All right Packer Nation, all together now:
1…2…3…., EXHALE!
Did that make you feel any better? It seems some fans are moving a little closer to the edge of their seats with the news that the Green Bay Packers’ archrival Chicago Bears trade for wide receiver Brandon Marshall who is now reunited with Jay Cutler from their days together with the Denver Broncos. Throw in that they signed a (somewhat) competent backup to Cutler and the questions suddenly beckons:
Have the Bears tilted the balance of power in the NFC North?
Some Packer fans fear this is really this case. To that, I say hogwash. Cheeseheads always grow tenser this time of year as their divisional rivals sign free agents while the Packers stand pat until the NFL Draft rolls around. It’s common emotion many fans feel during the craziness that usually is the opening days of free agency.
To those anxiety-ridden fans, I say calm yourself. Look at the big picture. The trade for Marshall may not be as big of a win as it looks on paper.
Why you might ask? First off, Marshall is a known troublemaker. He even found trouble this past weekend as the Bears and Miami Dolphins were finalizing this trade. Outside a nightclub in New York, a fight broke out and Marshall is suspected with punching a woman in the face. It won’t be Marshall’s first run in with police nor is it even the first time he has been accused of striking a woman.
Throw in his petulance problems on the practice field (remember that footage of him punting a ball during practice instead of simply handing it to a ball boy?) and this move could be an utter disaster for the locker room of the Bears.
Speaking of the locker room, that brings me to my next point. Marshall will be catching passes thrown by a quarterback whose leadership and decision making skills get called into question every season. Cutler was playing decent football in 2011 before he went down for the year with a thumb injury, but how often did you see him sulking on the sideline in his street clothes instead of coaching up Caleb Hanie or Josh McCown?
The Bears are also an incredibly desperate team. Jerry Angelo was fired as general manager at the end of last season and head coach Lovie Smith barely survived the purge. Smith is coaching for his life this season and desperate teams do desperate and occasionally stupid things. Time will tell if this trade falls into that category, but given Marshall’s past it’s very much a high risk/high reward situation.
Finally, have some fans forgotten to look at the Packers’ roster? The Bears have traditionally had one of the worst receiving corps in the league. Does the addition of Marshall really make them that much more able to keep up with Aaron Rodgers and company?
No way.
For their Brandon Marshall, the Packers have Greg Jennings. And Jordy Nelson. And James Jones. And Jermichael Finley. And Randall Cobb.
The Bears have Marshall and….Johnny Knox?
Uh, yeah.
It finally was beginning to look like the Packer faithful had finally bought into Ted Thompson’s way of building a franchise. Last year’s offseason didn’t matter because of a) the lockout and b)the Packers were defending world champions. Thompson could do no wrong.
Now, with the Packers coming off an early playoff exit following an incredible 15-1 regular season, the old doubts began to creep back after the Bears make a big splash. Will Thompson modify his draft strategy to add players to the secondary capable of shutting down Marshall?
Mike Sherman tried this in reaction to Randy Moss in Minnesota and look at how well Ahmad Carroll is doing today!
Bottom line, Packer Nation, is just relax. One signing does not a full season make. If Marshall indeed did commit the act this past weekend (which the Bears say they were already aware of), he could be looking at a multiple game suspension. He’s not a first time offender and we all know Rogers Goodell’s lack of sympathy for repeat violations of the league’s personal conduct policy.
This is the time of year desperate teams shine. The draft is coming up and that’s Thompson’s time to do what he does best—reload the Packers for a run for glory not only in 2012, but many years in the future.
——————Kris Burke is a sports writer covering the Green Bay Packers for AllGreenBayPackers.com and WTMJ in Milwaukee. He is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) and his work has been linked to by sites such as National Football Post and CBSSports.com. Follow @KrisLBurke
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yup. pack has more weapons. problem is packers’ def is so far below that of the bears that everything evens out.
Packers pass rush, though anemic, is still sadly better than the Bears o-line. Cutler won’t have time to throw to Marshall if he’s continuously thrown around like a rag doll.
That’s why he hasn’t matched his numbers in Denver since he arrived in Chicago: the Broncos always had a good o-line under Mike Shanahan.
This just in – the Bills sign Mario Williams. Bears miss out.
Watch for TT to steal the chicago draft picks from Miami. TT has a way to get the last laugh.
He’s the master of draft day trades. It’d be hysterical and I wouldn’t rule it out.
See, now THAT would have concerned me. Mario Williams AND Julius Peppers? :shudder: That’d have been a hell of a d line.
It’s much better to see thst headcase in Chicago than Mario Williams.
As long as GB can reload their roster again this year, mainly through the draft if course, they’ll be fine.
Agreed. The nightlife in Chicago offers the same amount of opportunities to find trouble as it did in Miami for Marshall. Cutler won’t be able to control him and Mike “Love Boat” Tice? Nope.
Not true Cow. GB has plenty of talent around the D. Just about everything that could have gone wrong (short of an injury to CM3) did go wrong.
Tramon will play better. Collins may very well come back. Shields will get much better. Raji can’t play worse – and in his first 2 years he showed his ability. Bishop will continue to play at a high level, and Hawk will either get better or be benched in favor of the two young guys.
I’m not worried. TT will fix things – not so we’re unbeatable. But we’re still FAR better than any other team in the NFCN.
Don’t even bring up that about CM3… bad karma. O.o
I’ve said this at CHTV: It doesn’t matter who the bears have at receiver, with their OL, they’re confined to 3 step drops, screens, and the eventual max protect PA.
I’m only half joking. It’s no coincidence they’ve paid a ton for a backup QB. They know they can’t protect Cutler for a full season.
Boom. I said the same in a reply to a comment above.
Bradon Marshall is not a game changer. He’s an oki receiver at this point in his carreer.
Packer O needs little improvement any where except the O line.
Have any of you EVER READ anything as RIDICULOUS as this??? This is why I gave up on NFL Network and ESPN…
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d82796081/article/qbrbwr-trio-provides-bears-with-potent-and-balanced-punch
You should’ve stopped reading it, if not on the title, certainly on the author’s name.
It baffles me how that guy is employed, let alone by the NFL’s site.
Chad you should know better than to read Bucky. He’s a hit troll, just like Flip Playless at BSPN.
I actually lived in Chicago for several years, and have many obnoxious friends who are Bear fans. I sent them this article just to laugh at their expense. It ticked them off pretty good. Even they know Chicago’s not going to have a better offense than GB!
Wow, I didn’t know Brandon Marshall was that big of a difference maker. Apparently the Bears should be fitted for SB rings.
Hopefully. Bucky Brooks will take accountability for this article at the end of the season.
Accountability implies that he is graded by content and not page views.
You think I read that?
From all the negative comment ratings, it’s obvious some Bears fans have found their way over here. But not one has been brave enough to comment? What’s up Bears fans?
They’re probably concerned about Cutler blocking them on Twitter for speaking out about their new problem child.
methinks it’s Cow being a contrarian again. 🙂
Here. Now a Bears fan is commenting. This is a great move for the Bears. It does help our offense. Also, did you forget we got rid of the mad man Martz? If Brandon keeps his act together, he is a top 5 wideout. Plus, look for the Bears to draft Stephen Hill. Our O-line won’t be as bad with 3 and 5 step drops instead of 7. Tice will let Cutler change plays at the line. Also, he will let Cutler roll out and not stand in the pocket to get punished. Teams won’t blitz as much with a receiver that makes defenders miss and sheds tackles faster than a stripper taking off her closes. Bears have a great running back, better than any on the Packers roster. Even Bell is better. Signing a guy who can start on teams as Cutler’s backup is smart. People really need to think before they post this CRAP. Bad journalism is big for cheese heads. Have fun with a team that has a defense and now an offense.
This is called “beating the crap out of a straw man.” Nobody really needs to “exhale” or calm down because nobody was really that concerned in the first place.
Maybe readers of this site weren’t panicking, but plenty of local fans were. At least the ones I talked to or heard from were.
“HOW ARE THE PACKERS GOING TO STOP THEM?!” Throw in the c and column by Bucky Brooks which was posted above and I felt a need for this column.
If Marshall’s head is on straight (which it never has been), he could be a top 5 receiver in the league.
Fair enough. But as for the media, for every dimwitted Bucky Brooks out there, there were two or three other guys who were asking what in the heck CHI was thinking, especially in light of the fact that CHI was perfectly aware of Marshall’s alleged “incident” in New York. The general feeling seems to be that CHI is taking a huge risk. I mean, hey… how long can it be before the guy gets stabbed by his girlfriend again? Two, three months max?
We managed to survive Megatron, and he’s 10X the WR Marshall is.
Hey Al,
For some reason, whenever I ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ a comment, it takes awhile to go through, and then I get 2 votes……
Once again, my lack of computer prowess is rearing it’s ugly head. And while I’m not opposed to having two votes, it does kinda skew the ratings a bit… any ideas?
Let them get super hyped and excited… It’ll make it more fun to make fun of them when they embarass themselves next year.
referring to the bears fan base of course.
I was kinda surprised that the Bears still had two picks left to trade after the Cutler larceny…
I hate to say this, but I thought the bears were starting to play well before cutler, and ultimately Forte, got hurt. Adding Marshall can’t hurt…..but, I really don’t care who the bearlys sign as long as TT gets our D back on track. Then nobody can beats us.
The bears were looking better before Cutler got hurt but their D is old. I think they’re hitting that unfortunate (for them) scenario where their D and offense won’t sync up at the right time and their window for capitalizing on their stars is closing. They’d better make it count in the next 2 years or they’ll be in rebuild mode and will have blown their chances. I like having good competion within the division. It gives being the divisional champs validity and gives a nice aura to having that title so I’m not one of those fans that hopes the Bears suck year in and year out. I like it when they do well against other teams and then we beat them and show them who the true best within the NFC north really is. I almost liked beating them in the NFC championship more than I liked winning the Superbowl… ALMOST that is.
I agree Zach, I wear my NFC title hat more then my SB hat, beating the bears on thier home turf for the right to go to the SB was priceless…lol
Heh Packer Fans,
Your article made it to the Bears Yardbarker site. We are all happy to see not only do you need an article to sooth the nerves you guys also must talk each other into how good you are. Worked out well last year. No doubt you have a good team, but no defense really hurts. Yeah, Marshall was a big signing, but the small moves already made also are huge for special teams and defense. By the way the Bears are in no way done yet. Talk is talk, we’ll see how it translate to the field. No doubt some haters will respond with the usual vile, but no worries my friends from the Bay my feelings won’t be hurt. Love the State though. It is beautiful.
Ask Philadelphia about ‘winning’ in the pre-season and free-agency.
Nice the Bears get Cutler some help at the skill position, you better hope he actually gets to take more than a 3 step drop behind that community college offensive line.
first im a bucs fan but this article is crap…..if you werent scared you wouldnt even be writing this…the bears aint like the eagles. signing every top free agent avail. if so they would of went harder on m.williams..there not desperate, there filling holes on their team…and their defense is too old..look at the oldest defenses in the nfl..steelers have the most players over 30 and they get it done..and about winning nfc game in chigago, u guys almost lost to a nobody at qb, cuz if cutler didnt get hurt i believe it would be a different story..
Do you guys smell that? I smell……troll! Ugh.
Seriously though Mr. Montano – The Bears have more holes in their starting 22 than a block of bad swiss cheese.
Let’s start with OL: Carimi at RT, and… no one else that’s good.
Ok – how about their secondary: Charles Tillman, who can’t cover, but is good at tackling – is old. And then there’s…. oh wait? No one? Ah, I forgot.
How about their LB’s? Urlacher is a good player – no longer a dominant one. Briggs is in the same boat. And they have no replacements under 30. None.
How about their DL? Peppers is a stud. Melton is a solid DT. And then… nobody. Again.
Ok – now how about the rest of the offense? Marshall – who’s a first class tool, and who at some point soon will get suspended. Again. Then Cutler, who cries evewy singwe time he doesn’t get his way. That’s not a good leader. And Forte – who is unhappy with his Franchise Tag, and who’ll probably hold out.
So obviously the Bears are breathing down the Packers necks right? Right?
WRONG.
You lose. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
🙂
Fiction