have this thing for Latin women (Selma Hayek, for one, c'mon!), but Miss Universe jumped out at me. Check out Dayana Mendoza. Makes a guy want to head to Venezuela. Wow! There's more of her here at Maxim.com.

Hester vs. Cutler, Part Duex, Really?

Welcome to the Favre Free Zone! That's the only time some guy named Brent is going to be mentioned in these pages without any football being played.

Now that that's out of the way, it's time to discuss what was burning up the airwaves today in Bears camp. Apparently what I was talking about yesterday made the front page of that four-letter sports network's Web site. I guess what I talked about yesterday with Jay Cutler and Devin Hester, blew up... or not.
Devin made sure to say it was taken out of context. And since I'm not a fan of ESPN, here's the Trib's story on the matter.
My take is now this, it's over and overblown. Things will get ironed out. Leave this alone. NEXT!

Now for some other goodies of the day. Take a look at this. Reminds me of the old MJ vs. Larry McDonald's commercials from back in the day (which was a Tooooosday btw).




Oh and this little bit here is from Jamie-Lynn Sigler. Quite funny. A must watch...


Awkward Jamie-Lynn Sigler Interview - Watch more Funny Videos


WHAT THE HELL IS BRETT FAVRE DOING HERE?!

Where did that come from? Hmmm, not sure. Good movie. Hope that doesn't piss too many people against the news of the day off.
Time to finish off with the Nussie Hunter. Another Entourage reference here. Alexis Dziena plays the new love interest of "E" on the show and a lot of people are not fans of hers.
Take a look for youself. For more pics, check these out. I'm not really a fan of hers, either. Rather see Sloan over and over again. Too damn hot that one.



See no mention of that one guy who used to be a Packer. Hope I could help make your day better!