Thoughts on the Bears Preseason

So, as of this point, we are now a week away from the regular season. *Does happy dance*.

I haven't seen all the preseason games - I KNOW! Shocker! - but I have seen all of the Chicago Bears' preseason games - I know. ANOTHER shocker! - and this is my opinion on what I've seen of the team.

Jay Cutler is vastly improved. I know. I've defended Jay for like ever. I've always felt he was under-rated and now he's proving that I was right. He looks like the QB that he was born to be. He's threading needles and making the big plays that one requires a QB to do. He lost weight, starting the end of last season and hasn't put it back on. I think he lost 11 pounds and he looks it. He looks more mobile. Not that he was exactly a Kurt Warner - esque QB in not being a great runner. Jay will run and when he does, he runs big and fast. But, he's throwing better. The marriage of Mike Martz's offensive scheme and Jay Cutler's abilities seem to be doing better than I had originally given hope. Maybe the crazy offensive scheme of Martz was what Cutler needed. More than I thought.

And, folks, how about that O-line!? There have been moments of not protecting the QB, but to be fair, it's not just the preseason, but some of those O-liners are either rookies or free agents looking to get on the team. I am impressed, especially with our "Mini Fridge", Gabe Carimi. He's got what it takes, as far as I see it. I figure in a couple years, he's going to be a guard to be reckoned with. Let's just hope that, unlike William "The Refrigerator" Perry, Carimi stays on offense. Jay Cutler needs him with the departure of Kruetz.

Matt Forte is proving that my comparing him to Walter Payton is spot on. While Forte will never have the sweet moves or finesse of "Sweetness", he certainly has the strength and the agility. He is our #1 running back and it's easy to see why. Forte will win out against any running back, even if we lose, simply because he's taller and stronger than some of them and has the ability to carry the offense (and in some cases from the past couple of seasons, defenses! Anyone remember that Monday night game against Minnesota when he carried practically the entire defense for another 5 yards after they thought he was down for that all important first down?)

Devin Hester. Only two words I need to say about him: Dangerous and Fast. He's really not been as dangerous as he has been in the past few years since football has moved where the kick offs happen, not allowing Hester to be used as he's been used and where he is most dangerous. Of course, it's only preseason and things could be different in the regular season and let's not count out the fact that OTAs and mini-camp and most of training camp were missed due to the Lockout. I feel that Hester will continue to bring the heat and the danger, but I've yet to see it. I'll give the guy a break under the circumstances.

Johnny Knox took the weight that Jay Cutler lost. Seriously. He bulked up this off season and he's looking good. He seems to have lost the rocks he had for hands last season and gained a whole new set of soft hands. He's been used for kick off returns and a couple punt returns and he's proven dangerous. Even though the kick off has been moved to the 35 yard line, Knox proves it's not the placement of the kick off, but the veracity of the returner. He's been picking up where Hester has left off. He's going to be a very good, if not the best, returner for the Bears.

Marion Barber. Roy Williams. Free agents we picked up from Dallas. Honestly, I thought that when the Bears very stupidly traded away Greg Olsen, our offense would be done. While I'm still trying to figure out how well they'll add to the offense, I'll give them a chance. New team. New offensive scheme. I'm more impressed, however, by Barber. While fumbles are a Marion Barber trait, Williams has lent a hand in giving Cutler a couple interceptions he normally wouldn't have had.

But, over all, I'm very impressed with the Bears and where we are heading.

Can we go to and win the Super Bowl? With this team, working together the way they are, I'll have to say yes, we can. I realize all that needs to go into it, but I really believe that this team is a Super Bowl winning team, headed up by one of the nicest coaches to have ever coached the game. While I do believe that Da Bears need Da Coach to play "bad cop", I'll never want to see "good cop" Lovie Smith go anywhere. He's the coach the team needs.

Good luck this season, Bears. You're well on your way to being the "Monsters of the Midway" once again and this die-harder couldn't be happier!

Just A Random Post.

I know that, if some people read this, they will tell me how stupid I am or how I don't know that much about the game and how can I possibly hate Tom Brady?

This journal is run by a woman, who loves the game. Do I know everything about the game? No and the only two people that do have been long dead. Vince Lombardi and George Halas were the only two people alive to ever understand football in its entirety.

Do I wish I knew more about the game? Yes. Will I ever? Possibly not.

Do I care? No.

I'm a fan of the game and of the men. I will write about things and players that I like and that I hate. There are, believe it or not, very valid reasons for me not liking a certain player or a certain team.

And very valid reasons why I like the teams and players I do.

This blog was never intended to be an end all, be all of football knowledge. You can certainly find other sites for that.

It was intended for the reader to get a glimpse inside a woman's head when she watches the game and sees the players.

Read or don't read.

Comment or don't comment.

But don't say I don't know the game because I find the players hot or I don't know as much as you do.

Why "Tom Brady Hate"?

Many times I'm asked why I don't care for Tom Brady. One woman even questioned my womanhood because I don't find him attractive, and it's not for lack of trying. I've stared and stared at the man and tried my damnedest to find one thing attractive about him. I'm unable to.

Not that other women can't because apparently, they do. I'm not going to question a woman's "womanhood" because she doesn't find Eli Manning sexy and I do.

But, why the "Tom Brady Hate" as my friend called it one time?

Simple.

He's a punk.

A back up's back up in college isn't the back up I want in the NFL. I question Brady's mental toughness. Physical toughness? I don't...unless it's the famous so-called broken foot before the Super Bowl, which they lost to Eli Manning and the New York Giants.

His mental toughness? That's a different story. I don't think someone who sees a sports psychologist because he can't handle the stress and frustration of being a back up's back up is mentally tough. But, that's just me.

Anyone ever hear of Aaron Rodgers? You think HE ever cried as he watched his number go down in the draft, only to be drafted by the Packers, at which time, unless your name was Favre, you never got a rep? We all know Rodgers' story, but you never heard him pissing and moaning about it. He just did it. What he did in private, only he knows. But, you never saw Rodgers crying as he was interviewed about it.

Does Tom Brady have mental toughness? I honestly don't know. I seriously question.

I give Brady credit for being a decent QB and for being a real student of the game. I don't think I've seen any other QB, save maybe Peyton Manning, sit on the sidelines with the "book" in his lap as often as I've seen Brady. Brady may not have the strongest arm in the league - that belongs to Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler - but he has the most accurate one. He can thread a needle while on the run in the middle of a hurricane.

So, why do I dislike Tom Brady?

Other than the fact that he plays for the New England Patriots - the one team I hate MORE than the Green Bay Packers?

It's the fact that at Michigan, he wasn't this good. And just as he took over for Bledsoe, the cheating started. Could it have been coincidence? Yes. My personal opinion is that No. It's not.

If Brady could do what he does with a much weaker O-line, then I'll give him 100% credit. But the truth is that right now, I question his ability to put up those numbers without cheating.

I get that he's got the league's strongest O-line. An atom couldn't get thru the legs of his guards and tackles. I get it.

I also question on whether or not his club isn't still cheating. I know I'm possibly alone on this boat, but personally, to prove to me you're not cheating any longer is to not win one game all season. Pull a 2008 Detroit Lions and go 0 - 16.

But, as far as Brady? I wouldn't say I hate the guy. I think he's a good QB. Is he a great QB? Not as far I am concerned. If you put him in the Hall of Fame, Drew Bledsoe and Matt Cassel need to be inducted as well.

Better yet, throw out all of Tom Brady's stats from 2000 - to Coach Belichick's retirement. I don't think that anyone who played under Belichick during the cheating scandal should be enshrined.

Which is a shame because I always thought Belichick was a better coach than that.

Prove to me that Brady's stats are because he really is that good of a QB with an outstanding and strong O-line and great receivers and I'll stop the "Tom Brady Hate."

But, I won't find him sexy.

Short Preseason Entry.

I know this one won't be a long one and it won't talk about bobs and back shoulder passes. Nor will it talk slants or screens. Not that I know much about those things anyway. I'm a football fan. If I like something, I'll say it. If I'm impressed, I'll say it. I'm not the most knowledgeable person in terms of football. But, I know enough to talk about the game and to watch the game. Too much knowledge of the game would ruin it for me. Personally. If you don't like it, don't read. Plain and simple.

So, YAY! Preseason is on! After a billion year lockout (or at least it felt that way!), the teams are back on the field and looking, well. Like they were locked out.

I get that the first preseason games aren't going to exactly be championship games, but it was very clear that the lack of OTAs and Mini Camps took its toll on the players.

While some teams did very well (I'm talking to you, Tampa!), other teams floundered (Looking at you, Kansas City!).

Have I watched EVERY preseason game? No. Contrary to popular belief, I do have a life. But, I have seen enough to see that the teams need more practice and they'll get it. No preseason game is ever going to be the best game ever and the refs are figuring out penalties and players are fighting for positions.

It's natural to have a pee wee league looking game first time out.

Only this year, it didn't look so pee wee league.

Say what you want about the Chicago Bears. They're looking good. Jay Cutler has slimmed down and looks great. He's also seemed to accept that he is a leader. I've always liked the guy and thought he always got a bad rap, but this year, something's changed. He wasn't sitting on the sidelines, looking like he always does.

Doesn't mean he didn't know what was happening, but he seemed to take charge a little more.

And that means the line was blocking harder.

Our O-line looks great this year.

And, hello Detroit! Hope that you can finally get the wins your team so honestly deserves. You have a really good squad. And you deserve to be better than the 6-10 season you had. You've got the talent. Suh is a future hall of famer. He plays much like Dick Butkus. Go for it, guys. I am keeping my fingers cross that your win over Cincy is just the beginning of a beautiful season.

Am I glad football's back? Yep.

Sundays in the fall won't be so boring after all. :)

Football. Women. And Hot Men.

Okay. I know that this should be a blog about how I think the Bears need to shore up their offensive line and how they should have fought harder for Plaxico Burress. Or to talk about how the Rams are looking in practice and how Sam Bradford is their QB of the future.

I should talk about slants and screens and bob passes and short arm touchdowns and all that football jive.

But, it isn't just that.

Oh no! It's all that and more.

See, it's called "Femme Football" for a reason. Football by itself is like a chocolate cake. Oh, it's nice and delish and well worth it. And, yes. It's good by itself. But now add strawberry frosting! And it's SIMPLY TO DIE FOR! It adds a richness to the plain delicious chocolate cake that the cake is missing.

And so it is with football.

Football by itself is a wonderful game, full of fun and violent hits and controversy. Yes. It's great and I can watch football for football's sake.

But, add hot guys to the mix? HELLO! It makes it an even better game. Guys like Troy Aikman or Jay Cutler add a certain sexiness that the game lacks in the Offense and Defense lines.

Seriously. As a woman, I do look at hot men. Hot men like Jay Cutlter.

Don't tell me that there aren't women out there who don't agree with me. And Aaron Rodgers?


Yeah. This is one QB I wouldn't mind sacking.

Listen, guys. Just because a woman likes to look at the hot quarterbacks or running backs or middle linebackers doesn't mean it's all we all watch the game for.

One of my favorite QBs isn't all that good looking if he's not in his helmet and pads. Steelers' QB Ben Roethlisberger isn't the best looking guy, but in a pinch, he's the guy you want under center.

So, what? I like to look at the hot players. But, I do know this: the game is fun and exciting to watch. And the players can't help being sexy. It sort of comes with the job description.

Well, except for linemen. I don't get the need to be obese to play the game, but whatever. Someone finds those men sexy.

But I won't stop talking football, even if men refuse to believe that I can watch the sport for the sport's sake.

And I refuse to believe they read Playboy for the articles.