Sorry, all you Cassel fans (via ESPN):

The New England Patriots have decided to ensure that quarterback Matt Cassel won't be an unrestricted free agent, as scheduled in March.

Sources told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen that the Patriots will use a franchise tag on Cassel that will give the team two options: Trade him if all goes well with Tom Brady's rehabilitation from a knee injury or keep him because all is not well with Brady.

The Patriots' intention to franchise Cassel was first reported by the National Football Post.

Looks like we have to look elsewhere for another QB.

AFC Game:

Baltimore @ Miami - 12 CST (CBS)

NFC Game:

Philadelphia @ Minnesota - 3:30 CST (FOX)

I'm showing up on this thread at 3.30 and I hope some of you join me. 

After being in Minnesota for the past five days and getting my fair share of one-fingered salutes for the Chicago Bears license plate holder on my car, I'm looking forward to the Vikings fans shutting up.

As I did toward the end of last summer, I will be writing front-page posts on a variety of topics. Pre-draft, I can write for days on prospects. The problem is 1) that I can find hundreds of topics to write about and 2) once the draft is over, we'll need something to fill the void. I don't want to do a full biography and quantitatively analyze each current Bears player; first, because that would put both you and I to sleep, and second, Jerry's advocating "change" within the roster.

So, I need your help. Yes, you, the active poster. Yes, you, the rare poster. Yes, you, the non-member reader. Every single person that is involved in WCG is some way, this post is for you.

What do you want stories written about?

For example, here were some topics I had thought about thus far:

1) Great Moments in Bears History (topics include: the Super Bowl season; top receiving/rushing/passing yards/whatever stat in a game/season; Chicago Bears who hold NFL records, etc.)

2) The Bears HOF Tournament (similar to the March Madness tournament bracket). Essentially, I would draft a post detailing all the accomplishments of the HOF Chicago Bears and you all would rank them. Once we have the initial ranking, we would play it out through the rankings to determine WCG's HOF rankings.

3) Detailing the early history of the Chicago Bears. I bet that some on here know how we came to be, but I'd be willing to bet that some don't, either.

Those were just thoughts I had to keep myself entertained before 2nd semester starts. Bottom line: I want your thoughts on what should be written! It makes my life easier and you get to read topics that are of interest to you.

So....whaddya want to see?

Thanks to all who participated on the game threads.

Before I start my weekly rant, I would like to thank everyone for this past season. It has truly been fun hanging out on the game threads and discussing everything Bears with you. I realize that I may have alienated or angered some of you throughout the course of the season (shout out to you, big), and part of that was by design to keep discussion going.

Although it may not have seemed like it, I never took anything personally and I hope none of you did, either. Through all the arguments, all the debates, we’re all diehard Bears fans. Some of us disagree (vehemently) with one another on the future direction of our team, but that’s ok. It’s bound to happen on a blog of this nature. My only hope is that you all enjoyed the ride as much as I did.

Onto the season after the jump.

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14-10 Houston at half.

We started fast, ended slow. Lovie better light another fire within the Bears players or this might not end up well.

First, thanks to all who were on the game threads last night. Here’s the top nine: halfblindcubbiegirl (63), iowaBear (62), guy incognito (59), SackMan (55), Chanman25 (37), no.fair.weather.fan.here (34), stumpo (33), mike b (32), thecubreporter (31).

Second, I’m surprised by some of the comments today. It seems as though we’ve split into two well-defined groups: One is just excited our playoff hopes are still alive and one is absolutely furious how we won last night.

Personally, I fall in the first group. That doesn’t mean that all I see is sunshine; I saw the same inept offense everyone else did. I saw how individual players were making horrible decisions (e.g. Kyle Orton on his INT; AP during the KO return). I saw a game that we had no business winning.

But wasn’t that part of the mystique of winning that game?

It was unbearably cold, windy, playing our longtime archrival in primetime with our playoff hopes on the line. Our offense sputtered, our defense was pretty good, and our special teams was terrific. We played Chicago Bears football in a Chicago Bears setting. In my book, it was one of the best endings I’ve seen.

That doesn’t mean I’m blinded by the victory. Our OL showed they couldn’t push through a wet paper bag through most of the game. Our DL got upfield but couldn’t sustain any real pressure on Rodgers. Our WR’s dropped balls….again. Orton was less than spectacular. Our secondary played well for the most part, but they had their moments.

At the beginning of the season, I would have been ecstatic if someone told me we had the possibility of being 10-6. Our defense hasn’t played up to their contracts. Our OL is a thrown-together mess; same with our WR’s. We shouldn’t be in this situation. But we are. Even if we don’t go far into the playoffs (or even out of the first round), I still want them to go. We gave a lot of games away this year, but this group deserves to go.

Regardless, a win is a win. Yeah, we didn’t play as though we deserved to win throughout the first three quarters, but we closed out the game as the victor. In the standings, there isn’t an asterisk behind the score. Just because we didn’t "deserve to win" doesn’t make it any less meaningful. We beat the Packers at home.

Let’s enjoy the victory for a little bit. We’re still in the playoff hunt. Whether we deserve to be in the playoff hunt is irrelevant. The standings say we are.

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You all know our playoff situation and where we stand. Since our Bears already played, use this as the Sunday open thread.

Games that affect our playoff standing are in italics while other good matchups are in bold (in CST):

- Tampa Bay 10, Atlanta 13; FINAL

- Washington 13, Cincinnati 20; FINAL

- Green Bay 16, Jacksonville 20; FINAL

- Minnesota 35, Arizona 14; FINAL

- Pittsburgh 13, Baltimore 9; FINAL

- NY Giants 8, Dallas 20; FINAL

- MONDAY: Cleveland 10, Philadelphia 30; FINAL

First things first….Thanks to #23 for putting up the 2nd half game thread. Roll Call: halfblindcubbiegirl took it down with 171; bs.uf15bosox9bears23 had 142, and aznsensation wound up in third with 126.

Second, the Bears won. Sounds like we won ugly, but we won. The fake punt deal is both good and bad. I’m glad that Lovie decided to think outside the box, but I’m not sure the timing was good.

Third, Danieal Manning deserves to be returning punts and kicks for the rest of the year. End of story.

Fourth, sounds like Orton was iffy tonight. I can’t and won’t comment fully because I didn’t see the game.

Fifth, Devin Hester at WR sounds like he’ll be a good slot WR. Looking forward to seeing him once we get a true #1.

Finally, a personal rant is about to commence. This statement does not reflect the opinion of Windy City Gridiron nor its constituents:

Williams wall = Absolutely amazing. There is no such thing as responsibility in this country anymore. We see Martha Stewart go to jail because of insider trading that netted her $60,000. As I remember it (and I may be wrong, please correct me if I am), the Williams boys have a $400,000 weight loss clause in their contract. Did they really need the money that badly? I’m sorry, if you’re a professional athlete, EAT HEALTHIER. Why take a diuretic? If you legitimately need said supplement to live, it’s understandable. I doubt that’s the case. The whole thing is ridiculous.

Before you start attacking me, yes, I’d be just as pissed off if one of our Bears took a banned supplement, regardless of whether or not they knew. Ignorance of the law IS NOT AN EXCUSE. One does not need to be an attorney to know that.

Let’s get on with it before I alienate myself from everyone.

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WCG and I appreciate all the past, current, and new members we have. However, one new member deserves a very special welcome to the blog.

bpayton34 is Brittney Payton, daughter of "Sweetness," Walter Payton. We're all lucky to have her join the site, and hopefully she'll stick around for a while.

On behalf of WCG, welcome to the blog, Brittney!

Complacency (n): a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.

That is what I saw from my Bears after halftime. They were complacent during the second half of the Rams game, partially because the Rams couldn’t score on a Pop Warner team if they wanted to, but this was different. I saw a team that came out with fire, determined to erase most of the bad memories from the Vikings game. The defense and offense was fired up and executed (mostly) with ease. Early on, it was apparent that we would overpower the Jaguars if we played with the same intensity throughout the game.

The problem was the team sensed it and started believing it. We were flat throughout the second half. In college football, big-time programs can go against lesser opponents, put up a ton of points in the first half, and just coast through the second half. We’re the Bears; we can’t do that, especially with a NFC North title on the line. This is the mantra of the 2008 Bears: If we’re up at half, we don’t need to be creative and keep executing.

For the most part, Orton made good decisions. His interception was terrible, but he also gunned one to Olsen for a TD in traffic.

Hester had a decent return on one punt, but it’s obvious he’s starting to lose confidence. When he’s struggling to even catch the ball, we have a problem.

Forte did a good job (again) this game, but I’m starting to grow tired of our OL not creating holes for him. BTW – this isn’t a gripe specific to this game, it’s been this entire season. If Forte had a good OL in front of him, he would have won Rookie of the Year. No doubt in my mind. The dude can just flat out run, on top of blocking and catching the ball.

Regardless, let’s be a little cheery: Our beloved franchise was the first to reach 700 wins. Our first win was 32,208 days ago on October 3, 1920. Coincidental sidenote: We reached 600 wins by beating the Jaguars in 1995.

Let’s get on with it.

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