I won't say worthless, but he certainly isn't the dominant player he once was. He is a very intelligent player and as the play caller for the defense, he will be missed somewhat. At the same time, it was clear he had lost a couple of steps physically, and he just couldn't stay healthy for that long. Honestly (I've said it before and I'll say it again) if Urlacher is gone, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. They'll need to develop someone new at Middle LB, however, because Nick Roach is not a long term solution at middle LB, and Lance Briggs needs to stay where he is at. If Lovie ends up becoming a Defensive Coordinator someplace (and those jobs are filling up fast, so he may not), or even a defensive coach (line, LBs, whatever), it wouldn't surprise me to see a team use Lovie to try to attract Urlacher, pending they have a need at middle LB. I think it'd be a shame to see Urlacher in a different jersey, but it wouldn't shock me, either. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if a team with a need at MLB courted Lovie Smith for the specific reason of trying to get Urlacher. I listened to some snippets of the press conference today, and I am somewhat optimistic. I am optimistic that he is calling his own plays, and that it will be a direct link from him to Cutler in the huddle. During the season, you could tell Cutler got incredibly frustrated with the fact that it took so long to get play calls in to him (they went from the offensive coordinator to the QB coach, and THEN to Cutler, and I have no idea why the middle man was necessary). In fact, that was the biggest reason I think he didn't get along with Mike Tice. You can tell Cutler has no patients for anything that might even slightly go wrong, and taking forever to get a play in is one of those things that is on the guy calling plays. I am optimistic that he is so intent on protecting the QB. I assume he intends to work with Emery to bolster the line, either through draft, trade, or free agency. They have a lot of good offensive weapons in Cutler, Forte, Marshall, Jeffrey, and (maybe) Johnny Knox* or Earl Bennett,* but they don't have the offensive line to make anything happen. Long plays were impossible because they couldn't protect Cutler to make it happen, and running the ball was all but impossible with such shitty blocking. I am, however, NOT optimistic at the loss of Marinelli. While that defense was Lovie's baby, Marinelli was a big part of it, too. He is extremely respected as a defensive coordinator, and I think losing HIM is a bigger loss than losing Urlacher. That defense is aging, and the window to get to the playoffs and be a contender with that defense is closing. While I think they're two good Offensive Linemen away from being a good offense, they're likewise one or two injuries away from being a terrible defense, and injuries are going to happen more frequently with the age of the guys on the defensive side of things. Long term, I am hoping they draft offensive line, TE, and (maybe, if one is out there that isn't name Te'o) a strong middle LB early, while focusing their later picks on defensive guys that they can focus on developing into starters over the next year or two, while their older defensive guys get phased out. *I do not ever expect Knox or Bennett to be strong starters, but they could be extremely effective as slot receivers with Marshall and Jeffrey attracting all the attention. Giving Cutler some more targets is never a bad thing, especially if they can't find a decent TE in the draft or free agency
Sure, he's old and in decline, but there are at least 20 other teams that would love to slide Urlacher into their starting lineup. fewer if we restrict ourselves to teams playing the 4-3, but still, there's Buffalo, Denver, Oakland, Tennessee, Tampa, and maybe New Orleans and New York. Hell, even the Pats might take him. He's one of the smartest players out there, and there is always a place for smart veterans. Lovie claims he's not interested in any DC jobs right now, and that it's HC or sit the season for him.
Ouch. That fumble by Crabtree might end up costing the 49ers the game. I have to give credit to the falcons. I really didn't think they would do this well in the playoffs.
Superbowl bitches. I picked the niners to get there at the start of the season, so there is that. Of course I picked San Diego to be their opponent so obviously, I do not know shit about the AFC.
Bernard Pollard is a bad bad man. Looks like he should take over Lights Out now that Merriman isn't any good. Also, Boldin is just in beast mode. Talking so much shit and backing every damn word of it up.
You know how you wanted a new career? You should be a sports analyst and host a show with Skip Bayless. They can call it the twilight bowl. Boldin=GOD
Re: Re: 2012 NFL Season Brady is a whiny pussy bitch, his vagina hurts when he gets a hang nail, you think he is gonna drop a shoulder when the super bowl is on the line?
This second half has been all Baltimore. We are less than 7 minutes away from a Harbaugh/Harbaugh super bowl. So how soon will their sons start being groomed to fill in the revolving door of head coaching vacancies?
It's been fun guys. Looks like we need a little more Gronk, little more defense. This will be an interesting super bowl Don't know if I can even watch it.
I think I just heard Parker screaming at this TV and throwing shit furiously. I can't imagine why anyone else in Chicago would be that angry. What was a close game turned into as close to a blow-out as the playoffs have really had. The Patriots didn't do a thing that 2nd half, and dare I say, Belichick got out-coached in that game. Harbaugh and the Ravens made the half time adjustments to absolutely shut the Patriots down in every phase of the game that 2nd half. Credit to Flacco. He was pretty damn clutch in that game. Now lets see how he does in the Superbowl. It'll be interesting, if he wins the Superbowl does he finally get that 'elite' status that he so covets? The build to Harbaugh-bowl will be a long fucking two weeks, though.
No. I hate when QBs are called elite just because they happen to be on good teams. If Flacco was on a different team I'm not sure we'd even be noticing him. Him and Eli Manning are both franchise QBs, but they don't belong in that upper bracket that should be reserved for only the best of the best at the position. So what are the picks for the Harbaugh bowl? I assume most people will be on the 49ers. I just never saw the ravens getting this far. When they beat Denver it looked like a fluke win, but they totally dominated New England today, and if they can do that to Tom Brady, they can probably do it to Kaepernick and San Fran. Two brothers, one murderer, and a young QB who came out of no where to maybe win his first super bowl after starting just 7 regular season games. Should be fun.
I'm planning to boycott ESPN, you should too. I'm gonna be honest, I spent most of this season thinking we weren't gonna make the Super Bowl with this defense, so this loss doesn't really stun me. After Talib went down, it was all downhill from there. We need to use a couple of high picks on the secondary.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8536374/the-patriots-flawed-other-week-7-news" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/853 ... eek-7-news</a>
So hire a guy who can draft DBs. Trade for somebody proven. I dunno. Point is, we all know the problem with the team.