Adrian Peterson Misses Vikings Practice

In some interesting developments out of Vikings camp, Adrian Peterson is missing mandatory practice. Guess it ain’t so mandatory. The organization sends mixed messages with its treatment of Favre, so what do they expect with other players? Or maybe Peterson fumbled his plane ticket.

Chicago Bears Management Changes

The Chicago Bears front office appears to be rivaling some of our favorite mafia movies minus the actually murdering of individuals. Throughout the off-season, much more publicity has been given to the retention of Lovie Smith and the influx of new coaches. As I have said before, these changes were needed and it appears the organization made good hires. But my focus here is on the changes in the front office.

The Bears have done a terrible job of evaluating talent across on the NFL level both within the organization and through free agency. That is why they fired Bobby DePaul  (who’s title was Director of Pro Personnel). Since the Bears appeared in the Super Bowl, many questionable pro personnel moves have been made by the organization. This includes losing Bernard Berrian, trading Chris Harris, releasing Cedric Benson, trading Thomas Jones, signing Orlando Pace and Frank Omiyale on the offensive line and trading for Gaines Adams (OK, I understand it was a tragedy that he died but to be honest, he wasn’t showing much as a player). Plus, how could anyone honestly believe that the Bears secondary was any good going into last season. One of the most important things an individual can do is scout the organization from the top. Mr. DePaul did not seem to do much of that.

Greg Gabriel’s job was the scout college talent. He also was let go immediately after this year’s draft. With the exception of Johnny Knox from last season, there were few contributors from that draft class. Now granted they traded the first pick for Jay Cutler, but the Bears failed to get much talent. Now, in the Bear’s defense, it can take some players a few years to develop. But as it stands, last year’s draft was poor. This year’s draft was supposedly orchestrated by Gabriel before his departure. Jury is still out…

To solve all of the organization’s issues, they hired one person to do the job of DePaul and Gabriel. Tim Ruskell was an old running mate of Jerry Angelo’s from Tampa and now rejoins his pal in Chicago. Ruskell comes from Seattle with mixed reviews. He did win in Seattle and his previous stop of Atlanta, but there were some moves he made that Seattle could not forgive, including the loss of Steve Hutchinson to the Minnesota Vikings. I think the Bears needed a new perspective, and hopefully Ruskell can bring this to the table. However, I have a real difficult time letting Angelo off the hook for several of the fires burning at Halas Hall.

As a lifelong fan, I am heartbroken that the Bears went from a Super Bowl team to a mediocre product so quickly. To not even make the playoffs and invent ways to lose is pathetic. Changes needed to be made, but I am not sure these went high enough. When does the buck stop with the General Manager or team president? Jerry Angelo and Ted Phillips were both given free passes by the organization. Lovie Smith was protected by his overinflated contract. The press conference the Bears held after the season was beyond a joke and any reasonable person would have found the three stooges sitting on the stage as being condescending jerks. All I know is that Lovie had the brains to take over the defense last season and prove little value as the coach. Plus, his famous time out, challenge loss, additional time out loss series against the Packers was perhaps the dumbest thing ever done in Chicago football history. The Chicago Bears are lucky to have some of the best and most loyal fans in sports, but the attitude from the off season was ‘we know what we’re doing and you can go screw yourself if you disagree’.  OK, so some redemption on their part was made possible by a strong free agent class and getting back Chris Harris from the Panthers. But until we see this team in action, the Halas Hall crew have a lot to prove.

Your thoughts please!!!

Around the Division: Week 4

This is our first installment of ‘Around the Division.’ Each week we will look around the division to see whats going on. Find the scores from the previous week, and any other notes we feel you should know about.

Green Bay Packers (2-2): Lost 30-21 at Tampa Bay Bucaneers

The Green Bay Packers may have lost more than just the game in week 4, quarter back Aaron Rodgers sprained his throwing shoulder during the fourth quarter and missed a series. He returned, but did not look like himself. Rodgers wasn’t the same he had been the previous three weeks, as he threw his first interception in the game, which was one of three he three. The Packers run game wasn’t much either, as Ron Grant ran fur just 20 yards on 15 carries. Packers fans must be cringing after Brett Favre thew 6 touchdowns for the Jets. Next week the packers host the Atlanta Falcons at home.

Minnesota Vikings (1-3): Lost 30-17 at Tennessee Titans

The Minnesota Vikings may also have lost more than just the game, as quarter back Gus Frerotte left with an injury during the fourth quarter. Star running back Adrian Peterson continued to run over defenders as he rushed for 80 yards and two scores, but also lost two costly fumbles. Former Bear Bernard Berrian has 5 catches for 78 yards. Defensively the Vikings gave up 74 rushing yards and 3 rushing tuchdowns to Lindale White and rookie Chris Johnson combined. Next week the Vikings travel to New Orleans to face the Saints on Monday Night Football.

Detroit Lions (0-3): Bye Week

The Detroit Lions had a bye in week 4, but made news by firing general manager Matt Millen early in the week. The Lions will host our Chicago Bears in week 5.