Bears @ Dolphins Thursday Night Football

[SportsWorld]

I'll start it off with this:
Michael_Fabiano
Mike Lombardi is reporting that Tyler Thigpen is likely to start for the Dolphins on Thursday night.

[BIGGIEsmalls 23]

For whatever reason, we seem to have problems with 2nd string, 3rd string, & emergency QBs. They have great games against us for some strange reason. Hopefully, we have learned from past mistakes because this is a must-win game IMHO.

[emperorjones]

Very True BIGGIE. But This time I think the short week works in our favor. Also, the speed of our LB crew should limit the success of the Wildcat.

[The Explorer]

I don't feel good about this game, even with Thigpen at qb. Even they lose and are sitting at 6-4, it would start up the fire Lovie talk again. Dolphins do suck at home though. Oh, and Cutler sucks even more in night games.

Dolphins 26
Bears 13

[emperorjones]

I don't feel good about this game, even with Thigpen at qb. Even they lose and are sitting at 6-4, it would start up the fire Lovie talk again. Dolphins do suck at home though. Oh, and Cutler sucks even more in night games.

Dolphins 26
Bears 13

Does anyone know a good Bears board where I might find one or two Bears' fans?

[WEFFPIM]

Thigpen starting, Long possibly out.

This is starting to get scary with how this is lining up.

[BIGGIEsmalls 23]

Very True BIGGIE. But This time I think the short week works in our favor. Also, the speed of our LB crew should limit the success of the Wildcat.

Agreed.

I don't feel good about this game, even with Thigpen at qb. Even they lose and are sitting at 6-4, it would start up the fire Lovie talk again. Dolphins do suck at home though. Oh, and Cutler sucks even more in night games.

Dolphins 26
Bears 13

Does anyone know a good Bears board where I might find one or two Bears' fans?

Well you found one right here, Emporer...lol.

I have been asking for more optimism on this board since my first post. I understand that the Bears are not the most consistent or sexy team in the NFL, but we are leading our division with a 6-3 record (3 teams in the NFL are better with 7-2 records). It's bad enough that ESPN doesn't give us respect (Example: Even though the Jets beat 2 bad teams in OT in consecutive weeks, they are praised as being a great & resilient team. If the Bears beat a team (good or bad), they are described as being a mediocre & lucky team).

It would be nice to come to this board for something different than what ESPN offers.

[emperorjones]

Yeah Biggie. I'm tired of coming to this board and reading that the Bears suck and Cutler sucks and this & that suck and we haven't played anyone - even though the "anyone" we haven't played most thought we would lose to. 6-3 and people are assuming we're gonna get beat by a team with no QB that plays like crap at home. Maybe we lose but I just don't like coming here listening to a bunch of bitching with no analysis. The O Line has given up 2 sacks in the last 2 games. Tremendous improvement on our main problem. But people here seem to just want to focus on the negative.

Glad to at least find you here Biggie. I've been out of the country and have had to listen to the last 4 games on th eradio and see highlights online. I used to come here to read up on what fellow Bears FANS thought - positive and negative. But jeez. The team here has gotten too negative for me.

The posters here are burning me out - not on the Bears but on RealGM.

[SportsWorld]

It's not just here. All Bears fans are very iffy with this team and for good reason. The Bears have played the softest schedule in the NFL up to this point. The schedule gets tougher starting this week. We'll see what this team is really made of.

[WEFFPIM]

I get really sick of people telling others how to be a fan, personally. People are allowed to be optimistic, pessimistic, or whatever. It's what makes the human race so unique, the ability for each one of us to have our own thoughts and reason.

[emperorjones]

Great. The human race is unique and now there are only 7 posters on this board. I mean, I come to the game thread on gameday looking for a discussion and I see quotes like:

My God the Bears will get crushed

No discussion. No analysis. Just the Bears suck. Just like the one above saying Cutler sucks...basically a "Bears Suck" thread. I might as well go read the Vikings board. Stopped me from posting anything. If new posters want to come that would stop them too. If you think that at least put some effort behind it so we can have some discussion. The board is no good with a bunch of homers but its no good with a bunch of "Bears Suck" comments either.

[WEFFPIM]

You're right. It was a stupid comment because I didn't back it up. But I didn't post it because I hate the Bears, or hate life in general. I posted it because I thought they'd be crushed. The only team they beat of merit was the Packers, had lost at home to two bad teams previously and had to come back to beat a winless Bills team. The Vikings, however, seemed like they put things together the week before and still have arguably the most talent in the league.

It's not like I've never contributed to this board. But if there's one thing I can't stand, it's people who target other people for their own agenda. My comment bugged you. You quoting my comment, trying to show the world just how awful a human being I am, bugged me. You showed up after they won to hunt down people who dared say they would lose. You bumped your prediction thread, which slid out of view during the bye week after two really bad losses. I don't know if this is commonplace on Chicago boards, but this happens from time to time on Milwaukee boards and it's incredibly irritating.

If this board is going to improve (and to an extent, the Blackhawks board, which has taken a huge dive, partially my fault), then everyone needs to wake up. It's not just the eternal pessimists or the eternal optimists, it's everyone. Bears boards around the interweb pretty much suck, maybe we can be the antidote to that.

[/soapbox]

[The Explorer]

I don't feel good about this game, even with Thigpen at qb. Even they lose and are sitting at 6-4, it would start up the fire Lovie talk again. Dolphins do suck at home though. Oh, and Cutler sucks even more in night games.

Dolphins 26
Bears 13

Does anyone know a good Bears board where I might find one or two Bears' fans?

I'm a Bears fan. People who don't share your opinion are still fans of the team. Just because I think Cutler is bad in night games doesn't make me a Vikings fan. That's pretty unreasonable on your part. I'm a Cutler fan, and a Lovie Smith backer. However, the facts back up my statement that Cutler sucks in night games. If you think this fact should be ignored and and we should only talk positively about everything Bears related, that's your opinion. But I wouldn't assign you a demeaning label because of that.

[emperorjones]

You quoting my comment, trying to show the world just how awful a human being I am, bugged me.

Wrong. I quoted your quote to show how bad the quote was. I have no idea who you are or what type of human being you are and I don't care. Only interested in the Bears here.

You showed up after they won to hunt down people who dared say they would lose. You bumped your prediction thread, which slid out of view during the bye week after two really bad losses.

Wrong. I showed up when I had internet connection. I'm in Colombia and was on a 7 hour bus ride to Venezuela last Sunday. Didn't have Internet connection the week before and there was no reason to post during the bye week. Didn't watch or listen to the game last week because I couldn't. Like I said I come here when I'm out of town like this to see what Bear Fans think. I know what I think.

As far as bumping my thread? I bumped it as a positive and to ask if people thought we could win 10-11 games. I wrote this...

Anyone else on board with 10-11 victories? I see us going at least 4-3 with wins against Miami, Philly, Detroit and a Vikings team that should be ready for Christmas vacation in 4 more weeks. I also think the Patriots are overrated on offense and defense. Thats a tough one to call though.

The Redskins loss really hurt. But overall, the defense has kept us in every game. The Giants game felt like a blowout but they only scored 17.

With the O-Line rounding into shape since the off week, I have the arrow pointing up. So happy we have Webb at RT!

How on EARTH to you view that as hunting down anyone? Nothing but positive no attacks nothing negative. I was not hunting down anyone. IMO you are just so negative (sarcastic would be better but you really are not sarcastic). You seem to see things with just a negative eye. Somehow you saw me hunting people down in that quote. Unbelievable.

And for the record, I stick with my predictions good or bad. I lost my Avatar to Chewie 2 years ago when my prediction was wrong. I bumped that thread the whole season. I'll bump my prediction thread this year because its my prediction thread and I think it will be right. If wrong, I will be here taking the heat just like I was last time.

If this board is going to improve (and to an extent, the Blackhawks board, which has taken a huge dive, partially my fault), then everyone needs to wake up. It's not just the eternal pessimists or the eternal optimists, it's everyone. Bears boards around the interweb pretty much suck, maybe we can be the antidote to that.

Why is the Blackhawks board diving partially your fault? I'm not a hockey fan but they DID win the Cup last year right? Why would the board be diving and what would YOU be doing to help it dive other than celebrating the city & teams first Stanley Cup and why?

[SportsWorld]

The Blackhawks are a frustrating, lazy team this year so people are upset and deservedly so.

[emperorjones]

But I wouldn't assign you a demeaning label because of that.

In that case you should call me a Homer. Which I am. But I do write positive and negative about the team. But I still consider myself a Homer.

The funniest thing is, over the last few years the Bears have outperformed record wise what fans have expected. But Fans don't expect much.

[dingojazz]

Huge game Thursday. NFL Network coverage sucks but I'm quite excited for this one. My keys to the game:

Pressure Thigpen into making mistakes. If the Dolphins are missing LT Long, that could be huge for Peppers and Izzy. Get in Thigpens face and see if he'll throw a couple picks. We're long overdue for a defensive touchdown.

Continue to dominate special teams. Looking for one big play.

Keep up the balanced play calling on offense. I don't care if we have 30 carries for 75 yards, committing to a running game helps Cutler out greatly.

Prediction: Bears win 23-17.

Go Bears Bitches!

[Icness]

Underestimate Tyler Thigpen at your peril. He's got a lot of Jay Cutler to him except he's very mobile. This is a week where Lovie needs to mix up the coverages and bring pressure from beyond the front 4 to not let Thigpen get comfortable and have easy reads. He does play reckless, and the backup is Pat Ramsey, so if he has to sit out a play or a drive (that happens to him a lot) Miami is dead in the water. When Thigpen was in KC he was quite good when he was able to pick up the defense and get in rhythm. I know people in the KC locker room that still wish he was their starter.

Having said that, I like the Bears here quite a bit. Looks like Cameron Wake will be out or extremely limited, which means Miami has no reliable pass rush. The speed of the Bears WRs should give them a lot of trouble; the Miami safeties are decent football players but they're slow for NFL safeties. Jake Long could be out too, at minimum he's playing with a badly injured shoulder and that impacts his run blocking. I also like the Bears special teams to have a big day. Bears 29-17.

[BIGGIEsmalls 23]

The Bear's schedule has been just as soft as any other team's, IMO. The NFL is the same year in & year out. Some teams that have been predicted to be bad end up being good, while some that are predicted to be good end up being bad. I have witnessed this for the past 30 years.

The Bears have defeated the Lions (not as bad as they were predicted to be), Cowboys (not the Superbowl team that they were predicted to be), Packers (Very good team), Panthers (Bad team), Bills (Took the Ravens & others down to the wire), & Vikings (Another predicted Superbowl team).

The Bears have lost to the Giants (Up until last week, the unanimous NFC powerhouse), Seahawks (A so-so team that beat us by 3 points), & Redskins (Another so-so team that beat us by 3 points).

I have been critical of the Bears just like other posters have, but the difference is that I don't s*** on them every chance that I get like ESPN. I cheer for them to win every week & point out as many positives as I do negatives.

We are 6-3 & leading our division while playing more than half of this season with an assortment of f***ups (Cutler's concussion, poor O-Line play, bad coaching decisions, Briggs' ankle, & A COMPLETELY NEW OFFENSIVE SYSTEM).

We have positives & negatives just like any other NFL team. GO BEARS!!!!!

[SportsWorld]

The Bears have played the worst schedule in the NFL so far this year. Just look at who we've beaten:
Lions
Packers
Cowboys
Panthers
Bills
Vikings

There's only one quality win on that list and that's the Packers and they pretty much beat themselves in that game with penalties. It's nice that we're beating teams that we should beat but we still have yet to bear a quality opponent.