Ted Kennedy once tried out for our beloved Bears. From Shutdown Corner:

“Kennedy played right end while at Harvard, once scoring a touchdown during a driving blizzard. His play for the Crimson (or the connections of his father, depending on which story you read) earned the attention of two teams in the then-NFL West division.

In 1955, Kennedy tried out for George Halas’ Chicago Bears, and later declined an invite to join the camp of the Green Bay Packers.”

Even Ted Kennedy knew the Packers suck. That’s not why he didn’t accept the invite, but that’s the story we should be telling people. Because the Packers do suck.

In a blunt comment that’s certain to become bulletin-board material in the Chicago Bears’ locker room, Driver gave a candid assessment of the Bears’ receivers during an interview with NFL Sirius Radio, per Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

“I think Chicago did a great job, and Lovie Smith went out there and got Jay Cutler to lead this team, but one thing they don’t have is they don’t have the receiver group,” Driver said. ”They have the running back, they have the offensive line and they have a great defense.

“But you’re going to have to need receivers to make plays down the field, and they don’t have that right now.”

I don’t necessarily disagree. But I also don’t play for the Bears’ biggest rival. Whether these types of statements matter or not can’t really be qualified. But should Kevin Payne lay out Driver in game 1, perhaps he will mention it to Driver as he lay on the turf.

Driver should have remembered 2 things: the Pack went 6-10 last year and lost 4 of their last 5.

The Star-Tribune writes that when Trent Dilfer sent a text to Brett Favre asking if he would be joining the Vikings, Favre sent a return message that said ‘NO’ in caps.

I know this will never happen, but Favre probably doesn’t want to go just yet. He can come to the Bears as a backup and he won’t have to prepare week to week like he would as a starter. If he goes to a new team he will again have to learn all the terminology. As a backup here he could take his time in doing that.

He can get back at the Packers and not even have to do all that much. And if Cutler happens to get injured, Favre can step in and get it done. He certainly knows how to play in Chicago weather. And the Bears need an experienced backup QB.

He’d make insane money doing talk radio shows and even more with endorsements.

So why not? Imagine Favre hoisting the Lombardi Trophy with a Bears jersey on!

There are still some areas of coaching that I think Smith needs to improve. Clock-management is probably foremost on the list. The question: when teams somehow win games they have no business winning–the last 2 weeks are perfect examples–do the coaches deserve some props? Just win, baby–right? Or do the Bears have 9 wins in spite of the coaching staff?

GAME BALLS:

Corey Graham. Graham was one of the defenders that played with playoff-like intensity and pro-bowl type results. Insane coverage, great run support and 9 tackles overall.

Lance Briggs. Briggs was all over the field again last night, making it clear why he is headed to Hawaii at season’s end.

Matt Forte. Not many holes for Forte to run through, yet he came up with some big plays when the Bears needed them most.

Kevin Payne. Seemingly in on every tackle. Pro-Bowler a year or two from now?

Robbie Gould. No he can’t kick a 50-yard field goal and no, he can’t kick it off that deep. But he simply makes clutch field-goals as if he was fooling around in practice.

Honorable mention: Tommie Harris, Danieal Manning, Brad Maynard.

GO RUN LAPS:

Brian Urlacher. 2 tackles from the MLB?

Kyle Orton. Orton completely stared down receivers and still can’t throw a deep ball. When people talk about all his wins as a starter, let’s mark this game down as an example of how that doesn’t mean all that much.

Adrian Peterson. Seriously? A horse-collar tackle just feet away from the sideline? From a veteran?

O-Line. Orton sacked 3 times and never really had a lot of time to throw. Plus there weren’t very many holes for Forte.

That tells me that the Pack will go out and try to make a big splash in free agency–cap room permitted. And that the Bears will have 2 more chances to thump him. And that makes me happy.

The Pack will have the 16th pick in the 2007 draft after finishing 8-8 this season.

Technorati Tag: Brett Favre

“If you look at it right now, [the only team] really playing well is Chicago, and I think Arizona showed [the Bears are] not that good of a team either.

“But sooner or later if we have to meet them again, that’s the last game of the season, that’s Chicago, so we’re hoping by that time they lose five or six games and we’re right in the hunt [for the NFC North title] with them.”

Even if the Bears were to drop 5 games the Pack would have to go 8-1 the rest of the way. Hey, good luck with that. The Pack go to Buffalo, Minnesota, Seattle, San Fran and Chicago. They play at home against the Pats, Jets, Lions and Minnesota.

Playoffs? Playoffs?! They’ll be lucky to go 8-8.

Technorati tags: Donald Driver / Packers / Bears / NFL

His first 2 picks in the draft, Danieal Manning and Devin Hester making huge contributions. Who wants Leonard Pope now?

Des Clark showing up big time. Muhsin Muhammad showing that he is a stud receiver. So I guess you don’t go from 16 TDs to bum status in one short year.

D-Lineman Mark Anderson, a 5th round Angelo pick, showing speed and moves, getting to Favre and sacking him.

The Bears DBs could have had 5 picks altogether. Favre was just throwing it up there for most of the 2nd Half.

And Rex Grossman playing like a veteran, getting the ball to his receivers and executing beautiful play-action.

But maybe the biggest star of all was sitting in a box high above the field. Ron Turner. He called a killer game. The mix was perfect. Granted, the Pack are brutal. But it was quite a win. You just know that Favre has all those retirement questions bouncing around inside his brain today. And it’s courtesy of the Chicago Bears.

The Bears weren’t deficient in any phase yesterday. They just need to stay consistent and stay healthy, the biggest task of all.

Bears NFL Rex Grossman Ron Turner Packers Favre

Labels: Bears, Bears vs. Packers, NFL