Hub Arkush thoughts on Bears...

Cooookie Crisp · Post #1 » by **Cooookie Crisp** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 4:43 am

Stealing this from another message board and didn't hear it for myself but I assume he was on the radio and gave a few thoughts on the bears.

First, he said the bears couldn't win a playoff game.
- Wow...huge assumption on his part just look at last year when the seahawks upset the saints.

Second, he said the bears don't belong in the same class as the packers, saints, 49ers, giants.
- Packers are the only team I think in a whole another class then the rest of the league.

Third, he thinks the game next week against the chargers could turn into a shoot out and that the bears can't win that type of game.
- The is the only point I kind of agree with. I can see this happening but I also won't be surprised if the bears defense can cause turnovers like the packers defense did against rivers to help in a big scoring game. Also, I agree it's not optimal for the bears to get into a shoot out because they rely on the run to be successful on offense and it's hard to win a shoot out that way.

What does everyone else think? Is he right or wrong?

Susan · Post #2 » by **Susan** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:05 am

He's wrong.

This season is still young, we're heading upwards realllly quickly right now. The defense is KILLING it out there right now. Our special teams is better than ever. Forte is having a career year and Cutler's having his best season here. Things are getting fun again.

Susan · Post #3 » by **Susan** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:59 am

I really don't see any reason not to be enthused about this team right now.

The safeties are making plays. Wright has two picks and Conte seems to be a playmaker out there. We've been defending against the run much better since Harris went down and outta here. And outside of the 40 yarder by Megatron, they've really limited the big plays.

Urlacher and Briggs are playing as good as ever. Tillman is having his best season I can think of. The DT rotation is playing well. Peppers is an absolute freak.

Cutler is playing great, the line is playing great, Forte is playing out of his mind. Earl is clearly our best WR and everything else fits in nicely around him.

I really don't see how you can be down on this team after Sunday.

Cooookie Crisp · Post #4 » by **Cooookie Crisp** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 1:52 pm

Susan wrote:I really don't see any reason not to be enthused about this team right now.

The safeties are making plays. Wright has two picks and Conte seems to be a playmaker out there. We've been defending against the run much better since Harris went down and outta here. And outside of the 40 yarder by Megatron, they've really limited the big plays.

Urlacher and Briggs are playing as good as ever. Tillman is having his best season I can think of. The DT rotation is playing well. Peppers is an absolute freak.

Cutler is playing great, the line is playing great, Forte is playing out of his mind. Earl is clearly our best WR and everything else fits in nicely around him.

I really don't see how you can be down on this team after Sunday.

Agree with everything you said. After the first lions game the bears whole philosophy changed and it's encouraging to watch the bears use a formula that works for them. Run the ball, max protect, play defense, cause turnovers and use special teams to score/flip field position.

With the AFC West upcoming I can see the bears going 3-1 and then they end the season with games against Seattle, Packers and the Viks. If the bears can continue this formula I see the bears finishing out the year 5-2. If there was ever a time to high on the bears its now.

heir_jordan22 · Post #5 » by **heir_jordan22** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 5:25 pm

I might be mistaken but I'm pretty sure San Diego leads the league in turnovers. I know Phillip RIvers does. He used to be one of my favorite quarterbacks, but I think he and Vincent Jackson have both checked out.

THe Bears have forced 12 turnovers in the last 3 games? If it's a shootout I think the Bears defense will steal some of the Chargers bullets and we will win. We're on a very hot streak. Conte and Wright are palying extremely well, in the run and the pass, solidifyign our defense.

I'm also expecting Matt Forte to show up big after being bottled up by the Lions.

Post #6 » by **emperorjones** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 5:43 pm

Hub was a Bears apologist and optimist during the Dick Jaron era. It used to drive me nuts how he would go out of his way to support horrible teams and coaching. Recently he and Dan Hampton have been so anti-Bear they seem like Packervikinglion fans. The hatred they spew on JA and Lovie even after victories is crazy. The Bears are 17-8 over their last 25 regular season games and they at still calling for the whole FO and coaching staff to be replaced. It seems awful personal.

The reality is San Fran's record is inflated because they basically play in a pee wee football division. Good team but not great. I look for them to get upset the first game they play in the playoffs. The only thing that will slow down the Packers is cold, rain & snow. They re not a good running team. As for the Saints, Giants, etc- all beatable by the Bears.

WEFFPIM · Post #7 » by **WEFFPIM** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:55 pm

emperorjones wrote:The reality is San Fran's record is inflated because they basically play in a pee wee football division. Good team but not great. I look for them to get upset the first game they play in the playoffs. The only thing that will slow down the Packers is cold, rain & snow. They re not a good running team. As for the Saints, Giants, etc- all beatable by the Bears.

I'm gonna completely disagree on the 49ers being a fluke. They've only played one game in the division this season, have one of the league's best defenses and one of the most solid running games. Smith is taking the game manager title by the reins. They haven't allowed a single rushing touchdown this season, and just beat one of the hottest teams in football without their best weapon in Gore for the second half. The one game they lost was in overtime and because of one of the worst secondary collapses all season.

The Niners are damn good.

Post #8 » by **emperorjones** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 8:42 pm

I don't think they're a fluke at all. I said good team not great. And I meant to say that their record will be inflated by seasons end - meaning they will get the 1st or second seed by virtue of schedule (it's already been soft IMO) but will lose in their first playoff game.

Cooookie Crisp · Post #9 » by **Cooookie Crisp** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 10:40 pm

The niners are a hard team to figure out. They've had a pretty easy schedule so far this year and the rest of the schedule doesn't look to nasty save for baltimore and pittsburgh. Those two games will help gauge just how good the niners are. The niners do two things very well though run the ball and stop the run (top 10 in both categories) and come playoff time being good in those two areas will be vital to their success.

The niners do struggle against the pass (7th worse in the league) though and in the playoffs verse a team like the packers or saints that may be exploited. Also, the niners can't afford to get into a shoot out because their passing game is really weak (4th worse in the league) and if their defense stumbles at all it's likely a quick exit in the playoffs.

In the four games they've had this year against top 10 passing teams (dal, det, phi, nyg) they gave up an avg of 341ypg through the air. They're avg margin of victory in the 3 wins is only 4ppg, and they lost to the cowboys so they have zero wiggle room for any phase of their team to have a bad day in the playoffs.

All that said, I believe the niners are a real threat. Their passing game is improving and I do really like their defense, plus they just find ways to win games despite their short comings.

NZB2323 · Post #10 » by **NZB2323** » Wed Nov 16, 2011 12:01 am

Completely disagree with this guy. The Saints lost to Tampa, who we beat, and St. Louis. The Giants lost to the Seahawks and Washington. I was at the Packers game that we loss. If not for the holding call and some dropped passes, we win that game.

We've lost to the Packers, Saints, and Lions, who are all very good teams, and we now look a lot better than the Lions. Just like last year, we've improved over the bye week, but I believe that it mattered more this year with a shortened training camp. Our commitment to the running game and the play of our o-line has been night and day.

We have the best special teams and defense in the NFC and a top 10 QB and a top 10 RB. We can beat any team, including the Packers in 1 playoff game. I was at the Packers game that we loss. If not for the holding call and some dropped passes, we win that game. We've played the Packers close 4 games in a row. If our special teams scores a TD, our defense scores a TD, and our offense is conservative we'll beat anyone.

However, this is football. There is no guarantee that we even make the playoffs. Any team can win any given Sunday.

WEFFPIM · Post #11 » by **WEFFPIM** » Wed Nov 16, 2011 4:11 am

emperorjones wrote:I don't think they're a fluke at all. I said good team not great. And I meant to say that their record will be inflated by seasons end - meaning they will get the 1st or second seed by virtue of schedule (it's already been soft IMO) but will lose in their first playoff game.

They've beaten the Giants, Bengals, Lions, and Eagles this season, and have won all four games on the road, all of them in the Eastern time zone. That ain't too shabby.

In contrast, who have the Packers beaten? The Saints? The Bears?

Post #12 » by **emperorjones** » Wed Nov 16, 2011 4:34 am

Eastern time zone. Lol. The Giants are so overrated it's not funny. They are a 9-7 team waiting to happen. Barely beating them at home is not impressive. Beating the Lions on the road was a good win, although without Best the Lion's have not been so tough & that was his first game out. Bengals - quality win. Did you really put the 3-6 Eagles up threre as proof of a tough win? As for the Packers - they've won something like 79 straight games including that Superbowl thing. But the 49ers are a good team. Not great IMO.

Cliff Levingston · Post #13 » by **Cliff Levingston** » Wed Nov 16, 2011 8:27 pm

Hub is notoriously negative/conservative when it comes to the Bears and their players. Only reference him when you need to know the negative aspects of a certain guy knowing that he won't really give you any positives.

WEFFPIM · Post #14 » by **WEFFPIM** » Wed Nov 16, 2011 9:35 pm

emperorjones wrote:Eastern time zone. Lol.

How is that funny? There's long been a stigma of west coast teams having issues jumping ahead three hours and playing a game, especially a noon kick. Not laughable at all.

Post #15 » by **emperorjones** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 12:08 am

Yea, that eastern time zone thing came up around the time all the west coast teams started to suck. Back in the day when the 49ers and Raiders were dominant, that stat was non-existent. Who else is under that stat? Seahawks and San Diego? I'm sure I could come up with plenty of stats to show why they under perform. But most likely I would rely on the fact they score fewer points than their opponents.