Fan in Chicago

No proof readers and no educated writers either ... " Without Aikman or Carter or Roger Staubach, the weary Parcells must input the remaining 10 games onto this season's Excel spreadsheet using Drew "Hi, I'm a PC" Bledsoe (bulky, old and unreliable) or Tony "Hi, I'm a Mac" Romo (sleek, quick and fancy, but prone to crash)."

Yes it is unusual to speculate on this board - every rumor is a fact

I have found that melatonin works great to induce sleep without side effects. Note we are all digressing here. Back to the main point - do we know to what extent he uses the sleeping pills ? We have very little information to base our speculation on.

Have to disagree with you. You have taken the offensive production (term used very loosely) and assumed that DB would have done atleast that and more. I think that is not a good assumption since some of the drives were kept alive by JP's scrambling. Also the first four games were largely turnover-free from JP's side while DB may have thrown a pick. This is purely a case of what could have happened if DB was still here, which he is not and if he were I don't think our W-L would be any different today considering the OL still stinks.

Very very funny !! I need to be careful what I read at work 'cos I literally burst out laughing.

Excellent ! I wish you would post more over here....

I feel foolishly optimistic. I say we win by 9.

Would you rather have a coach say that he is going to extend his recent record against the Bills to 12-1 ? Phony or not, it works for his team and that is all that matters. And, about those 'almost lost' games for the Patriots ? His team has been almost losing for several years now but they win many more than lose. I think for fans of a team, that is extra fun in watching such games than blowouts. Any of us would rather almost lose than almost win.

I don't disagree with you when we talk about next season. But, I was referring to last season when there just weren't enough quality players to spend the money on. And if Marv wants to keep Nate, he should negotiate now when NC is missing tackles. If Nate starts playing well in the last few games simply to get his market value up, we lose in the offseason - whether we pay him to stay or let him go. But stepping back, I think the oft-repeated item about our DL being the primary problem rings true. I find it tough to believe that the performance of both NC and McGee suddenly dropped off for no apparent reason. One player I can understand but two in the same part of the field is kinda tough to swallow. Extending that logic, maybe Whitner too will shine much brighter with a better DL.

I see your point about maximizing the use of cap dollars. But except for Hutchinson and Bentley, there weren't really any good offensive lineman to spend the money on. I am pretty sure we will spend to acquire what we need on both lines. This year, with the new coaches and new schemes, the only way to staff up was to look at past performance of the FAs and evaluate who would do well here or not. Same goes for our own players. Marv did a great job in keeping Nate for one more year to see how he fits. It is eminently obvious now that he does not. So in this coming off-season, we know exactly which of the existing players are not performing well in the schemes. Thus the needs list becomes more clear than it was this past offseason. I expect us to load up on the linemen this offseason and prepare for a REAL playoff push next year. We will probably end up dumping players such as Clements, Gandy, Tim Anderson and get their replacements + a real center. I wouldnt be surprised if Spikes is let go also.

Consensus amongst who ? Link please ? I have read four posts of yours so far and all they have implied is that JP sucks and Ben R is great. I would rather have JP. That is my individual consensus.

Depends where his brain resides ofcourse.

Man it is tough to dislike an opponent if it has fans like you. Kidding ofcourse. Thank you for being very gentle and civilized. We all got to experience your excellent offense and defense. Would have loved it if we put up a fight and really tested your team's resilience but that was not to be. And I was relentelessly scoffed at by my co-workers after the trampling. Good luck for the rest of the season. For the good of your team, I hope they face stiffer opposition during the season so you can go into the playoffs with a degree of caution. Winning tough games will avoid the kind of massive let-down experienced this January by Chicago.

Ouch !!! You may have a point there. The elevation to God-like status is as much as product of the media as that of the fans themselves. How many times have posters, on this board, wished we had drafted Lienart, Cutler, V Young etc. Isn't that pre-supposing their succcess and making a star of a totally unproven commodity ? Ben R was no different. He was asked to do very little in his rookie year and he did that very well. I must say, however, that I liked Philip Rivers' poise and accuracy in yesterday's game.

Count me in. A game like this had to happen this season with all the rebuilding. I am more interested in how the team responds in the coming weeks - do we fall off a precipice or regain our fighting spirit displayed in the first 4 weeks ?

This morning's Chicago Tribune is very arrogant about their team and eveyone associated with it including the waterboy (or gatoradeboy whatever). Till this morning I was fairly calm but now I hope to God the Bears lose. I mean really get their rears kicked by us. A solid, hard fought smash in the face, kick in the a$$, slap on all cheeks kinda beating is what they need. ElseMonday is going to be hell in the papers and my office. {aint I a selfish pric*}

I think it will depend on whichever line holds up for the entire game+ ST.

To me, I don't understand the abusive nature of your posts in this thread. Just because daquixer's stating his opinion doesn't mean you need to use words like dipsh--. Argue his point and he has an opinion as do you - both are entitled to each without disparaging each other. Pretty much everyone is convinced that Bears are the better team. But that does not mean we write this off as a loss. I for one am not convinced that Grossman is the next coming of {insert name of your favorite passer}. He looked specatacular against Seattle but he has to prove it on a consistent basis. He has progressed and is showing poise, of that there is no doubt. We will most likely lose but winning is possible also. To use a cliche, that is why the game is played.

Till he retires. If he has achieved anything to deserve mention as a 'great' then it is not obvious to me. I still have visions of the Todd Collinesque look in his eyes during the last drive in the Superbowl.

I agree very much with most of your above points save for the one on heating oil. Heating oil produced, as a percent of crude oil inputs, is miniscule compared to gasoline and diesel. Hence, heating oil demand will have to rise by an order of magnitude to have this counterbalancing effect. Also, the supply situation of heating oil is not too tight (in fact there is global over capacity and refiners routinely re-configure their sites to reduce its production). Finally, I don't see any reasons for heating oil to sustain its upward momentum (if there is one) on a long term basis.

I believe what daquixers is trying to say is animals fight for self defense whereas this action was an act by a human with problems. Don't insult animals by comparing him with them.

If the above is true, I wonder if GS just started something that would have happened anyway. Right now, long term supply-demand situation looks good and end product prices are likely to be off from their recent highs. Most likely, GS did an analysis and decided to start selling. Others hitched on to their analysis and actions and followed suit. Hence, I don't think GS tried to manipulate the market. If they were doing so, it would be at great financial risk which the market would punish accordingly. And GS is not that stupid.

If you are referring to the MNF game, I agree. However I disagree that McNabb can be classified as great (yet).

I would argue that right now he is in the top half of QBs this season because of the low turnovers and decent % completion. Whether he is solid or not should be clear by midseason. Personally, I am enjoying his play. Everytime he is going to pass, I expect him to complete the pass compared to last season when I used to cringe. Anyway, FWIW here are two stats and where he stands: #12 in passer rating: http://www.nfl.com/stats/leaders/NFL/PRAT/2006/regular # 22 in passing yards: http://www.nfl.com/stats/leaders/NFL/PYDS/2006/regular

I can't remember how many years it has been since I last had my heart pounding away and then come away with a win. The offense (at least in the first half) was very exciting with Losman throwing and our WRs catching what seemed like improbable balls. I truly had fun today and really want us to win next weekend (living as I do in Bear country). I do know that tomorrow a bunch of Bears fans are going to be congratulating me for the Bills victory today.