Shaun Alexander wore out his welcome here in Seattle and was cut by the Seahawks Tuesday in a move that surprised no one. He was just 2 years into an 8 year contract worth $62 million. Because he’s a football player that money is not guaranteed so Alexander out a hefty chunk of change. But after his performance the last couple of years, it seems about right. He’s been hurt and ineffective when healthy. Part of that has to do with the departure of Steve Hutchinson from Seattle, and other offensive line woes for the Seahawks.

Which partially answers my initial question about whether the Bears should take a flier on Alexander and see if he does have anything left in the tank? The Bears offensive line is actually worse than the Seahawks and unless that gets fixed, nobody’s gonna be successful running the ball.

But let’s pretend. Let’s pretend that Olin Kreutz miraculously finds offensive line mates who can block someone (anyone). Then would it make sense?

The question that underlies all questions of this nature are “Is this move going to help win a Super Bowl?” Would signing Shaun Alexander help the Bears get back to the Super Bowl?

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The Bears have picked up re-tred Marty Booker and notorious malcontent Brandon Lloyd to round out their receiving corps.

These signings leave the Bears without a go to receiver for any of their inadequete quarterbacks to throw.

I think Jerry Angelo should have his General Manager card taken away when it comes to signing offensive players.

According to many web sites and wire reports, NFL legend Brett Favre will call it quits after 17 seasons in the NFL. His 2007 season was one of his best seasons ever. Favre was widely expected to return for the 2008 season. Favre will leave the game as statistically the best quarterback ever.

Many argue that he is the best quarterback ever, not just because of his statistics but his Super Bowl ring as well. Throughout his career Favre has been a “gunslinger”. He’s made throws that were ill-advised, but at the same time, brilliant. He was able to throw a football into the smallest window in the defense.

I want to steer clear of too much Favre love, I’ll leave that to Peter King, but as a fan, I truly enjoyed watching him play. There are not that many players that I would tune in to watch, Favre is one of them.

Quick story about my history with Favre. I remember sitting in my bedroom, a long time ago, when Favre was at Southern Miss, and they were playing in a bowl game (I believe it was the All-American Bowl), and I remember thinking to myself that this guy was going to be an amazing quarterback. So if there are any NFL personnel directors out there that need a scout, hook me up. I didn’t dream that he’s be so good though.

Being from Chicago, I am a Bears fan, so I should hate Favre right? No way. He’s been so good for the NFL and for the Bears/Packers rivalry. I do feel bad for my friends who are from Wisconsin and various other Packer fans, they’ll now learn what it’s like to suffer through quarterback hell. Is Aaron Rodgers really the answer? Yeah, that’s what we thought about Rex, too.

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Tra-la, tra-la, tra-la.

Mushin, thanks for bringing that veteran “leadership” and for letting your play do the talking. It really spoke more loudly than you ever could have.

The funny thing is that the Carolina Panthers are bringing him back. Don’t they know just as well as the Bears that Mushin isn’t all he’s cracked up to be? Not only that, he’s now a few years older than he was when he left the Panthers to come to the Bears. Maybe the Panthers are going to rely on that top-shelf quarterback that they have and that was lacking in the Bears offense? Hmm. But they also just cut David Carr, their starter for last year.

I’m not one to really give a rip about what the Carolina Panthers are doing with their personnel, I’m just glad that Muhammad is not a Bear.

So we’re in for another year of “Rex is our quarterback”. Ugh. The Bears say that Grossman will have to compete for the starting job with Kyle Orton, Brian Griese or whomever the Bears bring in at quarterback. Hopefully they’ll draft a solid QB in the upcoming draft, but my confidence in Jerry Angelo drafting offensive players is at an all time low.

Word is that Bernard Berrian and Lance Briggs will test free agency. Berrian I wouldn’t be too upset about losing. He can drop passes elsewhere for all I care. But I would like to see Lance Briggs back. He had a little bit of a down year, but with Brian Urlacher and his tweaky back and neck, I’d like to have a solid LB on the roster (no offense to Hunter Hillenmeyer).

I’ve said it before, multiple times. The NFL Network Sucks! And this time I am not able to watch the beloved Bears because of their greed. It’s one thing to deprive a man of a good football game, it’s another thing altogether to deprive a man of watching the Bears.

Some might say that it’s actually a blessing to not have to watch the train wreck Chicago Bears. They just don’t get it. I don’t watch them because they’re good. I watch them because they’re my team. And tonight… I don’t watch them at all.

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The week of blown opportunities.

Devin Hester might be the best return man in the game, but he’s not even close to the top 4 wide outs that the Bears have. And that is not because the Bears receiving corps is anywhere close to good. They’re not. They’re actually not very good at all. Bernard Berrian is fast but had trouble holding onto the ball (except last week), Mushin Muhammed is old, a step too slow and rarely can be found at the end of a game, Rashied Davies is fast, and might be good (but probably not), Desmond Clark can disappear and Greg Olsen is probably the best threat the Bears have, and he’s a rookie tight end. Throwing Devin Hester in the game expecting that he’s going to make a difference on offense is just silly. He is definitely fast, and has wiggle that you can’t teach, but realistically, he’s Az Hakim. Unless, he can learn how to run routes, run under the ball, and eventually HOLD ONTO IT.

But all that about Devin Hester doesn’t explain the loss to the Giants. I think that Roberto Garza, Terrence Metcalf, John Tait, and John St. Clair might help to explain it, but I haven’t seen them around in a long time. They definitely didn’t show up on Sunday afternoon. Rex Grossman was sacked 6 times, and was under pressure the entire game. The offensive line is the problem with this football team. Even though Adrian Peterson ran well against the Giants, Lovie and Ron Turner didn’t seem to have the confidence to run behind that line very much as the game wore on. Terrence Metcalf cost the Bears at least 2 first downs, possibly 2 touchdowns because he couldn’t get his feet moving to plant his body in between Adrian Peterson and the guys in the white shirts. Perfectly executed screen plays, timed perfectly, called at the right time in the game, but the offensive line could not execute.

Before the game Tom Coughlin mentioned that it was going to be a field position game. It was, and the Bears won it. They did not capitalize. If it wasn’t a sack by the porous offensive line, it was a penalty. Converting any one of their many red zone visits into a touchdown would have iced the game. I’ve said it before and let me say it again. Please don’t think that the position that needs fixing most in the off-season is the quarterback. It’s the offensive line. No doubt about it.

And with that said, I think all Bears fans can look forward to the 2008 season. Because folks… this one is over.

The Chicago Bears did not deserve to win on Sunday against the Denver Broncos. The Bears were outplayed on both sides of the ball. The only reason they were even in the game was that Devin Hester is an amazing returner. For some reason, teams think that they can stop him. Todd Sauerbrun said that the Broncos were not going to be afraid to kick to Hester. I wonder if he thought that after the first time Hester ran by him to score on a punt return. Surely it couldn’t happen twice in one game Todd, could it? Well, I’m sure he was thinking that when Hester blew by him on his kickoff return for a touchdown. Truly amazing.

Besides Hester, it seemed like Brian Urlacher and Peanut Tillman are the only Bears who actually want to win the football game. Sure there were good plays by Adewale Ogunleye, and tying touchdown from Grossman to Berrian was a thing of beauty, but none of those players played with a sense of urgency.

I do have to say, Rex Grossman cannot continue to take the fall for the terrible offense. Their offensive line is horrible. HORRIBLE. Rex was running for his life every time he went back to pass. And even though the running backs the Bears throw out there are below average at best, even LT couldn’t run behind that line. I grew weary of watching Adrian Peterson (the bad one) run into the back of an offensive lineman. It’s just not the most productive way to run the football. And the dropped passes? Muhammed, Olsen and Berrian all dropped makable catches for first downs. That’s unacceptable. Grossman is getting the ball there. It’s hitting them in the hands people. Make the catch.

The defense looked lifeless in the first half, and tired in the second. I can’t blame them too much. They’re on the field way too much. I know Ricky Manning Jr. is not supposed to be a number one corner… but he got torched. And torched. And torched. Adam Archuleta can’t tackle, or cover. It turns out safeties in the NFL should be able to do both.

This team is not a playoff team. I know that Lovie thinks that if they run the table, and finish with 10 wins they’ll make the playoffs. If you ask me, they’ll be lucky to win one more game. Oh yeah, Ricky Manning Jr. just got torched again.

Oh Boy, the Bears could really use a win this weekend. They’re on a stage against their arch-rival, the Green Bay Packers. The only problem is, the Packers are 4-0 and the Bears are 1-3. This feels like these teams are heading in different directions. Brett Favre is hot, on the heels of his record-setting performance last week.

The Packers pass-happy offense (2nd in the NFL with 288.8 yards per game) will go up against a severely battered and bruised Bears defense. There are definitely a lot of injuries for the Bears but they also have not played well as a unit. They got blown up against Detroit last week, and Dallas the week before. A Sunday night game on national TV is bad news for the Bears. Brett Favre has always loved the limelight. I’m sure he’ll be jacked up to take advantage of the Bears porous defense. One gap in the Green Bay attack is at the running back position. They have had their share of injuries in the backfield and that will continue this week. The problem for the Bears is that the Green Bay rushing attack has been effective enough to open up the pass.

The other side of the ball for the Bears continues to be a mess (29th in total offense). Their offense is lost. Cedric Benson has been completely ineffective. Brian Griese was decent in his debut. He threw 3 interceptions in over 50 pass attempts. I’m not sure how the Bears showed a commitment to the run when they threw 52 times. But I digress. The Packers are in the middle of the pack (15th) against the run so far this year, yielding 106.2 yards a game. I seriously doubt the Bears will break the century mark against the Pack. They are however 23rd in the league against the pass. Unfortunately, the Bears don’t have much of a passing game. When you combine an ineffective quarterback and wide outs who consistently drop balls, it’s really hard to be successful.

Final score: Bears 9 - Packers 27

Brian Griese has a great opportunity to look like a great quarterback this weekend. The Lions have given up 8.6 yards a padding attempt this season. Last week the Eagles shredded the Lions defense. Brian Griese is not Donovan McNabb, and Cedric Benson certainly isn’t Brian Westbrook, but the Bears do have some talent on offense. Hopefully this week they’ll be able to rally behind their new quarterback.

The Lions on offense have been a little banged up as well. Calvin Johnson, the Lions first round pick, has a bruised back and is not sure if he’ll be playing on Sunday. The Lions have been electric on offense. They’ve averaged 6 yards a play this season. They may get Kevin Jones back this week too.

The Lions offense will go up against a Bears defense that is really banged up. Tommie Harris (knee), Adam Archuleta (hand), Lance Briggs (hamstring), Alex Brown (ankle), Tommie Harris (knee), Adewale Ogunleye (hip), Charles Tillman (ankle), Brian Urlacher (back), Nathan Vasher (groin), and Darwin Walker (knee) are all listed on the injury report this week. That’s 10 people. That is pretty much the Bears entire defense. Obviously all of these players won’t miss the game on Sunday, but they all will have some effect of their injuries. The Bears have relied on their defense to win games for them this season. They will now have to rely on their offense to help out their dinged up defense.

The Bears offense is not exempt from injuries. Adrian Peterson and Olin Kruetz both are on the injury report as well. We all know that Olin will play. He’s one of the toughest players in the NFL.

What can we expect from Brian Greise and the Bears offense?

• A limit on their mistakes. Griese should be able to protect the ball better than Rex did.
• This week the Bears running game gets healthy. Cedric Benson needs to run for at least 80 yards and score a touchdown.
• Mushin Muhammed has one more healthy week. He needs to start playing like the number 1 receiver on this team.
• Greg Olsen got into the gameplan last week against the Cowboys. Expect Griese to find Olsen over the middle of the porous Lions defense

Final score: Bears 17 - Lions 13