EMPEROR JONES PREDICTS......The Bears will go at least 10-6
Why you ask? What a Homer idiot you say?
Top 8 Reasons why the Bears will "Shock the World"
8. The Schedule - Every year, people look back over the year before and say wow this schedule's easy or this schedule's so tough. We tend to live in a vacuum when we do this. We assume that the good teams from a year before are just going to get better and we see the bad teams adding FAs & high draft picks. But I predict that this will be a seriously down year for the NFC East and we play the NFC East - Dallas will take a big step back. They have serious OL problems and that's going to turn Romo into a Cutler like target. Their offense will break down during the coarse of the seasons once teams figure out how to attack - & without good tackles, Peppers will go nuts against them in week 2. The Skins are a bad TEAM yes that add McNabb, but that's not going to get them there. The Giants are a competitive team that one one more game than the Bears last year and I think they will win the East but with a 10-6 record. Philly will be around .500.
Add to that that I thin Minnesota is going to have a 9-7 season (look at that 11-5 record last year and realize they had several miraculous wins - that doesn't happen 2 years in a row) Their D-Line & O-Lines have taken a step back. They have tons of injuries and its going to take several weeks for them to click.
7. The Receiving Core - You will see the Birth of a star this year. Jonny Knox is going back to the Pro-Bowl, but as a WR. Martz will move Hester around enough to cause enough concern to keep defenses watching him and Knox will reap the benefits. Aromashodu is going to be our go to guy while Knox will be the big play star. This WR corp with Mad Martz is going to "SHOCK THE WORLD"
6. The Line Backers - Are going to be healthy and are going to be the best LB unit in the league. We now have elite players on both the DL and the LB units. This is extremely important. Peppers, Briggs, Urlacher and IF Harris gets it going this year - Look Out!
5. The Running Backs - Forte looks solid again. and we have a very solid tandem FINALLY with Chester Taylor.
4. The Safeties - Yes you read that right - THE SAFETIES! While everyone else considered the Bears were stupid to bring C Harris in here and then switch him to FS when he's a SS, I think that was done because the Bears really feel that Major Wright is going to be a stud FS. When he gets there (EJ predicts 2nd half of game 1). Harris switches back to SS backed up by Manning unless Manning beats him out. This gives the Bears a solid & athletic safety core.
3. The Offensive Line - Cutting Beekman was a surprise move. But also a move that shows that Mike Tice believes in what he has. From the start he looked at the line with Fresh eyes. This was a great thing and got the best talent on the field when he moved Garza to LG. FO will settle in at RT and Martz will give CW the help he needs against the elite speed rushers we face. I think the line play will pick up where it left off at the end of last year and Cutler will learn to trust them and not have that alarm clock sounding in his head after 1.5 seconds. Equaling better decisions and fewer picks.
2. The Defensive Line - The defensive line will bring the pressure. Julius Peppers is a BEAST and when teams gameplan to stop him its going to free up SOMEONE to cause havoc. Whether that be Harris, or a blitzing LB/S its one less guy to pick up for our D. This is what we wanted & needed all along. Realize that last year we had a starting DE (Adawale) that isn't even in the league this year. The defensive line is where we always say it starts & the Bears have solved this problem.
1. Cutler - Cutler will not have a repeat performance from last year. The pressure to do everything will not be on him. Last year in games it was obvious that he did not feel that the OC was competent. This year, he knows that Martz knows what he's doing. The results will be less forcing and more balanced play from Cutler, particularly as he gets used to steady play from Tice's offensive line.
This is the basis of my 10-6 prediction. I actually think they could go 11-5 but I don't feel like losing my sig to Chewie again if he decides to come back to this board
