[Editor's Note: Throughout the day I participate in email conversations with friends about hot sports topics. One of my friends in particular is very active in these conversations. This is that friend, a dedicated analyst of all things Chicago. What you will read below was written in response to the following email question that I sent him yesterday:

I greatly anticipate your next Bears email.

You now have a high-priced QB who can’t lead, a high-priced DE who doesn’t love football, a RB who is over 30 (though with low tread on the tires) and another RB who is completely ineffective without a great offensive line. And still, with your golden-armed QB, you have no WRs.

Granted, still a lot of time left…but was Peppers really a prudent investment? You follow this closer than I do. What say you?

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Peppers? Who knows. Willkie does not profess to be a magician evaluator of talent, nor would I ever claim to understand the intricacies of human emotions, especially in the most unstable of creatures rapidly ascending hordes of cash, fame, and attention.

Rather, I think the more alarming situation concerning the bears is the multi-variate and conflicting strategy.  Remember the Greek fable of Hydra?

Hydra was the multi-headed creature residing near Lake Lerna in Greece.  When cutting off one head two would grow back in its place, leading you to regress in any attempt to dominate the creature.

Well, replace Lake Lerna with Lake Michigan and the creature representing Hyrda is the Bears.

Let’s consider the heads…

First, acquiring Cutler transformed the organization. You don’t make your highest paid player and “the franchise” of the organization some guy who is going to “manage the clock”. Since inception, the Bears have played strong defense and a ball control offense. Acquiring Jay altered your core competencies entirely.

Would Wal-Mart suddenly shift from low prices to retailing Chanel and Versace?

Second, replacing the defensive and offensive coordinator without replacing a head coach who has been with the team 6 seasons is a mistake. Essentially you’re admitting change without committing to it.

Nobody is stupid. In a league with coaching tenure averaging 3 seasons you’re going to clean house with the exception of the head coach? Why would a coordinator sign up for this? Any mediocre season will be an immediate disposal.  Yeah, the paycheck is nice, but how many quality candidates land somewhere expecting to be gone in 12 months?

Simply, none.

Third, take the shine off Mike Martz, please!

Anchoring to the ”greatest show on turf” is ideal, but why would a “genius coordinator” have 3 different employers the last 4 years? Moreover to the previous point, why would Martz step into the situation of desperate head coach, teetering front office, and anxious fan base? Answer: Martz has little market value.

Fourth, Martz only furthers the anti-ball control offense. How exactly will the infamous “7-step Kitna drop” work with an offensive line not capable of blocking in a high school jamboree? Granted, Martz churned out over 1600 yards and 140 receptions from Shaun Mcdonald and Mike Furrey in 2007, so the pathetic core of WRs is marginalized, but your two big free agent signings are an RB and an alleged premiere defensive end?!?

So, the Hydra residing on the shores of Lake Michigan continues to grow her heads — Urlacher’s on-field and media disappearing act, Jay Cutler’s big arm, a forgotten and once proud running game, a multi-generational staple of good defense, a pass-only-and-running-is-for-wimps O-coordinator whose track record implies lack of humility and longevity, and a new defensive coordinator whose previous leadership position had him the steward of the 0-16 Lions.

How was Hydra ever defeated? Hercules cut the head and cauterized the neck before two heads could grow anew.

Perhaps the directionless Bears should consider a lesson from Hercules….

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Who is Wendell Willkie? Wouldn’t you like to know.

The pseudonym was inspired by the very Wendell Willkie who is an Indiana University legend and democrat turncoat who ran for president against FDR in 1940; however, the man behind the pseuodonym shall otherwise remain nameless.

Jerod simply posts WW’s ramblings here to help unclog his inbox (hence, the spam cleansing) and because there are occasional nuggets of insight that provide good jumping off points for conversation.

So go, converse. WW will undoubtedly be back soon with more email ramblings…

The Bears started the free agency period with a huge splash, signing the most sought after available player, Julius Peppers, to a reported 6-year deal thought to be worth up to $72 million with a $25 million signing bonus. Peppers is due to make $40-45 million during the first three years of the deal.

Adding Peppers is a huge defensive upgrade for the Bears, who hope to bring back the dominant defense that brought them to the Super Bowl in 2006. Peppers looks to help the Bears rejuvenate a struggling defense that recorded only 35 sacks last season.

The key to this signing was the Bears’ determination. Lovie Smith flew to Charlotte early Friday morning to meet with Peppers and his agent.

Peppers also did his homework. He keep in contact with Chicago players such as Brian Urlacher, Mushin Muhammed, Chris Harris, and Dante Wesley, asking them about the organization in Chicago and what they felt about it.

It’s hard not to love this signing if you’re a Bears fan. Peppers is a proven, five-time Pro Bowler at defensive end who is able to get to the quarterback. Getting to the QB also helps the safeties of the Bears. Less time for the QB to throw means less time for the wide receivers to get open.

The Bears also signed former Vikings running back, Chester Taylor, to a 4-year $12.5 million deal with $7 million guaranteed.

“The Bears seem like they have a great opportunity to go to the Super Bowl,” Taylor said on “The Afternoon Saloon” on ESPN 1000. “I want to go to a team that could contend for the Super Bowl.

“Chicago’s making all the right moves to try to win a championship, that’s another thing I noticed. They want to win here. I want to come in and win. We’re making the right moves.”

It’s not yet known how Taylor will fit in exactly with running back, Matt Forte.

The Bears weren’t done just yet. They also signed tight end Brandon Manumaleuna to a five-year deal. Greg Olsen will still see most of the starting time, but the Bears do pick up one of the better blocking tight ends in the league.

It was a monumental first free agency day for the Bears, who have a history of not being as loud when it’s free agency time. This year was an exception.

But there is still one looming question. Will the Bears sign a safety?

Bears linebacker Lance Briggs, is asking the same thing. Briggs said he loved what the Bears are doing, but he would like to see a safety upgrade.

It’s a good suggestion, but I believe the Bears need a offensive line upgrade more than anything. Anyway it’s a good start for the Bears and its coaching staff if they want another shot in the playoffs.

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* – Julius Peppers photo credit: BallHype

It seems the Bears’ players are already liking their new offensive coordinator. Martz has been praised by most Bears players and seems to have developed really good chemistry between WR Earl Bennett, and QB Jay Cutler.

“He made a great impression,” Bennett told chicagobears.com about his meeting with Martz at Halas Hall on Monday, the coach’s first full day at the office. “He’s a mastermind offensive coach who’s going to spread the ball around and wants to take us to that next level. I’m ready to work hard for him.”

This is a very good thing to hear because a rejuvenated offense will only help the Bears in their cause to get into the playoffs next year.

One of the most important aspects of the signing was how much Martz and Cutler hit it off.

“It’s such a big thing to have a coordinator and a quarterback on the same page, obviously,” Martz said Monday on “Carmen, Jurko & Harry” on ESPN 1000. “If there is any kind of ill will or ill feeling or just philosophically not on the same page, I don’t care who it is, it’s not going to work.

Cutler has also stated a liking for Martz.

“I felt very comfortable with him,” Cutler said. “The results of his offense speak for themselves. He had a lot of success in St. Louis and his offenses made improvements each year in Detroit and San Francisco. I haven’t run his system, but I am familiar with it. I’m anxious to start digesting the playbook and getting back on the field.

The transition looks to be going very well for both Martz and the players. New faces can either be a positive or negative, depending on the player.

In a league were coaches can change so quickly, players are sometimes dismissed in the decisions of firing a coach, affecting their attitude to the franchise.

The Bears’ mangement knew that changes had to be made, and knew of the potential risks they might have had to deal with.

So far no serious problems have occurred between Martz and his new players. Let’s hope it stays that way.

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* – Mike Martz photo credit: Mouthpiece Sports

The search for the next Bears’ defensive coordinator is over, but presents no new faces. Instead the job was given to the now former defensive line coach, Rod Marinelli.

“Rod is among the best defensive coaches in the NFL, and will be an excellent defensive coordinator for us,” head coach Lovie Smith said in a statement. “We considered outside possibilities, but I didn’t feel our defense would benefit the same way it will with Rod in the coordinator role.

“From the first day I became head coach of the Chicago Bears, I envisioned Rod as our defensive coordinator. I considered him for the role last year, but wanted him to have the opportunity to work exclusively with our defensive line and become acclimated to our team. He will remain in our defensive line room, but will add the responsibility of the defensive calls on game day.”

With this promotion the Bears end the much publicized search for coordinators. While it wasn’t a huge surprise of this promotion, there had been many reports saying that this promotion was bound to happen, I feel some kind of disappointment.

Marinelli is not an upgrade at all. He hasn’t held a coordinator position in 33 years, and I remeber Lovie saying that Marinelli did not really want the job anyway.

Here is what Lovie said Jan. 5th:“I’ve talked to Rod about all of the different things I am going to do. Rod would like to be in his position of being an assistant head coach, and helping me with other things like that, and coaching the defensive line. That’s a full-time job.

This promotion seems like an emergency plan. They didn’t seem to have any other option other than Perry Fewell, and after he signed with the Giants, no other names came out as possible candidates.

Nonetheless the Bears are hopefully going into the right direction. The signing of Mike Martz is a huge a step into the right direction. This promotion doesn’t look to be the same way.

After a long process that seemed to take forever, the Bears have finally signed a coach to one of their open coaching positions.

Mike Martz will be the new offensive coordinator, and I couldn’t be more happy that the Bears picked him up. Martz is most known for bringing up Kurt Warner into the elite QB we know him as today.

“Even though I’ve never worked with Mike Martz, I’m in favor of the Bears hiring anybody that can get us back on the right track, and hopefully back to a Super Bowl,” Bears tight end Desmond Clark said. “Mike Martz has a great track record, and I’m excited to see how this offense could grow in 2010.”

If the Bears’ offense is going to be successful it has to start with Jay Cutler.

Martz talked to Cutler last Monday, and we can sense that it went very well. It’s key and very important that Cutler can get used to Martz’s new playbook. The whole offense relies on the QB knowing how to run the offense.

Marshall Faulk, former St. Louis running back the time Martz was their offensive coordinator, commented on the hiring of Martz.

“If you mess up, if you don’t do your job, if you don’t work hard, he’s extremely difficult to deal with,” Faulk said during Tuesday’s Super Bowl media day at Sun Life Stadium. “If you decide to take a day off, you will hate Mike Martz. If you show up for work or for a meeting and you’re not prepared, you will hate him. It’s that simple.”

That quote made me love the signing even more. If Martz can get the Bears players to start working harder we could see a huge improvement. I always thought the players needed a fire lit under them to get them going. Martz seems to be the guy that can do that.

This is great news for the Bears and their fans, spreading some optimism for next season.

The Bears still have coaching openings at the defensive coordinator, Qb, and tight end position.

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* – Mike Martz photo credit: Mouthpiece Sports

The Chicago Bears’ season has been over for some time now, and we still haven’t heard any good news about possible offensive and defensive coordinators for the Bears.

It seems like the Bears are cursed. Everybody they show interest in decides to go with another team.

• Jeremy Bates-Hired as Seattle offensive coordinator
• Tom Clements-Packers denied permission for him to be interviewed by the Bears
• Perry Fewell-Is now the Giants defensive coordinator
• Chan Gailey-Now the head coach at Buffalo
• Jim Chaney- Decided to stay at University of Tennessee as their offensive coordinator
• Mike Nolan-Accepted the Dolphins offer as their new defensive coordinator
• Gus Bradley-Opted to stay as Seattle’s defensive coordinator

Why is this happening? While nobody can really tell for sure, there have been a lot of guesses.

Some are thinking that they won’t have much job security since it’s unsure what will happen to Lovie after 2010. A change in head coaches almost certainly means a change in coordinators.

Regarding the offensive coordinator job, a rumor came out that some candidates were intimidated with having to work with quarterback Jay Cutler. This rumor almost seems absurd to me, but somehow I can see it being true. There’s a lot riding on Cutler, and the coaches this year.

Another disappointing season will most certainly anger the Bears’ fans even more. They will most likely be calling for Lovie and other coaches to be fired. Again we see the job security issue pop-up.

This whole issue is making the Bears look bad. The longer the Bears are unable to sign somebody, the more the fans become weary about the team. Fans like to see their teams make smart moves fast and efficiently. When something like this drags out it makes us very weary and uncertain about how things are going to go next season.

What’s even worse is they don’t seem to be close to signing anybody. Like I said before, many coaches have been interviewed, but nothing has happened, leaving the door still wide open for anybody to take the jobs.

The link dump is getting posted early today, as I have some non-sports blogging stuff to attend to this afternoon. Still, if Brett Favre decides to retire after lunch, I promise I’ll be ready with a quick post.

And speaking of Brett Favre, want to know the top 10 differences between him and us? Click on through. You can also find more reasons, as if you needed them, for why Braylon Edwards is a self-serving tool.

Also, go find the Foot Locker link in the NBA section. It’ll take you to a badass online 3-point shooting contest that is sure to make your afternoon unproductive (at least in terms of, you know, work.)

Have a great Tuesday everyone.

NFL:

• Samoans and Football — (Docksquad Sports)
• How to fix the San Diego Chargers — (Rumors and Rants)
• Wow…did the wrong Chicago Bears’ D-Lineman die? — (Bootlegger Sports)
• Chicago Bears of old remake Super Bowl Shuffle, remind fans how much current team sucks — (Not Qualified to Comment)
• In that case, I envy the great, great grandkids of Mordecai Brown — (Blog Down, Chicago Bears)
• Braylon Edwards continues to be douchy — (Thunder Treats)
• Cleveland Frowns Working on an Undefeated Playoff Betting Season — (Cleveland Frowns)
• Top 10 Diferences Between Us and Brett Favre — (Sports Chump)

NBA:

• Phil Jackson is still kind of awesome — (Tremendous Upside Potential)
• Stephon Marbury heads to China, channels inner Billy Madison — (The Global Sports Fraternity)
• Chris Bosh looking for a new team — (Docksquad Sports)
• Awesome! Foot Locker Online 3-Point Shootout — (FootLocker.com)

MLB:

• Why Won’t Milton Bradley’s Negativity Just Go Away? — (Not Qualified to Comment)
• Just shoot me now: Cubs interested in Jermaine Dye — (Tremendous Upside Potential)

Misc:

• Mike Greenberg’s Slip-up: “Martin Luther ‘Coon’ Day” — (Outside the Box Score)
• Who’s “Blacker”: Charles Barkley or Snoop Dogg? — (That NBA Lottery Pick)
• Steve Czaban on the dearth of quality AM sports talk radio — (Czabe.com)
• Mark Cuban defends NBC in Conan-Leno War — (Blog Maverick)
• ESPN pays homage to SNL’s “Laser Cats” skit — (Detroit 4 Lyfe)

It was big news on Tuesday when the Chicago Bears fired six coordinators, including offensive coordinator Ron Turner, but decided to keep head coach Lovie Smith.

It has been up the air the past few weeks whether Lovie would rejoin the Bears or be let go after a terribly disappointing season.

He will be back. Things will just be a lot different around him.

Lovie’s staff will be very different next year as the Bears fired Pep Hamilton (quarterbacks), Rob Boras (tight ends), Harry Hiestand (o-line), and two assistants, Luke Butkus and Charles London. Lovie will not be calling the defensive plays as the Bears said that they will be looking for a defensive coordinator.

I really like the descion to get rid of Lovie calling the defensive plays and agree with the firing of the rest of the coordinators, but I thought Lovie should have been fired too.

After taking the Bears to the Super Bowl in 2006, it has been pure mediocrity since. Lovie hasn’t led the Bears back to the playoffs since that year, and his record over the last three years has now dipped under .500.

Besides what the numbers say, Lovie has never shown any excitement or anger on the playing field. Lovie has always been the cool, calm, and collected type coach, but is that really what this team needs?

I don’t think so.

It doesn’t seem as if he pumps up the players or motivates them to play well on a week-in, week-out basis. He doesn’t motivate them at all. The Bears, with all their troubles, need a motivating head coach.

They have the talent, as seen in the last two weeks; what they lack is a coach with the motivational fire to make them harness and use that talent.

By keeping Lovie, the Bears are stating they are content with mediocrity. The Bears have never had a truly terrible team under Lovie, it’s just that he has never made the players reach their potential, and the fans are starting to get frustrated.

After the Super Bowl year, even though the Bears lost, fans were hoping their team and coaches would come out better prepared the next year. That never happened. The Bears went 7-9 in 2007, and since then have never won over nine games.

Clearly these past few years have been a huge disappointment to fans as they saw their teams’ potential wasted.

It was a right step in getting rid of the ever predictable Ron Turner and the other staff members around him, but the Bears failed to give what a lot of fans wanted.

We’ll just have to see how this all works out. More coverage on coach hirings will be coming soon.

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* – Lovie Smith photo credit: VolBall

Here is your Tuesday afternoon link dump. Enjoy.

NFL:

• Brett Favre’s homoerotic tendencies revealed — (Not Qualified to Comment)
• Poll: What NFL team should sit their starters the most in Week 17? — (Steady Burn)
• Week 17 NFL Betting Power Rankings — (Sports Untapped)
• Hines Ward Guy is…uh…what? — (PSAMP)
• Chris Johnson is 128 yards away from history — (Thunder Treats)
• The Dallas Cowboys are the biker gang from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure — (Unathletic)
• Bears win was fun, but... — (i94 Sports)

NBA:

• The Sacramento Kings make “The Best Music” — (That NBA Lottery Pick)

College Basketball:

• Washington guard Quincy Pondexter makes his debut in “The Nutcracker” — (Outside the Box Score)

MLB:

• The real all-time home run list (updated) — (Zoner Sports)

Misc:

• Top 10 Sports Movies of the 2000s — (Detroit 4 Lyfe)
• One person’s list of the 8 Greatest Athletes of the ’00s — (NESW Sports)
• Chicks suffer nasty MMA injuries too — (The Cage Doctors)
• Mila Kunis gets freaky late at night — (MoonDog)

Here is a quick Monday morning link dump, recapping the weekend with links from some of our favorite sports blogs:

College Football:

• Hilarious (because it’s a train wreck) rap about Julio Jones by Alabama fan — (Outside the Box Score)
• We know this much: Lane Kiffin won’t be Florida’s next coach — (MoonDog)

NFL:

• Can you find 10 Chicago Bears that you really want to keep? — (Zoner Sports)
• Vernon Davis ass-out hugs female fan after TD — (Detroit 4 Lyfe)
• Very funny: Tom Benson’s “celebration” during Garrett Hartley’s missed 4th Q kick — (Black Sports Online)

NBA:

• Lakers fans give the “foam finger” to Cavs — (That NBA Lottery Pick)
• Very cool: check out what happens when Derrick Rose’s new shoes are placed back-to-back — (Dock Squad Sports)

Non-Sports:

• 10 memorable quotes from Shit My Dad Says — (Uncoached)
• Flatulent pig causes gas leak concerns — (MoonDog)

It hasn’t got any better for the Bears this week. The Bears looked silly playing in Baltimore, where they were utterly embarrassed, losing 31-7.

The blame is been put on Jay Cutler, Lovie Smith, Jerry Angelo, and the offensive line, but who is more to blame? It’s a little bit of everyone. I think by now people have stopped considering that the Bears are anything close to a good team, and have realized that this team has many, many flaws.

These flaws start with bad picks in drafts after the Super Bowl year.

Players such as Dan Bazuin (2007/2nd round) and Micheal Okwo (2007/3rd round) are both out of football. Dusty Dvoracek has suffered four straight season-ending injuries after becoming drafted in 2006 in the 2nd round by the Bears. Jarron Gilbert, drafted 3rd round in 2009, has been inactive 10 games and hasn’t recorded a single tackle. Another 3rd rounder in 2009, has been inactive for all 14 games.

Those are facts that don’t look pretty. It’s not something an organization wants to see. The Bears are not getting any help from their early draft picks, and it’s hurting them.

It’s hard not put some blame on Jay Cutler even though I know his offensive line isn’t that goo; but 25 INTs is just too much for me. It also doesn’t help that Cutler has never had a winning season. That’s including high school, college, and the NFL. I don’t care what kind of numbers you put up because, in the end, all that matters is how many wins you have at the end of the season.

The man who certainly deserves to have blame put on him is head coach Lovie Smith. I never was a fan of Lovie. His laid back kind of coaching never stuck with me, and I never found it to be any good. It’s evident now that Lovie isn’t the right coach for the Bears. His type of coaching is better for proven teams. It’s not working, so it’s time for Lovie to go.

I would like to see the Bears go after Bill Cowher. He’s a Super Bowl winning coach and his style of coaching is what I think the Bears need.

The Bears’ flaws were only thought to be in the QB and WR position, but now it’s been proven that the crack runs down much farther than anybody could have seen. The question is will the Bears be able to recover next year? It’s not impossible for them to turn this team around, but it starts with meaningful early draft picks.

You say the Bears don’t have any early draft picks? Oh, well that’s just too bad.

The Bears finally picked up a win after going 4 games without one, though it wasn’t as pretty as most Bears fans would have hoped. After a strong start the Bears stalled and had to hold on to the 17-9 lead late in the 4th quarter.

Jay Cutler, finally, did not throw a interception and actually looked great for at least a quarter, throwing 131 yds in the 1st quarter alone. After that the Bears did nothing but pound the ball with the running game.

That descsion angered me. The Bears had two 48+yd throws in the 1st quarter, and it looked like the passing game was coming alive, but the coaches decided to stop throwing and to start running. This made the game closer than it needed to be as the running game didn’t prove to be that dominate against a extremely sub-par Ram’s defense.

The passing game was fluid for once and I am ashamed to see Lovie  change the game plan after the 1st qaurter. Cutler was finally hitting his receivers, especially on the deep balls. I know it’s the Rams and it doesn’t truly impress me that much, but it was a positive. Cutler completed 8 throws out of 17, but what he didn’t do was throw the ball to the other team. This simple fact could be and was a huge factor in this Bears team winning this game.

The defense only allowed 113 passing yds, but everyone knows the only offense the Rams have is Steven Jackson and Jackson ran for 112 yds, one yard shy of beating Kyle Boller’s 113 yds passing,  against the Bears. Jackson wasn’t able to get in the endzone, but what running back would be able to when he’s in such a terrible offense?  It was a modest performance for Jackson as he was playing with a bad back.

A great defensive stand by the Bears didn’t allow the Rams to score on a final drive in the dying minutes, sealing the win and the Bears’ 5th, and first win in 4 weeks.

It could have be a little bit more of a dominant win than it ended up to be, but it’s a win, and I am not complaining when the Bears win this season.

It’s that time of the year when Americans sit down with their family, eat turkey, watch football, and share with each other what they are thankful for.

One thing that Bears fans aren’t thankful for is this year’s season.

With the signing of Jay Cutler during the off-season, many Bear fans thought this was the end of the QB woes that have plagued Chicago since Jim McMahon.

That has not been the case.

The Bears are a dismal 4-6 with almost no chance of making the playoffs. So-called “Savior” Jay Cutler has thrown 18 interceptions and has shown no leadership qualities at all. If this happens again next season I am not afraid of calling the Cutler signing a terrible waste.

It’s not all Cutler’s fault. What I don’t like is he doesn’t have show any leadership qualities. He doesn’t look like the guy who can lead his team to the playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl.

Worst of all, the Bears may have delayed roster progression for years to come. Without a first or second round pick in this season’s draft, the Bears will be forced to try to find a late round sleeper.

Yes the Bears are bad, and they could be this bad for a while.

Management’s ignorance in failing to improve the O-line has finally shown through. Even signings of 1st round draft pick Chris Williams and the free agent signing of Olrando Pace couldn’t help this struggling, high school-playing, O-line.

It seems the hype around this Bears team was was over calculated. Even Peter King fell for it! He picked the Bears to win the Super Bowl! Being a Bears fan I even thought that was a little too much, but I can’t say anything because he IS Peter King and I really do respect him a lot.

The Bears have defiantly been a disappointment this year. Something needs to change, and if that means hiring some new coaches so be it. I think the Bears do need some new coaches, and that they would benefit greatly by getting rid of offensive coordinator Ron Turner.

So have fun this Thanksgiving. Enjoy some turkey and some good old classic Thanksgiving day football. I have certainly not enjoyed this year’s Bear’s football season, nor has anyone else in Chicago.

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Jay Cutler / Greg Olsen photo credit: Bears Backer

Thursday night football is here, which means that our usual lineup setting routines are now thrown out of whack.

Though the Thursday night game won’t affect every team every week, most of us, across all of the leagues that we play in, will most likely have a key decision or two that will have to be made three days earlier than before.

This is annoying and can lead to the unnecessary benching and/or starting of players. The trade-off, however, is an extra night with an NFL game.

Sounds reasonable to me.

Because I know that many of you will be late to the party in realizing that you have to decide on your Bears and 49ers players by tonight, I have taken the liberty of doing the dirty work for you. Here is your 49ers-Bears fantasy analysis, complete with start/sit recommendations so you don’t even have to think about it.

First, here are the particulars of the game (from our Week 10 TV schedule, announcers, and picks post) and my pick, for those of you interested:

• Bears-49ers Date: Thursday Nov. 12
• Bears-49ers Kickoff Time: 8:20
• Bears-49ers TV Network: NFL Network
• Bears-49ers Announcers: Bob Papa and Matt Millen
• Bears-49ers Point Spread: 49ers -3
• Bears-49ers Over-Under: 43.5
• Bears-49ers Spread Pick: About a month ago, this looked like it was going to be a pretty good game. Then October happened…and the Bears and 49ers quickly slid down the NFC standings. The 49ers sit at 3-5 and haven’t won since they signed Michael Crabtree. Still, they are only two games behind Arizona, and I feel like they are playing better overall than the Bears, who are 4-4 and coming off of a shellacking against Arizona. I just can’t see Mike Singletary allowing Jay Cutler to come into his house and get a win. I like a fired up, back-against-the-wall, this-is-our-house 49ers team to grind out a win…but I’m betting it’s closer than three points. Bears-49ers free pick: Bears +3

Now, a quick look at each team’s defensive stats, courtesy of NFL.com:

• Scoring Defense: 49ers – 21.8 ppg (17th) | Bears – 23.9 ppg (22nd)
• Total Defense: 49ers – 334.2 ypg (19th) | Bears – 326.0 ypg (15th)
• Pass Defense: 49ers – 241 ypg (24th) | Bears – 206.5 ypg (12th)
• Pass TDs allowed: 49ers – 9 (8th) | Bears – 16 (28th)
• Run Defense: 49ers – 93.2 ypg (4th) | Bears – 119.5 (21st)
• Run TDs allowed: 49ers – 8 (20th) | Bears – 7 (17th)

Basically these two teams’ defenses are pretty similar and suggest that there should be more scoring than what you might expect based on the recent histories of the 49ers and Bears.

Let’s break it down position by position:

[Note: When you're done here, you can also check out our Week 10 start em, sit em column for analysis of the weekend games.]

Quarterbacks

You have to like Jay Cutler in this one. He is coming off a 3-TD performance against Arizona and played very well despite the team’s overall poor performance.

By this point everyone should know what they’ll get with Cutler: a lot of yards, a good amount of TDs, plus an INT or two that will cut down on the final total. I’m not starting Cutler over guys like Philip Rivers or Tony Romo, but he’s a good bye week fill-in for Matt Schaub or a solid start in a 12- or 14-team league.

As for Alex Smith, I’m not a huge fan, but you could do worse. He has thrown six TDs over the last three games, but he’s also tossed five picks to go along with them. The Bears’ secondary has proven that TDs are there for the taking, and I’d expect Smith to at least connect with Vernon Davis for one. Still, Smith is nothing more than an emergency spot-start or #2 QB in a 2-QB league.

Running Backs

Frank Gore starts every week. Don’t ask questions.

Matt Forte is a bit of a trickier issue. Here are his carry totals the last three weeks: 6, 26, 5. The first and third totals were affected by the Bears getting down huge early to the Bengals and Cardinals, and Forte did have ten receptions in those two games. Regardless, Forte owners continue to be frustrated by his production, which is especially detrimental in non-PPR leagues, where his 30 receptions don’t mean as much.

Despite his struggles, you have to start Forte. I know that the 49ers are 4th in yards allowed per game on the ground, but you don’t have Forte because he racks up huge rushing totals. You have him for the fact that he gets touches and has the best chance of any Bears RB to get a TD. You drafted him high in the first round and most likely don’t have too many stud options behind him on your bench. Start him, and hope that tonight is his coming out party in 2009.

Wide Receivers

On the San Francisco side, I am just a big fan of any WRs. Only three of the 49ers’ receiving TDs have come from WRs and two of them were from the unheralded Jason Hill last week. Yes, the same Jason Hill whose only four catches of the year came last week. I want to see more from this guy before I pick him up, let alone start him.

The same holds true for Michael Crabtree. I know that everyone is curious about him because of his college dominance and then his holdout, but the truth is that he is just not that relevant yet (or shouldn’t be, at least) from a fantasy perspective, and this is true of most rookie WRs. Yes, he has 14 catches in three games, and there are certainly worse options out there, but I want to see him get into the endzone before I’m starting him. If you’re really hurting, I guess Crabtree is a solid #3 option, but that’s it.

In Chicago, Devin Hester has reached must-start status with his consistency and big play ability. He is really coming along better as a receiver than I ever thought he would and clearly has found solid chemistry with Cutler. The other Bears WRs, Johnny Knox and Earl Bennett, are crap shoots. Bennett is okay from a PPR perspective if you’re desperate, while Knox is a boom-or-bust type whose potential for returns TDs gives him a little extra value. I would not want to have either in my lineup though.

Tight Ends

The two hottest names in tight ends this week are Vernon Davis and Greg Olsen, the latter of which is coming off a 3-TD game against Arizona.

You definitely start Davis, who has quickly emerged as one of the top TE options in the league. Not only does he have seven TDs on the season, but his catch numbers have been pretty good, with five or more catches in eight games. I know that he ran his mouth this week about the Bears’ D-Line, but who cares. He is the top target in the 49ers passing game and gets plenty of chances in the red zone.

As for Olsen, the talent has always been there but the consistency has not been. He does have two one-catch games this year, but both of those game in the first four weeks of the season. Since the bye, Olsen has caught 17 balls in four games and has four TDs.

I think you have to start him unless your other option is a stud like Davis or Tony Gonzalez. Especially if you sat him during his 3-TD outburst last week, you don’t want to be kicking yourself if goes off again. The nice thing is, Olsen is developing a strong enough relationship with Cutler that his 0- and 1-catch days should be in his past.

D/ST Units

I don’t like either defense at this point, and I dropped the 49ers in a couple of leagues this week. Both give up too many yards and too many points, and I think this game will be in the 20s and not offer a whole lot of value. If I had to choose one, I’d want the Bears because of the threat of special teams scores.

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* – Jay Cutler / Greg Olsen photo credit: Viva Ron Mexico

Vernon Davis’ recent comments about the Chicago Bears defense must have been interesting for his head coach to listen to.

In case you haven’t heard, the 49ers’ emerging star at the tight end position basically said that the Bears’ defensive front was filled with a bunch of chumps who couldn’t stop the offensive juggernaut that is the San Francisco 49ers.

And you may recall that his coach, one Mike Singletary, at one time led that very same Chicago Bears defense to one of the greatest single-season defensive performances in the history of the NFL.

So what does this all mean?

Not really a whole hell of a lot to be honest with you, except that you will undoubtedly hear Bob Papa and Matt Millen talking about it Thursday night before kickoff. So you might as well be familiar with the comments they are referring to.

Here are the comments by Vernon Davis about the Chicago Bears defense, from MercuryNews.com (via The Big Lead):

“I think we can destroy their front,” he said. “The guys up front, I think we can destroy them. I don’t see anything spectacular about their front line.”

…..

“Their linebackers, I think we can handle them pretty well,” he said. “I like Ogunleye. I like the way he’s playing up front. He’s about the only player I like on their defensive line. I think he’s doing a good job.”

Davis is also quoted discussing Lance Briggs, which you can read if you click over to the article. Those comments weren’t considered to be quite as inflammatory by the writer (Daniel Brown), who describes Davis as “clearly joking” when he said that Briggs couldn’t check him.

As for the comments above, Davis is only saying what everyone else can see by watching five minutes of Bears football: there isn’t anything spectacular about their front line. The Bears are 21st in the league against the run (119.5 yards per game) and they have a pedestrian 16 sacks on the season despite having played teams like Green Bay, Seattle, Detroit, and Cleveland, none of whom are particularly adept at protecting their quarterbacks.

The comments that will get the Bears all riled up are, of course, Davis’ claim that they can “destroy” their front and that Adewale Ogunleye is the “only player I like” on the defensive line.

Will it matter come Thursday night? Who the hell really knows. Maybe a very small, little bit at the beginning of the game. It might have the Bears charged up a smidgen more early on than they’d otherwise be.

In reality though, these types of stories are always hyped up to be way bigger than they really are as the game-long impact of comments like these are always overblown.

Ultimately, I think the Bears-49ers game will be a great, physical, hotly-contested game, but not because Vernon Davis made some candid, confident remarks. It will be a great game because both of these teams are struggling and have their backs up against the wall when it comes to playoff contention. This is a game that both teams need and they will scratch and claw to get it.

All Vernon Davis assured for himself with his comments is that he might get popped one or two times when he otherwise might not have, or hit a little bit harder than usual.

Big whoop. Just like his comments.

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* – Vernon Davis photo credit: Orlando Sentinel