Kaspers Korner

As I usually do I check ProFootballTalk.com several times a day and just about ten minutes ago it hit me.

Yesterday was the 10 year anniversary of the death of Walter Peyton.

I first learned about Peyton from NFL Films’s NFL’s greatest hits that my father got through his subscription to Sports Illustrated.

When seeing the highlights of Peyton running the football I was just mesmerized.

There he was juking making people miss, and then all of a sudden bam he would lower his shoulder and run right over the defender.

Peyton revolutionized how running backs attacked the goal line as he would dive over the offensive line.

In recent years it has become a lost art that retired players who are coaches now need to remind their running backs to use.
Peyton gave it his all as he never went out of bounds and never went down without a fight.

In the end Peyton’s legacy will never be forgotten.

The Chicago Bears have learned today that linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa season has ended as he will undergo surgery to repair a ruptured posterior cruciate ligament and cartilage damage.

With this being the second starting linebacker out for the year for the Bears one has to question how effective the Bears defense will be now.

The Bears already lost starting middle linebacker Brian Urlacher for the year, which makes this recent bit of news troubling.

The Bears have been improved on defense over last year as they are currently 19th in the league on defense compared to their 26th ranking last year.

However, with another starter going down that means the run defense will be giving up more yards along with underneath passes.

In the end if the offense doesn’t step up and shoulder some of the load the Bears will miss the playoffs.

There are many countless stories from great players in every sport that use rejection at the lower levels of sports to propel them to greatness.

That is the case with Chicago Bears wide receiver Johnny Knox.

According to the Associated press, Knox was rejected even by junior colleges when he came out of high school.

Knox eventually given a spot on Tyler Junior College as a wide receiver spot opened.

The revelation came for Knox in offseason prior to his sophmore year as he realized that he had to work real hard to get better.

Knox did that and the next time Knox took the field his coaches realized he was special.

In the end the Bears hit gold.

Quarterback Jay Cutler has the talent to be one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, but his attitude is one of the worst in the league.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune former National Football League head coach Mike Holmgren gives some advice to Cutler that he needs to listen to.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Holmgren is quoted with this advice,  “I’d go to work heavy on perception, how he is viewed, his body language, stuff like that,” Holmgren said. “People will say who cares? But people do care. It affects those people like teammates and coaches and a lot of other people in Chicago.”

Simply,to be the best you must learn from the best and if Cutler is going to be in the conversation with Indianapolis Colts Peyton Manning and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady he needs to listen.

In the end it is time for Cutler to wake up, because his attitude just won’t cut it anymore.

Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher has been a staple in the Bears defense for a decade.

With Urlacher suffering another injury it is looking like his days with the Bears are numbered.

Urlacher in the regular season opener against the Green Bay Packers suffered a dislocated wrist that will end his season.

That means the Bears will see if they can manager without him and if the do they it will be good bye to him after the season.

The Bears would be saving money as the contract extension that he signed before the 2008 season included only a six million signing bonus.

The Bears would save over over three million dollars cutting Urlacher after the season.

Urlacher will be 32 last year and with arthritis in his back his play is only going to start declining.

Most likely the team will move linebacker Lance Briggs to the middle linebacker position and sign linebacker Derrick Brooks to fill his spot for this year.

Rookie linebacker play immediately all the time and do usually have somewhat of an impact.

In the end an era has come to a close in Chicago.

The Chicago Bears finall got a franchise quarterback when they traded for quarterback Jay Cutler.

Still is Cutler going to be enough with the Minnesota Vikings adding quarterback Brett Farve.

The main problem with the Bears is do they have enough weapons to get the job done.

The Bears have two main weapons when it comes to the passing game in wide receiver Devin Hester and tight end Gregg Olsen.

Outside of those two the Bears have a unproven commodity in second year wide receiver Earl Bennett who caught not a single pass last year.

When Cutler was with the Broncos he had weapons at his disposal in wide receivers Eddie Royal, Brandon Marshall, and tight end Daniel Graham.

In the end Cutler will help the Bears, but most likely not as much as fans hoped for without a second legitament starting wide receiver.

The Chicago Bears hired Rod Marinelli to be their defensive line coach to get the best of an underachieving group.

Looking at Marnielli’s history with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers people better start believing the hype on the Bears.

According to ESPN.com Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher was complementary of Marinelli.

“If we get our defensive line back to where I know they can be, we get our defense to a championship level. And based on what I’ve seen from [Marinelli], I understand now what the fuss is all about. He’s special as a D-line coach.” Urlacher said.
Marinelli was the defenisve line coach for the Buccanners from 1996-2005, which also included an assistant head coach title after from 2002-2005.

In his ten seasons there the Buccanners defense appeared in the top ten for sacks six of the ten years with two other seasons being in the top fifteen.

So, you can bet the house that Marinelli will get the most out of the Bears defensive line.
In the end the only thing that will stop te Bears from being better defensively is injuries,

The Chicago Bears in 2006 were led to the Superbowl by their defense, which has since not been as good due to injuries and the lack of a pass rush.  That leaves many Bears fans wondering if they can return to form.

The main problem with the defense is that they do not have a premier pass rusher, which was suppose to be filled by Adewale Ogunleye who the Bears acquired in a trade.

Since, Ogunleye has been dissapointing as the most sacks he had in a season as a Bear was 10 in 2005.

The other is the declining play of middle linebacker Brian Urlacher as his tackles dropped steadily to 93 last year from 142 in 2006.

Fortunately, the defense got help in two different ways.

First, the defense got a direct boost by the signing of linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa who had a solid year in 2008 with 98 tackles and three sacks.

Also, Tinoisamoa has played for Bears head coach Lovie Smith when he was the Saint Louis Rams defensive coordinator, so that means Tinoisamoa fits the defense and knows it.

Secondly, the defense got an indirect boost by the Bears getting quarterback Jay Cutler, which means the defense will not have to be out as long on the field as the offense should be on the field longer.

In the end if the Bears are going to get back to the Superbowl it will be due to the resurgence of the defense.

The Chicago Bears made one of the biggest moves of the offseason as they traded for quarterback Jay Cutler.  As good as Cutler is the Bears need another wide receiver if the passing game is going to be effective.

The Chicago Bears for the first time, since the mid 1980’s, have a legitament quarterback.

The fact of the matter is that even Hall of Fame quarterbacks like Brett Farve, Indianapolis Colts Peyton Manning, and New England Patriots Tom Brady need decent wide receivers to be able to pass the football.

What made Cutler successful with the Denver Broncos is that he had two good wide receiver in Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal.  Along with tight end Daniel Graham.

The Bears do have two options on the offense in tight end Gregg Olsen and wide receiver Devin Hester who both caught over 50 passes in 2008.

Also, with Hester being under six feet there are certain things he cannot do like run a jump fade in the endzone.

As the Buffalo Bills have quickly learned a passing game is in trouble when you do not have a wide receiver over six feet that is one of the best in the game.

With the Chicago Bears trading for quarterback Jay Cutler many believe that the next step is getting some better weapons for him.  However, the Bears already have some weapons on their roster.

The Chicago Bears do not have a superstar weapon last year on offense.  The reason is that their two best weapons were only in their second year at their positions.

Wide receiver Devin Hester had the most catches amongst wide receivers with 51 catches.

Hester only started eight games last season due to the fact it was his second season as a wide receiver as he made the change over from cornerback.

With the 2009 season being his third at wide reciever look for Hester to explode on the scene starting all sixteen games with over 70 catches, 1,000 yards receiving, and 10 touchdowns.

The person that the second most receptions on the team was tight end Gregg Olson who had 54.

Olson will also be going into his third year in the league, but with 54 catches he is already a weapon.

The player with the most catches on the Bears last year was running back Matt Forte with 63, which was the most of all running back in the National Football League.

The Bears do still have a second round pick in the upcoming draft, so the Bears could still add another wide receiver.

In anywhich case the Bears offense should improve.